We packed up in Barbourville and had coffee in the lobby. The high school kids had a pretty quiet prom night so no excitement there. The same woman who checked us in was entertaining the other visitors. Management should know that it's people like her that make the place fun to stay at. She is a local girl, and from listening to her talk, everybody in town is related to everybody else, nobody moves around much.

We found the first small road out of town and headed north. There is not much going on in this county but we soon started getting into the coal counties and in coal country everything is tied in with the coal mining business. We saw entire mountain tops missing from past mining operations. When they are done clearing out the coal, they bulldoze it smooth, spread grass seed on it and add stone where the water flows to prevent it from eroding. You could put a good sized airport on some of the cleared off areas. It is a little sneaky because they need rail to get coal out and instead of building a railroad to he mines, they use conveyor belts, really big, long ones, to move the coal from the mine over the mountain to the railroad. We followed a lot of railroad beds today and while we couldn't see the mines, we did see the coal coming over the top of hills to huge piles next to the railroad bed. There are hundreds of coal cars sitting on sidings ready to be moved and filled. We also saw quite a few trucks that looked like they would haul coal, but we were not sure where they would haul it to. Maybe to dealers that use coal for other purposes?. It looks like lots of people drive trucks for the coal company.

The roads in all these states are really good, much better than Vermont. It may be the milder weather or their politicians bring home more bacon. Some of the 4 lane roads have almost nobody on them and cross thinly populated parts of the state. The people in these tiny coal towns don't seem to be enjoying much prosperity. There are not a lot of tidy yards or neat little villages. The people seem content however so maybe this is a bad read. There are churches everywhere, and being Sunday, all the parking lots were overfilled. Almost every vehicle is a big Chevy or Ford truck, not many foreign cars here. And there are certainly plenty of junk cars and trucks everywhere. Cars and fuel must be a big part of their budgets down here.

Because we picked the smallest roads and smallest towns to drive through, we soon realized after trying unsuccessfully to buy a road map, that there is no tourism or tourists in these small towns. Who needs a map if you live here. Everybody is surprised when we talk to them that we are passing through.

We crossed into West Virginia and found it much like Kentucky with more coal mines and poor towns and people. Tonight we landed in Charleston, which is the capital of West Virginia. Again, we have no plans for tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Early this morning in our quaint $52 hotel in Maggie Valley I discover a critter trying to attach itself to my leg. I gently crushed it and spent the rest of the night wondering how many more there were. Once my resident zoologist awoke this morning, he identified it as a tick and not a bedbug so all the lost sleep was for naught. It must have hitched a ride yesterday on one of our nature stops.

It was an overcast but pleasant morning so we packed the bikes and as soon as we hit the starters, it started to pour. So we again rode with the zoot suits in the rain until we found a gas station with protective overhang and changed into the Frogg Toggs. It never rained the rest of the day and we shed the Toggs a couple hours later when the clouds cleared away. We rode the last bit of the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and it dumped us in the Cherokee reservation which also is the beginning of the mountain pass over the Smoky Mountains into Tennessee. We had breakfast at the reservation which was pretty standard fare included gravy and biscuits pictured above(we would never order it of course, yogurt and fresh fruit being our preference). The breakfast special was pinto beans and eggs, which we passed on. Cherokee is set up for tourists and once again, there were lots of American Steel (Harleys) in town.

We headed over the hill through the Great Smoky Mountains which unlike the Parkway, was swarming with bikes and cars. Very scenic but very busy. Once over you are dumped into Gatlinburg TN which is home to DollywOOd. We skipped Gatlinburg and detoured to the strip mining operation going on in Pigeon Forge. That is, a huge commercial strip specializing in mining the pockets of tourists. This place must hold the record for GFDSM. (Giant Fiberglass Dinosaurs per Square Mile). After getting over being snooty about it I realized that to an 8 year old, this would be heaven. Pirates, go-carts, castles, fast food, aforementioned dinosaurs, minigolf, etc, etc, etc. We had coffee, bought a map, and got out of there.

We fell back into the usual routine of getting lost, thinking we knew where we were, realizing we were wrong and getting lost again. We went over the top of the Douglas reservoir, accidentally drove through the home town of Chet Atkins (you young ones should hang your head if you do not know who this legend is) and Kenny Chesney (I have no idea who he is but Dave says he is famous), and ended up at the tunnel that goes under the Cumberland Gap and dumps you into Kentucky. We stopped at a motorcycle shop and asked about water-proof gloves but they assured me it didn't rain around here. We had intended to head east from there but the shop guy said the chances of finding a hotel the way we were going were next to nil. So we headed north toward Pineville which was pretty desolate and on the way to Corbin which we were assured had hotels, we stopped in Barbourville. There is exactly one hotel in town and it is actually pretty nice. The woman behind the desk was fun and told us that the local high school was having it's Prom tonight so we may hear a lot of noise (remember only hotel in town). She said we could park the bikes in front of the lobby and the desk person would keep an eye on them. She told us "y'all got some real accents" which after listening to people talk for a few days, we are now realizing that we do. She wanted to know if us northerners thought Kentucky was full of rednecks or hillbillies (she assured us she would not be offended by our answer). I think we said basically that Kentucky if it had a stereotype was hillbillies, but in a respectful Daniel Boone sorta way. She told of her father (a policeman years ago) kicking out the KKK because they don't tolerate racism in Kentucky. I think Kentucky prides it self on being fair and independent which sounds more like us Vermonters.

So we are really enjoying the freedom of not having a schedule or plan. I think we have found some "slice of life" towns and communities by travelling this way. People are very nice everywhere and are curious about Vermont.

We went down the street for a quick supper, back to the hotel and off to bed. Tomorrow we go somewhere ??

We bid a teary farewell to the motel in Boone this morning (the drainwas still draining as we left I am sure), had coffee at the local McWiFi's and dumped the blog. We turned south toward Blowing Rock up over the hill. Dave disappeared after dinner last night, saying he was going to stop at Walgreens and I was just about to go find him when he pulled in. He got nabbed in the parking lot by a guy from Blowing Rock with 5 BMW motorcycles who had traveled all the country over and back and talked Dave's ear off. Blowing Rock sounded interesting so that's the direction we headed.

I think the most interesting thing about traveling like this is just looking in peoples back yards, looking at kind of business' there are, and the signs. The combo signs are the best. “Colon Cleansing Treatment and Small Engine Repair”. “Bike Rentals, Teeth Whitening, Pawn Shop and Alterations” (not sure what they were altering), “Let God Show You the Way, Financing Available” at a used car dealer. Every church has a thought for the week like “You Are closer Than You Think” and “No Jesus No Peace, Know Jesus Know Peace” (which did strike a chord with me). Dave shot some video on his handlebar mounted video camera near Grandfather's Mountain which I gotta see if I can add to the blog sometime.

So we once again got back on the Parkway south and then it started. The official “Rain Gear Test Day”. It rained constantly starting around 11 and ended around 3. We both left the Frogg Toggs in the saddlebags and decided to test the zoot suits, which were supposed to let you “ride all day in the rain and not get wet”. So Dave had some visibility issues between his windshield, visor and glasses. I could see ok, mostly because I didn't have the glasses thing going on. I look over the top of my windshield so that is not an issue. My visor beads up rain on the outside and drips on the inside, but the most interesting parts is the little waterfall coming of the top of the faceshield opening. It's like looking out from behind a waterfall. Almost all the water goes outside the helmet but tonight my helmet is pretty wet inside. My non-waterproof gloves were wrung out a few times (still gotta find a bike shop and buy waterproof gloves (or steal newspaper bags). My gloves are perched on top of the light bulbs in the Motel tonight drying out nicely (dad would be proud). It was pouring and getting foggier as well so we turned off the Parkway down a VERY crooked road (Rt 80).

Rt 80 dumped us onto Rt 70 which we took into Asheville and stopped for coffee dripping wet. I got directions to the motorcycle museum which is actually a bit beyond Asheville in a little town called Maggie Valley. Somewhere in here the rain let up. The zoot suits did ok but we still got a little damp along some of the seams. At several points I was standing up to let a small pond of water collecting between my legs to drain, so they were really put to the test. Next time we put on the Frogg Toggs (I know these work).

When we pulled into the museum the parking lot was filled with Harley's. Our two German bikes stuck out like tofu at a barbecue but everybody was very nice.

This museum is fantastic for gearheads. The owner started collecting and restoring motorcycles when he was 15 and is now maybe 50. He specializes in American vintage motorcycles. He must have 350 motorcycles here ranging in age from 1912ish to the 60's. Oh yeah, they all run! I have always loved old pictures of vintage bikes, mostly because the people in those old pictures look like they are going on a big adventure, suddenly mobile for the first time. Dale picked up on the fact that we had ridden all the way down from Vermont and immediately starting leading us around and starting some of the oldest bikes he had, after I told him my interest in real old bikes. I guess what I loved about this place and Dale was that here was a guy, passionate about something, that made it his life work, and was still really fired up about it and obviously got immense joy from this hobby / business. We closed his place down and as we walked out we overheard him talking about buying or selling some old bike on the phone. He gets his bikes from all over the country. This guy loves his work.

We headed out and the rain had stopped. We found a motel a little ways down the street from the museum and got supper in a country cooking kind of place. I think like yesterday we are pretty beat from the endless twisty roads. This morning I was thinking maybe it would be nice to head to somewhere where there are big open rolling hills with farms so I can look at the scenery again instead of the gravel in the next switchback

Laundry day. Dave being more discrete and more organized had his nice dry laundry tucked away and mine was relegated to the bungees on the back. Everything was nice and dry by mid-day. We had coffee and hit the road, climbing back up to the Parkway, a beautiful sunny day. The Parkway was the same as yesterday, long sweepers through fresh new green with Mountain Laurel (we think) and some other orange flowers breaking up the endless green. The further south we go, the more developed the Parkway gets. Now by developed, I mean that instead of nothing but pristine wilderness, there may be a run down barn, some fence and some grazing cattle. These must be folks who were grandfathered in or refused to go when the government took over the park. It was actually nice to see a fence to add some contrast to the endless beauty. We decided to hop off the Parkway for a valley loop and found a skinny really twisty paved road with no guardrails that led down through cool hollows and busy mountain streams. I swore on a couple of occasions I heard banjos playing in the dark woods..

After the usual random left and right turns finding where the real folks live here, Dave, having a secret plan, landed us in Mt Airy, NC. Now when I saw the sign for Mt Airy, I thought it sounded familiar. Turns out, this is the town that they based the TV show Mayberry RFD with Andy, Opie, Aunt B and Barney lived. This town is still living the dream. You can get a ride around town in Andy's (or Barnie's) Ford police Cruiser. The downtown is filled with memorabilia and one shop had the theme song on an endless loop, I am sure to the delight of the employees and other shops downtown. Rumor has it that the CIA used this shop to get information out of foreign spies. 48 hours of that whistling jingle would break the toughest spy.

We walked by Floyd's barber shop and a sign said you could get a haircut from Floyd, "Still only $8.00". As is the story of my life, Fate dealt another cruel hand when the old Floyd looking guy inside told us he was closed on Thursdays and was just in cleaning up. Imagine, a haircut from a Floyd impersonator, for $8 bucks. So close and yet so far away. Next time Floyd..

We headed back north into Virginia and got back on the Parkway and headed south into North Carolina (again). I counted vehicles that passed us in a 10 mile stretch, 2 cars and 5 bikes. Nobody is up here. This area feels a lot like Vermont but the roads are a bit twistier, the farms are a little more run-down, sort of historically old, and the season much further along obviously. There are lots of fields with grazing cattle but not much agriculture. We noted how much country there still is here for the number of people.

We decided Ashville was going to be late again like last night so we opted to had north and go to Boone, NC for the night. Boone is a nice little college town tucked into the mountains, but man is there a lot of new construction going on here. Roads and buildings both so not sure what is going on.

We found a "motor lodge" that even Dave (remember this is Dave), said might just be the low point of our motel experience. Check out the pool and boating opportunities here. The kind of place you have to wait for the contruction workers to finish their showers before you take yours, not because of the hot water, but because the drains back up. And forget about Wi-Fi, they are still struggling with 1950's technologies like power and water.

So another beautiful sunny day in southern Virginia and northern North Carolina. And the marbles in peoples mouths seem to get bigger as we get further south.

If motorcycle riders go somewhere when they die, it would have to be the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway. Picture a smooth black strip of asphalt that weaves back and forth through a brilliant green tunnel with nothing to distract you but panoramic vistas every mile or so on both sides of the road for 574 miles (Skyline is 105 miles and Blue Ridge is 469) .

We left the motel and accompanying livestock and cranky bathroom fan and had breakfast at the Knotty Pine Restaurant, which was recommended by the woman at the front desk. At breakfast I discovered that they serve butter melted in small cups that look just like orange juice. After that I was lubed and ready to ride the Skyline drive.

It was a bit misty and the woman at the park entrance gave us her usual non-guarantee on the weather "up there". It never rained on the Skyline but when we got on top, there were clouds drifting in and out of the drive. The speed limit is 35 so it forces you to slow down and just enjoy the greenery, deer and beautiful views of the Shenandoah Valley. We met 4 guys from Florida on Harleys who were freezing (it was 60). I mentioned their accents and they politely pointed out that since we were now in the south, we northerners were the ones with the accents. I have noticed that since crossing into Virginia, the accents thickened quickly. We are not in Kansas anymore, y'all.

We gently rode about 1/3 of the Skyline and decide that the clouds were getting thicker and the valley looked interesting so we dropped down to the floor of the Shenandoah valley and continued south on good old route 340 we had seen before. I was expecting it to be busy but since there is a 4-laner in the valley, nobody uses 340 except local traffic.

Virginia is different from PA and Maryland in that they like large open fields surrounded by big sturdy fences. The fields are grazed by beef cattle and/or horses. We also started to see the houses with big front porches and way-too-big columns out front. They still sell lawn jockeys down here.

We drove by several Cargill hog farms (big building that operate unattended), a large Merck drug factory, and a huge Millers-Coors brewery with a yard full of trucks and freight trains moving around (a mighty big brewery). The roadsides have lots of small signs pointing out Civil War battles, encampments, marches, etc. reminding us that there was a lot of suffering going on here during that war.

We stopped in Waynesboro for lunch as a big ugly black cloud pulled in over us. We finished lunch and headed out in the rain. Since we wear these motorcycle jackets and pants all the time, we don't really think as much about weather. We can ride comfortably in rain and not get wet, except my gloves which I need to work on.

We headed back up the mountain and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway where it starts at the south end of the Skyline Drive. The rain soon stopped and we ended up with a very pleasant day. These roads to me are identical except the speed limit on the Blue Ridge is 45 and the Skyline is 35. The difference is the Skyline is like a peaceful nature walk while the Blue Ridge is a motorcycle ride. Same road, same pulloffs, same scenery, just different speeds.

So my big questions today was, where the heck is everybody. At times I felt like we had our own personal road to ride on. We surmised that of the three demographic groups, it was too early for families since school is still in, retired folks come in the fall when the leaves are changing, which just leaves the third demographic, middle-aged guys on motorcycles. Sure enough, here they are. I think we can honestly say that we saw more motorcycles on the Skyline/Blue Ridge than cars, and not too many of either.

We dropped down to Buena Vista for fuel and then back up and continued down the Parkway to Roanoke. My iWant app found no hotels while I was standing in the parking lot of a hotel (what's with that). I am renaming this app iHope. Dave suggested a couple hotels, one of which I found a review on ranking it not quite up there with hell, but close (http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-16431008-skyline_motel_restaurant-i), and one that had just been raided by the Social Security Administration (not sure why??). So we just drove back to a descent looking hotel we passed and, here we are. We asked about restaurants and the nice lady pointed across the parking lot to Thelmas Chicken and Waffles (I am not kidding). As it turns out this place gets rave reviews around here and as the waitress told us, "the potatoes are banging!". Looks like we need a better Yankee/Rebel phrase book. This place was very good and the staff told us we are now family. I would highly recommend Thelma's.

So it's been a long day and my wrist hurts from throttle twisting, my neck hurts from rubber-necking but my cheeks hurt from grinning ear to ear all day long.

A day in the rain..

We bid goodbye this morning to the Amish buggies clop-clop-clopping by the hotel, packed up the bikes in a light drizzle and headed west toward Lancaster. Gotta watch those horse droppings after it rains. They can be slick! Time to get the old noggin out of the Amish world and get back to the real world, grudgingly.

It rained pretty much all day but both Dave and I had these great motorcycle suits that makes rain a no-brainer. We both used the heated grips and I diverted the hot air from my oil cooler onto my hands (thank you BMW engineers!!). I do not have waterproof gloves so my hands were a bit damp. Dave, being Dave the son of Ellwyn, suggested stealing plastic bags from a couple newspaper boxes. I maintained my dignity and rode on with wet hands. Dad would have been proud though.

The most exciting thing for me today is that Dave's bike finally looks as dirty as mine!! We rode through Lancaster and crossed the Susquehanna river. The entire ride today was through suburbs built on the edge of farmland, and mid-sized towns with row-houses and some kind of industrial plant presumably feeding the families in those houses. Most of these towns seem to be on the upswing economically with some street and building restorations going on. We rode through the usual strip malls with Lowes, Wendys, KFC and McDonalds, sometimes not exactly in that order, just to make it a little more interesting (a little cynicism here?). It is definitely getting more lush when we do encounter large open lands so we are definitely getting further south. There are far fewer active farms here as there were in PA, more fields grazed by beef cows, horses or Toro lawnmowers.

We crossed the Potomac into Virginia, then a half mile later crossed the Shenandoah river into West Virginia, then shortly after that crossed into Virginia again (I am still confused??).

We found a truck-stop and had breakfast for lunch. I learned the secret of what truckers do after oil changes. They sell the used oil to this place to use for coffee. Hands down one of the worst cups of coffee ever. Good old take the enamel off your teeth coffee.

We had the ever-present chat with one of the drivers in the parking lot, a nice guy with a thick southern accent, and things were as usual very cordial until he asked what we thought of Muslims putting a mosque at Ground Zero and Obama cutting off drugs to old people.

We continued south until we got to Front Royal where the Skyline Drive begins. We found the park entrance, bought the passes (good for 7 days) and rode up onto the drive to the visitor center. It was a bit cool up there (48) and overcast but the rain stopped. We went back down to Front Royal, found a hotel (2 star all the way) and walked next door to a bar posing as a steak house. They did a great job with the burgers and the beer was cold.

So it was sort of a travel day in the rain but tomorrow the weather is supposed to be great to ride the Parkway. Can't wait..

Today we explore the Amish at work (and play). What a great day. I have great admiration for these folks after seeing them at work today. We basically planned to criss-cross this area and see how far the Amish have expanded to, then return to the same motel as last night.

We first went south over a couple of wooded ridges and found more beautiful Amish farms over each. We then went north-west until we got into more developed areas and then south east. It was overcast all day so we lost our bearings continuously. Oh for a compass on the handlebars. In general, the farther from where we were staying, the fewer tourists we saw. The farms down south actually were more interested in seeing strangers on motorcycles than the ones near Intercourse which is the hub of the tourist area.

I observed lots of things about the Amish today and yet I still am confused.

They use animals for most "moving" work like plowing, haying, planting, and of course transportation (buggies). The buggy horse seems to be a different horse, bred for speed. I am guessing they go 20 mph or so at a steady clop-clop-clop. I did not see anyone actually riding a horse. For heavy work they use either large work horses or beefy looking mules. We saw everything from single mules to 8 mule teams and mules and horses 6 across are not uncommon. So the strange thing is that many of the farm implements have a gas engine or battery powered hydraulics. It was odd to see a person driving horses with a gas engine blaring behind. Hay tedders are gas powered as are balers.

The other interesting thing is that there are no inflatable tires. The buggies, wagons, balers, tedders, planters, harrows all have steel wheels. The only rubber wheels are on the push scooters the kids (and adults) ride around but they appear to be solid rubber (see picture). Why they do not welcome standard bicycles I can't figure out, but no one rides bikes, only the push scooters.

They do have tractors but they are only used for stationary work like running a blower, and the tractors have big ugly looking steel wheels.

The only have electricity in the barn, but never the house. I read last night that if they buy an "English" (that is what they call us outsiders) house, they have a year to remove all the wiring.

They do use lots of propane. All the farms have large tanks to run generators, heat water, and operate gas lights.

We stopped at the "Amish Walmart" today and it is very interesting what they sell. The store had no electricity but had very nice natural lighting from panels in the roof and also had gas lamps throughout the store for dark days. They sell stainless steel pots and pans, dishes, games (Monopoly, horse edition), Raid insect spray, digital clocks (battery powered), batteries, inspirational gifts and cards, etc. In general, very solidly built, practical things.

Their farms are tidy but not showy and show the results of lots of hard work. The Amish seem to enjoy the fruits of hard physical labor.

Monday is also laundry day so every Amish household had a huge clothes line tilted up away from the house like flags signalling they were Amish. Everything white or dark colored (no showing off).

We saw signs at the end of many driveways offering strawberries, root beer, vegetables, pies, quilts, and always brown eggs. There were many fields with sheep, goats and chickens mixed in keeping the property nice and trim. Their lawns are all mowed with push mowers and we saw lots of children and women mowing tidy lawns. They seem to use every square inch of land to produce something. They put the land and themselves to good use.

After seeing the peaceful existence the Amish have here, I look at the complexity of the rest of Americans lives (me included) and can't help but wonder if we have been sold a bill of goods with all the "stuff" we surround ourselves with. Might be time to reflect on what "quality of life" really is.

So it was a good day of getting lost over and over but always being surprised at how beautiful the next farm was. Tomorrow we pack up and head south.