Mountain Beauty!!!!

My mountain vacation last week started with dropping this sweet girl off at her apartment for her Senior year in college. I can't believe that she will be graduating in May. I miss her already, but I know what an exciting year she will have as a Senior!
After getting Adelaide settled, I went to spend the week with my sister. My parent's house is next door to my sister, so I got to see them too. August 22nd was my sister's birthday, so we celebrated her while I was there! We also had some fun times sitting out on her porch. (more pictures to follow another day)
My sweet parents love to sit out on their porch too. This house belonged to my Grandparents when I was a little girl and I have vivid memories of my Grandparents sitting out on this same porch. This is the cutest little house and it is full of memories of times spent with my own Grandparents when I was a child. My Mom loves flowers, so the porch is covered with her flowers. She even has a fountain on the porch.
Here is a close up of my Mom and Dad. My Mom is 86 and my Dad is 89.
On Sunday, we attended an old time singing and Homecoming service at a local church and they had a covered dish lunch afterwards. Lots of our relatives go to that church, so it was fun to visit and the food was delicious. This creek flows right behind the church. They hold baptisms here during the summer I am told.
We visited the local Farmer's Market and these vegetables were so pretty I wanted to share them with you. We ate lots of good food while I was visiting in the mountains. (more pictures to come another day on that)
Wouldn't you love your yard to look like this? This was at a motel in the area.
North Carolina grows a lot of the Christmas trees that are shipped all over the United States each year. The mountains are covered in Christmas trees and it is so pretty. Each year our family cuts our own trees, as they grow all around my parent's and my sister's houses. We have even cut them before in the snow, which is so beautiful and so festive!
In this picture you can see the New River, which is not too far from my parent's house. We love to go tubing on this river in the summer. The water is a bit chilly even in the summer. And this river is older than the Nile River, so it has been around for quite a while. You can also see the Christmas trees in the background.
We pass this barn each time we go to my parent's and my sister's. I just love the look of this old barn. More Christmas trees in the background.
When you look at this picture, you realize why the mountains are called The Blue Ridge Mountains. They have a blue cast to them on most days. On this particular day, it was extremely foggy. On a clear day, you can see forever from these overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
This is a view of my niece's front yard. Don't you love the old chair? She lives in a log cabin and the whole front yard is a wild flower garden. It is just beautiful!!!
This is a picture of my niece's front porch. I love how she took the old work boots and planted "hen and chickens" in the boots. She has a green thumb and all her plants are gorgeous!
This barn is near the house too. I love the quilt painted on the front. This was another foggy day.

I hope you have enjoyed some of my pictures. I took so many that I decided I better divide them up and share them with you over several days. I didn't want to overload you with pictures. You can see from the pictures why I love the mountains so much. It is truly "God's Country"!!!!! I feel so relaxed and rested after having spent the week there.

**My mountain vacation pictures to be continued another day!