Full Throttle

My friend Richard is in town on a photo safari, of sorts. I’m taking him around and showing him the sites of North Carolina and neighboring states. Yesterday morning we started off with a trip to UNC Charlotte’s greenhouse where we photographed some pictures of orchids and other plants, some of which smelled like popcorn, or dirty socks, depending on your nose! It is an interesting plant.

After our trip the greenhouse, which was all warm and toasty, I asked Richard where he wanted to go. He said that he was open for anything. Well, I know my friend and his dislike for cold weather, but it is winter after all and I did want to show him the Blue Ridge Parkway, even though I had a feeling that part of it would be closed. He’s a Texan, born, raised, and acclimated accordingly to Texas weather. That white stuff on the side of the road should be be seen only on television, if you ask him.

So, to the north we headed, full throttle, for Fancy Gap, VA, some 105 miles north of Charlotte along I-77. We arrived in Fancy Gap about 11:30, or so. From the looks of the roads as we entered Virginia, it looked like there had been some snow. The roads were white with salt residue. We made our way onto the parkway, turned right, and immediately saw a sign that said that the southbound parkway was closed. We drove the short 1/2 mile to the barricade, just to make sure. Yep. It was closed.

Undaunted, we turned around and headed north. We saw another sign that said that the northbound road was closed, too. Not a good beginning! I decided to go up the road a little bit just to be sure. We saw a ranger who was removing the barricade. I asked if the way was open and he said yes, but he wasn’t sure how far. So, we, being the intrepid photographers that we are, decided to go for it. From our location, Mabry Mill was about 25 miles north. I didn’t think that the parkway would be open all the way even though it was a balmy 35 degrees. There was snow on the side of the road all along the way, but the roads, for the most part were clear and dry.

Richard sat in the copilot’s seat happily snapping pictures through the windshield and side window. He wasn’t about to allow the outside air to disturb his comfort.

Surprisingly, we made it all the way to Mabry Mill. At this point, I had no expectation, but what a pleasant surprise it was to see the mill totally frozen over! What luck!!! Well, maybe Richard didn’t think that. I’d never seen any pictures of the mill like this. Much to Richard’s credit, we stayed there for at least an hour and photographed ice.

I know that I had a great time! We left there and headed back south for warmer climes. As we descended I-77 from VA and headed back into NC, Richard’s smile got wider with each increase of the thermometer! I don’t know what’s on today’s agenda, perhaps a trip south into South Carolina. I’m sure that he’s had enough ice for one visit!