There's a bear in there ...

For the final leg of our Summer Road Trip, we took a very scenic route through part of the Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.




The spectacular Skyline Drive wends its way across a mountain ridgeline, taking in views of yet more mountains, and if you're lucky, the occasional encounter with local wildlife.



Any long drive has to be "sold" to the kids - after all, who's ever heard of a small child who enjoys sitting in the back of a car for long stretches, without in-car movies to distract them? (We had decided to turn off the in-car entertainment system so that our square-eyed darlings could take in the fresh air and some of the scenery, for a change!)

The kids love animals and we'd read that it's not uncommon to see bears, deer, and ground hogs, amongst other critters, along the road, if not wandering across the middle of it, so that was the "carrot" to keep the whinge-o-meter in check.

Shortly after entering the Park, we noticed the oncoming cars had stopped and people seemed to be looking across at something on our side of the road. We slowed down too, and wound down the windows - big mistake!!

While we were incredibly fortunate to be within a few metres of what looked like a young Black Bear, snuffling along the side of the road, the Town and Country occupants - mostly the female and under 50 year old ones, started exclaiming in stage whispers:
"HOW CUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!"
"LOOOOOOOK AT HIMMMMM!!!"
"OH MY GOD, HE'S SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GORRRRRRRRRRRGEOUS!!!"

Surprise! Surprise! The object of all this unrestrained adoration promptly ambled off into the undergrowth, never to be seen (or snapped!) again - not by us, at least! We didn't even look to see what the other six cars' inhabitants were doing - clearly, we'd ruined a beautiful moment for a lot of people ... oops!

Note to self: next time we spot any form of wildlife, be it furry, scaly, tattooed, overall-clad, etc, we're not to tell the children until we're sure no photographic opportunities are going to be aborted by their hoots and hollers. (I suppose I should admit, at this stage, that I might have been making a few noises myself ... having a tendency to be a little bit silly in the presence of cute creatures - maybe that's who the kids get it from?!)

Yep, he's in there somewhere!

This was the next best thing ... a furry phoney at the Visitors' Centre (Sorry about the fuzzy photo!)

  

 The Visitors' Centre had a lovely outlook, and Daniel, in particular, enjoyed the vista.

 

We decided that we didn't have the four hours to do the whole drive justice, so we dipped in from the northern entrance, at a town called Front Royal, drove a little, stopped for a picnic lunch, and walked (for 5 minutes!!) so Isabella could practise spotting bear and deer markings on trees - a new found skill since the acquisition of her Animal Tracks Guide, before leaving at one of the gates, a third of the way down the drive.

 

 

From our taste of the Skyline Drive, we continued south, stopping at Johnson City, Tennessee, a fairly unimpressive town, typical of many mid-sized towns we'd driven through in our travels, all with their uniform chain restaurants, water towers, uninspiring main streets, and chain motels - one of which we chose to stay in for the night.

That said, our room was very clean, and spacious, and we enjoyed a great, free breakfast of cereals, toasts, waffles, and bacon. 

It was at breakfast that we met a retired couple from Nashville - he was a lawyer, she a kindergarten teacher - who recommended we stop by Jonesborough, Tennessee, a well-maintained historic town (circa 1779, Tennessee's oldest town!), only a short drive down the road. We were warned about speed cameras ... famous last words!



We did seek out Jonesborough, but being a Sunday, nothing except the local churches and the rather impressive Visitors' Centre showed any signs of life. We enjoyed a stroll down the quaint main street, and admired some of the lovely old terraced buildings. While admiring a group of houses, called "Sisters' Row", an older lady, elegantly dressed in her church attire stopped to fill us in on a little of the local history. Her husband's great, great, great grandfather built "Sisters Row" for his three daughters.

 

 

 

 

Each October, Jonesborough hosts a Storytelling Festival, where visitors and guest storytellers gather to share an old tradition - telling a good yarn!

 

Sometimes on our trip, we would see things that amazed or enthralled us, but which we didn't always have the opportunity - or the desire - to capture on camera. One of these moments was after leaving Jonesborough, while crossing a bridge. Dave glanced down at the river and saw fully clothed people standing waist-deep while another person was being submerged - a real-life baptism! It really was like something out a movie for us city-dwelling heathens!!

 

Over the course of this trip, we crossed a number of state borders, and while it was fun to spot the next "Welcome to New York/Pennsylvania/Virginia/DC/Tennesse (etc)..." sign, we didn't really get a feel for most of the states we whizzed through.

 

Some visitors/expats we've met here have been keen to tick off the states they've visited, with many displaying scratchable maps or pin-boards, with some even strategically working out a quota that needs to be met each year, in order to do so!

 

We, on the other hand, possibly hobbled somewhat by our walking-talking charges, are more interested in experiencing less places in more depth, than many places superficially. Having said that, it was still fun to tick off another state border ... and with that, we were into the Carolinas!
 

Richard and Carolyn had recommended the little town of Asheville, North Carolina, which is known for the nearby Vanderbilt Estate, and its historic district, classy looking shops, and beautiful leafy neighbourhoods, so we programmed it into our trusty satnav, with Dave driving while I searched my "Southern Foodie" book for potential lunch destinations.
 

It is a well-known fact, in our family at least, that one should never waste a good food opportunity, and while in possession of a guide book with rave reviews of a number of eateries in the towns we were traversing though, it seemed sensible to look them up ... sadly, this wasn't to be, and due to the heat, driver (and passenger) exhaustion, and general grumpiness - at not being able to find a park near one of the listed restaurants, our desire for convenient food overtook our desire for good food.



 

 

Sometimes, you just have to eat!

 

South Carolina had beautiful scenery around the Smoky Mountains, but there was a noticeable decline in the quality of the roads the further south we drove. Unlike Australia where the purchase of any kind of firework or incendiary device is illegal, we saw numerous barn-type firework outlets on our travels north and south, particularly in the southern states. 

Another curious outlet store we noticed as we drove through South Carolina was a store called "Dixie Republic" which seemed to be like an outlet store for all sorts of patriotic* merchandise - specializing in confederate flags - red with a blue X on them, an anti-Yankee or northerner symbol fairly common in the rural south. (*N.B. In this context, "Patriotic" = racist, redneck, pro-gun, anti-government, etc - you only need to have a look at some of the stickers and t-shirts on the website to get a feeling for the kind of merchandise they're pedalling.)

 

 

And also increasing in frequency as we approached our home state were the giant billboard advertisments touting the services of local attorneys, fast food outlets, and weapons depots. Welcome home!!

We didn't stop ...

Once crossing the border into Georgia, we'd decided to steer east of Atlanta, and head south via Athens, taking in part of the historic antebellum trail towns of Madison and Milledgeville. 

We drove by some beautiful historic homes in these towns, characteristic of the "Gone with the Wind" style of home with soaring columns and impressive and decorative facades, but the prettier ones for me were the pastel coloured Queen Annes.

 

While I'm always a little bereft at being back in Middle Georgia, it was lovely to finally be "home", whatever that means these days?! Rather dramatically for our homecoming, we drove through a massive storm cell ... a metaphor, perhaps?!

 

Our 17 day road trip had covered 3200 miles (5100 km) - equivalent to driving from Melbourne to Townsville (return) or Miami to Seattle - more than 50 hrs driving, reunited Dave, Bernie and Jean, and introduced me and the children, to Canada-Virginia-based family, and afforded us some incredible sights along the way.

It was a memorable trip, and we were all (mostly) talking to each other by the end of it!!