Happy Saturday!
We enjoyed a long weekend getaway to North Carolina’s High Country recently.
The Blue Ridge Mountains are two hour drive, making it a frequent destination
and getaway for the change in scenery and escape from the summer heat.
At an elevation of 4300 feet, the temperature drops 15 – 20 degrees,
providing some welcome relief from the heat and humidity.
Drink in the scenery and Blue Ridge Mountain views with me . . .
The rhododendrons were in bloom and buzzing with bees.
Everything is lush and green . . .
With a canopy of trees to filter the morning sunlight.
We always enjoy driving through the scenic countryside,
dotted with farms, barns and cows. . .
The cows and geese agree, ‘life’s just better here’. . .
in the summer. :)
One of these things is not like the other. :)
I’ll leave you with some sunrise photos with the clouds drifting along
the valley of the mountains like a lazy river.
In God We Trust.
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Lola and Sophie want to know what you’re doing to stay cool this summer?
Happy Weekend ♥
Thank you for your visit, sharing with:
Between Naps on the Porch
Great pictures…although all that you post are beautiful especially your flowers
Thank you Donna! Happy Saturday ❤️🏔🌸
Beautiful photos! Did you stay at a B and B?
Oh, beautiful for spacious skies & mountain majesties! Only thing cool on our lake currently is “rootbeer floats!” Thanks for escape! franki
Thank you Franki! It was 94 / real feel 100 degrees with the humidity at our lake yesterday.
Stay cool and enjoy your floats. 😀🚤⚓️
I would love to be in the mountains to escape our humidity. With all the rain, it is horrendous!
Beautiful photos, Mary!
Hi Pam, The “real feel”
Is 99 here today with the humidity.
Way too hot to lug the hose around and keep everything watered. Stay cool ❤️
Mary that is stifling! It rains everyday, so no watering!
Glad you enjoyed your trip to my part of our beautiful state!
Happy Weekend Carole! I always look forward to weekend getaway to your neck of the woods. 😀🏔
Seeing your photos of North Carolina Blue Ridge, I breathe JOY! 🌞❤️🇺🇸
Thank you!
I would love to be able to visit again. It has been too long since we have been to the mountains of North Carolina!
Thank you for your visit Melinda! I hope you can getaway soon. Happy Saturday ❤️🏔
Just beautiful!
God Bless America!
Thank you Gayle! Happy Saturday.❤️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Wow, gorgeous! We aren’t beating the heat here in western MT (record-setting temps throughout the state right now), but fall is right around the corner. Thanks for sharing your getaway pictures……I feel cool already!
Thank you Vicki! I envy your early fall. We have plenty of heat and humidity ahead of us. Happy Weekend ♥
Your photographs are spectacular! I wish I could frame some of them. I especially like the ones with the suns rays shining through the trees. I always enjoy your posts. “Hello” to the girls!
Thank you Jane! Enjoy your weekend! ❤️🏔🐾🐾
Beautiful pictures
Thank you Susie! ❤️🏔
Wonderful photos. . . esp. the countryside ones.
Thanks Donna! Happy Weekend. ❤️🏔
Stunning views and photos.
So many lovely photos, especially enjoyed the light filtering through the trees. Looks like the girls had a great escape! No escape from heat unless at the beach, in the wind and fog, temps can be 65 degrees cooler! The mountains here are record breaking highs in the mid 90s, Yosemite valley floor was 111, as a lifetime Californian times are drastically changing…
I’m heat wimp and would be escaping to your beach house! What a temperature swing. Stay cool while gardening! ❤️🌸🌞
Gorgeous photos of the NC mountains! My happy place! Enjoy your visit and respite from the heat.
Thank you Susan! Happy Weekend. ❤️🏔
Gorgeous pictures, every single one! Enjoyed very much. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Robin! Happy Weekend. ❤️🏔
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos. God has created beauty all around us. From Newport Beach, California
Amen Barbara! Thank you for your visit and comment. Enjoy your weekend. ❤️🏔
OMG soooo gorgeous! Thanks for the virtual vacation..Could you u provide me with a route you took and some places to stay? Thanks for your blog that brings such joy!
Thank you Mary Anne. ♥ We’re fortunate to have friends with a mountain house that share with us but before that we rented houses through VRBO. I highly recommend finding a rental at Blue Ridge Mountain Club if there is availability, which is where we stayed in this post. It’s a gorgeous property and has tons of walking trails that are easily accessible. Blowing Rock has a cute downtown area with places to eat lunch and a little shopping. The drive to Valle Crucis is pretty with lots of barns and farms, with a visit to the original Mast General Store while there. The Lodges at Eagles Nest has rentals which is where we stayed, HERE. It’s a beautiful property but be prepared to drive and take your provisions!
Your pictures are beautiful! God has blessed you with the gift of capturing HIs creative works. Whatever your hands and eyes touch and see, whether it it be the mountains, florals or creative tables you bring joy, happiness and beauty. Happy retreat to the NC /TN mountains. Love your “babies” photos too. They are precious!
Thank you for your sweet and very generous comment Liz! Happy Weekend to you. ♥
Beautiful photos. I went to Beech Mountain at the beginning of May. Banner Elk has some nice Antique shops & restaurants. On the 12th of May we actually has some rain-snow,
Hi Sandra, Sping was definitely late arriving to the mountains this year! Happy Weekend. ❤️🏔
We must have been there around the same time. The views from Beech Mountain were beautiful, and we saw a doe and her fawn. The highlight for me was eating at Stonewalls. We had a magnificent meal! Kudos to the owner and chef. The filet mignonette was perfect and the Key Lime martini was soooo good. So wonderful to escape the humidity, but the variable rain storms kept us in and out of the pool. Your photos are beautiful.
Oh so breath taking. NC is one of the most beautiful and scenic states in the US. I love the mountains and always have. Prefer them to the beach any day.
Thank you for your visit and comment Carolyn! We prefer the mountains to the beach too. ❤️🏔
Beautiful Mary! Thank you for such gorgeous and heartfelt pictures. It certainly has been very very hot and then rainy even here on the coast of Maine.
Thank you Janet! I would love to visit your beautiful state again. Happy Weekend. Stay cool. ♥
Did Lola and Sophie make a stop in Marion, NC at the English Farmstead Cheese? They have some of the best cheese I have eaten. We brought an assortment home with us.
Hi Sandra, we haven’t been there! It’s about a 50 minute drive from where we stay, we’ll have to plan a trip. Happy Weekend to you. ❤️🏔
Beautiful photos. The Blue Ridge Mountains are majestic to see. Love the countryside, cows, geese and barns. Morning sunshine through the trees are God’s smile. I am in California. So nice to see “cool” inspiring photos.
Thank you, I love ‘God’s smile’! Happy Weekend and hope you stay cool! ♥
Thank you for sharing your excellent photographs of the beautiful Blue Ridge mountain scenery. Sustained hot temperatures in my microclimate don’t usually hit until August/September/October. When you start to feel crisp autumn air, I will be sweltering for two more months, but right now, I’m still enjoying cool nights and not-too-hot days.
Mary, Your trip to the mountains looks relaxing. Blowing Rock and the Boone area are always fun get aways. It’s been several years since we have visited but it’s about time we take a mountain trip. Thanks for the lovely shots and inspiration. Enjoy your weekend! Clara❤️
Thank you Clara! I hope you enjoy a getaway soon. Happy Weekend and stay cool. ♥
Hi Chloe, Thank you for your visit and comment. Our warmest weather is still to come in August and September. We’ve had 90+ degree days in October the past few years when it too hot for pumpkins! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an early fall. :) ♥
Thank you for the visual beauty you bring. Here in the Phoenix area it is just plain miserable, and I so long for the green and mountains of NC. My husband went to Duke, and his dream would be to return to the area some day.
Oh I don’t know how you handle that kind of heat Lee! Thank you for your visit and comment! Stay cool! ❤️🏔
That looks like a fabulous get-away Mary-enjoy:@)
Hi Lynn, I hope you’re staying cool this summer! Happy Weekend! ❤️🏔
Wow, Mary! Your photographs would give several of WV’s longtime best nature photographers a run for their money. Stunning photos!
Beautiful !!! Just a 45 minute drive for us and always a wonderful temperature drop ! We were up for the day a few weeks ago but no rhododendron blooming. What area were you staying? Thanks 😊
Hi Mary, How wonderful you’re so close! We were in Banner Elk. Thank you for your visit and comment, Happy Weekend. ❤️🏔
Oh you’re too kind Rita! Hope you’re staying cool, Happy Weekend. ❤️🏔
Mary, your photography is stunning, and I enjoyed your photos so much.
Thank you Ricki Jill! I saw you were joining Vanessa’s Mad Tea Party. Looking forward to seeing you Saturday. Happy Weekend and stay cool.
❤️☕️🎉
Such beautiful pictures! Thank you so much for sharing. I liked all of them, especially the ones with the sun shining through the trees, and of course Lola and Sophie!!
Thank you for your visit and comment Tricia! Happy Weekend. ❤️🏔🐾🐾
Beautiful! I grew up w/ the blue ridge mtns in Virginia in the background & consequently took for granted how special they are. Your pics are spectacular Spectacular! What kind of camera do you use?
Thank you Sandra! What a wonderful and scenic area to grow up with those mountain views! I have a Nikon D7500. Happy Weekend. ♥
Oh my! Such beauty and you totally captured it all! Love the light streaming through the trees and those BEAUTIFUL sunrises are so awesome! The majesty of it all is breath-taking. Love the pups and their sweet faces, ♥️🐾. Mary, you make me long to visit your great state again. We were there in 2019 and loved those Blue Ridge Mountains for sure. My BFF (and maid of honor at our wedding 30 yrs. Ago) came for a week visit to help me with my new norm and we treked up to the Upper Peninsula. It was a lovely time for long chats and the scenery there did not disappoint. So much green and blue everywhere! We soaked in the awesomeness of the Great Lakes with Lake Superior capturimg our hearts with it’s vast beauty. It was especially fun to see her expressions of joy at the awesomeness of the lakes, — being from NM she had never seen such great amounts of water. The scenery was a healing balm for my soul as your lovely pictures also are. Thanks Mary. You always give such good medicine! Hugs!
Happy Saturday Cyndi! There’s nothing like some girlfriend time and with a vacation and visit to the Upper Peninsula to boot! I can only imagine how vast and beautiful Lake Superior must be. We would love to visit one day but I don’t enjoy flying so much. :) You’re so sweet to visit and generous with your comments. Thinking of you. ♥
Hi Mary, our real feel temp today is 105!!! It is brutal out there but rain and a cold front is coming through this evening and should cool things off. It has been a VERY hot summer in SE PA. Your pictures are beautiful. I LOVE the area of the Blue Ridge mountains, we have been there several times and always loved it. I have never seen a goose like the one “who is not like the others”!!!! Try to stay cool.
Hi Pinky, The dog days of summer are here! I feel your pain, we were 100 yesterday ‘real feel’. So many places in the US including the west coast dealing with excessive heat! Thank you for your visit!
Happy Weekend and Stay Cool. ❤️🏔
Breathtaking photos!! Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you Kathleen! Happy Weekend to you! ♥
Love your photos, you have such an eye!
Thank you for your sweet comment Brenda! Happy Weekend! ♥
Beautiful views! But only one picture of the puppies!! We would have to run in the rain to keep cool! We’ve had the wetest summer!! Rain, rain, rain & more rain! Yesterday alone, we got over 2 inches…I’m over rain! Thank you!!
Thank you Ellen, wow that’s a lot of rain! Hope your dry up soon, Happy Sunday. ♥
Your photos are wonderful – magnificent views! We were in the mountains of our state, Virginia, this weekend – scenic and serene. I always enjoy the mountains, but there is something about being surrounded by water that always draws us home. Thank you for sharing your special trip.
Hi Ann! I hope you enjoyed your mountain getaway! Happy Sunday ♥
Such lovely pictures of your get away. The sun rays coming through the trees were my favorites! And hugs to Lola and Sophie.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
How nice to be able to escape the heat and get to the mountains in just a few hours! I have several friends that have places in the North Carolina mountains and they spend their whole summers there, it’s so beautiful! Lovely photo captures, and of course those adorable fur bundles! Have you had more rain than usual? I don’t remember a summer ever being this rainy!
Jenna
Happy Sunday Jenna! I can understand why so many folks have second homes in the mountains to escape the heat. We have not had the rain that you all have had in AL. I’m still lugging the hose around and our pore-cleansing temperatures trying to keep everything alive and watered. Hope you’re enjoying some sunshine today at the beach. ♥
Hi ~Mary~
Beautiful pictures!! From northern Indiana, I love going to northern Michigan to cool off near Mackinaw to see the MightyMac bridge !! The west side of the state has such quaint little towns along the lake , it definitely is worth the drive !! But, didn’t make it there yet, instead us girlfriends did a little road trip to Kentucky , we had Derby Pie and the most wonderful Peach Cobbler !!Love those southern comfort foods !
Keep Cool and God Bless !
Paula
IN
Hi Paula! Your road trip with girlfriends sounds wonderful along with your trip to northern Michigan! That’s part of the country we’ve never visited. Thanks so much for your visit and comment. Happy Sunday ♥
Paula! So glad you enjoyed our state. As a Michigander, I just now have toured the UP at length ( had only been to the Soo locks before) and was so impressed with the beauty, waterfalls, and the awesome lighthouses. Have you ever been to Lake of the Clouds? It is far to the west, almost to the WI boarder. A must see for you next trip up, if you have not been there before. I too, love those great southern comfort foods! Not good for my weight though, hehe. 😉
Beautiful views. Looks so peaceful.
Oh my goodness, Mary, can it get any better than those views??!! How I love the mountains and miss hiking with my beloved. Your photos are stunning and I appreciate that your shared the beauty with us. Happy Sunday!
Beautiful photos – especially the ones with the sunlight filtering through the trees. Stunning!