Blue Ridge Parkway
Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway
When I first visited the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1972, I figured that my wife and I could drive the entire 469 miles from Cherokee, NC to the Skyline Drive in Virginia in two days (45 MPH speed limit means roughly 10 hours total drive leaving plenty of time for sightseeing). Well I was mistaken. It took us several years of trips to the Parkway before we had driven all of it.
We found too many vistas worth stopping to admire and too many hikes worth taking. And there are still many hikes and places we haven't visited. And we need to visit many of the places we've visited at different seasons than when we visited.
Most of our visits to the Parkway have been in the fall when the fall colors are spectacular. We have made a few short trips in the spring when the azaleas are in bloom, but never at their peak. This is a shortcoming that we hope to remedy soon.
Then there are times when the wildflowers are in bloom. Another season that we have neglected. So we've got a lot of work to do just in our own backyard.