Our Anniversary Trip --June 21-23, 2017

Mr and Mrs George Emery Adams
Married for 16 wonderful years on June 23, 2017;
Picture taken on 6/21/17 at the summit,  Mt. Mitchell State Park,  North Carolina

This past Friday (June 23, 2017),  George and I celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary.   What a fantastic 16 years it has been!!!!   Hope we have many, many more together!

As you know,  the two of us LOVE to celebrate and LOVE to travel and hike.  SO---this year we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and stayed a couple of nights at a NEW TO US  resort,  the Switzerland Inn  (at Little Switzerland,  North Carolina).   Even counting all of the wonderful things we saw and did on this short trip,  staying at this resort was definitely the highlight of this week for me.  I'll do an entire blog post about the resort soon.

Another highlight this year  (which will also be featured in an upcoming blog post) was seeing the beautiful wildflowers in bloom, especially the Catawba Rhododendrons.   All I can say is WOW.

But TODAY ---I'm featuring Day ONE of our trip (June 21, 2017),  talking about and showing pictures of 3 amazing hikes we took.   First,  we hiked in the CRAGGY GARDENS area to the MEADOWS.   Most of their Rhododendron Blooms were gone for this year,  but we saw many more later on during the trip.  BUT--it's a nice hike and we enjoyed it.  THEN---we hiked to the CRAGGY PINNACLE.   And thirdly,  we drove to MT. MITCHELL STATE PARK and hiked to the summit. Needless to say,  we both got lots of exercise --and lots of 'floors'  (elevation numbers).

This day was the best weather-wise for us on this trip... Tropical Storm Cindy brought lots of clouds, fog, drizzle and RAIN to the area, but we never let a little rain stop us from having fun....  Hope you enjoy today's pictures.

Beautiful MOUNTAIN VIEW --from Craggy Gardens,  6/21/17

Sign at CRAGGY GARDENS along the Blue Ridge Parkway;  Elevation here is 5640 feet;

We hiked up to the CRAGGY MEADOWS area  (elevation is 5840 feet).

I took this picture of George in Craggy Meadows in front of some of the Catawba Rhododendrons still blooming.  This area is filled with blooming Rhododendrons in late May/early June ---so we were a little late this year.

OOPS----We are still in the Craggy Meadows area --but RAIN is coming,  so we had better get back on the trail down.....  (Seems like those clouds followed us around all day --but the rains stayed away from where we were.)

From the parking lot at CRAGGY GARDENS,  this is a view of our next hike to CRAGGY PINNACLE....   Want to hike up there with us????????

WE MADE IT......  Compare this picture to the previous one!!!!!  We are now looking down at the parking lot at Craggy Gardens --from the upper summit area of the CRAGGY PINNACLE.  Those clouds are still chasing us!!!!! ha....

One more thing to point out in this picture:   See the roof on the building near the top of that ridge (near the upper middle of the picture)??????  WELL---that is where we hiked when we were at the Craggy Meadows area which I talked about in the photos above.

Beautiful mountain views from the summit at CRAGGY PINNACLE  (elevation 5892 feet)

George at CRAGGY PINNACLE  6/21/17

Here's a girl who loves being on top of the world!!!!!!

I think the boy likes being on top of the world ALMOST as much as the girl.....  

We didn't have our Tripod with us up here  and nobody to ask to take our picture together --- so we just enjoyed taking pictures of each other while we were on that summit --with nobody else around!!!!

We made it (with the tripod) to MT MITCHELL STATE PARK and to the summit!!!!!    

Beautiful view from the summit at Mt. Mitchell State Park  (elevation 6684 feet)

One more picture from the summit at Mt. Mitchell State Park;  I love the evergreen/pine trees surrounding this area...

I'll close with another picture of us taken at the summit at Mt. Mitchell State Park--as we celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary this week..

As I said above,  there are more blog posts to come from this wonderful trip.... I hope you enjoy our travels as we share them with those we love......    Have a wonderful week my Friends/Family...  Blessings to all of you!

Hugs,

LET'S THINK GREEN ----plus a WEDDING

Our HOME 5/22/17

I love this quote:  "Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises."  I usually put an emphasis on the colors in our yard --but this year, especially after our terrible drought last year,  I am in love with the GREENS in our yard!!!!!

Today I want to share more of our yard and more of the 'greens' we have.   Hope you enjoy seeing the beauty in all of this GREEN....

Our Ivy/Periwinkle (Vinca Minor) BED on the upper side of our front yard (6/8/17)

Hosta Plants around the dogwood tree in our front yard  (6/12/17)  NOTE:  Deer munched on the one on the right!! Darn!

Another view from the opposite direction of our English Ivy and Periwinkle (Vinca Minor) bed on the upper side of our front yard  (6/12/17)

Hostas among the Ivy/Periwinkle (6/12/17)

First Hosta Blooms of the summer  (6/12/17)

Another Hosta among the Ivy/Periwinkle (the one which is blooming);  (6/12/17)

Continuing on the upper side of the yard toward the back,  this is mostly Periwinkle with a little Ivy;  See George in the background hiding????? ha.... (6/12/17)

Another picture of the upper side of the yard toward the back;  The Periwinkle is so thick here --and even though it takes years to get THIS thick,  it is a great ground cover since it eats up the weeds!!!  (6/12/17)_

This Hosta was our largest hosta plant UNTIL this year...  It is now in 2nd place --but is still pretty (on the upper side of the yard)  (6/12/16)

This is now the largest Hosta we have (on the lower side of the yard);  SO pretty!   (5/18/17)

More Green --with colors among the greens  (Roses and Day Lilies)  (6/8/17)

My favorite Hosta Bed this year  (lower side of the front yard)   (5/16/17)

Same Hosta Bed as above --a month later (6/12/17) ----IF these keep growing,  I'm gonna need a bigger bed... ha

Lower front yard under the big Red Bud tree  (Want to come and sit on our bench with me?) (6/12/17)

Another picture of the lower front side yard, looking back to the road   (6/12/17)

HOME  (6/8/17)

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Meet Mr. and Mrs. Mark Wilhite;  Married 6/12/17 in Galveston, Texas;  Congrats to both!!!  (Mark is my middle son, and he and Debbie have just returned from a Caribbean Cruise.  I am so happy for them and love them both so very very much.

One more collage from the wedding last Monday of my son, Mark, and the love of his life,  Debbie;  They just returned from a Carnival Cruise to the Caribbean. These two Sweethearts have more fun together than anyone I know.  The key to their deep love and their relationship is LAUGHTER.   I am so happy for them, and I KNOW that they enjoyed every single minute on that cruise,  and will have an extremely happy life together FOREVER!!!

Hope you enjoyed today pictures of the greens in our yard... AND I hope you enjoyed seeing these pictures of two very happy people in love.... I love them both with all of my heart!

One more thing:  Hope you had a great Father's Day Weekend.... IF you would like to read some about my sweet Daddy,  click HERE.

Hugs,

LILIES and DAY LILIES in our Yard -Spring, 2017

JUDITH DAY LILIES--  6-7-17

A couple of weeks ago,  I showed you pictures of our front yard and some of our gorgeous ROSES in bloom.  Today--I'll share some of our LILIES and our DAY LILIES...  All of the pictures were taken between May 16 and June 10,  2017...  Hope you enjoy these little 'beauties'...

JUANITA LILY--  5-16-17

PURE AND SIMPLE DAY LILIES-- 6-7-17

CRIMSON PIXIE LILIES--  5-16-17

LITTLE HEAVENLY ANGEL DAY LILY-- 6-1-17

TINOS LILY-- 5-22-17

DOUBLE EYEFUL DAY LILY-- 6-4-17

LOLLYPOP LILY-- 5-22-17

WILD HORSES DAY LILIES-- 6-9-17

AFRICAN QUEEN LILY --- 6-9-17

FRANKLY SCARLET DAY LILIES-- 6-9-17

ORANGE ELECTRIC LILY-- 5-25-17

DANCING SHIVA DAY LILY-- 6-9-17

ROSELLA'S DREAM LILIES-- 6-9-17

LEEBEA ORANGE CRUSH DAY LILY-- 6-9-17

MONTENEGRO LILIES-- 5-25-17

NIGHT BEACON DAY LILY-- 6-9-17

Another shot of AFRICAN QUEEN LILIES-- 6-10-17

I just HAD to share this last picture --since, as an amateur photographer,  sometime the light is just perfect to get a really good shot... This LILY is gorgeous ---and I really liked this picture...

I tried to give you a variety of different colors and shapes... Do you have a favorite today?

WELL---I'm sure there will be more Lily and Day Lily picture to come since we have so many.. AND---if I leave one of them out,  he or she may CRY....  I wouldn't want that to happen.... ha ha

Hope you have a great week --and HOPE you enjoy more of the flowers in our yard today.

Hugs,