2007-07-28

Day 5 Friday
Posted 7-28-07

Friday was supposed to be a boring ride to get us halfway to Sweetwater Tennessee with a sleep over near Roanoke Virginia (not the Roanoke Island where all the settlers disappeared). It was supposed to be 5 hours of boring but instead we saw a little thing paralleling us called the Shenandoah State Park.

Not only that but right down the middle of the park was a thing called the Skyline Drive and it dumped right into the Blue Ridge Parkway, which dumped out exactly at Roanoke VA.

So we got a little spontaneous and while driving there we stopped at The Luray Caves. People, they were incredible! We were at least a couple hundred feet underground looking at rock formations that boggled the mind. I didn�t think anything could top them as we left for the Shenandoah Park.

I was soooo very wrong.

If you ever get the chance to drive the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah .. DO IT!!!!

What should have been a two hour drive turned into 4 because we had to stop at every lookout because they were ALL so beautiful and breathtaking. I took so many pictures between the caves and the Skyline that I had to charge my camera battery twice in the car (Fred has everything).

And that�s not all. There were deer .. loads and loads of deer .. totally unafraid of man. You could walk right up to them and snap a picture. I saw whole families and herds in picturesque fields playing with each other and feeding.

It was like discovering Eden. It was beautiful with so many wildflowers and mountainous views. We were above the clouds at 3300 feet. We drove through one! I even have a picture of me by an Appalachian Trail Marker.

I can honestly say that I walked the Appalachian Trail .. I don�t need to admit it was only two feet of it though .. hehe.

It was such a pretty day that we forgot to eat and so we finally had dinner at 8:30PM and then fell into bed at a Super 8 where I posted yesterday�s journal. Today I�m at a KOA campground in a quaint cottage. It has AC and electricity but no toilet and so far their WIFI isn�t so wide so that I can post this. I�m going to have to creep closer to the main desk.

Fred�s looking for a nearby Moose. If it�s 30 miles back in Knoxville I don�t think so! I also noticed since Pennsylvania the states number the exits with the same number as the mile marker at the exit. Back in Massachusetts we go sequentially starting at the beginning of the border or the highway so something 100 miles from Cape Cod could be exit 47. I�m not sure I like the new way. It kind of takes a lot of the mystery out of traveling.

Remember you can see where we are by following the link to FINDU.COM I left about three posts back. My sister saw us parked at Hershey Park the other day. Tomorrow we go to The Lost Sea. It�s a cave with an underground lake and then its off to Franklin NC to do some gem mining/panning.

It�s been a doozy of a vacation so far!


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Day 5