Flatwoods, WV to Shenandoah N.P., VA

Day 3 - 323 miles through West Virginia and Virginia

We woke up at 6:30 AM, half an hour before sun rise, and again I had to tweek the route for today since we were supposed to be further east by now.



Sutton Lane Motel

We got to watch the sun rise from our balcony this morning

We liked the Waffle Hut so much, we went there again today for breakfast. We hit the road again hoping to get to the campsite early, at least this time we were leaving early enough to make it happen. We had reservations for tonight, so we needed to get there.



French toast at the Waffle Hut



I'm stuffed



19 and 4 were good roads, 20 had a bit of traffic

All the roads were great with little traffic until we got close to Buckhannon on 20, a bit of traffic here. Then we arrived at 33, once the highway portion ended the traffic got thicker and it only got worst as we continued east.

Riding 33 again

Wonderful and wide curves here on 33, unlike the narrow 33 we were on yesterday

I'm going to catch up to that black pickup truck and follow it all the way to Virginia, he wasn't going slow

Going up

Sweepers and mountains

Seneca Rocks on 33 in West Virginia

We stopped at the Seneca Rocks. The few stores there did not have public bathrooms so we geared up and rode over to the visitor center at Seneca Rocks, which by the way, is a really nice facility.

33 is a very nice and twisty road, so too bad we couldn’t enjoy it as much as we wanted to. At times we were riding in first gear, that’s how slow the traffic was moving. Going to Harrisonburg was also not much fun since it’s a good sized city and there was a lot of traffic there. Instead of grabbing the interstate as I saw best through my GPS I ended up following the signs that took me out of the way to I-81 North. The interstate was also crowded, but we didn’t have to go very far on it. Today was another hot and humid day, even on the interstate I couldn't cool off.



I-81 to 211 to 340, then finally we made it to Skyline Drive

The plan was to meet up with Scott and Holly for lunch at the beginning of the Skyline Drive in Front Royal, VA, but even though it was not that far away, the traffic was slowing us down. They arrived at the meeting spot and we were still 30-40 minutes away so they rode in our direction, turned around when they passed us, then Mike and I pulled over to ride with them until we arrived in Front Royal where the traffic was crawling also.



Meeting up with Scott and Holly



Following Scott to Front Royal and food

It was already 5PM, we needed to eat quick. We got to the subway but it was closed since it was Labor Day, so we went to the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut instead. Mike and I were starved, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast this morning.



The four of us had pizza

After food and some chit chat, we had to go, we still had a bunch of miles to get though before we could call it a night. We said our good byes, paid $10 to enter Shenandoah National Park and headed south on Skyline Drive. The 35MPH speed limit wasn’t going to do, but 45 seemed reasonable.

Skyline Drive

At first the road was mellow and just winding gently, but south of 211 it got pretty tight with many elevation changes. Scott had warned us about there being a lot of deer in the park and he was not kidding, they were all over, some just gawking at us from the grass by the road as we passed them, some dashing across the road, even had a bear cross the road in front of us, I had to swerve around a couple deer that just decided to park it in the road.

The deer came out at sunset

We didn’t have that much further to go, another 50 or 60 miles, but at 45 miles an hour with plenty of corners to run though and deer to avoid, the campsite at Loft Mountain was just not coming up as quickly as the light was disappearing.

Mike on Skyline Drive

Finally it was completely dark and I do mean completely. No lights except for the tiny specs of light from the towns below us way in the distance, the view was actually amazing, really made me feel like we were riding in the sky. We put on some warmer layers and kept going, Mike in front now with his not so bright headlights. I clicked on my brights behind him and illuminated the road and more, my headlight rock.

The ST3 and the mountains at sunset

Sunset on Skyline Drive

With only about 30 more miles we were completely out of gas. I knew that there was gas on Skyline Drive and there was some near our camp site but would they be open so late? And would we be able to make it that far. As tired as I was there was no other choice, with route 33 coming up and a town only 6 miles away, we didn’t want to risk running out of gas so we rode down the dark and twisty mountain road and gassed up below. As we started the bikes up again to head back to Skyline Drive I realized that I was pretty tired now. It was now kind of chilly, but not too bad. To my surprise the last few miles of the road to Loft Mountain was pea-graveled, this was not fun so late in the day and in the dark.

Mike in front of me on Skyline Drive around 1oPM

We arrived at the campsite at around 10:30PM. About 45 minutes later we had the tent set up. The camp site was pretty big but the parking spot was a bit of a walk from the spot where we needed to set up the tent so getting our stuff from the bike there in complete darkness only using camping headlights was a slow process.

With everything stowed away, I left my bag of toiletries on the picnic table along with a bag containing some granola bars, not sure if the bears can small shampoo or lotion through the bottle or granola though the wrapper, but I wasn’t going to leave it on the bike incase they did smell it and I wasn’t going to leave it in the tent either.

We fell asleep surround by the sounds of crickets and other insects. The night was cool, my 40 degree bag and a couple of layers kept me plenty warm, toward the morning I zipped the zipper from my sleeping bag all the way up but I was never cold. The lows for the night were supposed to be in the low 60’s to uppder 50's.

Wheelersburg, OH to Flatwoods, WV

Day 2 - 230 miles through Ohio and West Virginia

First order of the day was gas and food. There were not many choices for the food so we ended up stopping at Wendy’s. It was almost 11AM by the time we got on our bikes and headed out of town and it was already getting hot and humid.



Mike's Tiger hidden underneath the stairs from the night before



Days Inn in Wheelersburg, OH

I would have liked to get on the road early so at the end of today we could enjoy the outdoors, since we were planning on camping tonight, but since we arrived so late last night that just wasn’t going to happen.



From Wheelersburg we took 54 to 140 which were OK roads, then we took 279 and 325, not as twisty as the KY roads 227 and 22 we did yesterday, but fun in thier own way, Mike liked 325 since it was very hilly and had a lot of blind turns



279 in Ohio

Somewhere in some town on 279

The roads were hilly with curves and hardly any traffic until we arrived at 124 that runs parallel to the Ohio River, there was some traffic here.

Following the Ohio River on 124

Mike getting the camcorder ready while we sit in construction traffic on 124

124 and the Ohio River

Gas station break on 124, the river is right behind those trees

That's West Virginia on the other side of the bridge

At some point earlier today I had developed a headache that was starting to bug me now, I was probably getting dehydrated since I wasn’t drinking enough water and I don’t deal well with hot and humid weather. It was well in to the 90’s now and I had to cool off quick. I found a McDonalds and a cold vanilla milkshake. Cooling off inside with the AC and looking over the route and at the time we needed to get to the state park, we now needed to change our route.

The direct route would be to take 33 east which I’ve been on parts of and enjoyed. I wanted to ride some new roads but all of them went a bit out of the way and I really didn’t want to set up camp in the middle of the night. So 33 it was, it’s a good road with plenty of sweepers and tight stuff.

Not the route we had originally planned, 33 to I-79 is what happened today

33 is a great road with many very tight sections, I took all the pictures of the road while riding so there are no pictures of the tight stuff since I had to concentrate on the road

I really liked the looks of Weston, WV, lots of nice architecture

The sun was really low in the sky now and Tygart Lake State Park was still quite a ways away, since the park doesn’t take reservations, we didn’t have one, leaving us open to stay anywhere. We looked at the GPS and found a state park just 15 miles from where we were at but when we arrived at the Stonewall Jackson State Park, we didn’t see any camp sites there. It was already getting dark and who knows how long it was going to take us to find the camp sites if they had any, with no more sun light to enjoy the camping experience, we headed for I-79 to find us a cheap motel.

A bridge in Burnsville, WV

Around Burnsville there was a billboard advertising such a place, motel 79, but when we arrived there the rooms cost a bit more because of the holiday weekend and the place didn’t look that great. We headed back to the interstate and took the Flatwoods exit. I’ve actually stayed here before a couple of years ago so knew of one place, but we found an ever better place so we grabbed a room at the Sutton Lane Motel.

It was completely dark now, happy with a cheap (around $60) and decent motel room, we got out of our gear and walked down the restaurant that was adjacent to the motel. Even though the sign said it was open 24 hours, the place was decent, with good food and even better prices.

At the Waffle Hut, I had a really nice chicken dinner

Mike's dinner was a huge breakfast

Many plates of food and he finished it all

The motel was up on a hill, we had a balcony and a beautify view of the interstate and the restaurant and gas station below.

A view from our balcony at the Sutton Lane Motel

Chicago, IL to Wheelersburg, OH

Day 1 - 520 miles through Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio

With the sun just barely peaking over the horizon, we’re heading east. The ST3 growling beneath me, Mike and the Tiger just a black spec in my rear view mirror. It’s early on a Saturday morning of Labor Day Weekend and the traffic is actually moving on the Interstate just east of Chicago… it’s a miracle. Especially since the road is under construction and has been for years. I think they are almost done, it’s looking good now. And even though I just finished packing this morning, we only managed to leave 45 minutes behind schedule, another miracle.

Getting close to the Indiana border now, I rev up the engine and get the Duc up to 80MPH, maybe more. My brand new tires, still looking very shiny, glide over the pavement effortlessly even though the bike is weighed down with enough crap to get us through a 9 day trip that includes a few days of camping.

Yep, I’ve got all the important stuff you need on a motorcycle tour and some stuff you really don’t need but it’s good to have anyway. I have the tire plug kit and a mini air compressor incase one of us gets a flat. The gas siphon in case one of us runs out of gas. I even have a camping pillow and a compact hair drier, my little luxuries, all the stuff is stowed away nicely in the two side cases, the top case, the tail bag and the tank bag. This is by far the best packing job I’ve ever done.
And I have some electronics also, a cell phone, a GPS, two digital cameras and a video camcorder, a laptop.

I notice right away that the bikes weighs more than it have ever weighed before. At least 20 lbs. more then it did last year on the 10 day trip out west. It’s all the electronics and their chargers, all together they weigh a ton. I just pray that I don’t end up dropping the bike on this trip since it’s so heavy and I don’t flat foot it.



Slabbing on I-65 through Indianapolis, IN

We continue south, the interstate portion of the ride is over and we roll down our first back road of the day. We stop in Greensburg, IN to shed some layers, it’s getting warm now. I’ve seen this place on TV actually. Greensburg, Indiana's claim to fame is a tree growing out of the roof of the courthouse in the center of town and we just happened to be passing right by it.





Greensburg, Indiana courthouse and the famous tree on the roof



Downtown Greensburg, IN



421 between Greensburg and Versallies, IN

We head for the Ohio River but we get detoured to an unplanned road. Now arriving at the road we need, I realize we went out of the way but there are any a few places to cross the river, so we have no choice, we can either cross east or west of here, we go west. The roads are getting somewhat twisty now, some have rollercoaster qualities.



We wanted 129 but it was closed, the detour took us on 250 and 56





The curves and hills finally start in Southern Indiana

We cross the Ohio River in to Kentucky and we pass a restaurant on the river but I have hopes of something better in the town of Warsaw. A few miles later we get in to town and see nothing, so we turn around and ride the few miles back to the Sunset Grill.



Lunch at the Sunset Grill on 42 West of Warsaw, KY



View of the Ohio River from our table at the Sunset Grill

This seems to be a popular motorcycle joint, there are many bikes parked out front. We grab a table outside with the river view. There is nothing better than a good lunch with a good view, unfortunately the service is slow, the food isn’t good or cheap, but we do have a good view. Now stuffed with food and feeling sluggish, a cold Red Bull from the bar gets us on our way.



Mike's Burger

My chicken sandwitch

The roads are getting good. 35 heading south from Warsaw, has some twists, but 227 south of Owenton is as twisty as I remember it the last time I was through here. We turn on 607 heading east, also twisty with brand new pavement.

We went the wrong way on 227 and had to turn around, so we got a few extra curves in since south and north of here, 227 is a great road

227 South of Owentown is a very fun road

227 South of Owentown

It’s getting late now and our breaks are getting shorter. We grab 330 heading east but somehow we end up heading toward the west, the road is good and we’re still going toward 22 which I wanted to take, except now we need to get on 25 to get to 22, but it’s worth it, 22 turns out to be the best road of the day twisting and turning through the hills. All the roads are kind of narrow and many of the turns are blind, which slows me down some but Mike really likes that kind of stuff. The next road we take is 10, which is still pretty darn good but the light is fading now.

22 was the best road of the day, not a lot of straight sections here

These curves on 22 were a lot of fun, better than 227

22 was the best road of the day

We cross the Ohio River again, this time we’re in Ohio. The sun sets so we pull over for gas, to put on some layers and I need to change out the tinted helmet shield for my clear one. We estimate we’ll be there in an hour or so. There being a motel we had made a reservation at since we knew we’d be rolling in late and didn’t want to be hunting for a motel room on a holiday weekend.

Then as we pull out of the gas station we accidentally go the wrong way. I didn’t catch it until many miles later because I have turned my GPS off (I can’t really see it in the dark anyway) and there were no directions posted over the route sign, it just said we’re traveling on route 52.

Went the wrong way on 52, it was late, so we had dinner in Ripley

Eating outside at the Dairy Yum Yum in Ripley, OH

Corndogs and chicken strips, the ultimate road food

The night is pleasant and we’re riding along the Ohio River gazing at the many reflections on its surface, it could be worst. And then I realize, we still have one more hour or so of riding and I’m hungry and many places could be closed by the time we get to the motel, plus I don’t want to eat so late. We didn’t want to eat too much and get sleepy, so a snack is all we needed. The road food of choice for us is always corn dogs and chicken strips. The joint closed even before we were done eating, I had to finish my chicken strips in the dark. The food was cheap and that made it even better tasting.

Following the Ohio River all the way to the Days Inn in Wheelersburg, OH

The last leg of the trip was not as fun. I was tired, it was kind of getting cold and there were cops looking for speeders. The deer signs had me looking more in the bushes than on the road itself. I was counting the miles we had left. Finally we rolled through Portsmouth, OH and found ourselves some heavy traffic. We caught every red right all the way from Portsmouth to the Day’s Inn in Wheelersburg,. And every time the traffic stopped at the red light, some guy in the car behind us shouted something out of his car. We don’t know what he was shouting since we had ear plugs in. We arrived at the motel at 10:30PM our time, it was already 11:30 in Ohio. A long day on the bikes considering we were on the road by 6:45AM.