ow was your mother’s day? The weekend really rocked for me. My DH kicked things off by suggesting a trip to the mountains. What a splendid idea! We left town with two dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. One dozen was all hot glazed. One whiff of these and my right brain was screaming warnings to not touch the yummy evil pastries, but my left brain convinced me otherwise. It’s always such great fun to take a day trip along the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee & Western North Carolina. Target destination: Mt. Mitchell on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The day was absolutely breath taking. Look at the beautiful blue sky! The wind made the air in the higher elevations a bit too nippy to suit me, but it was so refreshing! I believe the temperature was in the upper 50s. We spent an hour at Mt.Mitchell snapping photos and browsing the gift shop.
We decided to head south on the parkway to take the interstate at Asheville to Maggie Valley to get back on the parkway. We wanted to take a walk on the closed road one more time before they reopen it. I captured an opportunity to snap this photo of Asheville’s water reservoir.
In Asheville, we made a quick stop at an Ingle’s to get some bottled water and a cup of Starbuck’s Pike’s Peak coffee. There is something about going to the mountains which triggers my java instincts. I just gotta have a cup of Joe!Once on I-40W, I knew there wouldn’t be anymore photo opportunities. That was a good time for us to have the smoked turkey and cheddar cheese sandwiches I had prepared before we left home while we were in route to Maggie Valley, North Carolina.
Our walk at Balsam Mountain overlook didn’t pan out. The main gate was open. DRATS, dirty rats! Pardon my language. We drove the entire length of the road anyhow in hopes of finding one of the gates still closed, but that didn’t happen. Pooh!
This didn’t deter us, though. We had more gorgeous mountain views to see and made our way to home sweet home in the Smoky Mountains. I crossed my fingers for a knock out sunset, heading north on 441.
We approached the North Carolina/Tennessee state line and realized we had two hours before the grand finale. Too kill a little time, we thought a good use for our wait was to take in the view pictue. You can barely see Fontana Lake at the left edge of the photograph below.
There is no trip ever wasted when we choose to visit our favorite hot, spot in the park. Visibility was phenomenal. This may be one of the best days for catching this shot from Clingman’s Dome.
The wind speed picked up, as the clouds rolled in. My hopes were fleeting to getting the ‘ideal’ sunset shot, but that didn’t stop us from basking in the moment. No matter what the conditions are here, it’s always a priceless experience. Just look the way the light barely caresses the evergreens in the foreground and how the low light on the ridges seem to make every one pop out.
Mother Nature didn’t coöperate with us yet again and that’s okay. Funny, it’s easy to understandy the referrence of “she” when talking about the weather which often is totally uncooperative and unpredictable. Although, the clouds absurd our view of the sun dipping in the horizon, we were okay with this. The good news is we live in the area and will have plenty of chances to see orange streak skies in the land of the smoky blue mountains.
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| *an original artwork by DH* |
On Mommy’s Day, my DH presented me with this too cute hand-created card. He’s famous in our household for making delightful creations or at least to me and that’s all that matters, right?
DH got me a Wusthof sandwich knife and bamboo cutting board and DS got me some Inkadinkado pastel markers for my rubber stamp artwork projects. Wait, it gets better! They treated me to hamburgers, fries, and a double chocolate fudge milkshake from Steak ‘n Shake. Believe it or not, I’ve wanted to try them for a long time. Simply put, I don’t eat fast food period, especially hamburgers and this was a bit of a fun treat. It was all so yummy!
For more random Tuesday musings or simply some fun visiting a friend over a cup of coffee, then hop with me. First up, filling in for Keely @ UnMom on Random Tuesday Thoughts is…
Next, I’m hooking up with Les for my
Take a few minutes to enjoy a cup of coffee with your bloggy friends, as you enjoy some random reflections, considerations, or broodings. While you’re at it, join in on the fun – create your own post and link up! Have a terrific Tuesday!
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