EDITOR'S NOTE: This guest blog series is being provided courtesy of members of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (wbcci.org) who are currently participating 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 will end outside the historic towns of Charlottesville and Staunton, VA. We hope you'll enjoy following along!
The next leg of the 2019 Taste of the Blue Ridge Caravan placed our 21 Airstream trailers back on the Blue Ridge Parkway to travel from Asheville to Linville Falls. We noticed fewer cars, motorcycles and bicycles sharing the road with us. Perhaps this was due to it being midweek.
That probably helped two of our caravaners since they had flat tires on their trailers. One has to be very careful and safe when changing an Airstream's tire. As expected, fellow caravaners pulled over and provided help. Both campers were able to return to the road after a short time.
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Back on the parkway - after changing a few flat tires.
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Views from the road
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Views from the parkway
Our second day of driving on the Parkway offered fewer pullouts for overlook views. While the quantity of overlooks was down, the views were spectacular and worth the stops.
At one overlook we heard a young woman tell her male friend that she hoped she would have an Airstream one day. I hope her future is bright and includes an Airstream.
Among our stops, we explored a Visitors Center and the Folk Art Center. Both were memorable visits.
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The Folk Art Center at milepost 382
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For other travelers, the sight of 21 Airstream trailers parked at the same time can be a sight in and of itself.
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An Airstream at a visitors center
Temperature variations along the Parkway were very noticeable. Air temperatures would drop to the low 70s as we climbed higher, then returned to the 80s as we descended.
At one overlook, we ran into a man who said he was there for inspiration. He wrote and performed a guitar CD about 20 years ago and was starting to work on another. He was curious about all the Airstream trailers he saw that day and he gave us a copy of his current CD after he learned about the caravan.
We had our first view of Table Rock during this part of the drive. We could see why this is a challenging climb to many.
After about six hours of an unhurried trip on the Parkway, we arrived at our next stop, Linville Falls National Park Campground.
A punch of summer color is always a pleasing sight when driving the parkway