Birthday Celebration

 Saturday 11/7

We’re going to Abingdon to celebrate the November birthdays of Gary, David and me!  Many thanks to Laurel for coordinating this activity with Emily and Gretchen.  We arrived late afternoon in time to walk around downtown before eating dinner at Jacks.

Next stop was the Abingdon Theater to see the play, Sherlock Homes.  The play was absolutely wonderful; an intriguing story and great actors! We all really enjoyed it! 

On Sunday morning, we drove west to Mendota to ride the Mendota Trail (12.5 mi) that runs east to Bristol.  We started here because a storm had dropped several trees across the trail and they had to hire a professional tree service to clear the area.  We could ride seven miles east from Mendota which resulted in a really nice 14 mile round trip.

In the evening, we had a superb dinner at the Three Sisters American Grill in the Martha Washington Inn. What a wonderful birthday celebration this has been with the Double Nickels! I hope it becomes an annual tradition!!

It was time to drive home Monday Morning.  We did stop at the Southwest Virginia Cultural Center before we left Abingdon.  It has been enlarged since Gretchen and my last visit.  It is a gallery for local artists, a concert venue in addition to providing travel information!

Maggie & Kelley

 Monday 10/7

Maggie and Kelley arrived this afternoon for their visit to the Burg during fall break!  It was fun chatting with them during happy hour and dinner.  So much to catch up on!  Tomorrow we will hike the Afton Tunnel Trail.

We stopped at Three Notch’d Cafe Kitchen on our way to Afton for lunch. The new owners are doing a good job!  When we got to the trail it was closed! It was flooded during the recent rainfalls and has to be inspected before they can reopen it! Oh well, next time Maggie!

So we thought about other trails in the area, and decided to hike the Rockfish Valley Trail.  It was a beautiful day to hike and we completed about 90% of the loop. At one spot the path was flowing water and we didn’t want to get our shoes soaked! The good thing was the stream along the trail was really flowing fast!

Wednesday we headed to Charlottesville. Our first stop was Carter Mountain Orchard so Maggie and Kelley could see the great view of the city.  Maggie was quite impressed with the steep road going up the mountain! She would not let me speed down the mountain! After lunch we headed to Monticello.

Monticello has really changed since we’ve been there!  A beautiful welcome center has been built at the base of the mountain where you park.  It includes a museum and store.  A bus takes you up the mountain to the house. We got to walk around the grounds before it was time for our tour. 

The tour was informative and Kelley posted an excellent Reel of photos she took inside on Facebook; including the two below!

Kelley and Maggie leave for home tomorrow morning.  It was so great spending time with you two! Thanks so much for making the trip!  We love you!!

Midwest Trip

 Tuesday September 3rd

We’re off heading to Huntington, WV for the night and then on to Richmond, IN Wednesday.

Thursday

Today we rode 20 miles of the Cardinal Greenway north from Richmond.  It was a long ride until we returned but we wanted to get a feel for the scenery along the trail.  We had planned to ride again tomorrow but the weather is not cooperating!  The trail is paved, well maintained and a joy to ride!

Friday

We found Thistlethwaite Falls. They are man made! An entrepreneur diverted the river over the rock ledge so he could build mills! Neat!

 Next we went to the Richmond Art Museum located in the high School; the only one in the USA in a high school. It is also free of charge so anyone can enjoy their art collection! It’s a private, upscale museum established in the early 1900s by wealthy industrialists who lived in Richmond. The art collection is amazing! RAM is truly one of those wonderful unexpected experiences you stumble across on trips!

Saturday 9/7

Galesburg (IL) is our destination today.  Tomorrow we will ride the Rock Island Trail into Peoria.   

We began our ride about 15 miles west of Peoria.  The trail was paved as we rode through the suburbs. Then it became a narrow path with high weeds on each side. Ten miles into the ride the trail dumped us on a pot hole filled street in a poor section of town.  We had it! We just made the decision to turn around and drop the idea of doing a YouTube video of this trail!l

On Monday we wanted to see downtown Peoria. The water front looks like a well done urban renewal project. But nothing was open on Monday!  Later, we did visit Galesburg near our campground.  They have preserved the entire downtown!  It was impressive.

Our campsite in Galesburg KOA

Tuesday 9/10

We drove to Green Bay. Our campground was on the Door Peninsula.  On Wednesday we explored the peninsula.  We drove up the Green Bay coast with its quaint vacation towns.

  Even in September, they were pretty busy!  Farms are found in the middle, and we found a very neat lighthouse on the Lake Michigan coast. They had a great tour!

Cana Island Light House built in 1869

89 feet high

Thursday we went into Green Bay, first to Packer Stadium!  It is mind boggling and shows what can be built with 395 million! We didn’t take the tour but we ate lunch there. 

Our next stop was the Green Bay Botanical Garden.  It is a beautiful spot with different types of gardens, an amphitheater, and an education center! We wished it was cooler; it was just too hot to stroll through the gardens at the pace we normally enjoy!

We did stop in a winery (rated in the top ten) in Algoma on our way back to the campground. We didn’t buy any bottles!   We’re glad we finally got to Green Bay.  It was an enjoyable visit!

Friday 9/13

Northern WI, here we come to ride the Heart of  Vilas County Bike Trail that connects a series of small towns! Our campground is on a small lake with mostly seasonal campers. 

We rode 39 miles of the trail from Sayner to Boulder Junction to Manitowish.  It is a beautiful, relaxing ride and a great plus for the small towns!

Manitowish City park.

We have never been to the areas in Wisconsin we’ve been on this trip…and we’re so glad we came! 

Monday 9/16

Can one drive from Boulder Junction, WI to Brainerd, MN entirely on secondary roads? The answer is yes, and the roads were great. Our campground is on a lake here as well.

We rode two days on the Paul Bunyan Trail between Brainerd and Jenkins covering about 25 miles of this famous trail. Weather prevented us from riding a third day.  We think the trail lived up to it’s reputation! 

 So, what’s up with the Blue Ox? 

Winter was so cold one year the snow turned blue!  Paul Bunyan was walking in the woods and saw a teeny baby ox. Paul warmed the ox and he dried out, but he remained as blue as the snow that stained him. Hence, Babe the Blue Ox!

Friday 9/20

On to Rochester to see Liz and Jeff and the family.  It will be a fun time! On Saturday, we went to Minneapolis to see the Arenz and Signorelli families!  Christine and Patrick hosted a fun afternoon at their house with great food and fellowship! It was great to see everyone!

Liz, Jeff, Katherine, Elizabeth, William, Christine and Patrick

Jeff, Liz, Sophia, Lisa, Luca, and Adriana

While we were in Rochester, we rode two days on the Root River trail, a nice paved trail through rolling hills and farmland! And we spent time with Liz and Jeff everyday! We loved being with you two! Thanks so much for your hospitality and the wonderful meals!

Thursday 9/26

We decided to forgo going to Lexington due to the hurricane. So we will spend three days driving a more northern route home! We definitely made some decisions on this trip. We will not drive across country again.  Our camping trips will be driving a few days to a destination and then staying weeks so we don’t have to set up and break camp a lot or unload and reload bikes a lot!  Easier on the old folks and hence, more enjoyable! 

Overall, this has been a great trip! We had no problems except a nail in the front truck tire which was fixed within 10 miles of where we discovered the low tire pressure! We loved the trails we rode and the WI and MN lake countries were beautiful!

Grand's Vacations

Wednesday, July 31st

We are headed to Hillsborough to go with Katie to see Mama Mia at DPAC and to pick up Audrey for her vacation with us.  Katie's friend Sally joined us for dinner and the show. It was nice to catch up with her and hear about her family! We love going to DPAC with Katie and the show was wonderful! Thanks Katie!!

Thursday

It is the first day of Audrey's vacation with us so we are headed to Lynchburg. We stopped at the stone village on Route 86 since Audrey was never there. Today we chatted with the home owner. She told us it was her father's retirement project and he worked on it for 10 years! She also gave us squash, zucchini and cucumbers!

On Friday, we went to Nelson County and hiked the Crabtree Falls Trail.  Audrey is a super hiker and kind  (she waited for her grands at each switch back)!  We were impressed how she constantly found and showed us neat flowers, bugs, lizards, etc.  Audrey is definitely a budding naturalist. 

Saturday we toured Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's summer home in Lynchburg.  Audrey found all of the items in the treasure hunt and her reward was a copy of the Declaration of Independence!  Oh, we all learned what a "balustrade" is!

We went to SML Sunday to see Aunt Jenny. We went for a boat ride,  ate lunch at a marina, anchored in a cove and then hung out at Jenny's dock...swimming and relaxing.  The day ended with Jenny providing a delicious roast beef meal!

Monday we took Audrey home and brought Henry to the Burg for his time with us! He just started cross country training for the fall season, so after dinner he went for a run in the neighborhood. Henry is a very talented runner and he has the discipline needed to keep improving!  The first thing he wondered was who could take him to a track Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m.?  Grandma indicated she could!

Tuesday after morning fitness was finished, we went to Woodruff's Pie Shop for lunch!  Henry could not resist their chocolate pie!  We drove up to the Peaks of Otter and had planned to do a short waterfall hike but it started to rain so we motored on with a stop at the Bower Center for the Arts in Bedford.  Note they were between exhibits! 

Wednesday, Henry and Grandma went running (walking) on Blackwater Creek.  In the afternoon, we went to Poplar Forest.  On this tour, we all got to try Thomas Jefferson's favorite chair for afternoon naps!

Thursday we headed to SML.  Jenny took us for a boat ride, we ate lunch at a restaurant and then we went to a marina for gas.  Henry was so excited because he knew it was one where you can let catfish suck your toes!

We hung out at Jenny's dock, swimming and fishing (Henry).  Then we enjoyed a wonderful chicken marsala dinner! Thanks so much for your support this week giving Audrey and Henry a great lake experience!

  

Alas, our time with Audrey and Henry is at an end.  We are headed to NC to take Henry home.  You two are wonderful people! Grandma and I love spending time with you and we love you both very much!

 

Great Allegheny Passage

 Thursday July 11th

On our way to Farmington in western Pennsylvania to film a YouTube video of the Great Allegheny Passage Rail Trail. Enroute we got to see Deep Creek Lake which we know about since our days in Baltimore fifty years ago but never visited. On Friday, we toured the area and got our bearings!

On Saturday we rode from Cumberland to Frostburg and back. The GAP and C&O Canal Trails meet in Cumberland.

Sunday we rode from Meyersdale east to the Big Savage Tunnel, then back over the Eastern Continental Divide to Meyersdale and the Salisbury Viaduct. 

Big Savage Tunnel

Salisbury Viaduct

Our next ride was from Confluence to Ohiopyle, a pleasant day along the river under a tree canopy! Ohiopyle is a busy town in the summer with rafting, kayaking and biking enthusiasts!

Ohiopyle train station and GAP visitors center.

Youghiogheny River falls in Ohiopyle

Tuesday we toured the area,  eating lunch in Ohiopyle, checking out the dam and stopping at a winery near Uniontown to taste PA wine.

Youghiogheny Dam

Wednesday it was time to move to our new campground in New Staunton, PA.  The next day we rode from West Newton north about 10 miles along the river and through small villages.

West Newton train station and GAP visitors center

Youghiogheny River view

Our final ride was from McKeesport into Pittsburg. The GAP ends at the plaza where the three rivers meet!

We had one day free so we decided to visit the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.  It was a beautiful place to visit and well worth the stop!  And it was next to the University of Pittsburg, Liz and Jeff's alma mater!

This has been a fun trip with great weather and nice campgrounds.  We rode about 65 miles of the GAP so we have good clips for our video.