2010 trip - NC Mts.

This past weekend I posted to Spiritual Sundays and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

To be honest, this surprised me.

WHY?

Because that post was 100% me.

Yes, I was writing from my heart and you all saw me in the writing

and

liked it.

You liked me.

This realization is not about my wonderful friends and followers, who are the nicest

people anyone could know.

I so love my friends, followers and lurkers. One special lurker who I truly love!

It is so much more about how, unconsciously, I still "hide" myself

to protect my heart from being crushed by negative feedback.

(again, feedback that became the norm in my life by some of closest people in my life)

SO...........

From here on I am going to try to just be me.

Yikes, that is a terrifying thought, because as soon as I write it, I hear all those

"voices" telling me to "grow up", "get over it"  "act your age".

Especially "act your age"!

Having stated all that, I am now going to take you along with us on my

"retirement" trip last Sept/Oct.

An awesome, spontaneous, zig zaggy adventure we both loved.

I am going to bypass getting out of Florida, through Georgia and South Carolina and

start in the NC mountains.

The trip really started in Mount Airy, NC (Mayberry) and we spent almost a week there.

I am going to skip over that part and come back another time.

Reason: I have over 1000 photos just of Mt. Airy.

After being in Mount Airy a few days, Terry and I decided to throw away our

reservations for Maine and "wing" the trip the rest of the way.

It was such a spontaneous decision and a major one for Terry to accept.

So having come to this decision, we headed West because I always wanted

to see Grandfather Mt.

The above sign greeted us at the welcome center.

I hopped out of the car and never made into the welcome center before I saw

this log with wildflowers.

Yes, I know the majority are already dead wildflowers!

But.......there are 4 beautiful ones!

I know the bottom of the picture is very "busy" with all the weeds, grass etc.

Usually, I would never show this on my blog.

Yet.....this one would be in my album,

because.....

I see those few wildflowers blooming their hearts out and I applauded them.

Yes, I probably see "me", still "hanging in there with His strength.

This is a bench as you walk into the welcome center.

See way in the center of the back....a small green sign?

That sign says:

"This bench was handmade from a tree that grew on the

rest area property".

I loved that bench for being re purposed into another form of beauty.

Inside the welcome center, beside all the "freebies" (brochures)

They showcased the wines of NC.

I love wineries, we buy a bottle of wine if we visit....most are still on the shelf.

I am fascinated by wineries.

The architecture is usually geared to compliment the land.

I love that.

Yup, I do enjoy a drink of wine with dinner now and again.

Mostly, because over the glass of wine, we reminisce over our trips.

The NC artisans, just a handful of so many are also showcased in the welcome center.

I dabble in jewelry and polymer clay.

True to form, have never been satisfied with my work to show it on my blog.

I am passionate about artists and their works.

(went we get to Indiana, you will see just how much, by our days spent in Nashville, IN)

Well, we finally left the welcome center and are headed toward Boone.

I so love and so MISS the mountains.

Our first taste of Fall.

Love the textures of the old building, the bark on the trees, the leaves

starting to turn.

Oh yes, this was taken because we made a wrong turn and were turning around.

When I spotted this scene, Terry turned around again so I could jump out and shoot it.

Yes, I am blessed because he really, really "gets me".

He has the patience of a saint and then some.

Now you get the idea of why I have never shared our trips very often.

My kind of road trip is something few people ever do, lol.

It's about smiles, laughter, and kissing my hand at stoplights.

It's about a man taking 450 excellent photos on the entire trip.

While.......

the women takes over 8000.

Some awesome ones, some inspiring only for her eyes, some "memories of our trip just

for us", some just for FB so family/friends know we are ok.

In the past, I have tried to do posts of all really good shots.

Yet, I was never satisfied with those posts.

There was no "expression" in them.

This rambling post, I love.

I feel, finally, as if you are sitting right in front of me, looking through my album with me.

If you know me in person, you know one, "Lynn has a story with every picture"!

Please join me tomorrow as we discover more of Boone, NC

a great road side stand with the look of Fall.

Grandfather Mt and Blowing Rock.

I know if you manged to get this far into this post.......

you are going to love what follows.