Skyline Drive and Abingdon, VA v. 46

"Three hours of beauty? You've got to be kidding me!" Becca was not impressed. Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park IS three hours of beauty at 35 miles per hour.  Especially during peak Fall colors.      We have no photos though, because every time we got out of the RV, we were swarmed with Asian Lady Beetles that bite!  Annoying little critters...

Most of our planned activities happen when Bob is with us, but sometimes Becca and I have a few days to explore.  We were on our way to Knoxville to meet up with Bob.  We had a few days, and as I usually do, I looked at the lesser known towns along our route and look up "things to do in..." whatever town we are going through.  I looked up Abingdon, VA.  One thing led to another, and we had a great couple of days!  First we found The Olive Oil Company.  They have a tasting room for both infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars- sounds like tasty fun!  We helped them pay the rent this month.  Delicious!

so many to choose from!

The ladies at the olive oil store were a font of good info.  They said we HAD to "do the Creeper" while we were in town.  Turns out the Virginia Creeper is a 17 mile bike trail- almost all gently down hill.  We got a shuttle to the top- I was very reassured about the downhill part, since our shuttle mates averaged about 70 years old...  We just made the shuttle- we went to a kids' play in the morning- "Miss Nelson is Missing" (one of the Viola Swamp stories), then called to reserve and found out that the last one leaves at noon!  They made a reservation on the 12:30 ride for us from down the road in Damascus.  Turns out that was the ride we wanted, since the ride to Abingdon is the 34 miler.  17 miles to Damascus was... 3 HOURS OF BEAUTY!

We seem to come across the Appalachian Trail a lot lately!

The trail was easy enough for us to chat almost the entire way, and for me to give you a little sample of our 3 hours of beauty by video.

What was an extra day on the calendar was turning out to be one of our favorites-  And that's not all!  The ladies at the olive oil store also recommended the theater.  The State Theater of Virginia happens to be in Abingdon at the Barter theater.  The actors in the repertory group do several plays in each season.  We saw the kids' play in the morning, and had a very special treat in the evening- "Tarzan the Musical".  I was blown away.  The sets, the singing, the performances- were every bit as good as I have seen anywhere, including New York City.  It was $32 a ticket- bargain price for top quality!  On to Pigeon Forge :).