Skyline Drive

The Skyline Drive connects directly to the Blue Ridge Parkway. This part of the trail is not in a national park and therefore has no entrance fees. I thought I would have to endure the dregs of civilisation on this section, but mercifully, the landscape was reasonably free of human desecration. The vistas along the way were magnificent. Not as clear a day as I wished—it never is in summer but one does get to see the texture of mountains fading away into the distance.

Although this part of the trip was the high point of my holiday I can't think of much to write, which is proof that it was peaceful and relaxing. No ugly advertising, no urban blight, no drivers behind wishing you would go faster. Just lots of greenery, the sound of birds and grand vistas nearly all the time.

I decided to break for the night at Roanoke. For some reason, maybe the weekend, Roanoke was full of travellers. My first choice motel was full. The one opposite wanted to charge me half again as much as their AAA listed rates. Inspite of the fact they wrote Rates Subject to Change in the AAA tour book, this is insupportable. Since it is only 7 pm and still light, I drove on. I found a nice room in Wytheville, 80 miles down the road. There is no good reason I picked Wytheville—I could have chosen any small town near Roanoke—save one. A friend of mine from Malaysia worked and lived there for a while after getting his MBA from Virginia Tech. Unfortunately I could not make the trip south while he was still there as he left to take his new post in Singapore at the end of April. But I am slightly curious about this small town. Well, it had two main streets, half a dozen fast food places, a couple of banks and that's about it. The phone book for the whole district was one centimetre thick.