On the ROAD......

Highway 215, North Carolina --10/23/18

From October 22-26, 2018,  we were "on the ROAD"  with our good friends, Neal and Patti.  We met in Maggie Valley, North Carolina for a few days of fun, photography, eating (of course), and traveling the ROADS.    We packed in a lot into those few days:  seeing the Elk in Cataloochee,  traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway,  hiking and seeing several waterfalls,  traveling the Balsam Mountain Road and the Heintooga Ridge Road,  and  visiting other 'back' roads --such as Highway 215 and Highway 276.

I kept noticing while going through all of my many, many photos from that trip,  just how many pictures I had taken from the roads we had been on that week.   SO--today,   just get a cup of your favorite beverage,  sit back and take a ride with us on several of the ROADS we traveled.

Heintooga Ridge Road  (Balsam Mtn) --10/24/18   (This unpaved,  one lane, one way road took us from Balsam Mountain ALL of the way down the mountain,  coming out at Cherokee, NC)

Heintooga Ridge Rd (Balsam Mtn)--10/24/18  (I keep telling my sons Mark and Bert how much they'd love this road in Mark's shiny new RED JEEP.)

One more from Heintooga Ridge Road (Balsam Mtn)---10/24/18;  I am working on an entire post from this adventure  if and when I can get it ready for publishing!!!!  Right now,  picking up the leaves in our yard is taking most of my/our time!

Back on  Highway 215 ---10/25/18   (The Fall Colors were prettier than my first photo taken along this road on 10/23/18)

We stopped to see a waterfall along Hwy 215..  George snapped this picture of me taking a picture of the waterfall across the street.   10/25/18

Can you tell how much we all love taking pictures????? ha...   Nothing like standing IN the road to get a good shot!!!!!  -Hwy 215---10/25/18

I obviously was in the middle of the road to get this picture on Hwy 215. Ha Ha  ---10/25/18

Traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway ---10/25/18

Another from the Blue Ridge Parkway,  10/25/18

Another beautiful 'back' road in North Carolina;   We left the parkway and headed toward Brevard on Highway 276 ---10/25/18

More from Highway 276 in North Carolina---10/25/18

Highway 276---10/25/18

Hope you enjoyed our little ROAD Trip today... We were a little early for the brilliant Autumn Colors this year  (since everything was about 2+ weeks late due to such a warm October)---but as you can see from some of these pictures,  we did see some beauties here and there. You will note from the pictures that the colors got better with each day that we were there!!

We loved every minute just being with Neal and Patti.   The four of us have a lot in common  ---so traveling together is very special!

Hugs,

Emoticons

Fall Colors in North Carolina --October 22-26, 2018

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway,  October 23, 2018

Dear Friends,   We have had a busy but wonderful week...   From October 22-26,  we met our good friends,  Neal and Patti,  in Maggie Valley, North Carolina  for some fun times together.   Then,  yesterday,  we went with son Mark and his girlfriend Diana to the Smoky Mountains for the day... To say that I'm weary today is an understatement ---but it is a "HAPPY" kind of weary!!!!!

While in Maggie Valley,   we saw the elk in Cataloochee Valley.   We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway.   We did some hiking.  We saw several waterfalls.   We drove down several  'back' roads and forest roads.   AND ---we DID see some pretty Autumn Colors.   As everyone says this year,  the colors are not as bright or as vivid  as usual in October.  BUT---that made us search even harder!!!

I haven't had much time to go through my pictures ---but did go through and pick out some of the pretty colors we saw.   Hope you enjoy FALL IN NORTH CAROLINA!!!!

A Mountain QUILT --full of Fall Colors,  taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway,  10/25/18

My Favorite Fall Color,  RED;  Taken on 10/23/18  off of Highway 215

Some Yellows/Oranges/Browns;  taken on 10/24/18 off of the unpaved Balsam Mountain Road (also known as the Heintooga Ridge Road),  10/24/18

Don't you love seeing all of the Fall Colors as we checked out the mountain ranges  from the Blue Ridge Parkway, 10/25/18?

Beautiful Tree showing off its colors;  Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, 10/23/18

I love the blue sky behind that brilliant yellow and red trees;  Taken along the Balsam Mountain Road, 10/24/18

Betsy and her RED Trees  (I love 'em);  Taken at the Deep Creek Area near Bryson City,  NC on 10/24/18

Fall Colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway,  10/25/18

Multi-Fall-Colors;  Taken at the Deep Creek area,  Bryson City, NC  on 10/24/18

A close-up showing the Fall Colors in the mountains,  taken from Highway 276 on 10/25/18

I'll close by showing you one of my favorite pictures  along the Blue Ridge Parkway,  10/25/18;  That is Looking Glass Rock behind the Autumn Colors.

As I said above,  the colors around our area (and others) are sparse  and/or dull for the most part this year.  We had a very rainy and warm September and a very WARM October...  In order to have pretty colors each fall,  we need some COLD weather  and we just didn't get much until about the week of Oct. 15.....  

Every year is different depending upon what Mother Nature gives us...  This year may not have been the prettiest --but we searched and searched ---and you can enjoy some of what we actually found!!!!!  The challenge was FUN!  Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Hugs,

Emoticons

Heintooga Mountain Road Trip (Smoky Mountains National Park)

Us at Balsam Mountain (along the Flat Creek Trail) enjoying the view from about 5500 feet

On  September 5, 2014,  George and I took a LONG Day Trip to the Smoky Mountain National Park.  When I say long,  I am saying 15 hours and about 300 miles total!!!!  On this trip,  we took photos from the Gatlinburg Bypass and then traveled over the mountain (on Highway 441) to Cherokee, North Carolina.   We then got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and turned left at mile marker 458.2, heading up the  Balsam Mountain Road and back into the Smoky Mountain National Park.

We took a short hike on Flat Creek Trail near the picnic area on the top of Balsam Mountain (at an elevation of about 5500 feet).  Here is where  (thanks to friend Sharon) we found an awesome overlook complete with benches.  WOW--what a gorgeous overlook.  I could have sat there forever just admiring the beauty.  The picture above is one of us enjoying the view at that overlook --and also enjoying each other!!!!

NEXT---the 'fun' began!!!!!  We headed DEEP into the mountains on a muddy/gravel one-way road.   We drove around and around those mountains going from 5500 feet down to 2000 feet when we finished.  George and Mrs. P (our Prius) did GREAT (as usual) driving on that old road... I was snapping pictures all along the way... How wonderful to be that far into the mountains with nobody else around!!!!!!

Here is what the area and our road looked like!  Since the Smokies get quite a bit of rain this time of year,  everything was so lush and gorgeous.  (NOTE:  This would be a great road to take in the Fall --if you want to see the beautiful Fall colors without alot of people around!!!)

Look  what two 'waterfall lovers' saw along that curvy road...  There were cascades coming down the mountains --and they 'sounded' marvelous!!!!  I wanted to take a chair outside there and just sit and listen to that water and enjoy nature at its finest.

We encountered some rain along our way --and I loved seeing it clinging to all of the greenery in that dense area.  WOW--you just needed to be there!!!!

AHHHHH---another pretty little cascade flowing down the mountain!!  Do you think these cascades were there just for US??????  Hmmmmmmm. 

I don't know how many of you enjoy being back in the mountains like I do --but I think there is just something truly magical and marvelous about areas like this... I love seeing the mountains from overlooks,  but from 'inside' --this, to me,  is nature at its very best.

We continued on that one-way road for a long time --and there were no other people anywhere near!!!  The mountains belonged to US --just for those few hours!!!

When the sun came out--after the rain---the leaves on the trees just seemed to be saying,  "Thank You.. Thank You..Thank You.."

Once we got down to Straight Fork Road,  we followed a gorgeous creek (appropriately named Straight Fork Creek).  AND of course,  we saw some gorgeous rapids in this creek.   For you fishermen out there,  HERE  is a link talking about the fishing in this creek.  Apparently,  there are some great trout there waiting to be caught for dinner...

Oh how I love this area with its tall trees --and now with the creek nearby!!!!!

And --we saw even more cascades when we got down near the creek...

As you can tell,  I LOVED driving along this road checking out all of the woods around us... Again,  like I said in a previous photo,  I loved it when the sun beamed down onto all of the trees!!!!

Here's only one of the MANY rapids/cascades we saw along Straight Fork Creek.  As you know,  George loves using his special filters when taking water pictures.  SO--he will have many beautiful photos to share with you sometime along this creek I am sure!

While George was taking special pictures along the creek,  I was admiring everything else including the water.  In this photo ---I loved seeing all of the GREEN MOSS covering the rocks.  This area of the Smokies reminded me of another favorite area of ours,  the area above Elkmont,  where the water rushes by tons of huge boulders.    (Remember the blog I did from there a year or so ago when it rained cats and dogs and we were soaked????)

There's my Sweetheart ---taking pictures all along that creek...  You can see Mrs. P in the distance... Oh how we love that car since 'she' takes us to so many gorgeous places.

Finally,  the 'big boss' is hollering at hubby saying,  "Come On... Let's go.  I'm getting hungry for some dinner at the Texas Roadhouse"......

Hope you enjoyed our little trip back into the Smoky Mountains.  This makes the second Day Trip we have taken recently.  We went to Cataloochee --by way of the back roads--on 8/22...  We had been wanting to take these two back-road trips for quite some time --so we finally  took them.. If you want to read more about the Auto Tours throughout the Smokies,  click HERE.  There are some great ones ---and the last two we took are never terribly crowded even in peak tourist seasons,  which is what we LOVE.

I'll close with one more picture of two people who absolutely LOVE the Smoky Mountains...This was also taken on the top of Balsam Mountain --along the Flat Creek Trail.

Hugs,

Emoticons