White Rock Lake

Back before Pepaw and I were injured we would go to White Rock Lake in Dallas to run in the early morning hours - usually on a Saturday or Sunday - some weeks both!  We went early one week with our cameras just to document what we saw as we ran.

Flowers along a gravel pathway

Moon between the light posts

Rowing the lake

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Dallas Waterworks building

One of the benches where workers from the Waterworks building could have a break

Loved the details!

Cattails by our favorite water stop.

Fishing on the lake

Egret in the spillway

Steps of the spillway.

I miss the lake - I miss running - I hope we can get back there someday soon!

Caddo Lake 2010

I recently wrote a post about our trip to Caddo Lake State Park in the fall (you can see that post here), but well before that trip we went in the summer - when vegetation is thick and green and the air is hot and muggy!  In this post I'll share what we saw in August of 2010.

These lures caught in the tree near the fishing pier were the first things that caught my eye, probably because that's where mine would have wound up!!!

After shooting a few pictures from the pier we walked down along the bank of the river.  It was still early enough to catch the light shining through the trees.

Then we decided to go on a hike. This is how the trail started...

then it became "steep and rugged" (according to the map, that is).  We actually completed the trail when we came back in the fall - that is where we found the beautiful pavilion...wish we had done it this time too! It was pretty warm to walk around in though!

As we were returning to our campsite Rick stopped so we could shoot some pictures of this honeysuckle vine climbing a pine tree.

I walked around the lake a little and this is what I saw along the edges...

and closer to the boat house/canoe rental area.

We stood on the pier to take sunset pictures.  Strangely enough the sky didn't look very pretty, but when I looked at the sunset reflected in the water.... 

We got up early for some sunrise pictures too.  This time the sky cooperated and I was able to get a shot of the sky growing pink through the trees.

Some early morning fishermen out on the water before the sun came over the horizon.

And the first kiss of sunlight!

 And finally the morning light filtering through the Spanish Moss...lovely!

 We had such a great time, and this is such a nice campground we knew we had to come back again!

River's Edge - Oklahoma July 2010

Rick had read about this beautiful spot for a getaway - we were NOT disappointed.  We had an amazing weekend far from the crowds and enjoyed the beautiful area around our cabin.  

This was right at the beginning of our first hike.

As we got closer to the river I noticed this little guy.  He really was no bigger than my thumb!

Then, on a rock right on the edge of the river these butterflies were feeding.  They didn't move much at all!

Loved the beautiful, rushing water.

This greenery seems to be saying "Never give up!"

Pine cone along the river's edge.

 

A little purple "peek-a-boo"

And here they are!

A splash of color.

The river was calm, the sky was blue, and we were HOT!

I call this one "In the spotlight".

The water was so still here it was like a mirror.

This bench was the perfect place to stop, catch your breath, and reflect and enjoy the scenery!

Speaking of reflecting...

Loved the conflicting patterns on the rock and wood.

Then we came across these leaves just barely floating on a rock in the river.

But I think this was my favorite of the weekend.  It just seemed to capture the beauty and peace we felt the entire weekend.

 It was a great trip, and a great weekend.  We had a wonderful time and I sure wouldn't be sad if we repeated it again someday!

Trip to New Orleans - January 2012

Pepaw and I took a trip to New Orleans for a photo convention.  It was an amazing time and we attended a lot of seminars (I learned a LOT) and we took a lot of pictures.  At the time I was still thinking of this as my "running" blog so I wasn't putting up many pictures (until March that is)!  I was actually loading most of my pictures on Facebook with small comments.  Today as I was going through one of the blogs I follow she had some pictures of New Orleans and I thought about our trip - I went back to Facebook and checked my blog and realized I hadn't put them ANYWHERE! They were just out there in limbo.  So here they are with the few things I can remember about taking them on that trip....reminding me WHY I blog! This is my journal - I write and put my pictures up here so I CAN remember, a "history" if you will.  Looking at them I can remember taking them, but I can't remember the finer details - the order, what we were doing, exactly where we were....those are the things I write about...I now know how important that is to me and yet another reason for the morphing of the blog.

This first picture is of St. Louis Cathedral taken from the park across the street.  I remember seeing the reflection and working and working until I could get the right image...one of my favorites because I actually "saw" it before I shot it!

Inside the mall - absolutely loved the colors!

One of the street performers.  He was so kind and let us take LOTS of pictures...this was my favorite of those that I shot.

 There were lots of decorations like this - again...I love the colors.

Bikes on the street with LOTS of beads!

 One of the storefronts on one of our "hikes".

Bottles in the window.

Horse and carriage.

Flowers in the garden

 Views along the street.

Of course we had to eat breakfast at Cafe du Monde at least once.

He was performing very near our table there.

Many times when we are out shooting Pepaw will capture a shot of me taking my pictures.  Sometimes I catch him, but most often I don't know it until we get back home and we are sharing our pictures.  I really liked this one.

These bring back good memories!