The Blue Ridge Comes Up Roses

A couple of friends came for a brief visit -- Jessica and Brad Lauretti, a brother-sister folk duo called This Frontier Needs Heroes, currently on-tour in the mid & south east.

As this was their first time here in rural Virginia - we decided to give them a healthy dose of country fun.  We headed out to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a hike and gorgeous drive.  Along the parkway, we encountered some mountain goats in the road.  We stopped and tried to chase

 them out of the road.  Brad ended up clambering up the side of the mountain trying for a nice photo-op, without much cooperation from the goats.  

We drove on to our destination, Humpback Rocks hike.  As we approached, we saw a small farm-looking stead alongside the road.  I thought - hey, cool a "frontier farm" and here we are with our friends, This Frontier Needs Heroes!  

We hiked up the hill - and man - the last time I did that was probably more than 15 years ago.  I think it was a lot easier then.  For sure.  We finally humped our way up to the Humpback Rocks and it was gorgeous.  See pics above!  It was great.

We easily made our way down.  Along the way, I said, "Hey guys, wouldn't it be great if we got some photos of you on the "frontier farm" for your upcoming album!  And lo and behold - we stopped, and took a couple of photos of Brad and Jess on the porch.  Brad made some off-hand comment about how he was in need of costumes.  And - what happens, our friendly staffers offer some up!  A 2 hour impromptu photo shoot ensued - and I must say - there are some definite gems in that batch of 600+ photos I shot!  Certainly a great day, indeed! 

posted by Marisa