Wednesday

I did 210 miles yesterday and 385 today. I left the hotel this morning about 8:30. The sky was clear and blue, temperature was a little cold and my boots were still wet (they finally dried out somewhere in W Va). But, the scenery was very nice. That state road 35 is four lanes so what little traffic was on it was able to move at a good clip. Lots of open land and farms. Just sprawling country where you could see forever. Trees and farmland and very few buildings.

In Chillicothe, I picked up US 50 again. Until I got close to Athens, it was a two lane road. Nice road and more peaceful back country roads. Again, more trees and green country. As I got close to Athens, I remembered in 1972 I hitchhiked from Peoria, IL to Athens one Thanksgiving weekend. My high school girlfriend was going to school in Virginia and her sister went to the University of Ohio so we were going to meet there. Hitching back then was different from today. Probably still dangerous but when you were 18 during the era of Peace and Love where everything was "groovy, man", you didn't give a bad vibe a thought. "Don't harsh my mellow, man." The rides were fine until I got dropped in the middle of nowhere, still a long way from Athens. I can't remember how I ended up there but I think it must have been an intersection for another state road. It was night and I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Not much traffic and I was near a bridge. I thought about climbing up the embankment to spend the night under the bridge like a hobo if no other rides materialized. About the time I was considering hunkering down for the night, a semi came roaring down the road. I stuck out my thumb and he braked hard. It probably took a half mile before he stopped. I ran down the road, climbed up the step to the cab and opened the door. He had a lecherous smile on his face that dropped the second he realized I wasn't a girl. Oh, yeah. It was 1972 and I had hair on my shoulders and down my back. With de rigeur bellbottoms and the hair, the dark of night, and his speed, he must have thought he'd hit the jackpot. Crestfallen, he still agreed to give me a ride into Athens, so I made it without having to sleep under the stars. The way back was even more eventful with the State Patrol and an appearance before a magistrate, but that's for another time.

Anyway, Athens is home to the U of Ohio and it's a beautiful campus.

The road stayed at four lines and at 11:30 I crossed the Ohio River into West Virginia where I started singing and stretching my butt to the tune of "Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River, Life is old there," etc etc. You know the rest of the lyrics. John Denver, RIP. My ear buds went belly up in Ohio so I had to entertain myself...

Lots of things named the Robert C. Byrd ______ fill-in-the-blank. That guy really spent some tax money in W Va and the grateful constituents named everything for him. You'll never get lost in W VA - "I'm looking for the Robert C. Byrd...pause... I can't remember the name" and a local will jump in and rattle off half a dozen Byrd places that are close by.

Four lanes until Clarksburg and it was more picturesque America. Rolling hills with thousands and thousands of trees. Some ups and downs on the bike that highlighted the lay of the land. With trees and hills as far as you could see, it was like a painting. Next came Grafton. I learned Grafton was the home of Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day. Lets hear it for moms everywhere. I thought there would be the world's biggest hallmark card but all I found was this marker:





Right after leaving Grafton on a two lane road, I went on what eventually felt like an amusement park ride. Up and down mountains, trees on both sides of the road casting shadows, non-stop s-curves, switchbacks and dog legs, it was endless downshifting, throttle, clutch, downshift. Every corner and curve had a different safe speed, varying from 15 to 55 mph. The rides up and down the mountains (they're called mountains and they're all about 3,000 feet or so, but in Colorado, they'd be hills) were all between 3-5 miles long and it was usually a 9% grade on the up- and downhill. For a while, I had a lot of fun with it. After more than two hours, though, I started wondering if it was ever coming to an end. I was in the top corner of the Monongahahela National Forest for some of it but the entire road seemed like forest land. The road twisted and turned until I came to Winchester, which is just inside the VA state line. It was like that endless roller coaster ride that is initially fun but after a while, you're having trouble keeping all the goodies from the state fair in your stomach. Still, it's the kind of road motorcyclists dream of riding. Lots of challenge. You have to pay attention - I caught myself thinking about something in two curves and had too much speed for the turns. Both were left curves and I had to lean into them more than I felt comfortable doing. It worked out, obviously.

The country is one big and beautiful place. I know I'm gushing like a schoolboy talking about his girlfriend (or me talking about Judy - and here is where Jude inserts, "Good answer." Points, baby - you have to make those man points whenever and wherever you can.) but America really is a great land. Seeing all this backcountry makes me appreciate the work the settlers did. Hard to imagine how they moved through all this wild stuff.

Anyway, Ski had to work late tonight so I'll see him, Sharon and their son Michael tomorrow. Instead of heading in to the DC area, I jumped on I-81 north at Winchester, VA and got a hotel in Martinsburg, W. Va (the state lines are jumpy in this area. W Va has a narrow corner and this town is equadistant between VA and MD. But, it's close to Antietam and Harper's Ferry so tomorrow I'll do some history touring before I head south again for Northern Virginia.

Everything is perfect.

Thanks for reading and for posting.