Day 2 - July 14th
Day 2 started a bit earlier than Day 1 - we wolfed
down the free breakfast at the motel, gassed up around the corner on
340, and then headed back to the dinosaurs to pick up the Stonewall
Jackson/Front Royal Pike (aka 522/340). This is a pleasant 4 lane
road that goes through rolling farmland that hasn't been too badly
polluted with suburbs or big-box stores. We passed through Front Royal
VA (where Skyline Drive starts - which we avoided) - and continued to
Lauray VA where we turned east on the Lee Highway - taking it to the
northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).
I hadn't been on this section of the BRP in
several years on 2 wheels - and was looking forward to it.
Blue Ridge from Lauay VA to
Peaks of Otter
Break for lunch at Peaks of
Otter
We managed about 170 miles on the BRP before Mike
became concerned about gas.. and we headed down Rt 43 to Buchanan VA for
gas.
Route 43 off the BRP is worth a mention. There
aren't a lot of roads that you can use to get off the BRP in this
section - and 43 is one of the primary ones, heading north/south just
south of the Peaks of Otter. The section we took, north toward Buchanan
(or west - depending on how you're looking at it) has some of the
tightest twisties I saw on this ride. There was the usual hint it might
be a fun road with a sign recommending that trucks not use it.
There was a series of switchbacks where you could see your taillight out
of the corner of your eye as you came around them. One was so sharp and
downhill that I started laughing out loud in my helmet. This one
apparently had been a problem for a Goldwing just before we got to it -
Mike had spotted one being flatbedded away, and the corner was covered
with oil stains and broken bike parts. The inside of the corner had drag
marks where the wrecker had pulled the Goldwing out of the woods. Dunno
what happened to the rider - hopefully he was OK.
We finally got to Buchanan, and filled the bikes
with gas.
Buchanan VA - Fuel stop
After fueling up in Buchanan, we decided we didn't
want to go back up Rt 43 to the BRP, so we started following Rt 11
south. Route 11 was the original road down the same valley that I-81
follows. It parallels I-81 for most of it's length, once in a while
going through towns like Roanoke that I-81 skirts around.
Buchanan VA to Radford VA via Rt
11, with a quick stop in Christiansburg VA
Around 4PM we started looking for a place to stay.
I've found if you're staying at motels near a major highway - you can
always find a good room before 5PM. You sometimes will find places
filling up around 6PM, and for sure - you are in trouble by 8PM. Dufus
(the GPS) told me there was a Budget Inn in Christiansburg VA - so I
told it to take me there.
It's not a place I'd suggest staying. We were
afraid to put our feet down in the parking lot, much less a sidestand
and dismount the bike. It appeared like the Budget Inn patrons were
semi-permanent, and perhaps some Section-8 people had made their home
there. It was ride into the parking lot, pull a big U turn, and ride
right out. We continued our quest for a room...
This is NOT where you want to
stay..
This IS where you want to stay
LaQuinta Inn, Radford VA The La
Quinta Inn turned out to be an excellent choice. It was clean, modern,
everything worked - and there was a pub/restaurant on site so we didn't
have to go anywhere on the bikes for dinner. We went to the restaurant for
dinner and ended up meeting two chaps from Tennessee who were touring on
their Hondas. We got to chatting - they were big fans of Skyline Drive,
and we talked to them about what there was to do in the Johnson City/Grey
Tennessee area. All they could think of that was notable was a museum in
Grey - they said it was a museum for a big pig. Since I'd already
signed us up for an Ambassador's dinner that was being held Weds evening
at this museum - I figured we'd see the big pig soon enough.
After a good meal and several beers - it was off to
bed..
Day 3 - July 15.. |
