A couple of elk were crossing the parkway, and I managed to take a quick photo. As I slowly started to pass, trying not to scare them, the complete idiot behind me decided that would be a good time to pass me on the right, inches from the elk, practically pushing them away into the woods. Who hates mega fauna that much? So I decided to demonstrate what instant acceleration looks like in a Tesla, and I never saw him again.

The parkway isn’t the fastest way to get anywhere. My navigation kept telling me to get off and take a straighter road, so I turned it off. Anybody who is in too much of a hurry should take another route. It winds along the ridge line from Great Smoky through North Carolina and Virginia to Shenandoah, and it is delightful. I saw some kind of light pink rhododendrons blooming along the wet ridge rocks above 5000 feet. I think Catawba, named after a local Native American tribe, or maybe Vaseyi, named after the famous botanist who discovered them 150 years ago. The former would be early, but it’s unseasonably warm now, due to the climate crisis.

The parkway is best enjoyed at leisure or in segments, and people who don’t care about nature should avoid it.