I've always wanted to see New England in the fall and I've got nothing better to do, so I'm going. My first leg of the trip will be to navigate the entire Blue Ridge Parkway starting in Cherokee NC ending north of Roanoke Va. I will be camping as many nights as possible weather permitting. The weather reports for the week are good, and hopefully I won't need all the foul weather gear I'm bringing.
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| On the Road Again |
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| Cherokee NC |
Just after entering the Smoky Mountain National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance is barely a mile or two down the road. One of the interesting things about the Smoky Mountain park is the lack of an admission fee. Since the park is the most visited in the US by a factor of two, it's interesting that it's free. All western parks I visited this past year had admission fees.
The BRP is without a doubt, one of the most charming roadways in the US. It's over 400 miles and a great motorcycle road where the vistas are beautiful. You can't really "carve" up this roadway due to the speed limit and safety concerns, but there are times when the curves can be fun.
It is a little annoying that the speed limit is 45MPH and some people can't even maintain that consistently. Some sections of the road definitely require caution, but if folks think they can't handle the "challenging" sections at the suggested speed limit, they really should pull off when the opportunity presents itself and not create road blocks. It's easy enough to pass on the double yellow with the FJR, but I really don't like doing that for a couple of reasons. It would be better if folks would just pay attention and learn how to share the road. Rant over.
Overall, I would have to say the NC portion of the BRP is a bit more scenic than the Virginia section. There are more tunnels and less obvious non-parkway development visible. Not that the Virginia section is not charming in it's own way, but there are some sections where "affordable housing" is visible from the road. The quaint farms are visually charming and provide diversity so it's not all unpleasant.
Due to my late start, I'm not going to get anywhere near my original goal of Willville in VA. Willville is a motorcycle-only campground just into VA and from all reports, is a fun place to camp. Instead, I find myself about 150 miles from the start of the BRP with the sun setting and the temperatures dropping.
Not knowing how much further I must travel to find a place to stop for the evening, I pull over to get my "winter gloves". I am horrified to find that I packed Debbie's(my wife) winter gloves instead of mine. She wears medium and I wear XL. Long story short, I am barely able to fit into these things, they are painful, and my movement is hampered considerably. Bummer.
After my equipment change, I exit the BRP at the first opportunity and look for a place to eat and find a hotel. About five miles from the parkway in Spruce Pine, NC, I stop at the Western Sizzlin. The meal is sustaining and I absorb a little of the local culture. Being from southern Alabama, I'm familiar with southern accents, but I can't ever remember such a twang as I heard from the patrons of the Western Sizzlin in Spruce Pine NC. It was charming indeed.
From my search, I deduce that the best hotel is a place that I had just passed on the parkway called Little Switzerland. Sure enough they have a room for me and covered parking for my motorcycle. They cater to motorcycles so this was a great find. They also have food available even though it's a little late. I definitely would have preferred eating at the hotel if I had known. This would be a great overnight trip for Debbie and me on the motorcycle.
Day one is complete and progress isn't that bad even though I got such a late start. Mileage for the day is right at 300.
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