Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, October 16, 2017

Autumn Colors in North Carolina and Tennessee --October 2017

Us on the Blue Ridge Parkway-- 10/11/17
Hello my Friends,   Guess what?    George and I just got back from another TRIP.   This was a short one though --but OH,  did we have a great time...  We had reservations at one of our favorite Inns  (MT PISGAH INN) not too far from Asheville,  North Carolina.   We stayed 3 nights  (Oct. 10-12) leaving on the 13th.

Some of you may remember our last visit here (August of 2016) when George surprised me with my Birthday Trip.   This place is so popular that it's hard to get reservations especially during October... SO---we got our reservations a YEAR ago for this past week.

We highly recommend Pisgah Inn ---if you enjoy being on the mountain (over 5000 feet in elevation) with gorgeous views from your room.... AND--their restaurant is one of the best of any similar places where we have stayed all through the years...  IF you want more information about Piscah Inn,  click HERE.

Today,   I am just picking out some of the MANY pictures we took while on that trip.... Our main reason to go this time of year was to see gorgeous FALL COLORS...  BUT--we also saw several waterfalls,   did some hiking,  and even took long rides on the back-roads in the Pisgah National Forest....

Hope you enjoy the pictures.  We still don't have much color here at home  (nothing except dead leaves on the ground)---so it was great seeing color in the mountains...



Beautiful Lake Santeetiah on Massey Branch  Access near Robbinsville,  NC -- 10/10/17  (This was taken on our way TO Mt. Pisgah and it was the only day we had RAIN.  It rained hard coming across the mountain on the Cherohala Skyway --but then quit for the rest of the trip. We had PERFECT weather for the remainder of our time there.   AWESOME.)



 A beautiful yellow/red combination of colored leaves;  I love these two colors together,  don't you?    (10/11/17)



Along the Blue Ridge Parkway--10/10/17  (after the rains!!!!)



We loved the VIEW from our room at the Pisgah Inn  --  10/11/17



A gorgeous SUNRISE from our room --10/11/17   (We saw this beauty both on the 11th and 12th --but it was foggy on the 13th, the morning we left.)



Another gorgeous view from our ROOM (balcony)  early in the morning on 10/11/17;  I love seeing FOG/Mist in the valley below.



Another pretty ORANGE tree (found on the property of Mt. Pisgah Inn)--10/11/17



George at an overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway -- 10/12/17




Driving on the unpaved 'back' roads (Forest Service Roads) is one of our favorite things to do,  not just in Autumn,  but ANY time of the year.    Getting away from the main roads is a great way to experience nature --and the AUTUMN COLORS.   Doesn't this look just like a piece of heaven?  WOW!!!!   (10/11/17)



Here's one of the MANY beautiful waterfalls we enjoyed this past week.  This beauty  has two names:  Waterfall on the West Fork of the Pigeon River  AND  Sunburst Falls.  I prefer to use Sunburst Falls.  It is located off of Highway 215  not far from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Devil's Courthouse.    (10/12/17)



My favorite FALL COLOR;  OH --how I love RED TREES....  (10/11/17)



Beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway -- 10/10/17



Oh those gorgeous BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS --(10/12/17);   I love seeing the trees all dressed up with their new clothes on!!!!!!   This picture is just breathtaking to me!



On our way home,   we just HAD to check out 'our' GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS..  This beautiful picture was taken at an overlook just south of  Newfound Gap (which is the intersection where North Carolina and Tennessee intercept at the top of the mountain, at an elevation of over 5000 feet).  I love seeing all of the layers of mountain ranges from here...   (10/13/17)



A view along Highway 441 of the CHIMNEYS in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park-- 10/13/17;  This is where the horrible Gatlinburg fire started in November 2016.  We saw so much evidence of the damage that the fire did ---as we traveled down the mountain on the 13th.  Made me sad! BUT--nature has a way of coming back!!!!!  Hooray!



Finally,  here's another picture of a HAPPY COUPLE   enjoying AUTUMN.   This picture was taken on the Foothills Parkway near Look Rock on 10/13/17.
Hope you enjoyed seeing our pictures from this little trip.   I love Autumn ---so anytime I can travel to see beautiful colors this time of year,  I am a "happy camper" for sure!!!!!

Have a great week my Friends....

Hugs,

34 comments:

Linda G. said...

You saw some beautiful Autumn colors on your trip. I am looking forward to May next year, when I can once again see some of what you saw on your mini vacation.

Liene said...

So glad your trip didn't coincidenwith all the hurricane remnants - that's what threw us off. Gorgeous pictures! What do you think, will the leaves up there hold for another week?

Ann said...

The colors there are beautiful and the views are amazing.

linda m said...

You sure saw some beautiful colors. Can't believe you have more color there than we have here. Mostly the leaves here are just dying and falling off without changing. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Marcia said...

Thanks for the autumn colors. We thought when we got back from Scotland we'd have more color here at home, but the leaves that had changed before we left have dropped off and the rest are just brown if they're not still green. We are headed to NH later this month to see family there but their colors will be gone by then. We did see yellows in Scotland but not much red or bronze. Looks like you got some new shirts from your trip west!

eileeninmd said...

Hello Betsy, you are always giving me ideas and new places to visit. The views are gorgeous. I love all the fall colors. Lovely shots of you and George. I will be adding Mt Pisgah to my list of places to visit. The Inn sounds awesome too. Wonderful collection of photos. Your header is beautiful too.

Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

very_inky_fingers said...

The fall colors are so beautiful! I am confused though... were you at the inn in September or October. Goodness I would love to have that view...gorgeous. We have no real fall colors here in Florida and I miss my New England fall so much. What a beautiful trip you had!!

David said...

Betsy, Great color photos. The color pops in the mountains so much earlier than down in the valley. We'll have to check out Mt. Piscah Inn ourselves...terrific views! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

George said...

You did a great job of summarizing our trip. Your photos are beautiful.

Chatty Crone said...

Okay I am officially jealous - love the colors!

Silver in AZ said...

wow, how gorgeous! Luck you!

Ginny Hartzler said...

Great trip and great planning...for a whole YEAR! But just look at the results it got! Some of my favorites are the mist settling on the mountains, the sunset, and the fifth from the bottom picture of the fall trees. LOVE the last picture of you and George in the SUN!

Happytrails said...

What beautiful fall colors and what a gorgeous place to see them!! I can tell by the smiles on your faces you guys had a wonderful time!! So glad God painted such beautiful colors for you!!

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Spectacular scenery, Betsy! I loved them all, but I think my favorite is the closeup of the trees just below the photo of your favorite red photo. I also love seeing the fog in the mountains. What a wonderful time of year! Love it. But our color isn't going to be that great this year, at least not so far. A few trees have some color, but for the most part it looks like they are going to go from green to brown.
Have a great week! xo Cheryl

Arkansas Patti said...

Thank you for letting me see some lovely color. It has been years since we have had a pretty Fall here. Maybe this year. I love that shot of the fog. Otherworldly. How smart to book a year ahead. Hope you are all set for next year.

Ruth Hiebert said...

God painted those areas in the most spectacular colors,for you to enjoy.Some day I would love to be in that area in fall and see that kind of beauty with my own eyes, till then,I will enjoy it through your camera lens.

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

Oh my. What a wonderful trip. The pictures from your room at the Inn are gorgeous. And I love that mountain view with all the color in the foreground. Doug and I like to have our lunch at that overlook just south of Newfound Gap, enjoying that marvelous view while we eat our Subway sandwiches. Did you hike up to Look Rock? It's not a long one, but it sure is steep.

Fun60 said...

I can see why you would want to revisit that area. The colours are gorgeous.

Shug said...

absolutely gorgeous. Sam and I were just a couple of weeks to early, in visiting that area. Maybe next years trip will be the perfect timing to see all of this beauty....

Betsy said...

Beautiful as always. You two almost don't need a house, you're always on the go. I think it's wonderful. Dennis and I took a drive up north into British Columbia today to see the leaves changing. It was gorgeous.
Blessings,
Betsy

LV said...

So glad you and George are still enjoying the lovely world sights. I enjoy the trips as well. Never would I get to see so much beauty if it were not for you. Both of you look well. Trust life will continue to be kind to you.

Judy said...

Beautiful!!

The Furry Gnome said...

I love all your little adventures! I'm hoping our move will give us more time for that sort of thing. You're one of the sources of my inspiration!

Big Dude said...

looks like another fine trip to YOUR mountains and they are showing off their fall colors. It seems you took the scenic route to get to Mt Pisgah.

A Colorful World said...

Such stunning photos, Betsy! You guys got there right at peak, looks like. Wow, how I missed views like this the whole time we lived in Tucson! The mountains here are very different from my first love mtns there, but I have some...and some great Fall color too that will be sharing soon. Still, that is such a special place! So glad you went to enjoy it

Lowcarb team member said...

The colours are just amazing ... nature at it's best.
I do like the Sunrise too!

All the best Jan

Small City Scenes said...

All beautiful images, Betsy. The colors here are mostly yellows and some reds and oranges. We traveled across the mountains twice in the past week but the mountains are covered mostly in Conifers so lotsa greens up there. I too love seeing fog or mist in the valleys.
MB

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Gorgeous fall color. Fall is late here. We aren't seeing that sort of color yet.

Pat Tillett said...

Hi Betsy! First off, LOVE your header photo. The only thing missing in the Lake Santeetiah photo, is me in a canoe, or kayak. So many great scenes in this post, and beautiful photos of them. We also love exploring back roads. Back roads are the best roads!

Linda said...

Wow! Beautiful images! The one with the mist made me gasp.

Lux G. said...

I love the color of autumn. But I love those beautiful sweet smiles more. My couple goals!

Karen (Back Road Journal) said...

Your photos are wonderful...loved all the fall color.

Andrea said...

Your photos are all spectacular, and as you know i love fall colors. They are at it again, the most magical moments. That shot of the Blue Ridge mountains is so lovely and of course the cascades and everything, plus the pair with uniform shirts, hehehe! I am glad you are both in good health. Keep warm.

Connie Arnold said...

Wonderful photos! We love the Blue Ridge Parkway, and fall is a terrific time for a visit.