Road Trip: Triffids, North Carolina Style

Once we'd got over our excitement at slaying the dragon (see below) we continued down through North Carolina on slightly tamer but no less beautiful roads, with babbling mountain streams running alongside. 

As we stopped to take photos we saw one of the South's weirder natural phenomena.

If you look closely you can seen whole trees and  bushes blanketed with kudzu, a rampant weed that chokes everything in its path. A North Carolina equivalent of the "Day of the Triffids".

So only the ghostly shapes remain beneath.

It reminded me a bit of that artist who used to wrap buildings.
More cheerful was a picturesque lake

Fringed with the obligatory "cottages"

 At one point we drove along a wall of rock from which tiny autumn trees were growing.

And then to a place called Murphy. I wonder what constitutes "Christian" Martial Arts?  Only in America?

Perhaps the congregation of this gorgeous Methodist church could enlighten me?

To be continued....