Day 4 - Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia!

Our motel didn't have any breakfast so we made the decision to eat at the Peaks of Otter Lodge. We headed out, back south on the Parkway, stopped at just one overlook before reaching Peaks of Otter. The place was as beautiful as it had been described. The dining room looks out over a serene lake. And the food, of course, was great. At Peaks of Otter, we split up. David and I headed to Bedford Virginia to see the National D-Day Memorial (if you get a chance, please look at the pictures.) and the other six were headed to Roanoke to visit the Harley dealer and for some other shopping. We had tentative plans to meet at Mabry Mill but if not there, our motel that evening. After the D-Day Memorial, David and I got back on the Parkway near Roanoke. We were headed to Mabry Mill when the skies opened up. We didn't have a chance to put on the rain gear before we were soaked completely through. Visibility was terrible and we had to pull over often until we could see enough to drive on. Finally we made to Mabry Mill but the other bikers weren't there. We assumed they were ahead of us so we went on to Meadows of Dan for lunch. We met the "locals" and especially enjoyed talking to a local farmer who told us how to predict rain, although that bit of wisdom came a little late for us on that day. We then drove on to our motel in Galax Virginia. This motel was our biggest disappointment of the trip and I won't be recommending this place to anyone. Another disappointment was that the other six in our group wasn't there yet. They were behind us on the Parkway, also got caught in the rain storm, but did Mabry Mill anyway. Their pictures are also posted on Picasa. After drying out, we walked a couple of blocks to a restaurant. This was our final disappointment of the evening. We got there just after 7 but it took the staff 10-15 minutes to seat us. That should have been a warning for the rest of the evening. We got a "new" waitress; she forgot to put in our orders (more than once); the last of us were finally served at 10:30; we were not happy. The management "comped" our food but we would have rather paid and eaten in a timely manner.

In two separate instances, a turkey tried to attack our group. In the pouring rain and just before Mabry Mill, a turkey flew right in front of me and at only windshield height. And in almost the same spot, Wanda had a similar experience. I'm thinking the turkey just wanted to end it all and not have to wait for Thanksgiving. In fact, Ted made the story funny by saying he was thinking about the phone call he would have to make to Wanda's mom, "Well, I have good news and bad news. Wanda is no longer with us but the good news is I have the Thanksgiving meal covered."

Highlights: Peaks of Otter for breakfast; D-Day Memorial (me and David); Mabry Mill (the rest of the group); Meadows of Dan farmer.