I Heart Tennessee

Barn and silo.

Caney Fork river and surrounding farmland.

Standing Stone State Park

This past Saturday was a gorgeous fall day for a road trip. Me and Terry packed up the truck and headed to one of my favorite Tennessee state parks of all time, Standing Stone! This is the view from the overlook where we stopped to have lunch. On the way out of town we stopped at KFC and grabbed a bucket of chicken and fixings.

Terry chowing down in the picnic shed while I set up the camera and tripod. Even though there was an antique car show going on in the park, we had the place all to ourselves.

I made it a point to bring my camera shutter remote so I could get a couple of shots of me and the hubby :0)

After lunch it was back to the overlook for one last look

and a gratuitous photo of the hubby and me. More pics from Standing Stone to come.

One of many geese at Cumberland Mt. State Park.

Pickett State Park

Terry walking over a natural bridge in Pickett State Park. We hiked one mile on a trail to get to that point. We used to hike quite a bit and it was fun to be able to do that again. Pickett State Park is located in Jamestown, Tennessee.

Suspension bridge in Pickett State Park

Rest area at the top of the bluff. You have to walk across the suspension bridge, then up a small trail to get to this point.

Another view of the natural bridge. Pickett State Park is truly a ruggedly beautiful place!

Edgar Evins State Park

Terry & I took a short road trip up to Edgar Evins State park on
New Year's eve day. I took these pictures at one of the boat ramps
inside the park. It was a gorgeous day!


Center Hill Lake at Edgar Evins State park.

We had a most awesome day with the Sissom/Ashcraft family.
Terry's adopted sister, Cindy, her husband Rob and their
daughter, Caitlin drove from Chicago Friday night. We haven't
seen them in over a year. Terry's mom made a great lunch for
everyone. We watched some football, got caught up and had some
nice family time. As always the good times seem to end too soon.
Rob, Cindy and Caitlin will be driving back to Chicago tomorrow
morning. Hopefully it won't be another year before we get to see
them again.


The Ashcraft family...Rob, Caitlin and Cindy.

River Otters

The River Otters were so cute and very fast. It was hard to get
pictures of them, but I managed to capture these.


Blur and swirl :0)

T on the swinging bridge above Piney Creek.


Me on swinging bridge.


View of Piney Creek from the swinging bridge.

Piney Falls

A view of Piney Falls taken with my long lens.


Piney Falls is the most remote of the Fall Creek Falls State Park
waterfalls. It's 2 miles from Fall Creek Falls and was impossible to
get a good look at. Thank goodness for my trusty long lens :0)
That's the only way I could get a closeup of this particular waterfall.

Cedar tree growing in the rocks.




I would love to have this view from my back porch!

The rugged beauty of Fall Creek Falls. Enjoy!








This is my favorite view!

Congratulations to my niece, Kelly, and her hubby Kerry.
They're expecting a baby in December and found out
today that it's going to be a boy :0) Can't wait to welcome
my great nephew into the world!

Fall Creek Falls

Fall Creek Falls near Spencer, Tennessee is
one of the highest waterfalls east of the Rocky
Mountains. Me and Terry took a road trip to
Fall Creek Falls yesterday afternoon.


A small group of people swimming and wading.
It was a sweltering hot day yesterday and I couldn't
imagine the hike to the bottom of the falls. It's all
we could do to hike the trail to the overlook :0)

As my sister Kay says, "Stay tuned!" :0)

March 12th Roadtrip

Saturday, March 12th was a gorgeous day. Me and Terry set out
in the Jeep for a road trip. We went toward Cookeville, TN's Buck
Mountain, then up to Monterey. Took Highway 70 through Dry
Valley, then back home. I took this picture from the top of a
railway bridge on Buck Mountain looking down to the train tracks
below. Kind of spooky. More pics to come!

Tennessee State Bird

Grabbed a shot of Mockingbirds perched on our clothesline.


The Mockingbird is the state bird of Tennessee :0)

10.10.10

Had the priviledge of hanging out at Dale Hollow lake today with
friends. It was a gorgeous fall day, very summer like.

The Tennessee State Bird

The peak of our roof is this Mockingbird's favorite place
to sit and serenade us. He and his misses are nesting in our
Holly tree. I love his songs! Individual males have repertoires
of 50 to 200 songs; females sing as well, but more quietly and
less often than males.


The Mockingbird is also the state bird of Arkansas, Florida,
Mississippi and Texas.

Hush little baby, don't say a word,

Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don't sing,

Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

The Greatest Show on Earth

On January 23, we attended a performance of the Ringling
Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus in Nashville, TN. My sister,
Jane, and her two daughters, Sarah and Julia, also attended.
My niece, Sarah, took the following pictures of the elephants.
They are beautiful creatures and were my favorite part of the
circus!


Thanks again, Sarah! You did a great job of capturing these
photos :)

Icicles

I've been dying to get some icicle pictures. I mean what
is winter without icicles? When we were out and about on
our snowy roadtrip a few weeks ago I got my chance.


Icy daggers!

"Snowflakes are kisses from heaven." ~ Author Unknown

Oh! the snow, the beautiful snow, Filling the sky and
earth below,


Over the housetops, over the street, Over the heads
of the people you meet.


Dancing, Flirting, Skimming along.
~Joseph Warren Watson

"Each moment of the year has its own beauty." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I took this picture from the top of the Center Hill Dam.
It was beautiful with the snowfall!