Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway

In September, Clark and I traveled to PA for our granddaughter's first birthday. We had a wonderful time with family and friends but headed home a little early. Over the years we traveled back and forth making the 13 hour trip in one day. We took the same route and often talked about stopping here and/or there to see some of the sights along the way. We were always in a hurry and always so tired when we arrived home. Of course we did not have our "Scotty" camper before, so this trip was different. First we discovered it seemed to take a little longer pulling a camper. Mainly because we had to stop for gas more often. So we left a little early with the idea that we would just stop when we got tired and enjoy the trip. As we neared the PA border we were trying to decide where we might stop and Clark came up with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unlike Lewis and Clark, I whipped out the iPad and checked out the start and finish. We decided to start at the very top in VA on the Skyline Drive.

We entered the Skyline Drive at about 4:30. We thought it would be good to get to the 50 mile post where there was a good campsite. We thought that would give us plenty of time to arrive, set up camp, cook dinner, relax . . . In the first hour we managed to travel 10 miles. We were stopping at every overlook. The views were magnificent but we were not going to make it to the campsite before they closed at 8:00 if we did not keep moving. We stopped about every 3rd or 4th overlook and managed to make it to the 50 mile post at ten minutes to 8:00. Needless to say we did not "set" up camp and cook dinner. We ordered from the lodge and picked up dinner to take back to camp. We were disappointed in the food but not to worry. We were on an adventure.

We woke up early, hitched the wagon and headed out. Our plan was to get to Boone, NC by about 3:00. Again, we thought we would get to Boone, set up camp, cook dinner, relax . . . We barely made it into NC by 9:00. We did stop to hike some, stopped at the overlooks  . . . We were definitely enjoying ourselves but this was a slow trip. 

The next day we had no choice but to finish this trip that day because I had to work in the morning. We did finish and arrived home about 10:30 that night.

FYI, if you want to take the Blue Ridge Parkway--either do it in sections or plan at least a week or so to really enjoy it. We are glad we did it but we now want to do it in sections to enjoy some of the areas we had to pass through. It is beautiful, breathtaking and brilliant! Definitely worth the time.

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