Skyline Drive in the Rain, VA

A touch of autumn on the Skyline Drive.

A small wet weather falls.

Oak tree in the fog.

This black bear crossed the road in front

of us and scampered up the mountainside.

I never thought they could run so fast.

A dis-membered tree in the rain and fog.
Bill wanted me to take this picture.

When you are given lemons, you make lemonade.
When you are given rain, you take pictures of water flowing.

A small falls.

A medium falls.

A larger falls.

Storm warnings are up through this evening.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring some sun.

Tropical Storm Nicole

We woke up to rain and fog due to Tropical Storm

Nicole who decided to visit the Carolinas.

We were amazed to see hundreds of thousands

of Christmas trees growing in NC and VA.

These trees are grown just like any other crop.

I finally got my VA sign!

Just outside of Lexington, VA we came across
these emus.

This was the first time I ever saw a white emu.

These are all the pictures I was able to take today

due to the rain and fog. Tomorrow does

not look any more promising, but I hope

the meteorologists are wrong!

Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

After 2 and 1/2 days of rain morning broke spectacularly.

Today we entered the Blue Ridge Parkway.

With few exceptions, we will let these pictures

speak for themselves.

Standing at the highest point on the Parkway.

Moon between the pines.

After eight days we are still talking.

We finally got to see the Biltmore Estate from many

miles away on the Parkway.

An 800 foot waterfall.

One of many tunnels on the Parkway.

The end of the day, a shaft of light on the mountain.

States Visited So Far

As you can see, we have been to 38 states thus far. Since we will not be going to Alaska or Hawaii, we have ten more to go in the lower 48!

Rain in the Mountains

On Sunday, September 26, we entered TN in the rain!

In Pigeon Forge we did some shopping, but found
nothing to our liking. Then the clouds parted and
we saw a double rainbow.

The rainbows filled the whole arc of the sky.
It indeed was the most beautiful thing we saw
in Pigeon Forge.

Monday, September 27, we drove through Great
Smoky Mountains NP starting in TN.

The Pigeon River.

A quiet walkway through the forest.

The Great Smoky Mountains are not smoky,
but rather cloudy.

A roaring mountain stream.

A mono-chromatic photo.

We met this friendly donkey near our hotel
in Waynesville, NC

FINALLY!
The rain stopped and we saw the sun.
The is the view from our hotel room.

Asheville, NC

This tree is covered with an invasive vine called

kudzu.

It covers fields, trees, bushes, posts and buildings.

It has a certain beauty, but it can be a real pest.

Part of the main driveway into the Biltmore Estate.


The same man who designed Central Park in NYC
did the same for the Biltmore Estate.

He used many different plants, including giant bamboo.

The winding forest roads create a surprise around

each corner. The biggest surprise was we did

not go into the mansion or formal gardens.

We arrived late on Saturday and thought that

$70 each was a little much for the two hours we had left.

We encountered many large beds of wildflowers

along NC roads.

We hope that during the next few days the

Smoky Mountains will not be quite as smoky.

High Point, NC

We were here at the Sarah P Duke Garden on the
campus of Duke University in Chapel Hill, NC.

A center courtyard in the garden.

I took several pictures of the beautiful roses
since it reminded me of my Dad and the
lovely rose garden he had in Roselle.

Aren't they beauties?

Stunning yellow roses.

This is the Duke University Chapel from a distance.
We could not get near it since parking was impossible
with Homecoming this weekend.