Virginia to North Carolina

Left Washington DC in the pouring rain but in good spirits - the bike is fixed, we have a replacement USB cable for the camera (Fiona left the original in Canada!) & we had discovered that the Internet can be accessed at no cost in public libraries. A morning usefully spent and some lessons learned - we hope!

During the course of the following 3 days we drove along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains, firstly along the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park & then along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a stunning, if slow, drive. The "Fall" is just as spectacular here as in New England. Whichever way we looked there were glowing forests and mountains stretching for miles. On the higher reaches the trees had finished shedding their leaves but skeletal Rowan trees were loaded with scarlet berries which lit up the landscape. Misty clouds swirled around us on the first day & on the second day we drove through endless clouds of ladybirds! Some joined us as travelling companions but a more considerable number ended their lives as sticky yellow patches on the front of the RV......... but hundreds of thousands swarmed on......