I plotted the route using the Microsoft Streets & Trips software, but used my America Rides Maps (Virginia Mountains Set) to select many of the roads.
I’d been wanting to really put those maps to the test. And guess what? They passed with flying colors. Really. We spent three days riding a series of really awesome motorcycle roads. It was tons of fun. We were having so much fun, in fact, that I didn’t even think about taking a picture until late in the day on Friday, after we’d already been on the road for many hours. You know I’m having fun when I don’t think about pictures, right?
We ended up staying in Hillsville, Virginia Friday night.
Lucky for us, there was a Bojangle’s about 15 minutes from our hotel, so we both enjoyed a nice breakfast on Saturday.
It wasn’t even hard to convince Hubby to pose for a goofy selfie with me.
From there, we rode into downtown Galax, looking for LOVE. (Since it was along the way, I figured we ought to stop.)
Fortunately, the LOVEwork was right where it was supposed to be.
For the record, I saw the LOVEwork in Christiansburg, but it was hot, there was rush hour traffic, and it was on the opposite side of a busy street, so I opted not to stop for a photo. But I saw it. That counts in my book.
After a brief break, we continued south into North Carolina and then west and north to Mountain City, Tennessee.
Why Mountain City? That’s where The Snake begins. 🙂
I missed The Snake on my solo trip earlier this year, so I figured it would be a good destination road that both of us could enjoy.
And enjoy it we did. Seriously, it’s a FUN road. That road alone was worth the trip.
From there, we headed north into Virginia, to Abingdon then East on 58 through the Jefferson National Forest. A repeat road for me that I really, REALLY enjoyed during my solo trip. We then followed 16 into Marion where we stopped for lunch before continuing north on the Back of the Dragon.
We chose Macados for lunch after discovering that the BBQ place we’d really headed for was closed.
After we were seated, I said to Mike, “Did you see the giant dinosaur head on the wall?”
His response? “What dinosaur?” Sigh…
We continued making our way north and east toward Paint Bank, Virginia, where I’d reserved a room at the quaint Depot Lodge. En route, we stopped at the Wolf Creek Indian Village near Bastian for some more LOVE.
Hubby enjoyed the ride just as much as I did. The weather verged on hot at times, but was very pleasant for the most part.
Sunday, we had to hurry home to get the dogs from the kennel and so I could get ready to head off to Rockville, MD for work.
I’d read about the bridge in a pamphlet at the hotel. A pamphlet which did NOT clue me in on a special bonus we’d also find at that location.
That waterfall was easily visible from the overlook along 220 north of Covington, yet another AMAZING stretch of road.
We continued north on 220, all the way to Franklin, West Virginia. It was a beautiful, scenic ride alternating between mountains and valleys. Spectacular, really.
From there, we headed east on US-33 — one of Hubby’s favorite roads — north and east through the Shenandoah Valley, and then, at New Market, east on US-211 to Warrenton.
It may sound repetitive, but that particular series of roads we covered overed three days was probably the best series of roads we’d ever ridden together. Except for maybe in the Italian/Swiss/Austrian Alps. Really. It’s a route we WILL be revisiting.
Here’s a link to my Spotwalla tracker map with a couple little caveats. I forgot to start the app on my phone, so it looks like we started in Elkton, Virginia. Also, my phone battery died just east of Luray, so it appears that we never made it home.
I hope you enjoyed the recap. Now, I have to get to work.