KKSummer2015: Day 19 - Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah Parkway on way to Harper's Ferry

[Kalon] Today was supposed to be a relatively short driving day from Roanoke, VA to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. So we opted to get off the main roads and back on the Blue Ridge Parkway (and then the Shenandoah Parkway). Pleasant driving but very slow. Seems like after every curve there was a new view overlook.

Eventually we reached Humpback Mountain Visitor Center where they had recreated some wooden structures reflecting how the early settlers lived. There was a cabin (2nd story accessed by a ladder for the kids) where 9 people lived!

(Strange guy in front of cabin was not an example of an early settler!)

And after a while we stopped at a picnic site off the Parkway for our typical lunch.

Fat Frog Hollow Picnic Area

(Strange woman at picnic table was also not an example of an early settler!)

[Karen] We were able to continue on into the Shenandoah National Park when The Blue Ridge Parkway ended, and it was more miles of beautiful scenery until we exited at Hwy 33 in order to make it into Harpers Ferry. It actually takes 3 to 4 days to traverse the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Shenandoah Natl Park highway at the max speed of 35-45 mph (and believe me, the curvy road was kind of scary at those speeds sometimes!)

After descending from the Parkways into Front Royal we took Hwy 304 thru the Shenandoah Valley toward Harpers Ferry. The drive along 304 was a welcome respite from the incessant truck traffic and their aggressive driving along the major I-highways.. The Shenandoah Valley is bucolic and beautiful.