We traveled to Gastonia, NC for a surprise visit in celebration of my daughter’s 40th birthday. And she was really surprised as her birthday isn’t until February, but because we live in New York State, her husband Aaron planned her 40th birthday party in the fall so that both parents could make the trip before winter. She was really surprised as family and friends gathered in her home when she was out shopping on Saturday afternoon.
We returned to the Finger Lakes via Interstate 77, traveling through North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia on our way to stay overnight just south of Pittsburgh on route 79. Near Beckley, West Virginia, we took route 19 which connects Interstate 77 with Interstate 79. It was along 19 that we were treated to the most spectacular show of autumn mountain madness that I have ever seen.
We pulled off the road onto an overlook, and I tried to take pictures, but a camera can only record the scene in two dimensions, leaving out the depth of the scene. There were beautifully colored trees and bushes in the foreground with the mountains of West Virginia in the background.
I panned the scene from right to left, trying to show what my eyes were seeing. I then pointed the camera towards the valley below, but again, a picture can not convey the distance to the valley below.
Across the road, Mother Nature was trying to take back the scars which were left when the road was cut into the side of the mountain. On the flat portions of the cuts, the trees are beginning to grow back, giving color to the light greys of the rock. The stop was worthwhile and gave one a little time to pause and to reflect about the forces which gave rise to these beautiful mountains.
Wow, beautiful photos which indeed convey the majesty of nature wonderfully. Keep up the good photography and the wonderful writing.
Lee, I try to keep most of my posts about the Finger Lakes, but when we came upon such a magnificent scene in our travels, we just had to stop and to admire.