Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9 |
August 29, 2010 (day 9)
This was really just the getting home day of the trip but I did work in a really great museum and hooked up with another roadie friend. In between I drove some favorite two-lane. This was a great trip aided in no small part by the pleasant weather. I now know that the Blue Ridge Parkway's claim to the "America's Favorite Drive" title is a valid one. It's a wonderful drive on its own but it is also a "park to park" highway that connects Shenandoah National Park with the Great Smoky Mountains. Throw in the purpose built Skyline Drive through Shenandoah and US-441 through the Smokies and you've got a scenic route that's hard to beat.
August 28, 2010 (day 8)
August 27, 2010 (day 7)
August 26, 2010 (day 6)
August 25, 2010 (day 5)
August 24, 2010 (day 4)
August 23, 2010 (day 3)
August 22, 2010 (day 2)
August 21, 2010 (day 1)
Prelude 2 - August 11, 2010
Prelude 1 - July 18, 2010 The BRP makes a diagonal slash through Virginia and North Carolina. Smoky Mountain National Park is at its southwest tip with Shenandoah National park on the other end. There is exactly one road through Shenandoah NP and that road is about as well known as the BRP. In 1939, a 97 mile long Skyline Drive, that road through Shenandoah, was completed and officially opened. It connected directly with the Blue Ridge Parkway which, at the time, had exactly eight and a half miles in place. In 1961, those eight and a half miles became part of Skyline Drive giving it a length of about 106 miles and an even stronger seniority claim. Of course it would be silly to drive the 469 mile BRP without also driving the 106 miles of SLD so the entire 575 miles of slow-paced limited-access ultra-scenic roadway is on the agenda. I plan, for no particular reason, to drive it north to south. I'll approach the start of Skyline Drive on US-50 which means I'll get to see nearly a hundred miles of that road for the first time. At the other end, the Parkway will delivery me to US-441 which, despite being extremely scenic as it travels through the Smokey Mountains, has no other name that I'm aware of. Then, somewhere around Knoxville, I'll turn to the expressway and hurry home. This trip doesn't exactly have a "Fixed Lead" as the menu claims. There are things that will keep me around here until after August 7 but after then it will essentially be dependent on weather. I'll hit the road when I see a five or six day dry streak approaching. |