Storms on the Blue Ridge Parkway

This is the 3rd post from my wonderful Birthday trip to Virginia last week. If you missed either of the first two, go to my sidebar and scroll down to the Labels. Then look for Birthday 2010 and click on it.

Today's post consists of the storm clouds we encountered on our way to the Peaks of Otter --along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Once we got on the parkway south of Roanoke, VA, we noticed that there were some storm clouds building all around us... Luckily for us, most of the rain seemed to miss us. So---when we stopped at the overlooks, we were able to get some great photos not only of the mountains but also of the skies.

And the good news was that, by the time we got to our resort, the rains were gone --and the temperatures were MUCH cooler... That was AWESOME!!!! Above is a neat picture of some of the thunderclouds that were brewing all around us.... Below are more photos!!!

We stopped at most of the overlooks and enjoyed the views ---even with the rains all around.

You can see how the rain clouds were getting closer. Isn't that a good picture of the mountain peaks in the background?

I love this picture since you can actually see the rain in this picture. Neat, huh?

When I took this picture, we were at an overlook --and the rains were VERY close. The winds were blowing hard and it was getting darker and darker... We quickly took our pictures and jumped back in the car!!!!!

Isn't that a neat picture --showing the clearing of the skies in the distance? We made it through the storm just in time to reach the Peaks of Otter.

We didn't think the storm was very bad until later --when we heard that there had been hail in some spots, trees down and more damage in other areas... Here we were, just driving along taking our pictures, never knowing how serious that storm could have been. Guess we were part of the lucky ones!!!!

+++++++++++

Speaking of RAIN, we finally got 2 inches of rain yesterday, the first significant rain we have had in about 2 weeks. YEAH!!!!

Hope you have a great day.

Hugs,

Sharp Top Mountain

See that picture above???? That is one of three peaks which can be found at the Peaks of Otter. This one is called Sharp Top. While we were there last Thursday to celebrate my birthday, I noticed that they offered a bus trip to the top of Sharp Top... I got excited about that since I knew that I couldn't possibly hike all of the way UP there (due to my recent knee surgery). SO--we decided to take the bus up to the top...

WELL-----------what I didn't know at the time was that there were still 1500 feet to go once the bus let us out. That doesn't sound too bad, does it????? HA!!!! All 1500 feet were straight UP---with tons of uneven steps to climb. There must have been a million steps... Okay---I exaggerated a little ---but for someone who had just had knee surgery, it felt like a million. BUT--I MADE it (one step at a time).... GADS!!!!!

Here are some pictures starting with the picture above of Sharp Top --with more pictures below.

Here was our bus ---which took us up the mountain!!!!

This is just an example of one set of steps we had to climb --once we got off of the bus. I think there were TONS of steps since we climbed all of the way up into heaven!!!!! ha

"Are we there yet, George??????????" At least, I was still smiling --and my hair wasn't dripping wet yet..... I thought it was going to be cool on that mountain---so for some reason, I took a sweater.... NOT NEEDED!!! ha

Well----we made it to the top... As you can see, the elevation is 3875 feet.

From the top, this picture shows the 3rd peak (Harkening Hill) to the left --and a bit of Flat Top on the right. You can see the Blue Ridge Parkway ---and you can see our resort (Peaks of Otter) below --where we stayed the night before.

Here is a zoomed-in picture of our resort.. The housing area is to the right. We were in the middle building. The building to the left is the conference center and restaurant.

Here's the Birthday Gal ---at the top of Sharp Top Mountain... Think they could have offered an elevator down for this old woman who truly had more trouble going down than up... My knee got a HUGE workout this day!!!! But---be proud of me because I did it (with lots of help from George)!!!!

Here's my HERO----standing at the TIP TOP of the world!!!!! NOW---if you scroll back to that first photo, you may be able to see the rocks on the top of Sharp Top Mountain... That's where we were!!!!!!

Moral of this story: Ask how far the bus will take you FIRST, before making a decision to take that trip. However, I must admit that I'm glad that I went --and was proud of myself for doing it!!! It was gorgeous up there... I'd do it again--even after knowing about the steps!!!

Hugs,