I was looking forward to today's ride, I had been reading and hearing about the Blue Ridge Parkway for several years now. Now, at long last, I was going to be riding the Parkway, looking out over those deep green forest covered mountains. The Skyway had been nice, I liked the views, but I was under the impression that it was only the appetizer for the Parkway.

Unfortunately, when we woke this morning, the hills were covered with fog, deep gray unending fog, everywhere. And it stayed that way the rest of the day. The whole way on Skyline Drive, the whole way on the Parkway, the fog stayed with us, sometimes thick, sometimes thin, but there, the day's constant companion (photos 1, 2, 3 & 4).

After awhile, you had to see the humor in this situation. I had ridden over 6000 miles to ride one of the most scenic rides in America, and all I could see was a green tunnel surrounded by a light gray envelope of fog. I could almost have been on the Marin County coastline in California. Now you have to admit, that's funny.

At times, the fog got so think Linda couldn't see the back of my gray helmet. OK, that's not true, but it did get thick. We were worried we would hit a deer or worse, some fool would hit us. The second part needn't have been a worry, since there were very few cars on Skyline or the Parkway to worry about.

We actually pulled over to find out where we were (photo 5), and how far we had to go. We could hear car traffic to the right and left of us, but nothing was visible. We read the map, got back on the bike and headed down the Parkway. We hadn't gone 50 yards when we saw a sign to the Visitor's Center. We stopped and met several other bikers there and they all told us the fog was thick in both directions. We didn't even see the gas station right next to the Visitor's Center. Damn. We filled up and got back on the road, headed south.

About 12:30 we pulled into the James River Visitor's Center and met a couple on a yellow GL1800 ridden by Chuck and Kathy. They were from Jacksonville, FL and just come from the south and were kind enough to give us their map of the Parkway. They also suggested that we get off the Parkway and see the Natural Bridge, something they believed we would enjoy, especially since you couldn't see much on the BRP.

We decided to give it a try since the Natural Bridge was only 15 miles off the Parkway. Heck, if we've come 6000 miles, what are another 15 miles among friends? Wouldn't you know it, it started to lightly sprinkle and we were in full rain gear. When we got to Natural Bridge, it was already 3:00 o'clock so we decided to grab a room at the only place in town, the very nice Natural Bridge Hotel. Surprisingly. It didn't cost any more than some nice motels. We took their last room (photo 6).

It started to come down cats and dogs for a while but when it let up we took the walkway under the road with umbrella in hand (photo 7) to go see the Natural Bridge. Now here's the interesting part about this place. Thomas Jefferson first purchased it from King George for 20 Shillings ($2.40) and he built a cabin on the site and visited often. Somehow, it came to be owned by a private company that now charges one and all $10 for the privilege of seeing what nature has accomplished way out here on Cedar Creek. A sign at the beginning of the pathway explains all of this better than I can (photo 8).

A bus lets you off at the bridge and then you can walk the pathway all the way up Cedar Creek to the falls. This bridge is large. Hopefully the people in the first picture will give you some perspective on its size (photos 9,10,11,12). You can also see the bridge from both sides in the various photos. By the way, the hotel has drawings of this bridge from various artists going back to 1828. This thing has been a tourist attraction for a long time.

The pathway along the creek takes you past the re-creation of an Indian Village, past a cave that used to be mined for Saltpeter during the War of 1812, and a river that comes out from under a mountain, called the Lost River (photos 13 & 14). We finally reached the end of the pathway to see the "falls." Here's a picture (photo 15) of the falls but I have to tell you, after just coming from Niagara Falls, and walking about a mile in the drizzling rain to get here, these falls were a bit of a disappointment. Oh well, it was a nice change of pace.

As we headed back to the Hotel, Linda wanted me to take a picture of different flowers that had raindrops on them. I agreed and this one picture (photo 16) is all I will abuse you with. I'm trying to keep peace in my family fellas.

It was a slow foggy trip today but a nice day, all in all. Tomorrow we hope for sunshine as we continue on down the Parkway.