Reading for my upcoming adventures on the Blue Ridge Parkway -- Photo by Pat Bean
“Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be … Close your eyes and let your spirit start to soar, and you’ll live as you’ve never lived before.” Erich Fromm
Travels With Maggie
There’s something magical about getting on the road with no destination in mind and stopping whenever and wherever fancy strikes . That was the ideal for my travels before I actually got on the road. It worked – sometimes.
Today I spend endless hours plotting my journeys, like the one I plan to take this spring driving the Blue Ridge Parkway between Smokey Mountain and Shenandoah national parks.
For my upcoming Blue Ridge Parkway adventure, I purchased mile-marker guides of the parkway (Rockfish Gap to Grandfather Mountain and Grandfather Mountain to Great Smokey Mountain NP) by William Lord. I learned from Lord that plans for the Parkway begin in the early 1930s and that upon hearing such news Aunt Caroline Brinegar, a-sittin’ and a-rockin’ in her cabin high in the Blue Ridge by Air Bellows Gap slapped her knee and laughed at the notion. “Why Lord have mercy, no body a-living’ could put one of them through here.”
This is an actual page from my Blue Ridge Parkway plans. I note the campground where I expect to stay for the night with a telephone number so I can either make a reservation or cancel one. Occasionally I even insert pictures. -- Photo by Pat Bean
As part of my planning routine, I plot the proposed route out on my Microsoft Streets & Trips computer software, which I use as my road atlas. I then go online to research the sights along the way, Finally, I use my Trailer Life Directory to find convenient campgrounds for each night’s stop.
This kind of detailed planning takes days and days, but I enjoy doing it. Besides, I’ve discovered that such planning allows me the security of knowing I will have a safe place to stay the night, assures me I won’t overlook interesting places, and provides directions to trails I want to hike.
There are still unexpected rainbows, the shimmer of sun shining down on a field of poppies, and the people whose paths I cross to keep the journey interesting.
There are also days when I trash the plan on a whim so Maggie and I can stay in place for awhile, or take an unplanned side trip. Just because I have a plan doesn’t mean it has to be followed. That’s the magic I allow to remain in my plans.
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