Day 2 of our journey had us up early. After a night with no AC I think we both decided that we are getting too old to sleep during the summer in the heat. After dumping the tanks and filling our water we started south. There are several sections of the Parkway closed for maintenance, and we quickly came to one of them just outside of Roanoke. We took advantage of our forced departure from beautiful, green scenery to pick-up a few things at Walmart and get diesel.
Once back on the Parkway we drove literally on the top of the ridge. Through a lot of this stretch there are big views on both sides. I could definitely feel my acrophobia kicking in. We stopped at the Adventure Park, a new venture which has a ropes course and other amenities. We chatted with the gentleman behind the counter who gave us recommendations for the section of the Parkway, wandered through the exhibits, and continued south.
Once I could look out the window again I could see that we were in rolling hills with meadows and trees. We stopped for lunch at a picnic area and discovered RVers who had hit a tree with their pull behind trailer and knocked the awning off the side of the RV. Since there wasn't anything we could do for them we turned around on the narrow one-way road and headed back toward the entrance of the picnic area. Kenny had a virtual doctor's appointment and we needed open skies for Starlink to work since our cell service was spotty at best.
The drive continued back up in elevation. We again had views on both sides. At the stop pictured above we could see Buffalo Mountain. If you look carefully you can imagine the mountain looking like the hump of a Buffalo.
This the view out the other side of the same view point.
Mabry Mill is an historic grist mill right on the Parkway. It is a pretty place that still makes buckwheat and corn meal. Unfortunately, the day we visited the mill wasn't open and neither was the store next door. It was a fun stop though. We got to walk around the exhibits, see the flumes leading up to the mill, and watch the water wheel spin.
Our Guide Along app told us a lot about Andy Griffith through this stretch as we passed the exit from the Parkway that would take us to Mt. Airy, the town Mayberry was based on. We opted not to take the winding road down to the town, but we did stop at the observation tower where we should have been able to see Pilot Mountain, Mount Pilot for those of you familiar with the show. Unfortunately, there were too many trees to see the mountain this time of year.
Comet was excited to get to Fancy Gap Cabins and Campground for the night. It is a cute place right off the Parkway with full hookups, propane fill, and very nice people. Tomorrow we continue the journey south.
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