I'm baaaack!  I feel like I've been gone forever.....the last time I posted was 4/18.  Since then, it's been a whirlwind around here.  I have a ton of photos from Tennessee to share as well.  (Editing them took more time than I thought it would! I was definitely trigger happy.)

Steve and I took off about 5:30 a.m. Easter morning for Nashville - a nice, uneventful drive and flight (thank goodness!).  We took off out of Sacramento, had a brief layover in Denver without changing planes, and then landed in Nashville at 4:30 p.m.  Steve had rented a car and had made hotel arrangements in Brentwood (slightly south of Nashville), so we were off pretty much as soon as we got in.  Steve brought his GPS from home, and I had my Maps app on my phone, so we were good to go anywhere!  (Okay - once, his GPS sent us on three rights to make a left, but it worked!)  

The hotel was decent - not fancy, but clean and the people were very friendly.  It was an Extended Stay hotel - my room had a refrigerator, range, pots and pans, plates, everything you needed to stay for a while, and it was $49 a night.  I didn't even make coffee in the room though - they had a grab-and-go breakfast downstairs that had good coffee, so....why make my own?  (Room coffee just never tastes as good as 'real' coffee.

The dogwoods were in full bloom, as were a lot of other trees, shrubs and flowers (and I thought I might leave my allergies at home - not a chance!)  This one was at our hotel - I don't think I've ever seen one so full.

After we go checked in and unpacked, we decided we needed to walk a bit - that plane ride was uneventful, and I, for one, was stiff from sitting all day!  I checked my Maps app for "Things to do" in our area, and found a park close by that sounded interesting.  Radnor Lake State Natural Park was the first state park of Tennessee.  The lake was created in 1914 to provide water for steam engines for the Nashville and Louisville railroads, and to provide water for the cattle being shipped.  It was turned into a park after it was no longer needed for the water, and has a little over 3 miles of walking trail around the lake.

The trail starts off in a wooded area with a little creek flowing through it.

The trail leads up to the dam  - seen here below...

The lake is famous for the wildlife.  We saw, in just that two mile walk, geese, turtles, ducks, deer, two beavers and a bird that I have no idea what it is (pictured later).

Wildflowers were also blooming everywhere - these covered whole hillsides.

See my picture of a beaver?  In the photo above, there is one swimming in the pond formed behind their dam (my resolution wasn't clear enough to zoom in on it - what can I say, I left the 'good' camera in the car and had to use the camera on the phone - silly me!), and the one below has the ripples of his dive.  I wasn't ever able to time the photo to get his picture.

The sun was setting as we finished the walk around the lake.

Check out the beaver tree!

Here's my little yellow bird....in the center of the photo

And his close-up.....

After our walk, we found some dinner at a Cracker Barrel, and headed home to the hotel.  Starting the day at 4:30 a.m. pacific time, and ending at 9:30 p.m. central time is exhausting!!!