FInally, the trip is underway!

©2014 Lydia Hinshaw

Home sweet bus

  ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, VA -- Although we had been on the road for four nights, the trip didn't become official until the first camping night.

 Sunday night we scored a lovely campsite at Otter Creek, on the Parkway.  As it was the Memorial Day weekend, we were worried about crowds, but we had our choice of sites, and the price was right at $8 with our geezer passes.

 The only drawback:  100 screaming children.  Well, actually there were only about 10 of them playing in the creek, but they sounded like 100.  Their parents, thankfully, put them to bed early.

 Monday night we camped at Big Meadows on the Skyline Drive, a vast campground with more than 200 sites, but any weekend crowds had vanished and we had no close neighbors.  Generally we avoid such large operations, but we were attracted to this one by its showers, which are rare in National Park campgrounds.

 As for the scenery, it's been excellent, but doesn't compare with the Rockies or the Sierra.