Blue Ridge Parkway, beginning
So we finally got around to planning the trip to, along, and back from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had always wanted to go from the northeast end to the southwest end. Loretta had no preference, so that made the first decision easy.
I looked at the maps about a week before we left and discovered (again) that US 33 crosses the Skyline Drive a few miles north of the place where it becomes the Blue Ridge Parkway. Route 33 is a US Highway, so I expected the route to be less difficult than local mountain roads, and we could use it to stay off the freeways. See prior posts for my attitude about freeways. (Basically, they're good for speed, but you don't get to see much.) This simplified the trip to "trailhead." Just follow the signs for US 33, no problem.
The trip home from the south end we planned as a simple freeway trip. Interstate 75 comes close enough to the Parkway that we'd have no trouble reaching it. We figured that we would have had enough scenery by then and we'd want to save time getting home.
Finally, Friday, June 29, came and went. We got a good night's sleep. We could not load our gear until Saturday morning because of where we live. In this complex, people go through vehicles looking for things to steal often, so we don't leave anything valuable in our van.
We set the bed frame in the minivan, loaded the most of our gear, and put the plywood and foam on top. (There's more on the bed in postings from January or February of 2006.) We added a few last things (cooler, water jugs, etc.), said our goodbyes, and headed out.
We had a beautiful, warm day for the start of our trip. We took I-70 east through the city to US 33 and turned south. That was the last freeway for several hundred miles.
We drove the first few hours in familiar territory. On a previous trip, we had noticed that US 33 hosted a very heavy rush hour into Columbus from south of Lancaster. This time, we came through on Saturday and notice much lighter traffic.
We stopped at a Subway in Athens for lunch. After that, we headed out to new territory for both of us.
I looked at the maps about a week before we left and discovered (again) that US 33 crosses the Skyline Drive a few miles north of the place where it becomes the Blue Ridge Parkway. Route 33 is a US Highway, so I expected the route to be less difficult than local mountain roads, and we could use it to stay off the freeways. See prior posts for my attitude about freeways. (Basically, they're good for speed, but you don't get to see much.) This simplified the trip to "trailhead." Just follow the signs for US 33, no problem.
The trip home from the south end we planned as a simple freeway trip. Interstate 75 comes close enough to the Parkway that we'd have no trouble reaching it. We figured that we would have had enough scenery by then and we'd want to save time getting home.
Finally, Friday, June 29, came and went. We got a good night's sleep. We could not load our gear until Saturday morning because of where we live. In this complex, people go through vehicles looking for things to steal often, so we don't leave anything valuable in our van.
We set the bed frame in the minivan, loaded the most of our gear, and put the plywood and foam on top. (There's more on the bed in postings from January or February of 2006.) We added a few last things (cooler, water jugs, etc.), said our goodbyes, and headed out.
We had a beautiful, warm day for the start of our trip. We took I-70 east through the city to US 33 and turned south. That was the last freeway for several hundred miles.
We drove the first few hours in familiar territory. On a previous trip, we had noticed that US 33 hosted a very heavy rush hour into Columbus from south of Lancaster. This time, we came through on Saturday and notice much lighter traffic.
We stopped at a Subway in Athens for lunch. After that, we headed out to new territory for both of us.
Labels: Blue Ridge, travel
posted by Calvin & Loretta | 8:23 PM
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