Welcome to October, the month of fall foliage, crazy costumes, and other adventures!
Much of the last week, I was obsessed with the 52 Frames photography challenge. This past week, the challenge was to take a famous photograph and then recreate it or otherwise pay homage to it. I chose Sally Mann, a Virginia photographer whose work I saw in Washington DC earlier this year. It took me a ton of shots and post-processing to get close to what I wanted to do; I ended up with two favorites and could only submit one. This is the one that didn’t get submitted.
I finished out my 10-night stand at New River State Park on Monday, after a few trips up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway sections near it. The BPR is one beautiful parkway and the cover photo to this post is just one of the images I shot. I’ll have a separate post on the Blue Ridge Parkway in future, as I’m not quite done with it for this year.
The rest of the New River area was also pretty darned scenic. I really am enamored of western North Carolina and will probably come back in the Spring.
After a sunny and foggy drive halfway from New River to Asheville, I stopped at Linville Falls for a short hike to see the main attraction. It was definitely worth the walk.
To get close to Asheville mostly involves staying at some kind of RV parks, so I bit the bullet and picked the nicest one I could find. The spots are small, the privacy minimal, but I’m mostly out and about during the days so I can deal.
The best part about this place is that after a steep walk up the hill to the upper campground level, there is a fantastic view of the mountains, especially at sunset. We were all out there Tuesday evening taking photos.
I’m a bit late with today’s report because I had a fun day in Asheville, with my friend Leslie acting as tour guide and lead shopping expert. I successfully avoided purchasing anything at the cool bookstore downtown but I did get snared into a pair of fun trousers (on sale), and then a blouse and sweater at another place. Combine that with Thai lunch and dessert to French Broad Chocolate Lounge, and it was a very fun day (thanks, Leslie!). Asheville is really a cool place, and I think I’ll be back here, too.
I’ll be enjoying more of Asheville till Sunday when I retreat back to the mountains for another few weeks, so I am going to enjoy city life while it’s here. Hope you all are enjoying your week!
Oh, and here’s the photo I did submit for the 52 Frames challenge.
I have to see a thing a thousand times before I see it once.
Thomas Wolfe, Ashville native (from You Can’t Go Home Again)
Thanks, Jamie, Powhaten is on my list now. And you’re right, a National Forest campground with full hookups is a rare thing, indeed!
I’ll definitely be hanging around the NC/TN area for another few weeks, hoping for more fall color to show up. I’ll be higher up so maybe it will come for me 🙂
Awesome photo you submitted to the challenge! Well done. So glad you are enjoying the mountains of our beautiful state. The BRP is indeed a gem. Normally you’ld Be seeing fall color, but we seem to be running about 2 weeks behind. So by all means stay awhile and continue to enjoy our state’s beauty!
I love the photo you submitted! It is such an inviting scene that looks like it has a story to tell.
I have another campground suggestion, this time it is for the Asheville area. Try Lake Powhatan Recreation Area. It is a National Forest Campground that has beautiful sites and is really close to Asheville. You can even walk to the Arboretum from the campground. The Lakeside Loop is awesome because all of the sites are full hookups! Yep, a National Forest campground with full hookups. You do need to snag reservations early at Recreation.gov. or find a cancellation or take your chances with the first come first served sites. Two of the campground loops are open year round.
Enjoy your stay in Western North Carolina! It is a beautiful part of the country.