Wind Songs: Fort Loudoun Dam

Pictures taken through the trees at sunset from the back yard of the house............

Recently LC and I left Jamie at the house and drove east to Lenoir City to visit his daughter, son-in-law and grandson.
A quick down and back visit, we stopped briefly on the way home at the Fort Loudoun Dam just on the outskirts of this surprisingly large mid-sized eastern Tennessee city that is located close to the Smoky Mountains.
I wanted to take pictures of the dam and wanted to take still more pictures of the lake and surrounding mountains.
The day was warm and very cloudy and threatened rain but I managed to take many pictures of not only the dam but also the marina that was located close by.
This huge turbine prop (I think?) was located 1/4 mile from the dam.
Sitting on a concrete pad close to the water and in a park setting close to the dam it made for a hugely interesting and architectural fixture.
I loved the lines of it..............

Fort Loudoun Dam and a vehicle bridge spanning the huge Fort Loudoun Lake that dumps into the also-huge Tennessee River.
More information on the dam:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Loudoun_Dam

My Mountain Boy, who calls this entire region home, stayed with the truck and standing guard over the fishing rods and tackle boxes that were sitting in the bed of the truck, while I walked down closer to the water...........

Excitedly I found a small sandy beach area by the water, and like a lemming to a cliff found myself compelled to head down that way.

I looked to my left and saw another parking lot down by what I realized was a marina, called my Mountain Boy on a cell phone since I had already wandered so far away from him, and asked him to meet me at the marina.

I was furiously snapping pictures, trying to walk a fine line between taking advantage of this opportunity to take some pictures of a very beautiful area, knowing that bad weather was blowing in and we were still a few hours from home so needed to get going, and awareness that I was keeping someone waiting.

I snapped a picture and walked, snapped a picture and walked - quickly taking in everything that was around me.............

A beautiful little cove in a beautiful little area...........

While walking close to the beach I heard a sudden and high pitched screech.

Looking out over the water I realized that I had unexpectedly startled a heron

He landed on this buoy in the center of the lake and stayed there the entire time that LC and I were at the dam...........

I headed for this huge sign located on a point, curious to see what the sign said..........

This bridge was busy yesterday.

Given its proximity to the Smokies I can only imagine how busy this bridge becomes during the Summer tourist months.............

The sign says it all.............

One more startled heron.

One more bird taking flight across the lake............

Heading towards the marina...........

I had seen this paddle boat as we drove just beyond the dam and headed for the park, and knew that I wanted to take pictures of it.

I had no idea what else was in the area, how many boats, how many enclosures, whether or not there was a restaurant or store or other facilities.

But the paddle boat drew me in that direction and even though I did not have a lot of time I was greatly enjoying this part of my very busy day that turned out to be spent mostly on the road.............