Wytheville KOA Campground
Wytheville, Virginia
5:30 pm EDT
Overcast and raining lightly
Temperature: 57F
Elevation: 2362 feet

We arrived here a little before 4 pm after a pleasant drive from Alexandria in a mix of sun and clouds with temps in the 60's and 70's. Ed's following doctor's orders and stopping frequently for lower back exercises and a nice long lunch with a walk. With all that we still made nearly 300 miles in 7 hours.

We drove west on I-66 through the Virginia hunt country and then southwest on I-81 down the Shenandoah Valley. Lovely country, just coming alive--Spring is in full force here and the shrubs and trees are in blossom and the grasses are greening. A lovely purple blossoming tree is found frequently along I-81, but unfortunately we couldn't identify it. There are still some late-blooming dogwoods, but most have since peaked, as have the daffodils and other early Spring bulb flowers.

Tomorrow we climb to the ridgeline and follow the Blue Ridge Parkway into North Carolina and toward the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.