Blue Ridge Parkway and beyond

With work slowing down some, I found I had some time to get away. My wife is away in Thailand and won't be back for another 3 weeks, so put the furry kids up in a great kennel out in the country, pack the bike and head west.

Loose plan was ride the Blue Ridge Parkway from north to south all 469 beautiful miles, camp the whole thing, end in the Great Smoky Mountains NP, maybe check out RT129 and ????

Plans kept loose, no pressure, no break neck pace, no worries

Live in the moment, stop more, speed less, breathe and clear the head

Don't want to give the sneak preview of pics and blow my load just yet

Still scrubbbing em and even though I wanted to stop alot more, I still wish I took more....I got about 500 helmet pics :huh They kinda suck after about pic 3....stand by, will have something up here shortly

Always get so amped before a trip I can never sleep right, this one was no different. I had set the alarm for well before dawn, but couldn't sleep until past midnight. When the alarm sounded I knocked it off, but didn't rise immediately.... so a few more hours in the sack. When I opened my eyes the sun was up, crap. Oh well, remembering at the onset I didn't want to make any plans....there is the first one out the window of an early departure.

Fought the morning commuters out of town, but it wasn't too bad. It's only 630am after all.




Almost any trip out of the Hampton Roads area requires some tunnel riding








After a couple hours of riding I took my first rest to pee and check in with the wife.

Mandatory packed bike pic


After about 3 hours buzzing down the freeway I got a glimpse of the blue ridge mountains.....awwwww....starting to feel better already

Made it out to Waynesboro area and up onto the BRPW, familiar with the stretches here. I have rode a lot of it here and there, but never the whole thing and not much of anything in the central or southern end. Getting really fired up now!!! This is going to be great. Weather is cooperating, cloudy and cool, yet still I am dry

Afton Overlook






Next stop....visitor's center...got lots of good info here, maps, magazine, fuel stop milepost off the parkway and campgrounds....


Love these blue ridge fences!!


Pulled off after a few miles to rig a GoPro up, these are great!! Set this one up to take a picture every minute...ride for 30 minutes and change position...I took about 500 pics through out the trip and looking through em I would say about 20% of good to go!!!


and no that is not a Cop behind me

Evidence of the Hero cam magic


I am short....and this helps my feet and legs stay fresh, ruins a good picture, but feels good after 300 miles.


Failed to mention, you will get about 3-4 of these with every hundred shots

The one in the curve.



^^^^ Front page pic ^^^^

Always love BRP reports
I hope to enjoy the BRP and surrounding area in a couple of weeks
Have fun and more pics please

Great pictures, I love BRP stories

The skies were threatening to let a torrent loose all morning and into the afternoon, there was hail the day prior in VA Beach and I was quite sure it was only a matter of time before the rains came



Next stop was the James River, she was flowing good with spring melt and all the rains lately






Down to the walkway I spotted this big boy



Someone told me it was a Rat Snake, but then they said it eats other snakes?? I thought it would eat rats with a name like that.


Tried to get my foot in the shot to give you an idea of how long he was, I would say around 4 foot




back up top...snack on some apples and granola...

so far so good

At Pine Tree overlook, it was time to swap the camera mount and snack some more


Parkway mowers and Bigfoot....deadly combination


One for the FFs


One for the wife


Note the heated jacket, that thing was a good idear right there....temps were hovering around 45-50 on top and yeah that's not cold, but after hours and hours of riding in it I tend to chatter

Awesome, thanks for sharing! That is the best way to spend some extra time!!!

JimT

great RR and pics
can't wait to see more
thanks for sharing

Thanks for the compliments, will get some more pics and words up later tonight. Have to get back to the grind stone now.

i can surely appreciate that

Good pics and report, Upst8. Keep em comin'!

While taking my breather, snack break a nice old couple pulled up. She was on the cruiser while the old man had one of those Can Am spiders...he calls it his heart attack machine. Feels he stands a better chance of surviving his next heart attack on 3 wheels versus 2



They had come all the way up from Key West a week ago and headed to Jersey.



Away they go...didn't have the heart to tell old girl that she was headed to bad weather, since she made the comment about leaving and getting north before the rain came. They were headed right toward it as far as I was concerned

Slowly it begins to flatten out as I approach the central sections, less turns and more wide open spaces



Stopped into Roanoke Rapids to see what I could, was let down not seeing the rapids due to foliage cover. It was nice to get off the bike for a bit though and work the muscles out.

Took the hiking trail down to observation deck




Didn't see the rapids, but got a view of the parkway few see

Sweet RR, damn, that snake gives me the creeps.

Dig the wee in grey

After my little hike, it was time for another camera angle change. While I was putting around the bike, this peace officer pulled in and set up a speed trap. First one I saw all trip, it's a 35 in the section around Roanoke and if I had been a half hour slower this would be a completely different adventure..... :huh





After so more flatter, wide open farm land riding I made it to perhaps the most photographed site on the parkway. Mabry Mill.



It was very pretty and would love to see it in the fall or full bloom spring, a photographer could spend all day here. Very cool.

Around 20-30 miles later I made it to the State Line, this cracked me up. Of all the places I have crossed boundaries this was first time it was no shit state line.





Getting down into the Southern section and the hills are back with views to match




Sun was getting low and I was feeling beat....so where the hell are we camping????