Almost to the end of the Blue Ridge – for us

Saturday October 27, 2012

We had breakfast of biscuits, gravy, sauerkraut, and eggs this morning before we got on the road at about 10:00. We stayed in the Linville Falls CG last night and our first stop this morning is the Linville Falls VC, which is about ½ mile from the CG. It was a tough drive. At the VC we got the passport books properly stamped and looked at the river for a little while before we headed out.

The next stop on the BRP was the Linn Cove Viaduct VC. Passport book stamps were obtained and we watched part of a video on the construction of the Viaduct. The Viaduct is an elevated roadway that was constructed to skirt the face of Grandfather Mountain. It is 1243 feet long and curves around the face of the hill. It is supported by 7 columns and is made of prefabricated, pre-stressed, reinforced concrete sections that weigh about 100,000 pounds each and are held together by epoxy and steel cables. It was quite interesting to see how the sections were placed during construction. There wasn’t a good place to get a picture of it.

A few miles up the BRP we stopped at the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park VC. That is to say Fred and Barney orbited the parking lot while Wilma and Betty dashed into the Craft Center to retrieve the appropriate stamps. Evidently there are several trails that use the same parking lot as the VC and the lot gets plugged up by people hiking the trails. Nevertheless we were victorious and got the stamps we came for. Wilma and Betty did good and Fred and Barney only had to orbit 3 or 4 times.

We went on up the road about 20 miles and stopped at the Northwest Trading Post near Glendale Springs, NC. There is no stamp there but lots of crafts made by area artists are displayed for sale. Some of items are really nice. We didn’t stay long, but it was a good leg stretcher.

We then continued up the BRP to the Doughton Park CG where we made an early stop at about 2:30.

We had baked potatoes cooked on charcoal in the fire pit, salad and bread. We are now kicked back in the campers, reading and just being lazy in general. The weather has turned cloudy and the wind is cool. Tonight is the last night the campground we are in will be open. It, as well as a number of others close for the season tomorrow at noon. Our current plan is to drop off of the Blue Ridge Parkway tomorrow and start heading in a westerly direction.

  We are getting an absolutely stunning sunset tonight. It is so red. Fred was sent out to get some pictures, but is standing in the road talking to a fellow camper. We are being warned about the storm coming in, but red sky at night…!  The camera does not see as well as the eye, so doesn’t capture the deep red.

The hammer and chisel are being put up early today… more tomorrow.

Y’all have a wonderful day!