massachusetts to Virginia and back again
#1
08-16-2015, 04:09 PM
massachusetts to Virginia and back again
I departed on August 30th at 4:00 AM. I had packed the bike the night before so all I had to do was do my final check list, throw my leg over the seat and roll down the driveway. For the folks that don't know which truthfully I didn't, it is still dark at four o'clock in the morning at the tail end of August. Which means it's down right cold! So if anyone that should be reading these notes of mine should you have the desire to leave at 4 AM and get on your bike, I recommend dressing accordingly. Layer up!!
Anyway, all was good! I kissed Katie on the cheek told her I love her, promised to call her as I go to keep her informed of my progress and then away I went. It is also worth mentioning that at 4 o'clock in the morning the bike seems like it is louder than it is at any other time of the day. So unless you don't like your neighbors... I happen to like mine so I slowly left the neighborhood and hoped that they were unaware of my departure. I worked my way out to 146 north up to the Mass pike headed west to route 84 South through Hartford Ct and had to stop to warm up. Interesting point Stonigton Ct was exactly 100 miles from the house. By this time the sun still wasn't out and I really needed it to help warm up. I was shivering pretty bad. Dunkin Donuts coffee was never more welcome than that morning. I had my cup of coffee and a muffin, warmed up my bones and waited for the sun to come up before I got back on the bike. I was at this stop a little longer than I had anticipated but worth it just the same. I ended up stopping for gas three times on the trip down, and twice to get a bite to eat and truth be told a couple of times simply to stretch.
After I left Stonington, I followed 84 west to Scranton Pa, and then turned on 81 South for the remainder of the trip. Through Pennsylvania, into Maryland, West Virginia then Virginia. Three states added to the list! In fact, I also added New Jersey to the list on my return trip but more on that later. My destination was Winchester VA. at exit 313B I finally arrived 12 hours from the time I left to the Wingate hotel. I chose the Wingate ahead of time because within walking distance there was plenty of choices of restaurants to choose from. One place came as a nice surprise. There was a sports bar called "Glory Days" directly in front of the hotel. good food, great service, televisions 360 degrees around the bar with nothing but sports on every one. I ended up eating there every night I was there. So after 511 miles, 12 hours, a damn good meal and a couple of cocktails later, when I layed my head down on the pillow, well, the rest as they say is history.
Day 2:
The next morning after a decent breakfast right there at the hotel I decided to have sausage, bisquits and gravy simply because I was in the south, I had to have it!. I packed the bike for the day. This was the whole reason for coming all this way. The Shenandoah National Park. Skyline Drive. Winchester is on the northern side of the entrance to the park which is in Front Royal Va. which is 30 minutes from Winchester. In order to get to the park I traveled down route 522 all the way to the park. I filled up in Front Royal. There are no filling stations in the park so it is highly recommended as the park is 106 miles of winding twisty roads and it offers some of the most beautiful scenery in all of the north east part of the country. Well worth the journey!! There are multiple scenic overlooks along the entire 106 miles. The day I was there it was a bit overcast so the views were hindered a bit as if the sun was out, but beautiful none the less. The road offers ample opportunities for leaning into the turns. Let's face it, that is what makes riding fun!! So, "twisties", views, having not a care in the world. Timmy was happy!!
The southern end of the park is a little town called Waynesboro Va. I got on route 250 west and headed back towards I-81 north. Everything was just fine heading back until I got about 40 miles outside of Winchester when a storm front came through and I got wet. I mean REALLY wet. Within about a mile or a little better my shoes were soaked through. Ah well, it isn't a ride unless you get caught in a little rain. All I could think of as I was standing under an overpass getting sprayed by all the trucks passing me, "Here we go again!" After the rain slowed down a bit and I was dressed in my gear I continued on. When I got back to the hotel the sun was shining and it was hot. Now of course I was in my full rain gear sweltering, my socks were wet, my pants under my suit was wet... MISERSABLE!!! (hahaha). I finished my night back at "Glory Days" and then off to bed.
Day 3:
Today I slept in!! I needed to after the past couple of days. Today the plan was to be on the bike as little as possible. I decided to take in a couple of museums and enjoy "Old Town Winchester". I started my "history lessons" at the George Washington's Office Museum and then a short ride up the road I took in Stone Wall Jackson's Headquarters Museum. I honestly enjoyed seeing all the memoralbia of these two museums. After spending a couple of hours at these two places I found a parking garage and for 50 cents per hour I parked the bike. The dark clouds over head had a little something to do with my decision. One block from the garage was "Old Town Winchester". Two blocks of various shops and restaurants, street performers etc. As I was walking down the brick sidewalk I fealt a couple of rain drops. I thought to myself, "not today!!" I snuck into a little bistro and sat down at a window side table and watched everyone that was outside scramble as the skies opened up again. All I could do was smile when the waiter came over with my beer called "Face Plant" The way to order beer in this place was to walk up to the wall where they had all the beers on display.
After lunch I walked for too many blocks and went to the Patsy Cline house which ended up being closed. I really need to learn how to read the hours on the pamphlets! Well I got to take a picture of the outside of the house anyway. I made my way back to Old Town and took in one last museum and that was the "Old Court House" Inside here there was mostly civil war era artillery and a few other artifacts from the civil war. The cool thing about this museum was during renovations they found old graffiti from that time period. One of the most interesting 'etchings was from most likely a union soldier who sent a curse to Jefferson Davis. This man wrote " To Jeff Davis - May you be on a ship that sinks and may you be swallowed by a shark then a whale and into the devils belly where he spits you out in the north and may a southerly wind blow dirt into your face for all of eternity". I'm not positive, but I think who ever wrote this pretty much didn't like Mr. Jefferson Davis.
Day 4:
Time to leave Winchester and visit my good friend Farley. Farley and his family had moved to Lancaster Pa. a couple of months prior to my trip. So the nigt before I called Farley and finalized a time to meet and mapped out the route. I packed up the bike and headed out of Winchester this morning around 7:30 am and headed back up I-81 back into West Virginia and though Maryland and up to route 30 in Pennslvania and headed east. Route 30 went through many towns and but it was a good ride. One of the towns is Gettysburg and Route 30 goes through the battlefields where 53,000 men lost their lives in just three days. Indeed a very humbling feeling riding through this town. I stayed on the bike all the way into York Pa before I got off to take a break. After a little snack and small coffee I continued on to see Farley. After I arrived Farley gave me "the grand tour" of the house that he and his family are renting. Beautiful old brick farm house. With a smoker in the attic! Charming only begins to descibe the house and the road that the house is on.
After the tour We went to lunch and I insisted that we go to what is in my opinion the ONLY place to eat in Lancaster and that is a little place called "Dieners" Owned and operated by the Amish. All home made fresh food at reasonable prices. The food reminds my of my grandmothers cooking and it brings me back to my youth. I love it!! After lunch, Farley drove me to an Amish dairy farm for home made ice cream in a homemeade waffle cone. Ok I gained 50 pounds on this day but I did not care!! yummy!!
Farmlands as far as the eye can see, good conversation and plenty of laughter hanging out with a good friend - priceless!! After we got back to the house Farley's wife Kris and his two terrific kids Heath and Cindy were home. I visited with them for a little while until around 4:00 or so then we needed to part ways. After the Farewell wishes were complete I made my way to the Courtyard Marriot in Reading PA. via route 222 north. After unpacking the bike and getting my room I took full advantage of the fact that the ice chest was directly across the hall from my room and I toasted myself and my trip with the crown royal in my flask that I had packed and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Day 5:
Holy ****! I turned 46 today! Time to head home. Last night I mapped out the routes for the trip home and decided to follow route 222 north to 78 East into New Jersey, grab 287 north to 87 up into New York and catch I-84 East back through Hartford Ct and then home. Today was a long day but a good day.
This trip was by far the longest trip I have taken up to this point. I can honestly say that this was a great trip! Of course most of the ride was highway riding, but well worth the effort. From the Shenandoah National Park to the museums in Winchester, 'Old Town Winchester", Even the Patsy Cline house, Route 30, Lancaster, and visiting a truly good friend. I thoroughly enjoyed this ride and I would have no problem in doing it again. (just not too soon! My glutes need to heal before I do it again).
Anyway, all was good! I kissed Katie on the cheek told her I love her, promised to call her as I go to keep her informed of my progress and then away I went. It is also worth mentioning that at 4 o'clock in the morning the bike seems like it is louder than it is at any other time of the day. So unless you don't like your neighbors... I happen to like mine so I slowly left the neighborhood and hoped that they were unaware of my departure. I worked my way out to 146 north up to the Mass pike headed west to route 84 South through Hartford Ct and had to stop to warm up. Interesting point Stonigton Ct was exactly 100 miles from the house. By this time the sun still wasn't out and I really needed it to help warm up. I was shivering pretty bad. Dunkin Donuts coffee was never more welcome than that morning. I had my cup of coffee and a muffin, warmed up my bones and waited for the sun to come up before I got back on the bike. I was at this stop a little longer than I had anticipated but worth it just the same. I ended up stopping for gas three times on the trip down, and twice to get a bite to eat and truth be told a couple of times simply to stretch.
After I left Stonington, I followed 84 west to Scranton Pa, and then turned on 81 South for the remainder of the trip. Through Pennsylvania, into Maryland, West Virginia then Virginia. Three states added to the list! In fact, I also added New Jersey to the list on my return trip but more on that later. My destination was Winchester VA. at exit 313B I finally arrived 12 hours from the time I left to the Wingate hotel. I chose the Wingate ahead of time because within walking distance there was plenty of choices of restaurants to choose from. One place came as a nice surprise. There was a sports bar called "Glory Days" directly in front of the hotel. good food, great service, televisions 360 degrees around the bar with nothing but sports on every one. I ended up eating there every night I was there. So after 511 miles, 12 hours, a damn good meal and a couple of cocktails later, when I layed my head down on the pillow, well, the rest as they say is history.
Day 2:
The next morning after a decent breakfast right there at the hotel I decided to have sausage, bisquits and gravy simply because I was in the south, I had to have it!. I packed the bike for the day. This was the whole reason for coming all this way. The Shenandoah National Park. Skyline Drive. Winchester is on the northern side of the entrance to the park which is in Front Royal Va. which is 30 minutes from Winchester. In order to get to the park I traveled down route 522 all the way to the park. I filled up in Front Royal. There are no filling stations in the park so it is highly recommended as the park is 106 miles of winding twisty roads and it offers some of the most beautiful scenery in all of the north east part of the country. Well worth the journey!! There are multiple scenic overlooks along the entire 106 miles. The day I was there it was a bit overcast so the views were hindered a bit as if the sun was out, but beautiful none the less. The road offers ample opportunities for leaning into the turns. Let's face it, that is what makes riding fun!! So, "twisties", views, having not a care in the world. Timmy was happy!!
The southern end of the park is a little town called Waynesboro Va. I got on route 250 west and headed back towards I-81 north. Everything was just fine heading back until I got about 40 miles outside of Winchester when a storm front came through and I got wet. I mean REALLY wet. Within about a mile or a little better my shoes were soaked through. Ah well, it isn't a ride unless you get caught in a little rain. All I could think of as I was standing under an overpass getting sprayed by all the trucks passing me, "Here we go again!" After the rain slowed down a bit and I was dressed in my gear I continued on. When I got back to the hotel the sun was shining and it was hot. Now of course I was in my full rain gear sweltering, my socks were wet, my pants under my suit was wet... MISERSABLE!!! (hahaha). I finished my night back at "Glory Days" and then off to bed.
Day 3:
Today I slept in!! I needed to after the past couple of days. Today the plan was to be on the bike as little as possible. I decided to take in a couple of museums and enjoy "Old Town Winchester". I started my "history lessons" at the George Washington's Office Museum and then a short ride up the road I took in Stone Wall Jackson's Headquarters Museum. I honestly enjoyed seeing all the memoralbia of these two museums. After spending a couple of hours at these two places I found a parking garage and for 50 cents per hour I parked the bike. The dark clouds over head had a little something to do with my decision. One block from the garage was "Old Town Winchester". Two blocks of various shops and restaurants, street performers etc. As I was walking down the brick sidewalk I fealt a couple of rain drops. I thought to myself, "not today!!" I snuck into a little bistro and sat down at a window side table and watched everyone that was outside scramble as the skies opened up again. All I could do was smile when the waiter came over with my beer called "Face Plant" The way to order beer in this place was to walk up to the wall where they had all the beers on display.
After lunch I walked for too many blocks and went to the Patsy Cline house which ended up being closed. I really need to learn how to read the hours on the pamphlets! Well I got to take a picture of the outside of the house anyway. I made my way back to Old Town and took in one last museum and that was the "Old Court House" Inside here there was mostly civil war era artillery and a few other artifacts from the civil war. The cool thing about this museum was during renovations they found old graffiti from that time period. One of the most interesting 'etchings was from most likely a union soldier who sent a curse to Jefferson Davis. This man wrote " To Jeff Davis - May you be on a ship that sinks and may you be swallowed by a shark then a whale and into the devils belly where he spits you out in the north and may a southerly wind blow dirt into your face for all of eternity". I'm not positive, but I think who ever wrote this pretty much didn't like Mr. Jefferson Davis.
Day 4:
Time to leave Winchester and visit my good friend Farley. Farley and his family had moved to Lancaster Pa. a couple of months prior to my trip. So the nigt before I called Farley and finalized a time to meet and mapped out the route. I packed up the bike and headed out of Winchester this morning around 7:30 am and headed back up I-81 back into West Virginia and though Maryland and up to route 30 in Pennslvania and headed east. Route 30 went through many towns and but it was a good ride. One of the towns is Gettysburg and Route 30 goes through the battlefields where 53,000 men lost their lives in just three days. Indeed a very humbling feeling riding through this town. I stayed on the bike all the way into York Pa before I got off to take a break. After a little snack and small coffee I continued on to see Farley. After I arrived Farley gave me "the grand tour" of the house that he and his family are renting. Beautiful old brick farm house. With a smoker in the attic! Charming only begins to descibe the house and the road that the house is on.
After the tour We went to lunch and I insisted that we go to what is in my opinion the ONLY place to eat in Lancaster and that is a little place called "Dieners" Owned and operated by the Amish. All home made fresh food at reasonable prices. The food reminds my of my grandmothers cooking and it brings me back to my youth. I love it!! After lunch, Farley drove me to an Amish dairy farm for home made ice cream in a homemeade waffle cone. Ok I gained 50 pounds on this day but I did not care!! yummy!!
Farmlands as far as the eye can see, good conversation and plenty of laughter hanging out with a good friend - priceless!! After we got back to the house Farley's wife Kris and his two terrific kids Heath and Cindy were home. I visited with them for a little while until around 4:00 or so then we needed to part ways. After the Farewell wishes were complete I made my way to the Courtyard Marriot in Reading PA. via route 222 north. After unpacking the bike and getting my room I took full advantage of the fact that the ice chest was directly across the hall from my room and I toasted myself and my trip with the crown royal in my flask that I had packed and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Day 5:
Holy ****! I turned 46 today! Time to head home. Last night I mapped out the routes for the trip home and decided to follow route 222 north to 78 East into New Jersey, grab 287 north to 87 up into New York and catch I-84 East back through Hartford Ct and then home. Today was a long day but a good day.
This trip was by far the longest trip I have taken up to this point. I can honestly say that this was a great trip! Of course most of the ride was highway riding, but well worth the effort. From the Shenandoah National Park to the museums in Winchester, 'Old Town Winchester", Even the Patsy Cline house, Route 30, Lancaster, and visiting a truly good friend. I thoroughly enjoyed this ride and I would have no problem in doing it again. (just not too soon! My glutes need to heal before I do it again).
#2
08-16-2015, 08:09 PM
Road Master
#3
08-24-2015, 10:17 AM
Wife and I ride this all the time as we only live about 30 minutes away from the north entrance. Speed limit on Skyline Drive is 35 which is more than adequate. What gets frustrating are the cars that want to do 25 and not pull over when they have a line backed up behind them. Most drivers will pull into an overlook and let the "faster" traffic go by but occasionally you will get the @$$hole that just has to prove some point.
#4
08-26-2015, 04:35 AM
#5
09-02-2015, 11:00 AM
Tourer
#7
09-07-2015, 12:06 PM
Road Warrior
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