The first road of the day out of Petersburg (220)- farms in the fog, trees in color, hills, curves. Beautiful. During the ascent up to George Washington National Forest, one of the corners looked like it defied gravity! The roads are tilted on corners, but with such a steep incline around this sharp bend, it looked like I was approaching an Escher drawing, or a road out of the movie Inception! There are so few cars on the road, it's fantastic. I was wrong to doubt Rodney- cruise control is glorious (on straightaways). I was in full yellow rain gear through the fog and clouds in the Shenandoah Mountains. Beautiful country.
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY!! Foggy, and a little wet, but both cleared up soon enough and it was just heaven. (I had a feeling it would clear up, so I strip-changed out of my rain gear in a gas station parking lot).
After a lovely ride on the BRP, I slogged down 81 to arrive at a perfect first campsite, Dixie Caverns in Salem, VA. I set up my tent, drove to get groceries, came back to camp, cracked a beer and had dinner. Afterwards, I had a smoke, and played the harmonica in the dark. Beautiful day. Thank you God.
*I noticed in myself and then in 2 other campsites: we're still on a phones a fair amount, despite being outdoors/camping. Just because we can hear crickets doesn't mean people won't still be glued to their internet connection. But even here- in this trailer park more or less- I find that if I simply turn off my phone or put it away and then sit still and look around at the trees and leaves and hills, I'm not missing anything. Nature will keep you on your toes- at least for a city boy- anything could happen at any moment. Which tells me that it's not merely good enough to say, "I'm just gonna to get out of the city and enjoy nature to decompress." In this instance, physical location might not be enough to change problematic behavior.
I wonder if my perceived attachment to my text messages is really just loneliness kicking in on Day 2 of the solo road trip?
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