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.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
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.
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