We’d only expected to be driving the parkway for 3 days and here we are 5 days later, still going!

Our engine check light has been coming on and off for a few days. When we stopped at a garage to fill up we asked the mechanic there to take a look at the codes. He said as long as the van is running fine, none of the codes should be a problem.

We stopped off at the music centre which is on the parkway. It has a museum about the history of bluegrass music and it was interesting. They had some mountain music scheduled to start at midday, we we went for a hike to fill in time until then.

The band was 3 guys and a lady, 2 guitars, a double bass and my new favourite, a banjo!

We watched them for a bit then headed on our way. we saw many deer on our drive today, but no bears.

There were more stunning overlooks, but we didn’t feel like stopping off for hikes as it was really hot and humid.

We arrived at the national park camping ground just before 6pm and there was no internet coverage, and I was planning to talk to dad at 6.10 pm for his birthday. apparently there was a lodge up the road with wifi.

We decided to choose our camping spot first then go up to the lodge. As we drove around the campground, it was very dark and damp, surrounded by trees and the parking spots were rutted and not level. There were only a handful of campers there so plenty of space, so we headed to the lodge first so I wouldn’t miss my call with Dad, John and Paul.

We had a good chat with the boys, Dad seemed to be happy watching Paul’s fancy organ play happy birthday. It was quite impressive.

After the call, neither of us fancied going back to the damp campground so we asked if we could stay the night in the lodge carpark. They said it shouldn’t be a problem, so we had dinner there and slept in the carpark.