DAY 11

Bruce and I headed for Roanoke Harley after breakfast to get an oil change for him and a rear tire for me. Told them we were traveling and we went to the front of the line, while changing the tire the tech noticed that I had a broken header pipe by the rear cylinder. That would explain the odd whistling noise I had been hearing the last day or so. The servicer manager said it could be welded and he had a friend with a welding shop just down the road, about three hours later everything back together, new tire on ready to roll, that's Harley service.

Picked up the other guys at the motel, except Jan who had gone ahead to visit an uncle along the today’s route. A few miles and we were back on the Blue Ridge Parkway heading north under cloudy skies and cooler temps, jacket felt good. The parkway continued its up and down the mountains weaving in and out from ridge top to forest much the same as the yesterday. You might think this would get monotonous but it never does there is always something different and challenging with the road.

After lunch we took over half of a Hardees Drive-In to don rain gear for the first time before heading north into a light rain and fog. The rain only lasted for about twenty miles and never was more than a sprinkle, not bad for the first in eleven days. From the parkway you could look down into the valleys full of fog and as you approached the gaps between the hills (which all have names) the fog would come up engulfing the road cutting visibility to a few feet. On one gap the fog lasted as we began to climb back up and when we drove out of it the scenery had changed. We came out higher than usual and the trees appeared bare with spooky crooked branches reaching out towards the road from both sides. When we stopped for a break and examined the trees they were covered in new leaves having just learned it was spring.

Soon we were back into the dense green forests thick with many different types of trees, the forest floor covered with grasses and small bushes, the light rain had also stopped with the fog beginning to clear. All to soon we were at the end of the Blue Ridge having ridden the most of its 460 miles. In the last few days waved to lots of other bikes, had very little traffic, and the most beautiful scenery, almost makes you want to turn around and do it again.

Stopped for the night in Waynesboro VA at the southern end of the skyline drive in the Shenandoah National Forest, we will ride it tomorrow. Lunch today was in Buena Vista, VA where a nice older gentleman wanted to talk about his younger days, there is always a new story to hear and something to learn from these chance encounters, fascinating. One thing I learned today was the proper pronunciation of Buena Vista, apparently it’s Boo’-A (pause)Vida who’d a thunk. I absolutely love the different pronunciations and dialects we hear in different parts of the country, I’m sure we sound as strange to the people we meet. Yesterday at one of our stops an older gentleman looked at us and as I walked by said “summer must be here the motorcycles have come back to the parkway”.

I was asked what kind of trees make up the majority of the forests we have been driving the last few days. There are large trees with straight brown trunks and deep green leaves, and then there are trees with brown crooked trunks and lighter green leaves interspersed with light brown trunks with bright green leaves. Actually learned some are hickory, some oak, and several others I can’t remember.