Day 7 - One for the Books

So firstly...sorry for the late post...no internet, cell coverage or available wifi last night.  I will explain all of that very shortly.

We headed out of Front Royal finally after 2 fabulous evenings there until the rain left.  There were lot of dogs in the hotel as they were doing training with a bunch of dogs, so I got my dog fix as well.

The day before we spent the day at the Luray Caverns so we wouldn't have to stop as we made our way out to Skyline drive....164 feet below ground.  Today we were going to travel to 3,000 feet above ground.

Momma Bear and one baby

We spent the a great morning with large sweeping roads, climbing to beautiful vistas.  Part of the way through I spotted a couple of bears up on a hill close to the road..it looked like a female with a cub...I told Larry so we all turned around to get a look (second one for me because no one else had seen them), and then another look on the way by again...Momma Bear had not one, but two cubs and they were digging into what looked like an ant hill for their mid morning snack.  She was cautious to the traffic but not so much as to leave.  Earlier on we had also seen a group of about 4-5 deer in a small field next to the road.

We came off the Skyline at the end of the park to gas up, un-gass and get a bite to eat.  Found a wonderful little store who directed us to the nearest gas station but not before a stop to a local brewery just off the main track.  We had a awesome meal.  We weren't quite sure how to take our server...she was a bit |"Mother Superior" for someone so young and not so holy....unless you count the piercings.  Despite that we filled our bellies and then we were off to take on the Blueridge.

We spent the rest of the afternoon running the hills, stopping to look at the blue tinged valleys and mountains, breathing in the fresh air on the parts of the road that felt like a rain forest with high canopy of trees closing off the sun and trapping the moist clean air.  There is no other feeling like it.  It is what has brought us back again bringing friends to share in the adventure.



We stopped at Otter Peak Lodge for the evening.  This is right on the Blueridge Parkway.....there was not cell coverage, internet and very weak wifi.....not a big deal because it has a beautiful view of the lake from every room...deer wandering the grounds, river otters and snapping turtles in the lake and lots of fish, hungry fish.......man those things can snatch pieces of bread so fast you would think it was their last meal.

After a nice shower to clean off the days heat and dirt, we made our way over to the lodge for supper.  We chose the lounge to eat in (imagine that) and had a window overlooking the lake.  We got to watch all the action in the lake with the otters playing and families enjoying some of the activities.  We tried lots of new things, mostly drinks, a bottle of wine and some shrimp and grits...yum!

By nights end, we were all exhausted.....riding these roads are exhilarating but they are also taxing...the good thing is you don't realize how much until the end of the evening, you just can't keep your eyes open for one second longer.......

They say a picture says a thousand words...let me summarize our first day on the parkway for you...