Today, on Christmas Eve, my mind was drifting back to few decades ago when, for a decade or so, I would visit, every other year, during the Christmas holidays, the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Those were simpler times and also a bit different...at least it felt so...🙂...I think. First of all, there was no so much of internet, so, on long trips, one had to look up places of interest to visit, in a AAA (American Automobile Association) travel book, with the AAA agent (previously) having drawn crayon lines on the highways and roadways of the MAPs to take you to your destination (the magenta lines equivalent of today's (ubiquitous) automobile Garmin units).

Mom & dad owned hotels (usually my places of stay), and such proprietor stores and businesses were common. For transport, there was no (on-board) GPS navigation in cars (except only in the elite ones such as the Cadillacs and BMWs of the world). I recall having once rented one such mode of transport, just for the fun of it...🙂...for my trip to Tennessee. When settled into the (higher-end) Cadillac, and after figuring out, for the first time in my life, that the car needed to be started by pressing a push button without having to turn an ignition key...🙂..., and then while fiddling around the OH buttons (yes, Overhead), I was startled by a (real) human voice, "Can I help you...?". I had accidentally pushed and activated the (Cadillac's automated OnStar Emergency Service...🙂...). Anyway, that was a memorable trip, travelling in a bit of (extra) comfort in the Cadillac style...🙂...to the Smoky Mountains, at Christmas time, just like today... As, instead, I merely enjoy now the viewing of a several Christmas holiday movies of similar genre, such as "Christmas in the Smokies", "A Christmas in Tennessee" etc....🙂..., and probably umpteen more I am not aware of...

During those years, unlike present times, snow was generally abundant in winter, and especially so in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina (over which mountains, I'm flying today...trying to rekindle some of my old memories...🙂...). I recall...both sides of the roadways that meandered through the mountains to towns (such as Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Chattanooga), were covered by fresh white (undisturbed) snow, along with the trees and branches of the mountain slopes, that were also coated beautifully with snow. It was like a true winter wonderland, and especially without the tourist rush that occurs every summer season, it all felt like a delightfully peaceful existence, in the heart of nature. I would not trade it for (up-scale) visits to the Holiday Opera shows and various Museums of the big cities...at least once in a while...🙂...

Anyway, today, I wished to test the PMDG 737-600, which I'm flying for the first time after the MSFS2024 Updates. I'd flown it once prior to the Updates. Unfortunately, I cannot say, it was a perfectly trouble-free flight today (certainly not as seamless as what I was used to from the PMDG 736 in my MSFS2020/Xbox experience). Among my primary worries of this flight (1) The occasional pauses and freezes persist. (2) The cockpit displays are not bright enough for my eyes, neither by default nor after I adjusted all the lighting control knobs. (3) The on-board EFB caused CTD. Maybe, I am still missing something here and there...will see...

And ground texture resolutions in my Xbox/MSFS2024 are nothing to brag about at this point. Though the mountains (see images below) look good enough, the valleys and terrains in between, seem to be lacking sufficient crispness and clarity in my case. I will see if some global setting can help improve my situation... (but there are not many things to tinker with, on the Xbox...). Nonetheless, it was overall an enjoyable flight experience today, as I depart from McGhee Tyson Airport of Knoxville, Tennessee; headed straight east for Charlotte Douglas Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. The PMDG 736 flew me safely and competently...over and across the thick of the Appalachians to my final destination (See shots below and the EFB Map) ...

Hope you enjoy this collection of pictures of the 737-600, making an early morning trip overflying these picturesque mountains (mostly) of North Carolina...not very tall but very pretty by any standard...with the perpetual bluish haze, mist, and smoke, that gave rise to their deserving names (Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains). Somewhere along my way today, I've passed over Mount Mitchell, in North Carolina, the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland North America east of the Mississippi River...I'll let you guess from my pictures and the (superposed) EFB shot, which one it is...🙂...

Thanks for viewing...and Merry Christmas All...!

Edited December 25, 20241 yr by P_7878

The -600 looks great here. Merry Christmas!

Fine set of shots !

Merry Christmas !

cheers 😉

Edited December 25, 20241 yr by pmplayer

Great shots! 😉 

Very nice set P_7878! I will install it now, it's in the sales. Will show some shots next days...🙂

One must really say that I should have at least 1 PMDG with all my sims. Otherwise I can't have a say...

And I have the B737-800 and B737-900 and the B777 in the other sims, so it's a good choice.

Another fine set of shots!  The mountains look superb!

Friends:

Many thanks for the comments and thoughts...🙂...and the very best wishes to you all...!