Road Trip

When Clyde had his Harley, he wanted to take a road trip and ride the Blue Ridge Parkway. He never got there, although he had the chance to take many road trips. We are thankful for the trips we have been on, due to ones he either did on his bike or wanted to do. Like this one! We got on the Blue Ridge (BR) in Virginia, mile marker 200 on the BR. We drove Tuesday afternoon to mile marker 285, Boone, NC and stopped for the night. We stayed there in the Fairfield Inn and had supper at Applebees (it was beside the motel:) Today we started at Boone, traveled all day (only got 100 miles with all our stops and slow driving!) and stopped around 5:30 in Ashville. We had the most glorious day today for the ride. The weather was perfect. Not hot at all or too cool. Just sunny, warm day. Loved it all. We felt like we were traveling in Arizona and Colorado. Two summers ago we drove two days to get to the Rockies, and this trip felt very similar, except that we are a half day from home. The mountains aren't as high (not nearly) but they are SO beautiful. The waterfalls are nice, although not as many as in the Rockies! The ride could not be more lovely. We were surprised that the Rhododendrons are prolific and they all were in bloom! These are not the cultivated ones, but from nature's own beauty. No words to express how many and how pretty. We just had a very good day! Tonight we are staying in the Courtyard by Marriott and ate at Outback. CB is outside reading and that's where I'm heading. Tomorrow we will get back on the parkway, travel on to Cherokee, NC into Gatlinburg, stay the night before heading home. Not last year's trip to Mackinaw Island, but one that Clyde really planned out and I believe the road is all he hoped it would be.