Day 27 - 8/8 - Catlett, VA

Saturday morning, waking up in a "real" house for the first time in almost a month.

Yesterday Vicki's sister Jeannie and her husband Dennis took us from the winery back to their home to spend two nights away from biking and the RV. Their home sits like an oasis on 10 wooded acres in the middle of "nowhere".

To help Vicki get into the right mood, Jeannie had scheduled time at the local spa for both of them first thing this morning. Dennis and I had the chance to wake up a little more slowly and then put the top down for a ride into town.

We met the "girls" for lunch at The Iron Bridge Wine Company in Warrenton where Steph (our waitress) took the shot of the four of us on the rooftop.

Heading back to the house we enjoyed the warm weather in the pool where Dennis showed off his skill at getting dragonflies to land on his fingers in the pool before heading back to The Iron Bridge for dinner.

Dennis has arranged for their friends Brian and Kay to join us, as Brian had ridden his bike cross-country after leaving the Navy. We learned after drinks that Brian had actually ridden over 9,000 miles, first going east to west, before heading up the west coast, only to ride west to east.

Mom and Dad said they had fun exploring Front Royal. They found a great bookstore and a frozen custard place. Dad said he had one of the best prime rib he's had at a restaurant in town.

8-08 Day 27

Day 26 - 8/7 - Front Royal, VA

Most mornings on travel days we take our time getting ready and packing up, especially when the next site is a short distance. This morning, knowing that I was going to see my sister, no one was moving fast enough.

But we were finally on the road and seventy miles seemed to take forever! Once we found our site in Front Royal and set up, we hit the road to the Barrel Oak Winery to meet Jeannie and Dennis for lunch.

Jeannie had called us to say the winery didn’t serve lunch, so she and Dennis made a stop at Wegman’s (an East Coast phenomenon that I haven’t yet experienced) for enough sandwiches and condiments for an army!

After a very relaxing and enjoyable lunch on the patio at the winery, and a personal tour by Rick Tagg, the wine maker, we transferred our luggage and went our separate ways; Pat and Keith back to the campsite, and Keith and I to Jeannie and Dennis’s for a short break.

Jeannie and Dennis live in the small town of Catlett, VA with ten acres of forest and a house built for entertainment and relaxation. We were disappointed to learn that they had a birthday party they had to attend that night and would Keith and I be OK having the house, pool, spa, etc. to ourselves for a few hours (darn!).

Sheer heaven!
...Vicki

8-07 Day 26

Day 25 - 8/6 - Waynesboro, VA

Yesterday as we completed the Blue Ridge Parkway we continued a short way up Skyline Drive, expecting to begin riding it in earnest this morning. Unfortunately we once again awoke to a driving rain and quickly concluded that riding was not what we wanted to do.

Having driven through Waynesboro the day before, it seemed to offer little in the way of rainy-day activities so in the morning mom & dad headed to Walmart for a little shopping and in the afternoon Vicki and I headed to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello http://www.monticello.org/ in nearby Charlottesville for a little sightseeing.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation has done a really nice job of preserving the estate and the guided tours provide a good balance of entertainment and education. Having forgotten my camera, you will all be spared any photos of our visit (much to Vicki's delight) but their website is well done and worth a visit if you can't come for the real thing.

The one and only picture of the day is from a quick drive-by of the TNT Cafe, our choice for dinner last night. When I travel, my preference is always to try local restaurants, so at the recommendation of a fellow traveler we visited the TNT in the local strip mall.

Walking in we quickly noticed we were the only customers and this certainly is not where you would go for a fancy meal. Linda, our waitress, cook, cashier, and entertainment however was only too happy to help. Twice Linda had to run next door to the local grocery for ingredients to complete our simple (but good) dinners.

Tomorrow we head to Front Royal, VA where Vicki and I will leave my parents for a couple of days to visit Vicki's sister Jeannie and her husband Dennis in Catlett, VA.

From 8-06 Day 25

Day 24 - 8/5 - Last day on the Blue Ridge

I'm back after a couple of days without internet access!

Wednesday was a bittersweet day as we enjoyed some of the clearest visibility of the trip on our last day riding the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We covered about 15 miles today, bringing our total for the Blue Ridge to just under 145 miles. Not the 469 total we once hoped for, but more than enough to appreciate its beauty and to experience much of what it has to offer.

The day started with a drive south to "insert" us near mile marker 14 so we could ride north to the start of the parkway. Unlike all of the other intersections we had used this morning's intersection was not marked, so we relied on a couple of hikers resting by the side of the road to confirm we had found the Blue Ridge.

Like most days we began with a climb, this time about 1000 feet before enjoying downhills for most of the rest of the ride. True to their name, the Smoky Mountains had low visibility the entire time we had been in NC and it had continued up until today's ride.

Almost from the start of today's ride the visibility was significantly better. The photos won't fully capture how clear the distant mountains looked today. The highlight was probably at Ravens Roost, an outlook near the top of our climb at 3200 feet.

Not only were the views spectacular, but a pair of large raptors danced overhead as we tried to identify the landmarks from the plaque the Park Service mounted in the stone fence separating us from the valley below.

Like the previous couple of rides, we saw many deer by the side of the road, dozens of different butterflies, and many birds riding the air currents above. At about the six mile mark we stopped at Humpback Rocks Visitor Center for one last look at Blue Ridge memorabilia and to view the recreated farm.

The last few miles of the Blue Ridge seemed to go by too fast with mile marker zero showing up before I was ready for it to end. The Blue Ridge Parkway actually starts in the middle of a bridge at the very end of Skyline Drive which continues another 105 miles through Shenandoah National Park.

It is with mixed feeling I write today's post. The journey so far has been remarkable not only for the scenery but also for the time I have been able to spend with both my father and mother. Depending on weather and travel time we may or may not have any more time to ride. While at times writing a blog has seemed like a lot of work, the feedback has been wonderful and I look forward (after some time to catch up on work) to looking back on the blog and comments to relive a little of this priceless adventure.
..Keith

8-05 Day 24

Day 23 - 8/4 - Natural Bridge, VA

Our final day in Natural Bridge and next to last day on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Today our wives were kind enough to drive us a few miles north to start our ride at about mile marker 46 on the parkway. If you are new to this blog we started at the southern end of the parkway (mile marker 469) and tomorrow we will RV to Waynesboro, VA which is close to the northern end (mile marker 0).

Today we covered about 20 miles which puts our total on the Blue Ridge at just under 130 miles or about 28%. According to my bike computer we have climbed almost 26,000 feet along the way or almost the height of Mount Everest (not at one time;).

Today's ride included another deer sighting; our first encounter with a turtle crossing the road; multiple streams; an old logging rail line; a herd of friendly cows; and changing landscape as we continue to move north.

Each time I think we have seen it all, the parkway finds new ways to surprise me. Some are dramatic, like the mountain peaks of Otter, others are subtle like the grassy hillsides with cows that seem to appear out of the forest.

One of the constant delights has been stopping for lunch with my father in one breathtaking spot after another, usually with no sound other than the wind and water to compete with our conversations.

8-04 Day 23

Day 22 - 8/3 - Natural Bridge, VA

Today was a day of highs and lows.

The plan was to enter the Blue Ridge south of Natural Bridge and ride back towards the RV campsite. As it turns out this stretch of the Parkway included both the highest point in VA on the Parkway (3950') and lowest point anywhere on the Parkway (670').

In between those points we enjoyed over 12 miles of downhill riding - by far the longest I've ever coasted.

It was also a great day for picture taking as I took over 150 photos (about 30 are posted below). A few of the highlights included multiple deer sightings and many opportunities to photograph the previously-elusive black butterflies that seem to thrive the entire length of the parkway.

A few of today's more memorable stops included an overlook we shared with thousands of bees creating a great humming sound as the fed on the clover; hearing about the area from a local cyclist/painter as we stood on the bridge overlooking the James River; and bringing our wives back to the Peaks of Otter Lodge/Restaurant for dinner after falling in love with the spot earlier in the day.

We ended up riding just under 26 miles, stopping for the day at the James River Visitor Center near the restored Kanawha Canal Lock.

This continues to be a vacation where each day brings new surprises and unexpected beauty.

As a parting comment, something I had intended to mention in a earlier post was recognition for the great coverage Verizon provided to our cell phones on the Blue Ridge. So of course today, when we tried to call our wives to tell them about dinner, we had no coverage for most of the ride;(

8-03 Day 22

Day 21 - 8/2 - Natural Bridge, VA

Timing is everything, and in today's case, the fact the Fancy Gap KOA didn't have a spot for us, turned out to be a good thing.

Once again we woke to rain, so using today as a travel day was a good decision. Unfortunately, we once again found heavy traffic and got stuck in a long traffic jam slowing our progress.

Reservations are in place and the forecast for the next couple of days is for good weather so with a little luck I'll be reporting lots of Blue Ridge miles the next couple of days. Till then I've included a few pictures of today's travel and the next campsite.

8-02 Day 21