Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’

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Memories of a Smokies Autumn

November 9, 2009
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Betsy along Little River in the Smokies. October, 2002.

Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees around our house, so in many ways the pretty part of autumn is just about over for us.  But I’m not sure which season is going to follow — the temperatures were in the mid-70s Sunday.  That’s entirely too warm to be raking leaves!  Some of our blogger friends have been complaining about the temperatures in Florida.  I think they must have sent that warm weather our way.  I’m going to try to send it back!

Although most of our leaves are gone, we still have many memories of of beautiful autumn colors from years past.  In October of 2002 Betsy and I spent a long weekend in the Smokies.  Of course we checked out some waterfalls, but we also enjoyed some wonderful autumn colors.

In the picture above my favorite tree hugger is making a tree along Little River very happy.  To see more of autumn in the Smokies click HERE.

 

 

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Posted in Autumn | 13 Comments »

Scenic Sunday # 69: Cheoah Lake

November 8, 2009
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Cheoah Lake and Dam, Graham County, North Carolina. October 13, 2009.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

Last month Betsy and I drove The Tail of the Dragon on our way to Georgia.  The Tail of the Dragon is an 11-mile stretch of U. S. 129 which is considered by many to be one of the world’s best motorcycling and sports car roads.  The Tail of the Dragon gets its name from the 318 tight curves on the 11-mile stretch.

The Tail of the Dragon takes drivers through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  After crossing into North Carolina we turned onto North Carolina 28, which continued to offer some beautiful scenery, even if it did have fewer curves.

The picture above was taken at a turnout overlooking Cheoah Lake in North Carolina.  Near the center of the picture is Cheoah Dam, which forms the lake on the Little Tennessee River.  The Cheoah Dam was featured in the Harrison Ford movie The Fugitive.  This is the dam that Ford jumped off to escape near the beginning of the movie.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 13 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: Blue Skies

November 6, 2009
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Blue skies over Fairfield Glade. November 2, 2009.

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.

When we are under the influence of a high pressure system, we’re treated to beautiful blue skies.  We have had clear blue skies for most of this week, as you can see from the picture above.

You will also see that many of the branches of the trees around our house are now bear.  That explains all the leaves that we’ve been contending with on the ground.

There wasn’t much of a breeze when I took this picture, but I still think that Old Glory against a blue sky is a beautiful sight.

 

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 13 Comments »

My World: Ready for Winter

November 3, 2009
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Ready for winter -- our woodpile. Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. November 2, 2009.

This is my post for the My World meme.  It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

I finally finished stacking the wood that came while Betsy was in Maggie Valley.  The picture above shows our wood pile.  The wood on the right is what I’ve stacked this year.  We’ll burn that wood next year.  The pile on the left has been aging for a year and that is what we will burn this winter.  If you look at the foreground of the picture you will see lots of leaves.  Guess what we’ll be doing this week?

 

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Full moon in the eastern sky. November 2, 2009.

Now that we’re back on standard time it gets dark early.  Monday we were coming home from Cookeville and had to stop at a grocery store to pick up a few things.  When we came out of the store we saw this full moon in the eastern sky.

 

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Sunset afterglow. Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. November 2, 2009.

As we headed home we came up over a hill and had this view of the western sky.  What a great way to end the day!

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Posted in My World | 23 Comments »

Memories of Burgess Falls

November 2, 2009
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Betsy at the base of Burgess Falls, Cookeville, Tennessee. May 26, 2001.

Rainy days have certain advantages.  One advantage is the ability to work on old pictures without feeling guilty about not being out in the yard.

We had a couple of rainy days last week, and I was able to get some work done on my computer.  One set of pictures that I worked with was a set taken back in 2001 when Betsy and I were dating.

I’ve mentioned that we realized we were falling in love on a date to Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee on April 21, 2001.  That date was the start of our waterfall collection, among other things.

On May 26, 2001, we were an engaged couple on a date to Burgess Falls State Natural Area near Cookeville, Tennessee.  This area is within the Falling Water River Gorge and a one mile hike allowed us to view a cascade and three waterfalls.

When we visited Burgess Falls back in 2001 we had no idea that we would eventually be living in the Glade, which is fairly close to Burgess Falls.  We’ve been back several times since.

If you look closely at the picture above you’ll see that Betsy is posing so that her engagement ring is on display.  I think she rather liked it!

To see more of that first visit to Burgess Falls click HERE.

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No Trick — This is Definitely a Treat

October 31, 2009
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Pink Promise Rose, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. October 30, 2009.

One nice thing about living in Tennessee is that the growing season lasts longer than it does in Ohio.  Even though it is the end of October we still have roses in bloom at the house.

I took the picture of this beauty, Pink Promise, yesterday (Friday).  We have buds and blossoms on several other roses as well.  I hope we can enjoy them  before we get our first frost.

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Posted in Garden | 12 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: An Autumn Sky

October 30, 2009
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A beautiful autumn sky, Cherohala Skyway, Tennessee. October 25, 2009.

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.

Because of the rockslide on I-40, Betsy and i came home by coming from North Carolina to Tennessee on the Cherohala Skyway.  The scenery along the skyway is beautiful any time, but this particular day the autumn colors were stunning, especially along the middle elevations.

The picture above has just about everything you could ask for on a beautiful autumn afternoon:  bright colored leaves, a clear blue sky, and, if you look closely (the picture can be enlarged), a beautiful moon in that blue sky.

 

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More Autumn Color

October 29, 2009
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Autumn color in the Glade. October 29, 2009.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a busy day for us.  We made our weekly trip to town to do the grocery shopping and to help rescue the economy.  It was cloudy while we were in town.

On the way back home we noticed blue sky peeking between the clouds.  By afternoon, when I was out stacking wood, the sky was clear.  I noticed the sunlight on the trees behind our house and had to go get my camera.

At this rate it may take longer than planned to get that wood stacked!

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Posted in Autumn | 18 Comments »

Sunday with Family

October 12, 2009
Wes, Darlene (John's sister), Betsy, Bonnie (cousin), John (Carol's husband) and Carol. Fall Creek Falls, October 10, 2009.

Wes, Darlene (John's sister), Betsy, Bonnie (cousin), John (Carol's husband) and Carol. Fall Creek Falls, October 10, 2009.

If you read Betsy’s blog you know that she has had a couple of her cousins visiting for the weekend.  Saturday was a ‘Girls Day Out’, which can read about HERE.

Yesterday they allowed the men to accompany them to Fall Creek Falls State Park for a lunch buffet.  I suspect we men were allowed to go along so someone would be there to pick up the tab.  But be that as it may, the dinner was absolutely delicious.  If you ever have a chance to eat a meal at Tennessee state park, I encourage you to do so.  (End of commercial!).

Since  Fall Creek Falls is a favorite of ours we had to take Bonnie (from Florida), Carol (from Michigan) and Carol’s husband John on a tour to show them five of our favorite waterfalls.  (Okay, one is technically a cascade, but it is still pretty).

After several rainy, cloudy days we actually had some sunshine and beautiful blue skies.  Even better, we saw significant autumn color for the first time this season.

All in all it was a gorgeous day and I think we may have some visitors returning to Tennessee fairly soon.

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Posted in Family | 15 Comments »

Ozone Falls

October 8, 2009
The top of Ozone Falls, Ozone, Tennessee. January 7, 2009.

The top of Ozone Falls, Ozone, Tennessee. January 7, 2009.

One advantage of rainy days is that I get a chance to work on the giant backlog of pictures I have on my computer.  We’ll need a lot of rain for me to get completely caught up, but I can say that I am making progress.

In January Betsy and I made a trip to Ozone, Tennessee, which is only about ten miles from our heart.  We went to visit Ozone Falls.  We’d been there several times before, but on this visit there were no leaves on the trees to hide the view and there had been plenty of rain in the days before our visit.  These combined to give us a wonderful experience.

Ozone Falls is a 110 foot waterfall in the Ozone State Natural Area.  There is a short, nice trail along Fall Creek to the brink of the falls.  It is also possible to hike down into the gorge to the base of the falls  and to cascades and a smaller waterfall below the main one.  I got adventuresome and explored in the gorge for the first time.

It was a great way to spend a beautiful winter day.  If you would like to see more pictures of this area click HERE.

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