"Wife Unit" and I have been wanting to ride down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mabry Mill but seems every weekday we are one tother working and weekends seem full ..... but today we got going late morning, stopped at 7-11 and coffeed up, and headed out south on the BRP.

Gorgeous day it was today too! We made several stops, planned more, and since I got my license in 1970 and the hundred plus times I had driven the BRP, I had never before stopped at the cemetery there at Adney Gap .... so today I did.



The dates and names tell a story ....



We took a bunch of pictures, several hundred all tolled ..... but I digress. A short ways down the roadway from Adney Gap is a beautiful church, for a number of years the preacher here was Preacher Camp and he drove to and from Lewisburg, Wva. to tend this church. He once was up in Clifton Forge, and he and my wife's uncle Elmon married us in 1979.



So anyway .... after severl stops for pics, I am on a long straight section and just about 1/4 mile behind me I see what looks like a red 65-66 Mustang pop into view, followed by more Mustangs it looks like. They were strung out and after a few miles, they suddenly were there no more, I guess they stopped or slowed up a lot?

Down near but north of Rocky ****, I went around a left hander and pulled off into the grass away from the roadway to take a few photos, this being just one



...... and after a couple 3 minutes, here come these cars around the curve .... in this order even. Notice the wave!























I thought they were all past and turned to take a parting shot:


..... and walked up beside our car towards the front ..... and I then heard a horn and was turning back to see who was blowing when I caught this one passing (waving) and the rest .....









That was all of them .... we headed south, and stopped at the closed up info station at Rocky **** ....



Mabry Mill was busy, so we rode on down to Orchard Gap 20 miles on and turned around and came back .... and met several of those same Mustangs .... they must have parked in a back lot because we looked for them at Mabry Mill and Meadows of Dan. We stopped again at Mabry Mill and used the facilities, I bought a book, and we inquired about wait for meal .... lady estimated a 2 hour wait for a seat in the restaurant, I wanted some Buckwheat Pancakes and Apples but didn't have the time.



We stopped at "Our Favorite" overlook where there's a picnic table and views of Roanoke and Franklin County, maybe Floyd to far right. I didn't think y'all would care for pics of valleys, so I went on and took a picture of Buffalo Mountain and we eventually stopped in Roanoke at "The Roanoker Resturaunt" for a great supper .... and swung through a DQ on 460 on the way home for a cone.



A great fun day!

Wonder who that group was .... all had Va. Tags as you can see. The one Mustang with no frt tag still has a Va. Inspection Sticker.

 

I did drive the BRPW from Asheville to Cherokee last August/September, but didn't get around to driving it to the VA line (and beyond).

Looks like a great ride.

 

Great shots! Thanks for sharing.
We are going tomorrow on the BRP all the way to Grandfather Mountain from the Asheville exit north. The leaves will be gone by next week. It was 39 degrees here this morning. Brrrr...

 

Great pics Tbear. It's hard to find a more beautiful ride than on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

Here are a few shots from yesterday. We took our other convertible though (an automatic) since I didn't want to shift up to Grandfather Mountain. Did that once before and it was a bit much at the top. If you have been there, you know what I mean. Too cool to put the top down. 48 degrees at the top. Beautiful colors. The bear seemed happy in his habitat. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them a few times if you like, especially the bear one (had to say that for tbear853).

 

NC, I know what you mean about driving a manual up to the top. I drove a '72 Chevrolet to the top, and buy the time I got there the air was so thin the engine ran out a steam.

 

NC07GTCS .... YES, I know Grandfather Mtn. .... do they still call the Bear "Mildred" .... and her cub?

Been on the swinging bridge a few times, first dating back into the '60s as a kid I rekon and once in mid '70s in my '73 Mustang Grande (auto) .... and then after married I did drive my wife's '76 Toyota Celica GT 5 spd up it in 1980 on our 1st anniversary vacation trip .... and was happy to NOT follow anyone so I could keep it moving. Was last up the mountain to top in the '80s in a Malibu (auto also) I guess.

I have purposefully declined going up the mountain when on one of the bikes .... and it's so expensive now!

Beautiful though ..... Thanks for sharing your pics!

 

I live in Boone and nothing's better than being able to drive 5 minutes in the mustang or on the bike and be on the parkway relaxing....heard it snowed up there today...meanwhile the desert's pretty hot..

 

You are really close! I thought I was doing well being just 45 minutes away from the Waynesville entrance.
Yeah, snow wouldn't surprise me. We were at 30 degrees here this morning.

 

Not sure if Mildred is still around but the café is called Mildred's now.
The swinging bridge is still the same as you remember probably. Here we are.

 

Yeah and my best friend lives on the parkway....it's a pretty good gig....

You're near Waynesville??? My Unit is out of Clyde.

 

Yep, that's the bridge. I expect the cafe is named after the old bear Mildred .... the first Mildred is long ago deceased by now I'm sure.