Rained hard pretty much all night as far as I know. I heard on the radio that they had as much as 5 inches in some areas over night, so it was really coming down at times. I finally went to bed around midnight after watching the lightning flashing through the forest and the thunder sounding like Thor was right on top of the trailer. So it wasn't real early when I got up this morning.

    Decided it would be a good idea to go get checked in with the rangers before even eating breakfast, so that is what I did. No problem with the check in as they don't assign numbered spaces even for their reservation system. So I signed up for the next 8 nights and now know that it can be extended a few more days after that if I need more time in the area.

     Got back and started in fixing some breakfast but only got as far as toasting an english muffin when my friend from the town of Floyd emailed and said that her meeting in Roanoke had been cancelled and that she was free for lunch if I had the time. So I looked at the english muffin.... and thought about lunch out with a nice friend.... and looked at the muffin... and there was no contest. lunch out it was.

    Drove in and met her at a little restaurant she new, Natasha's Cafe, and we spent a very nice hour or so talking and eating this amazing homemade vegetable quiche, and in my case, a bowl of carrot-ginger soup, all washed down with a couple of cups of very hot tea. Very tasty!

    I spent the afternoon driving south on the 'Blue Ridge Parkway' to see what it had to offer. I spent some time at one of the scenic overlooks taking in the view. The tops of the mountains were all covered in fog, but the valley below with all the new leaves and the dogwoods and redbuds in bloom was stupendous. I watched these tendrils of fog as they twisted upward like small ethereal tornado's until they finally cooled enough to disappear. The buzzards had also discovered the same thermals and it was wild to see them fly into the mist and circle with them ever higher. It was really neat to be able to actually 'see' the air currents and how the birds would take advantage of them.

    Further along the way was Mabry Grist Mill, the most photographed area on the whole park area. I can understand how it would appeal to everyone as a subject to take pictures of, I certainly took enough of them, and I was out there in the rain at the time. I found that it is actually possible to hold an umbrella and take photo's at the same time, you just have to stick the handle in your shirt pocket and wrap your arm around it while zooming in and out. I'm waiting to see if the sun will come out sometime in the next few days as I would like to go back and take some more photo's in the light. But either way there will be a few pictures at some time in the near future.

    I went on back to Floyd afterwards and met up with my friend again for dinner. There isn't a whole lot open in Floyd on Tuesday night it seems so we ended up going to the one and only Mexican restaurant there. It was actually quite good considering I haven't had much luck with Mexican food anywhere east of the Mississippi River. I had combo fajitas with a Dos XX's and it was pretty darn good.

    Got a quick tour of my friends place after dinner as she lives on about 22 acres outside of town right above a sweet little river. A cup of hot tea and some good conversation and then it was time to head back to the trailer. I am sure glad there is such a thing as GPS as I would of been lost in 5 mins or less. Emma got me safely back to the trailer, though I have no idea how we got there.

    Tomorrow I think I'll head into Roanoke and see what there is to see in that town. I have heard of a transportation museum and an art museum and I am sure there are all kinds of historical sites scattered about so it should be a pretty busy day.