Sunday 19th October
We moved our Trailer onto a hook up site for Sunday night and got an early night ready for our trip north into North Carolina.
Monday 20th
Monday dawned bright, clear and cold. We packed as quickly as possible and set off. We arrived at Winngray Campsite, just outside Maggie Valley. It is a pretty site, but very cramped and the owner/manager did not make things easy. However, we were excited because tomorrow we could take our first drive onto the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. In the evening Sally and I drove into Ashveville to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We went to the 'Fiddlin Pig', a BBQ joint which has live bluegrass music. We had been invited to go by the father of Seth Taylor, who won the flatpick guitar competition at Hiawassee, as Seth's band were playing that night.
We really enjoyed the music and were picked on by the band because of our anniversary. They played a waltz (Faded Love), so we got up to have a dance, it was very nice of them.
Tuesday 21st October
We took a short drive through Maggie Valley, a very popular town with tourists, as it is handily placed for the Smokey Mountains, The Cherokee reservation and the start of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway (BRMP), as well as being very pretty. It is also a centre for bluegrass music.
We then drove up to join a section of the BRMP. Literally 'Up' as it is a road which has been built to run along the top most ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains. At the southern end it rarely drops below 4000 ft and tops out at 6059 feet. If we haven't mentioned it before it is a real feat of engineering. It was started in 1935 as a scenic roadway, much of it being built to find work for people in the Great Depression, though it was not actually finished until 1987. It is 469 miles long and crosses North Carolina and Virginia. It has no commercial outlets, neither are commercial vehicles allowed on it. It has restricted access, so you really feel that you are away from the real world.
The views are often obscured by the many trees on either side, so we were completly amazed when we drove onto the BRMP and drove for about 2 miles up the fairly narrow winding roadway and stopped at the first scenic overview. You felt as thought you were on the top of the world, with mountains stretching for mile after mile to the horizon in every direction. It was a reall joy just to cruise this roadway in the sky, stopping every few miles to admire the view. I think it took us about 2 hours to drive the first 10 miles that day.
Wednesday 22nd October.
Today we wanted to drive a longer stretch of the BRMP. We chose to join it at Mount Pisgah. This is one of the only places where there is a restaurant, shop hotel and campground on the Parkway. They are all built on the top of a ridge at about 5200ft, with the inevitable spectaclualr views. The next mountain after Pisgah is Cold Mountain, now made famous by the book and film of the same name. We drove about 35 miles on the Parkway, but kept stopping for stunning views.
We returned in the evening and prepared to move on to Boone the next day. We must decide if this is the last we will see of this area, or should we change out plans and come back to drive more of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway - You dear reader will have to wait to find out, becaue we do not know yet.
Thursday 23rd October
We have arrived safely at Flintlock Campground just outside Boone. We are here to see Doc Watson in concert tomorrow night
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