Fall is in the air here in Boone, NC, although we’ve had mostly gray skies, and rainy weather for the past four days or so. That aside, I know my favorite season of the year is on its way, and I couldn’t be more excited! What about you? I love the crisp, cool air, and […]

     With yet another forecast calling for copious amounts of snow, Boone weather is steadily doing its best to test our ability to endure a true winter. It has caught many of the blue ridge mountain residents completely off guard, too, because it doesn’t typically start this early. People are scrambling to get preparations […]

  Yesterday, here in Boone NC, we had our first substantial snow of the winter season. When I say substantial, I mean a few inches, but it did snow all day long and throughout the evening. I managed to tear myself away from my movie marathon to take a walk along the Greenway Trail near […]

I was unsure about what to expect when I planned to attend Grandfather Mountain’s Nature Photography Weekend. When I got to the registration table at 3, they simply told me to GO SHOOT! until the first program, which wouldn’t take place until 8 or so. I decided to start my day at ‘The Mile High […]

It’s hard to go to Hawaii and not commune with nature. However, there are some really great things you can do to immerse yourself even farther instead of sticking to the white, sandy beaches. My favorite way to do this is by taking a hike! The island of Oahu is riddled with trails if you […]

There is a fine line between delicious and dangerous when trying to determine whether or not a wild mushroom found on the forest floor is safe for the dinner table, or poisonous to consume. The latter being what you want to avoid at all costs because digesting unsafe fungi can cause serious illness, and in […]

3. DOYLES RIVER FALLS (Upper Falls) For our last day in Shenandoah National Park we picked this trail because there were not one, but two waterfalls! The round trip hike of 3.2 miles is moderate on the way down, but the return climb is STEEP! So steep it seems that you are pretty much at […]

There is nothing that I like more than to see the awe-inspiring beauty of a flowing cascade. What can some times make that desire difficult to achieve is the time and effort it can take to get there. Since there are no waterfalls that are visible from Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, to see […]

Were the words ringing in our ears as the ranger hung her head out the check-in station window.I didn’t pay attention because I was already keeping my distance, but there were many who weren’t. The second sighting was even worse. Just down the road, minutes after our first black bear sighting, were two more black […]

We experienced it all….and then some!I want nothing more than to tell you the details about our camping trip.Instead, I need to be a grown up and focus on meeting deadlines this week.Hopefully, I will sneak in some time and have a field trip ready for Friday! Until then,MEET THE LOCALS 😀 Shenandoah National Park […]