Best of 2008 - Part 2

And now part 2 of the best of 2008:

June:
I finally had a chance to explore the new Junction Bridge, and got this view looking toward the downtown skyline:




And another view of the bridge...


The Old Mill in North Little Rock (the mill's roof was damaged by a fire a few weeks ago, the police are still looking for the people who caused it).


And from a trip to Hot Springs, one of my favorite cities in the state:










And finally, one quick shot from Burns Park in NLR:


July:
I drove out to the swamps of eastern Arkansas and tried to find the Ivory Billed woodpecker, but got these shots instead:




And a dusk shot of the capitol building:


August:
The Big Dam Bridge and a big dam puddle:


And night settling in over the Junction Bridge:


We took a short road trip to Kansas City for a soccer game, and found that it is a really cool city. This is the view of downtown form the Liberty Memorial Tower:


September:
Hurricane Gustav made its way over Arkansas, and then sat for a few days. We were drenched with rain, which managed to get waterfalls back up and running. This is Little Rock under Gustav:


A few days later I made a trip back up to Falling Water Falls which was running nicely from all that rain from Gustav:




This creek runs into Falling Water Creek just downstream from the falls:


I made another trip up to Collins Creek, which is by far one of my favorite places in the state:






October:
Big Dam Bridge in an early morning fog:


This month was spent waiting for the fall colors to develop. We spent the day in the Ozarks trying to find color, exploring Pedestal Rocks and Falling Water Falls (again).










I took some time off from work and made a trip back up to the Ozarks, going to Gunner Pool and Blanchard Springs:






I headed back up to the Ozarks in search of fall color, heading back up to the Buffalo National River. This was taken along the way to Hawksbill Crag:


After leaving the Crag, we went over and got a few shots of the Buffalo River at Steele Creek. The reflections were awesome.


November:
The fall colors finally kicked in, and I made a trip over to Flatside Pinnacle in the Ouachita National Forest for some shots (much to my cousin Jonathon's displeasure).








The leaves were pretty much gone after that, though I did try to find something to get pictures of:






I made one last trip to Collins Creek, when all the autumn leaves had just about fallen from the trees.




And in my truly fair and unbiased opinion, I think this might be my best shot of the year:


December:
The start of the month saw this rare sight up in the skies:


I made sure I was out at the state capitol when the turned on the building Christmas lights, and then set off fireworks:


And then went out the next night to get this shot of the capitol at dusk:


Then one of my cousins made it to the state high school football championship game, so I made sure I was out there with a camera. I'm amazed I got these shots, especially since it catches him scoring a touchdown. My cousin is set for facebook profile pictures for months and months.




And a few shots from Benton:




From the fog a few weeks ago:






And Charleston:


Well thanks for sticking with me and this post for all this time. I never really thought people would care that much about my pictures, or care to read my wacky stories or anything. But thanks for stopping by the blog this year, I've appreciated all your views and comments. Hopefully next year will be great, with a lot more trips into the Ozarks and Ouachitas (and possible the Smokies). No doubt there will be many encounters with a few more crazy people - stay tuned!