It has been a couple of years since I went up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is just as beautiful as ever.

Cocoa is getting older now. She’s 11 and while she is slowing down (some), she still enjoys going with me. I love this dog and always will. She was up on the deck at Mt. Mitchell and I turned around to change the lens on my camera and she had her head stuck in a bag of Sun Chips that belonged to a little boy! “Cocoa Joy!”

Anne and Holly pose for a photo at the Mt. Mitchell restaurant. Beautiful view!!

There is a reason why this roadway is called “Blue Ridge Parkway.” There is always a blue haze over the mountains. When we left northeast Georgia it was hot, hot, hot. But when we got to the top of Mt. Mitchell, it was in the low 70’s. (smile)

Daisies were everywhere.

And the smell of Christmas trees filled the air.

Another photo from the Blue Ridge Parkway as Anne and I drove up to Mt. Mitchell.

Mount Mitchell is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in eastern North America.

The Blue Ridge Parkway, stretching 469 miles between the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks, has offered visitors breathtaking vistas, wilderness access, and a reprieve from fast-paced commercialism since the mid-1930s. The above tunnel is one of 27 on the parkway that were cut out of mountain sides. The Parkway is positioned on top of the rims and contours of the Blue Ridge, a mountain chain that is part of the larger Appalachian Mountains.

Work began on the road in September 1935, near Cumberland Knob in North Carolina, during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was not until 1987, with the completion of the Linn Cove Viaduct, that the Blue Ridge Parkway was finally connected from beginning to end. Originally called the “Appalachian Scenic Highway”, in 1936 the U.S. Congress formally authorized the project as the “Blue Ridge Parkway” and placed it under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.

I love the natural vistas that lookout over the mountain rims.

Then there are the trees. I absolutely love the forests.

The smell of Balsam trees fill the air!

The perfect setting! Or sitting.

Smile to end a wonderful day on the Parkway!

 

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