Page 97 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

Oh well, one definition of a vacation is a time during which you

can wear the same pair of socks for two days.

We’re just extending the definition.

No Ranger talk tonight. Just a very good meal at the Lodge,

reading the Washington Post in the sitting room, a shower, and off
to bed.

WEEK SEVEN

SHENANDOAH NP to ROANOKE, VA

Sunday - Except for one short hike up into the hardwood forest,
this was a travel day. We were up and out early for the usual

breakfast of cereal and juice at an overlook. We had no fog in the
morning but as we got to the south end of the Park at mid-day,

the fog rolled in from the east totally obscuring the peaks we had

planned to hike.

We must confess that our spirits rise and fall with the lightness or
darkness of the skies. We didn’t find the Shenandoah National

Park the outdoor playground for which we had hoped. The fog and
haze did blunt our enthusiasm. To have the fog roll up and over us

again was disheartening. We therefore skipped the last hikes and
drove south onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is our intent to drive

the whole way to the Smokies National Park on the parkway – at

the 45 mile per hour limit prescribed.

We stopped at the first Ranger Station on the Parkway as our trip
meter crossed 8000 miles. They had a living museum set up with a

farmhouse, outbuildings, and a garden, as it would have appeared
in the late 1800’s. There was a friendly volunteer couple

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