Some Alabama Waterfalls

Little River Falls- 45 feet

In March of 2013,  George and I spent a couple of days in Fort Payne, Alabama.  We were celebrating George's birthday by hiking and seeing waterfalls!!!!  I published some posts telling of our hiking adventures and of the birthday.  But--I wanted to show you all of the waterfalls we saw while in DeSoto State Park and the Little River Canyon National Preserve near Fort Payne.  Be sure to click on the photos for enlargements.

Little River Falls (from another angle on the other side of the river)

Lodge Falls (near the lodge at DeSoto State Park)

Indian Falls  (there's a bridge above the falls which you can walk across)

Azalea Cascades  (not too much water here --but pretty, seeing it flow down the mountain)

Lost Falls (a nice hike back in the woods to see this one)

Laurel Falls  (on the same hike where we saw Lost Falls-photo above)

And the 'biggie' at DeSoto State Park,  DeSoto Falls (too big for one photo)

The other part of DeSoto Falls - 104 feet

All of DeSoto Falls (from the other side of the canyon)

DeSoto Falls (close-up of the bottom---104 feet)

Well---that was a great little trip --and George had a nice birthday last March.  There are other waterfalls in the area (Noccalula Falls in Gadsden plus a couple more in the Little River Canyon area)---but we were happy to see what we saw this trip.

I'll close with one more photo of us taken the day we hiked to Lost and Laurel Falls.  This photo was taken at Lost Falls.

George and Betsy at Lost Falls

Well---this ole' woman has had to get bifocals now...  I've never worn anything but reading glasses --so this is really taking some getting used to.  Haven't tried to do any photos yet with the new glasses....  Should be interesting!!!  Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday! It has finally warmed up a little here!!!  But--winter is NOT over!!

Hugs,

Emoticons

Day Trip to the SMOKIES (9/5/13)

SUNRISE on Sept. 5, 2013

I enjoyed my week off from blogging SO much --even though I missed each of you.  I did try to read some of your posts during the week but didn't do much commenting.  I've been working on Family History most of the week with three exceptions.

First,  on Friday,  August 30,   we met another blog friend and her hubby.  Nellie and Gene (photo below) were headed to Nashville to visit their daughter.  SO--we met them (where else) at Cracker Barrel here in Crossville for lunch... Nellie has been a great blog friend for awhile,  but this is the first time we have met in person.  Twas WONDERFUL!!!!! You can see Nellie's blog (Berries and More) by clicking HERE.

On Labor Day (Sept 2),  we drove to Ashland City (near Nashville) to visit with George's daughter and hubby --who have just moved to the Nashville area.  We had a great day with them and are thrilled to have them closer to us (from Buffalo--where they lived before).

Then on Thursday,  Sept. 5,  we got up before dawn,  took our car to Knoxville to the Toyota place for her maintenance.  After that we headed to the SMOKIES for the day.  We first did some hiking in the Tremont Area (on the Middle Prong Trail).   It was a great hike and we saw SEVERAL waterfalls along the way.  After that,  we drove on the Foothills Parkway stopping at the overlooks for more photo opportunities.  We finished the day by having dinner at one of our favorite places,  the Texas Roadhouse.  It was a fabulous day ---and we had over FOUR miles on our pedometers!

Today I will talk more about the Smokies Trip. Be sure to click on all photos for enlargements.   Above is a picture of the SUNRISE we saw while we were driving from our home toward Knoxville. 

US at LOWER LYNN CAMP FALLS

The picture above is a favorite of mine since it is 'different' from most of our photos together with the tripod.  I told George that you all are seeing our BEST side.. ha ha ...We are enjoying one of several waterfalls,  Lower Lynn Camp Falls.

George taking a photo of Lower Lynn Camp Falls

George hiked down a STEEP hill in order to get some better photos of Lower Lynn Camp Falls.   Can you see him down there??????  (I took this photo from the bench on top.)

LOWER LYNN CAMP FALLS

Here is one of George's photos taken from the bottom!!!

One of SEVERAL cascades between Lynn Camp Falls and Lower Lynn Camp Falls

We both hiked down to the bottom of several of these cascades to get photos of the falls.  Here's a cute picture of George taking photos at this waterfall.

Top of Lynn Camp Falls

Lynn Camp Falls is in layers. I took this photo from the TOP of that waterfall...

After the wonderful hike,  we stopped at several overlooks along Middle Prong for more photos.  Again,  we enjoyed seeing several beautiful cascades.  This is a photo of us sitting near one of those cascades.

See that little flower in the lower right corner in the previous photo????   This little beauty was growing down there near the water --and it was all alone!!!!  Isn't it pretty?  (UPDATE:  a blog friend said that this is a Cardinal Flower.)

Beautiful Smoky Mountains!!!

After leaving the Tremont area,  we drove along the Foothills Parkway.   Have I told you how much we love our PRIUS?  We are averaging about 55 mpg in that car!  Awesome!   AND--have I told you how much we love the SMOKIES?  We want to return to this area after the leaves change colors.

Dogwood leaves changing colors

Speaking of FALL,   I did manage to get some photos showing some of the indications that Fall is coming... Above is one showing the changes in the Dogwood leaves.

I love the colors in these leaves. They seem to turn a very very deep purple...  I think this is one of the many types of MAPLES.

Finally,  here is a neat photo I got while looking up at the top of this tree ---showing some color changes near the top.  Can you tell that AUTUMN is on the way?????   I get so excited this time of year --just like I do in Spring.

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Here's a photo of my blog friend,  Nellie and her hubby,  Gene...  WONDERFUL people!!!!!  I'm so blessed to have met them both.

Hope you had a good week...   Be sure and catch me up on anything important which I may have missed last week...  Have a fabulous Monday.

Hugs,

Emoticons

My 71st Birthday, August 5, 2013

As we get older,  we don't just celebrate our birthdays on ONE day... We celebrate for SEVERAL days!!!!!! ha..... Anyhow---my birthday has come and gone,  so I'm back to blogging today (will try to catch up on your posts sometime) after a fabulous celebration last week!!!!

Thanks to all of you for your kind words wishing me a Happy Birthday... I got SO many greetings this year (between Blog friends and Facebook friends, along with other family members and friends) that I felt pretty darn special!!!!  Thanks again SO much.

Today I will 'highlight' my special week --and then, on future posts,  I'll go more into details... On my actual birthday,  we stayed home and I enjoyed hearing from all three sons (which makes me so very happy).  George took me out to a Mexican dinner that night...  It was a wonderful day.

The photo above is a picture of me with some gorgeous flowers, sent to me by one of my sons (Mark).  They have been gorgeous all week long ---and Mark knows how much I love flowers.  Aren't they beautiful?

This  is one of several beautiful gifts from my wonderful hubby (who spoils me EVERY day -not just on my birthday).  This is a photo which George took of the Little River Falls (in the Little River Canyon,  Alabama).  He had it turned into a CANVAS picture for me.   I now have 4 beautiful canvas pictures hanging on my wall... FABULOUS.

The next morning (August 6),   we headed to Asheville, NC to visit one of our favorite places,   Biltmore House and Gardens.   For the past few years,  the Sunflowers bloom during August (for my birthday of course) at Biltmore ---so we just HAVE to go and see them... This year was no exception.  Can you see how much this Birthday Gal loved being in the sunflowers??????

Another part of Biltmore we love to visit in August is the Italian Water Gardens.  The waterlilies were AWESOME---probably the best we've seen since beginning our visits there several years ago.  Above is a photo of George and me sitting at the Water Gardens.  (I'll do an entire blog post showing you all of the gorgeous waterlilies soon...)

After leaving Biltmore,  we drove to our cabin at the Springmaid Mountain Resort near Spruce Pine, North Carolina.   Above is a photo of the cabin --where we enjoyed two nights.  George is standing on the porch!   I forgot to take my birdseed with me (which I usually do when visiting cabins) ---but maybe it was just as well since there were three kitties who visited us one day!!!

Springmaid Mountain Resort even had a tiny waterfall JUST for us...  How 'bout that?????? ha ha

My 'official' birthday dinner was spent at a FABULOUS restaurant right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway (near Spruce Pine).  This restaurant  (MOUNTAIN VIEW RESTAURANT) was amazing in every respect.  First of all,  the food was delicious (both George and I had Chicken Wellington).  BUT--better than that,  we sat on the porch --and had a fabulous view of the mountains/valleys from the top of that mountain...  We HIGHLY recommend this restaurant if you are ever on the parkway in that area..

Here's one more photo of  the view from the Mountain View Restaurant.

The next morning (August 7)---- it was raining cats and dogs (and managed to rain most all day long).  BUT---knowing George and me,  we never let a little rain stop us from having a good time.  We wanted to do some hiking (did FIVE+ miles) and we wanted to visit some waterfalls (saw two)....  The picture above shows a very wet but happy girl at CRABTREE FALLS ....   Did I mention that it was raining hard --and very foggy??????  ha ha .....

Here is a picture of CRABTREE FALLS (70 feet) near Milepost 339.5 near the Little Switzerland area.  This is a popular waterfall along the parkway --and it is one which George and I had never visited.  SO---we loved seeing it,  even in the rain...   One nice thing about having alot of rain:  the waterfalls were HUGE.....

Our 2nd hike was to the ROARING FORK FALLS  (100 foot cascade) off of Highway 80 from the Blue Ridge Parkway (Milepost 344.1).  We had been there before several years ago---but this time,  there was MUCH more water.  Wow--what a beauty.

Here is a picture of George and me (the two drenched rats---ha ha ) taken at Roaring Fork Falls... Another great thing about hiking when it's raining is that there are not many other people around (which we love)...  The waterfalls were there JUST for us!!!!

PERFECT MOMENT ROSE --in our Yard

The next day (August 8),  we headed home!!!!!  It was a great trip --and a tremendous birthday celebration for me.  I love traveling, hiking and just having fun with George.  BUT---getting home and seeing this gorgeous rose (PERFECT MOMENT) --which was waiting for us to get home,  made me smile BIGTIME.... Life is good---live it to its fullest!!!!!

Thanks again to all of you,  and especially to George,  for helping to make my 71st birthday so very very special!!!  I love you ALL!

Hugs,

Emoticons