At 1215 am (15 mins past midnight) I was assaulted by my wife screaming "Pinch, Punch, First day of the month". I hate it when she wins that one.
Anyway, today started with checking out from the "Best Marigold Hotel" (the Scottish Motel) and heading straight to the launderette. We finally set off from Front Royal at around 1pm and immediately joined the "Skyline Drive", one of Americas scenic byways. It is in two parts, the second part being called the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is actually all one road, the first part being 105 miles long and the second part being 469 miles.
Today we completed the first 105 section which is in the Shenandoah national park and has a fee to enter and only 4 entrances staffed by Rangers (just like in Yogi Bear - sorry). The road follows a ridge of a long mountain range in the Appalachian mountains. The view are spectacular and some places are over 3,300 feet, 3/4 the height of Ben Nevis.
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| These views were around every 5th or so curve. |
The wildlife in the park was an eye opener. We scared a couple of bears back into the forest and believe it or not, this is them:
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| The blurry black bit on the right was my best shot, but we saw the two of them. |
The deer were in attendance too, although they are clearly used to vehicles.
The riding was pleasant with continuous curves all the way.
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| Empty roads, fantastic vistas and animals to boot. |
The scale of this road is difficult to comprehend. Its like driving from London to Birmingham, seeing virtually no other vehicles, driving at 35 mph and almost always driving around a curve. Amazing.
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