Sunday, June 13, 2010

Day 2 - June 13, '10

First, there are no pictures today. This year, Charlie and I both have cameras but neither of us have the sense to use them. Ah well, maybe tomorrow.


We left Coshocton, OH at 8:00 in the morning. It had rained heavily during the evening but the morning was just damp and overcast. The road east out of town was perfect for motorcycling. Not an inch of it was straight and there was hardly any traffic (and no other bikers). Other than the rolling twisting road, the ride was uneventful except for a doe that ran in front of us. She was 20 yards off and alone but close enough to remind us of the wildlife that is evidently common in the area. In fact there were a lot of deer carcasses along the sides of all the roads we traveled... seems odd for this time of year.

I am losing confidence in the little guy in the Garmin box. One of the things I was looking forward to was crossing the Ohio river into West Virginia on a ferry to Sistersville. Well, the little guy took us over a bridge... very disapointing. Trying to salvage an obviously untenable situation we forged on to route 7 in WV and headed east. Once again the road was great. Switchbacks, bends, twists and banks.


Along the way we came to the town of Hundred and had lunch at a little joint called Miss Blue. Well, when you're sitting there in Hundered, the question had to be asked.... how did the town get its name. So we did the only reasonable thing and asked the waitress. She provided us with a mostly reliable explanation and went on her way. In short order an elderly gentleman approached us, having overheard our converstation with the waitress, and introduced himself as the grandson of the man for whom the town was named.

It turns out that in the 1860's an open rail car carried people back and forth between Wheeling and Martinsville. The car traveled by this unnamed place where a man lived who was 109 years old (his wife by the way was 106 and they were married for 82 years). As they passed, the "conductor" would annouce that, "This is where old Hundred lives".... and the name stuck. Also interesting was the fact that the manager of the Miss Blue restaurant worked at both the Cook and Palisades plant and was quite familiar with South Haven.

Soon after exiting route 7 the Garmin guy anounced that we should take a "right" on Little Indian Creek Road and soon after that a turn onto Glorious Barn Road. Should your GPS ever suggest turning onto roads with similar names, immediately throw the device away. These roads began as paved black top with dividing lines and everyting. Soon pot holes began to appear; there numbers and size growing with each revolution of the tires, until we were finally riding a dirt road to nowhere. One might reasonably ask, "Why didn't you just turn around?" A good question indeed. The answer is that the little Garmin guy lulled us into a sense of security by saying, "Only .5 more mile 'til the next turn"... salvation. Visions of mutant canibals lurking in the underbrush of these West Virginia mountains danced in our heads.

As an aside, we stopped to set our destination on a piece of road inhabited by folks living in abodes less than mansions. Charlie had the uncontrollable need to relieve himself at this point. He chose, for this activity, someones yard. I for one was greatly relieved to escape without notice... or gun play.

Ultimately we gave up, punched in Front Royal as our destination, and ended up riding the super slabs the rest of the way to our destination... Fort Royal, Virginia.... the gateway to the Shenandoah Sky Way.

Oh... 390 miles on the old odometer today.

1 comment:

Kimberly said...

Laughing Out Loud. (It was worth more than an LOL, because I'm actually laughing out loud...)

Hope "that little Garmon guy" at least keeps you entertained...

Love ya!