Mountain Mama

I stayed with family and with one being a motorcyclist we made plans yesterday to go on a ride today. The ride would be through some nice winding roads. We started our ride around 0900 EST with our first stop at Sheetz in Haymarket, VA for gasoline. We still encountered a couple gasoline stations without gasoline and hopefully that is resolved soon. While riding to our lunch destination in Harrisonburg, VA we encountered some (scattered) showers. To my delight lunch was at Jack Brown's again. I had (2) two Greg Brady's today and I would gladly have another. We checked the weather radar to see if we should continue due to the water falling from the sky. It looked like the rain was passing so we continued our ride. This is in the display just outside the restaurant:

The slight rain we encountered coupled with the cooler temperature was not pleasant. I had some layers but today I wish I had splurged for heated grips. According to the dash, the outside temperature ranged from 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit while cruising at speed so I certainly felt chilled. So being wet and cold would not be the highlight of the trip. Everything else about this leisurely ride was amazing. Twisty (open) roads, no traffic, and sparsely populated. It is interesting to see dilapidated or abandoned buildings off the highways. I guess it is not really an issue with the amount of available land and the nearest neighbor not typically near. We rode through Monongahela National Forest providing some lovely scenery.

Having traveled thousands of miles I think this might have been the first instance of pumping gasoline first and then paying inside. It was different and it took me a few seconds to understand (read) the instructions outlining the process. No credit card skimmer payment option at the pump?!

I thought my vehicle was dirty but I suppose the truck behind me has a bit more grime on it. We reached our destination a few minutes later, the Green Bank Telescope in Green Bank, WV.

This was not the only place without cellular service but it was the only place I did not expect to have it. Due to the lack of cellular service it was my time to navigate using the offline maps/nav on my Garmin zūmo XT.

I thought I had seen plenty of green environments across other states, but West Virginia has a lot of green. It has more green than I expected likely due to farms, forests, and things.

I could not help but think of this song and scene throughout the ride in West Virginia.

Almost Heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mama
Take me home, country roads
[...]

We eventually made it back to our starting point. The ride was ~435 miles ending around 1900 EST and it was a nice change from the typical interstate traveling. To make a great day even better was a warm shower and home cooked meal waiting for us after our ride. We ended the evening watching The Father.