Woke up early in the morning to rain. Learned it was going to rain all day and night long, ending sometime the next morning. We left the Peaks of Otter Campground and drove down off the Parkway looking for a campground with hookups. Located one in Roanoke. Driving to it, we ended up back on the Parkway. We came to where it was closed for repairs at MM115, where we exited for the Virginia Explore Park, still inside the park. Apparently this is a private campground operated by a vendor within the Parkway’s boundaries. We got a site with electric to wait out the rain.
The rain ended during the night. We left the Explore Park Campground late that morning and took the detour through Roanoke to get around the shut-down section of the Parkway. We got back on the Parkway late that morning at MM136. The rest of the day was a very pleasant. Most of it was spent driving through farmland.
We stopped at Rake’s Mill Pond to eat lunch.
After lunch, we drove to Rocky Knob, but the visitor center was closed (once again) and it was too early to stop to camp. So we continued south.
We stopped at Mabry Mill and walked around there.
The mill run.
There were other buildings there.
Also there was a watch tower. It sat on top of a hill, giving it a good view over the surrounding countryside.
I don’t think it was big enough to serve as a fort.
There was a ranger set up to sell handwoven baskets. I guess times were hard for park employees during Covid and they had to supplement their salaries.
From there we drove on to the Blue Ridge Music Center.
Where we heard some good bluegrass music.
Next American Location 11: On the Blue Ridge Parkway, From Virginia into North Carolina
From the North Rim 