Mount Mitchell

Frequent readers of this blog will know that my most favouritist (<-- that is a word - trust me) road in the world is the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is up yonder in them there hills (picture in your minds eye me pointing towards the Appalachian mountains, while taking a swig of 'shine from a clay jug).

So it would not be a surprise that I have been wanting to drive some more along the Blue Ridge Parkway for most of the winter. 

Unfortunately it was closed most of the season due to snow (they don't do snow removal or salting in the park, so a bit of snow or ice could make for some excess rode-wise treachery.

So I was chuffed to find out that the majority of the parkway was opened last week.  I say the majority as a section between Mount Mitchell and Asheville is closed for construction.  However that does give me a good hour and a half drive - one way - so I took that deal, got in the Geovan of Destiny, and drove off with a squeal of tires and a roar of the engine as I accelerated off at the posted legal speed limit.

Mount Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi, and you can drive almost to the very top.  So I parked up, and walked the 2/10ths of a mile to the tippy top. (I have proof).

The very top is a slightly elevated observation deck.  If you see what I see, the odds didn't look good for epic views...

The top was mostly socked in with mist.  It was actually cool watching the mist flow over the peaks, but it was still mist, so this was the best view I got.

So I decided to cut my visit short and head home.   I am glad I did, because on the way I saw this amazing sight:

A  nice ending to an amazing ride, don'tcha think?