Kontan Jou

It was the perfect day for an outdoor excursion. Djembe was kind enough to put together a picnic lunch and we headed to the TVA reservation for fall photo ops. (Outdoorsy nature stuff is really not his thing so this was an act of pure love. ~*~ ) The colors were absolutely beautiful. I’ve been wanting to make it back to the trails for some time now. Today was cool, but not cold, and was perfect for hiking and photos. The girls loved it. They enjoy being outdoors, and walking through the woods. It made it extra special that dad joined us.

We crossed the river and found the nature garden. It is a great spot to park because you can hang out there and view many native plants, or hit several trails. They all converge at the nature garden so it is a good central location. We chose to hike to the pavilion for our picnic. The pavilion is a stone lodge structure that overlooks the river. Its open spaces are ideal for tossing the football or just watching boats pass. The hike was less than a mile so it fit our time frame and wasn’t too strenuous that we would be exhausted after the days activities. While there we had lunch, tossed the football and took advantage of the scenery.

After enjoying the pavilion we decided to take another trail back to the nature garden. About the same length back, our total hike was probably just over a mile. I am very satisfied with the pictures we were able to take. There are some really great shots of the girls. Below are a few more favorites. One is me kneeling looking up hill, another is a favorite tree at the pavilion. It is a white tree that is just stunning when the light hits it. The girls rave over it and have a strong desire to climb to the top. I don’t blame them, but it is merely beautiful, and not conducive to climbing. Our neighborhood has several trees with vivid color so I decided to scare my neighbors by taking pictures of their foliage.