Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’

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Watery Wednesday # 56: Little River in Autumn

October 7, 2009
Little River at Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area, Smoky Mountains, Tennessee.

Little River at Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area, Smoky Mountains, Tennessee.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

Autumn is slowly coming to our part of Tennessee — the trees are starting to get some color.  Betsy and I haven’t had a chance to get to the Smokies since things have been hectic around here over the past couple of weeks.  The picture above was taken a couple of years ago at Metcalf Bottoms Picinic Area along Little River Road in the Smokies.  The trees along Little River had the definite look of autumn when this picture was taken.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 18 Comments »

My World # 52: Autumn Color

October 6, 2009
Our front yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. September 28, 2009.

Our front yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. September 28, 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.

Cooler temperatures and rain mean that autumn colors are starting to show up here on the Plateau of Tennessee.  Our dogwood tree and some of the trees across the street are starting to turn.  The picture above was taken after I had mowed and cleaned up fallen leaves.  So the grass is green and the roses are still blooming.  Autumn couldn’t be much nicer than that!

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Posted in My World | 14 Comments »

Autumn Colors From Long Ago

September 17, 2009
Barren River State Park, Kentucky. October 7, 2001.

Barren River State Park, Kentucky. October 7, 2001.

Actually it wasn’t all that long ago.

We had another  rainy day here on the Plateau, so I got to do more work on some of my older pictures.

Both Betsy and I moved to Tennessee in December, 2000.  Prior to that move I had lived in the Midwest and the Carolinas, while Betsy lived mostly in the South and Texas.  As a result, she didn’t get to enjoy the seasons nearly as much as I did.

The autumn of 2001 was the first chance Betsy had to enjoy autumn colors.  We heard about a nice hiking trail in Ashland, Tennessee, and went up there one Saturday to enjoy the colors.  Betsy had a thing about red leaves and she found several, which made the hike even more enjoyable.

One Sunday we took my parents up to Barren River State Park in Kentucky and also enjoyed the color up there.

The photos I found of these two expeditions aren’t great works of art, but I must admit that it was fun to go back and see what we looked like as newly weds.  If you would like to see more of our searches for autumn color click HERE.

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Posted in Autumn | 13 Comments »

Waterloo Falls

September 12, 2009
Waterloo Falls, Cookeville, Tennessee. February 23, 2008,

Waterloo Falls, Cookeville, Tennessee. February 23, 2008,

As you know if you’ve read this blog very long, Betsy and I collect waterfalls.  We started back in 2001 when we were dating.  We had gone to Fall Creek Falls here in Tennessee for the day, and while viewing the waterfalls there we realized we were falling in love.

We began our waterfall collection in honor of that day.  Since then we have visited 343 different waterfalls.  Some of the waterfalls are very well known — Niagara Falls is a good example.  Some we found because they are listed in waterfall books.  Some we found out about on the internet, and others we have just accidently stumbled across by driving on back roads.

An example of a waterfall (actually two waterfalls) we found through the internet is the waterfall above.  Betsy did a search for waterfalls near us and came across a mention of Waterloo Falls north of Cookeville.  I checked our books and couldn’t find any reference to it, but Betsy was able to get some general directions.

So one Saturday we set out to find Waterloo Falls if at all possible.  We were successful and were rewarded by a second, smaller waterfall upstream from the main waterfall.  When we got back home we found that the smaller waterfall is known as Upper Waterloo Falls.

If you would like to see more of these two waterfalls click HERE.

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Posted in Waterfalls | 11 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: Sailor’s Delight

September 4, 2009
A Fairfield Glade evening sky. August 30, 2009.

A Fairfield Glade evening sky. August 30, 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.

“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight”

We may not have many sailors here on the Plateau of Tennessee, but we have many people who can appreciate a beautiful sunset.  I snapped this red sky from the golf course behind our house on this past Sunday evening.

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This is just a short note to let you know that I’m taking a break over Labor Day weekend.  I need to labor in the yard and get some other projects done.  Have a great weekend and I’ll see you Tuesday morning.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 22 Comments »

Lynn Camp Prong

September 3, 2009
Middle Lynn Camp Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. June, 2007.

Middle Lynn Camp Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. June, 2007.

There are many popular areas in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that almost everyone who visits the park have seen or at least heard about — Cades Cove, Laurel Falls, and Clingman’s Dome to name just a few.

Betsy and I have been to all of those places, but some of our favorite times in the Smokies have been when we visited lesser-known areas of the park.  One such area is along Lynn Camp Prong.

In southern parlance, a prong is a branch of a river.  Lynn Camp was a lumber camp before the park was formed.  Lynn Camp Prong is a small stream that runs through the location of that old lumber camp.

To reach Lynn Camp and the hiking trail you have to go past Tremont Institure (off the road to Cade’s Cove) to the very end of the road.  The trail heads up along Lynn Camp Prong as it tumbles over several cascades and small falls.  Although they are not very big, the falls are pretty.  The hike is not difficult, and the chances are that you will have the trail and the cascades all to yourself.  There are even a couple of benches along the trail at which you can enjoy the views.

If you would like to see more of our hike along Lynn Camp Prong click HERE.

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Posted in Hiking | 9 Comments »

Shopping with the ‘Old Folks’

August 27, 2009
George at Cafe Uno in Maryville, Tennessee. July 23, 2001.

George at Cafe Uno in Maryville, Tennessee. July 23, 2001.

It’s amazing how time flies!  It wasn’t too many years ago that I did most of my grocery shopping on Saturdays.  When my first wife, Elizabeth, became too ill to do the shopping, I would buy groceries on Saturday mornings since I didn’t have to work then.  I continued to do my grocery shopping on Saturdays after Elizabeth died.

Now Betsy and I do our grocery shopping on Wednesday.  Why, you ask?  Because our local Kroger store gives senior citizens a discount on Wednesday.  And if that’s not enough incentive, they also provide FREE COFFEE to seniors.

But recently there has been a change.  It wasn’t all that long ago that I got my feelings hurt if the checkout person asked ‘Do you qualify for the senior discount?’.  Now that same question makes me feel pretty good!!!

I’d like to think that I don’t look as old as a majority of the people in the store on Wednesdays, but perhaps I’m just indulging in wishful thinking.  I guess I might as well admit that I’m now one of those ‘old folks’.  But there is a bright side — on Wednesdays the store plays Big Band music over their sound system.  That’s a big improvement over other days of the week!!

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Posted in American Life | 14 Comments »

Excitement in our Backyard

July 27, 2009
A baby bluebird on our deck. July26, 2009.

A baby bluebird on our deck. July26, 2009.

If you have been reading Betsy’s blog, you know how interested she has been in the bluebird family that has been nesting in our back yard.  We’ve been watching the second brood and Betsy felt that it was close to the time for the babies to fledge.

In the late morning yesterday Betsy noticed the baby bluebird in the above picture on the deck.  He most have flown to the deck from the nest, but he wasn’t very good at flying just then.  He mostly ran around the deck before falling off the edge.  Fortunately he wasn’t hurt.

Were there any birds left in the nest?  A quick check of the nest showed that there were still babies in there, but that they were thinking about venturing into the big world.

Ready to explore the world. July 26, 2009.

Ready to explore the world. July 26, 2009.

Betsy was able to see the maiden flight of one of the babies.  They didn’t get very far on that first flight, but at least they were out in the world.  Daddy and Mommy Bluebird (and the juveniles from the first brood) kept a close watch on the babies, encouraged them in their efforts to fly, and in general offered moral support.

Daddy Bluebird keeping watch. July 26, 2009.

Daddy Bluebird keeping watch. July 26, 2009.

But things got very interesting when squirrels got too close to a baby.  Then all the bluebirds started chattering and raising a ruckus.  If the squirrel didn’t leave quickly enough, the bluebirds started dive-bombing it.  I didn’t know squirrels could move so fast once that started.  I only wish we could have captured a picture of that.

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Posted in Birds | 17 Comments »

Scenic Sunday # 54: Newfound Gap

July 26, 2009
Newfound Gap, Great Smoky Mountains. May 19, 2001.

Newfound Gap, Great Smoky Mountains. May 19, 2001.

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.

As I mentioned the other day, Betsy and I visited with friends at Cades Cove in the Smokies on Thursday.  That visit got me looking at other pictures we’ve taken in the park, and I decided to share these pictures with you.

The picture above was taken in 2001 at Newfound Gap.  As southerners know, a gap is a low point in a mountain ridge.  New Englanders call such places “notches” while westerners refer to them as mountain “passes.”  At an elevation of 5,046 feet Newfound Gap is the lowest drivable pass through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The old road over the Smoky Mountains crossed at Indian Gap, located about 1.5 miles west of the current site.  In 1872 a Swiss geographer, Arnold Henry Guyot, discovered Newfound Gap was lower than Indian Gap.  When the lower, easier crossing was discovered, it became known as the “newfound” gap.  A new road followed, and it became the forerunner of Newfound Gap Road, which can be seen in the distance in the picture above.

But as scenic as the picture above may be, the following picture is even more scenic.  That’s because it shows my beautiful bride at that same location on the same day.

Betsy at Newfound Gap, GSMNP. May 19, 2001.

Betsy at Newfound Gap, GSMNP. May 19, 2001.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 9 Comments »

Skywatch Friday # 54: Cades Cove

July 24, 2009
Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. July 23, 2009.

Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. July 23, 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.

Yesterday Betsy and I visited our friends Judy and Charlie, who were camping at Cades Cove in the Smokies.  Judy and Charlie camp there every year, and Betsy and I usually go over to visit with them at least one day.  We sit around a campfire (it’s been cool in the mountains) and get caught up on what each couple has been doing since the last time we got together.

We talked so much yesterday that we didn’t have time for a hike, so the best Betsy and I could do was drive to the beginning of the Cades Cove loop and get a few pictures.  That’s where the picture above was taken.

Celebrating our monthaversary at Cafe Uno, Maryville, Tennessee. July 23, 2009.

Celebrating our monthaversary at Cafe Uno, Maryville, Tennessee. July 23, 2009.

Yesterday was our 97th ‘monthaversary’.  We decided since we met so late in life we would celebrate our wedding ‘monthaversary’ as well as the anniversary.  Since it was on the way home, we decided to stop at Uno’s for a deep dish Chicago pizza.  It had been quite some time since we had one and that seemed like a great way to end a special day.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 16 Comments »

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