This is one of the shots I took last weekend on my trip along Skyline Drive, just west of Washington, DC.  These are basically the skeletons of trees that were infected with some sort of parasite that killed them all.  Still, it was eerily beautiful. Then, there was this one below, who was just posing against the clear blue sky for my camera! This weekend, the trees will likely be at their peak.  Alas, I will be working.  I took both of these with a Nikon D80 - set on automatic, of course!  I'm still figuring out the fine points of how to work it. 10/29/2010

This was supposed to be the weekend the tress would be in full bloom along Skyline Drive.  So, as this is the last weekend I'll have off for a while, we packed up cameras and IPad and headed a couple of hours west.  While they are not anywhere close to the peak ("Ah, that's nature!" as the Park Ranger put it) it was a beautiful sight.  I had my Nikon D80, which I almost never use.  I also had my little Lumix, which is so simple that I tend to favor it.  Well, little Lumix had a dead battery, so I had to use my big girl camera.  Hmmm.  It's worth it to lug the thing around!   10/24/2010

This is a bay window on a beautiful old turn-of-the-last century building in Cumberland, MD.  I loved the way the tiles formed funny lines on the roof.  And I loved the windows, with all of the little rounded panes.   The brick, I wasn't crazy about.  But I love the way it works against the brown marble.  Cumberland is a great weekend getaway if you want to get out of Washington for a weekend - doesn't even have to be a long weekend! 09/24/2010

If you get the urge to get out of Washington for a weekend road trip,  your can choose between oceans and mountains.    If you have a yen for mountains, a drive through West Virginia could be just the thing. There is a lot of history here that has not succumbed to the wrecking ball.  There are Main Streets all over the state (like this one in Harper's Ferry) with some buildings dating back to the 1700's.  And for historic home junkies, there are old treasures in all sorts of sizes and styles. We found this wonderful old gargoyle, it even had red eyes, on a back road in Wheeling.  And of course, no trip to anyplace would be complete without Pat's obligatory cow photo.                             The roads through this state are filled with beautiful country.  On the way home, I took this... 08/25/2010