First off, this blog entry officially enters me into the wonderful world of blogging. I decided this blog would address my trip to Yancey County, NC last week... a truly relaxing week of soaking in the beauty of western North Carolina.
My wife (Kara) and I have always treasured the North Carolina mountains as a must stop several times a year. We had thought about a trip to the Outer Banks as Kara has never been there. This trip will continue to be a future goal of ours, now for 2008:) We had gone to the Blue Ridge Parkway last October and my gosh did we hit it right! The Fall foliage was sensational around every corner of the parkway. Views were breathtaking and we must have snapped several hundred digital pictures. We only made a weekend trip in 2006 and decided early this Summer to scrap the Outer Banks and rent a mountain cabin for a full week. Admittedly, in this horrible drought we're in I told Kara to lower her expectations of Fall color this October but we should still see some nice color. The projection could not have been more spot on!
We just caught the peak for the higher elevations but did note golden yellow was much more prevalent than red compared to last October. There were signs of drought stress but without a doubt, there were still many gorgeous pictures to be taken. I'll include a few we took... see for yourself! By week's end, higher elevations were losing their leaves and the best color was definitely working into the lower elevations of the mountains and foothills. If thinking about making a go of it this first weekend of November, you should still be in good shape. The parkway will likely be less of a show however.
Otherwise, the vacation featured a trip to Linville Caverns. This stop was one of the last for me to scratch off the list of must see sites in the central and northern mountains of North Carolina. They did not disappoint... certainly not as large as Luray Caverns in Virginia but two things made this stop standout from Luray. #1 the large trout swimming at the entrance of the cave (wish I could have cast a line-hah) and our tour guide turning the lights out so we could experience complete darkness in the back of the cave. Umm, that's quite the experience!!!
We enjoyed downtown Burnsville from the Hilltop Restaurant to the large number of stores featuring local art. We also checked internet frequently downtown where we could establish a wireless connection. There were important fantasy football scores to check on Monday, not too mention keeping up with weather charts during our vacation. It rained for a couple of days and I've never been so happy to see rain during my vacation!! The rest of the vacation featured fishing in the Cane River and relaxing around the cabin. Coming back to work, well I felt totally recharged and was happy to get back into my groove. No doubt though, this vacation was just what we needed and we'll be back!
FYI... pictures taken by my wife who does most of our family photography (obvious reasons). I'll paint a few of these in the months ahead with acrylic paint to canvas.
2 comments:
neat pictures. hope the trip was good and we are glad you are back.
No doubt about it, the NC Mts in the fall are terrific. Do not forget the OBX trip. We go several times a year. The best time for fishing is last of Sept. or early October. Glad you had a great time.
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