Charlie, AI Foolery, and Pinnacles Deer

Let's start with a picture of Charlie before venturing into Shenandoah National Park.

I opened this photo in the Picasa app and saw that I can use artificial intelligence to add a Christmas sweater. I thought it would be cute.
 

That was not what I expected! Picsart also made alternate versions that did not look like a dog at all.

Yikes! That’s enough of that! Let’s switch to a visit to Shenandoah National Park that I made on Monday. I had an appointment at the podiatrist that morning, and from there I went to Warrenton to shop for a few things and came home by way of Route 211 over the mountains. Since we haven’t seen much in the way of snow yet, I wanted to see if the park had more, but there were only small patches of it. 

Dark comes early, so I decided that I would only drive 10 miles south before turning around.

Pinnacles Picnic Area was my turnaround point, and I thought I might see deer there. Sure enough, there was a herd on the hill. I was using my cell phone to take pictures, and the low light was a problem. I was very pleased when some deer posed in silhouette on the ridge. I got out of the car, ignoring the bitter cold, to get pictures of them. 

I heard something moving to my left. It was a young deer, browsing near the parking lot. It kept moving closer, eating as it wandered.

I’ve had deer come pretty close to me before. They are fairly well protected in the National Park, so some of them are not afraid of you as long as you are quiet. 

I took a lot of pictures of this fine creature before it started to move away. Then I realized that my fingers were freezing because I had neglected to put my gloves on. I got back in the car and slowly drove away.

I drove through Mary‘s Rock Tunnel and passed Panorama before exiting the park. At that point, I was only about a half hour from home.