We drove on Blue Ridge Parkway

Great Smoky Mountains – Day 1 – Raleigh – Boone – Blue Ridge Parkway – Ashville

“What Never Ends…. Lust of spiral roads and the smell of mountains”

And then, its family together, endless memories and this sweet revving inline 6 of X5.

Day 1: Home – Boone – Enter in Blue Ridge Parkway – Ashville

September 2nd 2017
Miles: Around 280 Miles
All Picture courtesy to Karuna Kumar – www.fingersareforburning.com
All pictures are unedited and as it was captured.

I want to step back some 7 – 8 yrs when I did my first long road trip and we were on roads for 13 days. My son was 2 and my daughter was 3.5 then. Was very skeptical with two tiny kids.

All thanks goes to my close friend Sameer Madan (A seasoned brew master and avid traveler.
Since then, we have kept it rolling every now and then and covered endless miles and gathered memories of places we have never been before.
Fast forward so many years and we decided to use this labor day long weekend and also my wife birthday on Sept 4th. https://fingersareforburning.com/meet-me/
I was in travelling to west coast for business and came back on late Thursday night, Aug 31st and we had very little time on Fri to pick up things, load up everything and be ready to drive early on Saturday, Sept 2nd.
Then suddenly I realized that we have 8 hands instead of 4 (with Kids up to the task as well). Wow, that’s quite a gain.

Route planned was Raleigh – Boone – Jump on Blue Ridge Parkway – Drive south till Ashville – Maggie Valley – Cherokee – Upto Gatlinburg in Smokey Mountains – Fontana Dam – Back home.

Morning happened quickly and wheels rolling by 7 45 AM. Very misty morning and quite a cold. Entire day turned out to be very very cold and misty. And we liked it thoroughly. Getting out of Raleigh to Burlington, Greensboro on I-40 was ok, switch to 421 at Winston – Salem all the way up to Boone. Somewhere in between, nice hot Mac breakfast.

At Boone, we ditched the freeway going to Blowing rock and Lenoir and jumped on Blue Ridge Parkway to Ashville via; Sugar Mountains, Linville Falls and North Cove. And… the magic began.
No cell coverage, no gas, no food. But who cares, when you have beautiful mountains roads, a misty and drizzling day and whole loads of nature.

I started feeling that we should have more time on this route. With so many beautiful stops for breathtaking views, you need more time. Few more pics on a lake around.

Covered few more miles on the road further. Single carriageway, decent traffic, beautiful nature around. We have reached Linville falls. In route we have driven through few beautiful Viaducts bridges high above the deep valleys. All covered in thick fog and clouds. So no pictures 🙁

Linville Falls had a nice half mile trek in woods towards the fall. Arnav hanging around with an almost fallen tree with roots everywhere around.

For Athena, outdoor in nature is like her first home.

It was past noon, but still very cold and windy, at least for me 🙂

The BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway) has few of most beautiful viaduct roads. Gorgeous valley views around. Its rated one of the most sought after circuit among motorist and a favorites of Bikers. Some 489 miles all together. You can jump in and out at few places and either choose to go up North OR South. South is extremely beautiful where it goes to Maggie Valley and Cherokee in a Great Smokey Mountains. (Details on all of these in Day 2 and Day 3 of blog)

Blue Ridge Parkway Map

Evenings were approaching and we were still on the mountains treating all our senses to what nature can offer. Some early views of Smoky mountains in far.

have decided not to stay in Ashville. Prime reason of extremely high hotels rates thanks to Labor day weekend. Also, we have been to Biltmore Estate in one of our earlier visit. This one of the main attractions of Ashville.

We decided to move on from Ashville and down few miles to take a exit and stay in one of the average accommodations around the exit. (Almost rejected by kids and they vowed not to stay in these anytime again :)) My Bad.
Evening spent with Subway and a Mexican dinner, which turned out so so awful.
Not to forgot my Wife found out a liquor store and we secured our Vodkas and Tequilas. After all, its birthday time.
Gas prices has been jacked up significantly since last few days. Regular is 2.59 and I am running 93 Octane, so on the expensive side :(. But I feel car is happy, so I am.
Sleeping time.. no body could sleep well, as the AC was only turning on when kept at 66 degrees and the fan was making noise etc. Not a very good place to sleep 🙁

Day 2 planning done when I woke up at 2 30 midnight, routes, hotel in Cherokee. All coming up in next blog. Stay tuned for more exciting pictures and stories.