Blue Ridge Parkway

Sunday 29 October
Jen was back at work today, and Laura had an early flight back to Wisconsin, so she dropped Laura off at the airport on her way to work. We had a slightly more leisurely breakfast, and then got on the road ourselves. We still have two days of good weather before the temperature drops, so we decided to break our journey on the way home and explore some of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway stretches for 469 miles from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennesee in the west to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia in the east. It runs mostly along the ridge of the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Work began on this highway in 1935, under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Construction was completed by the end of 1966,:with the exception of the 7.7 mile stretch including the Lin Cove Viaduct around Grandfather Mountain, which finally opened in 1987. There are frequent pull-outs along the way, affording amazing views. Whilst along the crest, the colours were certainly past their best, at lower elevations there was plenty of colour left, accented by the blue skies and sunshine. We spent the night in Asheville North Carolina.
Step count: 4,267