EDITOR'S NOTE: This guest blog series is being provided courtesy of members of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (wbcci.org) who recently participated in the 2019 Taste of the Blue Ridge Caravan between late May and mid June. Their 500-mile journey began in Cherokee, N.C. and ended outside the historic towns of Charlottesville and Staunton, VA. We hope you'll enjoy following along!
Our departure from Galax was delayed. After more than four inches of rain during the previous 24 hours, the roads were slick.
That wasn’t the main problem that stopped the 2019 Taste of the Blue Ridge Airstream Caravan from leaving early. The fog was too thick and we hoped it would burn off so that we could enjoy the next leg of our journey.
It didn’t.
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Sure, there were a few pockets of light fog along the way, but the majority of our time was spent inching along in a “pea soup” fog. The Blue Ridge Parkway looked very different in that foggy atmosphere. A photographer would marvel at the soft lighting created by the fog and enjoyed the effect created by the mist. On the other hand, drivers had to be very cautious as they drove through the twists and turns of the Blue Ridge. Drivers called it a white-knuckle day from tightly gripping the steering wheel.
We traveled the route from Galax to Peaks of Otter during the weekend, but the road was basically empty. The rain and fog could be blamed for the lack of traffic. We saw only a few bicycles and motorcycles all day.
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No trip on the Parkway is complete without a stop at the iconic Mabry Mill.
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Weather closed a small section of the Parkway. Our caravan had to exit the road near Roanoke to bypass the affected area. We were able to quickly return to the Parkway to continue our adventure.
After a very anxious drive, our 21 Airstream trailers safely arrived at the Peaks of Otter in Virginia.