Keeping Up with the Petersons

On Phil and Wendy’s advice, we decided to deviate from our itinerary and head to the Great Smoky Mountains and drive the Blue Ridge Parkway instead of working our way up the coast to DC. We were surprised to learn that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited park in the United States, perhaps because there is no entrance fee to the park whereas parks like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone charge $20. We camped for 2 nights at Smokemont in the Great Smokies on the North Carolina side and did a lovely drive through the park to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We stopped at several lookouts on the drive but the views were very hazy, which is how the Great Smoky Mountains got their name. Unfortunately, the haze is due in large part to pollution in surrounding areas which has negatively affected visibility in the park over the years. But we still had a nice time camping and touring the park. After 2 nights we headed north on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a stunningly beautiful drive through North Carolina and Virginia that goes to Shenandoah Park and then becomes Skyline Drive. The road was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of FDR’s projects to bring the country out of the Depression. It goes along the ridge of the Appalachians and has tons of scenic overlooks throughout the drive. The best part for us was the wildlife we saw on the drive which included a skunk, a snake, vultures, numerous deer (and does) and, when we reached Shenandoah, a bear! It just crossed the road in front of us and it was AWESOME! We spent about 2 days doing the drive, spending a night at a motel in Fancy Gap, Virginia and then camping in Shenandoah National Park. At Shenandoah, there were actually deer walking around the campground, which was a beautiful spot. We drove about halfway through Shenandoah and then cut into the valley and headed toward DC. We discovered a toothpick in our tire though and had to get that fixed so we ended up camping just outside of DC at Bull Run State Park in Virginia. The next morning, we got up and packed up the car and headed for DC, well technically we stayed in Takoma Park, Maryland, but we spent 3 days in DC which was great and will be the subject of our next post. Stay tuned!