We left South Carolina and headed to North Carolina to the Blue Ridge Parkway, often referred to as America's favourite drive.The parkway curves around and through the Blue Ridge Mountains and has some amazing view points, but nothing that could quite compare to the south island of New Zealand.The parkway has a 45 mph speed limit, and many times you have to do below this due to sharp bends and other traffic, but it really is quite pretty.We spent all afternoon driving along the parkway, stopping at various viewpoints and visitor centres to take in the scenery and gather information.Unfortunately as we climbed higher we became immersed into the clouds several times, so some views were missed due to the hazy mist.

We had not planned exactly where we would spend the night, as this would be our first night not staying with people, so we had some flexibility.We decided to try a town called Blowing Rock, as it was just off the Parkway and Graham was getting a little tired.We went into the first motel that we saw and managed to negotiate a good price for a fantastic room, with free buffet breakfast.They also had wine tasting and snacks between 5 and 6pm, and as it was coming up to 5pm that sold it to us!There were few people tasting wine, so we took advantage of this and stayed there until 7pm - we did not want the wine to go to waste!The staff were very friendly and said we could keep drinking and eating, so we had decided to skip dinner and fill up on the free cheese and biscuits, and cookies, to save money.Whilst drinking wine I got chatting to an American lady called Marion, about our travels, and she and her husband Paul invited us to dine with them that evening as their guests at The Manor House Restaurant at Chitola.Chitola was a was big country club/ resort and the food, venue and company were all fantastic; we had such a good time.Once again we were overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers, which we have found everywhere in America so far.

The next morning we had breakfast and then set off to see the Blowing Rock, from which the town was named.We paid $6 (about 4.00 GBP) each to enter a small park/ gardens which has in it the rocks and various spectacular view points.The Blowing Rock overhangs Johns River Gorge, which is 3000 feet below, and the rocky walls of the gorge form a flume through which a very strong wind blows.From the viewpoints we were able to see Table Rock and the Grandfather Mountain, which is the highest peak in the Blue Ridge.

We then drove back to the Parkway and continued north about another 100 miles, stopping again at various viewpoints along the way, and crossing the border into Virginia.We also stopped at the Music Centre, but unfortunately the exhibition was not completed yet.However, we did get to hear some traditional Blue Ridge Music, as two men were playing and singing outside the visitor centre. Finally we left the Blue Ridge Parkway and the 45 mph speed limit and got onto the interstate to head towards the Shenandoah National Park.But after a short while the rain came pouring down, so we were soon back to crawling along at a slow pace!

We checked in to a budget motel at Waynesborough, just south of the Shenandoah National Park and in the morning entered the park.We drove the whole 105 miles of the Skyline, heading north through the park, but saw very little as it was so foggy!We stopped a few times to have a look at the viewpoints, but at only a couple did we actually see anything.It was so disappointing, as our park pass lasted for 7 days, but being on a schedule, we had to keep going.We did stop at a couple of visitor centres which had great exhibitions about the wildlife and history of the park.We also did a trek to see the Dark Hollow Falls, and found out what the webs were that we had seen in the trees over the last few days.They were actually nests made by Fall Webworms, and the moth caterpillars feed on the enclosed leaves and enlarge the web as they grow.

We decided to stay at a motel in the town at the top of the park: Front Royal, so it's just a short drive to Washington DC tomorrow.So here we are now, sitting on our Queen Size bed, flicking through the hundreds of TV channels, whilst eating the pizza we just had delivered.We're fully embracing some American culture tonight!

Maggie x