(Note: This picture may be enlarged by clicking on it using Control-click or right-click.)
I never get tired of the view we have from Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and I never get tired of trying to get a panorama which at least approximates the beauty we enjoy. I got the photos that made up this panorama on a morning in June, 2023. Many of the mountain tops were lost in a sea of fog.
(Note: This picture may be enlarged by clicking on it using Control-click or right-click.)
Betsy and I took our first trip out west in 2011. It was a new experience for both of us, and the landscape was completely different from the forested mountains we enjoy here in Tennessee.
We visited several national parks on that trip, including Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park in Arizona. The colors in the rock formations were almost incredible, especially in the Teepees area of the park. There layers of blue, purples and grays were created by iron, carbon, manganese and other minerals in the rock formations.
When viewed under a clear blue sky, the scene was one of incredible beauty.
(Note: This picture may be enlarged by clicking on it using Control-click or right-click.)
During our first western trip in 2011, Betsy and I walked around an Albuquerque, New Mexico, square on a late afternoon in June. Many of the sights reminded us of settings we’d seen in western movies and television shows. I found the second floor balcony of a building in this plaza to be very pretty, so of course I took a picture.
(Note: This picture may be enlarged by clicking on it using Control-click or right-click.)
For several years Betsy and I would take a ‘leaf peeking’ trip in mid-October to enjoy the autumn colors in the mountains of east Tennessee and western North Carolina. We would usually make a loop of our trip, taking in both the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherohala Skyway. We almost always stop at Indian Boundary, which is off the Cherohala. This is the view we enjoyed last year.
(Note: This picture may be enlarged by clicking on it using Control-click or right-click.)
Betsy and I have been celebrating our anniversary at Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. We keep going back because of the views of the mountains are amazing. We very much enjoy sitting on the balcony of our room and taking in the view.
We usually hope for clear, sunny days when we’re visiting the inn, but a cloudy, overcast day has a beauty of its own, as the picture above shows. In the early morning light we were able to look down on some of the clouds covering the valley and some of the mountain peaks.
(Note: This picture may be enlarged by clicking on it using Control-click or right-click.)
Betsy and I made our first trip out west back in 2011. The scenery we enjoyed as we traveled was definitely different from the landscape we have in eastern Tennessee. There were times when we felt we were driving through the set of a western movie or television show. When we saw this town (our GPS said it was Laguna, New Mexico) in the distance we just had to pull over and get a picture.
(Note: This picture may be enlarged by clicking on it using Control-click or right-click.)
Looking Glass Falls is a beautiful waterfall near Brevard, North Carolina. Betsy and I have visited it many times over the years, and as we get older we appreciate it more and more. The waterfall is right by the roadside — no hiking required!
(Note: This picture may be enlarged by clicking on it using Control-click or right-click.)
I captured this image as a slide when I visited the Great Wall for the first time in 1987. I had climbed along the wall above the gate at Badaling (near Beijing), and was rewarded with the sight of the wall winding along the ridges and mountain tops. It was truly an amazing sight!
Control-click to see a larger version of this image
Back in 1993 I visited my daughter who was studying in London for a semester and took advantage of the opportunity to do some sight-seeing.
One of the places I visited was Leeds Castle in Kent between London and Dover. Leeds Castle has been called “the loveliest castle in the world” and is situated on two islands on a lake.
It is definitely beautiful.
Control-Click on the image to see a larger version.
Betsy and I enjoy the beach at Ocean Isle, North Carolina, for many reasons, but the sunrises we can enjoy from our room definitely ranks high on the list. I captured this image on our most recent trip to Ocean Isle Beach in early December. Upon seeing sights like this the most appropriate response is “The heavens declare the glory of God”.
