Vacation Week...

Short little trip today... We missed a picture of the long horns, read up on Ice mountain, and have wanted to see Rio.

Long horns are, well, cows.  Pretty amazing though.  Do they appreciate the weapons at their disposal?

The first bit was repeat but all nice riding regardless.  We went ahead and stopped along the river to take a picture, as always it's so very hard to capture the beauty of a place...

Ice Mountain turned out to be a bust...  It will take a little more research or more time to explore before finding it.  To be continued.





Rio wasn't as remote and 'in the sticks' as expected.  Great fast paced mountain roads though :-)

Vacation Week...

Well, another ‘utilitarian’ ride ;-). I forgot my computer power cord and the closest place to pick one up seems to me Microcenter. Wow. Well, good excuse to discover some new road!

Not a great deal to say on this one. The ghost town of North River Mills and the lovely homestead along the way were the highlights. It’s sad to me that the little town is fading away. Curious that in the day it was along a ‘thoroughfare’ and now all of the major transportation routes have gone other ways. The little country roads in and out are charming to me, but I suspect most would find them too remote and inconvenient. I noticed a for sale sign on one of the properties, perhaps someone will find a way to create a retreat that will revitalize this bit of history and provide a sanctuary for those caught on the treadmill? It would seem fitting.

Vacation Week...

This morning we awoke to a flat rear tire.  Filled it up and found there was a pinhole leak right in the middle of the tread - sharp rock?   Well, have to fix this!  Called Valley cycle, they have a tire but can't balance the mono-swing arm BMW wheel.  They recommended Duc Pond.  Called Duc Pond and: tire in-stock and they can handle the balance as well so Ducati here we come.

Decision time.  Load the bike and haul it?  Plug the tire and ride?  If we ride follow with the Truck to make sure?  I decided to try and put a plug in and ride it to the shop, no chase vehicle.  Turned out to be the wrong choice :-(.  Made it about half way and the plug started leaking.  Oh, well.

In the Weeds: Flat Rear Tire

Thought the 'in the weeds' picture represents the situation well.  We pulled over into a driveway along Rt 50 and this is what it looked like.  Gotta love technology though. Called for an Uber ride to run back and get the truck so we can haul the bide to the shop.  How nice is that.  At the end of the day it's just a little extra time.  Made me think about how little 'inconvenience' we experience these days.  Overall things generally go the way we plan, amazing really.  Think of all the complex interactions that have to go just right all around us.  We come to expect and rely on it being this way.  Probably good to be reminded we are not actually in as much control as we might imagine.  While waiting couldn't help but take some pictures of the flowers. Spring is really so lovely.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

The folks at the Ducati shop were friendly and helpful, put a new tire on while we went and grabbed a bite to eat.  When we got done we still had a little daylight remaining so decided to drop the truck and ride a couple of hours.  Stopped by Packs Dairy for a cone then off we went.  On the way back we stumbled on one of those American traditions; a road side attraction.  Unger WVs only Amusement Park.  Certainly amusing!  Isn't it fun that there are those among us who look at life just a little differently than we do?  Can we accept that, and them?  Embrace and support folks who have such a different perspective.  I ask those questions thinking about the 'reaction' this might bring from some well meaning good for nothing home owners association trying to drive compliance to 'norms'; for everyone's good of course.  How dull.  Food for thought.  Check out the map and pictures below, it’s one of a kind and I am so glad to have been able to experience a look into the creativity on display…

Vacation Week...

Well, my work schedule this spring has been totally out of hand between deadlines and travel... Thank goodness personal commitments this month have me home and allows a bit of a respite.  Before it gets crazy again we scheduled a week of vacation to unplug and decompress.  Camping, riding, and some manual labor should be just the thing to put some balance back into life...

 

New way to camp...

Not sure exactly what the blend of activity will be so stay tuned to the posts ;-).  In addition to the obvious enjoyment of being on the road we also have a little planning going on in the background with these trips.  Along the way it is our goal to see what it would be like to stitch these jaunts together to form a 'longer adventure'.  There is probably a good bit I could write about that, but not now - dinner is cooking and I want to get this posted! 

Trip number three in the 'Roads Less Traveled' series.  Our favorite rides are the small back roads through the country, as evidenced by the title and road selection.  Please drill into the map below to get a flavor for the route.  This started out to be a rather utilitarian ride, we were out of toilet treatment tabs for the camper so it was just a 'going to Walmart' ride.  Didn't even grab the camera so just a couple of phone shots and a notes. Check the push pins on the map, looks like Google drops letters for way-points and guitar pics for points I add with descriptions and pictures attached.

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The loop through Capon Springs was oh so nice!  2nd - 4th gear work along rushing mountain streams, sunlight filtering through the trees and making the water dance and sparkle.  Over to US 48 then down the mountain with the idea of cutting over to Walmart in Winchester...  Those that have been around me for any length of time have probably heard me say you really only have two choices: follow the plan or change the plan (right?).  After several 'shouting matches' over the wind noise as we tried to point out scenic spots and points of interest I was reminded of my failure to order a Bluetooth Intercom.

Change 1: Swing by the Ducati shop and see if they have anything in stock.  Closed on Mondays. Change 2: Kinda hungry, so stop for lunch.  Change 3: Stop at the sports store to see about a GoPro.  None, but the friendliest folks ever.  Change 5: Swing by Valley Motorsports, on the hunt for the intercom.  Success!  Change 6: I hate to back track and Winchester Walmart is 'back' so how about Front Royal?  Sure!  Plus when asked where we were going I pointed east and south and said 'that way', and haven't seen Fort Valley in a long time ;-).  Skip the whole change thing, let's just see where we end up....

Hope you enjoy...