10:25 AM Entered Blue Ridge Parkway.

This section of Blue Ridge Parkway (South of Asheville) is the most scenic. First, the Parkway climbs to an elevation of 6053 feet, which is the highest point on the entire Parkway. I was wearing my thick jacket. There were no flowers along the road. The trees were also different up there. None of them had any leaves.

It was beautiful!

The Parkway then goes on top of a series of mountains. The scenery is fantastic. This Southern section of the Parkway (South of Asheville) is the most scenic portion.

1:05 PM Parked at "Waterrock Knob" viewpoint (elevation at parking lot 5718 feet).

Waterrock Knob is the most scenic viewpoint on Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. The viewpoint is not on the Parkway itself -- it is accessed by a short road that branches off the Parkway. The parking lot is about twenty feet above the Parkway, and provides excellent views of the Blue Ridge Parkway curving on and around the Blue Ridge Mountains. There is a short (but extremely strenuous) hike from the parking lot to the top of a nearby hill. I climbed to the top to an elevation of 6292 feet. It was a very tiring climb, and I had to take my jacket off on the way up. There were a lot of trees on top of the hill with their branches drooping down almost to the ground. This interfered with my view. As I was coming down, I saw some children running up to the top (this was at the very beginning of the hike, next to the parking lot). One fellow hiker who came down with me told them "I wouldn't run if I were you!". I agreed completely and told them not to run up the hill. They wouldn't listen. I have no idea what happened to those brave folks who dared to run up the hill at Waterrock Knob!

2:10 PM Left Waterrock Knob.

2:50 PM End of Blue Ridge Parkway. . One of the three most scenic roads in the Continental United States. The MOST SCENIC inland road in the Continental United States[27].

2:55 PM Entered Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

At the visitor center, I found out that there is only one place in the park that I where I would be interested in stopping. This is "Clingmans Dome", which is about half-way into the park.

4:05 PM Parked at Clingmans Dome.

Clingmans Dome is yet another strenuous climb up 300 feet from the parking lot to the viewing area. This one had a paved walkway and benches along the way where I could sit and relax for a while. But the climb itself was much steeper than at Waterrock Knob. When I got to the top, I found out that the "top" is not really the "top"! From the top of the hill, there is ANOTHER pathway/bridge that climbs straight up into the air. I walked up that walkway to a tiny, circular viewing area. This was above the top the trees, and the view was magnificent. The mountains I was seeing are called "Great Smoky Mountains", but in reality, they are the same as "Blue Ridge Mountains" and "Shenandoah Mountains". All the same range. Different names.

I met a large group of Indians at the top. They had come all the way from Atlanta! They were all in their mid-to-late 20's. Most of them complained to me about the incredibly long distance that they had just traveled. They had driven for AN ENTIRE DAY to get here! A few of them said it was nothing -- only a day -- and told the others to stop whining. One of the non-whiners asked me where I was from. I told him "Southern California". This was the conversation that followed (to my best recollection -- notice the length of his questions versus the length of my answers):

Him:	Oh, you're from Southern California! Where exactly -- Los Angeles? San Diego? Palm Springs?
Me:	Los Angeles.
Him:	Did you drive or fly here?
Me:	Drove.
Him:	WOW! How long did it take you? It must have taken at least a week, right? Maybe even more?
Me:	About one and half months.
Him:	HOW LONG?
Me:	About 50 days. Actually, I think it is EXACTLY 50 days today.
Him (to his friend):	Will you stop complaining about our day-long drive? I know it was boring. I was bored too. This guy has been driving for almost two months now. You don't hear him complaining, do you?
(To me:)	How could it have taken you 50 days just to drive from Los Angeles to here? Did you have any car trouble? Accidents? Tickets?

...And the "interrogation" went on and on... I told him why I had taken so long, where I went, what I saw, what I liked, what I did not like, what I would recommend, what I would not recommend, how much money I have spent so far, how many miles I had driven, the fact that I never got bored, ...and on and on and on and on... he wouldn't leave me alone!

We all walked down together (while I was still answering questions -- all from the same person). When we got to our cars, I went my way and they went their way.

5:10 PM Left Clingmans Dome, going my way.

5:25 PM Tennessee; 139626 miles.

5:55 PM Finished Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Since Clingmans Dome was the only thing I saw here, my rating is for Clingmans Dome only. There are a lot of other attractions that are well worth spending some time in. Rating for Great Smokies/Clingams Dome = .

Immediately after exiting the park, I got lost in the town of Gatlinburg, TN. Somewhere in the town, I bought a Tennessee postcard. In the postcard, I wrote to Parixit I was lost and asked him if he knew how to get to the Interstate! Then I mailed the postcard.

I did find my way back (without Parixit's help). Actually, I was already on the correct road, and didn't even realize it!

I had fallen behind by three days from my original plan. Now, I was supposed to take a slight detour through the Eastern portion of Kentucky (going through the city of Louisville and Mammoth Caves National Park). This detour was planned as a three-day detour. Since I was three days behind and I wanted to stick to my schedule, I canceled going to Kentucky (a regretful mistake). I had already been there, photographed the "Welcome To Kentucky" sign, and sent Parixit a postcard.

My revised plan for tonight was to go to Knoxville (Tennessee's third-largest city) and sleep there. In spite of the fact that I had climbed two mountains and answered a million questions asked by a complete stranger, I was not too tired. My overall plan was to drive North/Northeast on I-81, which runs parallel to the Blue Ridge Parkway for its entire length of 450 miles. According to the AAA map, I-81 is also a scenic road (since it has views of the same Blue Ridge Mountains). Because of this, I had planned to drive on I-81 during the daytime. And therefore, sleep in Knoxville tonight.

It did not quite work out that way.

It started raining.

This was not a "light shower". This was the kind of rain that keeps falling continuously for several days. I did not want to go up I-81 the next morning during a rainfall, so I decided to go up tonight. I heard on the Knoxville radio stations that it wasn't raining in the North.

I knew what I was getting into. I would be driving 300 MORE MILES tonight! It was already 7:30 PM. I bought dinner-to-go at a McDonalds in Morristown, then ate it an hour later at a rest area on I-81.

9:45 PM Entered Virginia; 139764 miles. The rain had slowed down here, and it would soon stop as I continued driving North.

10:00 PM Filled gas in the small dark village of Bristol (no lights anywhere except on my car). Continued driving North, a little tired now.

Around midnight, I started to feel sleepy. I considered staying at a motel in the city of Roanoke, but finally decided not to. Instead, I started drinking Coke -- continuously, can after can. I had finished six cans of Coke (and Sprite) before 2:00 AM.

2:00 AM By now I was traveling Westbound on I-64, towards the state of West Virginia. There was absolutely no one on the road. It was a straight, level road. I was driving at about 70 Miles Per Hour, and I was feeling WIDE AWAKE, thanks to all that caffeine intake. There are no large towns on that section of I-64 in Virginia. I-64 goes through the Blue Ridge Mountains. Because of this, the freeway exits were not as frequent as I had wanted them to be.

I was starting to regret drinking six cans of Coke. I had to find an exit somewhere, and FAST! When I did not find an exit, I pulled over on the shoulder of the freeway and did what I had to do.

When I got back to the car, I thought this would be the perfect time to do something that I would NEVER be able to do ANYWHERE in the Los Angeles area AT ANY TIME!

I got back on the freeway, then stopped -- not on the shoulder, but on the freeway itself. I waited for a few seconds. I shifted to the "REVERSE" gear, and stepped on the accelerator! I drove in reverse on I-64 Westbound (going East) for about two minutes. Then I stopped again. Started driving forward. I had driven in a way that I would never be able to drive in Los Angeles.

2:30 AM Entered West Virginia; 140006 miles.

2:30 AM Rest Area/West Virginia Welcome Center.

Rested again. Then went to sleep.

License Plates:

MEU2MR	SC	Honda Accord
1 LEVI	IL	R.V.
JR SHERY	VA	Chevrolet

Expenses:

$42.51	Chase	Best Western Inn	Asheville, NC
$11	CB	Gas -- AMOCO	Asheville, NC
$27	Cash	Mailed parcel home -- Asheville Post Office	Asheville, NC
$3	Cash	Dinner -- McDonalds	Morristown, TN
$10	CB	Gas	Bristol, VA

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Continue on to May 28

[26] Actually, it is the only city on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
[27] The other two are U.S. Highway 1 along the Florida Keys and U.S. Highway 101 along the Pacific Coastline from the Oregon-Washington Border to Malibu, CA