Red-haired Thomas Jefferson's garden

Another installment from our motorcycle ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway and stop in Charlottesville to visit Monticello. Whenever I go to Jefferson's home the first thing I do when I get off the bus is visit the huge garden to see how the okra planting looks, especially the gorgeous blossoms they set.  I am never disappointed.

They start with a soft red center and end up a deeper red below, with  luscious pale yellow petals. Note the ripening okra in each photo.

Here's a view of a part of Jefferson's garden facing Charlottesville. The okra grows in the bright green rows to the far right of the gardener.

To honor Thomas Jefferson's red hair, I'm linking these okra shots to Ruby Tuesday.

Happy Trails!

. . .nothing but blue skies

Here are Blue Ridge skies from our motorcycle trip last week. We spent 9 days on the bike riding to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee then rode the full 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped in Charlottesville to visit Monticello and two days later we were back in Minnesota. There's no place like home!

 These two captures are along the Parkway where those mountains were always blue.

Below is the sky seen from the hot pavement of the parking lot at Monticello.

See more summer skies @ Skywatch Friday.