The map below is showing a Virginia section of the Parkway. 

We spent the third day of the workshop driving on the Parkway  and on some back roads all the way to Mabry Mills, Virginia.   You can see how far we got in Virginia by looking at the above map, two-thirds down the page.    The weather on this and subsequent days  was very good- cold in the morning before sunrise but gradually warming up to very pleasant temperatures by the afternoon.   The Parkway while not a National Park, is the most visited unit of the National Park System.  The project was originally called he Appalachian Scenic Highway and most construction was carried out by private contractors under federal contracts.  Work began on September 11,  1935 in North Carolina and construction began in Virginia in the following February.  On June 30, 1936 Congress formally authorized the project as the Blue Rige Parkway and placed it under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.  Construction of the Parkway took over 52 years to complete. 

Early morning sunrise, day three.  It was very, very cold at this elevation.  I kept going back into the van to warm up before coming out to take more pictures.  

I was happy when it was time to move on and warm up  in spite of the nice views.  You can see some layers of fog in the background but the sunrise colours were not very good.

We noticed Christmas Tree farms everywhere we went in North Carolina.  

We had a little time in the car to warm up before our next stop which was an old abandoned building on the parkway.  There was also a old church and another building a little further off but the colours were not the best.

This was our daily "forest" fix.  We stopped to photograph the trees and beautiful yellow leaves.   We had already made several stops and it was only 10 AM in the morning.  

This photo was taken near Lewis Fork Overlook on the Parkway  at an elevation of 3295 feet.   Finally lots of reds in the leaves.  

While driving around the countryside we overlooked this beautiful view of a farm in the mountains.

One of the stops we made was at a church and cemetery.  More nice colours in this area.  We had been driving on back roads when we found this scene.  

We were driving around more backroads and on  the Blue Ridge Parkway  looking for scenic places to stop and photograph.  We often saw some really nice colour but couldn't actually find a place to stop.  

Taking in the view on the Parkway.

Another scenic view spot on the parkway  that we came across later on in the afternoon.

We were on our way to Mabry Mill the slow way.  We kept coming to these great scenic spots where we had to stop.

After driving all day we finally made it to our destination, Mabry Mill around 5.30, just in time for perfect light.    Mabry Mill is a watermill located at milepost 176.2 of Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.   It is a tourist attraction for the picturesque views of the mill.   Construction was started in 1903.  It was first a blacksmith and wheelwright shop and then became a sawmill and by 1905 it was in operation as a gristmill.  By 1910 the front part of the mill was completed.  The buildings didn't look like they had changed in the last hundred years.  It was easy to understand why people come from all over to check out this spot.  One advantage of coming later in the day was that there were fewer people around.  It was a little difficult to get shots without people in them but the longer we stayed the easier it got.

I loved the curve of the road with the beautiful fall colours and the interesting fence.  

It was such a great spot for photographing that we stayed for a good hour.  

Another viewpoint

There was a short trail around the mill which connected the historical exhibits about life in rural Virginia.  The trail allows visitors to view the gristmill, sawmill and blacksmith shop.

One of the last shots of  day.