Been a while...

Hopefully soon, there will be more to write about. I've been off the bike for essentially 8 months at this point.

Had surgery about 3 weeks ago fixing my neck.  Arm pain and numbness are gone.  So once I get clearance, I'll be able to ride again without fear of going down.   I've move the bike a few times to get the fluids moving and rotating the tires.  I have to admit, those few hundred feet have been great.  As my neck is still recoving, I didn't wear a helmet as I didn't want additional weight on my head.

I go back to the doc in about a month, so hopefully he'll shorten the time I'm off the bike as I have 2 more months to wait.

B-Day Ride...

Like I often do with holidays and such, I went for a ride on my b-day.  Woulda been nice to have someone ridin with me, but I'm used to doin b-days and holidays by myself.

Originally my thought was to ride all of Skyline, then stop off at Walton's Mountain before heading home.  I knew last week there were some colors up there, so figured I'd see how far along it was this week.  As usual, it took me a bit to get up this morning, so I started late.  So I took off for Front Royal to get on Skyline.  Weather was really nice the ride out.  I did know it was gonna be a bit cooler up in the mountains, and I didn't wanna wear my fleece, so I stopped off at K-Mart and picked up thermal to put under my shirt.  Was a good idea (I do have those from time to time)...  So I get up on Skyline, make my first stop to take some pics, and of course I don't have a memory card in the camera..  I did snap a pic with the phone...

 

Now I've been on Skyline enough to know I could pick up a memory card for the camera at Elkwallow Wayside, so rather than go back to Front Royal, I just figured I'd hold off on pics til I did the 20 miles to Wayside.  Got there, picked up a 2 gig card, and rode up to Mary's Rock Tunnel and took a few pics.

 

From there I rode on and took a few pics from time to time.

Then I stopped off at Crescent Rock Overlook for a bit.  Always a great place to just chill and relax.

 Panorama on the cliff....

From there I rode to Big Meadow where I turned around and headed home.

I didn't wanna ride all the way back to Front Royal, so I dropped down 211 and rode into Sperryville. All total I rode about 210 miles.  Not a bad day of riding.  Like I said, woulda been nice to share it with someone, but such is life.  I enjoyed myself and look forward to the next ride. 

Ridin no where in particular Day 2...

Not a bad day. Got in 308 miles today.   Left Waynesboro and headed this way and that way and wound up on 29.  Was some nice roads that got me there.  After a bit, I wound up here...

Had been a few years since I had been to Appomattox Courthouse. No, not pix of the courthouse, but the house and room that really mattered.  Snapped a couple pics around the area.  BTW, these are all iphone pix.  

From there I went over to the Confederate Cemetary. There is a Union soldier buried with the Confederates. 

From there I went to Charlottesville and was heading home. As I was heading north on 29 I saw a sign for Skyline.  So of course I made a left and I was off to Skyline. Was a nice ride.  Colors are starting to change snd it was great   I didn't take any pix with the phone up there.  I also did see a bear right before I got to Skyland.  I could tell it had rained and I didn't wanna chance anything so I got off Skyline and headed down into Sperryville.  Did not like goin down 211 when it was wet.  From there, I rode home. Wound up riding 528 miles between the 2 days and saw a bunch of historical places in Virginia.  

Ride to no where in particular...

Ugh.  I had started this draft and it deleted.  So back to square one. 

Anyhow, I started off ridin west on route 7.  A turn here, a turn there, and I wound up at Belle Grove. Thankfully I had brought my National Parks Passport. There are 4 stamps around the Cedar Creek area. Met up with a guy on a Harley that was getting the stamps too, so we rode to the different stops. At one I picked up brochures for Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville. You can buy a kit to age your own Belle Grove 1797 Whiskey.  Anyhow, back to the ride. The last stamp for us was at Hupp's Hill which doesn't have the best signage and Harley guy saw it too late to make the turn.  He doubled back and met me in the parking lot.  

After that, we went our separate ways.  I took off down 340 towards Luray and onto 211. 

I did wind up having to take a forced break on the ride when the cops closed down the road.  

And me with no marshmallows.  Anyhow, after thatI continued on 211 until I got to 11.  Then I followed that south a while until turning towards Waynesboro.  

Did notice this under the bike.  

Only in the neighborhood of 200 miles. Not sure where I'll go tomoorow until I turn towards home.  

Back to Tennessee.

Fairly uneventful ride yesterday. Got out early as I knew the weather was going to be iffy in the afternoon.  Ton of people on 81 heading to the VA Tech game.  Did manage to get gas for $2.99 at one point.  Trip was pretty uneventful aside from having to pull off as soon as I got to Knoxville because of rain.  Just put on rain gear and got back on the road.  Bike now has over 99,000 miles. 

At the Tennessee Welcome Center.  

And it begins...

Started my quest to get all the NPS Passport Cancellations in VA, MD, and DC.   I'll go through and add more pics later.  Ones on here now are from my phone. 

First stop was Prince William Forest Park.  Seen the signs, but never been before.  Not a bad little place.  I did the scenic ride there.

From there it was south to Fredericksburg.  First stop was Chatham Manor. I could spend a lot of time there taking pics.  Road isnt paved leaving there, but otherwise a good time. 

Next stop was the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields National Military Park. Mainly just got the cancellation stamps.  Will go back later to really explore and take pics. 

Then it was onto the Stonewall Jackson Shrine.  This is where Stonewall died. 

Train tracks run by the Shrine, so figured I'd get some pics, once the trains passed.  

From there it was on to another battlefield site. This time Chancellorsville. I was a bit pressed for time as I was worried about weather so I couldn't go as scenic as I wanted. 

Then it was on to Ellwood Manor.  I didn't pay enough attention and didn't realize it was a gravel drive.  Talk about getting your attention.  Nice place and did the tour of the house. Didn't do the tour of the grounds.  Next time. Didn't go to the other sites either. Again, next time.  Did go to the cemetary there and saw the marker where Stonewall Jackson's arm is buried. 

From there I went to the last stop on this run, Old Salem Church.  I had already passed it, and was doubling back. The reason for that is it is only open from 3 to 6 on weekends.  The volunteer there was great to talk to with lots of interesting info as he went to that church when he was a kid. 

I'll go back later to all these places for more pics when I have more time to focus on each place.  Had a great time and enjoyed the riding.

There be Dragons in those hills....

Today was a fun but hot day.  Got up to about 90, which was quite a change from the 39 degrees last week.   

We got stuck behind some Model A club.  They wound up gettin gas at the same station.  

Then we went up on Cherohala Skyway. Always nice up there.  Lotta bikes.  I only took a few pics up there.  

From there it was more riding heading towards the Dragon.  I pulled off on the bridge by Cheoah Dam before getting to Deal's Gap to snap some pics.  

If you've seen The Fugitive, thats the dam  Harrison Ford jumps out of.   We stopped again at the top too. 

From there it was on to Deal's Gap for lunch and to get a couple shirts.  Also took some pics of the Tree of Shame. 

Then it was dragon slayin time.  Will be lookin for pics of us on the Dragon later.  This was us after the Dragon. 

Then we rode down and went on the Foothills Parkway.  

 

Once we finished that, we were hot and tired, so it was time to head back to the lake. Slightly sunburned, but great time.  

265 miles ridden today

1778 total miles ridden on trip.