Virginia Beach, VA.

Day 9 Sunday, April 25, 2010

My alarm went off at 6 AM as usual. I didn't want to get up but I did. C.E. got up seconds later. I got up washed up and got dressed. C.E. also got dressed and we packed up our bags. C.E. had made some coffee and we drank it as we watched the Weather Channel. Watching the Weather Channel is standard practice for all of us when we ride. We watch it before we go to sleep and we watch it when we wake up. We looked outside and noticed that the covers on our Motors were wet. It was cloudy, however, it was not raining. We went outside and started to get our Motors prepared for travel today. We cleaned the windshields and wipe down our Motors as best we could. They are still filthy! Oh well. The others started popping out of their rooms slowly. We were all out and we then walked down to the on-site restaurant, "Auntie Sarah's." We had a good breakfast and then back to our Motors to check out of the motel and leave. The three Honda riders needed to go across the street to the Exxon to fill up with gas. When we finished, we returned to the motel and the Harley boys were waiting for us. We left at 9:22 AM and it was 63 degrees.

Bruce got us going back on US 60. We rode through some small towns and farmland. We were really enjoying the ride. The weather was cool, the scenery was breathtaking and the Motors were purring. (The Honda's were. The Harley's were blaring (potato, potato, potato, etc.) We came into an area in the mountains where the road was winding, twistie and like a roller coaster. We were having a great time. At times we needed to slow to 15 mph because of the curves and wet road. I was making a video at this time and then it happened! We were riding in the fog! ( I bet your were think something else happened...nope!) It was hard to see the rider ahead of us if he was more that 4 car lengths ahead. We could barely see the taillights. We quickly got through this small amount of fog. I secured the camera back in the pouch and put both hands on the handlebars. (Temporarily) As we continued this awesome ride with the curves and the twisties, we got into more fog. This fog was thick and we were in it for quite some time. It was very humid and our windshields were getting wet. Because the way Bruce's Motor is set up, his pant legs were also getting wet. He should have kept his Gold Wing. Like all good things, it must end. We rode for 34.7 miles and stopped at 10:08 AM in Amhurst, VA at a gas station/mini-mart. This was a very good time to stop because, as you remember, we had just had breakfast and with the breakfast, had coffee, water and pop. It was time for a pit stop. We took care of business and then we talked about our recent ride. Bruce went over the map with Chuck to make sure that he got us to where we needed to go. Chuck and Bruce decided that we would get on the interstate and get us to Virginia Beach faster. We still had a ways to go and we didn't want to take all day to get there and then ride in the dark to our motel. We left at 10:26 AM.

The positioning of the riders were: Bruce, Jan, Chuck, Ken, C.E. and me. As we were about 20 miles east of Amhurst, I noticed a Lexus SUV behind me. It was about 4 car lengths behind. That didn't bother me at all. It was when I noticed that he was weaving over the double yellow lines. The SUV would drive on the wrong side of the road and did this 3 times. When it got back into our lane, he was weaving, going side to side, from curb to double yellow lines. I know that I have a little experience to identify a drunk driver. Now, it could have been a drunk driver or a sightseer, or a senile person, or even a young juvenile with no drivers license. My vote was on the drunk driver. I told Chuck on the CB about the SUV. He asked if I wanted him to pull over and let the SUV pass. I told him to do that. Chuck put his right turn signal on and pulled over. Ken, C.E. and I followed. I motioned the SUV to pass us and he did. Jan was ahead of us and saw that we pulled over and so did he. Bruce finally noticed that we all pulled over and so did he. We continued and got together again and continued. Chuck and I continued to look at the SUB as it pulled away from us and it was still weaving a foot or two over the double yellow line. Man, even when we are retired and in another part of the country we can't get away from the drunks! Well, we continued and rode for 55.2 miles and stopped in Cumberland at 11:27 AM. It was time for another pit stop. We left at 11:55 AM. The weather was still great! It was 68 degrees and we decided to keep our jackets on in case it rained.

We rode for another 81.1 miles and stopped in Quinton at 1:16 PM. Bruce stopped at a Subway. After we ate, I got the map out and Chuck showed C.E. the route that we were going to take. We then left and rode across the street to a gas station. It was time to gas up and change leaders. When we finished, we left at 2:29 PM with C.E. in the lead. Chuck was next, then me, Jan, Ken and Bruce. We took I-64 to Norfolk and we got onto another freeway, which took us into Virginia Beach. We stopped at a 7-11 at 4:05 PM after riding 96.4 miles to check the map to see where we needed to go. Since we were checking the map, we also made a pit stop. We got our bearings and continued. We drove into downtown Virginia Beach and were one block away from the beach. There were many hotels that lined the beach. It wasn't like we had expected. We expected that there would be a road that bordered the beach with stores lining the other side of the street. Wrong! We rode north on Pacific Ave. and then found a street to turn right. The next street over, and closer to the beach, was Atlantic Ave. We started riding north on Atlantic Ave., again hoping to find a place to stop. There wasn't a good place to stop. We ended up stopping in front of the Cavalier Hotel at 4:53 PM after riding for 9.2 miles. We parked our Motors on the sidewalk to take a group picture. We were trying to hurry before a cop came up. Too late! A cop stopped at the light facing us and we thought that we were toast. Nope, he turned left and drove away. Maybe it was a patrol guy who was afraid of bikers, I don't know. We finished our picture taking and left at 5:20 PM.

We headed west on US 60 and then turned north on US 13. This led us to the Chesapeake Bridge and Tunnel. The bridge and tunnel go over and under the Chesapeake Bay. It is 16 miles long and 19 miles total from toll booth to toll booth. The toll for the bridge/tunnel was $12. Normally, the one who is leading always pays the toll charge for all of us. Since it was $12, we cut C.E. some slack and we all paid our own tolls. Riding the bridge reminded me of riding over Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans 3 years ago on our 4 Corners Ride. Lake Pontchartrain was 26 miles long. When we got over the bridge/tunnel, we were on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and we stopped at the Welcome Center. We weren't there very long and we left at 5:57 PM.

We intended to ride to Exmore, VA and stay the night at a Best Western. We finally arrived after riding 42.0 miles and it was 6:29 PM. The lady clerk didn't want to play nice. She gave us a price which was too high and the motel didn't have an operational pool nor did it have a hot tub. We left at 6:45 PM.

We went back 1.5 miles and arrived at 6:48 PM at a Holiday Inn Express. The lady clerk did lay nice with us. She gave us a good rate and we checked in. She suggested the restaurant across the street, the Seaside Family Restaurant. After checking in, we rode across the street without unpacking. When we finished eating, an older couple approached us and spoke to us. She had asked if we were part of the bikers who are staying at the Hampton Inn. We told her that we were not part of that group. The couple were with a church group that were having dinner. She told us that her first husband's grandfather was Ebenezer Bryce, the founder of Bryce Canyon in Utah. She was a nice old lady. Just to let you guys know, she first tried to hit on Ken and Jan. Just kidding. Well, we finished dinner and made the long trek (across the street) back to our hotel. We parked under the awning at the entrance and tucked our Motors in for the night.

Today's ride was awesome! We rode some fantastic roads with curves, twisties AND fog! That's a first. We rode 343 miles and we finished the first leg of our ride. We reached the end of US 60, Virginia Beach, VA. Tomorrow we intent to head north towards New Jersey. There is supposed to be another scenic ride up there. So, until tomorrow...