Friends and Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina: July 30-31, 2018

The blue ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains

Today, our friends, Charlie and Sherrie, picked us up in Asheville and whisked us away for a drive and a hike along North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway from Balsam Gap back to Asheville with a stop along the way to have a picnic at their home on Pisgah Mountain.

We had such a peaceful day. Sherrie and Charlie know this route like the back of their hands. We saw birds, wildflowers, and butterflies.

 Liatris

Spicebush Swallowtail

Rocking chairs are a thing in this part of North Carolina, and Charlie and Sherrie did have some rocking chairs on their porch from which to watch voracious hummingbirds and seed-eating birds.

After the drive and hike, we settled onto Charlie and Sherrie's front porch for a picnic feast of Greek Salad, wine, Sherrie's hand made bread, and her mango-key lime pie. Our time together flew by.

It was a day for catching up and memories to savor. Then, it was late and Charlie and Sherrie dropped us back in Asheville.

The next evening, Dan and I attended a fiddle-mandolin concert at the Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina, because Sherrie and Charlie told us about it. Neither of us have much experience in this type of music, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with good-natured jokes, laughter, and fabulous music.

We began our trip home from Asheville on August 1 in the middle of a thunder-lightening storm where as much of 6" of rain with flooding was expected. At home in California, it was dry, hot, and the air filled with smoke from all the surrounding fires.