Skyline/Blue Ridge Journey

I see that it has been since September16th that I posted.  Since then, we have been many miles and beautiful scenery.  We had limited cell service and internet service so that is the reason why I am just now getting around to catching up.

We arrived on the Skyline on Sep 18. at Sperryville, VA  We decided to camp at Mathews Arm.  It rained all day and all night, but the next morning it was a beautiful day and we woke up with visitors in the park (or were WE the visitors)?

We wanted to drive the complete Skyline and Blue Ridge so we drove to Front Royal at mile zero.  The drive was beautiful.

Our next campground stay was at Big Meadows.  We had a nice sunny spot and the campground at Big Meadows is very nice.  Of course none of the parks on the Skyline have hookups but we didn't have much problem boondocking.  We realized that a small generator would have been nice to knock off the chill during the night.  Here we are at our site.  Our little cub worked out nicely.

We were so thankful we didn't have the 5th wheel on this trip because we never could have made the complete parkway with the low tunnels.  This is Mary's rock tunnel.

While at Big Meadows, we went to an Apple Butter Festival.  The festival was small but nice with arts and crafts, music, cloggers and of course boiling of the apples.  Here is a picture of the large kettles.  The butter has to be stirred constantly.  This particular butter making places 7 pennies in the bottom of the kettles and whoever gets the jar with the penny is supposedly to have good luck.

 

While at Big Meadows, we hiked to a water fall near the campground.  It was a beautiful walk but in some places fairly steep. We enjoyed the views.

We left Big Meadows on Sept 23 and our next camp was Loft Mountain.  We never drove very far between camps.  We wanted to enjoy the park and take our time.  Our next campground was Otter Creek, then the next night we were at Peaks of Otter.  Before we left Peaks of Otter, we took a bus trip up Sharp Mountain.     At a point, the bus lets you out and you can hike to the top of  Sharp Mountain. There were of course beautiful views.  The climb was a little steep but worth the trip.

Peaks of Otter Lodge Lake

Here is an interesting tidbit about "Otter's Summit".

Well....that is all for now...I don't want to bore anyone with a lot of pictures, but this blog is really about logging our trip and to help jog our memory later on.  Thanks for stopping by.