Bryson City to Blue Ridge Parkway Oct 24, 2017

The next morning, we headed to Asheville after breakfast in the cabin.  We returned to Bryson City and stopped at the “Loose Moose” gift shop, where I bought a funny T shirt showing a moose trophy on the wall, while his appalled moose friends said “Hey wait a minute, isn’t that Jim???”.  

 

I took some photos of the red caboose and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad getting ready to leave. 

    Caboose in Bryson City

    Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

  

We drove to Fontana Lake to see an overlook and the recreation area.  Unfortunately, the lake was man made and looked it, but it was still a pleasant stop.  

      Fontana Lake

      Near Fontana Lake

We returned to Cherokee to see a little of what we missed.  Jim went to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian to learn about the “Trail of Tears” and the Cherokee who managed to escape that horror.  Since the dog couldn't enter the museum, I visited the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual with our dog, Sarita in my jacket, to admire the 3 striped handmade baskets made by using black walnut and bloodroot dyes.  I bought some small earrings for a friend since it was all I could afford there.  The crafts were beautiful and very expensive.  

      Museum of the Cherokee Indian

      Trail of Tears sculpture

      Blue Ridge Parkway tunnel

We headed towards Asheville from the bottom of the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile marker 469, stopping at Cowee Mountain,

     Cowee Mountains Overlook is known for beautiful light and shadow.  Next we viewed Graveyard Fields, Yellowstone Falls, and Looking Glass rock, a large half bald mountain peak. 

      Looking Glass Rock at sunset

We stopped for dinner at The Pisgah Inn, but a man told us the wait was 90 minutes and it would be better to go elsewhere. I took some quick photos of the view and we continued, only to find the Parkway was blocked!

      Pisgah Inn rockers

       

      Sunset at Pisgah Inn

So we went to the little store just down the road to ask why.  The road was partly washed out because of the Monday storm.  We picked up some snacks and sandwiches for dinner and drove back 3 miles to exit at Brevard Road, then another hour to Asheville in the dark, arriving a little after 9 pm at Andy’s Mountain Home.  The last left turn was a humdinger.  It looked like we were driving over a cliff, so Jim got out to check for a road beyond the turn.  It was there, but a little nerve wracking.  Andy had texted me earlier, saying that the River was flooding, but it receded right before we got there.