Saturday, December 12, 2009

Exploring the Appalachians

Joel and I really enjoy the mountains. So we decided to take trip to the mountains with our friends Ben and Christa. We stayed at a beautiful farm house and spent 3 days exploring the Appalachian Mountains. It doesn't get much better than that!



We found some grape Nehi at an old convenience store and it was oh-so-good!



Pilot Mountain


Looking down into the valley from Pilot Mountain.


Somehow Ben managed to stay out of most of my pictures except for this one. I wonder if that was on purpose...


We went to Mangum Pottery on Turkey Knob. They have beautiful bowls and a fabulous studio. It really made me miss my days of working in the studio for hours on end.


And it just isn't North Carolina without pottery and tobacco.


The Blue Ridge Parkway is Joel's favorite place to be.


Joel took this photo of Christa and this is the look he got. :-) I love it!


We visited with some beautiful and interesting alpacas. They are so soft and cute!


This is Mabry Mill in Virginia. My parents took us here several times when we were children and this was my first return visit as an adult. Everything was just as I remember it. I promise that I did not photoshop myself into this picture!


Here is the old farmhouse that we stayed in. It was so wonderful and had tons of antiques inside.


I'm not sure I've ever had a favorite wall before (except for Wall in Midsummer Night's Dream), but I just love this one. The combination of the old photograph and the crocheted wall hanging is beautiful.


Stone Mountain State Park seemed to be the hands-down winner of the trip. The sound of the creek flowing and running over the rocks is so soothing. And I can use soothing these days.


One of my favorite pictures.


Let me just tell you about this beaver. He wreaked havoc on an entire section of forest at Stone Mountain. Evidently, he had been stopped by the park rangers because there many half-chopped trees still standing. This one, however, did not fare so well.


I'm sure that he is terrifically proud of his handiwork. I think the addition of pine branches to his dam was a delightful finishing touch. It adds a bit of color.


And last of all, Stone Mountain itself. The picture says it all.


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