Blue Ridge Parkway

  Even though my two day trip to the Blue Ridge got turned into a one day trip, due to rain, I really was able to see quite a bit in the short time I had. The afternoon I arrived I did some exploring around Sherando Lake. Then in the morning I headed up to the Parkway, and drove south for about 60 miles, stopping along the way at several of the overlooks, taking a short hike, and having a picnic.

  A fern frond, backlit by the afternoon sun, at the Sherando Lake Recreation Area.

  Last year, when I was visiting the same area, the Mountain Laurel were in bloom. This year I got to see something different, these pretty purple wild geraniums were everywhere. This particular photo was taken on the Fallingwater Cascades Trail, as was the one below. In all honesty I didn't love this trail, it was in serious need of maintenance, and the views of the waterfalls just weren't as great as Wigwam Falls.

  One of the many rivers and streams along the parkway.

  I can't wait to go back! Hopefully I'll have time this autumn to explore the area around Asheville during the foliage.

Back Bay and Beacon Hill

  One of my favorite things to do in Boston, or any city really, is just to walk. Usually I have a loose plan of where I intend to go, but give myself the freedom to wander if something catches my eye. These were taken of the Back Bay and Beacon Hill areas of Boston, filled with old buildings and interesting architecture, from the colonial period to the present.

Ironwork on the gate at King's Chapel

Its actually kind of difficult to photograph these neighborhoods, because so many modern distractions (cars, electrical wires, etc.) get in the way. I found that the black and white showcased the interesting details better than color.

My Life in Instagram, October 2012

My Life in Instagram, October 2012, originally uploaded by Scarlett Design.

It would appear that I didn't do much in October, but in reality I think I was actually pretty busy.

Top Row:
My beach, near sunset
Boardwalk to the beach, the city of Virginia Beach has been great about maintaining public access to the beach, and there is a boardwalk at the end of every street along the oceanfront.
The beach again, this time near the touristy area and hotels.
Hot tea with honey and lemon. Allergies really knocked my on my ass this year, I was useless for the better part of a week.

Bottom Row:
Chewie playing
Panzer hanging out in my parents garden
Chewie having fun killing his hedgehog and pulling out it's "guts"
Beet soup

My Life in Instagram, September 2012

My Life in Instagram, September 2012, originally uploaded by Scarlett Design.

Its been awhile since I did an Instagram blog post, so here are 3, from the Months of September, October, and November.

Top Row:
Foliage starting to turn in Montana
A forest fire in the Bighorn National Forest
Interesting rock formations on the side of the road
Sunrise, I really don't like being awake this early

Second Row:
Early morning, heading out of Denver on our way back East
Interesting pumpkins
Chicks!
Crysanthamum, this lived on my front porch steps this fall

Third Row:
Times Square, NYC
View from my hotel room
Dragonfruit

Bottom Row:
View from my hotel in NYC
McSorleys, this was a fun bar!
Colorful afghans in the Lion Brand Store
Colorful macaroons

Big Snowy Mountains

I promise this is my last post about Montana. But it is just so pretty! Usually I hate it when others do not properly edit their vacation photos, but I find myself guilty of just that now. Typically I keep less than a quarter of the photos I take, but I found it difficult to be that ruthless when it came to editing photos from this trip. Everywhere I looked was beautiful, and it really did seem difficult to take a bad photo.

View from the deck. Every morning we would wake up to this view, and have a few leisurely cups of coffee or hot chocolate. Our first day there we did very little except relax and look at the mountains. It was great, and especially relaxing because there was no cell phone reception.

The mountains really do seem to rise straight up from the plains. This is only about 5 miles from the mountains, and it is clearly incredibly flat.

A bluebird. I had never seen one before, and it really was the most amazingly bright shade of blue.

Timber Creek Canyon

I have to admit, in spite of my hatred of all things noisy and motorized in nature, I loved riding ATVs on our trip to Montana. I had previously been of the opinion that they frightened away animals, and that by moving so quickly you missed on seeing things you would have noticed on foot. In fact, we saw quite a few deer, so the noise obviously didn't bother them. And although I may have missed some of the smaller details, which I would have noticed on foot, I was also able to see more, traveling 10 miles up a canyon in only an hour.

A view up the canyon, along the dry river bed we followed. Some of the leaves had just started to turn.

One of many deer we saw.

Fallen tree, and fuel for a potential forest fire. We had planned on going camping in the backcountry, but because of the dry summer there was a temporary prohibition on camping in the Big Snowies.

Crystal Cascades

The Crystal Cascades Trail, in the Crystal Lake Recreation area of the Big Snowy Mountains, follows a pretty series of streams and small waterfalls through the mountains. We didn't actually hike the trail, but we did accidentally happen upon this picturesque waterfall not too far from a parking area.

Even though it was only September, it was already cold at night, in the 20s. Here in this shady spot ice had not yet melted.

As you can see by the size of plants around this waterfall, it was pretty small, just narrow stream and probably only 15 feet high. But I think it is just as beautiful as many larger, more dramatic waterfalls I've visited.

Cows!!

Our friends in Montana had cows on their property (not their herd, but leased to a neighbor). They were surprisingly entertaining. Everyday they would slowly migrate from one end of the field, near the well, down the valley towards the house, and then back again. At the same time everyday. Some of them were skittish, but others had no fear of humans at all, and even seemed interested when I moved closer to take pictures. We even had to be careful when riding the ATVs, because they wouldn't try to move away until we right near them, and they didn't pay any attention when we walked the dogs (although we found out pretty quick that cow poop is a tempting treat and we shouldn't walk the dogs in the cow field)

Do you see the different colored cow? It was a bad cow. It belonged to a different herd but kept coming back.

Crystal Lake, MT

  Its been nearly six weeks since I got home from Montana and Im just now getting around to editing my photos! I've had a lot of travel recently, and although it was mostly fun (driving to Massachusetts in the midst of an alley attack was not fun!) I'm glad to be at home for the foreseeable future.

  While visiting our friends in the Big Snowy Mountain Range in Montana, Jon, myself, and our "kids" took a memorable day trip to the Crystal Lake Recreation Area. It is so amazingly beautiful it does not look real!

I think I took about 30 pictures of these rocks, from multiple angles. 

There was a very nice campground here (which we did not stay at) a picnic area, and several hikes, including one to an ice cave!

More pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarlettdesign/sets/72157612168361400/

Little Bighorn Canyon

  Last month I drove almost across the country, to Montana. I drove from here out to St Louis, where Jon's company is located, and then we drove to Judith Gap, MT together. All together it was four days of driving each way, but worth it. One of the places we stopped was Bighorn Canyon, on the Little Bighorn River. Its beautiful. The Orange rock contrasts beautifully with the blue water, and its massive.

We had planned on camping here for the night, but the campground sucked. Basically a glorified parking lot with a composting toilet. There are several other campgrounds in the park, all free, but accessed from the south entrance, they might not suck. Also there was another campground on the north end of the Canyon that had recently been redone. In a few years when the trees have had time to grow it might be nice too.

The battle of Little Bighorn National Monument is only about an hour north of the canyon, here are some photos I took of it several years ago. Its very interesting if you enjoy history, and a pretty grassland to look at if you don't.

52 Photos Project: Orange

I took this last month in Montana. The foliage was just starting to turn and there were small patches of reds, yellow, and oranges among the pine trees.

I really look forward to the foliage changing every year. Usually I take a trip, even just a short weekend camping, to see some pretty foliage, but I'm not sure if Im going to be able to this year. I had planned on going to Vermont and New Hampshire this week, but I've been away so much lately I decided I need some time at home. I will be in Massachusetts next week for a wedding, so maybe I'll have a chance to do some hiking then.

Camp Ogontz

Finally, I'm getting around to editing some of my travel photos from the last few months. These were taken in August, at a friend's camp in New Hampshire. Our friends' family has been restoring Camp Ogontz for many years, and it is now a beautiful retreat used for hosting music camps, corporate retreats, weddings, etc.

A variety of glassware catches the light in the dining hall.

Reflections in the calm waters just before sunset.

A waterfall in the stream running through the camp.

Ocracoke Tidepools

Ive always loved tide pools, perhaps because I can see what is normally hidden. Its fun to wade in the shallow water and watch the animals left behind by the tide. These ones on the beach at Ocracoke formed interesting little streams running towards the ocean.

Sunset from our campsite.

Ocracoke Island, Again

We went back to Ocracoke Island for a few days at the beginning of July. We only stayed 3 days, and then left early on account of some rain and buggy national park campground. Still got some beautiful, relaxing days on a beautiful beach though. I enjoyed watching these little sandpipers look for food in the sand, but they kept running away when I tried to take their picture.

The best part about the beaches in the Outer Banks is that you can drive on them. Even when it gets crowded, the nearest cars were about 100' away, and we didn't have to carry everything.

Ocracoke Island

Its taken me almost a month to finally finish editing my photos from Ocracoke. The beach is beautiful. Its a typical barrier island beach, wide and sandy, with pretty dunes and some marshes on the landward side.

We got a permit to drive on the beach. Its alot of fun. Plus, Im not going to lie, its nice to drive to a nice secluded spot and not have to carry all the beach crap (cooler, chairs, umbrella, ect.) for miles.

Sandpipers near the waters edge.