The day began cloudy and cool but not frigid like yesterday. I had reorganized my bags the night before so I was ready a half hour early this time and spent less time searching for stuff. It's a process. I'll get it right eventually.
We hopped back on the BRP where we left off last night and continued down the twisting two lane. Since we were at a lower elevation the mountain views gave way to more rolling hills and farmland. Lots and lots of farmland. Cows, horses, sheep and goats were the only animals we saw.
Eventually we came to another detour. A long one. According to the National Park Service (NPS) website the Parkway is closed to all uses from Milepost 121.4 (U.S. 220) to Milepost 135.9 (Adney Gap) due to a full road failure caused by heavy rains and it will be closed for nearly 18 months. There was only one detour sign at the closure site and we were left to our own devices. So we got turned around when I said 419N to 220S even though I had the picture right in front of me. We had gone nearly 25 miles in the wrong direction on 419 before I figured it out. Ooops! Wrongway PJ strikes again! I have absolutely no sense of direction. Hence the reliance on Google Maps. No worries it led us to a nice lunch at Applebee's.
Soon after getting back on the BRP it ended and we entered Shenandoah National Park (SNP) on Skyline Drive. That's when our next happy accident occurred. It just so happens this is the first day of National Park Week so the entrance was free! Normally it's $30!
However, by now it's late afternoon and worse it had started to drizzle rain. So after about 30 minutes of driving Skyline Drive we departed on the first exit available and hightailed it to our destination for the night, Winchester VA. By now we'd been in the van for nine and a half hours and that was two hours too long for me! My back hurt. My leg hurt. Everything hurt! So after discussing my limits MTC said we'd take tomorrow off and spend two nights in Winchester so I could recuperate.
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