Slaying the Tail of the Dragon - Part 1

Ok... ok... I know we've been back for some time now and I finally decided to update my blog and share my trip, before it becomes a vague memory!

Day 1

Ottawa - Harrisburg, PA

728.2 km or 451 miles

Our plans were to leave at 5 am... and well being the lazy bones that we are, but headed out at around 7 am instead. We were lucky... there was no traffic, not even at the boarder. Our first stop was in Barrie, On. One last Tim Hortons coffee for at least a week. I enjoyed my French Vanilla and Warrior his double-double.

Our ride that day was pretty, well, boring... We booked it down the I-81, with not much to see but trees, and state troopers! I think the most exciting thing that day was the bridge to cross over to the States! Man I hate that bridge!

But I realised one thing that my bike is NOT a comfortable bike for long rides! Especially not long rides in a straight, or seemingly straight, line.

We rode for what seemed like forever, with a couple more rest/gas stops on the way. We stopped in Syracuse, and some other little towns that I don't care to remember by name. To be honest, when it was time to stop, I was too sore or tired to care!

We stopped to eat at a little dinner. While we were in there a little rain storm went by. Just enough to wet the road, and our bikes! No gear needed though. The sky was back to blue and we were off again.

We stopped off in another small town for gas, and we met a guy from the area who was so excited to see that we had ridden our bikes down that he actually took a pic of us to show his buddies! He said we were pretty amazing to be riding to Deals Gap from Canada, because most people trailer their bikes.

Our first night was spent in a fancy hotel. We had a big room, access to a pool, hot tub, and ended up using only the shower and bed! Boy we were exhausted! We went for dinner, and rode without our helmets, just because we could. I personally didn't like it... Boy, does my bike make all that noise all the time? I think I'll keep my helmet on thanks!

We headed back to the room, our bellies full, and slept soundly. We looked forward to getting some curvy roads on day 2.

Day 2

Harrisburg - Waynesboro, VA

409.3 km or 255 miles

Ah... The day we get to taste some twistes again!

We left early in the morning, at around 9 am and headed further south on the I-81. We couldn't wait to get to Front Royal, which was the real beginning of our trip. There we would get on the Skyline Parkway for a small $10 fee.

A couple of hours ended up feeling like forever! But we made it!

The views on the Skyline were incredible! The only problem is that almost every left turn had a lookout, and a lookout tends to remind you that you are thousands of feet up in a mountain. You see, I have issues with left handers, since ramps are only right hand turns! And I didn't really like to be reminded that I was on a mountain, and could basically go flying off should I take my turn too fast! Thank goodness for the posted speed limit of 35 mph . It was my way of making sure we weren't going too fast. "Baby, you are WAY over the limit... slow down"!

We stopped in to the last lodge for some chow. Spoke with the local waitress for a bit (cause you know, Warrior talks to everyone) and I was even told by a park ranger to put my helmet back on, even though we were only parking the bikes at the lodge.

The beautiful scenery continued for miles and miles. We ended our day at the end of the Skyline, in Waynesboro. This hotel wasn't so nice... and the town was pretty ghost-like. So we ordered in some pizza, had some well-deserved showers and went to bed.