Chasing waterfalls, 2018 style
Mother Nature sure paints a beautiful picture with waterfalls. One of our favorite things to do is take in that beauty and go chasing waterfalls, like the Dry Falls waterfall between Franklin and Highlands.
We hit a couple other waterfalls during a fall afternoon drive.
Tyler relaxes at Quarry Falls.
Tyler sure enjoyed a few moments to chill during a stop at Quarry Falls.
Here are some other photos of Dry Falls.
Here’s an obligatory selfie at Dry Falls.
You can walk beneath the falls. Sure, you’ll get a little mist on you, but it’s a spectacular view.
Here’s another view of Dry Falls, from the side.
Bridal Veil Falls was our lost stop during our afternoon waterfall tour.
Bridal Veil Falls.
A mountain vacation, finally
The view from our balcony in Franklin is spectacular.
I’ve taken numerous trips to the mountains for work over the past year and a half. But this week was the first time in three years that my sister, my dog, and I got to make our traditional fall trip to the mountains.
We wondered what the colors would be like, since we weren’t able to get here until after peak season. I’d say we lucked up.
My sister posted a similar photo to the one above of the Great Smokey Mountains on her Facebook page, which prompted this response: “I can feel the stress leaving.”
This trip marks the first time I’ve used Airbnb. I have to give it a thumbs-up. We’ve got a cozy cottage on a mountain in Franklin and the hosts/owners are great.
Happy birthday, USA
Fireworks light up the sky on the Morehead City waterfront.
It was John Adams who said it first. The Fourth of July should be celebrated with fireworks, from one end of the continent to the other.
And so, Morehead City did so on this Fourth of July, 2016, on the 240th anniversary of the founding of our nation.
Happy birthday, America.
Hey, Max Patch, you’re pretty awesome
We timed it just right this year. The colors were beauitiful
The Great Smoky Mountains are at their peak. And if a picture is worth a thousand words, then here are a few thousand words worth.
It was a nice hike up, but well worth it.
Trish and I both took pics.
Oh beautiful, for spacious skies…
Fall in the Great Smoky Mountains
This is Dogwood Cottage, our home away from home in the Great Smoky Mountains for a week.
Our annual trip to the mountains has been just what it’s supposed to be: beautiful and restful. My sister, my dog, and I arrived at Dogwood Cottage in Haywood County Monday for a bit of R&R. And that’s what we’ve been doing.
Not a bad view from the porch of our cottage, is it?
You could add another “R” to that. Along with resting and relaxing, we’ve been riding. We went into downtown Waynesville on Tuesday. By the way, downtown Waynesville is very dog friendly. There’s a dog bakery downtown. Tyler thoroughly enjoyed it.
We’re tailgating on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
On Wednesday, we stopped by a KFC (just like we used to when we’d go on trips as children with Mom and Dad), and had a tailgating picnic on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Tyler relaxes while chewing on a hoof on the porch.
What’s in store for today? We’re thinking about a trip to Cherokee. Later in the week, we’ll hike up to Max Patch on the Appalachian Trail.
Once again, Max Patch doesn’t dissapoint
A beautiful view from Max Patch Mountain in Western North Carolina.
Is Max Patch getting steeper? No, I’m just a year older and more out of shape.
Friday was a gorgeous day in the North Carolina mountains, and a good day for hiking up to Max Patch, a beautiful area on the Appalachian Trail in Madison County, NC, near the Tennessee border. My sister, Patricia Smith, and my dog, Tyler, It’s the third year in a row that we’ve made the hike.
Here’s another view from Max Patch, near the NC-TN border.
Trish and I both commented on the effect on our muscles and joints, and how sore we’d like be. The hike didn’t seem to phase Tyler, who has actually had hip surgery.
Here’s another view from Max Patch.
Once we got to the top (almost), my sister threw down a blanket. We rested, had a snack, drank some water, and took some photos. Then we made the hike down the mountain. Gravity was on our side. The trek down the mountain was a bit less strenuous than the hike up.
Score one for the good ole NC roadmap
This time, the GPS was wrong.
While traveling through the Pisgah National Forest Thursday, we were trying to figure out if we were going the right way to the waterfalls we wanted to see. So we plugged in some coordinates, and hit “Start.”
I figured we needed to go south, but the GPS was telling us to go north for about 20 miles. That didn’t seem right, so I went old school, and pulled out the trusty NC DOT road map. Sure enough, we needed to go south.
It doesn’t happen often, but low-tech trumped high-tech this time.
Chasing waterfalls, Day 2
Looking Glass Falls: It’s pretty breath-taking, huh?
This time, my sister Patricia and I went searching for waterfalls, and we found a couple of beauties in the Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania County.
Trish went the extra mile to get good photos.
The last of two we found turned out to be the best. It was Looking Glass Falls, and it was pretty fantastic. My sister, my dog Tyler and I walked down the steps to get a good look at it. (Later, we’d walk back up. Whew! I need to get in better shape.) I took some photos, and so did my sister. In fact, my sister maneuvered around to get some better photos. I stayed at the observation area with Tyler.
Tyler strikes an irresistible while at Looking Glass Falls.
And speaking of Tyler, he didn’t seem all that taken by the waterfall. He seemed more interested in charming the ladies.
Sliding Rock Falls, at Pisgah National Forest.
Earlier, we viewed Sliding Rock Falls in the forest. This place doubles as a water slide and swimming hole. But on this mid-October day, the air — and presumably the water — was too chilly for people to don their bathing suits and take the plunge.
Chasing waterfalls
Sunburst Falls, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Sometimes you happen upon one of Mother Nature’s magnificent sites by accident.
My sister and I were driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway, when decided to get off the parkway and find a KFC. We did that a 
lot during our childhood. While traveling, our parents would get a bucket of chicken (and a box of livers for Dad, cause that’s the only part of chicken he liked) and pull off at a park or roadside picnic table and eat.
We weren’t far off the parkway on Lake Logan Road (aka NC 215) when we noticed cars parked off the side of the road. Almost instantly, we came across this beautiful waterfall. We think it’s called Sunburst Falls. My sister and I got out and took pictures, like the one above. Plus, I made a selfie.
Meanwhile, Tyler, my beautiful Norwegian elkhound, waited patiently in the car. I finally returned, and walked Tyler to the falls. After taking care of some personal business, Tyler, walked along to the falls with me. He seemed more interested in the admiration others were giving him than Mother Nature’s wonder.
Monday was a day made for Tyler
Today was Tyler’s day in the mountains.
We found downtown Waynesville (NC) to be quite a dog-friendly town. Lots of folks had their dog on a leash.and I’m guessing that most of them were tourists, just like me. He got to sniff and bark at a lot of other dogs. And they each had the opportunity to sniff Tyler too.
Tyler also got to meet another Norwegian elkhound, the first for him since leaving his siblings in May 2007. His new friend’s name was Gunnar. He got to meet people, get petted, and even enter a Dog Bakery, where he sniffed all the treats and rawhide bones. He gobbled up the food that fell off the table while we were eating lunch at The Patio restaurant in downtown Waynesville.
By the time we got back to the cottage in the Fines Creek area of Clyde, Tyler was tired, and needed to conk out.
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