I am sitting in a hotel in Ashville, NC. I am so grateful to be here and not sure how I feel about it yet. I left Maryland Yesterday at 10:30 am. I first want to say that my visit with Pat and her family in Maryland was wonderful! I really enjoyed being part of their everyday life and spending time getting to know all of them better. I felt so blessed and had mixed feelings about leaving them. This trip is, yes, about seeing the country but in large part is about the people on my path and appreciating the everyday"ness", too.I hope I can be as generous as people have been with me. Even the kindness of strangers reminds me not to be too busy in a moment when I am the one familiar with the area.
I got on the highway and immediately saw a deer to my right. Not a place I would expect to see one and she didn't look like she expected to be there, either. She was running frantically. Little did I know I'd be feeling the same way later on my journey when I was in her territory. I had this great plan of driving the BlueRidge Parkway to get here. A beautiful drive through the mountains. After alot of thought, since it was stormy, I decided to take the highway partway and then get on the Parkway. On my drive I saw a license plate that said LIV SLO. I love those little nudges-pay attention and be where I am.
Well,some time later after enjoying the ride through the fields, mountains and farmland of Virginia, I got on the Parkway. I don't know what I was thinking it would be like, but it was narrow. It was like looking over a cliff and no guardrail. Now, I consider myself pretty adventurous but my palms were sweating. I kept thinking about what I learned in yoga-pay attention to your feet, if they're gripping the floor you need to relax. Well I'll apply that to my white knuckles on the steering wheel. Umm, let me just say I had a hard time enjoying the scenery at first. Once I started to relax it was beautiful and I got out at one point to take a picture. I drove about 40 miles on the Parkway which took about 2 hours. I stopped at a ranger station to use the bathroom. He told me I shouldn't go further because of the storm, the wind and dropping branches on the narrow roads. That's all I needed to hear! I took a steep road down and back to the highway knowing at some point I'd get back on because of a sign I saw for a Natural Bridge in Virginia. I knew nothing about the Natural Bridge and thought, "Well, let's see if it's anything". IT was AMAZING!! I was emotional enough just from being on the Blue Ridge Parkway (for different reasons) but this was spectacular. I read that it is one of the 7 Natural wonders which I didn't know. The entrance was a building with lots of shops so I thought it was a hoax at first. I paid and walked to the entrance of the bridge. I couldn't see anything at first. There were stairs descending around a bend into the woods.A beautiful bubbling brook flowed down with me. About a 1/4 mile into the wooded area I looked up and-The Bridge. WOOW!!! It is 215 feet high, made of rock and estimated at 500 million years old. Another premier work of nature! I couldn't believe it. I continued to walk under the bridge and followed the water further into the woods. That babbling sound is so meditative I just kept following it. It was like a secret hideaway. A moment of peace on a long drive.
I was ready for the rest of the ride. I headed back on the highway to find out I had 4 1/2 hours left to go. I decided to just keep driving even though I said I wouldn't drive in unfamiliar areas at night, I just wanted to be there. I had to use the GPS and didn't have any battery left on my cell, so it wasn't my finest decision. I won't do that again. I ended up getting here at around 10:45 last night. I got to the hotel and it was the first time I had issues with a room. It is bound to happen, but I felt like I slept in traffic last night. I moved to a room further back and we'll see what happens.
It is a beautiful day today and I went to the center of Ashville with all its street vendors and quaint little shops. The town is surrounded by mountains and is really pretty. I am not sure how long I'll stay. I am going to see what else is here and I definitely need more rest before I decide. More later....
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