LOVEly Drive to Roanoke

I had to drive to Roanoke on Sunday to pick up a package. Unfortunately, the cargo wouldn’t fit on the back of my bike, so I had to take the car. As usual, I decided to multitask a bit and squeeze-in an extra or two.

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Extra #1 – Bojangles’ Breakfast

I HAD to stop at Bojangles’ for breakfast, I just had to. It’s my favorite.

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Overview Map

Roanoke is roughly 200 miles from my house. I took the slower, more-scenic route to get there and used the interstate to get home.

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Heading wast on US-33 toward the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Interstate highways suck. Especially I-81. It’s two lanes in most parts of Virginia, heavily traveled by trucks, and there are some pretty hilly sections as the road winds through the foothills and mountains.

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Clogged Traffic

I almost always encounter slugs of traffic like this one. The big trucks tend to stick pretty close to the speed limit and travel in the right lane. But there are always passenger vehicles that don’t observe the Keep Right Except to Pass (KREP) rule, so traffic piles up. It gets even worse when you’re climbing a hill, which is hard for fully loaded trucks, and a big rig with a lighter load, no load, or simply more power gets into the left lane to pass. Still doing the speed limit. Which means it takes like FIVE MILES for the passing truck to get around the other one and back into the right lane. And another five miles for all of the law-abiding citizens to get past the truck. If you’re lucky, everyone returns to the right lane for travel. I’m not usually that lucky, and end up stuck behind a big-ass pick-up with a four-wheeler in its bed. Or a minivan. Which means I can’t really see the road ahead and it drives me NUTS. Not enough to incite road rage, it’s just soooooo frustrating. Traffic would move so much better if people were more considerate of others. Sigh…

I didn’t have enough time to take all back roads, so I suffered through. At least it was a pretty day for a drive. I’d never been on that section of I-81. And I’d never had any real reason or desire to visit the city of Roanoke. It is a city after all. And it’s surrounded by mountains. I’d much rather play in the mountains.

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Driving into Roanoke

That day, I had a reason. Roanoke has a LOVEwork. 🙂

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Extra #2 – Roanoke LOVEwork

Roanoke has a pretty rich railroad history. And it’s actually a cool-looking city. I didn’t have much time to look around, since the trip took a bit longer than I’d anticipated, so I just snapped a few quick pics.

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I wish I’d been a tad further away so the image fit the frame better.

 

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I drink Dr. Pepper, don’t ya know…

 

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Market Center

 

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Charming Downtown

 

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Interesting Architecture

 

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Parking Lot

As it turns out, I’d stumbled across Roanoke’s Railwalk…

…David R. and Susan S. Goode Rail Walk, paralleling the railroad for a third of a mile, with kiosks explaining the details of Roanoke’s iron horse history.

If you’d like to learn more, that quote comes from this article.

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Along the Roanoke Railwalk

 

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Hotel Roanoke (built in the late 1800s)

 

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Train-watching

It was a nice little park. The train engineer even waved to me as he chugged past.

One thing is for sure, the state tourism department’s LOVEwork campaign has made me get out and explore parts of Virginia I would otherwise not have seen.

Perhaps one day, Hubby and I will get to visit Roanoke and spend a weekend exploring.

Loving Virginia’s Diversity

Virginia is a large and diverse state. The longer we live here and the more we explore, the more I appreciate that diversity.

Geographically speaking, Virginia has five regions. I live in the Virginia Piedmont.

The image above comes from a sorta simplistic educational blog that has a concise breakdown/explanation of those regions.

Culturally speaking, according to this web page, which belongs to VirginiaPlaces.org, “there are multiple interpretations of distinctive cultural regions of Virginia, with inconsistent terms and boundaries.”

The map on the Piedmont section of the VirginiaPlaces.org site, shown below, breaks Virginia down into only three regions. (I like this map because it also includes the counties.)

I’m telling you all of this because I’d hoped to find a simple explanation/definition of the geographic line separating the Piedmont from the Coastal Plain. The coastal region just has a different feel to it. The land is flatter. The trees–more evergreen trees than deciduous hardwoods– are taller and seem to grow closer together.

I’ve been aware of the different feel for years. My brother and his family live in the Hampton Roads region–Suffolk County, I believe–at the lower right-hand corner of the map. Always, when driving from Central Maryland for visits, I could always tell that we were getting closer just by the look and feel of the landscape.

Hubby and I went for a ride on Saturday that was out of character for us. We headed south and east, away from the mountains, to the town of Spotsylvania, which is just east of central Spotsylvania County. Our route took us through the center of Culpeper County and then east and south. We reached Spotsylvania County west of Fredericksburg (sorry if all of these directions are confusing), and that’s about when things started to change.

We were on VA-3 / Germanna Highway for only a few miles. We left Va-3 on VA-647/Revercomb Road, then quickly turned onto VA-610/Eley’s Ford Road. That’s the road that delivered us into Spotsylvania County. It was much more heavily forested than I expected, and although the road was on the flat side, there were a goodly amount of twists and turns, which made for a very pleasant ride.

Overview Map of Our Spotsylvania Ride
Overview Map of Our Spotsylvania Ride

I didn’t have my tracker app running, so there’s no way for you to zoom in for detail. If you want or need a more-detailed look, let me know.

I’d planned this shortish route because Hubby had gone for a long solo ride on Friday AND was coming down with a cold. I figured I’d take advantage of the rare occasion that he didn’t really care how fun the roads were and head to this area that I knew would be flatter and less interesting to capture this one elusive LOVEwork I’d missed on a couple of previous trips.

Spotsylvania LOVE
Spotsylvania LOVE

The sign itself was sort of plain. At least the weather was nice.

A picture-perfect day.
A picture-perfect day.

We both agreed that the ride to Spotsylvania was fabulous, but the roads were all suprisingly pleasant. Spotsylvania County may be in the Piedmont region, but there are definitely portions which feel like the Coastal Plain.

From there, we continued south/southwest across Lake Anna to the town of Mineral (very close to the epicenter of the big 2011 earthquake) and then headed west and north to make our way back home.

As we got deeper into Louisa County on the southwestern side of Lake Anna, which is quite a large and busy lake, it started to feel like the Piedmont again. The town of Gordonsville, which is in Orange County, definitely has the look and attitude of a population center in the Piedmont.

From Gordonsville, we hopped onto VA-231/Blue Ridge Turnpike, which carried us north and through the foothills, roughly paralleling the Blue Ridge Mountains, thus the road is aptly named. That 41-mile stretch of road — the Blue Ridge Turnpike — never disappoints, and is another of my favorite rides in Virginia. One day, I’m going to have to make a list.

Saturday was the first time I’d ridden the entire length of VA-231 from Gordonsville to Sperryville. I’m sorry I didn’t take more pics to share with you all. You’ll just have to trust me when I say that, if you’re in the area, it’s a road worth riding as it winds gently up and over hills, through vast tracts of farmland in the foothills of Blue Ridge, which makes for some amazing scenery.

An older picture captured along VA-231 / Blue Ridge Turnpike
An older picture captured along VA-231 / Blue Ridge Turnpike

All in all, it was a LOVEly day with Hubby.

Spotsylvania LOVEwork
Spotsylvania LOVEwork

Best Turnpike Ever

IMG_3787Is there such a thing as a good turnpike? You betcha! And, surprise surprise, it’s not too terribly far from my house.

The Snickersville Turnpike, which runs between Bluemont and Aldie in Virginia is the best turnpike ever. Really.

It’s not a highway. It’s a road dating back to the late 18th century that some very smart folks have elected to preserve.

The road surface is a bit rough. It’s relatively straight, too. So what makes it so great? The scenery.

It’s only about 14 miles from Aldie to Bluemont (about 25 minutes) along the road, which is also known as VA-734. I prefer to follow it in an east to west direction, heading toward the mountains, which is part of what makes it special. Plus, The Bluemont Store is a great place to store for a drink, snack, and/or lunch.

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Great variety of stuff.

 

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Hubby waiting patiently.

 

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Homemade soup!

I was really kinda hungry and should have had some soup, but Hubby wasn’t quite ready for lunch. So I just got some cookies (okay), a brownie (yum!), and a mini sandwich to hold me over.

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Country Ham Slider

 

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Ready to ride!

From there, we hopped onto VA-7 for a brief bit, then headed south on VA-601 / Blue Ridge Mountain Road for a short but fun jaunt to Paris. (Our founding fathers apparently struggled to come up with unique place names.)

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Our favorite Flint Hill eatery.

My favorite road in Fauquier County — VA-688 / Leeds Manor Road — begins/ends along US-17 just south of Paris, so we took that west and south to VA-647 / Crest Hill Road for a spirited ride into Flint Hill, which is where we decided to grab lunch.

We’ve actually eaten at the Griffin Tavern & Restaurant quite a few times. The food is always good, there’s not usually a wait, and the property is pretty. Yes, there are other eateries in Flint Hill, but we haven’t tried them.

That was actually the first time Hubby and I had dined there on a day other than Sunday. We were actually surprised to see that it was much busier than usual, but there was still plenty of room for us, and the service was just as good.

Hubby got the “bar burger” he’d been craving, and I had a Cuban sandwich. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of care that went into the preparation of my sandwich — the contents were all lopsided and spilling out one end of the bread — but it still tasted good. I guess the kitchen staff were feeling rushed?

I’m sort of particular about my sandwiches. The innards ahould always be evenly distributed, not lumped haphazardly in the middle or spilling out the sides. In my opinion.

We were surprised to see this in the parking lot…

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Small Indian tribe.

 

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Foyer at the Griffin Tavern & Restaurant

See how sloppy this sandwich looks? Eating it was a messy challenge.

 

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Cuban Sandwich

Hubby was pleased, as usual, with my picture-taking.

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Hubby

He was actually quite a good sport about giving me a disgusted/impatient look on command for that shot.

By the time we’d finished lunch, it was getting a bit warm. We continued on my planned route, which took us west on VA-641 / Fodderstack Road (becomes VA-606 not far west of town and later turns into VA-628) through Little Washington to US-211. We hung a right there, continuing west toward Sperryville. That’s where we headed south and back east on US-522.

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Our actual trip track.

If you’d like to zoom in on the Spotwalla map, CLICK HERE.

The scenery along US-522 is quite lovely as the road undulates across the low foothills east of the ridge.

I’d actually planned to go a bit further east, but since it was getting hot, I opted to head north from Culpeper toward home.

All in all, it was a good day. The girls weren’t at all disappointed that we got home a little sooner than planned. And I still had time to get to the local farm market before it closed to buy some fresh corn on the cob.

We’re both looking forward to the upcoming three-day weekend. Monday is the Labor Day holiday here in the US. Although I do hope to get some chores done and may have a little doggie rescue driving to do, I am hopeful that we’ll get in at least a couple of good rides.

Good Eats

Last Sunday, August 23, Hubby planned a ride for us. We’d discussed it briefly the night before, so I knew it would involve a jaunt across the mountains to Luray (pronounced LOO-ray, by the way) for a Hardee’s breakfast. I had no idea where we’d be going after that. But, as many of you know, when you’re on a motorcycle, it’s not usually about the destination, it’s about the ride.

Before we left, he did tell me the route plan included breakfast AND lunch, but that was it. He also mentioned that our route would cover about 200 miles (~322 km), and he may have mentioned it would take about five hours. But I didn’t really care. I was willing to just follow along.

Breakfast to Lunch Rider

Sometimes, it’s good to just follow with no conscious thought required. Of course, there’s always thought required when riding, but there’s a huge difference between thinking about where you’re going/when your next turn is coming up and letting your mind just sorta wander.

Those of you who don’t ride and wonder whether thought’s required to operate the motorcycle, not really. I’ve been riding for quite a few years, which means it’s all become sort of intuitive. Kind of like driving a car with a manual transmission. You just sorta know when to switch gears, which gear is required, what gear you’re in when you’re moving, etc. My eyes are always scanning the road, shoulders, and vehicles up ahead AND checking the mirrors to see what’s to my rear, but that doesn’t require thought either. It’s all rather automatic.

Sometimes, letting your mind wander is good. That day, I was having a very hard time getting into the zone. In fact, what I’d really wanted to do was hole-up in a dark room and just sleep the day away.  The days leading up to Hubby’s Food Ride had been challenging, to say the least. But that’s not me. I know I’m much better off wrenching myself out of the depressive depths — it’s what’s best for me — so I rode along.

On Wednesday, I’d gotten word from Carol, one of my besties since childhood, that her sister had died. Only a year or two shy of her 60th birthday, this sister had struggled with horrible substance abuse issues, compounded by anxiety and depression, for just about all of the 35+ years that I’d known her and her family. I didn’t know the sister well personally, since she was about 10 years older than Carol and I, but I’ve been around her many times over the years and I knew of the havoc and turmoil her family experienced as a result of the sister’s struggle with her many demons.

It’s a tight-knit family, though, and despite the struggles and pain she’d caused, that sister was much loved by Carol, her Mom, her brothers, son, husband, nieces and nephews, friends, extended family, etc. That list goes on and on.  It was heartbreaking, to say the least, seeing the family trying to cope in the wake of the sister’s tragic, accidental death. Friday night, I went to the viewing. The funeral was on Saturday. One day I might write about the complex swirl of emotions tied to those events. But there’s a whole lot that goes with it, well beyond the death of someone I didn’t really know personally, but whose family are all as close to me as my own family. For now, just trust me when I say that mentally, on Sunday, I wasn’t in a very good place.

We were HOURS into the ride before I even took my first picture, a scene which Hubby actually said he’d like to have captured. Imagine that!

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Hubby had to see The Dyke Store for himself.

Yep, that’s the place I’d visited the prior weekend. I didn’t mind doing a repeat road so soon, though, since Dyke Road is awesome.

IMG_2948From there, we continued meandering through the lovely Virginia Piedmont. And, much to might delight, we stopped in Culpeper for linner (late lunch-early dinner) at Uncle Elder’s BBQ.

I may have mentioned this place before. I even took all of these other pics months ago, but never got around to sharing them with you.

Uncle Elder’s is a small place. There’s an outdoor seating area, but we’ve always dined indoors. The pulled pork BBQ is quite good, but my favorite menu offering is the fried pickle appetizer.

Fried Pickles!
Fried Pickles!

I know I’ve mentioned that here before. I think Dar was even brave enough to try it for herself. My friend Annelies says Americans will fry anything, and she’s right.

If you like pickles, try them fried. They’re best when the pickles are cut into chips, as opposed to spears, and the pickles have to be the really tart kosher dills.

Inside Uncle Elder's
Inside Uncle Elder’s

Hubby likes them just as much as me, but he’d never say, “OMG, we HAVE to go to Uncle Elder’s for some fried pickles.” He’d be more like, “I’m hungry for BBQ.”

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The Sign

 

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The Hours

I keep forgetting to check and see if they serve beer, which wouldn’t matter if traveling to and fro by bike, but I’ve been telling my local friends that we need to go there for dinner.

Sign at The Dyke Store
Sign at The Dyke Store

It turned out to be a decent day. Riding is great therapy. Truly.

These two are good for helping lift spirits, too.

Furry Therapists
Furry Therapists

They don’t look particularly sympathetic, do they? This is their “is it time for our walk” look. But that always makes me smile. I enjoy our walks almost as much as they do.

We went for another ride yesterday, which was awesome, but I’ll save that for another post.

Butterflies

While enjoying my randomish ramble to Love, Virginia this past Saturday, I stopped at the Loft Mountain Wayside along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

As I was preparing to depart, I noticed a large patch of wildflowers on the hill beside the building. Looking a bit more closely, I also observed a bunch of butterflies and bees enjoying said flowers. So I grabbed the point-and-shoot (aka “real” camera) and walked over for a closer look.

I only watched for about 5 minutes. The flowers were in the sun, and it was around 2:30, close to the hottest part of the day. I managed to capture some nice images. The color was a bit washed-out on all of them since the sun was so bright (that’s why midday is not the best time for pics), so I had to adjust the input levels a bit with PhotoShop Elements. I re-sized the pics to post, too.

I hope you enjoy the shots as much as I do. If you click on an image, you’ll get a better view.

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Three’s a Crowd

 

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Worker Bees

 

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The Soloist

 

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Grab Hold

 

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Seeing Double

 

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Landing

 

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Rough Around the Edges

 

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Uplifted

 

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Newness

 

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Accent Colors

My Mom loved butterflies. I can’t help but think of her every time I see one.

Tomorrow marks three years since her passing. She was my biggest fan, and would have enjoyed this post.

Searching for a Different Kind of Love

Hubby told me on Thursday that the weather folks were forecasting pretty high and uncomfortable temps on Saturday and Sunday, so he’d be doing some chores around the house, NOT riding. With that in mind, on Friday morning I decided it would be a good time to capture some more LOVE. So I plotted a 300-mile loop from my home south and west to the tip of Virginia’s Northern Neck, then down to the Middle Peninsula and back home. (If those regional references confuse you, click here.)

The mapping software estimated about 6.5 hours and 300 miles. Ambitious, yes, but I would have captured seven LOVEworks (assuming none have been removed).

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Original Plan

It sounded like a good plan, especially since I’ve never been beyond George Washington’s Birthplace on the Northern Neck. And that was years ago.

The high temps (near 90F, 32C) forecast for the day and the fact that I had to leave my house at 5:30 p.m. for a dog transport were the major factors that had me re-think my plan. The 6.5-hour time estimate didn’t include stops for photos, gas, food, and more photos. Timing-wise, even if I left the house at 7:00 a.m. as planned, I’d be cutting it very close. Plus, the Northern Neck is rather flat and I’d be going through some areas typically congested with traffic, so there’d be little relief from the heat.

That’s when I decided to head to the mountains and the hamlet of Love, Virginia. I’d first learned of Love’s existence while reading a book purchased at one of the Visitor Centers along Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive, Backroads; Plain Folk and Simple Livin‘, by Lynn Coffey. It was really quite interesting reading for this gal who loves exploring back roads and often wonders, “Why would people ever have settled here?”

I didn’t formally map-out a route. Knowing its general location, south of Waynesboro in the mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP), I knew roughly how to get there. I figured once I was near Afton at the northern end of one of my favorite roads, the Rockfish Valley Highway, I’d just put Love into the Google Maps app on my phone and follow the spoken directions. It was a relatively good plan.

The weather was perfect as I left the house shortly before 9:00 a.m. I bid Hubby farewell, telling him a bit about the different kind of love I’d be seeking.

This first shot was taken as I headed east along VA-230 / Wolftown-Hood Road, my favorite shortcut from US-29 to US-33 in Stanardsville.

Shortcut to Stanardsville
My favorite road to and from Stanardsville.

I think you can see why I enjoy that shortcut.

I couldn’t resist stopping in Hood for this shot of the general store, which also houses the Post Office.

Hood Store
Hood Store

And check out this view, captured from the right side of the store.

My Kind of Hood
My Kind of Hood

I’ve been on that road many times, so I didn’t stop for more pictures until I reached territory I’d never before covered.

The next few images were captured along VA-810 / Dyke Road.

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Heading south along VA-810 / Dyke Road.

Dyke Road sort of parallels Skyline Drive between US-33 and I-64.

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Heading south along VA-810 / Dyke Road.

The next shot is one of my favorite captures for the day. 🙂

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A very special store and post office.

There really is a town named Dyke.

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The older gentleman seated in front of the store watched my cell phone photography, but didn’t have a whole lot to say.

VA-810 between US-33 and Crozet has firmly earned a spot on my mental list of favorite Virginia roads.

I stopped in Crozet, which is just north of US-250 / Rockfish Gap Turnpike, to consult the map and determine the rest of my route. I headed west on 250 toward VA-151, the Rockfish Valley Highway, another one of my favorite roads.

That’s where I zipped past this scene…

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Um, what?

I HAD to pull a U-turn to get a closer look.

Yep, some landowner with a sense of humor placed this family of bear statues next to a pond.

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Mad Mama Bear and her Babies

Shortly after that, I turned south on VA-151, which I planned to follow south to Jonesboro.

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As seen along Rockfish Valley Highway.

VA-151 is SUCH a pretty ride. The road itself, which parallels the BRP, is more meandering than straight and doesn’t have many significant curves or hills, but it passes through absolutely gorgeous terrain. There is one sweet section of twisties, the proverbial icing on the cake, as it crosses Brent Gap.

In Jonesboro, I turned right onto VA-666 / Jonesboro Road, my favorite shortcut to another favorite road, VA-56 / Crabtree Falls Highway. Yes, I know I keep saying “favorite,” but these roads are seriously awesome to me.

All along my ride down VA-151 the Google Maps chick kept telling me to turn right, but I knew I wanted to at least ride to Jonesboro. I imagine she was sorta relieved when I finally did head in the proper direction.

As I zipped west on VA-56, I got nailed in the middle of the face-shield by yet another butterfly. My field of vision was rather obscured, so I was actually looking for a shady spot to stop when my map friend said I should turn right.

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Butterfly Guts

Yes, I felt horrible about killing butterflies, but they fly like drunkards and kept crossing my path.

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Looking west on VA-56 / Crabtree Falls Highway.

 

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Looking east on VA-56 / Crabtree Falls Highway.

Looking at the map on my phone, I saw that I could either continue on VA-56 to the BRP to get to Love, a longish loop, or take the much shorter path via VA-814 / Campbells Mountain Road suggested by Google.

I opted for the shorter route, figuring I’d save lots of time. Shortly after setting out on VA-814, a sign warned, Unpaved Road Ahead. I almost decided to turn around. Then I looked at the map again and said out loud, “What kind of adventure-bike-rider would you be if you let a short stretch of gravel road scare you? This is all part of the adventure.” Besides, even if the road was gravel, I could tell it was well-traveled, not to mention lined sporadically with cabins. So on I went.

Keep in mind, I had no cell signal, so the map data was limited. I could see the roads on my phone, but I couldn’t zoom in much, and there was no time or distance info, which is included in the maps below. There was no terrain view either.

Crazy Road!
Crazy Road!

I had no idea I’d be climbing 1,800 feet (~549 m) on about a two-mile stretch of gravel road, complete with a full 180-degree switchback or two. OMG.

Even at very low speed, it was harrowing. Check out this terrain view. The southernmost switchback around 2,000 feet almost got me, but I managed to keep the bike from falling over. It was close. I was quite proud that I pulled that one off.

For you non-riders who may be reading this, that wouldn’t have been a crash and/or involved injury. There are times when a bike is at a stop or just barely moving when it falls over, usually due to road conditions, like gravel and/or uneven surfaces, both of which I experienced. Falls aren’t a big deal with a bike like mine built to take some knocks without much damage. But you have to pick the back up after it falls. A challenge for me on a flat hard surface that would have been next to impossible on that hilly bit of gravel.

Needless to say, I was relieved when I reached the paved BRP. Then, within minutes, I was in Love!

ToadMama, in Love.
ToadMama, in Love.

Here are some pics of Love for you.

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Captured on Love Road, looking roughly east.

 

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Captured on Love Road, looking roughly west.

 

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Love Barn

From there, I went back to the BRP and headed north toward home. Temps in the high elevations were perfect, generally ranging in the low- to mid-70s (~24C).

Love is only about 17 miles (~27.5 km) from the northern entrance of the BRP. It was such a pretty day, I decided to stop at the Raven’s Roost Overlook to see what I could see.

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The Shenandoah Valley

 

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Looking across the Shenandoah Valley to the Allegheny Mountains in the distance.

 

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I wasn’t the only rider on the BRP that day.

 

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Sight guide. 🙂

 

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My favorite capture from the overlook.

From there, I continued north on the BRP and even chose to ride the southern portion of Skyline Drive, which I knew had to have cooler temperatures than in the valley.

I stopped once at the Loft Mountain Wayside for a potty break. I captured a few nice butterfly pics, which I’ll share in another post.

I would’ve like to stay on Skyline Drive, but I was running out of time. I exited the Drive at Swift Run Gap on US-33 and made a beeline for home. It was hot, just as I expected it would be. After stopping for gas and some food, I managed to reach the house at about 4:45, which only gave me 45 minutes to rest a bit and re-hydrate before heading out for my dog transport.

It was a long, but lovely day. 🙂

Today I’ll be catching up on chores. And that’s okay, since it’s currently (just before noon) 86 degrees with 60% humidity. Ugh.

Here’s my Spotwalla track for the day if you’re interested.

I’ll visit the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula of Virginia one day when it’s cooler.