Happy Tuesday friends and happy last day of April! Anyone else feeling shocked about how fast this year seems to be going? I can't believe that we are going to be starting May tomorrow! I hope though that you are having a wonderful week!
Today I am so excited to share with y'all a bit more about the Jay Covered Bridge that I mentioned from my visit to Jay Falls a couple of weeks ago! You may remember that I mentioned that Jay Falls is one of the #ADK50falls challenge waterfalls and it was a beautiful place to discover! (You can read more about the falls HERE and all of the waterfalls that I have seen so far in the challenge HERE!)
Today I am so excited to share with y'all a bit more about the Jay Covered Bridge that I mentioned from my visit to Jay Falls a couple of weeks ago! You may remember that I mentioned that Jay Falls is one of the #ADK50falls challenge waterfalls and it was a beautiful place to discover! (You can read more about the falls HERE and all of the waterfalls that I have seen so far in the challenge HERE!)
Right above the Jay Falls is the Jay Covered Bridge which is an historical landmark. The wooden bridge crosses the Ausable River in Jay (spanning 175 feet) and was built in 1857 and then restored in 2006.
Located in Jay, New York the bridge is approximately 25 minutes from Lake Placid.
Now you may be wondering why a trip to see this bridge is so special. I was surprised to learn that starting in the early 1800s New York state was actually filled with lots of covered bridges throughout the state. I was surprised because it is typically the state of Vermont that we think of with the covered bridges, but New York had hundreds of them at one point in time.
But now the Jay Covered Bridge is the last one in the Adirondacks and its the longest one (of the 22 that are still standing) in the state. It's amazing to think of how much history has taken place here and that this is still here at this point in our History.
This bridge is a beautiful place to visit or have a picnic in the warmer weather (plus offers a beautiful view of the Jay Falls)! I can't recommend checking it out- such a small but beautiful piece of history located right in the Adirondack Park!
Thank you so much for reading today friends! Please let me know if you have any questions about the Jay Covered Bridge, the #adk50falls challenge or Jay Falls! I am happy to answer and can't wait to hear about your own waterfall adventures! Have a wonderful day!
A little bit more about the campaign...(from my Make-A-Wish Fundraising Page):
Welcome to the Caravan Sonnet Blog Fundraising #10000in7days Page! I am truly honored that you are here and are interested in helping us meet our goal of raising $10,000 to help grant wishes for children battling critical illnesses.
Welcome to the Caravan Sonnet Blog Fundraising #10000in7days Page! I am truly honored that you are here and are interested in helping us meet our goal of raising $10,000 to help grant wishes for children battling critical illnesses.
Some of you are coming to this page through our personal connection and your sweet support through my own health battle these last 7 years. As you know from watching and loving me through my health journey, wishes and gifts are truly a lifeline during a health crisis in one's life.
As a young adult, "wishes" and gifts that were given to me personally allowed me to travel during the most difficult days of my life. These personal gifts were a lifeline to me in the darkest days of my life. During the fight for my life I became an author and a travel blogger and found incredible strength in discovering the world outside of my "sick world". As I have begun to heal fully, I have been able to travel more for my job and this has continued to be a blessing...Yet, on each trip I look back with a special smile and fond memories to those dark days where wishes became a symbol of hope.
In the summer of 2018 I had the honor of taking a road trip throughout Alaska. I quickly fell in love with the wild and free beauty of "The Last Frontier" and the blog posts from that road trip have been pinned and shared thousands of times on social media, read by readers spanning 100+ countries, and re-shared in numerous outlets. I was so humbled that the vulnerability and candor that I shared in posts about this life-changing road trip experience along with practical tips and photography led thousands to not only plan their own trip to Alaska, but to also see travel as a time of personal growth and reflection. As I wove the personal stories of my time in Alaska, including triumphant moments of conquering hiking mountains after fighting for my health and life, of hope found among the symbolism of the fireweed flower, and other posts, I shared deeply from my heart as I started planning a return trip back for the summer of 2019.
I am thrilled that my sister and a dear friend will be joining me on our road trip this summer, and I can't wait to show them the beauty of the world that I had briefly encountered last year and to discover new places to love in Alaska.
And during the planning... I also started to dream about how we could make this a trip to have an impact beyond the typical "girls trip" and give back. It was then that the #10000in7days was born. Throughout the 7 days that we will be traveling to and in Alaska (between flights, road trip miles, hiking, and boats) we will cover more than 10,000 miles and my goal is to raise money to cover every single mile that will be traveled, for a total goal of $10,000 to be raised for Make a Wish Alaska and Washington for them to use to grant childrens wishes.
A wish for a child that comes true helps a child feel stronger, more energetic and more willing and able to battle their critical illnesses that they are bravely facing. If you know me than you know watching an adult struggle with health issues how critical these moments were in my personal life. Can you imagine how much more so they are to a child?!?
As you can see and read through the precious stories of those who have had wishes granted, this often marks a turning point in their fight against their illnesses. Doctors, nurses, and other health professional say, the wish experience works in concert with medicine and treatment to make their young patients feel better emotionally and even physically.
Many kiddos in Alaska and Washington are waiting for their wishes to come true- please help support our campaign by donating today and helping to make a difference in childrens lives!
Thank you so much for your support. Every single dollar that is raised helps get us closer to our fundraising goal. Thank you so much for helping us meet our goal!
Warmly, Rebecca
Thank you so much friends for helping to make this possible! Please feel free to share this with your friends and family and please consider donating. Even a dollar (covering 1 mile) will be of help as every single dollar helps us get closer to our goal and goes directly to helping a child see their wish come true! Thank you again for all of your help with this!
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PS- If you are a business and want to connect more with Caravan Sonnet about supporting this trip and helping to us to reach this goal and make this trip happen, please email us at: caravansonnet@gmail.com for more information! We look forward to working with you!
Thank you so much friends for helping to make this possible! Please feel free to share this with your friends and family and please consider donating. Even a dollar (covering 1 mile) will be of help as every single dollar helps us get closer to our goal and goes directly to helping a child see their wish come true! Thank you again for all of your help with this!
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PS- If you are a business and want to connect more with Caravan Sonnet about supporting this trip and helping to us to reach this goal and make this trip happen, please email us at: caravansonnet@gmail.com for more information! We look forward to working with you!
Dear friends, If you have been around the December Caravan shop for the last 6 years then you may remember that I take a "creative retreat" away every year in the Spring as we prepare to move into the cabin for the summer. This year I decided to start that early and will be re-opening the shop on June 1st with lots of new goodies!
This time away is always a bittersweet treasure as I plan my upcoming year, decide on new bespoke journal patterns, and plan for the fall and Christmas holidays, but I definitely miss the shop community!
Thank you so much for your sweet support of my shop and all my artistic creations! The shop will re-open on Saturday, June 1st and I will share about the re-opening here on the blog!
Thank you so much for your sweet support of my shop and all my artistic creations! The shop will re-open on Saturday, June 1st and I will share about the re-opening here on the blog!
Dearest Friends, as we celebrate this precious weekend of remembering Christ's extravagant work on the cross to save us, may you be blessed with the knowledge that Christ is risen, draw comfort in the truth that our sufferings are temporary, and rejoice in the miraculous hope of our risen Lord!
Happy Wednesday friends! I hope that you are having a wonderful week! Today I am so excited to share with y'all a bit more about the #ADK50falls challenge and specifically about Jay Falls, the waterfall I mentioned on Monday that I went to see this past weekend as the first falls in the challenge!
If you aren't familiar with the #ADK50falls challenge, you can read about the entire challenge HERE, but simply put there are 50 waterfalls that you hike and visit (5 require proof with photo that you were there) to complete the challenge. Participating in this is so fun and exciting and I am looking forward to doing this and the another challenge I will share more about in the next few weeks.
If you would like to know just basic facts about the falls please just scroll down to the bottom of the post where I will be sharing basic information to help those who want to know more specifics about each of the falls in the challenge.
Jay Falls is located in Jay, New York and is approximately 25 minutes from Lake Placid. The falls are broad falls and are easy to see from the parking spots (the pictures above were all taken from right outside my car).
Located right above Jay Falls is the Jay Covered Bridge which is the only covered bridge remaining in Essex County. It was built in 1857 and was rehabilitated in 2006. You can easily walk across it and see the falls from the windows or walk to the other side and see more views of the falls from the other side of the bridge.
The pictures above are from the left side of the bridge. Some of the pictures were taken from the parking spots on that side and then I also climbed down (about 3 feet) to be closer to the water to take a few more.
After walking back across the bridge to return to my car and parking area I decided to follow a little path down to get closer to the falls. The path down is about 15 feet down and it leads you to some huge rocks that you can sit on to be close to the falls and sit there.
I saw that there was a tiny path that continued on and decided to follow it up to the top of the falls. Along the way someone had placed some rocks to use as stepping stones to cross the stream that flows into the river. Aren't they so cute? *smiles*
I saw this in one of the rocks as I walked along and wondered what it was used for? Maybe to tie things up? It was pretty far away from the river so it made me definitely curious!
The top of the falls were simply gorgeous and I sat for a long time just listening to the water and appreciating the beauty around me. I can't recommend a visit to Jay Falls enough and hope that y'all will join in on this very fun challenge!
When I was extremely sick I used to grieve not being able to be outside in nature as much as I wanted to be and if this is where you are at due to health reasons I hope that the information I provide about each of the falls in this challenge will encourage you to explore as you are able.
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......JAY FALLS INFORMATION......
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......JAY FALLS INFORMATION......
LOCATION:
38 John Fountain Road, Jay, NY 12941 (approx. 50 minutes from Plattsburgh // 25 from Lake Placid)
TYPE OF FALLS:
TYPE OF FALLS:
20 foot falls (broad set)
KEY LANDMARKS:
KEY LANDMARKS:
Jay Covered Bridge (Built in 1857- rehabilitated in 2006) - only covered bridge remaining in Essex County
COST:
COST:
Free
PARKING:
Very small parking area. There were 3 parking spots on each side of the Jay Bridge (including 1 disability parking spot on each side).
CROWDED?:
No. I arrived at the falls around noon on a Saturday in April and only saw two other people while I was there. At one point I had the entire area to myself.
DISTANCE TO FALLS FROM PARKING AREA:
None. You can see the falls from the parking spots (on either side of the river). If you want to get closer to the falls you can walk down from the parking lot and explore a bit along the river.
DISABILITY FRIENDY?:
DISABILITY FRIENDY?:
Yes. The parking includes space for those with tags, but the great thing is that you can enjoy these falls even if you can't get out of the car. You will be able to see a view of them from the parking area. If you are able to, you only have to walk approx. 50 feet to the bridge. There are also benches to sit on both sides of the river.
You can see a couple of videos of Jay Falls on my stories on Instagram (click the #adk50falls icon)!
You can see a couple of videos of Jay Falls on my stories on Instagram (click the #adk50falls icon)!
Thank you so much for reading today friends! Please let me know if you have any questions about the challenge or Jay Falls! I am happy to answer and can't wait to hear about your waterfall adventures! Have a wonderful day!
On Friday morning my mom and I woke up really early to drive over to Syracuse for the day. I had never been to Syracuse so it was fun to make the trip over. It was a full and long day, but one with lots of laughter and these are moments that I treasure with my mom. We left at about 3:45am and got home around 10pm. A full day, but one with lots of blessings and laughter.
Saturday I started the #ADK50falls challenge and my little heart was so excited. You can read about the entire challenge HERE, but simply put there are 50 waterfalls that you hike and visit (5 require proof with photo that you were there) to complete the challenge. Participating in this is so fun and exciting and I am looking forward to doing this and the another challenge I will share more about in the next few weeks.
It is such an incredible blessing to be able to be out and spending so much time in the mountains again. It is definitely something that I dreamed about throughout the fight for my health and life and to be at this beginning stages of complete healing now truly leaves me speechless.
The first waterfall that I did was Jay Falls in Jay, New York. It was a bit of a drive, but a very easy waterfall (it is literally right next to the parking spaces) and this was what I was looking for after the long day from the day before. Jay Falls is truly stunning and I will be doing a complete post on it later this week and can't wait to share more with y'all!
If you want to follow along on Instagram and see all of the falls pictures you can find them in my stories under the #ADK50falls tab *smiles*! I can't wait continue to share more!
After spending time at the falls I decided that I wanted to do some more exploring and a little bit of hiking so I decided to just drive out into the Adirondacks on some roads I had never been on before. It was so beautiful and just traveling onto different roads was an adventure. I came across a beautiful pond and kept taking the roads until they turned dirt and eventually there was a place to pull off on the side of the road(that wasn't on private property) so I hiked down to the pond. Even though I hadn't gone that far into the mountains it was very remote and it was stunningly silent and beautiful.
It was simply gorgeous and it was so good for this heart of mine to get out into the mountains. This beautiful spring weekend made me even more excited about the days and weeks ahead. *smiles*
I can't believe that we are heading into the third week of April y'all! I think I say this with every weekend recap post but this new year seems to be flying so quickly. I want to grab onto the moments and just hold time still in some ways, and yet it continues to march forward and with that I know will come new adventures and joys.
Did y'all have a good weekend? Did you do anything special this weekend? Happy Monday friends! I hope that you have a wonderful beginning to your new week! If you think about it today I would love some prayers for my mom who is having a minor surgery/procedure done today. Thank you so much friends!
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