Natural Scenery

Bridge over New River
Radford, October 2000

While living in the New River Valley for the past seven years, Pete and I have tried to do a lot of exploring in the surrounding area. Our first attempt at adventure was hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail in Catawba Valley and near Dragon's Tooth. My favorite thing about living here is the month of October, when the mountains come alive with gold, red and orange as the leaves change. Fall mornings trap the fog in the valleys, and some mornings you can't even see the car in front of you driving into Blacksburg on 460.

I stood on the I-81 bridge over the New River in Radford to take this picture (Probably not the safest idea but it was worth it to capture the morning view of the mountain in this shot.).

Waterfall at Camp Alta Mons
Shawsville, May 2000

This waterfall marks the end of my favorite hiking trail in southwest Virginia. We first discovered Alta Mons five years ago when we planned a youth group retreat there. In spring this trail offers more varieties of wildflowers than I've ever seen concentrated in one place: trillium, Jack in the Pulpit, mayapple, heartleaf, violet, bird-on-the-wing, wild ginger, wild geranium and columbine, among others. In the summer the creekside is teeming with wild rasberry bushes (and they are tart and delicious). In October, the mountainsides turn orange, gold and red with the changing hues of maples and oaks. I think of this somewhat unknown corner of the NRV as a special gift from God: Alta Mons is just a little old Methodist retreat center, and not some fancy Sierra Club nature conservancy.

Blue-eyed grass
Camp Alta Mons, spring 2001

West Virginia Spring Thaw
Babcock State Park, spring 2001

When Laura Hoggard invited us to a surprise picnic for Joe last May, we decided to take our camper and stay for a few days at Babcock State Park. Near the New River Gorge, this is white water rafting country. In fact, the waterways were so flooded while we were there, we even watched two kayakers cruise through this little creek in front of the Glade Creek Grist Mill, which in this picture shows a higher water level than normal. We liked Babcock so much that we invited the parents to rent a cabin with us there this October.

August Sunset
Looking out over 460 toward the Virginia Tech farms, August 2001

Painted Trillium
Blue Ridge Parkway, April 2001

Mountain Lake Hotel
"Famous 1980s movie location", Pembroke, August 2000

When Barbi and Ali came to visit last summer we visited Mountain Lake, ate a sub out of the back of our car (no picnicking allowed), stood where Patrick Swayze damced on the gazebo, talked to a hotel employee about "where was this scene filmed", and finished up a roll of b & w film. We had so much fun. Mountain Lake is a favorite spot.

Hangin' at Mountain Lake
Doesn't she look all grown up? August 2000

"Cousins"
Ali and Lucy posing on our back porch,
August 2000

When Ali came to visit in the summer, we had a great time naming all the baby ducks at the VT duck pond. I think one was given the name "Cookie Dough" and no we weren't eating ice cream. Lucy went on her first wild goose chase here this spring...literally, she chased a goose all around the gazebo while the goose was honking its head off. Forget chasing rabbits, Lucy has invented a new beagle sport!

Reflections
Virginia Tech Duck Pond, August 2001

Rainbow Over Christiansburg
Spring 2001
If you look closely, you can see a second rainbow above the first.

Makemie Lady Slipper
Spring 2000
I'd always heard that these grew at camp, but of course they were never around in the summer. I was amazed to find a bunch of these growing in front of the Picnic Pavilion.

Local Beachcomber
June 2001, Cape Henry Beach

Cape Henry is my favorite place to take beach pictures...and it's my favorite place to get a "sand fix" since it's such a short drive from Mom and Dad Schoenhoff's house.

DayGlo Color
July 2000, Cape Henry Beach

Mom's Tiger Lilly
June 2001

Some of my favorite subjects are flowers. Actually, that's one of the main reasons I bought my camera. I've been crazy about identifying wildflowers since 12th grade, thanks to my biology teacher's nature scavenger hunt! (Anyone who graduated from Western Branch High School in 1980s, you know what I'm saying.)

Wild Geranium
Camp Alta Mons, April 2001

Surfing Pelican
Clearwater Beach, FL, October 2001

Clearwater Beach Sunset
October 2001

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	Rocky Mountain Rascal Estes Park, CO, May 2000 Pete says these don't live in southwest Virginia. We have an on going debate about chipmunks, so please let him know the next time one runs out in front of your car on Peppers Ferry Road.

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