DAY 2
9/6/2015 – Wind Gap, PA to Waynesboro, VA
Another fine clear day in the holding weather pattern. This was our longest day on the trip down, about 375 miles. Within minutes of leaving our hotel, we were whooping our way down Smith Gap Road (BONE – thanks Ed!), enjoying ourselves immensely:
Stopped at the Bowmanstown Diner (Bowmanstown, PA of course!) for some adequate breakfast fuel.
Smith Gap ended up being the most exciting road of the day, but the PA back highways we ended up on were a nice way across the state. From Bowmanstown, we ran 895 next to Lizard Creek, to 309, and then to 209 running along the Schuylkill River:
Mural depicting the canal in its heyday:
In the process of getting a grand tour bonus photo in Mount Carbon, I was reminded abruptly why it’s not advisable to take a fully loaded two-up cruiser across a sloped gravel driveway. It was a very low speed and easy lay-down and neither we nor the bike took any permanent damage (except pride). The saddlebag and crash bar kept my chrome and our legs intact and it was pretty easy to lift the bike up while standing upslope. It was a good wake-up call to remind me to be aware of losing focus after long stretches between breaks. It was pretty obvious I shouldn’t have ridden that driveway, I simply hadn’t taken notice of the conditions. The gravel slope:
We hit the end of 209 in Millersburg at the Susquehanna River and headed south through Halifax. South River Road was a really nice stretch with nice old sycamore trees lining the road for a few miles.
We stopped for lunch at the Red Rabbit Drive-in (BONE) in Duncannon PA. Great little place, terrific burger and cherry malt milkshake.
After Duncannon, I had *intended* to head west on 274 before turning on 74 (BONE), jogging south on 81 for a short stretch, then riding PA 233 (BONE). This was to briefly postpone the inevitable long stint on 81 that would be necessary to get to our destination that day. Instead, I had some issues with the GPS due to misunderstanding how the “Skip” function worked with shaping points. Long story short, we ended up heading due south from Duncannon, past the Rockville Stone Arch Bridge:
and directly to I81, on which we droned southbound for some 120 miles. We stopped off in Martinsburg WV for a bonus photo and a giant crab Roadside America:
We jogged east on I66 to Front Royal and took US 340 south, along the valley between the Shenandoahs and the GW National Forest. 340 was a nice ride, if mostly straight, through farmlands and small towns, with nice views of the surrounding mountains. Snapped a big purple bull head Roadside America along the way.
Stopped by Luray Cavern, entertaining the though of an hour hike through the “biggest cave east of the Mississippi”, but the line was laughably long in the parking lot (Labor Day weekend?) and we turned right around under the blazing sun. Ended our long day at the Comfort Inn in Waynesboro, a big step up from our previous night’s accomodations for the same price. The mexican place next door, Plaza Azteca, was convenient but had very mediocre food.
