Blue Ridge Parkway Drive In Virginia And North Carolina

                                       Saturday 4/26/2014

 Our 2nd day adventure in Mount Airy area was to take another drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We were going to take Hwy. 89 to the Blue Ridge Parkway but we seem to have missed it and found ourselves crossing the border into Virginia. We stopped at the Virginia Welcome Center and Joe went in to ask how to get to Hwy 89.

The welcome Center didn't know how to get to Hwy. 89, so we decided to just go up the mountain in Virginia and catch the Blue Ridge in Fancy Gap, Virginia.

I-77 had three lanes going up the mountain. This is the interstate route we will be going in a few days. Pilot Mountain off in the distance.

We checked out the KOA campground in Fancy Gap that we had thought about coming to next, but after seeing it, Joe thought it had too many trees, and we might have problems getting a satellite connection, plus the daily rate, like most KOA's was a bit high. Since we got to check out Fancy Gap, we decided we could see everything on this day anyway.

We found the parkway on the out skirts of the very small town of Fancy Gap, and headed north.

Our first stop was at a lookout that had nothing but trees in front of it.

We walked about a block back down the road to get this view of Pilot Mountain in North Carolina.

Next stop was Groundhog Hill at 3030 feet. This lookout was closed with a gate at the entrance, but Joe and I needed to use the restroom, so parked the car in front of the gate and walked in. Unfortunately the restrooms were locked.

Since we had walked in this far, we walked on up the hill to find the overlook. The building beyond the tree we found out was a lookout tower.

Up in the tower we got a better view. Wow, I would love to have the house just off in the distance.

Another view when I got back down on the ground.

I posted this picture because I had talked to my mom a day after this drive. She had loves bare trees, and she had mentioned how old trees look like old people all bent and knotted like they have arthritis like old people. Since I had taken this picture at this stop, I thought of mom and her analogy of people and trees.

After traveling on the parkway for about 25 miles, we turned around and stopped at this homestead we had passed on the way going north.

Aunt Orelena Puckett lived in this homestead in her later life. She became a midwife at age 50 and delivered more than 1000 babies. It was said she never lost a baby or mother that was due to her fault, though all her 24 children never lived past infancy. She delivered her last baby at age 102, the year she died. 

Mrs Pucketts home.

As we continued back, we stopped at a church we had also passed by also.

Bluemont Presbyterian Church built in 1919. Worship service is at 10:30 on Sundays.

A cemetery located behind the church.

" Come on guys, lets get back on the road. I want to get back home to play ball"!

We stopped at Rap's Orchard Gap to use the restroom. If you are on the parkway and need some gas, this is a good place to stop. It is located just north of Fancy Gap on the parkway. They serve 50's and 60's food if you need something to eat.

Just up the hill from Rap's is the Lonesome Pine Cabins to give you a place to close your eyes for the night if you are traveling up or down the parkway.

The parkway from Fancy Gap going north for 25 miles was a real nice drive with beautiful views and not any scary drop offs.

We went south of the town of Fancy Gap and started a new part of the parkway we had never traveled on. At this overlook we stopped for our sack lunch. The views here were minimal because of tree coverage. I took a picture of the quarry, but it was barely visible through the trees and in a picture, so I didn't post it

After lunch, we continued down the road and saw this view as we traveled. This is where the overlook needed to be located.

A close up gives you another view of Pilot Mountain.

Less than a 1/4 of a mile we came to another stop that had a peak-a-poo between the trees that I could get my zoom lens out for this Pilot Mountain close up.

Across the street from the stop, I saw a Alpaca Farm and Store. There is a frontage road to the road to the farm either direction you go on the parkway.

This alpaca just got it's haircut for the season. The owner came out and asked if we would like to see an alpaca being sheared.

He takes us out to the barn in the back, where his daughter is sheering one of his 50 alpaca's. This alpaca, Maxsom spit several times letting them know he was not happy with the whole deal. I have to admit, I felt sorry for him. I would hate being tied down like that too, being at the mercy of the shearers. But I suppose, it is better than having to accidently hurting the alpaca because it moved!

We continue our adventure in the "High Country" of  North Carolina.

A nice sign to Glorify our King of Kings during this spring season of Easter.

We approach Hwy 89, the Hwy. we had originally planned to come up the mountain on.

Shortly after the junction of Hwy. 89 we cross the border back into North Carolina.

Our last stop before heading back down the mountain was at Fox Hunters Paradise.

This was the best overlook of the day.

Looking north.

Looking east.

Looking South.

Zoom lens for close up and Pilot Mountain in the distance.

My question is, " Is that white patch out in the distance the quarry"? If it is, Mount Airy is next to it.

I have seen so many butterflies in North Carolina.

We head back and cross the border back into Virginia

back to Hwy. 89. We ended up just doing our day in the opposite direction we had planned.

As we went down Hwy. 89, we cross back into North Carolina.

We went through 3 to 5 mountain cuts down the mountain. I don't think I would like to drive a motor home down this road. We had driven 105 miles, on a 5 hour tour.

When we get back to Mt Airy, I see the temps got to 81. Our temps on the parkway was from 73 to 77. A good day to be in the "High Country".