Up to Virginia and Back Again

Tuesday, March 15, 2016.  The Ides of March.  Mid 50s at 8:15 a.m.  It was a tad bit foggy but not enough to disrupt a day on the bike.  So I pushed out of the garage on Sweet Thang to meet up with biker buddy Paul at the Exxon Sta. on Boyds Creek Highway.  Today we were just going to take some roads up to and inside Virginia and back.  Our typical loop type ride to include several roads we have not ridden before.

Left turn out of the subdivision, fog and some vehicles with no lights on.  Where's my ticket book?  I could give them a little note on how to turn those lights on.

The sun was trying very hard to burn its way clear this morning.

Road's a little damp, air is a little cool but visibility isn't all that bad.  Let's ride.

Met up with Paul and we left on time.  Running up Boyds Creek we pass one of my favorite picture places.  Shane Ward, this one's for you.

Within 30 minutes the fog in our direction was gone leaving a bright blue sky for us today.

A few miles more and we came across some high fog but nothing that would bother us or our vistas.

Lots of flowering trees and shrubs.  This is a Japanese Magnolia in full bloom and beautiful.

On one of our back roads a nice view of the mountains and a nice large farm in the foreground.

A full bloom Redbud Tree.  It seems as if they have just exploded here this year.  A nice soft pinkish color.  Similar in color to a peach tree.

It's difficult to see but the largest tree is just putting on its leaves while the one to the left is a Bradford Pear all in white.  Plenty of those around this area also.

A nice rolling hill farm with rich green grass making the black cattle look like playing checkers.  Lots of rich farm land up in this area but seems most grow cattle rather than row crops.

Last week we crossed this same bridge as it is very new.  Notice friend Paul getting ready to disappear into the fog bank.  This is a finger off the Norris Lake.

This was the view to the right while crossing the bridge.

Then away from the water and back into blue sky and sunshine.

Okay, I know, you've seen these already, but they are just so pretty to look at.

It seems this land owner had a very large bucket of red paint.  Couldn't understand why he didn't paint the doors red also.

 There's some very pretty homes along our route.  And this one had a nice view from the front porch of a valley across the road from the house and a small mountain in the distance.

This old barn could use a little roofing work as some of the red metal roofing has been turned back probably by a wind storm.

Our wriggly route finally took us to U.S. 25 which is a nice wide four lane highway with long sweeping curves.  It goes right up to Middlesboro, KY and the Cumberland Gap National Park.  But we weren't going there today.

We turned off U.S. 25 onto U.S. 58 which will take us northeast into the State of Virginia.

It is a really pretty ride route.  Lots of land between the mountains and lush valleys.

This was a huge farm site.  Very large house with many out buildings and barns.  May have been a dairy at one time.  However, I didn't see any cows.

The Cumberland Ridge off in the distance.  Miles we must travel before we rest.  Well, a few miles anyway.

Because just a little ways up the road we came to the Wilderness Road State Park.  Time for a look-see and a stretch break.

They had some nice displays inside the visitor center.  During the summer months they have events going on six days a week.  They take Tuesday off.  Here Paul's breaking the law by feeding a Black Bear.  Little does he know he could lose a hand that way.  But that bear doesn't know how much of a fight Paul would put up to keep that morsel of food.

They let us ride around and look for free today.  It is a rather large place with a lot of things to see and do.  Nice picnic area also.

I just love split rail fences.  You probably didn't know that but if you pay close attention I usually try to slip one in every once in a while.

Lots of horses up in this area and on into TN.  Very healthy looking animals.  Nice green pasture too.

 The dividing line, the yard on the near side and the grazing zone on the far side.  The fence makes the difference.

After a while we take another route and head south back toward TN.  The mountains get a little more rugged looking and the farms are a little smaller.

Here a small stream ran along the road so every one that lived across the stream had to build a bridge for their driveway.  Some were really neat.  The one shown here is an old type with logs being the main support and boards across them for the runners.






 Then we found one of those one laners.  Keeps you on your toes in case another vehicle comes your way.

Nice and quiet along this road as it turned into a short gravel stretch a short way down.  Google doesn't let you know the difference between paved roads and gravel roads.  So sometimes we just have to take what's before us.

And sure enough, it became gravel with two way traffic and not much wriggle room.

Thank goodness it was only a short stretch of gravel.  Then we were back on a main highway clipping along.

A rustic old barn stands out against the blue sky and the green grass.  And it didn't have a sign painted on it, "See Rock City".

And speaking of rocks, this was, I think, a rock farm for there were more rocks than grass in this area.  Must be raising goats.

An unusual cemetery for this area.  Looks more like a South Louisiana cemetery.  Almost missed it.

Nice old house sitting well back off the highway but the front could use a bit of a clean-up.

A gully, rolling hills, mountain in back drop, erosion.  What's not covered in this view.  Oh, yes.  A good looking guy riding a Sedona Red Pearl and Cream motorcycle laden with chrome.  Shucks.

Nice to have the county trim your hedges.  And it can happen if they happen to also be the fence row.  They just lift the hydraulic bush hog and zoom zoom, they're gone.

Oops.  Another little piece of unpaved road to traverse.  Dusty dusty.  Will have to wash and wipe after this ride.

And this paved portion isn't much better.  It's got a lot of loose rock on it and it's dusty also.  In a few weeks you won't be able to see around that curve as the trees and scrub brush will hide it with leaves.

Those horses were watching those linemen very intently especially since one truck was in their domain.  When we rode by they galloped off to the left.

A pretty old farm house with a gleaming forsythia shrub in full bloom.

We decided to take the river road for a while but with all of the growth you don't get to see the river very much in a clear shot.

It had several of these and I did manage to capture one.  It's a rock ledge across the width of the river making a small rapid.  Imagine hitting this with the lower unit of your outboard motor.  Maybe even the bottom of your boat.

The little white church in the valley.  Of course it was on a bluff above the river and out of harms way.

Finally we were back to high rolling highways and heading back to the barn.  It has been a great day for riding, cool start and warm finish.  Lots of stuff to see and nature at one of its best times.  Today's ride totaled 212 miles door to door.  It was relaxing and interesting.  And Sweet Thang really enjoyed getting out for the day.  She's a good "Ole Girl" and I treat her nice cause she treats me nice.



So until the next adventure, respect other's privacy and rights like you want them to respect yours.  We can be different and still be civil.  So to you and yours I hope you have happy days, sleepful nights and create great memories.