Page 99 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

We can tell we’re back in the South. There are friendly open

smiles and greetings on the hikes. There are al dente snap green
beans on the menus as a welcome back to vegetables in our diet.

The waitresses know to ask if we want sweet or unsweet iced tea.

The soft, slow, southern accented speech is music to the ear; the
word “yes” pronounced with two syllables. Y’all has crept back

into the vocabulary. Grits and biscuits with gravy are on the
breakfast menus. It feels like home sweet home.

We stopped at another reproduction of a mountain homestead in

the manner of the 1890’s. This one had a gristmill and lumber mill
involved. The machinery was hand hued, massive, and wicked

looking. Those devices look as though they could put a big hurt on

you. There were opportunities for photos gratefully taken. I love
the digital camera. None of the worry about running out of film

and the ability to look at a picture and immediately decide to redo
or delete is priceless.

The weather was quite variable with alternating clear skies, fog,

rain, and low cloud cover. The subdued light was very effective in
bringing out the colors in the grasses, roadside flowers and the

leaves of vines and trees starting into their Autumn change. The

early reds of the maples in the North have given way to the reds
of the Southern Dog Wood trees. We were surprised to see that

the Azaleas and Dog Woods are setting buds at this time of year
for their marvelous displays next Spring and Summer. The haze

was higher and thinner than in days past giving a purple hue to
distant forests without obscuring the rank on rank mountain

ridges.

The Parkway is 469 miles long connecting the Shenandoah

National Park with the Smokies National Park. Except where it

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