I'm Alive and All is Well!

So that was a bit of a long term offline time (with snippet moments on but not many of them). Where have I been? Savannah and the mountains of North Carolina. Where am I? Asheville, North Carolina, about an hour and a half trip that took me six hours. 

Your daily trivia 

How do you do this, you might ask? Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. Stop a lot. Go really, really, really slow. Zone into it, want to get the hell off of it. Take another last bit of even twistier road. Smell your brakes overheating. Emerge suddenly to a city skyline. Gasp (or start tearing up, your choice). Pull over, let the brakes get braky again. Pull into a motel, so you don't show up at your friends smelling like a person just off a long amazing tiring sensational (literally) stunning fear sweat inducing drive. 

Then:

Write this, so the emails scanned saying 'Where are you?' 'Are you okay?' 'Were you coming by, like say...two months ago?' will be answered, hopefully, in one blast because surely there is a cocktail out there with my name on it and a shower and sleep soon to follow. 

So many photos and stories to share, but for now, just this. Ok, maybe a couple of photos...

In the mountains, I am very tall

Road to my bro's

The closer one looks...the more magic appears

I love fungi

Terrible photo but this what I swore was a bat that was flying around as we ate dinner.
Our friend Jimmy said no, but Fred, a mountain man, said yes.
Being right over such important matters rocks.

Tangled up in moon

I could have gone 4 miles of back mountain road to get to the Blue Ridge but why, when I can drive 30 miles to get to the same place? This obviously made sense at the time. Regardless, the Blue Ridge is well worth it, no matter how long it took. Maybe next time I'll find someone to drive while I just shoot photos but there are so many overlooks, it all works out. 

Thanks, Jimmy, for strongly encouraging me to go this way, I only regret the last six miles and that's not your fault. 

The mountains so big, the Turtle so...turtley

Luckily I could stop in the road and get a gander at the gobblers.
They showed absolutely no fear.

Fall is definitely happening around here

The highest spot on my route. 

None of these photos are edited (see 'tired' above) but you'll get the idea.
The tunnels are beautiful, inside and out. 

Ok, NOW I'm going to find that 'it's 5 o'clock somewhere' cocktail. For now, I'm still reeling with WHO MADE THAT PARKWAY???? I heard a story on NPR the other day about building roads and highways and one thing struck me, that originally they were called parkways because the original planners wanted roads to be like a drive through a park. Thankfully, the builders of the Blue Ridge got to stick to the plan. If you get the chance, do it.

Have a sensate Sunday. Do something soaring.