Blue Ridge Parkway background

I've been putting myself through another adventure with this thing, trying to figure out how to send a link to it to a couple of friends of mine, and also how to search for a specific blogger or blog. No luck.

I may or may not have mentioned that I'm working toward writing up our Blue Ridge Parkway trip, which we had wanted to take for years and actually took the first week of this month. I guess I'll get started.

Loretta actually rode on the Parkway as a child. She only got there once for about an hour, but it left such an impression on her that she still felt motivated 40 years (or so) later. I had read about the Parkway as a unique place for years, and I don't remember the sources. All the same, I felt certain that the trip would prove worthwhile.

Of course, wanting something does not mean getting it. We had to choose in 2006 whether to make the Parkway trip or go to Arizona. I wrote about the Arizona trip in February and/or March of 2006 in this blog. I'll be mentioning the bed frame that we made for that trip in writing about the Parkway trip.

Finally, things began to come together this year. We realized that we needed to go this year, because we'll be living on the road, but mainly in dry climates. Most likely, when we visit the East, such a sustained effort won't happen. Maybe, but not likely.

I had been able to save enough vacation time to make the trip, partly due to having over five years in my job, which increases the amount of vacation I get. This came in handy both for the Arizona trip and for this one. I feel very good about this, not having had a "real" (paid) vacation since 1995. Loretta had never been on vacation in her life, so the travel is even nicer for her. Loretta hasn't been working due to an injury, so time off for her didn't concern us.

The money never "really" came together, but we realized in May that we could come close enough, as long as we didn't spend more than one night in a motel. We have been using the minivan and its bed for short trip since the Arizona trip, and we knew we had a good setup there. We had bought a tent that can be attached to the hatch of the minivan, and this gives us a nice camping setup.

So I put in for the week including July 4 off, and I got it. This suprised me a little, because someone else at the office was scheduled to be off that week. In a small office, that can become a problem, but I let it be the boss's problem, not mine.

We could not find the several pounds of literature that we had received from various tourist agencies and vendors along the Parkway. We counted on getting information along the Parkway to find campgrounds and any other needs.

Finally, we brought our camping gear down from the "attic" of ur apartment. Nothing was broken or neglected, so this part of the trip didn't give us much trouble.

The next post will get us to the Parkway, maybe onto it.

I just notice the "add image" button at the top of my editing page. I'm going to see if I can do this.