Final Words.

What an incredible adventure! We are happy and proud to have completed the whole trip without mishap. The bikes never missed a beat and proved to be fantastic touring machines. It is almost impossible to comprehend everything we saw and experienced and so this blog will be the best reminder..... and our photos...... and the numerous videos from the bike cam.

Final stats:

Total Mileage: 11, 353.4
Number of States we rode through: 32
National Parks visited: 17

Day 59. The End!

We have arrived safely home this afternoon. We savored every last mile and would turn around and do it all again if we could.

It was cold (35 degrees!) and foggy this morning as we packed up the bikes for the last time:

 

Thankfully, as we rode East and climbed out of the valley, the fog lifted and it was a glorious Fall day. It was all about getting home at a reasonable hour today - so no scenic stops or photos. We arrived home to find all well and even the grass had not overgrown:

Trip mileage: 241. Moving Av: 42mph (New Hampshire was over run with very slow moving leaf peepers!) Moving time: 5:44

Days 56, 57 & 58. Final days.

After the last hurrah in Gettysburg and York we had to make some serious tracks to get back to New England.

Friday, October 3rd: To Little Falls, NY.
We had a beautiful day for riding after leaving clouds behind in Pennsylvania. The fall colors were definitely peaking in NY. As evening drew close we arrived at our accommodation, the splendid Overlook Mansion, perched on a hill above town.

This mansion was built for a wealthy industrialist at the turn of the last century. It was saved from decay, restored and made into a wonderful B&B by the current owner. It was quite an experience to tuck up for the night in one of the turret rooms!

Trip: 350 miles.  Moving time: 8 hours

Saturday, Oct 4th.
As forecast, we awoke to pouring rain with no chance of respite during the day. In anticipation of this, we had made reservations down the hill in Little Falls itself at the Old Stone Mill. We were saved by the Inn owners there who welcomed us at 11:00am - well before check-in time. Having unloaded our soggy bikes we were only too happy to kick back and relax within this lovely old mill building.

The above photos were taken this morning as we loaded up the bikes to head out. It was a perfect, if somewhat brisk, sunny day.

Sunday, October 5th.

Under clear blue skies we set off for Vermont. We dug all our heated gear out from the bottom of our saddlebags where it had lain for the past 6 weeks and thankfully this kept us toasty warm as we rode through the New England landscape. Just a perfect Fall day with beautiful foliage at every turn. After stopping for coffee in Saratoga Springs we rolled into Woodstock, Vermont for the night:

The view from the balcony of our room - perfect!

Trip:167.8

Moving average: 44mph. (This is what we are used to back in the Northeast. We feel it is due to increased traffic and congestion.) Moving time: 3:51

York, PA. Harley Davidson Factory Tour.

Thursday, October 2nd.

Even though we were on the the doorstep of some of Americas most pivotal history we had an appointment in York, PA this morning! We had booked a Steel Toe Tour of the Harley Davidson Plant:

No cameras were allowed in the plant itself but we drooled over the display of this years' colors:

...and this years' models:

The tour was very well done and we really enjoyed seeing how our bikes were made from pressing flat steel plates into fenders and fuel tanks and then how the workers have to dress and be blasted by pressurized air streams before they go into the paint rooms. Of course us dusty visitors got nowhere near that part of the process! Then we saw the bikes themselves being assembled on the line from all the various components. It apparently takes about 2 1/2 hours from beginning to end. Finally, the best job in the house, where each completed bike is hooked up to computers, placed onto rollers and ridden for several minutes to make sure everything works. We had a great time and were very impressed by the whole operation.

Days 54 & 55. Gettysburg, PA

Wednesday, October 1st.

After an amazing breakfast at the South Court Inn we rolled back onto the road. It was quite foggy so we made the decision to head up the Shenandoah Valley below the cloud and fog instead of going back to the Skyway. We left Virginia, rode briefly through West Virginia and Maryland before arriving in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania by noon.

Our first stop:

I have never visited Gettysburg before and Tom last visited when he was a small boy. I was eager to learn more about the historic battle that unfolded here in 1863. The visitor center was the best place to start and here we watched a well done film, "A New Birth of Freedom" narrated by Morgan Freeman and then viewed the Gettysburg Cyclorama depicting Pickett's charge on day 3 of the battle. This was a moving experience as you are completely surrounded by this huge painting which was painted in 1880 by Paul Philippoteaux. The painting is 377 feet in circumference and 42 feet high.   We then spent several hours in the museum proper before heading into Gettysburg itself to find our accommodation.

Thursday, October 2nd.

The afternoon found us heading to the Soldiers National Cemetery and we were lucky enough to arrive just as a Park Ranger started a tour. This gave us great insight into the founding of the cemetery at a time when dead soldiers from the battle were still lying unburied. It is, of course, also the site of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. It was a sombre visit.

 

Tens of thousands of men and boys were killed or wounded during the three days of battle. The enormity of the loss is made apparent by the markers for all the unidentified soldiers:

Just one section; and only Union Troops are buried here.

As the shadows began to lengthen we carefully rode our bikes around the battlefields.

So scenic today but the site of such a bloody battle all those years ago.

The view, looking like an oil painting this afternoon, from Little Round Top. This was the pivotal ground held by the Union Troops that resulted in them being victorious at the end of the day. The Devil's Den, from where the Confederate Troops made their assault on the high ground, can be seen on the left:

Looking up to Little Round Top from the low ground:

The curious boulders that lie at Devil's Den:

There are many Memorials placed all around the battlefields. Placed to remember the many regiments from all over the States:

It was a memorable and moving day.

                                               

Day 53. To Luray, VA

Lots of traveling and activity but not much blogging recently. I finally have a chance to catch up - so here goes!

Tuesday, September 30th.

Thankfully Tom felt much better today so we resumed our travels on the Blue Ridge Parkway which ended at Rockfish Gap. The Parkway was as spectacular as before with barely any traffic on this quiet Tuesday morning. We noticed Falls colors creeping in which, of course added to our delight.

We had read of descriptions of "cloud seas" and can now appreciate exactly what they meant:

We stopped for coffee at the "Peaks of Otter" Lodge and sat under this stunning tree with our cups:

Once again we marvel at the way that the Blue Ridge Mountains do appear "blue":

There is, of course, a scientific explanation. Briefly and as far as I understand it, the thick vegetation covering the mountains release tiny hydrocarbon particles which then react with ozone particles in the atmosphere to create a "haze". The haze filters and scatters sunlight in such a way that the dark mountains, when viewed from a distance, appear blue!

We had a nice picnic lunch at a table under the trees:

 So peaceful.

We reached the end of the Parkway at Rockfish Gap, Virginia and then took up the Skyline Drive to continue our way North. This is similar to the Parkway and is a 105 mile road running through the Shenandoah Valley National Park. It is a high road running along the crests of the Blue Ridge Mountains. During the afternoon, clouds rolled in and we spent most of the time either just below or in the cloud. Despite this the ride was great fun with lots of twists and turns which we always enjoy.

This photo was taken before it got really cloudy, the colors got brighter as we headed North:

Finally, it was time to head to our accommodation for the night so we reluctantly exited off the Skyway and headed to the small town of Luray, Virginia. Here we had reservations at a wonderful B&B, the South Court Inn. We were given a very warm welcome by the owner and soon made ourselves at home. We walked into town for dinner and after turning in for the night, slept soundly as usual!

Trip mileage: 254.  Moving Average: 38mph (speed limits on the BRP: 45mph, Skyline Drive: 35mph)  Moving time: 6:40.

Day 52. Sick Day!

Monday, September 29th

I have felt lucky so far that neither of us got sick on this trip. However, our lucky streak ended yesterday and today. Poor Tom had a dreadful day yesterday, getting more and more congested, sneezing and sniffling with aches and chills. Apparently it is no fun sneezing into a full face motorcycle helmet! Thankfully he slept well last night as only Tom can - over 14 hours - and felt much better today. I have felt sub-par all day today but am hoping I have fought off whatever it is and will feel OK tomorrow. It did rain this morning so we were happy to be tucked up here and not riding off anywhere 100's of miles away. So we had a nice lazy day here in Floyd. The rain stopped in the afternoon so we ambled around this nice little town. Floyd is known for it's mountain music which happens mainly on the weekends and certainly not on a Monday - too bad really as I'm sure we would have enjoyed it.

Scenes around town:

We had a great cup of coffee here:

But did not partake of the canned Possum!

A taste never forgotten? I don't think so!

Day 51. To Floyd, VA along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Sunday, September 28th.

Once again we have changed our plans due to the weather forecast. Originally we planned to stay 2 nights at the campground and avoid traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway on Sunday when, by all accounts, the traffic can be busy. But, rain is forecast for Monday and Tom has developed a nasty cold so we thought it best to beat feet to our next destination and avoid having to travel in the rain with a sick Tom! So, after some great coffee and delicious juice drink courtesy of Terry, we sadly left our friends with promises to meet on our (and theirs) next road trip. In no time we were back on the parkway which was very quiet with little traffic, I assume this was because it was a bit of a cloudy day.

We were treated to beautiful roads and incredible scenery:

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All American Road. The parkway runs for 469 miles through Virginia and North Carolina, mostly along the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. Construction started in 1935 during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt and took 52 years to complete. No commercial traffic is allowed and there are no major intersections making it a perfect road for touring by all kinds of traffic. We were able to exit to a small town called Blowing Rock, where we had lunch at the Blowing Rock Market; voted the number one gas station in USA. A brilliant stop with a fantastic lunch, a gourmet market and we filled up with Gas - one stop shopping - my kind of place! 
We continued along the Parkway until we came to Floyd, VA, our stop for the night. We checked into the very comfortable Floyd Hotel, who happily were able to accommodate us for the extra night.

Trip Mileage: 242.   Moving time: 6 hours.

Day 50. To Lake Powhatan Campsite, NC.

Saturday, September 27th.

We left the incredibly comfortable Tellico Lodge fairly early as we had a lot of riding to do. I have to say that the Lodge is doing everything right, especially for touring bikers and we would love to return. There are so many great motorcycle roads out here we could easily spend a week just riding. But we had places to go and people to meet so off we went.

First up was the Cherohala Skyway. This is another of those iconic motorcycle roads and it did not disappoint. We barely saw another vehicle on the road as it was fairly early. There were a number of pick-up trucks in the overlooks and we noticed that many of them had dogs in kennels in the back. Turns out they were coon hunting.

The Cherohala Skyway is so named as it runs through the Cherokee National Forest and then the Natahala National Forest. It also runs through the Cherokee Nation.

This truly is a "Skyway". We ascended to over 5,000 feet and were above the clouds - spectacular!

As the clouds burned off the views were revealed:

Cherokee legend has it that these mountains were created when a great buzzard was looking for dry land. The ground here was so soft that each time he came down to land his wings created the gouges and furrows we see today.

After coming down from the Skyway, we had a quick lunch in the town of Cherokee and then headed to Maggie Valley. Here we stopped at Wheels Through Time, which bills itself as the "Museum That Runs". What an incredible place - we could easily have spent a whole day there. It is full of stuff like this:

The museum houses over 300 rare and historic classic motorcycles. Even more amazing is that many of them run having been carefully by Dale Walksler the owner / curator of the museum. He was delighting us all by jumping on various ancient machines, starting them up and riding them around the grounds. After just a few short hours we had to make tracks again. This time heading onto the Blue Ridge Parkway:

Once again we were treated to amazing views at every turn. I am running out of superlatives to describe it! After about 60 miles on the parkway we exited and headed just a few miles down the road to the Lake Powhatan Campground. This may seem like an odd destination for inveterate non-campers like us. However, we have two very dear friends who are Camp Hosts for the Summer at the campground. When we arrived at their "campsite" we were relieved to see a large and luxurious 5th wheel RV - no tents for us! We first met Terry and Barb in 2007 in our previous life as sailboat cruisers. We travelled to the Bahamas together and had many a great adventure with them. Thankfully we have kept in touch over the years even though we have long since sold our sailboat (now replaced by Harleys!). We had a great time with them both. Beers were opened almost before our kickstands were down and so no reproducible photos were obtained!

Trip mileage: 186.