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Thursday 11/04

All good things must come to an end. It was a great ride. I saw, experienced and learned a lot. It rained when I left, and it rained all the way home today. It seems that the trip was frames by two rainy days and sunshine in between.

For all of you, who followed the blog, thank you for coming along for the ride.

·       Days:                      53

·       Rainy days:             4

·       Sunny days:            49

·       Hotels:                    30

·       Miles:                     10,350

·       Speeding tickets:     1 (Corrected 11/15/10)

I just got a speeding ticket (photo) in the mail from Baltimore from 11/04/10 at 12 noon (2 hrs from home on the way back) for $40.00 (43 miles in a 30 miles School Zone; they ticket  when the speed is 12 miles above the limit)

·       Parking tickets:       0

·       Gallons of gas:        371.42 (premium of course)

·       Photos:                   5,410

·       Expenses:               $ ??? poorer

·       Experience:             Priceless

Alles Gute hat ein Ende. Es war eine einmalige Reise. I sah, erlebte und lernte viel. Es regnete bei der Abreise, und es regnete heute den ganzen Tag bei der Rueckfahrt. Es scheint die Reise war von zwei Regentage umrahmt, mit Sonnenschein dazwischen.
Alle die den Blog verfolgt haben herzlichsten Dank fuer die Mitreise.

·       Tage:                     53

·       Regentage:            4

·       Sonnige Tage:       49

·       Hotels:                   30

·       Kilometer:              16,657

·       Strafen fuer Schnellfahren:       1 (Korrektur am 15. Nov.)

Ich habe gerade eine Strafe fuer Schneefahren bekommen (Foto) von Baltimore am 4. Nov., 12 Uhr mittags, 2 Stunden von zu Hause am Rueckweg; $40.00, 43 Meilen in einer 30 Meilen Schullzone; gestraft wird ab 12 Meilen Ueberschreitung.

 ·       Parkstrafen:          0

·       Benzin:                  1,406 l (Super natuerlich)

·       Fotos:                    5,410

·       Ausgaben:             $ ??? aermer

·       Erlebnis:                unbezahlbar



 Everything's still there / Noch alles da



Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive (Shenandoah National Park)

Wednesday November 03

I continued on the Blue Ridge Parkway until it leads into the Skyline Drive, which lies entirely within the Shenandoah National Park.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is more or less the Appalachian Trail for lazy people like me who rather drive than hike. I tried to take some photos, but it is difficult to convey the mood, because the Parkway and Skyline Drive is more an experience, rather than a series of snapshots.

Blue Ridge Parkway

I continued on the Blue Ridge Parkway to inch closer to home. Driving the Parkway feels like hiking in the car for 6 hours and 220 miles, over hills and into the woods ….

Asheville, NC

Today I experienced two sites I did not know about a few days ago. From Cherokee, NC I took the Blue Ridge Parkway (Thanks John) to Asheville, NC (Thanks Peggy and Tom).

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469 mile scenic road from North Caroline to Virginia. It is maintained by the National Park Service. It was started in the mid 1930s after the depression to create jobs and to attract tourism. The project slowed down during WW2, and the last piece was completed 1987. Unlike other road project the Parkway route was designed by a Landscape Architect.

In Asheville I visited Biltmore, the largest private mansion (250 rooms, 175,000 sf). It was the home for the Vanderbilts. Open to the public since 1950. The estate is still privately owned and operated by the Vanderbilt heirs. Based on the admission fee I’m not surprised about their good fortune.

I rounded off the day in one of the many microbreweries in Asheville. It was a good recommendation in the travel section of the NY Times (Thanks Peggy).