Saturday 12 April
The mood is a little deflated this morning as, not only do we awake to rain but we have to say goodbye to Ralph and Katrina. We have really enjoyed their company and being able to share the experience of riding almost all of the Blue Ridge Parkway. They have to get back to Florida to be back at work on Monday - so for them no more scenic routes but the insterstates for the approx 700miles back to Deland.

Half an hour later, it looks like the rain has eased so we pack up and get back onto the Parkway and head to Natural Bridge - a village, a resort and a bridge. It's not long before the sun is out and by the time we get into Natural Bridge village the temperature is a balmy 80 degrees.

We decide to stay at Natrual Bridge Hotel which looks very grand on first impression but has some very cute little cottages across the road which will be our home for the next two nights. Obviously, the main attraction is the bridge itself which is at the beginning of the Cedar Creek Trail. It is an amazing piece of nature's architecture, formed 300 million to 500 million years ago from limestone, dolomites and shales when the area was submerged. Two million years ago the layers were uplifted, then 3 million years underground creeks flowed through the porous rock carving out caverns and hollows. That's when the weak rock eventually collapsed an all that remained was teh bridge, the chasm and Cedar Creek. Coming more-up-to-date, in Colonial times the bridge ranked with Niagara Falls as the most notable natural wonders of the world and continued through the 19th century to be a popular tourist destination. In 1750, when the young George Washington was a surveyor, legend has it that he carved his initials in the rock whilst surveying the bridge. Then in 1774, Thomas Jefferson purchased the bridge from King George III. Ultimately, the Natural Bridge was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998 and continues today to be a major tourist attraction for Virginia. The trail is full of wildlife - snakes, frogs, birds and butterflies - wildflowers and history including a Monacan Indian Village exhibit. All in all, a really beautiful place.

Sunday 13 April
Also at Natural Bridge resort is the Wax Museum which is a quanit museum with scenes depitcing major events in Virginia's history - including it's place in the civial war and America's first four presidents coming from the state. Nothing too strenuous on a laid-back, if not slightly chilly, Sunday at Natural Bridge, Virginia.