Recently we took a vacation to Virginia to drive the Skyline Parkway and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The view was spectacular. I would hang my head out the window, breathe in fresh air, and scream, "I can't get enough!"
All in all, Truett and I drove 2220 miles in seven days, and we learned a few lessons along the way. First, allow two weeks of moderate driving. Second, stay in the valleys and take day tours to the parkway. As one girl said, "You can drive this highway or the parkway, but all you'll see up there is trees."
"Well, yeah," I thought.
Yes, for seven days we averaged seven hours a day in our car, and that was way too much sitting in one seat, especially in the back seat watching reds, oranges, and yellows whizzing by the car. But I had always wanted to drive the Skyline and the Blue Ridge Parkway so I didn't complain too much until one morning when we couldn't see the front of the car because of the fog.
"This is ridiculous!" I told Truett. "We don't have to drive the parkway just because it's on our itinerary!" Now, Truett is a smart man, so he headed to the Shenandoah Valley.
There is a God.
We wound our way through small towns and came upon The Pink Cadillac Diner. Sherry and I were thrilled. It was our kind of place.
The Pink Cadillac Diner was your typical greasy spoon diner, but the atmosphere was worth the price. When we walked inside, every inch of wall space was covered with posters of Elvis and framed guitars, and being a 50's child, it was right up my alley.
While in the valley we saw pumpkin patches . . .
and row after row of fir trees.
We came across old country stores with chewing-tobacco locals watching me take photographs. I bought a snack because I knew I was imposing and figured they were sick of tourists coming in with their cameras.
About mid-day we headed back to the Parkway and drove through tunnels. Shall we?
Wheee! That was fun! I could just as well have been on Space Mountain. The thrill was the same.
Most of my photographs are posted on my Facebook album, but here are a few pictures from our trip.
Finally, at our last night on the Blue Ridge Parkway, at Mount Pisgah, we were granted with a rainbow.