The town of Bristol lies partly in Tennessee and partly in Virginia so we were not even out of town yet before we crossed into Virginia. I ooh and aah through every state, but every time I travel through western Virginia I think it is one of the prettiest places in the world.  Of course, it is a matter of taste.  My taste runs toward farmland, hills, cows, and trees. Throw in some quaint towns and old farmhouses and I am in heaven. The New River Valley, then the Roanoke Valley, and then the Shenandoah Valley, oh boy!

The only negative was that we were on the interstate most of the time and there was a lot of traffic.  Tractor-trailer trucks one after the other. I had to keep my eyes on the road.

We had not been to visit Joe since before we bought Sao since we could not get her up the driveway.  Scamp had no trouble until the top when we had to go under some low tree branches.  I backed up when we seemed to be stuck and went on the other side of the tree.  We did prune a crepe myrtle a bit that way.

Joe’s house is about as well placed as a house can be.  It sits upon a high hill with valley views all around.  The house has windows to take in the views too. While Andy and Joe were in the kitchen discussing nuclear physics and Einstein, I went outside and took pictures all around the house.  Here, they are in no particular order and some might repeat or overlap.

This is the view through the grapevine behind Scamp.

This is from the front yard. The photo does not show the valley behind the green trees or how steep the hill is.

This is from the side of the house.  There is a steep hillside beyond the fence and the far green field is up the next hill.

This is from almost the same spot but looking more to the back of the house.

That is Mossy Creek way down the hill.

I took a walk part way down the driveway.  Again, this photo makes the landscape look much flatter than it actually is. The distant fields are on the next hill over.

Here is Scamp parked next to the house.

Joe no longer raises cattle but rents out his pastures to a neighbor.  I love how they stop and stare.

The four ponies are rescued animals.  I think Joe said his daughter arranged for them to live in the pasture around the house. I took the picture through the window screen.

Here, from the front yard, I zoomed to get the distance blue ridges between the far hills.

Grape season is over, but there were still plenty hanging on the vine.  They are Concord grapes. Joe said they had cut back the vines and the new growth produced small seedless grapes.  They are delicious and I spent a lot of time picking off still-plump ones and filling my tummy.

Joe and Andy posed for me as we were leaving.  I had them stand in the shade of the garage.  They squinted in the morning light anyway.

We left for Maryland on August 30. It took us about five hours to get to Son Andrew’s house.  The grandchildren are getting so big we can hardly call them children anymore.