9/10/2010 day 4-Sumter SC

We wake early, and load the bike's. This morning we decide to ride a little before stopping for breakfast. The plan is to continue north on 521 to Camden, there we will pick up route 97 north to Great Falls and pick up I77 for awhile to make up some time. A short 30 mile ride and we pull into Camden, time to top off and get Breakfast. We find a great little diner, where for 5 dollars we get a couple of eggs,,,toast,,,two pancakes, bacon,and fried Bologna , and a BIG bowl of grits,,coffee and orange juice...how do they make money like this??? 5 dollars and some change bought all of that food,,We are stuffed!!

With breakfast for us, and fuel for the bikes taken care of, we find route 97 north. This is a great two lane,, gray line on the map. I wish we could have stayed with it longer. We do stop for a couple of pictures at Lake Wateree.

We reach Great Falls SC and pick up I77 north,well this is where it gets boring,,I prefer two lane back roads, but with our time crunch we have to make some miles today. An hour later we cross into North Carolina,,crap!! they have a mandatory helmet law. I almost forgot,,we whip into the welcome center unseen by the State Highway patrol,,and put on our helmets.

A quick stop to top off our tanks and its back on the road. Going through Charlotte is awful, 3 and 4 lanes going north. We are riding along when the car to my right decides to move to the left lane, wait a minute,,that's where I am. He makes his lane change without even noticing me and forces me over a lane. I pull along side him, the little turd won't even look over,,the Jerk. OK, I regain my composure and ride on. About 5 mile down the road the right lane peels off to an exit, the semi truck that was in that lane See's that's not where he wants to be and swerves a hard left,,missing my front tire by about 3 feet. I climb on the brakes, drop a gear,,oh I am ticked off now. I pull along side this clown, look up and he his talking on his cell phone,,idiot!!! I give him the one finger salute,,just to let him know he is #1 to me .

150 miles or so and we are in Wythevill VA. WOO HOO, I see a Cracker Barrel and breakfast is wearing thin. We pull in for lunch. Country fried steak covered in sawmill gravy then go to the Harley shop so Curt can get another T shirt,,whats up with these Harley guys and t shirts??? Then top off the tanks. Check the map,,time to look for a two lane road. We find one, just a few miles north of Bluefield WV.

I cannot remember a time I was so happy to get off the highway, about 300 miles of running 70 and 75 mph,,,BORING!!! We exit and head north on route 20 , another great two lane road,about 20 miles and we come to Pipestem state park. Take a quick ride through the park, a quick picture and on down the road. Another 20 miles and we arrive in Hinton WV and Bluestone lake. The day is fading fast, the sun is dropping and so is the temperature. We ride another 20 miles or so and come into the town of Rainelle WV. A small burg with 1 traffic light and 1 small, and old hotel,,The motor lodge inn. It will have to do, we are 75 miles from Charleston and the next hotel...we are tired and cold and do not want to ride that far. 370 miles today,,not bad..

9/11/2010, RAINELLE WV

It's Saturday morning, time to make a hard run for home. West on route 60 for about 75 miles, 75 miles of some of the best two lane twisties of the trip. I travelled this road a couple of years ago, and just like then,,,we got wet. It started raining in Charleston, on to Nitro and followed us up route 35. The last time it followed all the way to Chillicothe,,,today we ran out of it before crossing the Ohio River. An Hour after Crossing the Ohio,,we are home,,tired and a little stiff,,but still a great ride. I have the first week of November off,,maybe,,just maybe I can get in one more ride this year.

9/9/10,,day 3 Patriots point

We take our time this morning, we want to avoid rush hour traffic in the Charleston area. Today we are going to Patriots point to see the USS Yorktown. OK, time to admit my mistake this trip, I had written down the directions to Patriots point before we left Ohio,,then forgot to bring them with me. To make matters worse, my atlas does not have a city map of Charleston, so we decide to "wing it". How hard can it be to find an Aircraft carrier??? Patriots point is in Mt. Pleasant, across the harbor from Charleston SC. I remember we are going to Mt. Pleasant,,and recall something about route 17. Nearing Charleston on route 52 I see a sign for Mt. Pleasant, OK we will go that way. The outer belt, I526, as we ride along we come to a bridge that takes us up,,up and up!!! Over a river, to my right I see a suspension I remember seeing in pictures of the Yorktown,,OK that way. We come to route 17, turn right,,and in minutes we are there.

We spend several hours touring the Yorktown, and we also go through the USS Clamagore, A baleo class diesel powered WW2 era sub. I really enjoyed this stop, and to see how small and cramped the Clamagore was,,I cannot imagine what life was like for the men who fought ww2 in these vessels. It's almost 2pm , and we decide to take the ferry out to Fort Sumter, just to find out the last ferry left at 1:30,,,guess I will have to come back in the future. I was already planning on doing that anyway, Patriots point is also home to a destroyer, the USS Laffey, and it is out for repairs so we do not get to see her this trip.

It is getting late in the day and we have 1 more stop, Curt wants to stop at the local Harley shop. After leaving the Harley dealership we run into afternoon rush hour,,,that's not good. We are stopped in traffic in I26 and Curt's Harley keeps overheating, glad I have a liquid cooled ride. We decide to take the next exit, no matter where it goes. We take the exit and end up back on route 52, OK change of plans,,north on 52 it is. 52 north to Paxville to route 521 north to Sumter SC. We pull into Sumter around 8pm,,find a room and head out for dinner. Tomorrow we will be on the Interstate to make up some time.

fall ride days 1 and 2 -9/7-8 of 2010

Tuesday Morning, 9/7/10 I arrive at Bob Evans at 7:20 to find Curt waiting for me in the parking lot. It is a typical September morning in Ohio,,a cool 56 degrees,, the air damp and cool. Over breakfast we discuss our plan, route 23 south to route 52 all the way to Charleston SC. We are riding down to see the USS Yorktown. With breakfast over we are on the road by 8:00am. An hour and a half, and 90 miles or so later we are riding through Ceredo WV. We are in coal country, and the smell of coal hangs thick in the air . We round a corner and see a coal mine and a yard full of rail cars fully loaded with coal. Riding south on 52 we are following a couple of coal trucks, the dust coming from the trucks is so bad we have to stop and take a quick break. Curt forgot to put his windshield on his bike, and it is showing. His face is covered in black soot, looks like he has been working in the coal mine. With our break over, and Curt cleaned up we are back underway. This is a great ride, two lane road through the hills of WV. In Welch WV we have a quick lunch at a fast food joint, top off and are back on the road. Going through the mountains of WV and into Virginia. We stop on Big Walker Mountain in Virginia. to take a break and get some pictures. Two hours later we arrive in Fancy Gap, get dinner and a room,,this has been a great day.

DAY TWO 9/8/10

I wake at 5:30, turn the television on to check the weather. No cable, well I wonder outside and get a cup of coffee from the gas station across the street. Looking at the sky I see some stars and patches of no stars,,hmm partly cloudy. . The Lakeside restaurant opens at 7am, after breakfast we head south on 52 towards Mt. Airy NC. From Mt. Airy route 52 goes east to Winston Salem, then back to the west. We opt to go south on route 601 to Salisbury NC where we pick up route 52 again. Just south of Salisbury I tap my rear break and notice something does not feel right, I glance down at my right foot and see my sock covered toes. OK,,I knew my boots were worn and needed replaced,,but I thought they had one more trip in them. Pulling into Rockwell NC I see a Wal mart,,time to go shopping. As I walk through the store my boot is floppimg open with every step exposing my sock,,LOL,,people were looking at me like I was some poor homeless man.

With my boot crisis solved we are underway, today is a short ride. Riding south on 52 through Florence SC we stop at a red light, when we hear from behind us,,,HEY CHILLICOTHE!!! We look around to see a guy hanging out of a delivery truck waving at us,,we wave back and try yo figure out ,,who is this guy?. At the next light he pulls along side us and tells us he is from Chillicothe too,,he just moved to SC a few months ago,,he saw the county sticker on our license plates... We stop about 50 miles short of Charleston in the town of Monks corner, find a room and walk across the parking lot to Little Pappy's for dinner. Steak and shrimp,,, my favorite, and yes it was good.