Luckily, once I was outside the tent it was slightly cooler and I was able to have some coffee and breakfast while I packed up before the heat really kicked in. After I was packed up I decided to go back into Roanoke for some real coffee and internet access. The day started to heat up shortly after and I knew that I had to get moving before I melted, so I headed back up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and went south.
Within twenty miles I was back up above 2000 feet and the temperatures were manageable again. The road and the scenery were much like the Skyline:
But there was one major difference. Because the Parkway isn't a National Park there is private land that butts up to the road and it makes it feel a little bit like New York State without the little towns. But the cemeteries are there without the towns:
This particular one is mostly Shavers, and I presume all are family. It contained two of the saddest headstones I have ever seen:
The thing that really got me choked up about it is that they were both born to the same parents. Part of me wants to research what exactly happened, but most of me is just tremendously sad for them,
Along the Parkway there are also fantastic views of old barns and cabins that make me want to go out in the middle of nowhere and live off the land, but then I remember that I like people today as a result of this program and there is no way I really want to give that up.
At about two in the afternoon I stopped for a break in Meadows of Dan, VA, a very small town just off the Parkway. I found a wonderful little store and wandered through the fresh local produce, all manner of wooden furniture, and little locally made treats like dried cantaloupe. I stocked up on snack items and sat outside for a break.
While I was nibbling on the locally dried beef jerky a guy pulled up on a Goldwing and I asked him where he was headed. This was a mistake. The dissertation that followed was not at all interesting to me, and especially the part about how many awards he has won with the Goldwing (which is ugly if you ask me), and how many riding skills contests he's won. Maybe it's just me, but I find people who brag about things to strangers to be a little irritating, or maybe a lot irritating. As he was leaving he said to me, "Of course, this thing's got music and everything, too." I wanted to tell him, "You're not that special." But instead I just nodded my head and waited for him to leave first because he had been sure to tell me that he had been going 75mph the whole way from Waynesboro, and part of me wanted to see him pulled over down the road. Some people puzzle me.
About thirty miles down the road is the Blue Ridge Music Center, and although I was too late for the mid-day show I wanted to stop in and see if they had a shirt for my dad. I figured that the extra-small and the medium shirt wouldn't fit, but the musicians were still playing so I stayed for a bit to listen.
The group was probably about twelve people, but the best to watch were the two elders with a banjo and a fiddle. These two guys were well into their seventies and still played with incredible passion. There is something wonderful about watching a seasoned player play an instrument so effortlessly. Incredible.
When I was leaving I started talking to Stacy and Lloyd, a couple from Connecticut. The two of them had been down in Atlanta and now were headed back home. Somewhere along the way they had encountered a Black and Tan Coonhound running down the highway, and had stopped to pick it up. The puppy was terribly skinny from being on it's own, but was very sweet and likable. They hadn't decided on a name yet, and tasked me with coming up with one. I thought about it all day and the name that kept coming up was Isabella. Whatdaya think guys?
Stacy told me that the folks at the vet where they had taken Isabella had said that she was bred to hunt bears in the Smokies, but that if the young dogs don't work out for some reason that they just let them go in the woods. Thank Dude that Stacy and Lloyd were in the right place at the right time! Thanks to them Isabella will have a happy home in Connecticut.
Along the Skyline and the Parkway there are a bunch of animals; Deer and fawns, bears, butterflies, birds, etc. and they all have the same reaction when they see a bike or a car, "Oh shit! Person!!" and they turn and run back into the woods. They are all pretty good at avoiding us. Today, however, I encountered a turtle on the road. I am sure that his reaction was the same as all the other animals, but…well…less running. So I turned around and went back. I told him matter-of-factly that he couldn't be there in the road, and that's when he ran…into his shell. I picked him up and put him well off the side of the road he was facing, I just hope it was the side he wanted to be on. Poor little guy must have been terrified.
For a meeting I decided on Boone, NC and pulled into town with plenty of time to get food and make it to a meeting, The meeting was in a church and I pulled into the parking lot and saw some folks standing outside smoking. Thinking that they were my people I asked them if there was a meeting nearby. Turns out that all three of them were drunk and attending a wedding reception, so they had no idea but they did point me in the right direction.
The meting was the Boone Group, and was a great bunch of folks. There was a brand new person there and it made for a wonderful meeting discussing in the basics and the benefits. It was a great reminder of why we are all here. Thanks, Boone Group!
After the meeting I found a wonderful little campground outside of town and got to take a shower, good thing too, because I was starting to smell myself…not good. It's much cooler here, and I am looking forward to a good night's sleep.
