Day 5 - The Rain Gods Become Fickle

It was bound to happen sometime.   The rain gods did not dump anyhting on us for the first 2 days of the trip and then yesterday were kind enough to only rain while we were in museums or at dinner.  Today they fired a warning shot at us when after a 2 hour hike the ski opened up just as we got to the parking lot so s sprint to the car saved a complete soaking.  Of course we did not heed the warning to give up and go home so as we were pulling into  our campground at about 10:30pm we got to set up the tent for the first time in both the dark and a downpour.  Luckily there was a roof over the picnic table which of course got moved so our tent was able to be setup under cover.  We stayed dry so the weather gods will no doubt try again tomorrow.

Another pattern is developing where we intend to get going early and don't which may have a lot to do with the other pattern of getting to our nightly destinations later and later each day.  We have gone from 9ish to 10is to 11ish.  At this rate we will be getting in just in time for breakfast soon.

Enough of our struggles with weather and time schedules.  One reason we are late is that that we are packing in a lot each day.  Today we set out for a drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway and drive we did.  The Tesla charging issue dictated that we actually had to leave the parkway for a bit to recharge.  While the car recharged we stopped into the nearest restaurant for some so-so Chinese food.  We should have realized that we should not get Chinese food in North Carolina but no BBQ places were near the Supercharger.  Then it was back to the beautiful Blue  Ridge Mountains.  As always pictures of mountains pale in comparison to the real things so I won't include too many of them even though we took dozens.

Blue Ridge Mountain overlook.  You can see why they are called blue.  According to the signage along the trail it is due to organic molecules being lost from the plants during the day

There are aliens watching along some trails

Statistics Corner

States involved: We added North Carolina to the list of states

Final mileage for the day 506.5  kWh used 151.8  

Charging 

Wytheville  VA  60 minutes   

Asheville NC 1 hour

Regular Features

Song of the Day: We listened to mostly classical music and while there is not a clear winner for song of the day we agreed that Mozart is the best composer to accompany a drive down wooded mountain roads

Coolest Car of the day: Again it was late in the day just as we were leaving the Blue Ridge Parkway for good. when there was a bright red Jaguar XKE convertible stopped on the side of the road.  The hood wasn't open so maybe it was still running.  No picture though so you will have to imagine it for yourself.

Coolest Thing of the Day - Larry

We took a nice hike in the morning and part was through a large meadow  which was full of butterflies.  I chased them around for a long time trying to get them to sit still for photos without much luck but I did get one.

The one butterfly I got to stay still long enough

Coolest Thing of the Day - Michelle

Michelle enjoyed the walk but wants everyone to know that in general she thought there was too much driving, too much rain, the meals sucked.  There was no breakfast at the hotel, and as noted above started late so ate granola bars for breakfast.  This was followed by the aforementioned crummy lunch which was followed by eating peanut butter on pita bread in the drizzle because the Supercharger was nowhere near a decent place to eat and as already mentioned we were already quite late so could not stop.