ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: BETH MACY
SOURCE: BETH MACY
Memo to: All you people who sit at desk jobs all day and make a lot of money - but don't get paid to see the leaves turning from behind the wheel of a station wagon, or a Harley, or an 18-wheeler, or even Lifeguard 10.
From: Those of us who do
Re: The best places to see fall foliage
P.S.: Nanny-nanny boo-boo.
* * *
If you have to drive this weekend to see the fall-color peak, drive. If you can walk, hike or ride a bike - to savor more fully the view - even better.
Zack Shiffer, parts manager for Roanoke Valley Harley Davidson, prefers the view up close and personal, from the back of his Harley. His favorite roaring loop: north on the Blue Ridge Parkway, past the Peaks of Otter, then off at the Natural Bridge exit to U.S. 11, and back to Roanoke.
Bus driver J.B. Richardson, a semi-retired tour guide for Abbott Bus, has driven as far north as Canada's Prince Edward Island, as far west as California. ``Nothing beats Nova Scotia for scenic beauty in the fall, it's unspoiled,'' he says.
But closer to home, two day-trips he recommends are: U.S. 460 West to Mountain Lake (turning right on Virginia 700 to get to the 360-degree foliage view surrounding the lake); and straight up to Winchester, through the Shenandoah Valley.
For the latter, he wakes his wife Jean early, and they drive north up Interstate 81, getting off the interstate periodically to ``run over to old Route 11. We'll stop for breakfast at Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant [near Staunton]. And lord, honey, don't leave out White's Truck Stop at Raphine - there's nothing low-brow about that. They've got potatoes and onions, potatoes and cheese, and eggs anyway you want them.''
Dell Wimmer knows a lot of her truck drivers go through some pretty back roads, delivering materials that will eventually become Shawnee Log Homes. But from the window behind her desk in Shawnee's Elliston office, she says, ``there isn't a prettier place to see for miles.''
Those in the know call it ``the Elliston straightaway on 460,'' and Dell has watched many a motorist pull over in her parking lot, stop and take pictures of the kaleidoscopic maples.
New parents are a great source of information on back roads and scenic routes. Because when babies don't sleep at home, babies sometimes sleep in the car. So, parents drive and drive and drive
Blacksburg's Mary Ann Hansen, who is both a naturalist and a new mom, recommends what locals call ``The Blacksburg Road,'' also called Catawba Road, also called Virginia 785. Catch it near The Homeplace Restaurant in Catawba, from Virginia 311 (``and stop for fried chicken,'' she says), or from Blacksburg on Harding Avenue.
Piloting the Lifeguard 10 helicopter can be a stressful, life-and-death matter - nothing humdrum about it. But sometimes, says pilot Terry Lovell, routine hospital transfers are made, making for a serene return trip home.
``The best flight I ever had was coming back from Charlottesville last fall. It was along the Bedford side of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it was a good clear day, and the sun was going down.
``And it was the closest thing to heaven I've ever seen. It was like I could reach out and touch it, and I don't guess I'll ever forget that day.''
Two places that Realtor Spring Cho likes to take clients during autumn are the Blue Ridge Parkway and Hollins College. And she never misses the giant 300-year-old oak in the middle of the road on Carolina Avenue in South Roanoke.
``I go out of my way to show off that tree, and they always say, `WOW!''' Cho says.
Truck driver Rob Lawton claims Northeast Ohio in the fall and Pennsylvania in the spring are his favorite two spots to haul his NAPA auto parts truck through. But when he's out driving the back roads nearby - looking for hunting spots in his own four-wheel-drive vehicle - Lawton heads to Bald Mountain in the Jefferson National Forest.
Stopping at The Pines Campground, lodged on Barbours Creek on Virginia 617 in Craig County, ``makes a real nice day trip,'' he says. ``In fact, anywhere you stop on top of that mountain will give you a real pretty view.''
And don't forget the topographical map. Unless you like getting lost.
I once got lost in a borrowed convertible in the fall - which is to say, pleasantly lost - by heading west on Virginia 739 from U.S. 220 in Boones Mill. Several hollows, creeks and pinwheel turns later, we ended up on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Bent Mountain.
I still have no idea how we got there, which is the best part of cruising for colors: You never know what you'll find around the next curve.
Sometimes you end up at the perfect junk store in the middle of nowhere with rock-bottom prices and a home-cooking cafe next door. Sometimes you end up with the gas tank on E and a flat tire with no spare.
But if it's fall, you can at least be assured of this: You'll have plenty to look at on your walk to the nearest phone.
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