Autumn in the Smokies -Part I

The first day of our trip was spent seeing the Fall colors in the Smokies,  the Blue Ridge Parkway and Balsam Mtn. Road.  If you missed yesterday's post,  be sure and click on Older Post --at the bottom of today's blog.   There is an explanation of our trip on that post.

We took Highway 441 from Gatlinburg over the mountain to Cherokee, NC.   Today's pictures are all from the overlooks along that beautiful stretch of road..  Above is a picture of the Chimneys,  which is one of the popular hikes in the Smokies.  Below are more pictures of the beauty that we saw.

This ole woman absolutely LOVES Autumn --and all of the colors!!!! Can you tell????? ha ha

I love seeing the blue skies in this picture....  Aren't the colors just gorgeous?

Every Autumn,  depending upon the weather,  the colors are a little bit different.   This year is no exception...  I love seeing the mountain ranges--but shooting directly into the sun isn't always easy!!!!

George is standing with one foot in each state,   Tennessee and North Carolina.  This is Newfound Gap,  a popular stopping place along Highway 441 over the mountain.  

This is a gorgeous picture showing the beautiful reds. Red is my favorite Fall color --although this year,  I particularly enjoyed the maroons also.

Finally, here's another 'beauty' for you showing more of the mountain ranges... You certainly know why they are called the "SMOKY" Mountains,  don't you?

Hope you have enjoyed Part I of my photos.   I'll post Part II soon.  

Yesterday,  we visited blog friend, MILDRED, and her hubby, John,  in Georgia.  Had a FABULOUS time...  She blogged about our visit today --and I'll blog about it tomorrow.  Because we were gone ALL day,  I didn't get to comment on blogs much yesterday...  I promise that I will catch up with you SOON.  Don't give up on me!!!!

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Hugs,

P.S.  Since most of you know that we haven't had any rain in a long time,  I want to report that we had a really good rain Sunday night/Monday morning....   It rained off and on all night... Yeah Rah... We really needed it!!!!!   We may even get some more this week...  Thanks to those of you who have been doing the Rain Dance for us!!!

Friends, Fall Colors and Fabulous ELK

George and I joined blog friend NEAL and his lovely wife, Patti, for several days together in the gorgeous mountains of North Carolina, at Maggie Valley. Neal and George/I have been friends for about 2 years --but we had never met until this past week... What a neat couple these two are... The four of us had a fabulous time together ---and found out that we have so much in common. It was such a great trip--and I'm sure we will plan more vacations together.

Neal is a big tease ---so of course, we spent much of the time laughing and joking with each other... George was thrilled because now there are two of them who can give me a hard time!!!!!! ha ha.... Patti (Neal's wife) doesn't blog --but I told her that she needs to start --so that I will have some HELP.... Patti is a tiny little gal --like my good friend, Judy, and is very personable... Like I said, we all had a great time together ---and it's as if we have been good friends for years.

Besides being with these wonderful friends, we all went to Maggie Valley for two reasons: to see the Fall colors, and to see the Elk in Cataloochee Valley. We accomplished BOTH. Today, I'll show you an outline of our week--but will divide them into categories for many more pictures in upcoming blog posts... I probably won't show you the entire group of 600 photos I took (George took 500) ha ha --but I'll show you the BEST ones I hope. Above is a picture of our special friends, Neal and Patti. Below are more.

We started out driving through the Smokies (between Gatlinburg and Cherokee). Even though there were TONS of people and traffic, once we got on 441 to go over the mountain, it wasn't too bad. Once we got to Cherokee, we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed toward the Balsam Mountain Road. The weather was perfect --and the colors were gorgeous... Above is one picture taken in the Smokies.

We stayed at the Abbey Inn in Maggie Valley. Thanks to blog friend DOROTHY for reommending the Abbey Inn. It was a wonderful, little motel. The view was terrific... The picture above shows the view from our front porch... Wow!!!!

The absolute highlight of the entire week was getting up early on Wednesday morning (in the drizzle and fog) and driving to Cataloochee Valley to see the ELK. Not only did we see about 20-30 of them that morning, we also heard them BUGLE.... How awesome is that!!!! I was so very very excited--as you can imagine!!! I will have many pictures to share --but above, here is one for you to enjoy. My pictures were taken from the road --using my 300mm lens.

After seeing the gorgeous elk and checking out the Cataloochee Valley (which is similar to Cades Cove), we drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Maggie Valley to the Mt. Pisgah area. The drizzle and fog disappeared fairly quickly --and the sun came out --just for us of course... Above is one picture taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway that day.

On Thursday, we drove over the Cherohala Skyway (between Robbinsville, NC and Tellico, TN) checking out even more beautiful Autumn colors. They were fabulous there also--especially on the NC side.. Above is a picture taken along the Cherohala Skyway. As you can tell, this was our best day weatherwise --since there wasn't a cloud in the sky. AWESOME!!!!

Finally, George and I just HAD to show Neal and Patti one of our favorite waterfalls at Tellico, Bald River Falls. Above is a picture of the four of us on the bridge.... I promise you that Neal is NOT seven feet tall... He is standing on a step on the side of a bridge. That is my favorite picture of us!!!!

Hope you ALL had a great week like we did.... George also is posting pictures from our trip, so be sure to click HERE each day to check his blog.

Have a wonderful day.
Hugs,