Day 3 - Monday, June 18, 2007

Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway - Here We Come!!!

The breakfast at the motel consisted of toast and coffee so we skipped that and made the decision to eat on the Skyline. We loaded up the bikes and headed south to the entrance to Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park. We all had our fees ready but there was no one manning the gate at the entrance. A sign told us to pay on our way out of the park. No problem; we can do that. The drive was as beautiful as we expected. We ascended immediately and immediately felt the need to pull over for some pictures at an overlook. Overlooks will cut into your miles per hour but boy are they worth the sacrifice! After a couple of overlooks, we were at Skyland Lodge where we had a great breakfast. By now we are starting to worry about our clothes fitting by the end of the vacation and we are only on our third day!! From the pictures posted on Picasa, you can tell we ordered plenty and that we weren't going to starve. At the end of the Skyline Drive, there was still no one manning the gate so we left for free. We did get pictures of the Entrance/Leaving sign and those are also posted at Picasa. By now we were ready for some lunch. Since Waynesboro was nearby, we drove there and ate a small local diner called Weasie's. As with most local places, the food was really down-home great. After lunch, we got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway and heading south. Our motel for the night was in the little town of Buena Vista Virginia. I was concerned when I booked but the motel turned out to be nice. It won't earn any stars but the rooms were large and clean. We were able to park our bikes right outside our rooms and that evening we all sat outside on the porch and talked about our ride.

Highlights of day 3: seeing black bear cubs on the road side (only if you were in the front - I scared them off, apparently, before the riders in the back could see them); breakfast at Skyland Lodge; lunch at Weasie's; BBQ at Todd's in Buena Vista; the scenery.