We're Staying at the Bear Den Mountain resort and campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Mile Marker 324.8, The town of Spruce Pine is not far away and we went into town to replenish groceries this morning. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Yesterday was July the 4th, and our first full day here. We did take a little trip into town just to have a little look-see. Yep, it's a quaint little mountain town. We got back to the campsite, made lunch and settled down, which at my age means we took a nap.
Being the 4th of July, it was much different than those at home. Different in that at home, I have already been desensitized to the sound of firework for the past week and tonight would be the culmination of that with an abrupt tapering off next day. Here on the Parkway, Quiet, Peaceful, and if you listen closely you might here a pop or two in the distance. Not wanting to blow off the celebration entirely, I decided it might be a good idea to watch what the local townships might be putting on nearby.
I have no idea where to go but with the wide variety of overlooks on the parkway, I turned south to try and find a good vantage point. I think I stopped at the Black Mountain overlook but I'm really not sure. We pulled in at about 10 till 9 and a couple of other cars were stopped here already with a few more to follow as well. We sat and waited and not long after 9 the show began. Shows that is, from our perched perspective, we watched the fireworks displays of five different communities. Unfortunately these fireworks displays were so distant that it was little more than a twinkling of colored lights against a vast mountainous backdrop we peered at.
Looking ahead, we will be staying at the Rocky Knob Campground on the Parkway roughly at Mile Marker 167. Now 158 miles seems like a short hop especially if you consider we've already put over 1000 miles behind us since we left home. But, we only average about 30 miles an hour on the parkway so that puts me in the driver's seat for a little over 5 hours. Add in the photo ops and it tally's up to be a very long day of travel. The campground is primitive, meaning NO, water or electric. Now THAT is camping, or at least a lot closer to what I considered camping 20 years ago.
Earlier, you'll recall our little jaunt into town today for supplies. When we got back, we unloaded the groceries and proceeded a little further north on the Parkway in the car to get a preview of the road ahead and take a few pics while there was plenty of daylight. We'll try to get started early tomorrow and now won't need to make any photo stops early on. So below are the upcoming overlooks we shot today.
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