Road Trip with Mom

Mom & I headed off at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning for a road trip to nowhere in particular. We started down 360 and took a side street over to Genito and then another side road over to Route 60 just below the turn off for Bear Creek Lake. We continued West on Route 60 to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We started off on the parkway at the Buena Vista overlook and continued on North along the parkway to the Waynesboro exit.

Here are a few shots from the road trip this weekend.

Carla walking on a rock wall at an overlook – She’s a right spry old lady. She hopped up there without any encouragement. I was walking past the rock wall and she was right there with me, only walking on top of it. She was sure having a good time. Every time we got out of the car at an overlook, she had to get out as well and stretch a bit. She was acting just like a little kid, wanting to play at every stop.



This is the James River between Appomattox County and Nelson County. Mom & I parked the car in Nelson County and walked back along the bridge to take photos. There were beautiful reflection in the river. While we were taking photos, a couple came paddling out from under the bridge. I also took several other photos of an island in the river near the bridge.

The next set of pictures here is from somewhere along Route 60 before the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance. The next one is from along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We took lots of pictures, but they all had a similar look. Even though the leaves were no longer at the peak of color, the views were still great. Mom & I really did enjoy the ride. We had a great time talking and just enjoying a girl's day out.


This is a real neat sign I saw. The curve was suppose to be extremely sharp, but driving it, it didn’t look like it. Now on a bike it might be sharper than in a car, but the sign that showed the shape of the curve was definitely out of whack.

Just down the road from here Mom & I came across an apple tree with apples still hanging on the upper branches. We also saw a beautiful dogwood tree full of berries. There were also huckleberry bushes loaded with berries beneath the dogwood tree.

Mom & I took a little side trip off the parkway to Sherando Lake State Park. These photos from Sherando Lake, not too big of a place but pretty. From what I read on one of the plaques it was built during the 30's by the Conservation Corps. The second photo is of a reflection in the lake.


We came across a neat place in Love, VA, just off the parkway that rents cabins (Royal Oaks Cabins) pretty secluded place. It would be a neat place for a weekend get-away.

As we were heading homo down Route 250 towards home, we ran across these creepy cows – turns out they are Belted Galloways – a breed first brought over from Scotland in 1950. One of their nicknames is Oreo Cookie Cows. Mom was convinced they had been crossed with pigs. They do have that look.

Sunset around 5:15 p.m.

Just after sunset, right about 5:30 p.m., about 8 miles west of Gum Springs we passed what we thought was a deer, but weren't quite sure. I told mom it was an albino, but just to make sure that we weren't crazy, we turned around to be sure. Sure enough. There at the edge of the woods was the real treat of the evening, an albino deer! I pulled over to the edge of the road and Mom whipped out the camera, which wasn't cooperating at all. I stuck my camera out of the sunroof and snapped a few myself. A couple were really bad, but at least we could make out the shape of the deer. The second photo is the best of the bunch that I took.