We were fortunate to spend this past Labor Day with our good friends, Elwin and Myrna.

We drove a couple of hours north, almost to the Virginia border, to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

By the time we reached the parkway the children were famished so we stopped at Jeffries State Park to picnic and take a short hike to see the cascades.

Don't believe the look on Elwin's face!!  He has more energy than the children put together.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are quite beautiful.  In a couple of weeks, traffic on the parkway will be heavy as people from all over come to drive through the mountains and see all the trees in their fall colors.

After leaving the state park, we continued down the parkway to the summit of Mt. Jefferson.  We then hiked to the very top.  What a view!!  On one trail we learned of a group of people who lived on this mountain in the early 1800s.  These people were completely isolated from the rest of America.  In fact, they created their own state with their own laws until civilization finally made its way to them with the railroad and turnpikes.  Now all that is left is the trail that they used to carry on their daily lives.

To a mountain boy, such as Todd, I know that the Blue Ridge Mountains are not as majestic as the Cascades but you cannot deny their beauty.