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16 August, 2003 Skyline Drive achieved "must-see" status from a TV holiday program - a first for us! Once we mentioned it to friends, they all said "do it", so we found ourselves eating breakfast in the motel with a whole bunch of folk from all over America and Canada who were also planning a leisurely, scenic drive that day. Even before we'd passed through the park entrance, we had seen our first deer. The weather wasn't perfect, because damp haze blurred what are obviously spectacular views in the right conditions. However, even if the distant views were not clear, there was plenty to look at close to, with many flowers, butterflies and birds (including humming birds) unfamiliar to our British eyes. Skyline Drive is a 105-mile route along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are scenic overlooks every couple of miles, on either side of the road. The speed limit is 30mph for the length of the route, and there are almost no junctions. It seemed like an ideal place for me to finally learn to drive in American!! Each year, I have made sure that both of us are covered insurance-wise to drive, but I'd never plucked up the courage to actually take the wheel, until Skyline Drive offered itself as the perfect learning road. A recommended side-trip was the Luray Caverns. I have a system when it comes to visitng popular attractions - arrive early!! However, as Luray was some distance along Skyline Drive, this wasn't possible and the entrance area was busy when we got there. The wait was relieved by some live country music, and behind us the queue rapidly grew longer. It was only as we were almost at the head of the queue that we found out we had arrived on the day the Caverns were celebrating the 125th anniversary of their discovery, and were therefore celebrating with the music, thousands of candles lighting the caverns and also by playing the stalacpipe organ, which is a very rare event these days. It seems the luck which helped us avoid the New York blackout was still working!! The caverns were spectacular, with an amazing array of colours and shapes. The reflecting pools of water, which looked to be full of stalagmites growing upwards to the surface, could have been used as a set for the Lord of the Rings movies! On his trips to England, Arnie has been a little surprised at some of our road signs but I think this sign beats anything we have in the UK ;-) We picked up some lunch in the little town of Luray and went back up on to Skyline Drive to find a nice place in the woods to eat it. Although the walk through the woods to the ruins of an hiking club hut was pleasant enough, the insects, most of which seemed to have large teeth, made it a very short hike, returning to the vehicle as soon as possible! As the afternoon wore on, the sky darkened dramatically then the rain poured down and we found ourselves in the middle of a dramatic thunderstorm. It seemed like a good idea to park at one of the overlooks to enjoy the view of the storm in progress, but as we pulled in, there was a brilliant flash and earsplitting bang at the same time and it seemed like an even better idea to drive on! Just as the rain ended, we reached the last overlook of the drive. The storm had cleared away the haze we'd had all day, and for the first time, we were able to enjoy a really clear, long distance view! After Skyline Drive came a tricky bit. It was late on Saturday afternoon, and we were due to be at Mike and Susan Tucker's home near Lexington, Kentucky by noon on Sunday. The maps I had didn't actually cover West Virginia or Kentucky, although we did have detailed written instructions from Mike, but we weren't clear of the actual distance we had to cover or the time it was likely to take. Trying to find a bed for the night, we went into a motel which had a neat little gizmo on the counter into which you dialled the name of the city you wanted to go to and it came up with the approximate mileage. Six hundred and something miles!!!! Yikes! We'd better get some of THAT covered or show up for breakfast on Monday instead! We got as far as Charleston before calling it a day. As we checked into the motel, I asked if they had any idea how much further was had to travel to reach our destination. After a little discussion, the answer was "about 6 hours driving". At least THAT was do-able, if we got up early in the morning ....
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