Wilkesboro NC – Wilkes-Barre PA
Sat Oct 21, 2023
(~594 miles)

At last, the gloomier weather has moved on, though we’re still looking at cooler ride temperatures. It is autumn after all. We’re taking an extra day to get home on this return leg, so the plan is to continue riding off the interstate system for half the day, enjoy a bit of autumn scenery on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then blast to our Pennsylvania hotel, leaving a shorter mileage day for tomorrow. We planned on a 07:00 departure, and got rolling by 07:20, so not bad.

Though we were still sated from last night’s amazing carbo-loaded dinner dinner, I know I’ll feel better riding through the morning with some food in me, so we got coffee, a frozen breakfast sandwich, and yogurt from the lobby breakfast bar. It was pretty dark when we headed out and not much traffic to speak of on the outskirts of town. We headed west a mile and picked up NC 16, curving northwest back up over the ridgeline with the day dawning over our right shoulder. We crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway near Glendale Springs and descended the other side of the ridge to pick up US 221 by Jefferson.

I’ve not yet ridden this stretch of 221, which we’ll be following for the next 100 miles up to Roanoke. We picked it so we could enjoy some scenery while still making good time north, parallel to the slower BRP which twists along the ridge to our right, and crossing the picturesque New River a few times. It definitely made for some quick and beautiful riding! Two lanes, lots of curves, mountain scenery with fall colors sprinkled around, and low traffic all made for a winning combination and an exhilarating morning of riding.

We crossed into Virginia through the town of Independence, continuing northeast through slightly busier traffic around Galax and crossing I-77. Entering Hillsville — which is, in actual fact, perched atop a hill — around 09:00, we crested the top of Main Street to seek out the diner I’d  randomly earmarked for our mid-morning meal break.

Hillsville Diner is your typical small town no-frills family establishment. A former railway diner car with permanent additions for more dining room space, with utilitarian furniture and old 1960s food advertisements posted for decor. Services was prompt and friendly and we received our no-frills meals (omelet for her, biscuits & gravy for me) within about 10 minutes of getting seated.

The food tasted just OK, with the gravy severely lacking in the sausage percentage. The coffee was NOT good. Worst of all, they served NO PIE. How could a homey joint like this not have a couple pies sitting on a countertop under glass covers? SMH

The sun had continued to warm things up a bit more during our repast, so we were fat,. happy, and cozy as we continued cruising 221 for dozens more miles northbound. Bucolic Virginia countryside flashed on by, cattle farms and horse paddocks, as we enjoyed sweeper after sweeper over hill and through dale.

And then, shortly after passing through Floyd, we came up behind a rolling roadblock, bringing our carefree be-bop flight to a discordant and sudden slow-down:

The group of ten or so motorcycles, of mixed makes and models, was marching along at a pace that was, let’s just say, a noticeable degree more leisurely than the one we’d been grooving along to. With all the curves and increased oncoming traffic, there was no way to get past such a spread-out group all at once.

Though I will always try to pull to the side and wave by anybody behind me that  seems to be going substantially faster, I know it’s tough when riding in a group to display that same type of courtesy. These guys were out for their morning weekend ride, so I just settled for cursing under my breath and hoping they’d be turning off soon. I empathized with some cows in a roadside pasture who seemed to be at the back of the line getting to the feed trough!

Seeing their would be no escape anytime soon, I tried my best to adjust my attitude as the 15 miles ticked by to our next turn. In Bent Mountain lies last major entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway before entering the greater Roanoke area. Of course our escort riders all turned onto the parkway in front of us, continuing to wobble and weave over the center line, even with the occasional oncoming vehicle.

After going through a few curves at a maddeningly slow pace, with brake lights flashing frequently ahead of us, I couldn’t take any more and we pulled in for a brief timeout at the Lost Mountain overlook.

After a quick five minute stretch, some deep breaths, and a few photos , we hopped back on and continued up the parkway at our preferred unobstructed pace. We passed that group of bikes shortly after at another pullout and were glad to leave them in our rearview.

This was my first time riding the Parkway in October and the foliage was gorgeous! We oohed and ahhed over the views and vibrant colors of individual trees here and there. Char was a trooper (as always), getting us lots of great photos despite the chill. It had turned back into a perfect day, with bluebird skies and beauty all around. Miraculously, we seemed to have the road mostly to ourselves as well, making it easy to slow down at the scenic spots and giving us room to pass slower vehicles when necessary.

We left the parkway just once at US 501 in Big Island to fuel up. Then a parkway rest area just before the VA 56 crossing provided a much-needed comfort stop opportunity, not to mention some beautiful foliage by the parking lot.

The final section of the parkway up to its terminus in Waynesboro had a bit more traffic with a few more cars at the overlooks, being closer to a major population center, but our progress remained unobstructed. We finished out the parkway and exited where it converts to Skyline Drive. Then picked up I-64 for a few miles west, bypassing Waynesboro and exiting in Fisherville to hit our final waypoint for the day, a nondescript Shell station called Goose Creek Market. We were here for one reason only – to seek out some Ole’ Time Fried Pies.

In conducting my pie research for this trip (doesn’t everyone do that?), I came across the name of this regional bakery that has been making fried hand-pies for the past few years. They are based in Timberville VA and sell wholesale to a variety of local markets and stores. One of them is the Goose Creek Market, where we intended to get ourselves a sample of this local treat.

The pies turned out to be modestly sized, so we bought a few to try different flavors out along with some coffee. The clerk here was very friendly and commented that we should enjoy the pies very much. She told us when they started up, her dad used to buy them right off their delivery truck. When I explained they were the reason we’d stopped in, she comped us our coffee!

Sitting outside at one of the store’s picnic tables facing the distant interstate lanes, we enjoyed time out of the saddle with our coffee and pies, which were very good. Maybe not quite Arbuckle Mountain quality, but tasty. The apple was my favorite – no real surprise there. I’d easily detour a few miles off I-81 during future trips to grab a few of these lovelies.

It was 15:00 when we saddled up again, following a nice 45 minute break. We’d be riding solely on I-81 from here on out today, and after seven hours already in the saddle, plus all the physical movement of leaning through the back roads, that suited me just fine. We fueled up in Hagerstown MD and blasted north as the afternoon shadows grew longer and temperatures gradually dropped down into the 40s. Clouds threatened, but we stayed dry the entire way to our destination in Wilkes-Barre.

Some four hours after the pie stop, we checked in to the Quality Inn just off the highway. This hotel is one of my go-to establishments for the beginning or end of long trips, just a short day’s ride from home. For some reason, this hotel has never allowed me to park the bike under the porte-cochere and this time was no exception. It is literally the only hotel in all the many Choice hotels I’ve stayed at that just won’t budge on this. I always ask though, and the night manager here, John, actually got worked up and a bit rude about it, claiming how “they” don’t allow that, blah blah blah. OK whatever dude. If you ever stay here, give John the finger from me. 🙂

Once up in our recently renovated room, with the heat cranked up, we decided to supplement our leftover slices from Capone’s Pizza with side salads from the Perkins next door. I picked those up along with a small piece of their apple pie, which actually turned out to be quite blah. Early to bed after an exhausting but wonderful riding day.

More photos from today’s ride.

 

 

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Wilkes-Barre PA – Southeast MA
Sun Oct 22, 2023
(~323 miles)

Had trouble sleeping with some stomach issues last night, thinking it was maybe the salad from Perkins (?). We were up and at it by 07:00 once again, eager to cover the final miles home. It was brrrrrrr in the Poconos this early in the morning, still in the 40s under gray cloud cover as we did the I-81, 80, 84 zigzag dance and breezed through the rest of Pennsylvania.

It was only an hour to reach the New York state line, and by then we were ready for some good coffee and breakfast at Stewie’s in Matamoras. Char had missed her chance to experience my new go-to diner in these parts when we caravanned home from the IBR this summer, so I was only too pleased to remedy that! She ordered a veggie omelet while I mixed things up with an eggs benedict dish with fresh tomato slices.

The food and service were stellar as always – Stewie’s is just a very comfortable place to stop in and eat. So much better than yesterday’s ho-hum breakfast in Hillsville. Instead of pie this time, I had to try out their cinnamon roll for dessert, and it was really good. Perhaps not as good as the High-Wheeler Café in Nova Scotia, but damn delicious!

After warming up inside and out, we pushed on, following 84 through New York and Connecticut, eventually emerging under blue skies and sunshine. Traffic was heavier through CT as usual, but no complete stoppages at least. Colorful foliage made the interstate riding much more bearable.

My mom had been hospitalized for an illness early during our trip, so our next stop was a detour to visit her at St Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester MA. Though causing us quite a bit of worry and stress earlier last week, being so far away while she was doing poorly, she was now on the mend and feeling much better. We had a nice two hour visit in her “room with a view” before finishing out our ride home, pulling into the driveway around 15:15.

Photos of today’s ride.

Despite some wardrobe regrets and sketchy weather, it had been a fantastic trip. Spending time with Char away from the day-to-day routine, getting to ride through new areas of the country, eating tasty food, and seeing some beautiful fall color — can’t ask for much more from a fall getaway. We agreed that our trial run working from a hotel room together worked out OK. We look forward to getting our little trailer hooked up to the bike at some point soon, to make fitting all our remote work necessities just a smidge easier.

Trip Stats

Riding Days/Total: 6/9
Miles: ~2518
States: 11
Sunrises: 7
Pie: 8 (some kind of personal record!)