What a Great Way to Turn 75!!!!

Oh how this girl loves SUNFLOWERS   (Biltmore, 7/31/17)

Well my Friends... It happened and didn't hurt at all!!!!  In fact,  turning 75 on Saturday (8/5) was loads of fun...  George took me on a surprise trip to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia this past week.  We stopped by Biltmore in Asheville,  NC  on the way,  to see the sunflowers and water lilies.  When we got to the Shenandoah National Park,  we stayed at the Skyland Resort for a few days...

The weather was PERFECT this week (no rain,  cooler temperatures)  and we certainly enjoyed not only checking out the overlooks along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive --with the windows open in the car, to enjoy the cooler breeze,  but we also enjoyed walking quite a bit at our resort area and also got to take 3 hikes...

One of our hikes was to Dark Hollow Falls near the Big Meadows area;  another hike called Blackrock (also in the Big Meadows area) was to a rock overlook with a fantastic view of the mountains and valley below; and the third hike on another day was a gorgeous hike along the Appalachian Trail  (south of Lewis Mtn and north of Loft Mtn) to a rock cropping overlook for views of Powell Gap below...  This third hike was definitely my favorite of the three... We had the area to ourselves and had plenty of time to sit on the rocks and enjoy the mountains... NOTE:  I usually would enjoy a waterfall hike --but there were too many people on that trail and around the falls..  That made it hard to get any good pictures. Dark Hollow Falls is one of the most popular hikes in that area--and I believe it (after seeing how many people were there).

SKYLAND is a beautiful resort and we had a fabulous room with a view of the Shenandoah Valley below.  AND--the best part was seeing a gorgeous sunset from our room/balcony every night... The food at Skyland Restaurant was very good,  especially their Bison Meatloaf... YUM.

Another awesome experience was driving to an overlook near Skyland to see a fabulous sunrise...  WOW----nothing makes this old woman any happier than being in the mountains  and seeing beautiful sunrises and sunsets with my Sweetheart.

Today I'll share a few of our many, many pictures we took while on this little trip... Hope you enjoy them... They are some of my favorites from this trip.  Click on them for enlargements.

Us in the Walled Garden at Biltmore  (7/31/17)

A Happy Woman relaxing inside the Conservatory at Biltmore;   George posted this one on Facebook!!!! (7/31/17)

One of the gorgeous Water Lilies we enjoy seeing at Biltmore in August each year;  (7/31/17)

A view of the back of the Biltmore Mansion in the distance;  We love this vantage point at Biltmore --and also enjoy the reflections on the lake.  (7/31/17)

Here we are playing in the Sunflowers  (7/31/17)

Dark Hollow Falls  (near Big Meadows)---(8/1/17)

Us at Dark Hollow Falls;  You can only see a tiny bit of the waterfall in this picture since there were a gazillion people around...  (8/1/17)

Sunset from our room on 8/1/17

I love love love this sunset picture... The sun was playing games with the RAIN.....   Can you see it?  We got no rain where we were --but they must have received some west of us near the Allegheny Mountains in Eastern West Virginia.  (8/2/17)

I could sit for hours and hours enjoying the view from here!!!!!   This was our 3rd hike along the Appalachian Trail --with a view of the mountains and Powell Gap below.  (8/3/17)

Together,  two lovers enjoyed the mountains!!!!  As I said,  we had the area to ourselves which we loved... (8/3/17)

Is she just a treehugger ---or is she hanging on for dear life??????  ha ha  (8/3/17)

Look what we saw when we got back to the room after a great hiking day!!!!!   I love sunbeams and this one really is showing us some!!!!  (8/3/17)

My favorite sunset of the three  (although I did like the one with the rain);  (8/3/17)

This may look like a sunset but it is NOT...  This is the SUNRISE (8/4/17) which we saw when we drove to  an overlook near Skyland on Skyline Drive....   AWESOME.

Early Morning Sky just after sunrise in the mountains;  I love seeing all of the mountain ranges which look so peaceful.    (8/4/17)

I love Sugars from my Honey on top of the mountain!!!! (8/3/17)

I cannot thank George enough for this wonderful trip and awesome birthday!!!  We had such a fabulous time.

Needless to say,  I just picked out some of my favorite pictures from the trip... There are lots and lots more!!!!!!

I'll close with this quote from a cup which George gave me on my birthday:
"I'm an AUGUST Woman.   I was BORN with my Heart on my Sleeve,  a Fire in my Soul,  and a Mouth I can't control.   Thank You for understanding!"    ha ha ha .... This is me!!!!!  Any AUGUST GIRLS out there?????

Have a wonderful week.
Hugs,