Arriving Tennessee (9/24/2015)

We were up and on the road early today, back on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We got on the road about 7:30 (amazing!!), and were on the Parkway by 8:20 (we had to stop for breakfast sandwiches at Sheetz, which were not very good), and crossed the North Carolina state line at 8:40.

Although we had spent the last two days in North Carolina, we went back to Virginia to get back on the Parkway, at the same exit we got off.  Our plan to get an early start was twofold -- to make up for the miles we didn't travel yesterday, and to hope to see some wildlife.  And we were successful at both.  By 9:00, we had seen 9 deer and 3 turkeys.  We saw one more turkey later in the day, but our early start paid off.  We were also hoping to see some fall color in the leaves, and we did see a lot -- they are not fully turned yet, but we took lots of pictures trying to capture the colors, and the pictures don't do justice to them.  Some of the hillsides were really beautiful.  We stopped at a few overlooks to try to get better pictures.

 And another pull-off.

We had been seeing a lot of big leafy bushes, and Joe was trying to figure out what they were.  We stopped at Craggy Gardens pull-off, and our Milepost Book said there are lots of pink and purple blooms of Catawba rhododendrons that bloom here in the spring, so that mystery was solved.  That was one of the flowers Joe suggested.

Although we had seen then all along the Parkway, they were really thick here.  It would be great to get to see them in full bloom.

Our next viewpoint (we didn't stop, so Joe tried to snap a photo out his window) was of this pretty lake.  We saw a few lakes along this route.

We exited the Parkway at Milepost 382 about 2:30, and skirted around Asheville.  We hit the Tennessee state line at 3:40.  We held out to fuel until we got to Tennessee, which was good because we found gas for $1.929 (whoop whoop).  Another 10 miles and we found a campground for the night at Dandridge, TN.  Joe spent a lot of hours behind the wheel today.  From 7:30 a.m. to 4:25 p.m.  And we covered 284 miles, most of them below 45 mph.  But we enjoyed the Parkway, all 382 miles of it that we drove. 

My cold is better, not completely gone but I'm not blowing my nose as often, although my normal cough has started up.  We got the RV set up and I laid down for about 30 minutes, then we drove into town for a pizza.  We hope to make it to Mike McRae's tomorrow, but they are forecasting heavy rain -- I think mostly east of us -- so we will see how our progress goes.  Mike has tickets for us to see an Elvis impersonator on Sunday, so we definitely need to keep moving along. 

Exploring Mayberry (Mount Airy, NC) (9/23/2015)

Well, in my ongoing battle with my crummy cold, the cold is winning right now.  But we did manage to go into Mount Airy and explore Andy Griffith's hometown.  We started at the Museum

No pictures were allowed inside, but they had lots of memorabilia and photos of not only the Andy Griffith show and Matlock, but also the movies Andy was in -- probably the most famous was No Time for Sergeants.  Also here in a separate room were exhibits of the Siamese twins Eng and Chang who, although born in Siam (hence the origin of the word "Siamese") in 1811, they settled here in the late 1830s.  They lived, co-joined, until 1874, at age 62.  It was later discovered at autopsy that they shared part of their liver.  Amazingly, they married sisters and produced 22 children between the two families.  (I don't know the answer to that unspoken question, so don't ask)

Next, we drove by Andy's boyhood home.

Next, we drove down to Wallys Service Station, which was pretty authentic looking, even though it was basically a gift shop.  Parked outside were Barney's squad cars, which you can ride downtown in.

Next to Wally's were storefronts of many of the buildings brought to life in the Show.

 We liked this "sign".

The Courthouse and Jail were part of this strip of buildings.  Joe took up residence in Otis's cell, while I took the other one.  Then Joe assumed his official capacity, first as Sheriff, then as Justice of the Peace.

We drove downtown Main Street and found a parking spot, then walked the 2-3 blocks of the shops.  Spaced around town were 3 guitars all painted up -- Bluegrass music is famous in this area.

We also went into the Earle Theater, where we could come back in tonight for a double header -- Harper Valley PTA and Chattanooga Choo Choo.  Too bad I'm sick.

We eventually stopped for lunch at Snappy's Lunch, but by then I was so tired I could hardly hold my head up.  Snappy's was here when Andy was growing up here.  Next door was Floyd's Barber Shop, and the actual Floyd was sitting in here.  He's either 92 or 95, and cut Andy's hair when he was a kid.

We went in and out of lots of antique stores and gift shops. Mayberry Days started today, and the big celebration and parade are this weekend, but there were lots of people in town.  We actually had to move campsites because our space was rented out for the weekend (we checked in for only one night, but decided to spend another day). 

Mount Airy is part of the Wadkin Valley Wine Region, home to over 35 wineries, but we skipped all that.  We finished up about 3:30 (oh yeah, we bought candy, fudge and ice cream cones at Opie's Candy Shop), and headed back to the RV, where I took another cold pill and immediately went to bed.  We drove back into town for dinner, and called it a day.  I sure hope I feel better tomorrow.

It was cloudy this morning, but this afternoon the sun came out and it was a really nice day.  However, they are predicting heavy rain on Friday, and I'm not sure if that is going to hit the area we are heading into or not.  But we hope to make a little more progress tomorrow.