the colors of autumn

the blogger's community photo challenge is back with the colors of autumn. here are a few from the smokies a couple of weeks ago.


the great smoky mountain railroad out of bryson city was a wonderful way to view the colors.

maggie valley lookout tower

and a little closer to home....on the beautiful tennesse river in florence, al

you can post your own fall pix or check out other participants here. hurry...the last day to post for this challenge is the 15th .

seacrest, florida

hubby and i had a few wonderful days at the beach.....florida's emerald coast....we had a couple of rainy days that were spent going to a movie and shopping, and then a other hours spent soaking up the sun, enjoying the waves and visiting a few parks.

sunflowers

my favorite flowers.... what a delightful surprise when hubby told me there was a huge field of sunflowers right here in n. alabama, just a few miles from my home. reminds me of the year i was in kansas....there were acres and acres of these beautiful flowers and i never tired of looking at them. i hope it's something that will be repeated many summers to come.

late alaphabet finish-x y z

Martha hosted an A-Z photo challenge that completed a few weeks ago. i played along, up until the very end and didn't make the last 3 letters...and i wanted to finish...so better late than never...

X in framework

Yellow

Zebra

thanks, martha, for a fun photo meme!

community photo challenge: photo story

a photo story...."a small group of 3-5 images that either tell a story or relate to each other " is the community photo challenge for this week and starts may 14. mine is the annual alabama jubilee hot air balloon festival in decatur, alabama memorial day weekend.

early morning arrival....

checking wind direction....

setting up and checking equipment....

inflating balloons.....

up, up, up and away....

check out all of the details here....Bloggers Community Photo Challenge

eagles nest

one of my sister's lives on a bluff above a river. she had been telling me that eagles were nesting across from her front yard, so of course i had to go and check it out. the young have hatched, but i didn't get a glimpse of them, though mom and dad were pretty active that day.

catch up

i started back to school the first of january, so it's been weeks since i've been on blogger. it's a lazy saturday afternoon, and i'm caught up with studies...well mostly :)...and i thought it would be a perfect time to catch up with martha's A-Z Photo Challenge...i can't believe it's time for 'w' already!!!

Towers in texas

Umbrellas on the beach

Vulture at buzzard's roost, fall creek falls tennessee state park

Windmills in oklahoma

macro monday

check out macro monday with Lisa

camera critters

these camera critters were taken in the rocky mountains this summer.

i'm not sure if these lil critters are a type of hornet or what...but i wouldn't want a close encounter with them!



i was amazed at how many chipmunks we saw....they were plentiful! and cute. :)





this cute lil guy was sunning himself out on a ledge overlooking a beautiful valley. a marmot...i had never heard of this one.


we also saw several elk...the only thing that i missed were the moose...maybe another time. :)



my 'bellowing elk' was the last photo posted in my aol journal...thought they deserved another showing. :)

go check out other camera critters here.

scenic sunday

i thought i would present another falls photo...this one was taken in the rocky mountain national park this summer.

check out other scenic sunday shots here.

desoto falls

straight out of the camera....hubby and i took a few days and went to desoto falls state park in eastern alabama to start the new year for a nice lil get-away. here is the upper desoto falls, which are just outside of the park.

hubby is developing a passion for photography. this photo of the lower part of desoto falls is one he took...

lodge falls, located behind...you guessed it, the lodge. we hiked to these 2 falls our first day. temperatures were mild, it was a sunny day, and the hike easy...perfect. :)

our 2nd morning was a bit cooler. started out with temperatures in 30's. we began the hike with 1000 foot boardwalk...really nice, but then the paths got a little rockier, but still a nice walk.

indian falls...there was a foot bridge over this one that provided a nice view from above.

laurel falls are only about 6 feet high, but very pretty. this was our 3rd day and the hike was a bit steeper and rockier. even though it was pretty cold this morning, i warmed up quickly.

the last one is lost falls...because when there is no rain, these falls disappear. if you look closely, you can see icicles hanging from the ledge.

have any photos you want to share straight out of the camera?? check out Murrieta 365: SOOC Sunday #11.