National Tree Trust

Visiting one of the largest cities in the US – the beautiful city of San Diego – is always a unique experience every single time. Perhaps it’s because there are so many things to do and so many places to visit in San Diego that every time I visit this city, I manage to discover something extraordinary which is rare in any other part of the world. This time I decided to explore the popular national parks which lie within the city limits and I was completely enthralled by the experience. The national parks are so near the city but once you’re inside them, you would feel as if you are far away from civilization – that’s how amazing the parks are.

THE TORREY PINES STATE NATURAL RESERVE

This was the first place where I decided to go. When I checked the website of the reserve for details, I found them describing the park as a “wilderness island in an urban sea”. Trust me when I say I realised just how true it was! The reserve’s ecosystem is home to the rarest pine tree species in the country – the Pinus torreyana. It is truly a marvellous sight with countless pine trees stretching on for what seems like miles and miles. When I had visited the place, I had the fortune of witnessing the clouds mingling among the trees and the green tip of the trees fading off into the misty whiteness of the clouds. It was incredible!

Since the reserve is open to visitors only during the day, I had to begin early in the morning. I decided to have a heavy breakfast in San Diego since no food is allowed inside and the after paying a reasonable fee of $10 (for a day-long pass) I enetered the beautiful Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. Apart from the rich but fragile ecosystem in the reserve-which I feel would be extremely educational as well as entertaining for kids-I discovered the most popular region of the reserve. They were the beaches – long, clean, uncrowded, unspoilt beaches. This was heaven for a person like me who just loves water and the marine animals were equally fascinating as well.

On going a little farther I found the lagoon which is also a popular site. Though I couldn’t identify many of them, there were lots and lots of colourful birds which were definitely worth visiting this part of the reserve. Though I didn’t find any food inside the park, the visit was totally worth the hunger!

MISSION TRAILS REGIONAL PARK

I visited this park the next day and was surprised to find such open spaces just a few minutes away from all the downtown San Diego companies! There are valleys, hills and the popular open spaces which are used for camps, running, hiking and even riding bikes. I found the park to be huge! Later, I found out that the park is spread over 5800 acres and is one of the largest urban parks in the US.

I found the picturesque Kumeyaay Lake to be very fascinating and enjoyed the boating experience on Lake Murray. Then I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the equestrian area and then spent the remainder of my time fishing in the lake!

San Diego is truly lucky to have these marvellous parks so close to the urban jungle of the city!

Ideas for a Fancy Dress Party

I need some ideas for a costume party that I am going to next weekend.  Obviously due to my interest in the environment and specifically trees I want to pick a fancy dress outfit that fits this theme.   When going to a fancy dress party I usually like to plan early to ensure I do not end up choosing the first outfit that comes to my mind when I walk into the costume shop.  So my intial thoughts so far are a tree outfit or something like a bear costume.  I like to remind people as often as I can about climate change and the effect cutting down large portions of our forests is having on our environment and the Earth’s climate.  So perhaps I could communicate this message through my choice of costume and with perhaps some cosmetic changes to the outfit.  I might be able to sew on some slogans on to the front of the tree or add effects like a chainsaw and perhaps tears rolling down the trunk of the tree.  Let me know if you have any creative ideas as to which costume to choose or ideas for customizing suitable fancy dress costumes.   I am really looking forward to this party and hope to make a bit of an impression with my costume.  The main reason I love fancy dress parties so much is because for that night you can be whoever or whatever character you want to be, when you put on the outfit you subsume the characteristics and personality of that particular character. You can also make a strong statement with an appropriate outfit which I am hoping to do with a costume that highlights the damage we do to the environment.   It may not be much but I like to use every opportunity I have to remind people as to how much damage is done every day to our environment.  When we are living in our busy lives we tend to forget about the natural world we live in and that our grandchildren and their grandchildren will live in.  Wearing a statement outfit will not change things over night but every little bit helps and the more people are reminded about the outside world the more likely more and more people will do something to help save that world.

There are many things that we can do to fight climate change.  Planting trees and protecting our native forests is definitely one of them, but another one is using renewable energy sources.  Solar power is one of the best forms of renewable energy available.  Once the panels have been produced there is no more cost to the environment, and you can be guaranteed of over 25 years of free electricity!  Just recently we decided to put an off grid solar system on a place that we have in the country.  It works perfectly!  Although in Winter we have to run the generator occasionally, the rest of the year we get free power.  Some people think that stand alone solar systems are not as powerful as regular electricity, but we run all of our appliances on it without a problem, including occasionally a welder!    So, if you are worried about the planet, and wish to do something, consider installing a solar system on your house today!

I decided recently that it was time for me to take a vacation with my family. It had been awhile since we last took one and we desperately needed one. I was undecided at first about where we would travel to for our vacation, but after some discussion, we finally settled on visiting the mountain region of Tennessee. Visiting the Great Smoky Mountains was something that I have wanted to do for a really long time and I figured that now would be the perfect time to do that. Like most people, I had a tight budget for my vacation and I really hoped to be able enjoy a vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains without breaking the bank.

While planning my trip to Tennessee, I considered all of the possibilities for our lodging. I considered a renting a traditional hotel, but then I made the decision that I wanted a lodging experience that would be unique and a hotel is definitely not unique. Then I thought about camping, but quickly decided against it. Camping just was not the best option for my family. I then looked into cabin rentals with popular cabin rental agencies and quickly became discouraged when I saw the outrageous rates for their cabins. While doing more research, I found an alternative option – renting a privately owned cabin for the duration of our vacation. This option was perfect for me! I found listings of cheap cabins in Tennessee and was impressed to find that I could afford many of them.

When my family and I arrived in Tennessee, we immediately wanted to check out the cabin that we rented. Our cabin was located in Pigeon Forge, not very far from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The cabin we rented had everything we could have possibly needed and much more! We rented a cozy little cabin with two bedrooms and one bathroom that could comfortably sleep four people. The cabin had a full kitchen with a fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher, and toaster. The bedrooms were cozy with very comfortable beds. The living room was spacious and had a television, DVD player, and wireless internet. Our cabin even had a hot tub out on the back deck. What made this even better was that our cabin was only $99 per night. Completely affordable and had everything we needed!  Go here to find out more about cheap cabins in pigeon forge tn.

My family and I quickly fell in love with Pigeon Forge. There is so much to do in this mountain resort city, we never ran out of things to do. Not only are there many outdoor activities such as hiking, picnicking, sightseeing, wildlife viewing, bicycling, kayaking, white water rafting, horseback riding, and many other activities, but there are also a number of attractions to visit as well! My family enjoyed visiting Dollywood Amusement Park, the Titanic Museum Attraction, WonderWorks, and playing miniature golf. To me, the best part of the day was unwinding from an eventful day in the comfort of our charming and peaceful cabin with the most beautiful mountain views. I was very much impressed to find that there were many cheap cabins to choose from that were perfect!

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the Smoky mountains.  The Smoky Mountains national park would have to be one of the most beautiful regions of native forest left in the United States.  Millions of people every year flock to this region to experience the beauty of these mountains, from their wildlife to their thousands of year old forests.  In Fall especially the Smoky mountains are famous for the way the mountains change color as the leaves do.  Spectacular displays of red, orange and yellow can be seen.  Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are probably the most common places to stay while visiting the Smokies.  While we were there we stayed in Pigeon Forge.  There are lots of things to do in this area, like Ripley’s aquarium and Dollywood.  We tried to stay away from these tourist traps though and just enjoyed the beauty of the natural surrounds.  We wanted to see a black bear but unfortunately didn’t get a chance to.  Maybe next time, as we’ll certainly be back!

Although France doesn’t celebrate Arbor day, nearby Belgium does, around the 21st of March each year.  It’s called the day of treeplanting.  Although it’s not a public holiday, it is a special day when people get together to plant trees and there is a lot of education and awareness around the importance of forests.  Belgium is a small country but it has three national languages: Dutch, German and French.  For more information on tree planting day in Belgium this year you can click here.  If you are thinking of going to Belgium to plant some trees then we recommend you learn a bit of French before you go.
French is a very beautiful language and is one of the most popular foreign languages in the world to learn. French is a romance language and there are over 115 million speakers of the French language. French is actually the official language in 29 different countries. For many different reasons, people all over the world want to learn how to speak the French language. Unfortunately, not many people feel like they have enough time to do so. A lot of people feel that learning a new language is very time consuming and it can be very costly as well. This really is not the case at all! Anyone can start learning French online from the comfort of their own home!

Learning a language online is becoming increasingly more popular each year. There are an incredible amount of benefits involved in learning a language online. First, when you study French online, it does not have to be time consuming at all. You can pick and choose the days and time in which you can study. If you have a very busy schedule, you can choose to study only a few minutes per day. It will take you longer to learn that way, but it can be extremely beneficial to learn a language at your very own pace. Another great benefit is that you don’t have to leave your house. You can find many ways to study French online using your own computer. French language lessons are available to you at all times so it is very easy to just turn on your computer and jump into your lessons at any given time. One of the best benefits of all is that there are many ways to study French online for free!

Learning a new language does not have to be as intimidating as it may seem. Many people believe that learning a new language can be scary. When you study French online, you can study at your very own pace. You do not have to worry about not being able to keep up with a fast teaching instructor. With these online lessons, you can repeat any lesson as many times as you need to. Online lessons allow you to start from the very basics of the French language and then work your way up to more advanced lessons. You will feel so amazing that you chose to study French online!