2-26-2018  sunset at Lake Lanier

We've been hearing that the lake is higher then it's been since we've moved here.  So we decided to take a ride over to the dam and check it out.  Especially since it's Feb. and the weather here is pretty much like it was in Maui!  At least right now!
The lake as we were driving over the dam.

 West Bank park as seen from the dam.

8-16-17  Old Federal Park sunset:

Since we were half way to the park from where we had dinner (Wings Wednesday at Friends), we headed to Old Federal Park for sunset.  I keep think one of these days we're going to have a really colorful one again.  But the clouds got pretty heavy at the horizon right before sunset.

 Fortunately we still got some color in the clouds off to the NE. 

8-1-17  to Old Federal Park for sunset:

It looked like we were going to have a spectacular sunset.  So I headed over to Old Federal park to watch it.  The clouds were certainly pretty, but in the end, they turned out to be too heavy at the horizon.  But I hauled a folding chair onto the beach and enjoyed the evening.
I wasn't the only one waiting for a pretty sunset---

 The really cool clouds

5-31-17 Old Federal Park sunset:

Time to get back to the lake and check out the water levels.  It is up quite a bit, but according to the news it's still down about 7'.  Pretty obvious with how the swimming area is still all beach.

 A bunch of these cute little guys were flitting around in the trees.

4-19-17  My 1st, but not last, bike ride on the Suwanee Greenway!

This is what's suppose to be connected to the short greenway by our apartments, but apparently they're still trying to buy land for the extension.   But I was curious about riding my bike on the Suwanee Greenway, especially after walking a mile of it to take pictures a couple times.  So today I loaded up my bike and drove to the greenway.  I only got about 7 miles in, but didn't feel like riding along McGinnis Ferry when the trail came to it.  But it was a beautiful and easy ride!
A lot of the trail is shaded with lots of trees.

 There were also a fair amount of boardwalks---all in excellent condition.

1-24-17 Pizza Hut and Lake Lanier sunset:

Seems Ken's no longer interested in going to Luigi's or Parma's for pizza.  But there is a nice sit down Pizza Hut nearby and their service is really good.  The pizza has even been quite good the last couple times that we went there.

 The price is certainly good, too, at something like $6@ for 2 or more medium pizzas any way you want them.  Of course, we got the meat lovers ones.

Then we continued on to Lake Lanier to check on the water levels and catch sunset.
Saw this house for sale just down the road from Old Federal Park.  If we were looking for a house, i'd be checking it out!

This is probably more like what we could afford!

Our favorite park on Lanier---at least to this point.  We've driven around to most of the parks, but most of them don't have a view west over the lake for sunset.  This happens to be looking East across part of the lake.

 This is a little marina to the north.  I would love to go to the marinas to take pictures, but they all seem to be gated and the gate keepers keep the rif raf like us out. 

We did drive down the main road around the lake to kill some more time before sunset (it was too cold to wander around at the park).  Saw another house I wouldn't mind checking out!

Back to Old Federal Park.  Here's the "island" that's still not an island.

 Looking out towards the setting sun.

 pinecones on the trees.

and these things 

and the sun has set.  No clouds to change colors, but it was still a beautiful way to spend the evening.

I'll be glad when spring comes and we head back up into the mountains.  Can't wait to see all the wild rhodies and other wild flowers in the Spring!  And green leaves on the trees again!

11-10-16  forest fires!!!

Gotta show off my flowers some more!  All the lillies were closed originally and I've been able to watch them gradually open day by day.  It's like having a different arrangement everyday!

 Trying to get back out and get my "steps" in, but it's been really smokey here!  Northern Georgia (and 5 other states around here) are on fire!  Worst draught Atlanta has had in ages --- no rain for about 2 months now.  We decided to take a ride out to the lake and see what it's looking like there.  This was taken along our way.  This also shows one of Ken's pet peves!  He's always expressing annoyance about there being 2 turn lights up for 1 turn lane.  Gotta admit, I don't recall seeing that before and there are a lot of them here, but I can't say it really bothers me that much.

8-12-16 best sunset here yet--and back to Old Federal Park---

After an afternoon of storms and clouds, it cleared up a bit and we decided to head to Old Federal Park and watch the sun set. Just before we got to the park, we came across this little guy.  So cute!  Still had the fawn spots.  When it ran into the woods, I noticed it had a twin sibling.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of both of them.  A short distance from there was what I assume was their mother. 

 The park wasn't as busy as it was a couple days ago.  Only ones by the volleyball court this time were the geese.

 Looking towards the boat ramp.  This would be a good place to bring Angie's kayak.

 With the sun still being pretty high in the sky, we took some chairs down and parked ourselves in the shade of this tree.

 View from our seats.

 It wasn't long before more geese arrived.  They obviously aren't afraid of humans.

 Looks like even they enjoy the views.

 Have no idea what this guy is, but he decided to join us for a little while, too. 

 It has a bright red patch on the back of it's neck.

 I guess he's some sort of wood pecker.

 About to loose our shade.

 Way in the distance I saw this guy.  Too bad I didn't have my 600mm lens with me!  Don't know what it is, either.

 As the sun continued to drop, I started to walk around.  This was looking back to the East with the moon visible.

 Again I was fascinated with the long shadows and water tracks.

 More geese joining us.

 Almost down.  To the right is the little island I walked out to the other day.

 Didn't know if we'd get much of a sunset with the bank of clouds near the horizon, but the sun rays were interesting.

 The clouds did start changing colors.

 We ended up having our prettiest sunset in Georgia to date.  It even lasted a good 30-40 minutes.

 Looking to the East the clouds were really colorful.

 Looking South towards the swim area.

 Back to the West.  MOre of the constantly color changing clouds.

 Almost done.

 It was even colorful looking towards the North.

 These guys know a good thing.

One final look as we were heading out.  

We also noticed emergency boats off in the distance.  Turned out they were looking for someone who fell off a boat earlier in the day.  They were back to continue the search the next day but I don't think they've found anyone yet.  Same thing happened about a week ago and that guy wasn't found for a few days.  Such a shame some place so beautiful can end up being so deadly.