I marvel at the forest-covered Blue Ridge Mountains when the leaves turn red, orange, and gold. The mountain range reminds me of mounds of sugar-coated gumdrops, an array of colors shimmering in the autumn sunshine.

Every year, I look forward to the season’s cool temperatures and blazing colors. I grab my camera, and Walter takes me for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Peaks of Otter, or we take a day trip north on VA Route 11 to Alpine Farms or Buchanan, both along the James River. We might take a trip to the apple butter festival at Seaman’s Orchard in Tyro, Virginia, to satisfy our sweet tooth and stock our pantry for winter. While there, a ten-minute drive west on VA Route 56 takes us to the captivating Crabtree Falls. Wherever we go, the landscape flaunts its vibrant fall foliage.

If we are craving an exhilarating challenge, we’ll head south to Smyth County’s Hungry Mother State Park to drive the Back of the Dragon—a scenic thirty-two-mile adventure on VA Route 16, twisting and turning through three mountain ranges from Marion to Tazewell. It’s said to have 438 curves with 3500 feet of elevation change. Walter navigates the curvy mountain roads without hesitation—the scarier, the better!

Our unexpected escapades are sometimes the best. While driving around Roanoke, Walter will take a left or right turn off of the city street onto a country road we’ve never traveled before. What a delight to come upon steep mountain roads, rolling hills, meadows, a quiet pond, or a stair-step waterfall—all showing off their fall colors. If the weather has cooperated with adequate rainfall, no strong winds, and no frost, the trees hold onto their leaves while autumn wildflowers add more color to the canvas—an artist’s dream.