Mabry Mill and Rocky Knob

We are nearly at the NE end of the Blue Ridge Parkway now, and will soon be making our way north.
Out of nowhere we came across Mabry Mill, one of the most picturesque sights on the BRP.  Suddenly it appears, on a bend.
Lonely Planet describes it, ",,, the mill nestles in such a fuzzy green vale you'll think you've entered the opening chapter of a Tolkien novel".

Mabry Mill

We walked into one one the wooden shacks to have a look, and found an old boy in there sitting in the dark.  He was a wheel-wright and blacksmith who repairs anything wooden or metal on site.  He was very kind and chatted to us about England, his job, the area, and the war (WW2).

Very close to Mabry Mill is Rocky Knob.  What a great name!

It too is very picturesque and has views across the Virginia countryside.  Unusual style fences are found along the BRP.  Here are some examples.

We stayed one night in a National Forest campsite, without any hook-up of electricity, water, or sewer.
It was dark!  Very dark!
We thought we might see bears there, but we didn't.
Great fun camping rough, though.

Shirley, we love you!

Oh my word, we left Fort Chiswell and went to find an Information Centre for the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Shirley Welch and Ruth

Talk about finding a needle in a haystack.  We followed the signs and it was a bit like following a "Deviation" sign in France.  You know what I mean, - you follow the sign, and then there is nothing!  Absolute zippo!  You end up lost, or at the very least, looking stupid.
Eventually we asked where the Information Centre was, and were directed to a Farmer's Market on a parking lot, - with a warning that there would be a town festival going on. (But there wasn't).
When we got inside the tiny Visitor's/Information Centre, we were greeted by an old lady at least 80 years old!  (We kind of worked that one out from the things she told us).
She was the loveliest, most informative person we have met, and gave us fantastically good advice about the Blue Ridge Parkway.  In all the time we have been here, no one has given us such good information.
Soon we told her what we were doing, and oh boy, she was thrilled.
Shirley Welch of Carroll County Office of Tourism, Farmers Market Road, Hillsville, Virginia is now our VBF.  We spent a good 30 minutes to an hour, just enjoying the delightful company of a wonderful, gracious old lady, who was as switched on as any youngster.  Completely refreshing.
She ran the Tourism Office with style and perfection.

Shirley, it was a complete pleasure to meet you.
If  you ever get to read this blog, - our lives were enriched by meeting you!

Wytheville, Virginia. Day two.

The pace has slowed a bit of late!  Either that, or we have just got a bit slack at getting going.  But as it doesn't matter too much, - hey ho.
We made a quick detour to visit Wytheville, VA after leaving our campsite of the last two days.

Wytheville is not a big town and doesn't have much going for it, except that it has a quaint charm about it.  Yet it is a county town, also has some historical significance.  Some of the towns and cities we have been through have been so big, that you can't really get a feel for them.
Not here.  You feel as if you could walk around it, have a coffee here, meet some friends, and pop into the library while you're in town, - and still be home for lunch.

Another BIG bike!

Our next campsite was just a few miles away from the last one.  In fact we only drove 22 miles yesterday!
We took a dip in the swimming pool, and saw eagles flying overhead.  Beautiful.  Peaceful.  Relaxing.
And then we watched an out-of-date B&W cowboy film on DVD.  We thought we were going to educate ourselves about Daniel Boone, an early explorer/settler in the region.  What we saw was a corny, hilarious, 1957 black & white film with some very poor acting!  We laughed all night long.

But the scenery has changed from mountainous, and forests, to rolling Virginian farmland.

We like Virginia.