Letters From West Virginia

[curlyjoe_imp]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

The CB looks tiny compared to those Wings!

[Cormanus]

Awesome stuff Matt. I am enjoying this so much.

I have a compass app on my phone and it also on the same page as the compass lists latitide and longitude, and elevation. My wife says it came on the phone. It's icon is a black square cpmpass and it simply says compass below it.

My wife just grabbed her phone and looked some up and says there are many elevation apps available

You have an iPhone, Ferret? My iPhone compass shows latitude and longitude but not elevation. Curious.

[the Ferret]

Lol.. Yep my kids talked me into it earlier this year. I dont have data that I know of... I dont do internet on it, just calls, texts and some handy apps for traveling. One of which allows my wife to see where I am when riding. Weather, hotel finder, gas finder, google maps.....

Mine has the altitude right below the lat/long

I am at 790 ft right now, and I'm facing the tv 111 degrees east lol

[emptysea]

Thanks for the compliments. I just read the letters aloud to my 93 year old mother and noticed that they're rife with typos and punctuation errors. I will correct those

[the Ferret]

Wow 93, good for her. That's amazing to me.nobody in my family has ever made it to 80. Happy for ya Sea, you are in many ways a very lucky man.

[emptysea]

Thanks, Mickey. We are lucky indeed.

Any way that you can use your considerable internet powers to allow me to edit my posts above which are past the editable stage?

[the Ferret]

Not that I know of. I can fix it for you if you send me a list of corrections. Otherwise I am sure we can live with a few errors, given the quality of the body of work.

[emptysea]

I'll send you a list..but not at the moment. Typos are the bane of my existence as a writer.

[the Ferret]

Lol ok.

[emptysea]

13 October 2016 - Thursday

Sweetheart,

As I write this note to you, I am seated with Mike A and Glen at a small wrought iron picnic table on the white-railed "front porch" (AKA smoking area) of the Country Inn & Suites-Charleston South. Mike G is still upstairs on a business-related phone call and I have not the slightest notion where the girls are. The three of us are enjoying cigars and admiring the view of the parking lot, with the backsides of the Marathon Station and The Texas Steakhouse beyond it and the extra tall signage for various motels, gas stations, and a McDonalds standing sentry on the perimeter of our views, visible to I-64 which roars just a few hundred feet around the back of our motel. A far cry from the pastoral view of farm fields protected by a ring of mountains we had from our motel in Marlinton and easily the least-picturesque of any of our stays thus far.

The hotel is clean and the staff polite, though, so it promises to be a relatively comfortable night for us. Although, Mike saw a news story about a rash of high-end motorcycle thefts in our area so we moved the bikes into a parking formation that we thought would make it difficult for the bad guys to prevail in their larcenous endeavor. I'm not worried since my bike is wedged between Glen's K1600GTL and Laura's F6B, both much more coveted than my CB1100, unless the thief is over 60 and cut his riding teeth on a CB750.

The sky has cleared, but it was pretty rainy for a few hours around midday and overcast for most of our ride before and after that.

It was "Moving Day" today and it will be one-night stands (so to speak) for us for the next two nights. That means I will have to fully load my motorbike each morning and unload it at night. It's not a big hassle, but I don't think the others fully appreciate the convenience their top and side cases provide. All the same, I'm fine with a couple of waterproof duffle bags and my CB1100 for these trips. The rack I bought from Ole gives me all the storage room I need. It was worth the 150 mile round trip to Wisconsin in 30 degree temps to pick it up.

We would have a little test of all of our waterproof gear today, but it was dry early on. Our destination was Charleston, WV which is due west of Marlinton. Mike's original route for the day would have taken us north on 219 then west for a little bit, then south back to 219 before heading south and then east to White Sulphur Springs and then, finally, northwest to Charleston. A perfect motorcycling route, if you ask me. However, due to the threat of weather, we decided to forego the northern and eastern curves in this S-shaped route. This still left us going south when we should be going west, but there were a couple of points of interest that Mike wanted us to see which necessitated the southerly direction.

Oh...remember that "must see" of Mike's, Beartown State Park? Yeah, well we got back to Marlinton yesterday too late to stop there and the impending rain scared us off of a morning "bike and hike". Just another reason to get our butts and and our bikes back here soon. Mike still wanted to stop at The Greenbrier Resort which is why the route took us to White Sulphur Springs. The Greenbrier is one of the oldest resorts in the U.S., but it's so out of our league, I don't know much about it. Mike says it's a beautiful facility and we might be able to eat lunch there. That was good enough for us, so off we went.

The ride down 219 to Lewisburg was not as curvy, but just as enjoyable as any of our rides on this road. Our start was delayed just a bit as they were repaving the 219 right in front of the motel and for a few miles south. The pilot truck was just to our left as we waited in the hotel driveway for it and, after a few minutes, we were once again the first vehicles behind the pilot as he lead us around the construction. All of this was especially funny to us because so many of the roads we've been on have been recently repaved and we had just "thanked" Mike for calling ahead to make sure the surfaces were perfect for our trip. We complained to him at lunch for not making sure that 219 wasn't finished in advance of this morning's departure.

Here's our route map for the day. I highlighted the two stops Mike had planned for us. The first was a bit of a bust, but the second and an on-the-fly third made up for it.
[url=http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/emptysea43/media/West%20Virginia%202016/ToCharleston_zpsjopzvyq9.jpg.html]

Yes, of course it's OK with me if you drive up to Appleton on Saturday to see Justin's concert live. He doesn't say so very often, but I know that he likes when we come to hear him play. He's like any other college kid, though, so don't be surprised if he has plans after the concert that don't include you. Just enjoy the show. Maybe you can make a stop at Horicon Marsh on your way there or back; there may still be birds in migration there. Just drive safely, please.

US219 is straighter and flatter south of Marlinton than I had expected, but it still cuts through an exceptionally beautiful part of our country. The only interesting landmark I saw was Pearl S. Buck's birthplace. I suppose we should have stopped, but here's another place to see......yeah you know the rest. A bit of a pun, or at least a play on words, but riding a motorcycle does give one a special view of this good Earth.

So The Greenbrier was a bust for us, but we got there by way of Lewisburg, which is billed as "The coolest small town in America". We did not stop here, except at a rather long stop light on a hill. Lots of small shops and restaurants and bars. Could be a great 'home base' for us next time.

The problem with The Greenbrier for us was that we just wanted to either ride up to the hotel and get a peek or park at the entrance and walk around and maybe have lunch (plus, I thought it would be a great photo op with all our bikes lined up in front of the main building). The guard at the front gate told me that we were not allowed to do the former and, if we wanted to do the latter, there was a parking lot at the bottom of the hill where we could pay $5 each to park, but that included a shuttle ride to the resort. When I asked if we could pull our line off to the side to discuss the options, he rather curtly recommended that I "probably want to do that down at the bottom of the hill". I made an executive decision that it wasn't worth $5 a person to see a hotel, even a great hotel. We paraded around the guardhouse and headed back through the Coolest Town and on to our next stop, which was SO not a bust.

Before I forget, I want to thank you again for your help with my mom. I haven't asked you about her because a) you're not at home and b) I've been getting very positive updates about her from my sibs. I don't know if I would have been able to be as calm at the hospital last Friday if you hadn't been there. I that the weakness she was feeling for the last month was related to the blockage because Bridget tells me that she's more energetic a few days after the angio-whateveritscalled than she's been in the few months prior. Pretty amazing for a 93 year old. I felt a little guilty about leaving the next day after, but you, mom, and my sisters did a great job of assuring me that there was nothing to worry about. So far you all were right and I am eternally grateful.

By now, you're probably wondering about pictures. I haven't asked Judy why, but I assume that the threat of rain kept the camera under wraps pretty much for the entirety of the day. We did get a couple of good ones at our next stop -- New River Gorge Bridge.

The New River Gorge is the largest steel arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere and it is a marvel to see, standing some 900 feet above its namesake river and connecting a 3,000 foot gap between the gorge's walls. Once a year, this Saturday in fact, they shut US19 down at the bridge for "Bridge Day" and folks come from all over the world to BASE jump and rappel off the bridge. They even have a 700' zip line that takes folks from the top of the bridge arch down to the bottom. If you were here, I'm sure we would have stayed the extra day so that you could BASE jump. HaHa!

Anyhow, we had a great time at the bridge. It was made especially good because it rained fairly hard for the 10-20 miles prior to our arrival. My Honda Racing jacket held up well in the rain, but it wasn't like the deluge we endured in Arkansas and again in Wisconsin last year. If the rain worsened, I would have had to stop and don my Revit gear. Mike and I checked out the gift shop (got another sticker or two) and then caught up to the rest of the gang down about 100,000 stairs from the visitor center. Just then, Ronnie Facetimed me to tell me about a funny thing that happened in her Poli-Sci class. She even got to say hi to everyone else and see the bridge. The kid has good timing.

I called this picture "Gorge-Us" on Instagram (Get it?? LOL)....
[url=http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/emptysea43/media/West%20Virginia%202016/IMG_2407_zpsgtasyvjs.jpg.html]

It is a truly amazing structure. Hard to get an idea of the sheer size of it, but if you look close, you can see a couple of semis crossing the span.


This shot was taken from the same spot as the last shot just facing the opposite direction. Should give a bit of perspective as to the height of the bridge.


We left the bridge (no, we never actually rode across it) in a light rain. Mike knew of another state park and a quick check of the internet showed that they have a restaurant, so off to Hawk's Nest State Park we went. Hawk's Nest SP is a pretty little, well not so little, state park which overlooks the New River. You can easily spot the Gorge bridge from its bluffs, although I did not capture a picture of that because that would have involved me taking a hike and you know how I hate me a hike.

In the late 1920s, Union Carbide funded a project that diverted the flow of the New River by tunneling through a mountain around which the river flowed. In the process of digging the tunnel, Silica was discovered and a mining operation cropped up. Poor safety precautions, such as a lack of masks and other breathing apparatuses, lead to one of the largest industrial disasters in US history. There were 109 proven deaths from silicosis with some estimates as high as 1000 deaths of the total of 3000 workers directly or indirectly related to mining Hawk's Nest Tunnel. On the other hand, they have a pretty cool restaurant with a great view built right above the hydroelectric dam fed by the tunnel.

We arrived at lunch just minutes before the restaurant closed for the day. Food was good. Service was slow, but friendly and it was probably slow since we were at he very end of their day. I tried to take a couple of pictures to show you the view, but it was still over cast and I don't have the photographic skills to light the dark restaurant with the light background without getting a flash on the window. But here's what I got....
[url=http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/emptysea43/media/West%20Virginia%202016/IMG_2420_zpswqoe9icx.jpg.html]

I thought the poster over Mike's head was funny and kind of looked like him a little bit LOL
[url=http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/emptysea43/media/West%20Virginia%202016/IMG_2421_zpsinytv5l7.jpg.html]

The rest of the ride has no photos, but it was really interesting. The first few miles of 60 after Hawk's Nest are pretty curvy. It was still drizzly at this point so I remained calm. 60 follows the New River until the river splits into two other rivers and 60 follows the left fork which is the Kanawha River. It was at this point that we rode through five or six small industrial town which, to me, have their own special beauty: massive industrial buildings along the river, tiny little houses stacked on top of one another up the side of the bluff, and old brick buildings which house or used to house hardware stores and gas stations and car dealers and laundromats. Quite a contrast to the golden canopy we were riding under just the other day. It was fitting that it was over cast and drizzling at this point in our ride; it really set the scene.

I think it was Alloy, WV where I saw the first sign. "We Will Re-Open" spray painted on a piece of plywood in front of what looked like a bar. Then, "Propane Dryers We're Open!" on a coin-operated laundry. It began to dawn on me that the dirty little storefronts with their windows broken were not that way because of the economic downturn, but rather because of the June flooding. it looked to me that some of these buildings were almost completely underwater. The devastation became more and more obvious as I looked for it. Sometimes I'm so busy watching for traffic in a town that I miss the town. It was pretty quiet here and, with the river to our left, there was very little in the way of crossroads. I am going to read up on the plant in Alloy. I suspect it was a Union Carbide plant when there was a Union Carbide, but I wonder what it is now and how it survived the flood as it is located right on the water. Remind me to do some research on this for my 'ride report' for the Forum.

We hopped on I-64 for 5 miles or so, endured the craziness of that and of the odd access road to our motel and our riding day was complete.

There is a debate about restaurants. Texas Steakhouse or Lone Star Steakhouse? Oh...we just decided that we're walking to Lone Star. I hope they can make me a martini. I LOVE me a martini.

Time to go. We're meeting Mickey tomorrow and he's got plans for us. I'm a little nervous! LOL

Hope you got home safe and sound. How'd your leg hold up during the long drive? Can't wait to see you Sunday.

Love you. Oh and the cigar was great!

MTC