DAY TWENTY-THREE THROUGH TWENTY-SIX

Day 23

Braved Ripley's Odditorium this morning.  The picture here was just on the outside of the building - it got distinctly more odd as we went through.  I mean what place can you go to and see a two-headed goat, torture devices, a shrunken head, and dinosaur bones - ODD!  

Entered the Blue Ridge Parkway today and it was beautiful.  The views all along the road were fantastic and we didn't even miss the mountain laurel and rhododendron blooms.  

Lesson Twenty-One - Gatlinburg looks like a pretty cake, but when you bite into it you realize it is only store bought.

Day 24

Kept going up the Blue Ridge and were incredibly impressed with the Folk Arts Center.  The local Community College had a degree program for crafts and they created some of the most beautiful furniture, clothing, jewelry, pottery, and wood crafts I have ever seen.

Went on several hikes, but our favorite was Craggy Gardens.  We walked through tunnels of rhododendrons that were just dripping with blooms and ended up at the summit with a 360 degree view.  Only issue - the entire summit was filled with these little flying bugs that looked just like ticks.  They were crawling all over us, we would brush them off each others' backs and 30 seconds later there would be 20 or more on our backs again.  Very creepy!

Lesson Twenty-Two - Although bugs don't seem to bother us most of the time, when they do appear they swarm in unbelievable numbers.

Day 25

Woke up and went on a great hike that some say is the most beautiful gorge on the East Coast.  We agree that it was beautiful, but I think people in Ithaca have a reason to argue that their gorge is more beautiful.  

Hung out underneath the Linn Cove viaduct and watched a fledgling leave its nest for the first time.  It looked a little stuck, but we eventually saw Mom feed it (some sort of little black & white bird).  

Kept on driving up the parkway, but decided to camp off it for the night.  Pilot Mountain in North Carolina was a nicer place to camp and had a fantastic view at the top - a sunset looking over the Blue Ridge made the few extra minute drive well worth it.

Lesson Twenty-Three - Getting off the parkway means better facilities and better views at the campgrounds.

Day 26

More hiking and hanging out on the parkway.  Hung out at a river, a stream, a waterfall, and an old logging railroad.  Another beautiful picnic - we have had one every day, but unlike the other day when the table was built for a giant this one was built for a dwarf - who knows!

The family chugging along the tracks.

The girls were starting to get tired and were
trying to convince Jamey to carry them - yeah, right!

Left the parkway today.  We were originally going to camp at the end of the parkway, but we all decided that we would love another hotel stay.  Tomorrow we will go back to the parkway for a quick trip to turn in all the Junior Ranger sheets, but then on to Skyline Drive.  

Lesson Twenty-Four- Hotels make us happy, especially when we avoid thunderstorms and eat BBQ.