Beauty in North Carolina October 20th and 21st

This past weekend was wonderful. W and I left home on our motorcycle at 5:30 am headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway. At Craggy Gardens the temperature was 42 degrees and very windy. This was the coolest area of the mountains that we encountered. It is at a very high elevation. The temperature on the other parts of the Parkway was in the mid-50's. By 11:30, we had arrived at The Big Lynn Lodge in Little Switzerland where we would be staying. After checking in we headed back out on the parkway to ride and explore. The scenery was gorgeous. The color was at peak in the Linville Viaduct area around Grandfather Mountain. The colors appeared luminous as the sun shone on them. I tried to take pictures as we rode along. Stopping in the small town of Linville, we hiked down to a river and watched a boy scout catch his first trout. It was his first day fly-fishing and he landed a 15 incher. I took a picture to send to him. Of course W was proud. Being the expert fly-fisherman that he is, he'd stood on the bank instructing the boy about his line and how much to let in and all that.

After leaving Linville, we rode over to Banner Elk. Here we picked up bumper to bumper traffic because "The Wooly Worm Festival" was going on. On the way back through Linville, we stopped to get some kettle corn to take back to the Lodge.

At 6 pm we joined other lodgers in the dining room for a home cooked turkey and dressing meal. It was quite delicious. We chatted with a couple at the table next to us who lived in the Raleigh area. They were retired college professors.

Later, after returning to our room, I called K. to see what she was up to. She was in Asheville after having spent the day at Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. We told her to come on over and spend the night. We had plenty of room. She arrived in time to watch the rest of the Michigan game with W. We were so happy to see her.

The following morning we had a delicious breakfast at the Lodge. We thought it would be nice for K to ride on the back of the bike with W in the mountains. She'd ridden many times but never in the mountains. It is such a great experience. I followed behind driving K's car. We stopped to take pictures and have a late lunch at Davidson River. We parted ways at I-26 in Hendersonville.

It was a fun weekend that was made more special because we were able to have K. with us