Travelogue

Herb with Honda ST1100 at Bacon Hollow OverlookWith the aid of a few beers that were still cold from home, I managed to have a pretty good first nights sleep in my frugal motel. Upon awakening, the coffee maker yielded enough hot water for an instant oatmeal breakfast, and enough coffee to fuel me and my thermos for the day.

Today promised to be a good one. The weather was overcast, and I was poised at the start of the Skyline Drive in Front Royal. Yesterday had been a day of mostly congested highway traffic trying to get out of the NY and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. This should be the start of the "fun part" of the trip without the congestion of the northeast, and into the pretty twisting road that l had imagined when I first planned the trip.

It would have been easier and shorter to just head to San Francisco on I80, as we had done numerous times before in the Lazy Daze, but this was to be a motorcycle trip. One where I could enjoy all the twisty narrow roads on 2 wheels instead of fighting them in the 6 wheels and 7 tons of the motorhome. Besides, I this was probably my last opportunity to motorcycle on the east coast and I didn't want to leave without trying some of the "classic best motorcycle roads" that had escaped me for the last 40 years.

Mabry MillSpeaking of tonnage, my fully laden steed probably tipped the scales with a full tank of gas at close to 800 lbs. Once moving, the weight magically seems to disappear, but it would immediately return when stopping and/or attempting a slow speed turn. In addition, it was nearly impossible to push backwards up the slightest of inclines so I would have to be careful that I always parked the bike in a spot where the gradient would work in my favor when departing.

I headed out before nine and managed to ride for 1.5 hours to arrive at the Harry F. Byrd, Sr. Visitor Center at milepost 51 for a long anticipated pee break. It was great riding, but it felt good to get off of the bike and stretch a bit. The road was beautiful, but twisty and the posted speed limit kept my average speed well below 40mph.

After 20 more miles I stopped at Bacon Hollow Overlook for a few photos of my bike with the misty mountains in the backdrop. Someone notice me taking an awkward selfie with the phone, and I was able to have him take a real photo with my Canon G12 of myself with the bike.

I soon ran out of Skyline Drive and headed west to Staunton where I could get on I81 and make up some time going south to the better parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Technically, the Blue Ridge Parkway starts pretty much at the end of Skyline Drive, but I had read the the best parts of 469 mile park were actually the southern section, so in the interest of time efficiency I bypassed this section and barreled south on I81 past Roanoke, and south at Christiansburg towards the Mabry Mill in the Meadows of Dan.

Disturbing Morning Selfie in Country View InnFrom earlier research I had found that the Mabry Mill at milepost 176 is considered one of the most picturesque locations on the entire parkway. As an amateur photographer, it was a location that I did not want to bypass.

The Mill did not disappoint, and I spent some time there composing the usual Mill shots, and some arm's length selfies. The cloud cover gave great diffused lighting and spirits were high.

As I rode south I would occasionally come across signage on private farmland extolling me to Repent, and/or otherwise seek forgiveness for my sins. This seems to be a shared sentiment among many farmers throughout the country though I had never seen it in this part of the south before. While I am not personally involved with any organized religion, I did try to understand why some portions of the country and perhaps farmers in particular are more demonstrative in their religious beliefs.

Meanwhile, I soon needed a place to stay for the night, and Lorry had found the the Country View Inn in Fancy Gap which was just off the Parkway. I rolled into the parking lot, checked in, and was soon sheltered in a cozy room, complete with Bible opened to Hosea 9-11. I tried not to take it personally.