Sewanee Trip...

A couple of weekends ago, we went on a Saturday trip up the 'mountain' to the Sewanee area. We do this occasionally because the area is beautiful and there are many family activites available. I also like for my children to know that there is a prestigious university and seminary just a few miles from our home (hint - Study hard and get a scholarship because it's also expensive).

These trips are also an excuse for me to take a lot of photographs which I usually post a sampling of afterwards. Unfortunately, I have been so busy the past couple of weeks, I didn't post any of my latest Sewanee pics even though they were FTP'ed to the server.

So here are some of those photos and some brief comments:

The trip to Sewanee itself is fairly impressive. We usually call the area 'the mountain' but it's actually a plateau. Still, it looms over the valley like a mountain and is visible from 20 or more miles away. To give some sense of perspective, the little square thing visible atop the plateau in the picture above is the 5 story Templeton library!





Above is the entrance to 'The Domain'. As I understand it, The University of the South owns not only the university grounds but the entire town of Sewanee and several thousand surrounding acres. The stone gateway marks the entrance into university's domain.

Just inside the domain entrance is 'the rock', a huge outcropping of sandstone that can be climbed for a scenic view of the valley. I let my kids climb the thing because I did it as a kid but it's probably dangerous. I took the picture below from the top of the rock, down toward the Sewanee side. The little blob on the shadow in the center is me!





Above is a valley view from the rock. We moved on from there to the memorial cross. You can just see the cross in the forest opening below.



Above is another valley view, this time from the cross grounds. I like the picture below because the tree seems to mimic the shape of the cross. In the extreme lower left of the picture, you can see my son running around like a madman.



More scenic views from the perimeter trail which encircles the entire domain. Sorry about the power lines visible in the one below but the aerial perspective was too good to pass up.



Pictures from the trail.



How about those autumn colors!



The kids having some fun.

The only bad thing about the trip is going home. Even though we only live a few miles away, the road to Sewanee is a 7% grade with about two dozen tight curves and switchbacks and no place to go but down if you can't keep it between the lines (The angle in the picture below is not exaggerated). Add to this the rapid repressurization of one's inner ears from the the change in altitude and you get some idea of the unpleasantness of this part of the trip.

Still, we had a great time and I took some O.K. pictures. We won't be able to go back any time soon so this may be it for '06.