Today was the final day of my vacation. After leaving Roanoke (which I must visit again when I have more time) I simply headed north on the Blue Ridge Parkway until I reached its northern terminus. Although most of the trees were bare I very much enjoyed the drive and views. In some ways I prefer the Parkway over Skyline Drive as it seems more open and you can really appreciate that you are driving along the mountain ridge. The altitudes are less than Skyline and there are few trails (apart from the 2050 mile long Appalachian Trail which crosses the Parkway multiple times) but, because real life is happening either side of the Parkway, there seems to be more to see per mile. I think a trip of the full length of the Parkway when spring flowers are blooming or during fall colors is in my future.
Once I reached the end of the Parkway I headed home. Since this part was almost all on interstate highways I decided to make the official end of the trip at the end of the parkway. At that point I had driven 11,075 miles since starting at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I will add a final post for this trip in a few days with some reflections and more statistics.
The final video and map are here.
Here are another pair of photos taken at the same point, showing the ridge in Blue Ridge Parkway . This is looking east
and west
And a couple of other pleasant scenes from overlooks.
Welcome home!
Thanks for following along. Hopefully see you soon. Cheers, Steve.
Epic. Welcome home! I’m still a couple of weeks behind you in terms of video watching so your trip will live on for a little bit longer as I catch up.
Thanks for following, it’s cool to know that others are following me on my travels. Hopefully see you soon, Steve.
What an adventure it has been! Welcome home! And thank you so much for sharing all the beautiful pictures and videos with us. You have got us really excited about visiting Zion some day. Hope to get some tips from you.
Love,
Kusum
Thank you for following and glad you got an idea for a destination. As you could probably tell, I love it out there.
Hopefully see you soon, Steve.
Next task – splice 54 days into one big 10-hour file that runs automatically and persuade an art gallery that you’re an installation called “Driving at the edge” or similar. You’d be a sensation. Well done on completion of a big loop even if not quite the planned one.
Thanks for following and for the suggestion, it sounds easier than writing a book as some have suggested. I am already thinking about how to improve video quality for future trips. Cheers, Steve.