It is late and we are beat. I think we found the cheapest hotel of the whole trip so far, but not the worst, so far. The fan in the bathroom is lumpy and the screens are missing in the windows, and the plumbing hasn't been tested as of yet so this may get the coveted 2 stars which puts it in the same class as most of the other places we have stayed. Last night was really deluxe, and the hot water even worked. We have a star system based on the inverse of the number of seconds of rusty water that comes out of the cold water tap. A long time gets it a 1 star, no rust and who knows, maybe the 3 star rating..

We left Charleston WV and headed down Rt 60 along the Kanahwa River and saw coal barges getting coal from truck dropoff spots along the banks and pushing the coal up stream to a coal plant. There are 4 coal plants in pretty close proximity to Charleston and there are several coal dumping stations that the trucks can drop off on, so all in all a pretty sophisticated system. Today I understand why the roads are so good. They are for all the coal trucks to bring coal down to a river siding or a rail car loading station (yesterdays picture). We spent the first part of the day toe to toe with the big boys. There are also log trucks with trailers as well to work around. This is why these roads are so well maintained.

It was a day of short sprinkles so we kept our jackets on and Togg bottoms on. It was a very pleasant cool day compared to yesterday so no complains about sprinkles. I also figured out that I had left my hot air hand heaters on, which is why my hands were so toasty yesterday in the 85 deg heat.

While West Virginia back roads are perfect for motorcycles, I think we are getting a little worn out from really tight corners all day. My neck hurts from looking up from navigating the turns to catch glimpses of the scenery or of people's back yards or of the endless catchy church signs ("U turns are OK if you are are going the wrong direction" and "Little sins grow up faster than you think").

So we decided to head due east and get out of West Virginia. It has been neat to be so unusual to the folks we run into. We have been so far out of the main tourist stream that the people we meet are surprised we are in their little towns. We stopped at a corner to decide left or right yesterday, and an old guy and a younger man walked over and started talking. The young guy had tatoos (and not very politically correct ones) seemingly everywhere but was really friendly and helpful as was the old guy, but they couldn't get over the fact we were in their town. The younger guy told us "I met some motorcycle guys once at a motel and talked a long time with them. They were from New Jersey or someplace like that."

We met 2 guys on BMWs, which is rare (mostly Harleys around here), and they were from New Zealand doing the same thing we were doing. They had giant signs on their dashboards saying "Keep Right" with arrows since they drive on the other side of the road back home. They said it was a problem in the morning before coffee. They were 2 weeks into a 6 week tour covering the east coast. They had their bikes shipped on a boat to Los Angeles and then shipped to Boston. They had been to Maine and then back down to Virginia so far. They had done the same sort of 6 week trip 6 years ago out west. They love our cheap gas, huge meals and endless back roads.

We crossed Monongahela National Forest, which was beautiful, and landed back in Virginia near where we had been last week. We tried tonight to go over the gap to Charlottesville for a hotel, but came back to Waynesboro after being accosted by the Mercedes and Hummers over there. It is quite the contrast starting your morning with trailer parks and Chevy trucks and ending with POWs (People of Obvious Wealth) and PSWs (People of Stupid Wealth). We will investigate more tomorrow but it seems like the hideously wealthy folks build estates right up against the Blue Ridge Mtns, complete with long drives, long fences and groomed grounds ("Between you, me, the nanny and the house staff, I can't keep track of who's Land Rover is who's"). There is also the faux rich a little further down the mountain ("Billy Bob drove the Hummer in the pool again, go get another one, and pick up 2 of those lions for the end of the driveway, big ones").

Anyway, we walked to the Mexican restaurant, had a pitcher of Bud Lite (Yeah I know), dinner and now it is time to go to bed. Today we battled coal trucks, tomorrow we battle the Hummers. We proudly serve..