osbornk
Old man in the mountains
If you have only seen the Parkway in the summer, you saw mostly trees, leaves,grass and the road. We took our last ride of the year for the third week in a row today and saw much of what you didn't see. We saw the rocks, cliffs and deep valleys made by ancient glaciers and other actions of nature over millions of years. We say the farms and small communities hidden by the trees and undergrowth. We saw and dodged buzzards eating several deer killed by deer. We saw a coyote run across the road in front of us. I had to almost stop to avoid a flock of wild turkeys in the middle of the road, I almost stopped to avoid a large black dog eating roadkill with its back to me. I saw the real Mayberry store beside the Parkway just past Mayberry creek.
It took us all day (just before 8 until just before 5) to ride 267 miles through mountain roads and eat two meals. The temperature ran from 36 to just over 70 with most of the day in the high 50s. After we had a wonderful breakfast at Shatley Springs ( http://www.shatleysprings.com/ ), we got on the Parkway near Sparta, NC and rode it to Meadows of Dan, Va. where we got on the Crooked Road (Rt58) and rode to Stuart, Va. for lunch at Stuart Family Restaurant ( https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stuart-Family-Restaurant/297564737008160 ). Two great meals on a nice day on 267 miles of smooth winding mountain roads without a lot of traffic. What more can you ask.
It took us all day (just before 8 until just before 5) to ride 267 miles through mountain roads and eat two meals. The temperature ran from 36 to just over 70 with most of the day in the high 50s. After we had a wonderful breakfast at Shatley Springs ( http://www.shatleysprings.com/ ), we got on the Parkway near Sparta, NC and rode it to Meadows of Dan, Va. where we got on the Crooked Road (Rt58) and rode to Stuart, Va. for lunch at Stuart Family Restaurant ( https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stuart-Family-Restaurant/297564737008160 ). Two great meals on a nice day on 267 miles of smooth winding mountain roads without a lot of traffic. What more can you ask.
