My Favorite Place: The Blue Ridge Mountains

Last summer, I drove to North Carolina with my girlfriend to meet her family. Before this trip, the farthest east I had been was Indiana, so it was unfamiliar territory, to say the least. On the way to Durham, where her dad and extended family live, we took the scenic route and drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which goes through the Blue Ridge Mountains, a part of the Appalachians that runs along the western edge of the state. The parkway has turnouts to views like this:

And this:

And this:

There's something about standing on the edge of what's basically a forest-y cliff and looking out over these views that makes you feel incredibly, powerfully small. I'm kind of a control freak, so I maybe shouldn't like that. But I've never felt more at peace than I did standing there awestruck on those little gravel turnouts. The peaks,valleys, and crisp mountain air have found a place in my heart that the rolling plains of the Midwest have never touched. I'm lucky enough to still be with the girl, and plans are in the works to go back to North Carolina this summer. I can't wait to see the mountains again and feel like a speck in the universe.



1st Picture: personal photo of Blue Ridge Mountains, taken May 2017
2nd Picture: personal photo of Blue Ridge Mountains, taken May 2017
3rd Picture: Blue Ridge Mountains. Web source: Our State