Yesterday afternoon we attended the wedding of friends of ours – a sweet wedding in a beautiful backyard filled with friends and family. It was a good day. And the sun shining over the mountains as we left the party made us smile too.

Today, the weather guy said we’d have more of the same sunny weather so we drove a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, looking for those beautiful blue ridges undulating off into the distance. We started out hopeful. But the higher we got the closer we were to the low hanging clouds.

Until we were swallowed up entirely.

The overlooks no longer overlooked anything.

We drove very very slowly, but there was nowhere to go but on. Sometimes, depending on our elevation we’d get lucky and be able to see a mountain far off in the distance.

The sun worked hard to burn away the mist, and eventually we started to see things. Like this orchard down below…

…and the beginnings of layering mountains showing their true colors.

We stopped to hike along some trails to a set of waterfalls. This was definitely worth the walk, the climbing up root covered hills…

and flights of stairs to get higher…

…and higher in order to see some of the wonders that nature has hidden way back in the mountains.

We had a great time hiking through the woods, all the way to the very top overlook.

By the time we got back to the car and out on the Parkway again the sun was making those mountains glow. Just about everywhere we looked was a beautiful view.

It was simply amazing.

It was like this around every bend in the road. And there are a lot of bends on the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Even though it was a very long drive, I didn’t want it to end.

Sadly we have to move on to the next thing on our agenda.

But wait!

You say you wanted to know more about the wedding? Well, here’s the happy couple, very much in love. And of course they made us all cry when they shared their personal vows with each other. Plus they had really good food at the party after!

Congratulations Jackie and John!!