Looking Forward to Spring

I’ve been looking through my pictures of flowers and I can’t wait until it’s spring!  So far there have been a few warm days but it will be nice to have several days in a row of sunshine and warmer temperatures.  I’ve also noticed that the birds are more active as they cheerfully sing in the morning.  The first flowers are starting to come back, as well as the freshness of the new greenery.  I’ve also started to notice displays of brightly colored planters outside of charming shops.  Here are some pictures from a walk that I took when I visited the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee along with a nearby scenic town in North Carolina.

Pale flowers

Springtime…

Everything is fresh again

A group of wildflowers

Early spring flowers

Spring will be especially welcome this year…

Travel in Autumn

In keeping with the theme of this blog I have been traveling a lot lately.  A few weeks ago I was in North Carolina and Tennessee and I saw lots of mountains as well as the fall foliage.  Last week I was in Nevada and I had the opportunity to see Hoover Dam.  There is quite a contrast between the scenery in the southeast and the west.

The mountains in October (east):

Hoover Dam scenes in November (west):

Lake Mead

A little greenery…

View from Hoover Dam

Late afternoon

I didn’t know that Hoover Dam is in both Nevada and Arizona, and there is a time difference.  You can see that I can walk fast (or slow depending on which time zone you follow).

Travel theme: Stone

I have just returned from a trip that included a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.  There weren’t many people around so I enjoyed a peaceful morning walk.  Everywhere I looked there were stones both in and out of the water.  Here is some of what I saw.

moss-covered stones

looking over the guard rail

some stones are underwater

fast moving water

These almost look like steps.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting

Last month I visited Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Early one morning I noticed that mist was swirling around the mountains and then a few minutes later it had changed.  Here is some of what I saw of the fleeting appearance of the mist from the mountains.

A Wildflower Walk in the Mountains

Last week I was in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  One afternoon I took a walk in the Great Smoky Mountains and there were many wildflowers along the trail.  The whole time I could hear the sound of rushing water and the sunlight was rather pale as it filtered through the leaves on the trees.  The mountain air was fresh and very fragrant.  Here are some of the flowers and other sights along the path.

this looked like a cave

Yellow Trillium

in the forest

rushing water

Weekly Photo Challenge: From Above

I just got back from a short trip that included a visit to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  There was a chair lift ride that provided panoramic views of the mountains when I reached the top.  On the way down I was directly above this scene just before I got off.  You may notice the shadow in the top corner.  I’ve included some other pictures to show what I could see from my seat on the chair lift.

Mountain Views in Autumn

While I was in North Carolina I wanted to find out more about the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.  It was an easy drive from North Carolina and the people at the local information center were very helpful.  They pointed out on a map where there were good places to see the mountains.  On their recommendation I drove to the Foothills Parkway where there were observation points along the road to park the car and admire the view.  Each time I stopped at one of these areas I took many pictures of the mountains.  Here are some of them.