After ooh'n, aah'n and goo goo, gaa gaa'n (that's 'hello sweetie, we're your grand-auntie and grand-papa honey' in baby talk) we unplugged Gertrude and backtracked west towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. We embarked 500+ mi of really winding roads and magnificent scenery, trees, wildflowers and wildlife that parallel the Appalachian Trail from the Great Smokey Mountain in the South to Shenandoah National Park in the North where the road becomes Skyline Dr before ending at Front Royal in VA. Mind you, the Appalachian Trail itself starts in GA, then winds into TN, VA, WV and on and on until the tippy top of Maine! The trail is 2,900+ miles long.... we hiked (maybe) short of 15 miles at different spots on this magnificent trial. I'll tell you all about our hikes in a minute. |
At the start of our driving adventure we found a beautiful spot to camp - Racoon Holler in Sheryl's Ford, NC. Lots of acreage, ample space and Mother Nature who was so kind to stop raining when we hooked up. Thunder, lightning and torrential rains followed, but the next day it was sunny and bright. Our neighbor had an Airstream with 5 beagles - go figure :-) We spent the day planning our route for the next 3 wks as there are no easy camping on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
After Allan spent a considerable amount of time (too many hours more than he cared to) figuring our route and camping places from NC via West Virginia onward to Antietam and Gettysburg, I happen to pick up a recent KOA campground listings handbook and discovered that there ARE several KOA's on this Blue Ridge Parkway. Ooooh... Allan almost killed me... as I, of course, did not want to miss the experience of the Blue Ridge Parkway so we re-routed our plans back to the Parkway.
After he calmed down, we proceeded to make sure that we had good stopping points and reservations.
I think he was glad that we did stay on-course.
After he calmed down, we proceeded to make sure that we had good stopping points and reservations.
I think he was glad that we did stay on-course.
This drive was BREATHTAKING. The history, the battles fought, relics of days gone by, and Mother Nature in all her glory and temperaments.
If you're not a tree-hugger yet, you'll certainly will be one after experiencing nature's gift to us. I'm not poetic enough to describe the awe inspiring wonders of nature, but
Thomas Merton, a poet & a monk said it best:
The world and its noise are out of sight and far away
Forest and field, sun and wind and sky, earth and water
all speak the same silent language