3 May 2011
The day started off swell as we got ready and headed to Arlington National Cemetery in some fantastic weather. I was a little surprised that they charged for parking, but I’m willing to accept that to help keep the cemetery well kept. The grandeur of the place is definitely awe inspiring and it was certainly busy. I couldn’t help but notice though that the majority of those that were visiting it really didn’t care to be there. That was a bit disappointing. We paid our respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then rode off for West Virginia.
Eastern Virginia is certainly nice, but it was extremely commercial at first. Once Rt 50 turned into a two lane, windy road it got really interesting. There were quite a few “farms” that were essentially large plots of land that rich people put a nice house on, threw up some white fences and called it a farm. I can’t blame them. They all looked incredibly beautiful with rolling hills of lush well-groomed grass and sometimes sunflowers spotting the terrain. The weather, scenery and roads were all fantastic. We could have ridden this stretch all day. Interestingly there were also a couple small towns; I believe Middleburg and Upperville, which had predominantly British architecture, old British cars, British restaurants and even red British telephone booths. I apologize for not getting any real photos of the great scenery and roads, but it takes a moment for me to take them in and by the time I think to snap a picture, we're long gone. So those memories will just be for me. What I can share with you are some pictures of fake dinosaurs that we ran into.
Our final destination was a radio telescope in Green Bank WV which lies in the Monongahela National Forest. When we entered West Virginia, it was immediately apparent that the farms were actual working farms. And riding through some small WV towns, it made me think how bad it must be to grow up in a town where your only job prospects are either the chicken nugget factory or the coal mine. It made me appreciate the opportunities that I’ve been afforded as I’ve grown up. Shortly before we entered Monongahela National Forest, the skies darkened and started to pour down onto us. We were prepared with rain gear this time, but it is still miserable. Once inside the National Forest I ran out of gas and had to switch to my reserve. This should have gotten us another 20 miles, but only ended up getting us another 3. I tell you that it is not fun running out of gas in the rain. Being prepared as we are, I had some spare fuel in canisters and was able to get the bike to the next gas station… which happened to be 1 mile down the road. There was even a very pleasant old lady running the station. When I asked how she was, her answer was “As old as I am now, I’m just happy to be around.”
The roads further in the Forest were incredible. They weren’t too tight or too wide, and they were banked perfectly to make them very fun. The rain put an end to their fun though and as the day turned to dusk it was getting cold. Also, the area was pretty creepy. Deliverance-style shacks lined the roads and there were clusters of people that were apparently unincorporated towns. They looked like shanty towns that some guy asked the State to put on a sign. The only motel near the radio telescope turned out to be closed down. We checked nearby lodging on Mike’s GPS and sadly the only viable options were 20 miles Southeast in Virginia. The radio telescope was Southwest. Our decision was to abandon the telescope as a destination and just try to find someplace to stop for the night. Much to my relief, like night and day, when we entered Virginia everything started to get nicer. There weren’t Deliverance-style shacks lining the road in the National Forest anymore and the civilization was actual real towns. We finally pulled into a tiny little town called Monterey and got a room in a motel that looked like it had been vacuum sealed from the 70s. Even at 9 o clock or so, everything was closed but the local gas station. We ended up getting a couple slices of pizza that had been sitting in their heater for who knows how long. It was surprisingly good.
The day started off swell as we got ready and headed to Arlington National Cemetery in some fantastic weather. I was a little surprised that they charged for parking, but I’m willing to accept that to help keep the cemetery well kept. The grandeur of the place is definitely awe inspiring and it was certainly busy. I couldn’t help but notice though that the majority of those that were visiting it really didn’t care to be there. That was a bit disappointing. We paid our respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then rode off for West Virginia.
Eastern Virginia is certainly nice, but it was extremely commercial at first. Once Rt 50 turned into a two lane, windy road it got really interesting. There were quite a few “farms” that were essentially large plots of land that rich people put a nice house on, threw up some white fences and called it a farm. I can’t blame them. They all looked incredibly beautiful with rolling hills of lush well-groomed grass and sometimes sunflowers spotting the terrain. The weather, scenery and roads were all fantastic. We could have ridden this stretch all day. Interestingly there were also a couple small towns; I believe Middleburg and Upperville, which had predominantly British architecture, old British cars, British restaurants and even red British telephone booths. I apologize for not getting any real photos of the great scenery and roads, but it takes a moment for me to take them in and by the time I think to snap a picture, we're long gone. So those memories will just be for me. What I can share with you are some pictures of fake dinosaurs that we ran into.
Our final destination was a radio telescope in Green Bank WV which lies in the Monongahela National Forest. When we entered West Virginia, it was immediately apparent that the farms were actual working farms. And riding through some small WV towns, it made me think how bad it must be to grow up in a town where your only job prospects are either the chicken nugget factory or the coal mine. It made me appreciate the opportunities that I’ve been afforded as I’ve grown up. Shortly before we entered Monongahela National Forest, the skies darkened and started to pour down onto us. We were prepared with rain gear this time, but it is still miserable. Once inside the National Forest I ran out of gas and had to switch to my reserve. This should have gotten us another 20 miles, but only ended up getting us another 3. I tell you that it is not fun running out of gas in the rain. Being prepared as we are, I had some spare fuel in canisters and was able to get the bike to the next gas station… which happened to be 1 mile down the road. There was even a very pleasant old lady running the station. When I asked how she was, her answer was “As old as I am now, I’m just happy to be around.”
The roads further in the Forest were incredible. They weren’t too tight or too wide, and they were banked perfectly to make them very fun. The rain put an end to their fun though and as the day turned to dusk it was getting cold. Also, the area was pretty creepy. Deliverance-style shacks lined the roads and there were clusters of people that were apparently unincorporated towns. They looked like shanty towns that some guy asked the State to put on a sign. The only motel near the radio telescope turned out to be closed down. We checked nearby lodging on Mike’s GPS and sadly the only viable options were 20 miles Southeast in Virginia. The radio telescope was Southwest. Our decision was to abandon the telescope as a destination and just try to find someplace to stop for the night. Much to my relief, like night and day, when we entered Virginia everything started to get nicer. There weren’t Deliverance-style shacks lining the road in the National Forest anymore and the civilization was actual real towns. We finally pulled into a tiny little town called Monterey and got a room in a motel that looked like it had been vacuum sealed from the 70s. Even at 9 o clock or so, everything was closed but the local gas station. We ended up getting a couple slices of pizza that had been sitting in their heater for who knows how long. It was surprisingly good.
Beautiful pictures! What a nice couch in the hotel. Very Mad Men.
ReplyDelete