2015 Day 7 - off to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia

Although we had a free breakfast included again Stephen had said he would like to go to IHOP.   So with much arm twisting (not!) we packed the car up and headed up the road to the nearest one.  Yum, cooked breakfast with american pancakes, or in my case crepes!!

Feeling full we headed north west out of Williamsburg back towards Richmond.  We saw a Walmart and decided to stop to buy a polystyrene coolbox, some drinks and food for a picnic lunch.

It took about 2 hrs to get to the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway, at Rockfish Gap.  If you head north from here the road is through the Shenandoah Mountains, but we were heading south. We stopped at the tourist info hut at Rockfish and spoke to a lovely lady who gave us maps and an info book and pointed out good places for walks!

large model of the mountains in the tourist info centre

We stopped at Humpback Rock where we found lots of picnic tables tucked under the shade of the trees.  It was very peaceful with only a couple of other people and some butterflies.  We ate our giant "lunchables", crisps and drinks and headed off again.

Rockfish Gap was mile marker 0 and our hotel was at mile marker 86.  We stopped at  a lot of the overlook areas to take in the views.  It was beautiful, huge and awe inspiring.  The sun was shining and it was easy to see where the mountains got the name blue ridge from, the mountains in the distance wherever you look are different shades of bluey green.

The road itself was really quiet, with dappled shade and plenty of opportunities to enjoy the view.  I think the highest place we stopped at was 3300ft.  I am sure the photos won't do it any justice.

We didn't see much wildlife,  apart from butterlies and birds of prey soaring above us, but Keith and I did both shout when we drove past a lump in the road that looked like a snake.   Keith saw it move out of the way in his rear view mirror from the following motorbikes.

It did take us longer than we expected to reach the hotel, but after about 4 hrs to dp 86 miles we pulled into Peaks of Otter Lodge.   It looked very rustic and in the middle of nowhere, but was clean and comfortable with wifi! Our rooms were on the first floor with balconies overlooking the lake, with 3 mountains surrounding us.

Our rooms were top floor in the block furtherest away

We had dinner in the main building, again overlooking the lake.  I had the seafood buffet, the others ordered from the menu.

Walking back to our rooms we spotted more fireflies - magical.  Keith and I sat on the balconies and watched the lake as the sun set.  A very special setting, and definitely shouldn't be missed if in the area (book well in advance tho as it gets booked up).

This really has been a holiday of contrasts so far, from the bustling hot humid city, to theme parks and coasters to the peace and beauty of the mountains.  Looking foward to the rest of it.

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