Almost To The End

On the parkway by 8 AM heading south with no place other than the end in sight. Very cool again this morning but we stopped at Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the east for coffee. More times than not the mountain is fogged in but this morning was crystal clear. We are now traveling through the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge; 5000 and up in elevation. The Mountain Laurel are blooming as well as the Rhododendron with various wild flowers all along the roadway. More animals cross our path each day, deer, turkey, chipmunks, squirrels, a red-tailed hawk flies over head and snakes are curled on the blacktop warming their bodies in the morning sunshine. I’m still looking for that ever elusive black bear. 195 miles today which is pretty darn good for parkway riding. We pulled off for the night at Maggie Valley – which is only about 12 miles from the end but since we cannot get into our hotel at Cherokee until tomorrow we thought this would be a nice place to call it a night.