October

​October has always been a special time for me, and I have to say that it is my favorite month.  Not because it is my birthday or anniversary month, but because I have always just loved the transition to fall season with its cooler temperatures and burst of color on the landscape.  (Although I am not too fond of the shorter daylight period.)  But in my younger days of being an avid camper and backpacker it was always fall and winter that I longed for.  Nowadays not so much winter because it seems I don't tolerate the cold like I used to. 

So, this October has been particularly good, and I wanted to share with family and friends some of the pictures taken this October. In addition to celebrating the aforementioned anniversary (31 years and counting), and birthday  (66 years and not wanting to think about it), but the son Justin and his wife Savannah and the grand baby Myla came for a visit earlier in the month.  We had a great time just hanging out together around the farm and on an outing to the Nashville zoo.  Myla loves getting out and going to parks and zoos and it was such a hoot watching her respond to the animals.   We also visited a very nice new playground/park in Springfield.  Little Myla is growing so fast, and she is so funny and a joy to be around.

After the sons' visit, the next week Tami and I took off for a week vacation near Ashville.  We usually always go to the Smokies in October, and usually we go during the second week to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday.  But this year we went a little later in the month which allowed us the opportunity to really take in the fall colors.   For the drive to Asheville I opted to go by way of Chattanooga and then up through the Occoe river canyon and around the backside of the mountains on the Smokey Mountain Expressway through Bryson City.  We did this rather than going the usual route through Knoxville on I-40 to avoid the drive through the heavily trafficked Sevierville area and that I 40 is still partially closed due to the damaged caused by hurricane Helene. Although it was a longer trip to get there we did see some nice scenery along the way.

We stayed in a very nice and secluded cabin midway between Asheville and Brevard in the Mills River area.  This was a great location as we were 20/30 minutes to either Asheville or Brevard and also close to Hendersonville. We were also close to the Blue Ridge Parkway so we did spend a good bit of time just driving and taking in the sites.  It was kind of neat how we got to see the differences in the fall transition in the mountains.  In the higher elevations on the southern slopes many of the leaves were already blown off, while the northern slopes were near the end of their color and were largely brown.  In the lower elevations we saw many areas of full fall color as well as other areas that remained mostly green.  

Aside from a lot of driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway we also took several mountain rural highways most notably Hwy. 64.  We did manage to get up and out early one morning and was able to catch a nice mountain sun rise.  Another day trip to Highlands NC was really nice.  This area was established as a playground for the well to do.  There are numerous golf courses and parks all around and the city is very quaint as well.  Just past Highlands we saw several water falls.  The most memorable was Dry Falls which was a fairly large multi tiered water falls with a path that went underneath the falls and around to the other side.  This made for some good pictures.  Another nice water falls we traveled to was Hooker Falls.  Although the main overlook was closed for repair I was able to get decent pictures from the trail.  This view included a cool heart shaped pool of water at the base of the falls.  Then I was able to hike up the creek to the base of the falls and got some nice close up shots.

We didn't do much dining out or nightlife but we did visit several local craft brewer's and found that Appalachian Mountain Brewery had a tap room right in Mills River near our cabin.  They brew one of our favorites, Black and Gold Porter!

On our return trip we took mountain roads on the NC side of the mountains and then along the Cherohala Skyway through Tellico Plains.  I love this drive as it is not heavily traveled and it is very scenic with numerous overlooks along the way.  I had planned on going by Bald River Falls but I missed a turn and it was getting late so we opted to just head home. 

Click the button below to go to the picture page where I also have some time lapse videos of a couple of the mountain drives.

Picture Page