A chilly morning at the Colony House Motor Lodge.

Chris is ready to spring into action!

Turning onto the Blue Ridge Parkway.

As much as we all wanted to head south and do the trip all over again, we headed north toward home.

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning on the Parkway.

The scenery along the Blue Ridge Parkway NEVER ceases to amaze me.

We stopped at an overlook to take in the awesome view while we were above the clouds.

While we were stopped, and despite the beautiful scenery, we decided to leave the Parkway in pursuit of some warmer air (it was in the low 40s). We took VA 43 (Parkway Drive) to drop down off the Parkway into Buchanan, where we picked up I-81 to run north briefly to Lexington, VA. We stopped to add more layers, warm up, and grab hot beverages at a Sheetz. When we left, we got a little turned around in Lexington, but that meant we got a nice little tour of the VMI and Washington & Lee campuses!

Whoa! Regular gas for under $3.00/gallon. We MUST be in Virginia!

After our detour through Lexington, we headed north so we could hook up with US 250 from Staunton, VA over to Monterey, VA where we stopped to warm up, “rest,” and take in the always intoxicating smell at “The Chicken Gas Station.”

This photo is for our friend Jeff.

And this one is for our friend JT.

From “The Chicken Gas Station,” we headed north on US 220 all the way back to Moorefield, WV where we stopped for a late lunch at Subway. It was here that we parted ways with Shane and Andrea (boo!) and set out for home. But we didn’t hop on the highway since it was still early enough in the afternoon that we could take “the long way home.” We took US 220 north to WV 28, which lead us to Cumberland, MD. After getting turned around in Cumberland (seriously…WHY is it so hard to find a Sheetz when you have to pee?!?), we picked up Pleasant Valley Road near Rocky Gap State Park, which turns into Beans Cove Road in Pennsylvania. Beans Cove Road is a fun little road with great scenery, especially in the fall.

Giving Chris bunny ears!

In-motion selfie!

We took PA 326 north to US 30 where we jogged east briefly to pick up Lower Snake Spring Road, which is a road Chris has ridden several times and mentioned to me, but was one that I’d not yet ridden. We eventually found ourselves on US 22, which we took to PA 453 to PA 550 to Marengo Road (YAY!) to get home.

Stopped at Yellow Springs along US 22.

We were so close to home that we were starting to get punchy!

One last selfie before the final leg of the trip home.

SO CLOSE to home! In fact, we’ll be there at 5:45 (it was probably 5 PM at that point).

We did arrive home at 5:45 and were enthusiastically greeted by Oscar! He was so excited to see us that it wasn’t just his tail that was wagging – it was his whole backside!

Smooches for his daddy!

Oh, hey Mom…good to see you, too!

Final trip stats.

As you can see above, our total mileage was 1,810 miles. We fell short of the 2,000 miles we’d originally planned because of the changes to our route that we made on Sunday and Monday. But that’s OK! We spent nearly 36 hours in motion and kept a moving average over 50 MPH…not too shabby!!!


I said to Chris later that evening over dinner, “You know, we just spent six days on vacation together in close proximity to each other nearly the whole time. Seriously, think about it. For nearly 36 hours, we were actually touching on the bike while we were riding. And then when we weren’t on the bike, we were still together. That’s A LOT of time together. AND IT WAS FUN!” 


It really was! I think this might have been my favorite motorcycle trip to date – the destinations, the roads, the friends – it was all fantastic! Now I’m just left to wonder…when is our next trip?!?

We went to bed Sunday night expecting rain all day Monday. We heard rain overnight Sunday into Monday. Heavy rain. And thunder. But when we woke, dressed, and left the rooms for breakfast Monday morning, we were greeting with a mere drizzle. We walked across the parking lot to JB’s for breakfast where Shane, Andrea, and I opted for French toast with bacon and eggs, while Chris had to be the oddball and get pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Our new MSTA friend from Georgia arrived for breakfast about halfway through our meal and waved. By the time we left JB’s the drizzle had ended but the skies were still quite threatening. We put on our rain gear and prepared for a wet ride north on the Blue Ridge Parkway.


Except…


…it never rained.


Ever.


At all.


Not a single drop.


Not that I’m complaining! We had a wonderful ride up the Blue Ridge Parkway. The skies were blue, with friendly, puffy, white clouds, and the views were spectacular. Of course, because I was expecting rain, I didn’t get to photograph any of it; my camera was safely stashed in the top case where it would remain dry in the nonexistent rain. Once we stopped at Mabry Mill, I liberated my camera and resumed my backseat photography.

Boo you, government shutdown…boo you.

How are we supposed to pee???

Shane: “So, uh…Chris…you got those Charmin fresh wipes in your side case?”

“This is gonna require removing my jacket.”

“Government shutdown be damned! I’m off on a mission!”

Meanwhile, I got back to taking photos at Mabry Mill.

We kept our rain gear on after departing from Mabry Mill. Despite the clear skies we’d seen on the Parkway, we still weren’t convinced that we wouldn’t encounter rain. Not after what we’d seen in the forecast the night before. 100% chance of rain! There had to be rain, right?!? RIGHT?!?


Wrong.


Our ride remained dry as we continued north on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Roanoke, VA. We left the Parkway and went in search of lunch. We found a Firehouse Subs where this time I was the oddball. Chris, Andrea, and Shane all had the Turkey Bacon Ranch Sub; I chose the Chief’s Salad.

The Chief’s Salad…nom-nom-nom!

After lunch, we rode to the Colony House Motor Lodge, which was our destination for the night. Except it was only 2 PM. Nevertheless, we were able to check into our king suites on the backside of the hotel. We didn’t get the miles in that we’d planned for Monday, but we still had a great ride. With a good part of the afternoon ahead of us, we pulled chairs out of our suites and sat outside chatting, Facebooking, and oh yeah…beer drinking! Chris and Shane walked to a bottle shop and picked up a six-pack so we could do some more porch sittin’. While we were outside, I noticed a hawk in the tree.

Yes, that’s a squirrel’s tail you see…attached to a squirrel…in the hawk’s talons.

Quite the handsome raptor!

About 5 PM, Andrea and I headed into our respective rooms to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Meanwhile, Chris got a little snap-happy taking pictures of the bikes.

The Concours looks weird without the side bags.

We picked up a little dirt and debris on the Parkway.

Menacing in the front; weird in the back.

Another dirt and debris shot.

And Shane’s FJR.

Shortly after 6, we headed across the street to Red Lobster for dinner – which is the biggest perk of staying at the Colony House! Say it with me…cheddar bay biscuits! We had a great final dinner together Monday evening. But the trip wasn’t over…oh, no! We still had Tuesday’s ride to look forward to, and it promised to be a good one. We returned to our rooms just after 8 PM with plans to meet for breakfast at 6:30 AM again (ugh). Mileage for Day 5 was just about 150 miles; total miles to date was 1,460.

With a long Day 4 ahead of us, we’d decided the night before to meet for breakfast at 6:30 Sunday morning. That meant waking up at 5:45 AM. Ugh. We gassed up across the street from the hotel and we were off just as the sun was rising. 

$3.11 for regular…not too shabby! And for us? $3.42 for premium is pretty good, too!

It was beautiful watching the sun rise Sunday morning.

Shane and Andrea riding east toward the sunrise.

Following Shane and Andrea into a wall of fog.

Some final Kentucky scenery.

I really liked Kentucky – it was absolutely gorgeous!

After an eventful morning of riding in Kentucky, we entered Tennessee near Bristol and made our way to US 421, which is more commonly known in that area as “The Snake.” While we were stopped at the Shady Valley General Store, I chatted with a bicyclist that I saw grinding his way up the mountain. I told him what a total badass I thought he was for climbing the mountains of “The Snake.” He told me he absolutely HATES climbing, but the downhills make it all worth it. He said that he gets going so fast on the downhills that he “can’t keep up with those sport bikes, but I can usually pass the cruisers.” Whoa! While we were standing around taking in all of the scenery, three guys on sport bikes pulled out and did EPIC wheelies up the road. It was equal parts awesome and ridiculous!

Thank you, Tennessee. I do feel welcome!

This was the most bikes I’ve seen at the store – makes sense though…it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon!

Our Concours at “The Snake.”

Snake Selfie

“You are here.” And at 4:20, we’ll be at our next hotel!

Mr. Badass! You should have seen this dude’s calves! You could see every fiber in the muscles! It was NUTS!!!

Once we got to Mountain City, TN, I was on the lookout for Frank & Beans (our friends Frank and Scott). I mean, the last time we rode through Mountain City, we spotted them, so I was banking on making a tradition! I guess they didn’t get the memo that they should be there. Since we didn’t run into Frank & Beans, we continued south on US 421 to TN 88 which would take us into North Carolina. Unfortunately, it also put us at the tail-end of a funeral procession, which we followed into NC and quite a ways along NC 88.

A sheriff lead the funeral procession to the NC line.

One advantage to being in a slow funeral procession was REALLY being able to take in the scenery on a lovely Sunday afternoon.

Motorcycles burn headlights. Why “burn?” Why not just “use?”

We were definitely the loudest vehicles in the procession…vroom, vroom!!!

The little country church where the funeral procession FINALLY turned!

Once we ditched the funeral procession, we stepped up our pace to get to Sparta and the Alleghany Inn for the night. 

Giving the old man bunny ears!

Did I mention that it was a spectacular day???

Yay! We made it to Sparta!

We got checked into our rooms at the Alleghany Inn, got cleaned up, and walked down to The Pines Restaurant for dinner Sunday evening. When we got back, we did a little porch sittin’. While we were sitting outside, recounting the day’s adventure (adventure = adversity recounted at leisure), another guest of the Alleghany Inn came over and sat with us. Turns out that he was one of the riders from the MSTA meet in Lewisburg earlier in the weekend. He came over to find out what we were seeing with regard to the weather. Sadly, what we were seeing wasn’t good. The forecast from 7 AM Monday in Sparta, NC through 6 PM Monday in Roanoke, VA (our next destination) was nothing but rain. Boo. 


Since our Monday was going to be a wet one, we decided to alter our route – eliminating a lot of the technical, twisty stuff – and push back our start time that we might sleep in just a little bit Monday morning. We agreed on an 8 AM breakfast at JB’s (the restaurant in the parking lot of the Inn). Day 4 ended with 345 miles on the day and a total to date of 1,310 miles. We went to bed expecting rain…

Woo-hoo! Day Three was Bourbon Day! We went “in search of bourbon” and we found it on Saturday. We headed to breakfast at 7:30 and found the room jam-packed. To be fair to the hotel, it was a small breakfast room. I scored the last bagel (sorry, Shane!), some OJ, and a hot tea. We ate breakfast quickly – in part to get on the road sooner, but also because it was quite crowded for such a small room.


Once the bikes were packed and we were geared up, we headed out to our first distillery stop for the day – Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, KY. It took us about 40 minutes to get there.

It was a lovely and warm Saturday morning in Kentucky.

Horses in Kentucky? No!

Y’all know by now that I love me some barns!

And little country churches…don’t forget those!

A barn full of drying tobacco…these were a common sight.

Shane and Andrea

When we arrived, I headed for the tent set up outside to inquire about a
9 AM tour. (There was conflicting information on their website, in
their brochure, and on their gates.) It turns out that they normally do
conduct 9 AM tours, but a private tour had been scheduled, so the first
public tour wasn’t going to happen until 10 AM. Well that was a
buzzkill; it would throw off our entire day’s plans. Luckily, enough
people had showed up first thing that morning that they relented and
conducted a public 9 AM tour AND a private one. SCORE! Before the tour
began, I snagged a few pictures.

The driveway that leads to the distillery.

See? This says tours start at 10 on Saturdays. The guard told me it needs to be updated!

The landscaping was beautiful. It turns out they have a full time horticulturalist on staff (I asked).

This buffalo was meant to be life-sized. It seemed on the small side.

The distillery got national historic landmark designation in 2013.

More of the grounds.

One of the warehouses…the smell was wonderful!

Barrels and barrels of deliciousness!

More landscaping.

Our tour guide was Coy and he took us to several different buildings on the distillery grounds while explaining that several brands of bourbon are made on site, including Buffalo Trace (naturally), Eagle Rare (a personal favorite in our house!), Pappy Van Winkle, and Blanton’s. Our tour began in Warehouse D where we watched a short video that provided us with the history of the Buffalo Trace distillery and a little bit about the bourbon making process. Coy then led us through a secret bookcase into the main part of the warehouse.

A little bit about Warehouse D.

A very old still.

Through the secret bookcase…

…and into the warehouse where the smell was magnificent. (Some might say it was intoxicating.)

Barrels and barrels of bourbon.

Shane looks menacing as he stands on a barrel-turning plate.

Experimental bourbon? Yes, please. If they like what they taste, these experimental varieties are sold in small batches.

Old school bung cutter.

Barrels of different sizes for more experimenting.

Next we went into the Blanton Bottling Building where we saw Blanton’s Bourbon being bottled and boxed for shipping. 

A little bit about the Blanton Bottling Building.

The bottling line…all done by hand!

Bottle, wax, wrap, box, ship!

The many varieties of bourbon bottled at Buffalo Trace.

More of the bottling operation.

Blanton’s Bourbon is capped with different horses – one for each letter in B-L-A-N-T-O-N-S. Each horse is in a different stage of a race. Collect them all!

More of the bottling operation.

Award-winning bourbon and an award-winning distillery!

Coming soon to a liquor/state store near you!

Like any good tour (or Disney ride), it ended in the gift shop. Well, I guess technically it ended in the tasting room, which was conveniently attached to the gift shop.

The sole reason I wanted to visit Buffalo Trace – Bourbon Cream!

It is only available at the distillery.

It tastes so nice, I bought it twice!

Coy pours samples for the tour group.

Seriously, y’all. Buffalo Trace’s Bourbon Cream is the shiznit!!! Mixed with root beer…phenomenal. Over ice cream or in a milkshake…stupendous. On the rocks…perfection. The bourbon cream was the only thing I tasted…and I pretty much elbowed my way to the bar to be the first to get a sample (even though I already knew I loved it…Chris brought home a bottle four years ago when he visited the distillery). After we bought our bottles, I stepped outside to snag a few more pictures.

A little bit about Warehouse V.

Warehouse V.

The 6,000,000th barrel was filled in May 2008.

When will they hit 7,000,000 barrels? That’s up to you and me!

Through these doors you’ll find Buffalo Trace apparel, tchotchkes, and BOURBON CREAM.

It turns out that the private tour that was scheduled for 9 AM was for a car club from Michigan – a car club of old Bentleys and Rolls Royces!

This one was a right-hand drive!

With our Buffalo Trace visit completed, it was time to get on the road for our next destination – Wild Turkey. Of the three distilleries we visited that day, I think Wild Turkey was the least favorite for all of us. It’s not that the tour was bad, because it wasn’t. In fact, it was as informative as the others. I can’t really put my finger on what was “wrong” with the tour at Wild Turkey; I just know it was my least favorite of the day and I probably would not go back.

Oh, the traffic you encounter ON THE INTERSTATE in Kentucky!

Welcome Home to Wild Turkey!

We made it to Distillery #2.

Talk about wild turkeys! (This might be the single best picture of the entire trip!)

I may not have enjoyed the tour very much, but I sure do love Wild Turkey’s American Honey!

Andrea looks pretty good in this Wild Turkey straw hat!

This turkey was enormous!

Waiting for the tour to start.

Boarding the bus for the tour.

Off we go!

Arriving at the distillery. The turkey’s name is Rex. He’s three stories tall and they claim he’s the most photographed turkey in the world.

Grain storage outside of the distillery.

Gee…Chris looks thrilled to hold the door for me, LOL!

I like these two holiday advertisements for Wild Turkey.

One of the cooker tubs.

The Dona Tub. Dona is Portuguese for “mother” – this is the yeast tub.

Our tour guide shows us the grains that go into Wild Turkey Bourbon – all organic, non-GMO grains.

Fermentation!

That’s a lot of gallons!!!

All of Wild Turkey’s products/brands.

Group shot at Wild Turkey!

A little bit about the Control Room…

…and the actual control room.

Learning about Low Wine and High Wine.

The testing room. Tough job, eh? Testing bourbon blends for a living.

At the tasting bar. I sampled the single barrel bourbon and the new spiced bourbon. And by “sampled” I mean took the teeniest, tiniest sip…probably two or three eye-dropper drops worth.

After visiting Wild Turkey, we decided that we a) needed petrol and b) needed lunch. We stopped for gas at a combined gas station and country cafe. I went inside to see what was on the menu and when it didn’t appeal to our crew, I found out that there were several places to eat a few miles down the road in Springfield. It was a pretty ride from Wild Turkey in Lawrenceburg to Maker’s Mark in Loretto.

We arrived at Maker’s Mark just in time for the 3 PM tour. Maker’s Mark is like the Disney World of Bourbon Distilleries – everything is themed “just so” with uniform paint (dark brown and Maker’s Mark Wax Red), bourbon bottles in the shutters, and pretty signs. 

Arriving at Maker’s Mark in Loretto, KY.

 

The grounds at Maker’s Mark.

Whisky Creek runs through the property.

The Bourbon Tour Gang!

We’ve got our tickets for the tour!

Oh, Shane!

Tour and tasting…hooray!

More of the grounds.

An original depot building on the property.

The original grist mill.

Heading into the distillery.

The 1954 time capsule contained a bottle of bourbon, a photograph of the employees, and a letter from the CEO to his son. The 2004 time capsule contains the same, plus a few unknowns.

The BEAUTIFUL copper stills.

The tour guide specifically told Shane not to touch the copper stills. It’s like she knew him!

Fermenting mash! We got to stick our fingers into the mash and taste it. It was sweet and “corny.”

The machine where all Maker’s Mark bottle labels are printed.

The dark brown, the “Wax Red,” and the bottles in the shutters.

More scenery on the property.

Listening to our tour guide.

Barrels and barrels of yumminess!

Row #29…what-what!!! (Because 29 is my favorite number.)

The bottling line…mostly automated…except the wax dipping…that’s still done by hand.

Some examples of Maker’s Mark advertising.

This one was my favorite.

In the tasting room!

Awesome photo bomb by Andrea!

L to R: Maker’s White, Maker’s Mark, Maker’s Mark (over matured), and Maker’s 46.

Nosing Maker’s 46…

…and tasting it!

This bottle belongs to Maker’s Mark Ambassador Mark Alloway. He got to cut and apply his label and dip his own bottle, which came from his barrel. Chris and my brother are Ambassadors; their barrels should come up in 2-3 more years.

Leaving the Maker’s Mark Distillery.

 

We arrived in Somerset at the Best Western Mid-Town Inn and Suites. We got checked in and headed to our rooms to get cleaned up for dinner. When we got to our room, we spied these Harley riders arrive and unload. For three guys on three bikes, they DEFINITELY had more bags than four people on two bikes. Once we got cleaned up, we headed to Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner.

Three guys packed more than two chicks. Sad.

Shane and Chris waiting for Andrea, who made new friends in the elevator. Here, Shane reacts to finding out this new friends will soon be his house guests. (Not really.)

The boys didn’t want to face each other.

Chris’ Angry Orchard Cider…I like the label!

My “Ruby Relaxer.”

Two little piggies sleeping outside of the entrance to the hotel.

With breakfast planned for 7 AM Friday morning, our alarm went off at 6:15 AM. Still a wee bit tired from a week-long conference and 425 miles of riding the previous day, I graciously offered Chris the chance to get up first while I snagged a few extra minutes of shut-eye. All too soon, it was my turn to get cleaned up and geared up for the day’s sojourn. We met Shane and Andrea in the breakfast room of the hotel, where approximately a dozen MSTA riders were also enjoying breakfast. In true motorcyclist fashion, someone had changed the channel in the breakfast room to The Weather Channel. 


After breakfast, we returned to our rooms to load up the bikes before checking out and returning our room keys. Thankfully, the boys had gassed up the bikes the night before (they’d dropped Andrea and I off at the front office to get checked in), so we were able to get right on the road that morning. I’m convinced it is always foggy in the morning in Lewisburg, WV. At least, it always has been when we’ve left Lewisburg…all two times! About an hour into our ride, we stopped at Hawk’s Nest State Park to do a site visit. I’ve been in contact with the group sales coordinator there; I’ve been looking at the property as the site for the Spring 2014 ST.N Meet for Regions 4, 5, and 6…well, for anyone who makes the trip, really…but it’s best suited for 4/5/6. We met with Renee, who gave us a tour of the lodge, dining room, conference space, and showed me a typical guest room. I think HNSP will be a great location for a motorcycle meet!

Getting ready to head out Friday morning.

The morning’s fog is burning off.

Except…there’s more fog ahead!

Yay…finally some clear skies, sunshine, and oh look…our shadow!

We must be in the south…there’s a Piggly Wiggly!

Conducting our site visit at HNSP.

Two flying pigs in the Hawk’s Nest.

A look at some of the lodge rooms – most of which have this view…

THIS VIEW! Pretty nice, eh?

Part of what really solidified HNSP as a good location for a motorcycle meet was the fact that as soon as we made the left turn out of the parking lot of the park, US 60 got “crazy good” immediately as it wound its way down the mountain to meet up with the New and Kanawha Rivers.

Check out the “spray” from the waterfalls, which were very difficult to photograph. You can just barely make out some of them in the middle.

When we got to Chelyan, WV, we hopped onto I-64/77 briefly to get to WV 94, which put us smack-dab in the middle of coal country.

A coal plant…

…and it’s product.

From the Dukes of Hazzard, y’all…sheesh!

Slight problem with the whole “ride straight” motto…not many roads in WV actually are!

Spooky tunnel ahead!

We took US 119 south toward Verdunville where we picked up Mud Fork Road (which subsequently had several names) to head west through the Cabwaylingo State Forest to US 52, where we stopped in Kermit, WV for lunch at Giovanni’s.

Lunch time!

Of the four of us, I was the only one to get pizza AT the pizzeria…and I shared with Chris.

Disney Jr. was on the TV; Chris was enthralled. (I swear he’d watch TV like this at home if I let him!)

After lunch, we crossed the Tug Fork (a tributary of the Big Sandy River) which forms the border between West Virginia and Kentucky. We’d finally reached Kentucky…yay! We had a glorious afternoon of riding along KY 40, KY 3, and ESPECIALLY KY 32 – 32 was absolutely stupendous!!!

Friday was another gorgeous day!

We largely had the roads to ourselves.

Yay…a painted tobacco barn! (We’ll see the REAL thing tomorrow!)

‘Twas a beautiful Friday afternoon in Kentucky!

Leaning into a downhill, left-hander.

There’s Shane and Andrea!

Trying to get artsy with a look in the side mirror.

We hopped back on I-64 very briefly to get to US 460, which we took to Georgetown, KY – our destination for the evening where we stayed at a Microtel. Everyone got cleaned up and we walked across the street for some honest-to-goodness homestyle cookin’ at Cracker Barrel. With bourbon touring on the agenda for the next day, we agreed on breakfast at 7:30 AM with an 8:15 departure for our first distillery. Day Two = done! Mileage for the day = 373 miles; total mileage through Day Two = 798 miles.

Just like we did in 2011, Chris and I decided to time our October motorcycle vacation with our friends Shane and Andrea to immediately follow my annual ERAPPA conference. This year, that meant I was home for a whopping 13 hours (and asleep for about 7.5 of those hours!). In fact, when I arrived home from Rochester at 6:15 Wednesday evening, Chris informed me that we would need to leave at 7:15 the following morning. At first I thought he was kidding…until he said, “Until today, it was going to be 6:15 tomorrow morning!” Yikes! Thankfully, Shane decided meeting at 10 AM was a better idea than meeting at 9 AM. Hooray for small victories. Thankfully, there wasn’t much overlap between the clothing I’d taken to my conference and the clothing I’d need to pack for the trip, so just one load of laundry later, I was ready for bed and the beginning of our grand adventure the next morning.

My FitBit woke me up at 5:32 and after a brief snuggle session with Oscar, I was up and running – to shower, to pack, to write a note for Amber (who was staying with Oscar), and to gear up for the ride. We didn’t get out of the garage until 7:37 AM, but apparently the 7:15 departure time was a bit “artificial” on Chris’ part in the hopes of motivating me in the morning. It turns out that we didn’t really need to be on the road until 7:30. Doh! That’s OK…we’d just make up the seven minutes on the road somehow. At least that’s what Chris said!

Chris is ready to go!

I am equal parts excited and exhausted!

Not long after we left the house, we hit this odometer gem! 44,444…yay!!!

We took the highway to meet Shane & Andrea where the “real riding” would start. It was foggy to start.

But it cleared up by the time we got down to I-70 at Breezewood.

We pretty much had the interstate to ourselves, which was fine with me!

Crossing the Potomac River on US 522 near Hancock, MD.

We met Shane and Andrea at a Sheetz in Winchester, VA where I warmed up with a hot tea and Chris and I shared a bagel. Once I was properly caffeinated and both bikes refueled, it was time to tackle some of the best roads that Virginia and West Virginia had to offer.

Backing out of our parking space while Shane and Andrea wait to pull out.

Thursday was an absolutely gorgeous day!

I spotted this payphone during our lunch stop. Do you think it’s out of order?

We weren’t really expecting temperatures in the mid-80s in the first week of October, but we didn’t really mind (as long as we were moving!).

Lots of farms and fields in West Virginia.

Our route from Winchester took us along US 48/WV 55 to Moorefield, WV, where we connected with WV 28/55. We were on WV 28/55 briefly until we reached Smoke Hole Road, which we took over to US 220. I shot some video along Smoke Hole Road before switching back to taking pictures. 

From Smoke Hole Road, we rode down US 220 to US 33, which we took back over to WV 28 and eventually to US 250 west and through the Monongahela National Forest. We picked up US 219 south (which we could have run all the way down to Lewisburg – our destination for the evening) but then we juked east on WV 66 back to WV 28 (again!). We took WV 28 south to WV 39 which we rode into Marlinton, WV where we picked up US 219 south again. This time we did take US 219 all the way into Lewisburg, WV where we ended our day with 425 miles on the trip odometer.

Looking ahead…

…and looking back.

Cabooses outside of Cass, WV.

Some farm scenery.

Cass Railroad “company houses” – now available for lodging!

Did I mention it was a beautiful day?

Moo.

Just enough clouds in the sky to make for pretty pictures.

Following Shane and Andrea.

I wish the pictures I take on the bike could truly show you what I see while we’re riding!

One final ride pic from Thursday.

We checked into the Quality Inn where, unbeknownst to us, the MSTA (Motorcycle Sport Touring Association) was having their “Fall Colors” ride. While I got ready for dinner, Chris and Shane chatted with “Doc” who is a member of both MSTA and ST.N. Once we were all cleaned up, we walked to Applebee’s for dinner in the shopping center down the street. After dinner, we stopped in the Walmart nearby so Andrea and I could pick up some travel-sized hairspray and so we could get drinks to take back to our hotel rooms. We decided on breakfast at 7 AM the next morning and retired for the evening.