We came to the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and drove down into Waynesboro, VA for supplies. Then back up the mountain to the junction of the Parkway and Skyline Drive. We are staying at the Big Meadows Campground on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Forest for 2 nights. I'm posting this from my cell phone so I'll close out here and add a few pics for good measure.
Today was to be another easy day, 100 miles of travel. We had no trouble setting out, just raise the landing gear and go. Murphy's Law has always demanded respect and I have paid my respects as often as any other. After a time, we had stopped for a few photo ops and had a chance conversation with another couple on the parkway who were traveling south and mentioned a road closure ahead for us. I had expected signs and a routed detour but never saw any. Then, at an exit point all of the sudden, the gates were closed on the North side so we got off.
There was a vibration in the front end I had noticed but sloughed off thinking it was nothing more than the road surface. Turns out I'm not entirely sure what it is, but if I'm driving on a straight section of roadway, between 30 and 45 mph., and hit a bump or a pothole, the front wheels will begin wobbling left and right. If I ignore it, it will grow in intensity till it's out of control. A simple mash on the brakes will stop it. I have considered many possible causes, most prominently expecting a bad drag link in the steering but I crawled underneath and checked every linkage finding all in good condition. I can only assume now, after driving so far and deeply focused on the issue, that the right front tire, or both tires need to be balanced. And since the front end alignment has never been perfect, might as well schedule all of the above for service. For now, I'm aware and able to manage it till we get home. (crosses fingers)...
To be brief, our simple drive day, turned into a 9 hour day. To be fair, I did spend nearly an hour Hiking half a mile down the side of a mountain and back. We wasted another hour searching out a gas station, and right up to the end, I missed the turn to the campground only to find the next exit was almost 10 miles away before we could turn around and go back. The endless Vistas make it all worth it, I only wish the photos could convey this, Enjoy them as you wish, and remember, click on any picture to review it full screen. Cheers!
We planned to set out early with expectations of getting underway by 8:30. At 9:30 we started rolling. At least I didn't have any stops to make early on and the traffic was light enough that I didn't need to pull off very often to let others pass. I was ready to pull off by 10:30 already tired and needing a break as the road was in poor condition and was fraught with tight corners and steep climbs and descents. We had traveled 22 miles and my long travel day expectations were now gnawing at my patience. An hour later we stopped again and I took a break, 24 miles this time. We decided to go ahead and make lunch as long as we were already stopped.
Back on the road and making better time but soon we came across detour signs indicating construction ahead with that area closed to traffic. Much needed construction if it was anything like the last 50+ miles I'd seen. We got off the parkway at Hwy 16 and followed the signs. A little relief knowing I could now drive 55 on most of the route although there were a few areas that tested me hard and I would highly recommend construction to repair the roadbed.
We re-entered the Parkway at Mile Marker 217, less than a half mile from the Virginia State Line, and OH, MY, GOD... The Parkway was now as smooth and well constructed as the views. The speed limit was still mostly 45 but every curve was rated for at least 45 and none of the grades were excessive. Driving the next 50 miles to the campground was and enjoyment again. Now it seemed we were going to arrive before the designated check-in time and so I was free to stop and get a few more of those beautiful photo opportunities.
We've only got about 100 miles to our next campground stop. It's a KOA Campground, so I'll probably have a good signal and update ya'll a little earlier. Lynn and Toto said Hey!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREA
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.
Another day on the Parkway and plenty of pictures of the trek. Getting out of Waynesville was fun, NOT. We went into town to get gas before heading out and found a BP station cheaper than all the other stations in town and just a few blocks away from the main thoroughfares. Not a very big station, Only had 4 pumps and all were full when we arrived. I waited patiently parked out of the way so as not to block customers from entering the storefront. Saw one car pull out and the car behind started to pull away so I began to move towards the pumps. Nope, the second car just did an about face cause she was too #%&@# to know which side of her car to put the fuel into. Now I'm blocking the storefront..... and three more cars jumped in line to fill spots. Decided it was worth the price to just go to a big station and get going.
Drove out to the main drag, and got into the turn lane to make a left into the Ingles Parking lot. The lanes were really narrow, I was hanging the tires on the yellow line but Clipped the mirror on a big pickup truck in the lane to my right who likely felt just as snug is his lane as well. We both exchanges shrugs, not much else we could do except block more traffic and probably cause some real problems. We both drove our separate ways and I finally got Georgie Girl filled up and ready for the next leg of the Parkway. We re-entered the Parkway just Southwest of Waynesville at Balsam.
Today's Parkway travel was about 120 miles. The speed limit was 45 mph for most of it and 35 mph for about a quarter of it. Regardless of the limit, We traveled along at 35 mph and stopping at a lot of the pull-offs and overlooks allowing others to pass. On the downhill slopes, I would allow Georgie Girl to get up to as much as 50mph since there was no fuel cost, but rarely able to do it due to the bumps and curves. Enough of this, Pictures below of each of the stops we made that had a view worth photographing.
No sign on the first pic, but it's looking out over the highway we had just gotten off of to enter the parkway.
Mile markers begin in the North and end in the South. We are beginning our transit at the Southern Terminus. There are 25 Tunnels in North Carolina and 3 of them are too small for Georgie Girl to squeeze through in the first 20 miles. Well, That's not entirely true. Of the three, Georgie Girl could actually fit "IF", we could drive through the tunnels on the center line. But that would cause a fright for any oncoming vehicles and is most likely frowned upon by the National Park Service. Part of our reasoning for staying in Waynesville, NC. was that we could take the car through the first 26 miles and save Georgie Girl, and myself, any embarrassment.
We embarked on that first leg today. I had intended to stop at all of the overlooks and get pictures but, It didn't take long to see how unrealistic that was when several of these overlooks were no longer visible due to tree growth. That and I'd have had to plan another week for the trip if we were stopping that often. So I'll get pictures at the places where we do stop and this will become more of a photo-blog during the course of the next week.
We left Vogel State Park about 10 am and drove noth into North Carolina. This was supposed to be a simple 90 mile drive to Waynesville, NC. Nothing simple about it. For the first time since we purchased "Georgie Girl", She let us know her limits. Crossing the mountains north would have be done without a thought in the car, but the mountain highways here are a bit steep and on two of our climbs, Georgie Girl was brought down to 35 mph. The downhill slopes were also a concern with the speed limits on these waverly runs were 35mph and keeping her in second gear, the motor was squalling at 4200 rpm attempting to restrain the force of gravity but the brakes were still necessary and I would bring her back to 25 just to give her a little relief, and myself as well. I made a habit of pulling off at the top of each mountain, then crawling out after traffic had passed, turning on the flashers, dropping her down to second gear, and holding her back as needed to maintain control. We pulled in to Waynesville, NC about 1:30pm. 90 miles / 3.5 hours = avg. 25.7 mph.
The RV park here is unremarkable, but today's blog is more about memories than the grind getting here. My love for out of the way, off the beaten path, middle of nowhere camping escapes is deeply rooted in tradition. Growing up, Our family took a big vacation every year, or at least that's how I remember it. We would either go to North Carolina or Colorado. Since Colorado was considerably further, North Carolina, and more specifically within the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Cataloochee Campground.
It has been a rainy drizzly month with a few dry days in between storm systems. June started off dry and warmer and a few days ago we star...
