Along the Mountain Backroads

Day 168 of 365

For today’s adventures, I decided to abandon the Blue Ridge Parkway and explore the mountain backroads.  I hoped those routes would offer more of the rural scenes that I love to photograph, but I found the countryside to be even more beautiful than I expected.  I also found new photography challenges.  This flatlander isn’t accustomed to curvy mountain road with extremely narrow shoulders, so there were countless scenes that I didn’t shoot simply because I was too scared to stop.  But all the same, I came away with a number of keepers like this shot of a barn in Avery County.

Day 8: Oaky Grove Methodist

A few weeks ago, I was visiting student teachers who are placed in Johnston County middle schools, and I took a different route through eastern Wake County along Smithfield Road.  Just after crossing Poole Road, I noticed this picturesque scene.  After a bit of research, I found out that this church is Oaky Grove Methodist Church, built around 1876.   The church sits along a gravel section of Mial Plantation Road, but I love the view from across the field.

I did not have my camera with me that day, so I knew I would be returning to photograph the scene.  Today after visiting with the Goldbergs, I wasn’t in a great hurry to return home, so I thought it might be a good time for another drive along Smithfield Road.    I’m not satisfied with this photo.  I was there through the middle of the day, and the angle of the sun made it hard for me to capture the vivid blue of today’s sky.  The sun also reflected harshly from the church’s metal roof, so that area of the photo is blown out.  But while an imperfect photo, it still conveys a lovely country scene.