This is Matthews Creek, right outside my place…

Dupont State Forest, Brevard NC

Blue Ridge Parkway looking east

And the parkway looking west

I forgot what this mountain is called but you can see it clearly from the parkway lookout.

This was from the back deck as the sun was setting low some where around 8pm.

My good friend Bill and I went on a late summer kayak trip to the northern most tip of lake Jocassee.  This man made lake seems very natural and full of wonders.  Last year we saw a black bear on the shore while paddeling back.

I always wanted to visit Monticello ever since I saw it on the back of the nickel.  Jefferson has facinated me when I studied the Lewis and Clark expedition.  I didn’t realize how much the third president has contributed to this country…good and bad.  Monticello was a paradox in that it celebrated the rational and scientific man, but at the same time was run by slave labor.  Jefferson ultimately fell on hard economic times and his entire estate was lost to bankruptcy.  Along with his farm, Jefferson designed the University of Virginia campus and it is a true gem of neo classical architecture.

lake simcoe dusk