Well, intentions were good, but mother nature dealt us a whopper. Faced with the possibility of being snow bound for a few days, we decided to head southwest. We barely skirted the eastward moving storm, saw a few flurries, but managed to miss the big stuff. But all was not lost. Continuing west, we decided to stay off the interstates and see what we could discover along the way. One of the advantages of following the back roads is that you get to see a lot more of the real United States –not the fast food restaurants and typical haunts that populate every interstate highway exit. This photo is of “downtown” Scooba, Mississippi, a small town that was gasping for life, but still retained its character of forgotten days. Black and white was the only way to see it.

Another reason to stay off the well beaten path is to see things that most folks don’t bother with. We covered about 150 miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway. This photo is from a section of the original “Old Trace”, well worn. Imagine what it was like for the lone traveler in the 1800s.

Now onward to Texas where I’m sure we’ll find some more interesting sites along our adventure trail.
























CAMERA GEAR:
I’m gathering my gear together to make a trek back to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to try to catch some of the magic of the fall foliage change. I plan to catch at least 2 sunrises and 2 sunsets, with some waterfalls and streams in between. The real challenge for this trip is to avoid the crush of leaf peepers that will undoubtedly be swarming around the park. Previous trips have yielded some decent photos, but I’m hoping to improve on those by choosing some more remote sites that will require some hiking away from the main roads.
Heading back west again to visit family in Texas, I stopped at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park again, this time to shoot the sunset. The sky cooperated and a few of the pics are posted in the Smoky Mountains gallery on my website (


