June 19, Riding Day 15 – Total Trip Mileage is 5237. Today’s mileage is about 225.
We got a late start from Boone and stopped at a Bank of America to get some cash on the way out of town. I second guessed my own GPS programming and we missed going to the Mast General Store in Boone. It was opened sometime in the late 1800’s. Traffic is heavy in that town and I wasn’t about to go backward to get to the store.
We got on the road and headed south to Blowing Rock. It is both a town and an attraction of the same name. The town is small but quaint and upscale. Many of the homes in the surrounding area are worth well over a million dollars. They are really nice! We stopped for coffee at a small shop and sat for a bit in the patio that fronts the main street. Not really much going on in town. We got up and walked the other side of the street the 3 blocks back to the where the bike was parked. I pulled into an adjacent Exxon gas station and filled up the bike. There was a deli in the station so we ordered deli sandwiches to go figuring we would stop somewhere on the parkway and have a picnic lunch.
We got on the road for a very brief few miles before we turned off to go see the actual “Blowing Rock”. If you want to read the legend, go here: http://theblowingrock.com/ . It turned out to be a privately run attraction that was mildly interesting. The views were killer though. Look at the pictures and you’ll see why. It cost $6.00 each to get in so we stayed as long as we could to get our money’s worth, about 15 minutes is all it took as there is not much to see.
We took off and headed south again to a road that I had picked out the night before that looked interesting. This was Hwy 182 and I call it the Yadkin Valley River Road. It starts out somewhat tight and twisty and after about halfway it opens up to a nice 2 lane country road with broad sweepers and beautiful farm lands. We stopped at a park on the Yadkin River and had our picnic lunch. The weather was very good today, in the mid to high 70’s. It was very pleasant at the lake and after our repast we got back on the road to Wilkesboro where we turned north then west then north again. I hit another secondary road, Hwy 16 and it was a very nice 2 lane motorcycle road that wound its way up the side of a mountain and eventually dumped us back onto the BRP.
We got a late start from Boone and stopped at a Bank of America to get some cash on the way out of town. I second guessed my own GPS programming and we missed going to the Mast General Store in Boone. It was opened sometime in the late 1800’s. Traffic is heavy in that town and I wasn’t about to go backward to get to the store.
We got on the road and headed south to Blowing Rock. It is both a town and an attraction of the same name. The town is small but quaint and upscale. Many of the homes in the surrounding area are worth well over a million dollars. They are really nice! We stopped for coffee at a small shop and sat for a bit in the patio that fronts the main street. Not really much going on in town. We got up and walked the other side of the street the 3 blocks back to the where the bike was parked. I pulled into an adjacent Exxon gas station and filled up the bike. There was a deli in the station so we ordered deli sandwiches to go figuring we would stop somewhere on the parkway and have a picnic lunch.
We got on the road for a very brief few miles before we turned off to go see the actual “Blowing Rock”. If you want to read the legend, go here: http://theblowingrock.com/ . It turned out to be a privately run attraction that was mildly interesting. The views were killer though. Look at the pictures and you’ll see why. It cost $6.00 each to get in so we stayed as long as we could to get our money’s worth, about 15 minutes is all it took as there is not much to see.
We took off and headed south again to a road that I had picked out the night before that looked interesting. This was Hwy 182 and I call it the Yadkin Valley River Road. It starts out somewhat tight and twisty and after about halfway it opens up to a nice 2 lane country road with broad sweepers and beautiful farm lands. We stopped at a park on the Yadkin River and had our picnic lunch. The weather was very good today, in the mid to high 70’s. It was very pleasant at the lake and after our repast we got back on the road to Wilkesboro where we turned north then west then north again. I hit another secondary road, Hwy 16 and it was a very nice 2 lane motorcycle road that wound its way up the side of a mountain and eventually dumped us back onto the BRP.
View today's photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/daveste99/20080619
By now it was way after 1:00PM and we hadn’t even gone 100 miles yet! We stayed on the parkway except for one gas and one pit stop. We crossed the state line into Virginia, and I was unaware of this as I missed the welcome sign. We saw a lot of deer on or near the road and I had to pay close attention to this little fact.
Since towns along this stretch of the parkway are very limited, we decided to go all the way to Roanoke, VA. We rolled in at 5:00PM and the temperature was 82 degrees. We secured a room near the airport, got situated, ate dinner for free at Applebee’s and here I am, writing this at 9:15PM.
3 comments:
Dave & Karen's Amazing Adventure! Wow the pictures are incredible. So much green. Don't see that here! I'm glad you both are enjoying this trip together. Seems to fit yourentire relationship - quite a great story! Can't wait to see more. Be safe! Much love,Sandee
Hi Dave and Karen- Glad all is good especially with the brake problem solved and the weather holding up. A bunch of us rode to Baker City, OR over the weekend, however, I rode on to Twin Falls, ID. The weather has been quite good for riding but the weekend should bring the normal wet. Enjoy your trip and your blog is great to read. Take care. David (IMO)
You two are so cute, glad to hear ya'll got a free dinner - have a good rest.
Love you - Be safe!
Shan
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