Our World: Beggars on the Road

November 12, 2012

Burros begging for food on the Wilderness Loop, Custer State Park, South Dakota. September 25, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them.)

This is my post for the Our World meme.  This meme is a second generation of My World Tuesday created by Klaus Peter and is hosted by five wonderful ladies.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

Betsy and I live in a small Tennessee town, so we don’t have much experience with beggars.  But as we drove along the Wildlife Loop in South Dakota’s Custer State Park, we encountered a whole herd of them.  As you can see from the photo above, they were quite brazen about begging for food.

Burro in Custer State Park. September 25, 2012.

We tried to identify the ringleader, but we didn’t have much success.  This character was definitely one of the larger beggars, and the others showed him a great deal of deference.

A young burro along the road in Custer State Park, South Dakota. September 25, 2012.

We were surprised to see even children among the beggars.

A begging burro along the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park, South Dakota. September 25, 2012.

Could you refuse a face like this?  I hate to admit it, but we did.

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Our World: Historic Railroad Tunnel

November 5, 2012

The western entrance to the Western & Atlantic Railroad Tunnel in Tunnel Hill, Georgia. This is the way we entered. September 1, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them.)

This is my post for the Our World meme.  This meme is a second generation of My World Tuesday created by Klaus Peter and is hosted by five wonderful ladies.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, Betsy attended another pre-wedding event for her future daughter-in-law in Dalton, Georgia.  While Betsy was partying, her son Jeff and I visited the historic Western & Atlantic Railroad Tunnel in nearby Tunnel Hill, Georgia.

The interior of the tunnel, showing the layers of rock the workers had to cut through. September 1, 2012.

The tunnel was built to connect the port of Augusta, Georgia, and the Tennessee River Valley.  The tunnel is 1,477 feet long through the base of Chetoogeta Mountain, and it was designed to be the first railroad across the Appalachian Mountains.

Another view of the rock inside the Western & Atlantic Railroad Tunnel. September 1, 2012.

Construction of the tunnel began in 1848, and the first Western & Atlantic train passed through the tunnel on May 9, 1850.  The town of Tunnel Hill sprang up during construction of the tunnel, and after the tunnel was completed Atlanta became one of the railway’s major hubs.

The railroad tunnel played a part in several Civil War events, including the Great Locomotive Chase and the 1864 Battle of Tunnel Hill.

After the Civil War larger train cars got stuck in the tunnel several times, which led to the building of a larger, parallel tunnel.  The railroad stopped using the historic tunnel in 1928.

The eastern entrance of the tunnel, 1477 feet from the western entrance. Tunnel Hill, Georgia. September 1, 2012.

The tunnel suffered neglect for about 70 years, but in 1992 steps were taken to preserve and rehabilitate the old tunnel.  It was opened to the public in 2000 in time to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first train passing through.

The ceiling of the tunnel. The black is soot from the wood- and coal-burning engines that traveled through the tunnel. September 1, 2012.

I couldn’t take my tripod into the tunnel, so most of the interior photos are not very good.  But it was fascinating to walk through the tunnel and remember that it was built with hand tools.

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Bighorn Sheep

November 2, 2012

Bighorn Sheep, Wildlife Loop, Custer State Park, South Dakota. September 25, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

Betsy and I were beginning to feel a little disappointed as we drove along the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park — we hadn’t seen any wildlife at all.  But then, as we approached a curve, we noticed several cars over on the side of the road.  We of course pulled over as well and spotted these guys on the side of a hill above the road.

Bighorn Sheep, Wildlife Loop, Custer State Park, South Dakota. September 25, 2012.

This was the first time on the trip that we were able to get a good close look at bighorn sheep.  Those horns are absolutely amazing.  I got these photos with my telephoto lens.

Bighorn Sheep, Wildlife Loop, Custer State Park, South Dakota. September 25, 2012.

We tried to get into a position where the sheep didn’t have their backs to us, but this is the best we could do.  I think these are magnificent animals.

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Smoky Mountains Panorama

October 31, 2012

A panorama of the Smoky Mountains as seen from the Foothills Parkway in Tennessee. October 23, 2012.

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Last week Betsy and I drove along the Foothills Parkway, which is just west of the Smoky Mountains.  We were able to enjoy the autumn colors and beautiful views without getting caught in all the traffic of the Smoky Mountains National Park.

The views were spectacular, and I was inspired to try to get a panorama of the scene.  The picture above is my first effort, created by merging three photos in Photoshop.  I don’t think it looks too shabby, if I do say so myself.

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Our World: Ocoee River

October 29, 2012

The Ocoee River in Tennessee, August 17, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them.)

This is my post for the Our World meme.  This meme is a second generation of My World Tuesday created by Klaus Peter and is hosted by five wonderful ladies.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

In August Betsy and I had to go to Young Harris, Georgia, so Betsy could attend a bridal shower for her future daughter-in-law.  Since there are several waterfalls in the area that we haven’t visited, we decided to go down a day early and do some hiking.

We decided to take the ‘scenic route’, and drove along the Ocoee River here in Tennessee for several miles.  The Ocoeee River was the site of the whitewater slalom events during the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.  A mile-long Olympic whitewater course was built by the Forest Service fed by releases of water from Ocoee Dam #3.

White water on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. August 17, 2012.

Downstream from the Olympic course is a 4.5-mile whitewater rafting area fed by water released from Ocoee Dam #2.  This section of the river has been open to the public since the 1970s, mainly for daytime releases of water on weekends and holidays.  We stopped along this public section of the river to get some pictures.

Rafts on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. August 17, 2012.

There were many rafts and kayaks along this stretch of the river.  While the rapids were not the highest we’ve seen, people seemed to be having a lot of fun floating down the river.

Kayaks on the Ocoee. August 17, 2012.

All of the rafts we saw made it through the rapids near us without incident.

Oops! A kayak going over in white water on the Ocoee River. August 17, 2012.

Not all of the kayaks were so lucky.

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SkyWatch Friday: Smoky Mountains Sky

October 26, 2012

Looking toward the Smoky Mountains from the Foothills Parkway, Tennessee. October 14, 2010.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the nation’s most visited national park.  People come throughout the year to see the mountains.  They come in October to see the autumn colors.  But the sky is also worth seeing and enjoying.

This picture was taken in early October from the Foothills Parkway looking toward the Smoky Mountains.

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Middle Prong of Little River

October 24, 2012

A small cascade on the Middle Prong of Little River, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. August 27, 2012.

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In late August Betsy and I visited the Smoky Mountains after an early morning appointment in Knoxville.  We drove along the Middle Prong of Little River up past Tremont.  This is off the beaten path in the Smokies, except for fishermen, and we enjoy being able to stop and enjoy the river without having to worry about traffic.

The river was lower than we’ve ever seen it, but there were still places where we could stop and enjoy seeing the water rushing over and around boulders in the stream.

Water swirling over rocks in Middle Prong, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. (Photo by Betsy)

Betsy got some wonderful pictures of the clear water flowing over the rocky river bottom.

Middle Prong of Little River, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. August 27, 2012.

We hope that our dry weather soon comes to an end and that there will be more water in the river the next time we go.  But we enjoyed this trip to the beautiful Smokies and look forward to many more.

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Our World: More from the Wildlife Loop

October 22, 2012

Pronghorn antelope on the prairie in Custer State Park, South Dakota. September 25, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

This is my post for the Our World meme.  This meme is a second generation of My World Tuesday created by Klaus Peter and is hosted by five wonderful ladies.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

As I shared in an earlier post (click HERE if you missed it), we saw bison while driving the WildLife Loop in Custer State Park in South Dakota.  But we also saw other wildlife as well.  The pronghorn above was spotted before we saw the herd of bison.

Pronghorn along the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. September 25, 2012.

After leaving the bison, we noticed this pronghorn sitting in an open area on the prairie.  She (we decided it was a she) was intently watching a tree about 100 yards away.

Juvenile pronghorns resting under a tree. September 25, 2012.

We were curious about her behavior, so we looked at the tree more closely and spotted these smaller pronghorns.  Mama was evidently keeping a careful eye on them.

A deer outside Custer State Park, South Dakota. September 25, 2012.

We were leaving the park when we spotted this lovely creature in a field.  It looks like she’s watching us as intensely as we were watching her.

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Skywatch Friday: The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

October 12, 2012

 

The sky along Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. September 17, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

On our second  day in Rocky Mountain National Park Betsy and I visited parts of the park we hadn’t visited before.  It was a wonderful day, although we went from bright sunny skies, to clouds, to rain and even to some sleet and snow.  On our way over the mountains the clouds were so low we felt we could reach out and touch them.  Near the top of the mountain we came upon this scene with sunbeams showing through the clouds.

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Down Memory Lane: Castillo San Marcos

October 10, 2012

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In August, 2009, Betsy and I traveled to Florida to see her brother in Jacksonville and to celebrate Betsy’s birthday.  After leaving Jacksonville we stopped in St. Augustine to visit Castillo San Marcos, the fortress built by the Spanish to protect their outpost.

To see larger versions of these pictures and others, click HERE.

 

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