Coming off miles along the Blue Ridge Parkway finds us passing through the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. At the very highest elevations are forests dominated by evergreen spruce and fir trees. We’ve found ourselves cloaked by clouds and enveloped in mist for a while. Eventually we dropped down to the lower elevations for miles following a lovely creek along the roadside. Trees of yellow birch, American beech, mountain maple, hobblebush, and pin cherry trees have burst forth a picturesque canvas of autumn. In addition there is a spectacular display of other colorful trees in the landscape including scarlet oak, sweetgum, red maple, and the hickories. Obviously sunny days and cool nights have brought on the brightest fall colors even in the South.
Several sets of wild turkeys meandering by the roadsides caught our eye. By far the best wildlife sighting came this morning as a black bear cub darted across the road within twenty feet of the motor home. After leaving the Great Smoky Mts we headed north to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to checkout the campus.
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| Gotta love the views |
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| High elevation in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee |
Christa’s parents did their undergraduate work here in Knoxville years ago. She found the chemistry building where her father spent many long hours.
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| Autumn leaves on the UT campus |
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| Administration Building at UT Knoxville |
A graduate student invited her in to see his research chemistry lab and they chatted a while.
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| Like wouldn't you love your own research lab as a chem grad student |
A severe storm with gusty winds has us pulled off Interstate 75 southbound at a Home Depot parking lot as a safe haven for the night.
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| Great Smoky Mts are awesome |
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| "Oh my, looks like the beginning of a storm ahead," shouts Yukon. |
Miraculously we have picked up WiFi on their wireless service, so amidst a rain storm comes greetings to you on this blog posting.
Coming off miles along the Blue Ridge Parkway finds us passing through the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. At the very highest elevations are forests dominated by evergreen spruce and fir trees. We’ve found ourselves cloaked by clouds and enveloped in mist for a while. Eventually we dropped down to the lower elevations for miles following a lovely creek along the roadside. Trees of yellow birch, American beech, mountain maple, hobblebush, and pin cherry trees have burst forth a picturesque canvas of autumn. In addition there is a spectacular display of other colorful trees in the landscape including scarlet oak, sweetgum, red maple, and the hickories. Obviously sunny days and cool nights have brought on the brightest fall colors even in the South.
