Exit78 Photo of the Day #116

Mill race at Cable Mill in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, May 5, 2009 (Pentax K10D)

In May, 2009, we headed east for a change for our camping adventures.  The first major park we visited was Great Smokey Mountain National Park, which straddles the Appalachians of both Tennessee and North Carolina. Cades Cove is a very popular parts of the park.

John P. Cable Mill (Smokies Adventure)

It was not uncommon for entire villages and towns to be built around grist mills in the 1800s.  Because of their ability to grind grains into flour or meal at a faster rate than famers could do it themselves, grist mills were vital to local economies.  As a result, the town mill often became a social gathering place as well, fostering friendships, business relationships, and sometimes even young courtships.

John P. Cable built his grist mill in Cades Cover in the early 1870s.  He was a descendent of Peter Cable, a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer who had arrived in the area in the 1820s and designed an elaborate system to drain the swampy lands located in the western part of the cove.

John Cable was the only person in Cades Cove to use an overshot water wheel, a gravity wheel which harnesses the force of gravity acting vertically on the water as it travels from the top to the bottom of the wheel.  Cable Mill’s power was supplied by Mill Creek, although a connecting channel was dug to Forge Creek so the mill could tap both streams when water levels were low.

Cable Mill took double advantage of its waterwheel by using it to power saw mills as well.  This revolutionized the way homes were built in the cove, as people switched from using logs to lumber and frame construction.  The Gregg Cable house still stands as an example of a frame built house in Cades Cove.

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #115

Wisconsin Winterland, View from Holiday Inn Express, Deforest, Wisconsin, December 20, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

In 2007, we spent a few days visiting family just before Christmas in DeForest, Wisconsin.

DeForest, is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin along the Yahara River. The population was 8,936 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The village was named for Isaac De Forest, who in 1856 bought the land on which the village sits today. Its name was long spelled “De Forest,” but has since been changed to “DeForest.”

(Wikipedia)

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Post-processing¹ #25 |

Fence Post and Barbed Wire, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, US 89, October 9, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II) 37°11’10″N 111°59’44″W

Another of the DoF (depth of field) photos² from our stretch and photo break on the way to Page, Arizona from Cannonville, Utah.

1. Post-processing – Image editing to enhance the photo closer to what the eye “saw.” Images in this series are selected within a day or so of being edited and are either posted at the time or scheduled for posting at a later date.
2. Depth of field – Wikipedia

Exit78 Photo of the Day #114

Sky over Sawtooth Mountains, near Stanley, Idaho, July 27, 2010 (Pentax K10D)

From 1977 to 1980, we lived in Arco, Idaho, about 90 miles southeast of the spot where this photo was taken, but about 134 miles by road.  In ‘78, we went backpacking about 15 miles south of here.

The Sawtooth Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in central Idaho, reaching a maximum elevation of 10,751 feet (3,277 m) at the summit of Thompson Peak. It encompass an area of 678 square miles (1,756 km2) spanning parts of Custer, Boise, Blaine, and Elmore counties, and is bordered to the east by the Sawtooth Valley. Much of the mountain range is within the Sawtooth Wilderness, part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Sawtooth National Forest. (Wikipedia)

The mountains were named for their jagged peaks.

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #113

Storming over Lake Dardanelle, shot from Lake Dardanelle State Park at Russellville, Arkansas, July 20, 2013 (Pentax K-r)

Lake Dardanelle (Wikipedia)

Lake Dardanelle is a major reservoir on the Arkansas River and is an integral part of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS), which allows barge transportation from the Mississippi River to the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in northeastern Oklahoma. MKARNS went into service along its full length in 1971.

The lake covers nearly 40,000 acres (160 km²) with abundant opportunities* for boating, fishing, picnicking, camping and scenic views. The lake extends from Dardanelle Lock and Dam (35°14′55″N 93°10′15″W) near Dardanelle, into Pope, Yell, Logan, Johnson and Franklin Counties. The lake reaches 50 miles (80 km) upstream the Arkansas River and has 315 miles (510 km) of shoreline. Each recreational park on Dardanelle has drinking water, picnic tables and toilet facilities. Most have trailer dump stations, boat launch ramps and electrical sites.

* made an edit to Wikipedia as a result of this post

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #112

President Clinton Avenue just before it transitions into Markham Street, Little Rock, Arkansas, December 10, 2008 (Pentax K10D)

Love him or hate him, it was inevitable that William Jefferson Clinton would get a street named after him in the capital city of the state where he was governor before getting elected president.  Stretching from the Clinton Presidential Center and Park west to Cumberland, after which the street reverts back to Markham Street, President Clinton Avenue is almost exactly 1/2 mile in length.

President Clinton Avenue: Little Rock, Arkansas (American Planning Association)

The transformation of Little Rock’s East Markham Street to what is now President Clinton Avenue was, in the words of a long-time Little Rock business leader, “an overnight success 20 years in the making.” The avenue is a popular destination and hub of activity with a mixture of restaurants, museums, art galleries, entertainment venues, stores, offices, educational facilities, apartments, and loft condominiums. Some 30 sidewalk benches, almost 150 street trees, decorative lighting, designed walkways, outdoor sculptures, and scenic views make for a memorable experience.

The entire length of President Clinton Avenue is designated an American Planning Association Great Street, between the Clinton Presidential Center and Park to the east and Cumberland Street to the west.

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #111

Roundleaf buffaloberry bush, 6.5 miles north and east of Head of Rocks Overlook on Utah Highway 12  in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, October 6, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II)

Shepherdia rotundifolia (Wikipedia)

Shepherdia rotundifolia, the roundleaf buffaloberry[1] or silverleaf, is a 3-to-6-foot (1-to-2-meter) evergreen shrub in the oleaster family (Elaeagnaceae) that grows only in the Colorado Plateau (endemic) of the southwestern United States.The common name comes from western settlers using the cooked berries in a sauce for eating cooked buffalo meat.

“Rotundifolia” is for the oval or egg-shaped leaves, which can vary to being lance shaped. They are 1⁄4 to 1 1⁄2 inches (6 to 38 mm) long, silvery green on top (hence the other common name), and hairy and pale on the bottom.

Flowers open from May to June and are yellowish. They are produced singly or in a cluster from leaf axils.

Fruits are elliptical, with star-shaped hairs.

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #110

Prairie grasses at rest stop at Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge, Kansas, East of US 69 on Kansas 52, July 3, 2010 (Pentax K10D)

On the second day of our 2010 western trip, we stopped at a Kansas rest stop at Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge, one in a system of over 550 refuges administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Refuge was established in 1992 for the protection and restoration of bottomland hardwood forests.  Approximately 5,000 acres of the 7,500 acre refuge are available for wildlife oriented recreation including hunting, fishing, and birding.   A wildlife sanctuary encompasses the remaining 2,500 acres of the refuge and is not available for public use.  (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Marais des Cygnes)

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #109

Clock tower, a modern rendition of a tower built as part of a bank in 1900 and removed for safety in 1939, Sturgeon Bay, September 18, 2008 (Pentax K10D)

The corner building of the Scofield Block in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, built in 1900, was originally the Bank of Sturgeon Bay and boasted a fine clock tower.  The clock tower was removed in 1939 for “safety reasons.” The old bell from the tower was retrieved by the bank and installed in a new clock tower across the street designed as a rendition of the old tower.

Bank of Sturgeon Bay, before 1939 demolition of clock tow

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.