October 26-28, 2015 South to Tennessee and Rainy Days

We woke to a very cloudy morning with a few sprinkles happening.  So we packed up, dumped our tanks, and away we went.

Our final look at Skyline Drive and the gorgeous views:

Down into the Shenandoah Valley and south on I-81:

The colors are still BEAUTIFUL!

The big cross at Victory Baptist Church in Bristol, VA:

And into Tennessee:

We made our way to Warrior’s Path State Park and decided to stay for three nights.  The remnants of the hurricane will be going thru this area with lots of rain and wind and we have electric, water, TV, internet and stores nearby – all at a reasonable cost.  What more could we want –

Our site:

Bella trying to catch the leaf:

She also tries to catch the rain and that is really funny.

Today is Wednesday, 28th, and it has rained the past two days.  We did some things around the motorhome and filled up with supplies.  Tomorrow we will continue our journeys west so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for October 26, 2015

Miles Traveled: 305 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Virginia: Skyline Drive; US-33; I-81

Tennessee: I-81; SR-36; Colonial Heights Road; Warrior Drive

 

August 26, 2011 – Skyline Drive

Skyline Drive is 105 miles with over 75 overlooks.  We have been here numerous times and never explored the area north of Thornton Gap (and very little exploring north of the Skyland Resort). So this morning we took off to check out that area.

Skyline Drive:

  

This is the first time we have been here in late summer – all the other times have been early spring thru early summer.   Each season holds it’s own beauty and August is no exception.

This is the view of Stony Man Mountain.  Can you see the face?   The first indentation is his eyes, the second his mouth.  When we took the hike the other day, the view point was on his forehead.

View from the lookout – you can still see the smoke from the fire at Great Dismal Swamp:

The lookout – the stone walls were originally built by the CCC in the late 30’s:

More amazing views along the way:

Over 400 families lived in this area before it became a National Park.  Most of them lived in the hollows of those mountains and their are still some remnants left.  Over the years we have found different cemeteries and foundations and hope to find more.   I did find out that there is a hike on the northern park of the drive that goes to one of earlier places – may have to check that out – :-).

This is Mary's Rock Tunnel on Skyline Drive – 12’8” clearance – built in 1934.

After our exploration, we headed to Luray for supplies – we ran out of propane this morning on our auxiliary tank and with the storms coming in, we did not want to take any chances.

On our way back, the clouds are rolling in:

We had a few sprinkles when we got back home and then it cleared.   Our neighbors who are from the valley invited us to join them for their campfire tonight – what a great time.