Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, February 6, 2012

Winter in the Smoky Mountains

On January 30 and 31st,  George and I took a short little trip to North Carolina and Tennessee... We saw alot of things in those two days including a trip to Biltmore,  lots of waterfalls and cascades,  and the gorgeous Smoky Mountains.    As you can imagine,  we took MANY pictures!! ha

Today,  I'll share some pictures which I will title "Winter in the Smokies"...  However,  this winter has been MILD ---so there wasn't  any snow nor ice on top of the mountain at Newfound Gap.  Unbelievable!!!!!   SO ---on our day there (31st),  we had gorgeous spring-like weather with an interesting sky.   Hope you enjoy the photos,  but be sure and enlarge them for a much better look!  The picture above was taken on the North Carolina side of the mountain.




It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was peaking out around the clouds.  I liked  this picture with the sun's colors on the mountains, but the blue sky disappears when shooting straight toward the sun!!!!




This picture was taken looking south  (away from the sun).. Now you can see some of the blue sky and clouds.  This picture was taken from the Newfound Gap parking area.   This is the Tennessee/North Carolina state line --and the elevation here is 5046 feet...  Again,  we were surprised that there was NO snow and only a few icicles along the rocks up there this year...




We are now on the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Bypass.   The city of Gatlinburg is in the valley to the left... Straight head of you  is the gorgeous Mt. LeConte at an elevation of about 6600 feet.  That is not snow on the mountain ---but the late afternoon sun and shadows... Nice, huh?











I love this picture ---as the sun was going down quickly.   AND---with the sun going in and out of the passing clouds,  we were able to get some great pictures with every changing moment.




This is my favorite picture of the beautiful sky on that fabulous day in January.   I added this to Facebook --and got many great comments there...  Hope you enjoyed these pictures taken on a 'winter'????  day in Tennessee and North Carolina.   Don't forget to click on the pictures to see them larger.

Did you enjoy the Super Bowl?  It was  a great game --and my team won!!!! Even though I am not a Madonna fan (never have been),  I do think that the halftime show was good (much better than past years).   BUT--I was sorta disappointed in some of the commercials this year.  I liked the VW Bug one with the dog... AND --I liked the Coca Cola ones with the polar bears...  Loved the Doritos commercials --and I enjoyed Mr. Quigley!!!  What did you think???

Have a fabulous Monday.
Hugs,
Betsy