lazygood4nothinbum
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2006
- Messages
- 3,895
this car (here it got snowed on during an overnight in asheville)
was made for this road
top down, windows up, heat on, wearing a heavy long-sleeved shirt and my gym gloves, 60 miles an hour without any pedal to the metal, coasting downhill and around curves, powering up the next mountain, what fun!
just out of season, most of the mountain roads all to myself, your own personal 400-mile long roller coaster
the colors were amazing. from peak autumn at lower elevations to bare branches at the highest peaks, the season passes under the tires with every turn, with the smile or the sadness of each mountain face, from the south at the smokies in cherokee nc north to virginia at front royal. north south east west high low the dimensions are only challanged by the variety of hues, each more breathtaking than the next so that by the time you've finished a day's drive you have suffocated all of your troubles in sheer beauty.
at the top of the mountains you look down into bowls of fruit loops. and then you drive up a road while alongside you rises an adjacent mountain covered in skittles. the clouds cast playful shadows on distant mountaintops while the sun highlights the edges of ancient weather-rounded ridges
there are many viewing areas and even though there is already too much to take in, it is somehow frustrating that some of the great views have no safe place to stop. so sometimes i'd stop off the road up a bit where i could and take my chance backtrack hiking the shoulders. some viewing areas have information about the roadbuilding or the view.
some vantage points offer views of two seasons at once, where the trees are bare but turn your head and they bloom before your eyes
from morning where to blue sky compliments the autumn colors
until sunset when the sky reflects the autumn colors
the colors and the depth and the views and the mountains seem vast and endless
for days you are surrounded in this beauty, in front of you, along side you and behind you
while not many, there are access roads on and off the parkway. near many at the bottoms of mountains, gates control traffic for when the parkway becomes too dangerous to travel
i stopped for lunch at a lodge at the top of one of the mountains. good food, great service, quaint seating
at one very and cold mountaintop, i stopped and walked over to the
frozen cliff face which was alive with the sound of ice cracking and water dripping and refreezing into icicles and autumn pops. frozen color. glass covered grass. just amazing
anyway, you get the idea. this is the perfect roadtrip for the early retiree. this year i timed it perfectly by accident. right after season so hotels were half-priced, few cars on the road, yet autumn was peaking. here's some more pictures of this amazing drive
was made for this road
top down, windows up, heat on, wearing a heavy long-sleeved shirt and my gym gloves, 60 miles an hour without any pedal to the metal, coasting downhill and around curves, powering up the next mountain, what fun!
just out of season, most of the mountain roads all to myself, your own personal 400-mile long roller coaster
the colors were amazing. from peak autumn at lower elevations to bare branches at the highest peaks, the season passes under the tires with every turn, with the smile or the sadness of each mountain face, from the south at the smokies in cherokee nc north to virginia at front royal. north south east west high low the dimensions are only challanged by the variety of hues, each more breathtaking than the next so that by the time you've finished a day's drive you have suffocated all of your troubles in sheer beauty.
at the top of the mountains you look down into bowls of fruit loops. and then you drive up a road while alongside you rises an adjacent mountain covered in skittles. the clouds cast playful shadows on distant mountaintops while the sun highlights the edges of ancient weather-rounded ridges
there are many viewing areas and even though there is already too much to take in, it is somehow frustrating that some of the great views have no safe place to stop. so sometimes i'd stop off the road up a bit where i could and take my chance backtrack hiking the shoulders. some viewing areas have information about the roadbuilding or the view.
some vantage points offer views of two seasons at once, where the trees are bare but turn your head and they bloom before your eyes
from morning where to blue sky compliments the autumn colors
until sunset when the sky reflects the autumn colors
the colors and the depth and the views and the mountains seem vast and endless
for days you are surrounded in this beauty, in front of you, along side you and behind you
while not many, there are access roads on and off the parkway. near many at the bottoms of mountains, gates control traffic for when the parkway becomes too dangerous to travel
i stopped for lunch at a lodge at the top of one of the mountains. good food, great service, quaint seating
at one very and cold mountaintop, i stopped and walked over to the
frozen cliff face which was alive with the sound of ice cracking and water dripping and refreezing into icicles and autumn pops. frozen color. glass covered grass. just amazing
anyway, you get the idea. this is the perfect roadtrip for the early retiree. this year i timed it perfectly by accident. right after season so hotels were half-priced, few cars on the road, yet autumn was peaking. here's some more pictures of this amazing drive