Friday morning we woke up to grey sky and the threat of more rain. We decided to start our day in our rain gear instead of having to stop and put it on down the road somewhere. We continued West on US 50 which is also known as Northwestern Pike and the road construction was commissioned by George Washington as a means to expand westward. The current road follows the same path as the early wagon trails. Yesterday's route was on 2 lane and wound it's way around and over the mountains of northern West Virginia and we even had a 10 mile stretch into Maryland which is a new state for us to have ridden in. Today was much different because US 50 from Bridgeport to Parkersburg was all 4 lane.
We made good time on the improved (and straighter) road but the scenery was not as nice. The rain never materialized but we kept our rain suits on the whole ride. Just past Parkersburg and into Ohio we hopped on US 33 and headed North into Columbus. We arrived at our motel about 2pm and took a quick dip in the pool. We waited until around 4pm to call Matthew who works nights and would be sleeping until late in the afternoon.
Matthew came over about 5pm and we headed to Red Lobster for dinner. Mandie had to work and couldn't make. She works at a retail store at a nearby mall and after dinner Matthew and Rudee dropped me off at our room and they went to see her. I think Rudee just needed an excuse to shop :-). She didn't come home empty handed either.
This morning (Saturday) we are meeting them at a restaurant for breakfast and then we are riding the last 200 miles home. I just checked the weather in Crawfordsville and there is a 90% chance of rain and storms with temps in the mid to upper 60's. I guess we are going to give our rain suits another work out! I can't complain about the weather though, it has been perfect up until the trip home. I'll keep you posted!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
End of Blue Ridge, on to Sky Line Drive
We headed back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway bright and early Wednesday morning. The weather was just about perfect with mostly sunny Sky and temps in the lower 70's. We both had our jackets on most of the day and were very comfortable. We got back into the rhythm of the ride pretty quickly and the mile markers continued downward at a fast pace.
We made a stop where the James River and the parkway intersect. The NPS have a visitor center and after walking across a bridge over the river they have a portion of a canal and a lock that has been preserved. George Washington was instrumental in the development of this area and a waterway to move goods was constructed to help colonize the region.
Back on the bike we made a few more stops at different overlooks and took some scenery shots. We made it to the final visitor center at the Northern End of the Parkway about 2pm and took our time visiting a 19th century farm they have on display with workers in period dress explaining what it was like living on the farm back in that day.
There were several buildings on the grounds and we enjoyed touring thru them until Rudee spotted this sign. She was pretty much done after that and was ready to get the heck out of there.
We rode the final few miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway where it ends at the entrance to the Shenandoah National Park.
We found a Motel in Waynesboro Virginia and settled in for the night. We were just finishing putting the cover on the bike when the rain started. It poured on and off for most of the evening and we were sure glad we decided to stop early. The motel had a nice indoor pool and they even had a free Lasagna meal in the breakfast area, we took advantage of both before calling it a night.
Thursday morning we got a little later start then normal. We wanted to ride thru the National Park on the Sky Line Drive which is an additional 105 mile extension of the Parkway that travels from one end of the park to the other. We entered and paid our $10 fee for motorcycle (cars are $15) which allows us into the park for 6 days. The drive here is similar to the Parkway. The speed limit is 35 where as the Parkway is 45 and there is more traffic from others availing themselves of the parks facilities. There are more facilities here since this is a "working" National Park and there are several pull offs that offer fuel and food as well as the usual gift shops. We did see a lot of deer today, 16 total in the 105 miles we rode in the park. No bears though :-(
We made it to the end of the drive about 2pm and turned the bike towards Indiana.
We rode for about 50 miles and the Sky was getting grey and cloudy and it looked more and more like rain. Rudee had been wearing her rainsuit most of day since it was in the low 60's and I had my chaps and coat on. We were heading across US50 into West Virgina and our good weather luck ran out. We rode in and out of rain the rest of the day and were pretty cold when we finally made our stop in Fairmont West Virgina about 6:30 we both agreed that we had had enough. Our plan is to head to Columbus Ohio and visit with Matthew and Mandie before heading home on Saturday. I'll keep you posted.
We made a stop where the James River and the parkway intersect. The NPS have a visitor center and after walking across a bridge over the river they have a portion of a canal and a lock that has been preserved. George Washington was instrumental in the development of this area and a waterway to move goods was constructed to help colonize the region.
Back on the bike we made a few more stops at different overlooks and took some scenery shots. We made it to the final visitor center at the Northern End of the Parkway about 2pm and took our time visiting a 19th century farm they have on display with workers in period dress explaining what it was like living on the farm back in that day.
There were several buildings on the grounds and we enjoyed touring thru them until Rudee spotted this sign. She was pretty much done after that and was ready to get the heck out of there.
We rode the final few miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway where it ends at the entrance to the Shenandoah National Park.
We found a Motel in Waynesboro Virginia and settled in for the night. We were just finishing putting the cover on the bike when the rain started. It poured on and off for most of the evening and we were sure glad we decided to stop early. The motel had a nice indoor pool and they even had a free Lasagna meal in the breakfast area, we took advantage of both before calling it a night.
Thursday morning we got a little later start then normal. We wanted to ride thru the National Park on the Sky Line Drive which is an additional 105 mile extension of the Parkway that travels from one end of the park to the other. We entered and paid our $10 fee for motorcycle (cars are $15) which allows us into the park for 6 days. The drive here is similar to the Parkway. The speed limit is 35 where as the Parkway is 45 and there is more traffic from others availing themselves of the parks facilities. There are more facilities here since this is a "working" National Park and there are several pull offs that offer fuel and food as well as the usual gift shops. We did see a lot of deer today, 16 total in the 105 miles we rode in the park. No bears though :-(
We made it to the end of the drive about 2pm and turned the bike towards Indiana.
We rode for about 50 miles and the Sky was getting grey and cloudy and it looked more and more like rain. Rudee had been wearing her rainsuit most of day since it was in the low 60's and I had my chaps and coat on. We were heading across US50 into West Virgina and our good weather luck ran out. We rode in and out of rain the rest of the day and were pretty cold when we finally made our stop in Fairmont West Virgina about 6:30 we both agreed that we had had enough. Our plan is to head to Columbus Ohio and visit with Matthew and Mandie before heading home on Saturday. I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Mayberry and back on the "Mother Road" day 5
We made the decision to head to Mt. Airy N.C. first thing Tuesday morning. We were not too far away and the Parkway was closed in 2 separate areas between Boone (where we spent the night) and Mt. Airy so the decision wasn't too hard to make.
We walked next door to Troy's 105 Diner for breakfast. This was a classic diner right out of the 50's with the stainless steel walls and counter stools. We found a booth and finally had some good biscuits and gravy! There were several motorcyclists there and I wondered if we would meet them again on the Parkway.
We headed east on US 421 which is a nice 4 lane road that rises and falls thru the N.C. landscape. We passed field after field full of fir trees being raised. I had heard that most of the Christmas Trees sold in parking lot stands near home come from North Carolina. I guess this must be where they all come from because there were acres and acres of them on both sides of the road.
We headed north on US601 about 30 miles to our mornings destination.
Mt Airy is the hometown of Andy Griffith, Donna Fargo and Eng and Chang Bunker the famous Siamese twins. We were here to visit some of the tourist traps that sprung up from the Andy Griffith Show.
We parked in the downtown area and walked the main streets which were mostly just tacky souvenir places selling t-shirts and junk. We did go into the Snappy Lunch for a bite to eat. They are the only Mt. Airy business to be named on the TV show. We split one of their "famous" pork chop sandwiches minus the usual cole slaw and chili they top it with. The walls are filled with pictures of celebrities eating there and we sat near the Oprah collage of photos.
We were both pretty disappointed in Mt Airy and decided to head out soon after lunch. We rode north on US 52 a few miles and got back on the Parkway once again. We were now starting into the Virginia portion and it was quite a bit different than the North Carolina part of the Parkway. The elevations were not quite as high and the roadway had fewer sharp switch backs and tunnels. There was more of a feeling of being in the wilderness verses being in the mountains. We visited Puckett Cabin named for it's owner "Aunt" Orlena Hawks Puckett who lived here most of her 102 years. She was a midwife who reportedly helped deliver more than 1000 babies. She charged $1.00 if times were bad and $6.00 if they were good. She died in 1934 and sadly none of her own 24 children lived past infancy.
We walked next door to Troy's 105 Diner for breakfast. This was a classic diner right out of the 50's with the stainless steel walls and counter stools. We found a booth and finally had some good biscuits and gravy! There were several motorcyclists there and I wondered if we would meet them again on the Parkway.
We headed east on US 421 which is a nice 4 lane road that rises and falls thru the N.C. landscape. We passed field after field full of fir trees being raised. I had heard that most of the Christmas Trees sold in parking lot stands near home come from North Carolina. I guess this must be where they all come from because there were acres and acres of them on both sides of the road.
We headed north on US601 about 30 miles to our mornings destination.
Mt Airy is the hometown of Andy Griffith, Donna Fargo and Eng and Chang Bunker the famous Siamese twins. We were here to visit some of the tourist traps that sprung up from the Andy Griffith Show.
We parked in the downtown area and walked the main streets which were mostly just tacky souvenir places selling t-shirts and junk. We did go into the Snappy Lunch for a bite to eat. They are the only Mt. Airy business to be named on the TV show. We split one of their "famous" pork chop sandwiches minus the usual cole slaw and chili they top it with. The walls are filled with pictures of celebrities eating there and we sat near the Oprah collage of photos.
We were both pretty disappointed in Mt Airy and decided to head out soon after lunch. We rode north on US 52 a few miles and got back on the Parkway once again. We were now starting into the Virginia portion and it was quite a bit different than the North Carolina part of the Parkway. The elevations were not quite as high and the roadway had fewer sharp switch backs and tunnels. There was more of a feeling of being in the wilderness verses being in the mountains. We visited Puckett Cabin named for it's owner "Aunt" Orlena Hawks Puckett who lived here most of her 102 years. She was a midwife who reportedly helped deliver more than 1000 babies. She charged $1.00 if times were bad and $6.00 if they were good. She died in 1934 and sadly none of her own 24 children lived past infancy.
We also visited Mabry Mill which is the most photographed location on the Parkway. The mill was built around the turn of the 20th century and was operated by the Mabry family. The National Parks Service operates it today and they have a gift shop and restaurant at this stop. While visiting the mill we met with some of the bikers we saw at the diner back in Boone :-).
We continued North and were amazed at all the Rhodendrums that lined the Parkway, it was almost like a tunnel of flowers, BEAUTIFUL!
We also began to see a lot of deer which is never good on a bike. We spotted 6 deer beside the roadway in the last 50 miles or so. Rudee was able to snap a photo of this small one running back into the trees as we passed by.
We made it to Roanoke Virginia and pulled off for the night. We only have another 106 miles of the Blue Ridge left to explore. I'll keep you posted!
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