DAY 10 Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Let me start by telling you about last night. I had finished my blog and was working on the pictures. I was labeling them and looked outside. It was very windy. It started to rain and the lightning was spectacular! It was raining pretty good and it sounded as though the water was coming through the ceiling. I looked out to the Motors and saw the covers flapping in the wind. The rain finally caught us! Luckily it was very late and most of the guys were already asleep. Hopefully, the rain will stop by the time we leave in the morning.
I woke up before my alarm sounded. I looked at the cell phone and it was 6:25 AM. My alarm was set for 6:30 AM. I turned off the alarm and Bruce spoke. He made a comment about the rain and that it caught us. We both got up, dressed and packed. I told Bruce that I was going to the breakfast room to get some coffee. I drank some coffee and sat on the sofa and watched the news. Bruce came in and we started with breakfast. Two construction guys were sitting at the table next to us and one of them started by asking where we were riding from. Bruce told him from Phoenix, AZ and the guy’s jaw nearly hit the floor. He was amazed that we rode that far. Bruce then told him what our planned route was. He did make a statement, “Must be nice!” I told him that it was and it is called, “Retirement.” We had breakfast and talked more about our ride. Soon, the other guys started trickling in for breakfast. At this point, it was cloudy, but not raining. We all finished breakfast and went to our Motors and took the wet covers off and packed them away. Of course, we had to wring them out! We returned to our rooms and gathered our bags. After we packed our Motors, I got the room key from Bruce and went back in and turned them in to the front desk and got my receipt. When I returned to my Motor, most of the guys were on their Motors and waiting for me. They told me that I missed a golden opportunity to take a picture of C.E. doing some work on his Gold Wing. I reminded them that I was not the only one with a camera. They each have one. I told them that one of them should have taken the picture. We were ready to leave and did so at 8:50 AM.
Ken was still leading from yesterday. We had given Ken a ration a crap for taking us out of our way, half way back to Phoenix and close to the Gulf of Mexico! Ken took it in stride. He had to, what is he going to do? Ken took us north on I-26. We were headed to Johnson City, TN for gas…because Chuck needed it! We rode for 46 miles and got off of the Interstate headed westbound. Westbound? We need to go eastbound where there was a Shell Station. We headed westbound and passed the street to the BP gas station. We made a u-turn and then back to the BP and arrived at 9:33 AM. In Ken’s defense, we all practice a lot of u-turns! That is one thing that we are very proficient by the time we finish our rides. After we gassed up, we bought some water in the Mini-mart. Chuck noticed that he had never seen a drive up window at a gas station where people can buy liquor. That was kind of odd! We were done so we left at 9:55 AM.
It was my turn to lead and led the Group east on Highway 321. We were now headed back to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had to make up the negative ground, thanks to Ken! We were riding east and we needed to stay on Highway 321. At one point, we were all in the curb lane and we came up to a sign indicating that Highway 321 was at an immediate left turn. Missed it! I hate it when that happens. Like I stated earlier, we are very proficient at u-turns. We went about a quarter mile and made a u-turn. We rode back and then made the right turn onto Highway 321. We were on a very scenic roadway with lots of twisties. We were riding along side Lake Matauga. We passed a sign that welcomed us to North Carolina…again. We rode for 42 miles and at 10:50 AM, I made a quick stop at a small, rundown market with, what appeared to be, a motel in Sugar Grove, NC. It was time for a pit stop. We all used the facility and Chuck bought some coffee. Chuck told us the story of when he paid for the coffee, he asked the “Deliverance” clerk lady what was the price of the coffee. She said something that Chuck didn’t understand. After all, C.E. wasn’t there to translate! Chuck asked again. He still didn’t understand. Chuck stated that he put a dollar bill on the counter and she gave him change of $0.43. We all had a good laugh. We are having a lot of fun in this part of the country. Don’t get me wrong, we are not making fun of the people, we are just enjoying the differences in culture. Man, is it different! We left at 11:13 AM.
We continued on and soon got back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway at about 11:50 AM. As we rode on the Parkway, I noticed that it wasn’t the same as it was yesterday. It seemed as though there weren’t as many twisties, uphills and downhills. There were more straightaway’s and gentle curves. The speed limit is posted at 45 mph and we had no problems going 60. As we were riding, we came upon two “Wild Turkeys.” There was also a transient there, open up the bottles, drank them and tossed them. No, I’m just kidding! Really, there were two wild turkeys. The two turkeys were on either side of the road. We had seen another turkey yesterday, but I forgot to mention it. We continued on and I saw another turkey on my left so I took a picture of it. It was getting about time for lunch so I got off of the Parkway at the Highway 18 Exit and rode north. This was the town of Laurel Springs, VA. There was a place called, “Station’s Inn Motorcycle Resort.” They had a restaurant so I decided to stop there. I pulled into the parking lot in front of the business. It was a small lot, enough space for all Motors to fit. I pulled in with no problem as did Jan. C.E. rode in, now the space was getting tight. C.E. was jockeying for space. Chuck was next and had to sit still until C.E. got situated properly. Finally, C.E. got parked and Chuck jockeyed and parked. Next was Bruce. He finally got parked. Ken was commenting to all of us on the parking. He pulled in forward and left it like that. Our waitress was sitting at a table outside watching and having a great time. She also made a couple of comments. We, as a Group, gave her some laughs. We had ridden for 58 miles and it was now 12:32 PM. It feels like a few miles were ridden in the parking lot! This was a biker motel and restaurant. It had a lot of biker memorabilia all over inside and out. The food was good and the weather was also. As we were eating, it started to sprinkle. Our waitress told us that if we wanted to, we could move our Motors under cover on the other side of the complex. We all scrambled to our Motors and moved them. Just before we left, we went inside and looked at all of the stuff inside. Bruce noticed that at the bar, there were police patches on the wall. The waitress told us that the owner is a retired cop and was also a Motor. There were pictures of old Motor’s on one of the walls. Bruce asked me for one of my PPD patches to give to the waitress to pass it on to the owner. I did and I saw the waitress put it on the wall. It wasn’t raining anymore so we prepared to leave. Earlier, a biker told us that the Parkway was close east of the Exit that we got off at. He suggested another route that was very scenic. We left at 1:51 PM
We followed the advice of the biker and followed Highway 18. It was very scenic as he said. We followed it for 28 miles and we stopped at Ennice, NC at 2:29 PM. It was time for our “after lunch break.” The clerk/owner at the mini-mart that we stopped at was very cordial. I had asked him how far it was to get to Virginia. He pointed out the window at a nearby utility pole about 300 yards away. He told me that if you take a few steps beyond the pole, you would be in Virginia. He also told us that the Parkway was about 2 ½ miles away. We drank our waters and left at 2:42 PM.
We continued and about 2 ½ miles away, we entered the Parkway. Soon after entering the Parkway, we passed a sign welcoming us to Virginia. We rode for a while and again, thoroughly enjoyed the Parkway. A little squirrel ran from the right side of the road to try and cross the road. He got very close to my front tire but stopped, turned around and ran back. I almost experienced a Blue Ridge Parkway Speed Bump! As we continued north, it was getting colder. It got down to 64 degrees. We were up on the mountain doing some twisties and we rode into some fog. This fog was, at times, very thick! At one point, I couldn’t see beyond 10 feet in front of me and I could only see the double yellow line. I was taking pictures and a video at the time. I noticed that there were no guard rails and, at times, it was a very long drop on the right side. I thought that maybe I should put the camera away. The fog was very think and I felt like I needed a Seeing Eye dog! I could have sworn that I heard a London Fog Horn. I finally got off at the Exit for Highway 8. We stopped quickly and some of the guys put on their jackets. I didn’t. I had my heater on! We went on and then stopped in Floyd, VA at 4:08 PM for gas, after riding 66 miles. We gassed up and left at 4:33 PM.
Bruce took over leading. Prior to leaving the gas station, we looked at the map and gave Bruce instructions on how to get to Roanoke, VA and the Holiday Inn Express that we were headed to. I put it in my navigation system and told Bruce that when we got close, I would move up in front and lead the Group. Bruce took us north on Highway 221. This Highway went north and eventually connected with the Parkway. We got onto the Parkway and soon got to Roanoke. With about 6 miles to go to get to the Holiday Inn Express, I moved up to the front. We got to the hotel at 5:36 PM after riding 46 miles and a couple of guys went in to make the deal, however, the best price that was given was too much. Chuck got on the Droid and found the same Best Western that I was looking at in the book. Chuck had called and made the deal with Best Western and made the reservation on his Credit Card. Thanks Chuck! I put the address on the navigation system and away we went. We left at 5:55 PM.
I led the Group with Bruce behind me. We rode for 6 miles and at 6:02 PM, we arrived at the Best Western. We all went in and checked in, got our bags from our Motors and took them to our rooms. We returned to our Motors and tucked them in for the night. Our restaurant for dinner tonight was within walking distance…Chinese Food.
We rode only 290 miles today. We waited for the rain to stop this morning and we got sprinkled on later. We rode through dense fog and some of the guys got cold. What a ride! Girls, THANKS AGAIN! Tomorrow, Jan is going to ride early in the morning to go and see his uncle about 60 miles away. Chuck is going to a Harley shop to get his rear tire changed. He hopes that he doesn’t get another “white wall.” Bruce is going with him to get an oil change. The three Gold Wing riders will stay at the hotel and have a little R and R (rest and relaxation). C.E. is going to call a local Honda store to see if they have a replacement antenna. If they do, I guess Ken and I will go with him. If not, we will stay at the hotel and wait for the Harley riders. I’m sure that all the Harley riders need to do to get back is just follow the trail of oil they left. Wow! I love writing my own blog!
We will also finish the Blue Ridge Parkway and then start on the Skyline Drive. The Skyline Drive is beyond the Blue Ridge Parkway and extends for 105 miles. We shall see after the Harley boys get back. So, until tomorrow…
Wait! One more thing. I want to apologize to Rich Brooks, Conrad Schilling, Tim Sindel and Jim Morrison for not being able to be at our regular “Coffee” time today at 3 PM. We won’t be there next week either. If we finish on schedule, we will be there the following week.