Our World: Fall Creek Falls

Cane Creek Cascade, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. April 21, 2011

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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 three wonderful ladies.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

April 21 is a special day that Betsy and I celebrate each year.  It was on April 21, 2001, that I had my first ‘big’ date with Betsy.  We spent the day at Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee.  We did some hiking and checked out the waterfalls in the park.  That was the beginning of our waterfall ‘collection’.

Fall Creek Falls, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. April 21, 2011.

But what really made the day special was that on that day I got my first kiss from Betsy.

We go back to Fall Creek Falls every April 21 to re-live the magic.  So if you don’t hear from me today, you’ll know where I am.

Piney Falls, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. April 21, 2011.

The pictures in this post were taken on a visit to Fall Creek Falls on April 21, 2011.

Our World: Spring Puts In An Appearance

 

Crocus in our yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 15, 2014.

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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 three wonderful ladies.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

Purple crocus ‘volunteers’ in front of our house. March 15, 2014.

I was beginning to think that Spring would never make it up on the Cumberland Plateau here in Tennessee. It seemed that every time we had a nice day in March, we would have freezing rain or snow tow days later.

Crocus in bloom. Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 15, 2014.

But in spite of the reluctance of Old Man Winter to leave, we finally had some crocus pop up in the yard. The critters seem to think that crocus bulbs make a delicious treat, so we had mostly single flowers or small clumps of blossoms.

Crocus blossoms, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 15, 2014.

But be that as it may, at least they brought some color to the yard and a promise of more blossoms to come.

Our World: ‘Our’ Mt. Nebo Cabin

‘Our’ cabin on Mt. Nebo, Arkansas. February 26, 2014.

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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.

By now most of you know that Betsy and I visit Mt. Nebo State Park in Arkansas every year.  Betsy knew about this place before I was in the picture, but It didn’t take her long to introduce me to Mt. Nebo.

We stay at the same cabin each time we go.  ‘Our’ cabin is a one-bedroom stone cabin built by the CCC, although it has been renovated since then.  The cabin has a small but well-equipped kitchen, and the main room has a marvelous fireplace  which we enjoy very much.

The back of ‘our’ cabin, Mt. Nebo, Arkansas. February 27, 2014.

The cabin sits near the western rim of the mountain.  It has a small porch in back as well as a patio with a picnic table.  We don’t use the picnic table much since it’s usually still winter when we visit.

‘Our’ cabin in the light of the setting sun, Mt. Nebo, Arkansas. February 26, 2014.

The cabin is perfectly located for enjoying sunsets in February-March, when the light of the setting sun bathes the cabin in a golden glow.  The back of the cabin gives us a grandstand view.

Our World: Old Man’s Cave

Looking down into the gorge near Old Man’s Cave, Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio. March 10, 2014.

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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.

Ice along canyon walls, Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio. March 10, 2014.

Old Man’s Cave is a recess cave in a gorge in Ohio’s Hocking Hills State Park.  Betsy and I have been to the park a couple of times and have enjoyed hiking down to the cave.  The park contains several waterfalls which had very little water when we visited before, so we went back there in early March hoping to find more flowing water.  We found more water, but we also found a great deal of ice, which was unexpected.

Ice along the walls of the gorge, Hocking Hills State Park. March 10, 2014.

The walls of the gorge were covered in ice in many places, which was very beautiful but made it tricky to get down to the floor of the gorge.

A column of ice near Old Man’s Cave, Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio. March 11, 2014.

Once I got down to the floor of the gorge, it was fascinating to see the huge columns of ice reaching from an overhang to the base of the cliff.  In the photo above you can even see some blue ice in the column.

Our World: Setrock Creek Falls

Setrock Creek Falls, Yancey County, North Carolina. February 15, 2008.

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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.

February is a good month for visiting waterfalls, and since the weather is usually mild (at least in this part of the country) it’s also a good month for hiking.

Setrock Creek Falls, Yancey County, North Carolina. February 15, 2008.

These pictures are from my archives.  In February, 2008, Betsy and I visited several waterfalls in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.  Setrock Creek Falls in Yancey County, North Carolina, was one of those waterfalls.

We actually went to the area to visit another waterfall, but when we found the trailhead to Setrock Creek Falls, we couldn’t resist the temptation to make the hike to the falls.

Setrock Creek Falls, Yancey County, North Carolina. February 15, 2008.

I’m glad we did.

Our World: Middle Prong Little River

Middle Prong LIttle River, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. January 20, 2014.

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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 January 20, Betsy and I drove and hiked along Middle Prong Little River in the Smokies.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and there was a good water flow along the river.  The water was so clear that we could easily see the stream bed.

Middle Prong LIttle River, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. January 20, 2014.

We often stopped and walked along the river to enjoy the sight (and sound) of the water rushing over and around boulders in the stream.

Middle Prong LIttle River, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. January 20, 2014.

As we worked our way up stream, the river just seemed to get more and more beautiful.

My Beautiful Bride along Middle Prong LIttle River, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. January 20, 2014.

But I know well that not all of the pretty views that day were of the river.

Our World: Bald River

Bald River Cascades, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee. July 25, 2013.

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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 late July Betsy and I took a day off from working in the yard and drove down to Tellico Plains and the Tellico River.  We drove along the  river until we came to Bald River Falls, where we hiked along Bald River above the falls.

When I experiment with trying to capture the motion of water in my photos, I usually take several shots at the same place with different exposures.  I often don’t know for sure what I get until I look at the pictures on my computer once I get home.

I took the photo above with a 5 second exposure, and the one below with an 8 second exposure.  While there is not much difference in the cascade itself, I was struck by the difference in the ripples below the large boulder on the right.

Bald River Cascades, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee. July 25, 2013.

I’m glad I decided to keep both versions.

Our World: Burrell Creek Falls

Burrell Creek Falls, Reliance, Tennessee. October 23, 2013.

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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 late October we met our blog friends Patti and Neal for a couple of days of hiking and sightseeing around Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.  Neal grew up in the area, and on our second day he took us to some of his old stomping grounds.  Along the way he told us that he knew of a little waterfall that we might like to see.  He didn’t know the name, but he thought it was pretty.

Neal was right — it was a pretty little waterfall.  A little research showed that the waterfall was on Burrell Creek.  Betsy and I were happy to add it to our collection.

Our World: Tennessee’s Snow and Cold

New-fallen snow on the fairway behind our house, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. January 6, 2014.

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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 most of you know, Betsy loves snow and never gets enough of it.  (She obviously never had to trudge through a foot of the stuff in early morning darkness to milk the cows!).  Well, she finally got some snow last week.

We didn’t get a lot of snow — maybe a couple of inches — but it did look pretty on the fairway behind our house.

Shadows and snow on the fairway, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. January 6, 2014.

The bare trees made intricate shadows on the fresh snow.

The view from our front porch, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. January 6, 2014.

There was very little traffic along the road in front of our house.

The cold and lonely bench in our front yard, Fairfield Glade, January 6, 2014.

Since the coldest temperatures in more than twenty years accompanied the snow, no one was sitting on the bench in our front yard.

Our World: Fried Turkey

Bob injecting Cajun marinade into turkey breasts, Palm Harbor, Florida. November 28, 2013.

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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.

My son Robert and his family planned to come to Tennessee for Thanksgiving, but when their plans changed Betsy and I travelled down to Florida to have Thanksgiving with them.  One advantage of making the trip was that Robert agreed to make some of his fried turkey for us, a treat that neither Betsy nor I had had before.

The process started with Robert injecting some Cajun marinade into two turkey breasts and a whole turkey (he must have thought we were hungry!).

Robert and Darron putting turkey breasts into the fryer. November 28, 2013.

The turkey breasts then went into the fryer with the help of a friend.  While these two played around fixing dinner, I worked hard as the official photographer.

Turkey as it came out of the fryer, Palm Harbor, Florida. November 28, 2013.

The turkey was fried after the breasts were done, and it came out of the fryer a beautiful golden brown.

Thanksgiving dinner, November 28, 2013.

While we were busy slaving away outside with the fryer, Melissa was busy in the kitchen.  The result of all this work was a feast fit for a king.

Robert’s pumpkin cheesecake with caramel topping. Palm Harbor, Florida. November 28, 2013.

Robert topped this delicious Thanksgiving dinner with a marvelous homemade pumpkin cheesecake and caramel topping.