PAGE FOUR

TENNESSEE TREES IN SMOKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

 

HALF AN HOUR TO GO, BUT NOT AT THIS PULLOUT We visited the towns of Sylva and Addie while in North Carolina. Little valleys nestled among the foothills --- all lush greens mixed with vintage homesteads, nice roads, and a few automobile graveyards. Woodsy, 40's style store signs and motels, a lumber mill here, a paper mill there. Really old downtown streets. Buggy cemetery with a lot of Mathis names, including my great-grandfather's brother and other kinfolk. It was now time to skeedaddle back to the other side to get sunset pictures if possible. Turns out we had 1/2 hour extra. This first picture is at a spot where we were the only car around. The main turnout for pictures was down the road a bit.

 

THE EIGHTH TIME'S THE CHARM - FOR THE GUY ON THE LEFT

Here was the place. I could tell by the big guns lined up on the wall. One man from North Carolina said he'd been here eight times trying to get the perfect picture. Guess that's why he keeps coming back. Said he didn't have anything outstanding so far. In my case, this first and only time would have to be outstanding. No coming back for awhile if at all. My equipment couldn't match my opponents, but the thrill of the moment kept my spirit fired up. Who knows? Maybe I'll get "lucky." Ha!

MORE SMOKY MOUNTAIN SUNSET