Misty Moisty Morning on the Blue Ridge Parkway

     Here we are in beautiful Raccoon Holler.  It is pouring rain and visibility through the fog is only 100 feet.  Yup.  Not yards, feet.    It has been a loooooonnnnng day.  The rain started in the middle of the night and we felt sorry for the folks who were in the dripping tents in the campground.  We packed up and drove 10 miles to the site of the old Mabry Mill.  Ed Mabry built this mill to grind corn for his neighbors.  Eventually, he also built a saw mill, a blacksmith shop and a wheelwright shop.  The area became a focal point in the area. The damp old buildings, wagons and mill were stark and rough against the colors of the shrubs and trees.  It was a great stop for photos.  And the ONLY stop where pictures were possible.

     We left the mill and drove another 25 miles to the Blue Ridge Music Center.  This center is managed cooperatively by the National Park Service and the National Council for the Traditional Arts.  Every day at midday live mountain music is performed.  The center collects, performs and presents the history of traditional Blue Ridge music.  Much of the music is that of the banjo and the fiddle, two common instruments on the American frontier.  The evolution of the music is described in short videos and played via dozens of recordings.  It was a toe tapping stop for me.

      We had another 25 miles to go to our lunch stop, but the weather had deteriorated significantly.  In the higher elevations the clouds were literally sitting on the road.  We could see about 2 car lengths ahead – which is terrifying when the road can make a sharp turn in that space.  We crept along slowly and stopped at a pull off for lunch and a re-evaluation of our goal which was still 75 miles away.  I used a combination of maps and brochures to find a place where the Parkway was crossed by a road and where there was a campground nearby.  With almost no phone service I was able to get Google Maps and determine where we were.  Slowly we drove another 20 miles, missed the first turnoff to the campground and made the second. What a terrifying last 20 miles.  We couldn't see anything and kept worrying that someone was going to drive up our tailpipe.  I was so grateful to have found a place to get off the road.  By 2:30 we were parked in a pleasant campground that has electricity and cable.  We spent the afternoon sipping tea and enjoying the fact that we can run the little electric heater that keeps the chill off.  We are really stuck at the moment.  We can’t get on the freeway because of our missing mirror.  We can’t drive the Parkway because of the fog.  More rain is predicted for tomorrow.   We will just have to wait and see.