...springtime on the Blue Ridge, and with the range of elevation (649 ft - 6047 ft) the landscape is endlessly changing. Trees are everywhere, some are in bloom, the tuliptree showing off with its yellow petals. Flowering shrubs are also abundant as the flame azaleas ignite the scenery.LEG 1 DAY 3
SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK TO
COLONY HOUSE MOTOR LODGE ROANOKE, VA
185 MILES TODAY - 684 MILES TOTAL

Morning now in Shenandoah: I wake to the serenades of a chorus of birds, a deer passes by the open tent door sniffing the green though quite sparse vegetation. I turn over, too damn early to get up......a few more indulgent roll overs later I am up, not a morning person, not even on a camping trip. Time for breakfast - let’s give this dehydrated backpackers breakfast “Spanish Omelet” a try. Figuring they are lightweight, easy to prepare and do not require refrigeration I picked up a few of these at REI. I tried dropping it on the ground while I perfected my skill with the new mess kit - that marginally improved the flavor. But for the most part not recommenced for the gourmet palate. Yesterday’s Cream of Wheat was much better.

After my sapid breakfast, a coin-op shower and the tedium of packing - I am off to you guessed it the visitor’s center. Byrd Visitor’s Center to be exact. Here I stamp my newly acquired passport and learn more about the park.

Shenandoah National Park lies astride an enchanting section of the Blue Ridge, which forms the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains. In the valley to the west runs the Shenandoah River. Skyline Drive runs the crest of the Blue Ridge for 105 blissful miles.

I pull out of the visitor center ready to indulge in more of Skyline Drive that I sampled yestereve. Milepost 52 now, I am almost halfway through Skyline. A Black Bear saunters across the road a hundred yards ahead, my first bear encounter of the trip.

Trance like states as I lean from side to side in a most pleasing rhythm. Somewhat overcast today so the views are diminished in grandeur, but I don’t mind. I stop for a few camera ops, but never feel like I am capturing what I see while riding.

Leaving the Park and Skyline Drive now, but not to fear the serene Blue Ridge Parkway lies ahead, some 469 miles of similar roadway. Stopping off at Rockfish Gap for fuel and a snack and I am ready for the Parkway. Springtime on the Blue Ridge, and with the range of elevation (649 ft - 6047 ft) the landscape is endlessly changing. Trees are everywhere, some are in bloom, the tuliptree showing off with its yellow petals. Flowering shrubs are also abundant as the flame azaleas ignite the scenery.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Into Jefferson National Forest and the sky is becoming quite threatening. Thoughts of Nashville ebb and flow, career, music, women - not necessarily in that order. A few very large spatters and shortly thereafter the first real rain of the trip. I pull in under a very serendipitous overpass (not many on this pkwy) behind another motorcyclist, not dressed for the occasion. Unmemorable chit-chat as I prepare the bike and rider for the deluge. My cohort waits it out a little more, then takes off for his 3 mile ride home. I head for Roanoke Mountain Campground, one of the many parkway campgrounds. Sign ahead ‘Closed for Season’ but some primal instinct makes it imperative that I drive to the very gate of the camp just in case. No such luck, more rain as I continue south on the parkway, pants getting wet without the liner. Sign ahead ‘lodging next right’ disquietude takes the better part of valor and I exit.

Somewhere on the outskirts of Roanoke, VA - Colony House Motor Lodge: Super K, drive-thrus, tanning salons... What a difference a road makes.