NORTH CAROLINA

The main purpose of this trip was to clear my head after Julie had terminated our marriage. But I was able to combine it with a mini business trip so as to provide some tax deduction. Thus I stopped at Lucent in Cary, NC which is southeast of Raleigh. There I met with some engineers that I had been working closely with, but that had only been via email and phone calls.

Lucent at Cary

From Lucent, took Rt 64 across Jordan Lake, then 87 to 40 to 421 to Wilkesboro. Wilkesboro has Tyson foods, a huge chicken processing factory in its center. It is not an attractive city. From Wilkesboro, took Rt 16 towards the parkway. For a while, I branched off to the right of Rt 16, onto Old Rt 16. There were some pretty spots which were spoiled by high tension lines. Most of the houses were unimpressive.


Jordan LK rt64	OldRt16	OldRt16

Drove a while along the parkway and then exited to the west at Glendale Springs. Stayed at Crystal Spring Inn . The terrain was very pretty, not steep hills. But at over 3000 feet it often gets snow in the winter. And it did snow that night.


BlueRdg	BlueRdg


BlueRdg	BlueRdg	CrystalSpringInn

Took 115 back to Wilkesboro. On the way, took these pictures.


Rt115	Rt115

From Wilkesboro, took Rt 268 to Elkin and then Rt 77 north to Mr Airy which is close to the Virginia border.


Mt Airy	Mt Airy

Passed into Virginia on a back road and came upon a view much like we see of Mt Whiteface.


Pkwy bottom	Pkwy bottom

Passed over the parkway and came to a winter wonderland .


West of Pkwy	West of Pkwy

Made a side trip to Stone Mountain, which is a very nice park for both camping and hiking. I hiked up the mountain, perhaps 1 hr up and ½ hr down. At the top, there is just a steep treeless ledge to climb. A little scary, especially on the way down, but the view was well worth the excitement. On the way down a saw some deer.


StnMtnEntrance	stone mtn	stone mtn


stone mtn	stone mtn	stone mtn

deerStnMtn

Continued west on Rt. 21, crossing over the parkway which was closed. I'm glad the parkway was closed because the scenery tends to be better off the parkway than on it. On the parkway, there are lots of trees to block the view. Of the Parkway, you get to appreciate the many fields better. And looking back to the ridge is a pretty view. To return east, I took R18, which I think is prettier and has nicer dwellings than Rt 16.

The Rt 21, Rt 18 circuit is a GREAT loop.