Nice report, pics, Jeff!

Thanks,

Mr. BZ-didn't know there were "mountains" in Virginia, now I do!  grin

On Jul 14, 2008, at 9:39 AM, Jake de Villiers wrote:

> Cool Jeff, looks like a pretty fulfilling trip all the way around!
>
> On Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 5:41 AM, J Stewart <fonman4277@comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
>> This weekend I got to fulfill a long time dream of mine. I hooked
>> up my
>> trailer, loaded up my Yamaha Virago 1100 and took off for Skyline
>> Drive. My
>> daughter left for two weeks in Europe on Friday, and the wife
>> doesn't want
>> anything to do with either the Vanagon or the Virago. So, it was
>> just me,
>> the camper, the bike, a cooler with some food and lots of beer! I
>> had made a
>> reservation at Matthews Arm camp ground weeks ago, only $15.00/
>> night but no
>> hookups and no showers. There are bathrooms with flush toilets,
>> but when you
>> see a sink with only one faucet handle, you know it ain't gonna be
>> HOT
>> water. This camp ground is very nice, sites are fairly level and
>> not too
>> close. Another nice thing for me is I only live about 50 miles
>> away, so it
>> didn't cost me a lot in gas. I was warned by the rangers at check
>> in to the
>> camp ground to keep all my food and trash locked up. Five female
>> bears each
>> had 3 cubs this spring, and bear sightings were numerous. I
>> arrived Saturday
>> afternoon and set up
>> camp, then unloaded the bike and took off for a ride. I was warned
>> that
>> riding Skyline Drive would be tedious and boring because of the 35
>> mph speed
>> limit, but that couldn't be further from the truth. There was not
>> a lot of
>> vehicle traffic, though there were hundreds of motorcycles, and I
>> had no
>> problem doing between 45-50 mph. I returned to camp and while
>> cooking dinner
>> a German family pulled up to the site next to me in what I'm
>> guessing was a
>> rental car. Instead of backing down the paved driveway to the
>> site, the
>> father backed across the grass, running over the post with the
>> site number
>> on it! I figured at that point he must be an engineer with VW,
>> probably the
>> guy who designed the 1.9 cooling system. They all get out, mom,
>> dad, and two
>> teenage daughters and start yelling at each other in German,
>> unpacking
>> camping gear from the trunk. Next thing I know they are shoving it
>> all back
>> in the car and they move to site further down-I guess at 6'4" and
>> all my
>> tattoos I looked too intim
>> idating? Ate dinner and then watched "The Quick And The Dead" on
>> DVD. Fell
>> asleep  around 10:00pm, and with the cool mountain air slept very
>> well. Got
>> up around 7 on Sunday morning, had some coffee and took off on the
>> bike
>> heading south. I rode until around 1:30 I decided I had gone far
>> enough and
>> had better turn around. The skies were getting dark, thunderstorms
>> were
>> predicted for afternoon, and I had a long ride back to camp. I
>> made it back
>> with just seconds to spare. I had left the roof up, so I quickly
>> dropped it
>> down and covered the bike, then the skies opened up. Around 7pm
>> the rain let
>> up a little, but it looked like it was probably going to rain all
>> night, so
>> I loaded the bike back on trailer and headed for home. All in all,
>> very nice
>> weekend and I can't wait to do it again. Below is a link to some
>> pics I
>> took.    Jeff
>>
>>
>>
>> http://picasaweb.google.com/veedubguy84/Skyline
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> Crescent Beach, BC
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27