I’ve been spending lots of time enjoying our 2014 trip down 300 miles of the Blueridge Mountain Parkway so when Cee announced her photography theme of curves and arches I was ready – I knew just the ones I wanted to use. The speed limit was 35 miles/hour on the Parkway but the road is so curvy that I dare anyone to go faster. It is a slow drive but not a problem because there is so much beauty to see along the way and interesting stops to make.
The Parkway was built as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal to get the U.S. out of the Great Depression and it helped many families get employment in Virginia and Nouth Carolina. It is an unusual National Park because it is basically a long road along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, sometimes only incorporating the road and shoulders with private property blending in with property that was bought by the National Park Service at other places. It really feels like an outdoor museum of the culture and heritage of this region. In one section where property was purchased, The Park Service preserved and rebuilt sections of the narrow-gage rail system that once took lumber down the mountain to the saw mills.
A New Day: Living Life Almost Gracefully 
Oh Pat, your photos for this week are absolutely stunning 😀
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Thanks, Cee. I feel like I’m on a roll. 🙂
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Close to my neck of the woods here. You’ve captured it beautifully!
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The Appalachian, Blue Ridge Mountain areas are beautiful. Thanks, Dawn. But I have to remain humble because it is so beautiful it would be hard to mess it up. LOL
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No one would want to drive fast on such a road – it’s far too beautiful! I love the shot of the railroad track the most however – just gorgeous 🙂
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Thanks, Sarah. I remember it as a very wet and soggy day, I was afraid of slipping on the wet leaves on the path to this point. It was worth the short hike because the wet intensified the contrast and there wasn’t any sun generated washouts of color. The air glowed with the yellow of the leaves.
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Ah, memories!
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Marvellous memories, beautifully captured.
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Really lovely photos…I miss seeing those fall colors…ah but not the leaf raking.
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Excellent. The roads are fun to wonder…what’s next? I agree that it feels like an outdoor museum. Donna
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These are beautiful. We head to Skyline Drive each year which is basically a continuation of the Parkway.
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We haven’t done the Skyline Drive so maybe we need to think about it for next fall. It goes north from Virginia, right?
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Yes – if you are on the Blue Ridge Pkway going north in Virginia – you’ll just keep going until you come to the park entrance.
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