Smoky Mountains National Park - 2

This was taken during our drive through the Smoky Mountain National Park and starting to descend.

Fairchild Tropical Gardens - 1

I've wanted to go to the Fairchild Tropical Gardens here in Miami for the longest time.  Today, I finally went and became a member so I can go back all year.  It was a beautiful place and so peaceful. I know I'll be back again soon.  Today, I took quite a few pictures...so I'll post them every now and then.  I have NO idea what I was taking pictures of...just anything that appealed to my eye...so I'll just title these after the Gardens until I get more educated on what they have there.

Show Off Seagull - Skywatch Friday

Today was Veteran's Day...a day to celebrate and appreciate those that have fought for our country and have thankfully returned. After lunch with my best friend and her husband, I spent the day on Key Biscayne...walking the bridge and playing with my new camera.  I need to go to a class to be able to use the features besides "auto"...but I still got some interesting photos today.  There were A LOT of seagulls around today...a lot of people fishing so they were hanging around for a little snack.  Between our recent trip and today...I finally have some new stuff to post :o)  Be well everyone...and to see sky photos from around the world...click on "Skywatch" in the title of this post to visit Skywatch Friday.

Smoky Mountains National Park

This was taken as we drove north on US 441 through the Smoky Mountain National Park last week on the way to a family wedding in Gatlinburg, TN.  I just got a new camera and had alot of opportunities to test it out during the vacation.  So I finally have some new material to post :o)

Watching the Sunset with a Cop - Skywatch Friday

Headed to one of my favorite spots to catch the sunset...and found a police officer parked in my spot.  I wasn't detered...I pulled up next to him and got out of the car.  He laughed when he saw I was there to photograph the sunset...said we both had the same idea. Of course I wasn't smoking a cigar while I was watching the sun sink into the sky...so I guess it wasn't exactly the same idea :o)

To see more skies across the world...click on the link and visit Skywatch Friday!

Winfsurfing Sunset

Mom and I were on the Sanibel causeway catching the sunset a few weeks ago...and this parasailer was enjoying it in a whole different way.  He was gliding back and forth parallel to the shore...so he interjected himself into my photos quite a bit...but I didn't really mind :o)

Yikes...look at those spikes!

I see these trees as I drive along US1 in Miami and was dying to get a closer look.  Today I was out running errands for work, was in the vacinity so I finally stopped.  They look bizarre! Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it...

The silk floss tree (Ceiba speciosa, formerly Chorisia speciosa), is a species of deciduous tree native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America. It has a host of local common names, such as palo borracho (in Spanish literally "drunken stick"). It belongs to the same family as the baobab and the kapok. Another tree of the Ceiba genus, C. chodatii, often receives the same common names.



The natural habitat of the floss silk tree is the north-east of Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Brazil. It is resistant to drought and moderate cold. It grows fast in spurts when water is abundant, and sometimes reaches more than 25 metres (82 ft) in height. Its trunk is bottle-shaped, generally bulging in its lower third, measuring up to 2 metres (7 ft) in girth. It is studded with thick conical prickles which serve to store water for dry times. In younger trees, the trunk is green due to its high chlorophyll content, which makes it capable of performing photosynthesis when leaves are absent; with age it turns to gray.

I sure do miss posting like I used to...it felt great to be out taking photos today :o)