Turtles in Florida

Just some turtle photos taken in Florida during our February 2009 trip.

Cades Cove Turkey in the GSMNP

This turkey is safe from hunters because he is at Cades Cove,

in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

He did puff up a little for me, but not as much as I would have liked him to.

He finally decided he didn't want to show off for me at all.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families!!

Morning Light at Cades Cove

Times like this is when I can feel God all around me.

These were taken within 5 minutes of each other in the picnic

area of Cades Cove, October 29, 2009.

I have already made them into greeting cards,

you can check the greeting cards out by clicking here and here.

Newfound Gap - Fall 2008

These fall color photographs were taken October 2008.

This year I returned to Newfound Gap, one year and one day later. The leaves were gone. The bright colored tree above had no leaves. The Gap had snow about 8 - 10 days earlier, and my speculation is that the snow brought the leaves down. Two weeks later I was at Campbell Overlook (a mile or so down the mountain toward Gatlinburg) and the leaves were the prettiest I have ever seen there. Kind of supports my snow theory for the top.

These were taken at sunrise. When I go for the fall colors, I want to be there when the sun comes up, sometimes arriving while it is still pitch black.

I hate that the Gap didn't show these gorgeous colors again this year,

but there is always next year.

Streams with fall colors in the GSMNP

Jimmy and I took 2 days off to go to the mountains to see the fall colors, the previous post is the beginning of the photographs I took. The first day we went to Cades Cove, which I have not begun to go through those photographs yet. To get to Cades Cove from our house we go through Wears Valley to Townsend and onto Cades Cove. The 2nd day we also went through Wears Valley, but then we went across the Foothills Parkway to 129. 129 is known as the Tail of the Dragon, which we traveled to Deal's Gap, and onto Fontana and Cherokee. Normally we would have gone to I40 to head home, but with the landslide totally blocking I40 we cut back across the mountain through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

If we had gone our usual route we would not have seen this beautiful setting.

We saw 2 tractor trailers and a tractor without the trailer that thought they would also cut through the park to avoid going the detour route. The park rangers had them all stopped. A person cannot miss the signs about no commercial vehicles in the park, and you know a truck driver would not have missed them. Guess they thought they would just sneak through, like nobody would notice the only tractor trailers to ever be in the park in the 75 years of it's existence.

Fontana North Carolina fall colors

Jimmy and I were able to take off Thursday and Friday and we went to the mountains. They are so close to us we came home both nights. We had a great time and I got some fall color photographs.The first 2 shots are on the road to Fontana Village, a sharp turn in the road and this water cove caught my eye. The sign said we were at Tapoco, part of Alcoa Power.

The red trees were in Fontana Village, hopped out at a stop sign and snapped this one.

The view from the top of Fontana Dam.

A shot taken from inside the moving car, through my dirty windshield. (Jimmy was driving.)

My favorite of these is the 2nd photograph. I haven't been through everything I took in those 2 days, but so far I have only seen one I liked better. I will post it in a few days. I have to get to sleep so I can go to knitting class before I go to work Tuesday afternoon.