Shenandoah, A Big Bridge and a Hole in the Ground

     We beat the girl's softball teams to the hotel's breakfast area to fuel up and take off heading back south.

     Our original plan was to see the sights and on the return trip to North Carolina we were to ride the Skyline Drive, hook up with the Blue Ridge Parkway. That plan was changed at the last minute after watching the morning weather report. Rain, rain and more rain was forecast for the entire area of Virginia and Tennessee as well as North Carolina.

     After our breakfast we prepared the bikes and checked the weather once again as we watched rain clouds form around us.  Without a chance of changing the weather we head for the Skyline Drive a run down the 105-mile road that runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. After 105 miles at 30 miles an hour we change plans and don't take the Blue Ridge at a 45 miles an hour rate and interstate it south to the Natural Bridge located in...you guessed it!  It is in Natural Bridge, Va.  Those Virginia folks sure are clever.
The bridge is a geological formation in which Cedar Creek has carved out a gorge in the mountainous terrain.  Now get this. The big claim to fame is that George Washington carved his initials in the side of the bridge.  Who would have guessed that old George W. was a vandal.  People get arrested for doing this nowadays. George W. does it and becomes President. What a country!

     After the bridge we head down the road to the Grand Caverns where they claim to have had underground tours for the past 200 years.  Maybe George Washington went there.  The bridge is 20 stories high, the arch is 215 ft high and spans 90 ft with highway 11E crossing over it. It consists of horizontal limestone strata and is the remains of a roof of a cave or tunnel through which the creek once flowed.  Did I mention that George surveyed it and then defaced it with his initials?

     Enough of Virginia, the rains are closing in so we hit the highway and race towards NC.  We dodged rain the rest of the way through Virginia and then Tennessee.  Just as we cross the state line into NC we are hit with rain.  The bad stuff held of until we enter Asheville city limits and a four-inch-an-hour rain gets us.  We shelter in a flooded convenience store waiting for the rain to slow. Slow down it didn't so back on the highway we went with four inches of water on the road to make it home wet but safe.

      It took two day to get over the trip and a cold I carried with me. I'm now rested and thinking about the next trip...Maybe I better ask my wife first.


     The trip by the numbers

            Miles traveled...............1250.5

            Days on the road...........5

            Gallons of gas...............21.31

            $ spent on gas...............79.20

            States visited..................5 -  NC, TN, VA, WV, MD

            Accidents.......................1 -  Although I didn't mention it in any of the previous posts because I had to tell my  precious most lovely wife in person.   It actually was not a moving type of accident. I was on the bike in a parking area with the engine off trying to get into neutral when the bike began to fall to the left. My foot got caught in the shifting lever and down it went with me under it.  No damage to me or the bike.  A few scratches on my bright yellow helmet and a big hit to my ego.  It also happened last trip too. Maybe the next bike should have three wheels.

           

A Repirmand, Two more States and Civil War battlefields

     I received a reprimand from my good friend Ken back in Florida.  I was severely reminded that I must keep up the blog and don't take two days between posts.  I stand corrected and now will continue the updates even though two days have past and I am really at home.  Just pretend I didn't take a break.  Damn that reprimand hurt Ken.

     Once again we load the bikes early and head out for another adventure.  The miles click past as we head up to Appomattox, Virginia for a visit to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.  As a quick review, This is the actual village of Appomattox Court House and the McLean House where General Robert E. Lee surrendered the army of Northern Virginia  to General Ulysses S. Grant and thereby reuniting our nation.  This preserved village gives us a peek into the past.  The most interesting thing about the place was the small-sized room where the Generals met to end such a large and protracted and bloody war. 

     After Appomattox we kinda go in reverse as far as history goes.  We make it to the Antietam Battlefield, the Civil War site where the Army of the Patomac, commanded by George McClellan mounted  a series of power assults against Robert E. Lee’s forces near Sharpsburg Maryland on September 17, 1862.  The battle raged on through the day and the bloodiest single day in American military history ended in a draw. The Confederate retreat gave Abraham Lincoln the “victory” he desired before issuing the Emancipation proclamation.  You would think we (this country) would have learned a lesson from all this.

     With this very hot day’s daylight running short we make a quick run back south back into Virginia  for a hotel room we don’t yet have.  We luck out and find a room , the very last room available as there was a girls youth softball tournament in town.   A quick check-in and a stroll down the street for a steak dinner and a couple of very cold beers finished off the day.

Tomorrow we’re off south towards North Carolina as we see from varoous weather reports that Virginia and Tennessee will getting a lot of rain.  Let me say that rain and two wheels is not a great mixture. d

Monticello and more crooked roads

Up and out the door early. So what's up with this early stuff, I'm retired you know. Anyway it's been that way the entire trip. A quick breakfast and a quick bike ride to Monticello the home of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). What grand place it is. Not only did Jefferson draft the Declaration of Independence, he designed Moticello, inventor and an adapter of other inventions. The design, construcion and modifying of his home and out buildings and landscaping took over 40 years. Monique and I took a few years and we thought that was a long time. They say he spent the last 33 years of his life after the writing of the Decleration at his beloved Monticello where he died. He is still there in a private cemetery still owned by the family. The folks that work there are fantastic, not because they have to be but, just because they just that way. One nice lade I met working an information desk went over and beyond the call. I asked where a certain landmark was located near town. She excused herself, went off and returned later with a printed sheet of driving directions. Sorry I forgot her name. As we walked the grounds of Monticello we came across the slave quarters and met up with Leni Sorensen standing in the slave quarters kitchen by a pile of fresh veggies. As usual my smart mouth asked when lunch was ready? Her reply..."as soon as you get done weeding the garden you'll get lunch". There was no lunch from Leni. I now knew where I stood. We talked about the bike trip, were we were from, where she came from and what she was up to. Now Leni has enough credentials too be called a "Rocket Scientist of Human Life and History". Her bio lists things such as Folk Singer, Teacher of Cookery, Farmer in South Dakota, and working at Monticello interpting African American Life in Slavery and writer of Blogs. for more about Leni go to WWW.Indigohousehistory.com Thanks for a great time Leni. Back on the road heading North to Stephens City, Va. for a Italian dinner, cold beer followed by some blogging. The blogging goes OK but uploading photos from an Ipad to Picasa back to the blog continues to be a problem. I'll keep trying but photos might have to wait a bit. One last bit of news...Monique reports that we had to visitors to our Asheville house today. Momma Bear and her young one came by for a visit searching for food. Sure sorry I missed that. She did take a few photos.
I'll post some photos Monique sent me.

Bridge, Banjos and a history lesson

      Up early and the best news...No rain so we're off again to continue down the "Crooked Road" until we find an equally crooked road without the name Crooked.   before we left we said goodby to Dr. and Mrs T----e  of Erie, Pa. Who told a story about her surgeon husband trying to ride a motorcycle and crashing into a fence. Needless to say he never got that bike.        Nearly 150 miles of twisting, turning, going up and down mountain sides we arrived at Meadows of Dan so my buddy Dan can get his photo made in front of the sign. Later we  found  Jacks Creek Covered Bridge, an Oak, hand made  hundred year-old single lane 48 foot long bridge crossing Jacks Creek.  They sure don't make em like they used to.      The road brought us to the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum that housed a historical look at early Blue Grass music and specifically the Banjo.  I was in Banjo heaven as I play the banjo. Well...I can almost play 1 1/2 songs very badly.  So bad our cat has tried to leave home. I don't think my name willl ever be mentioned in that place.        Sixty miles later we arrived at  Appomattox Court House where Generals Grant and Lee ended the Civil War.  A very sombering place if you listen to the history.  One highlight of the visit, Dan insisted he try out the single hole outhouse. He gave up as he was drawing a crowd.     With the day ending and a couple more hours of ridiing to go before getting to Charlottesville, Va and a hotel.  The big suprise of the day was the cost of a hotel room since there was 35 thousand additional people in town for the University of Virginia graduation.  So we end up in a much lesser quality hotel than the days before.  Oh Well.       Tomorrow we are off to Monticello, The home of Thomas Jefferson.  He won't be there but we're confident we can look around.

My Son is Getting Better

Good News. Mike my Son is getting better with the good care of all the Doctors and Nurses along with his friends and family. I got back to Asheville on Wednesday evening and we headed north with no particuliar destination. After a a stop for the photos of the state line of Tennessee we decided to stop at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is much bigger than I had imagined. While there trying to get a photo we met up with Keith Wynn of Wynn Wood Wildlife Rescue. He was there picking up an injured bird to transport it back to Elizabethon, Tn for some rehab. He obliged us by making our photo and then took off with the bird in a box strapped to the back of his Harley. Off we go on the backroads to avoid the interstate highways. With directions supplied by Keith we ended up on a couple real twisty roads called the "The Snake" and "The Crooked Road" with a stop at Shady Valley for a burger and drink. We traveled about 150 miles of twisty and curvey roads that had a million miles of beauty. After a couple stops to for more photos of us and the bikes at various landmarks we met up again with Keith who was on his way to release a couple of Bobcats he had rehabed. Keith volunteered to make yet another photo of us and show off his soon to be free Bobcats. We rolled onto Hillville about 5:30 PM just in time to hit with a downpour. Into the rainsuits we go and of course the stops soon after. The is a bike rule that says "the sooner you put on your rain gear the sooner the rain will stop" and so it did. We grabbed a room, called to check on my son, ate some great Mexican food and called it a day. One word of advice about traveling in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virgina. Leave early and stay off the Interstates and hit the back roads. You will love it. Tomorrow it is off to Front Royal, Virgina and some touring around in the north part of Virgina. Hope to see some Civil War histor. I'll let you know tomorrow what we find.

Back On the Road

Good News. Mike my Son is getting better with the good care of all the Doctors and Nurses along with his friends and family. I got back to Asheville on Wednesday evening and we headed north with no particuliar destination. After a a stop for the photos of the state line of Tennessee we decided to stop at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is much bigger than I had imagined. While there trying to get a photo we met up with Keith Wynn of Wynn Wood Wildlife Rescue. He was there picking up an injured bird to transport it back to Elizabethon, Tn for some rehab. He obliged us by making our photo and then took off with the bird in a box strapped to the back of his Harley. Off we go on the backroads to avoid the interstate highways. With directions supplied by Keith we ended up on a couple real twisty roads called the "The Snake" and "The Crooked Road" with a stop at Shady Valley for a burger and drink. We traveled about 150 miles of twisty and curvey roads that had a million miles of beauty. After a couple stops to for more photos of us and the bikes at various landmarks we met up again with Keith who was on his way to release a couple of Bobcats he had rehabed. Keith volunteered to make yet another photo of us and show off his soon to be free Bobcats. We rolled onto Hillville about 5:30 PM just in time to hit with a downpour. Into the rainsuits we go and of course the stops soon after. The is a bike rule that says "the sooner you put on your rain gear the sooner the rain will stop" and so it did. We grabbed a room, called to check on my son, ate some great Mexican food and called it a day. One word of advice about traveling in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virgina. Leave early and stay off the Interstates and hit the back roads. You will love it. Tomorrow it is off to Front Royal, Virgina and some touring around in the north part of Virgina. Hope to see some Civil War histor. I'll let you know tomorrow what we find.

A Scary Phone call puts a halt to the trip for now

     We received an unexpected and scary call Sunday. My son Mike was discovered to have a pulmonary embolism and admitted to a hospital  ICU in Tampa, Florida.  Pulmonary embolism  (PE) is a sudden blockage in the arteries of the lung.  The trip is off for now as I left North Carolina this morning and flew to Tampa to be with him.
     I'll post an update once everything settles down.