Motorcycle Ride BRP2

Sept. 30, 2007 41 degrees when we wake up...time to break out the chaps! Denise shows up at 9 AM, and we're off to explore. The ride: 58 W to 58/220, 58 to Preston/Stones Dairy Rd to 57 and Haynes 57 Service Station for Fairy Stone hunting. 57 to 8N (the "Lizard Tail") to Tuggle's Gap for lunch. Continue on 8 to BRP north. Stop at a couple of overlooks (one north of SmartView (I think it was overlooking Fivemile Mountain).	Then we stop at Mill Mountain Park to overlook Roanoke and see the famous Roanoke Star. Stop for gas, ride on to Peaks of Otter. Hit 43 (Iguana Tail), Rob heads home, and Denise, John and I ride south to 29 and home. John and I stop for dinner, and our mileage for the day was 237, surpassing my 200-mile goal by just a few miles. :) John, Dawn and Denise with Fairy Stones at Haynes 57.	Dawn, John, Denise, Rob at Tuggle's Gap for lunch.		Shroomhead (Rob) and his wife, Jeanne, meet us at Tuggle's. (Jeanne was taking the pic) We've really enjoyed meeting more and more hondashadow.net folks! Rob and Jeanne had to head home, so our visit was short, but we WILL meet up with them again. Good people!	So, the other Rob, Denise, John and I head back to the Parkway to ride. Denise is just too darn happy when she's riding!
The view from one of the BRP overlooks.	Find the squirrel...			Biker chicks rule!	So do biker dudes!
I love this shot of Denise. It shows her adventurous heart!	Stopping for gas and sugary treats...	...'tis the season.			You never know what you'll find in a pumpkin patch!
One our last overlook stops, you can see the tallest building in Roanoke (indicated by the arrow). So we rode on to Mill Mountain park to get a closer view of Roanoke, with Rob pointing out important spots in Roanoke (like his house and where he used to ride dirt bikes as a kid). Seriously, Rob is a great tour guide and friend, and we look forward to visiting/riding with him again.	A closer look at the tallest building, and more of Roanoke. The image at the top of this page is a panoramic view of Roanoke from Mill Mt. I was very surprised that there is a zoo up on Mill Mountain - we'll have to come back again to visit with the critters!	The day was full of laughs! (photo by Denise) Denise's pic of us reminded me of the old Saturday Night Live sketch, "What the hell IS that" with Steve Martin. (We were looking at the gigantic star.)		Amazing Roanoke Star factoids! Denise got this shot of a Luna Moth caterpillar - huge and bright green!	A quick stop at the Peaks of Otter visitor center so I can grab another BRP patch and some souvenirs. We said goodbye to Rob, and Denise, John and I headed towards home. 43 was a really great road, with sweeping turns...so we've now dubbed it the "Iguana Tail".
Thoughts on the day: I'm getting more comfortable negotiating those curvy mountain roads with the T, though I did have one "pucker incident" when my front tire hit a tiny patch of gravel on a sharp curve. The front tire "scooched" a bit, and it scared me, but I kept the bike up, and that's what matters! What a wonderful day, and it certainly passed by too quickly! It was great to see Denise and meet up with Vtxrob again, and was also nice to meet shroomhead (another Rob) and his wife, Jeanne, too! Cool stuff today: being with friends, making new friends, learning the curves on the Iguana and Lizard Tails, seeing lots of new STUFF, the Star, the Luna 'pillar, and of course, Fairy Stone pickin'!! 237 miles today...my next goal is 275, or 300! We'll see... May God Bless the chiropractors who got me back on my feet (and my bike). Amen!			A view of Roanoke from Mill Mountain Park Thanks for sharing the ride with us! "Til next time, keep the shiny side up! If you've enjoyed visiting this website, please consider making a small donation to support the artist's work!