Lonesome pine

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Mon 14 Oct 2013 02:05

Sunday 13th Oct

 

A slightly frustrating day but overall a success. We set off  in pouring rain on our 7 day road trip to Georgia by way of the North and South Carolinas and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

 

First stop was Charlottesville (where apparently 3 of the first 5 American Presidents were born) and we made our way to the historic downtown and wandered around in the rain wondering why everything seemed to be shut. We had a coffee and were heading back to the car when Sarah spotted that one of the shops she has admired earlier was now open. I asked why they had only just opened and it transpired that it is the law round here that shops cannot open until 1200 hours on a Sunday. The girl who told us this was from Alabama and there they can only be open from 1400 hours to 1700 hours on a Sunday.  Sarah was a bit miffed as we had to press on now (her timetable not mine!).

 

We headed now for the Blue Ridge Mountain Pathway although somehow we took a brief unscheduled detour, but eventually we found it OK and headed up onto the crest for the Skyline Drive. The problem here was the combination of skyline and very low cloud which meant that for the first hour or so, instead of the stunning views we were expecting across the Shenandoah Valley, we saw er.. mist.  The stunning autumn colours for which this National Park is renowned were also mostly shrouded in the dense low cloud and rain. Admittedly the colours are not at their finest just yet as things are a bit late this year, which was a bit disappointing. But then as the afternoon went on, the mist lifted in places and the sun even made fleeting appearances, but this National Park has no stopping except at designated ‘Overlooks’. These are elaborate lay-bys which seem to have been carefully sited to avoid the views across the valley and offer views only of more trees that almost never include the maples whose brilliant red leaves help to make the display so special. Certainly whenever we got fantastic sights of dappled sunlight highlighting brilliant displays of the autumn colours, there was never a chance to pull over and take photos!

 

But photographs apart it was a superb experience overall and we are now only part of the way down the BR Pathway having stopped overnight at Roanoke. There are a few ranger stations also along the Skyline Drive which offer information and restrooms (loos) but of course, due to the Government shutdown here, they are all closed. The handwritten notes on the toilet doors of the first one we visited announcing that it was closed had also got some very personal messages added to it, addressed directly to the President outlining the various writers’ thoughts about this rather tricky inconvenience (no pun intended really). I am sure he will be touched by these comments as soon as they are forwarded to him.