A part of the past...

Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past.

~ Berenice Abbott ~

Hi my friends,

This is now another picture out of my archives - it was raining to much over here to get out with the camera.

And we had also a leak on the top of our RV it had to be fixed quick, before the next storm and heavy rain will set in!

I want to say: THANK YOU for all those nice comments and compliments to my yesterdays post, you make me happy every day - Love you all!

Have a wonderful weekend coming up and see you tomorrow here on this spot again :)
Susanne

It's the truth....

“Examine the contents, not the bottle”

~ The Talmud quotes ~

Hi my friends,

thanks for the nice comments yesterday! Your words are very much appreciated :)

We will spend some days here in pretty Saint Augustin in Florida, the nations oldest city. It's very nice here, we have visited this city many times now and still love it to come here, over and over again. We wouldn't mind to settle down here - maybe one day in the future. But first we have to travel more, we have still not seen every corner of this country - and Maine with its picturesque coast lines is still waiting for us! ....LOL... :)

So stay with me, travel with us and see you there!
Susanne

Minutes before the storm....

Captured just some minutes before a BIG thunderstorm over St.Augustin, FL

Hi my friends,

We are enjoying Florida and it's afternoon showers accompanied with scary looking thunderstorms and a black-as-the-night-sky. But, it's beautiful to see this act of mother nature!

Thank you all so much for the nice comments to my last post :)

We are tired from driving today - need some rest.
Stay with me and see you again tomorrow!
Susanne

Have a closer look....

What a beautiful old car and what a strong red color - and who is the photographer in this photo? Have a closer look :)

Hi my friends,

We are arrived in the Sunshine State not to long time ago! It feels like coming home :)

No no...don't think that....it's not finished now, we have still a while to go to our destination, because we believe that we have MAYBE found "THAT little pretty place" for the next coming months or so - until we will get THAT travel fever again and will be packing all our "stuff" and we will hit the road again to another journey - who knows :)

I know what you think now, but sorry, that's how we are, full with Gypsy blood in our veins...LOL...

Stay tuned....and see you there!
Susanne

Last sunlight over the pond...

Peaceful bench and a little visitor too :)
(click in the picture...)

Hi my friends,

we are arrived outside of Atlanta in a pretty RV park for the night. I enjoyed the setting sun over the pond, the light was very nice this evening.

Thanks for all your kind comments to my "Wordless Sunday" yesterday. I'm happy you liked my dandelion flower close up shot in a tint of blue.

We are heading towards Florida - again....LOL... As real Floridians, we are missing the palm trees...LOL... :)

Stay with me and see you soon down there at the beach! Keep the Margarita's cool for me - cheers! :)
Susanne

My Wordless Sunday in Georgia

It's summer in the valley...

I don't want say too many words to these series of my photos I made today, just this: it was a lovely and very HOT summer day here, up in the hills of Georgia

The corn is high in the valley

Two old barns in a picturesque meadow with wild flowers

Hi my friends,

still sitting up here in the hills, close to Dahlonega, GA - a pretty small tourist town where a lot of summer activities are going on. The weather is nice and lovely, very inviting to stroll in this pretty town where only something over 3600 people are living - the rest are tourists! :)

I hope you enjoy my summer photos....

Thanks again for all the kind comments to my last post(s)!

Don't miss my "Wordless Sunday" tomorrow - and see you there. :)
Susanne

Helen looks always pretty...

Pretty houses in Bavarian style welcome you to Helen in Georgia

Helen's Down Town has a lot of tourists strolling around and do their souvenir shoppings

The "Old Heidelberg" castle

Helen

is a city located on the Chattahoochee River in White County in the north of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the city's population was 420.

Formerly a logging town that was in decline, the city resurrected itself by becoming a replica of a Bavarian alpine town, in the Appalachians instead of the Alps. This design is mandated through zoning, so that the classic south-German style is present on every building, even for the small number of national franchisees present (such as Huddle House). Because of this, tourism is the main industry in Helen, catering mostly to weekend visitors from the Atlanta area. Helen is extremely crowded in late October, when autumn leaves typically peak. It also hosts its own Oktoberfest during September, October and November. There are many events and festivals throughout the year. One of the most well-known is the annual hot-air balloon race, which is held the first weekend in June each year.

The main road through town is north/south Georgia 75. The Helen stream gauge (HELG1) is located on its bridge over the Chattahoochee in the middle of downtown. A parallel route to the west is labeled Georgia 75 Alt to identify it as a bypass route around the town, and its massive traffic jams in the autumn and on some other weekends. The Unicoi State Park and Lodge is located immediately northeast of Helen on Georgia 352. Access to Anna Ruby Falls, part of the Chattahoochee National Forest, is through the park.

In 2005, significant damage occurred in parts of Helen on August 30 when Hurricane Katrina spawned a tornado in the area. The northward-moving tornado went through the edge of town, but did strike the EconoLodge motel, and brushed the Unicoi Lodge (behind building B) at the park.

River Tubing is an exciting family activity and recreation here in Alpine Helen Georgia.

The Helen Ga Tubing takes you up the river and drops you in for a ride that we call "tubin' the hooch"! Enjoy nature's beauty of the Chattahoochee River. On this ride you will experience it all, excitement, adventure, and leisure. The best ride for the dollar in Alpine Helen, GA.

Read more here

Hi my friends,

it's easy to guess, where we spent our day today, right? :)
It's not the first time I have visited Helen in the hills of Georgia and I still like it.

Thanks for the visits to my yesterdays post, you're so kind with your comments! Much appreciated :)

Stay with me and see you tomorrow, somewhere!
Susanne

It grows in silence

“See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence;
see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...
we need silence to be able to touch souls.”

~ Mother Teresa ~

Hi my friends,

thank you for all the comments from yesterday!

It's not the best weather today either - no camera weather for me...LOL.... That means, I have to show you some archive photos and I hope not to bore you.... This one is a wild flower from the Cherokee region in North Carolina, isn't she pretty?

Stay tuned with me and see you tomorrow again!
Susanne

Beautiful North Georgia

"Popcorn Overlook" in the Chattahochee National Park

The Chattahoochee National Forest takes its name from the Chattahoochee River whose headwaters begin in the North Georgia mountains. The River and the area were given the name by the English settlers who took the name from the Indians living here. The Cherokee and Creek Indians inhabited North Georgia. In one dialect of the Muskogean languages, Chatta means stone; ho chee, marked or flowered. These marked or flowered stones were in the Chattahoochee River at a settlement near Columbus, Georgia.

On July 9, 1936, the Forest Service was reorganized to follow state boundaries and President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the Chattahoochee a separate National Forest. In 1936, the Chattahoochee was organized into two Ranger Districts, the Blue Ridge and the Tallulah.

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed 96,000 acres (388 km²) of federal lands in central Georgia as the Oconee National Forest. The Oconee then joined the Chattahoochee to become the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests of today.

The Chattooga River was designated a Wild and Scenic River during the 1970s. The Chattooga remains one of the few free-flowing streams in the Southeast and is known for its white water rafting and beautiful scenery. The movie Deliverance was filmed on the Chattooga River, which became the fictional Cahulawassee River in the movie.

This scenic lake set amid the Appalachian Mountains has 130 miles of shoreline and 7,000 surface acres at normal summer pool levels. Chatuge Lake provides good fishing opportunities for various species of bass, sunfish, and crappie. Chatuge Reservoir, located on the Hiawassee River in western North Carolina, is 13 miles long and extends southeast from the dam into north Georgia. The reservoir is named after a nearby Cherokee settlement. Chatuge Lake is frequently visited by thousands each year who take advantage of all the adventures the lake has to offer.

Hi my friends,

thank you for the comments and compliments, very much appreciated! You make my day, every day! :)

We are sitting in the hills of Georgia in a beautiful region - except the weather today was not so beautiful. It was dark and raining on and off.... it goes bye...right? :) But we enjoy the clear, clean (?) mountain air, the green hills. Relaxing is a great thing - it's like getting a makeover for the soul! :)

Stay with me, I hope for camera weather tomorrow... if not, I have to show you some pics from my archives - and there are a lot, waiting to be shared....LOL.... :)

See you tomorrow - take care and big hug!
Susanne

Georgia on my mind....

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thls_tMuFkc

It's summer...

"Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit.

A few of those days and you can become drunk
with the belief that all's right with the world."

~ Ada Louise Huxtable ~

Hi my friends,

thanks, thanks, thanks.... for all your nice comments to my posts from yesterday, the day before - and for all the future comments, coming up....LOL... Your loyal friendship means a lot to me :)

Today is also a special day for us to celebrate: it is on the day exactly 6 month ago, when we started with our travels - and we are still on the road and still not tired of it at all, even it's sounds maybe sometimes that way....LOL...

Looking back to this wonderful 6 months on the road I have to say: We don't regret at all and we are happy we made this decision to give a new challenge to our lifes and to go on these roads and to see this wonderful country. "What a country", indeed!!! :)

We have seen a lot of beautiful, amazing places, we met many friendly people, made a lot of new friends, we had great experiences and wonderful moments we will never forget anymore!

And, we have still not found THAT little, pretty place for us to settle down again, there are to many great choices available :) this country is so big and it makes it very hard to make the right desicion, where to be for the rest of our life. I guess, the time is not here just now for something like that - so then, we will travel more - until the day comes and we will say: yes, that it is, here we will stay! Interesting, right....? :)

See you on our next destination, tomorrow or then the other day....stay with me!
Susanne and David

My Wordless Sunday in South Carolina

I Found a Four-Leaf Clover

I Found a Four-Leaf Clover


I found a four-leaf clover
and was happy with my find,
but with time to think it over,
I’ve entirely changed my mind.
I concealed it in my pocket,
safe inside a paper pad,
soon, much swifter than a rocket,
my good fortune turned to bad.

I smashed my fingers in a door,
I dropped a dozen eggs,
I slipped and tumbled to the floor,
a dog nipped both my legs,
my ring slid down the bathtub drain,
my pen leaked on my shirt,
I barked my shin, I missed my train,
I sat on my dessert.

I broke my brand-new glasses,
and I couldn’t find my keys,
I stepped in spilled molasses,
and was stung by angry bees.
When the kitten ripped the curtain,
and the toast burst into flame,
I was absolutely certain
that the clover was to blame.

I buried it discreetly
in the middle of a field,
now my luck has changed completely,
and my wounds have almost healed.
If I ever find another,
I will simply let it be,
or I’ll give it to my brother—
he deserves it more than me.

by Jack Prelutsky

Hi my friends,

thanks again for all the comments I got to my last post(s)... I know it sounds a little bit boring after a while to say the same words over and over again - but I mean it that way! I'm happy for all my visitors and commentators, I'm thankful for every single word from you.

Coming down from beautiful North Carolina - I LOVE it! - we are resting from our travels just now in South Carolina, Dave is doing some internet work, I'm writing my diary and answering all the emails from good friends all over the world.

Don't forget, tomorrow is "My wordless Sunday - in South Carolina" again... come back tomorrow and check it out! :)

Let's stay in touch and see you next week.
Susanne

The supreme excellence is simplicity

In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~

Thanks for all your nice comments and compliments, my friends! :)
T.G.I.F. - enjoy your coming weekend!
Susanne

The Old Mill 1886

We've experienced a historic grist mill on the edge of the Cherokee Indian Reservation. A country store w/ fresh ground cornmeal, jams, country hams, candles and quality gifts. The 1886 room
is full of antiques, lamps, furniture's and quality smalls. The 1930 Gift Shop offers Cherokee made baskets, arts and crafts, Collectors will find Civil War, Indian Artifacts, southern pottery and more.

It's amazing, "The Old Mill" is still working

View from the inside to the spinning water wheel

You can buy all kind of nostalgic items

Coca-Cola on everything you can think about

Or, do you need some "new" refurbished chairs at home?
Will you hang them also on the wall?...LOL...

That Old Mill

is alive in the light of day

harsh wind grabbing
your windpipe, breath of winter-chill

icicle eyes staring dimly
at the scene, leftover pussy
willows as
stiff fingers beside river's bank.

Within view an ancient mill
memories
dulled
by the passage of time.

Images of life return as a photo
album, deer
within shadows
cows flicking horse flies

kids painting the barn and
three dogs chasing.

Childhood is splashing in the
creek, pages from life
a long time ago.

*****

I hope you enjoyed my post about "The Old Mill" in the Smokeys of NC!

See you tomorrow!
oohh...btw, ...comments are always very welcome :)
Susanne

What color has the soul?

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.

~ Marcus Aurelius ~

Hi my friends,

Thanks for all your visit and all the comments to my blog!

It's time for us to figure out in what directions we want be traveling again... tomorrow we will leave this beautiful region of The Smokies and heading towards North/North-West, without a clear plan, just now.... I'll let you know where we will be, what we will be doing and exploring.

Just stay with me and cross your fingers for me, to have a better connection there than I head in the last week.

See you there!
Susanne and David

Meeting Roger Bansemer, an extraordinary artist in NC

We were cruising along in the hills near Flat Rock in NC, looking for a particular artist and his Gallery. David knew of his works and had admired his painting style for a long time. When we found the gallery Dave was very happy to meet Roger Bansemer in person. It was a nice experience for me, also. If you happen to be in the Flat Rock area of North Carolina, stop by and say hello to Roger and his lovely wife Sarah, they like to have guests and I'm sure you would love his work.

Roger Bansemer

is one of today’s most versatile and insightful artists. Spanning four prolific decades, his paintings cover a wide spectrum from earlier abstract works to the present day representational paintings of landscapes, shorebirds, wildlife, beachscapes, and nautical themes. After authoring and carefully rendering hundreds of paintings used in his books on lighthouses, he has become known as America's premier painter of lighthouses.

Read more about the artist here

We had the great opportunity to watch him painting and we had also interesting conversations about art of course, but not just that, also about their traveling. Roger and Sarah will be on the road soon and he will be painting a lot of new impressions of the West while taping segments of their new series of art demonstrations soon to be seen on PBS television.

This is the view of his studio where many of his extraordinary original paintings are hanging and matted prints are also offered for sale.

Dave and Roger talking about their mutual travel, internet and art interests

Bansemer became the 112th person to dive to the Titanic, the sixth person under the stern, and the first artist to have painted Titanic on site. This book chronicles his journey in a mixture paintings, photos, and digitally-painted images. He almost didn’t make it out to the site as a hurricane churning in the southeast Atlantic kept him in St. John’s, Newfoundland, waiting. But an artist uses his time to observe and paint, and his love of painting nature and lighthouses thus play their part in this book too. Then his lifelong fascination with painting ships takes over as he sails out to the research vessel Keldysh. All the details of the adventure, the wondrous submersible Mir, and finally the ghostly remains of the Titanic appear from the artist’s brush.

Roger Bansemer published many Art-Books. You can see them here: http://www.bansemer.com/books/books.htm

Hi my friends,

Finally I had a better connection again and could finally bring this post online.

Thanks for all your kind comments to my last post. It's a great feeling to read all your wonderful compliments about my photography, thank you so much! :)

We will be heading tomorrow towards NC again and then probably up to direction NW.... we don't know it for sure just now, where we will be and where to go , but I heard also that Montana must be beautiful. Any suggestions...? :)

Stay with me - and see you there!
Susanne and David

My Wordless Sunday in North Carolina

Here comes the gang....

“When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.”

~ James Whitcomb Riley ~

Hi my friends,

we have still gray and rainy clouds here in the hills of North Carolina... that's a good weather to be gambling in a Casino! We went this afternoon in the Harrah's Casino in Cherokee - and we won....yeah! Not quiet a lot this time, but won is won...right...?... and we are happy :)

Thanks for all your wonderful compliments to my last post - love you all! :)

Stay with me and enjoy my today's post too.
Susanne and David

In The Smokey Mountains, NC

We have visited yesterday Boone in NC and on the way back to Asheville, NC we had some rain for minutes. Later, the sun came back and "smog" started to come up everywhere in the hills, like the hills are on fire. That was again a beautiful show of mother nature - that's where the hills of North Carolina get the name from : Smokey Mountains.

The Great Smoky Mountains
are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee-North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains or the Smokey Mountains, and the name is commonly shortened to the Smokies. The Great Smokies are best known as the home of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which protects most of the range. The park was established in 1934, and with over 9 million visits per year, it is the most-visited national park in the United States.

The name "Smoky" comes from the natural fog that often hangs over the range and presents as large smoke plumes from a distance. This fog, which is most common in the morning and after rainfall, is the result of warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico cooling rapidly in the higher elevations of Southern Appalachia.

The Great Smokies are part of an International Biosphere Reserve. The range is home to an estimated 187,000 acres (760 km²) of old growth forest, constituting the largest such stand east of the Mississippi River. The cove hardwood forests in the range's lower elevations are among the most diverse ecosystems in North America, and the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest that coats the range's upper elevations is the largest of its kind. The Great Smokies are also home to the densest black bear population in the Eastern United States and the most diverse salamander population outside of the tropics.

Pretty light on the side of the road

Hi my friends,

All your kind comments make always my day, thanks for that! :)

The rain came back yesterday evening and also in the night, and this morning it was raining too - too boring! We decided to stay here in the Asheville area for another day and to relax. Traveling is a hard job, you know that too.... right? ...LOL...

Tomorrow we will be heading West in NC... I heard there is somewhere a Casino and you can win there easy a lot of money...LOL... we will try it again :) I'll let you know if we won... LOL... :)

See you there!
Susanne

It feels like the time stand still in Saluda NC

We have visited Saluda in North Carolina, again. And we have also visited the more than 100 years old General Merchandise store in the main street of this small village - you cannot miss it!

Saluda

is a city in Henderson and Polk counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 575 at the 2000 census. Saluda is famous for sitting at the top of the Norfolk Southern Railway's Saluda Grade, the steepest standard gauge railroad line in the United States. The main street has been improved since 1995 with new restaurants and art galleries. Tourists and cyclists are common on summer and fall weekends. The town festival is named Coon Dog Day, after raccoon hunting dogs. Their fire department is the first department in Polk County that received heavy rescue achievement. They have around 10 trucks, and a good staff along with a supposedly excellent dive team. There are 8 certified members.

The Henderson County portion of Saluda is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The owner of the store is Mr. R. Pace who is working there every day. Go and have a small talk with him, he is an interesting and humorous, nice gentleman.

In the store you can find everything you need: socks, crochet-cotton, buttons....

There are also objects to see behind glass from 100 years ago when the store started out, like this items and a book keeping book

Saluda is famous for sitting at the top of the Norfolk Southern Railway's Saluda Grade, the steepest standard gauge railroad line in the United States.

Even a real railroad cap is available to buy...

...or do you prefer a pretty colorful scarf?

...or maybe a t-shirt, that tells: Be proud of to be a customer here since more than 100 years..? :)

The store offers also P.O.Boxes and it works as a little gallery beside all the useful items to buy for your gardening work

This is the office desk of Mr. R. Pace, located also in the store

I wrote last year already a post about Saluda and about this store, see it here:
http://sues-daily-photos.blogspot.com/search?q=Saluda

Hi my friends,

thank you, thank you so much for all the wonderful comments and compliments to my last post!

Yesterday I had no Internet connections again... we were sitting on a campground somewhere in the woods and missed you all...LOL... I ask my self often: what the hick I did with all my time before I was blogging.... :)

Tomorrow I'll show you some pictures of the "Smokies"... I experienced the Smoky Mountains after a light summer rain., it was just beautiful!

See you tomorrow :)
Susanne