Page 100 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

runs through National Forests, it is only as wide at the beautifully

maintained two-lane road with private property and local roads
running parallel. In building the Parkway in the late 1930’s, the

National Park system also landscaped the roadside with trees and

shrubs. The Shenandoah Valley lies to the west; the Piedmont
runs along the eastern border. It is a most marvelous driving

experience.

For mile after mile after mile, we had the countryside to
ourselves. When we were in a stretch where the private land was

hard upon the road, we revisited our farm viewing. There are very
small dairies and crops of corn, cabbage, sunflowers, and yes,

we’re back in the land of tobacco. In the wider sections in Virginia

were rolling hills and hardwoods of maples, tulip poplars, black
locust, Northern red oaks, American basswood, apple, and

dogwood trees.

In North Carolina, as we got further and further south, we gained
altitude and slipped among the evergreens of White Pines and

spruces. Throughout the length was rank on rank of yellow, red,
purple, and white wild flowers as well as massive azalea bushes.

The serenity of the enforced 45-mile an hour speed limit, the

solitude of the road, and the splendor of the flora produced a
restful and fulfilling day.

Lois has been reading aloud Jack London’s “Sea Wolf”. We can

recommend it. It is a tale of adventure on an arctic sealing boat
and the Faustian amoral captain whose actions make life hellish

for the shanghaied gentleman protagonist. Deep into the tale, the
cook loses his foot (shark incident). There is a long interval in

which the story line proceeds over the officers’ mess table.

Breezing along in her narration, Lois suddenly turned to me to

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