Smells

Day 11 Tuesday, April 27, 2010


After a very late night with the laundry, blog and pictures, I had set my alarm for 6:30 AM instead of my usual 6 AM. For the short time I was in bed, it sure felt good. Unfortunately I was awake before my alarm went off. I got up, washed up and as I was getting dressed, Bruce woke up and started getting dressed. We also packed our bags and took them down to our Motors and got our "trusty steeds" ready. After we all got our Motors ready, we walked to Perkins Restaurant, which was part of the motel. When we checked in last night, they gave us a $2.50 coupon for breakfast. We had a good breakfast and, with the coupons, I don't think that any of us paid more than $4.00 for breakfast. Chuck stayed in the lobby and downloaded/uploaded (whatever the correct word is) pictures from Day 5 to Day 10 onto the website. Ken needed to go to an ATM to get some cash. The rest of us went back to our rooms and made sure that all of our bags were packed and on the Motors. Jan also needed to go to an ATM and left. After all of our Motors were ready, we rode to the lobby and checked out. We left at 9:46 AM and it was 57 degrees.

Jan was in the lead and at 10:14 AM, we crossed over into the state of West Virginia...again. There was an 18 wheeler in front of us going up and down the mountain road. He was going fast and we felt comfortable riding behind him. At one point going uphill, he pulled over to the side of the road to let us pass. We had no other vehicles in front of us and we had a blast on the curvy, twistie road. After a while, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that Chuck was the last Motor and the 18 wheeler was not too far behind. With that big rig, he was keeping up with us. On the uphills we would drop back, but not by much. He drove that road like he owned it. I figured that he either had his own motorcycle and was driving the road like he was riding it or maybe he was a "moonshiner" and had a lot of practice running away from the cops. We rode for 42.1 miles and at 10:42 AM we stopped in Romney, WV. We all got gas and now it was Ken's turn to lead. We left at 11:01 AM.

Ken was leading and C.E. was next. Chuck followed and then Bruce. I was next and Jan was last. At about 11:29 AM, soon after we rode through a small town named Ridgeville, WV, I noticed that Bruce was riding his motor and his right saddlebag was open. (Just like Day 1 when he arrived at Denny's and his left saddlebag was open) I told Chuck on the CB that we should pull over so that Bruce could close his saddlebag. Chuck pulled over and told Bruce about his saddlebag. He got off and closed it. Was Day 1 a trend? We quickly go on our way and soon caught up with Ken and C.E. It was starting to get cold as we rode. The temperature got down to 46 degrees! We rode out of West Virginia and into Maryland...again, at 12:00 noon. We rode in Maryland for 7 miles and then, once again, we were back in West Virginia. We rode a short distance in West Virginia when Ken pulled into a small town named Aurora, WV. Most of these towns are small. We stopped at Melanie's Family Restaurant for lunch at 12:16 PM after riding 58.5 miles. It was a nice restaurant and it was warm. The waitress was a nice, young lady. My guess would be about 19 or 20 years old. She told us that the special for today was a hamburger loaded with "ramps." Jan and I asked her was ramps were. She looked at us like we had horns. I told her that we were from Arizona and were not familiar with "ramps." Anyone out there know what "ramps" are? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? She told us that ramps are spicy onions. Chuck and Ken ordered them and said that they were tasty. The waitress told us that ramps are good, however, they make you smell! The cook came out and told us that ramps are good and that she had just eaten some. She then told us that she smelled. We told chuck that he had to ride to the rear of the group! Jan asked our waitress if she knew what a carne asada burro was and she told us that she did not. We got her at her game! We finished lunch at went to our Motors. It was still cold and most of the guys put on more clothes. I just turned my heater and seat warmer on one more notch on my Gold Wing. We left at 1:30 PM.

In the Atlas, the roads with the green dots are the more scenic roads and are favored by motorcyclists. US 50 in this area should be covered in green dots. Ken led us on US 50 and it was an awesome road. It had just about everything that we like in a "motorcycle road." We were riding up and down, curves and twisties, and riding fast and slow. IT WAS FUN! It was so much fun, I made two music videos. I hope that you enjoy them. They will be posted when Chuck feel like posting them. :) Soon, I'm sure. We rode for 51.5 miles and at 2:40 PM, we stopped at a mini-mart in Bridgeport, WV. It was time to take our after lunch break. We need to wake up. With it being so cold, we really didn't need to wake up. We made a pit stop if you really have to know. At lunch, we drank a few cups of coffee and hot tea to warm up. We needed this pit stop. I checked the Best Western book to find a motel where we might be in a couple of hours. C.E. and I set our navigation systems to a town called Chillicothe, Ohio. I also told Ken that I wanted to stop at a Honda Dealership in a Parkersburg, WV. No, I didn't need any repairs on my Motor. IT'S A HONDA! I just wanted to ask a serviceman a question on the navigation system. We rode for 80.3 miles and arrived in Parkersburg at 4:21 PM. We got gas and took a little break. A pit stop was involved. We left at 4:42 PM.

I was in the lead and we went 1.8 miles and at 4:50 PM, we arrived at Devol's Cycle Center. They were a Honda Dealer. While I went in to ask the question, Chuck stayed with his Motor and tried to make a repair to his left tail light. It was not working. It didn't work the other day. Chuck kicked it and it turned on. I guess it didn't work this time after kicking it again. He had purchased a bulb at the Chevron gas station where we had gassed up. He was unable to fix it because he bought the wrong bulb. He went inside the Honda Dealership and tried to buy a bulb, however, they didn't have what he needed. He will buy one later. We left at 5:02 PM.

One of the things that I thoroughly enjoy when we are riding these roads and pass the many homes and farms, is the smell of freshly cut grass. It is awesome. We have passed by many of these homes. Some of the homes have huge yards. We passed a home with, I would guess, 3 to 4 acres for a front yard and it was mowed. That makes for a good, long sniff. Lately, we have been passing homes with their fireplaces on, or they are barbecuing. That is great also.

We rode on and soon after leaving Parkersburg, we crossed the Ohio River and were soon in Ohio. We continued on and at 6:46 PM, after riding 105.0 miles, we arrived at the Best Western, Adena Inn. I walked in and spoke with the lady clerk and "made the deal." It was a good rate. We checked in, unpacked our Motors and went to our rooms. We have gone around the cycle once already and we are starting over again on roommates: Al and Ken, Chuck and Bruce, Jan and C.E. About a half an hour later, we walked to restaurant close by that was recommended by the lady clerk. It had good food.

Today, we rode 338 miles and visited 4 states. We rode some amazing roads and almost froze, but we had fun! Tomorrow we intend to go to Dayton, Ohio. We are going to go visit the Air Force Museum. It is supposed to be a low of 34 degrees and a high of 53 degrees. I'm sure that we will "dress" for the weather. So, until tomorrow...