Check back next week for crazy shots like this one from NYC Pride! Fun, but not always pretty!

My brother and his girlfriend, Victoria, visited me for a short weekend recently. They were happy to see the rolling hills of Virginia and they were lucky to have a pretty cool weekend. We drove up to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Nat'l Park and went hiking up to Stony Man Mountain (see April 15th).

A classic Blue Ridge shot.

Can anyone identify these fun plants? Mr. Baxter?

Wild columbine.

Mountain laurel on top of the mountain.

I took two hikes that weekend. This is one picture of the wildlife I saw--my first rattlesnake sighting! He was sitting almost on top of the trail, which was pretty scary. I'm glad we were alerted my other hikers. My brother, Victoria, and I also saw a big fat black bear running across the road in the county outside of Shenandoah. He was too fast and unexpected to take a picture! My second bear sighting ever.

More wildlife...these things always creep me out when I see them. yuck...all those leggies!

yellow & green

Wheat. Or something.

There are many dirt roads in this area of rural VA.

The Mystery

My palm had been outside for a few days, then I pulled it inside when I went away for the weekend. I came home and had a new friend sharing the pot. Quite a large and fast-growing mushroom! Do you think it's a bad idea to have this growing inside your house?

what do you think--dinner?

a close close-up.

I just took a four-day vacation with my friend Marla to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Since we're both tennis nuts, we did an adult clinic where we got 3 hrs of instruction per day. It was great, though not exactly relaxing. And it was hot and steamy! Here's one of the few pictures of the low country that I took. Hilton Head was much more beautiful than I had expected, so I wish i had taken more pics.

Here's my friend Marla that I went with. She actually taught me how to play tennis way back in high school. Now I regularly kick her butt! She's driving the rental vehicle we had all week--a white grandma-style Buick.