Carolina on my mind

[smooth operator]

  My wife and I took our aniverys week(32) the 1st week of July, in Ararat, N.C. It was great,rented a Cabin that was awsome,fully equipped,made me a hreo.Checked out Mt. Airy and road the Blue Ridge pkwy. We only had 2 days at the Cabin, so we headed sout from there. Stayed at Bone,NC, and made a couple of trips down on the bike to Banner Elk. A cool town,thought maybe Id like to relocate there,but looking at prices in a couple of realty mags, Ya better have some cash!Then it was time to head home. On the way back north,the Bandit in the van,I missed my turn somehow onto 19 from 77 @ Beckly.(I thought I paid too many tolls)Keeping my eyes on the road,I asked my navigator where we were on the map and if I should go all the way to I79 in Charleston. She told me to go west on 60,and that would take me back to 19. I looked at the map after I got home. I was almost already to Charleston! But that was alright we to the senic route. And maybe found a new  place for a motorcycle trip. I sure wish I'd had been riding the bike instead of hauling it in the van,becase that would be a awsome bike route! Down around Gaulley Bridge and a town called something Ferry. Great motorcycle country,for sure! Now it back to the grind stone. These roads up here suck compaired to the roads south. Maybe in about 5 yrs., after the mortgage is done I'll move my bussness out of the snow belt. Dan

[BLK]

Glad to hear that NC holds such promise. Me and my better half have been eyeballing the Winston Salem area since about February. I even had a job offer but turned it down. Among the many other considerations we have been weighing one of them, for me at least, was whether or not there would be as good a riding there as I have here in Los Angeles. Sounds like that is a definite.

Thanks for the insight.

BLK

[Heaven Bound]

There are tons of great roads just east of Charleston...in fact, the whole state south/east/north of Charleston should be on your list of rides.  Rt. 60 going east of Charleston you hit Glen Ferris and then Gauley Bridge on the way to Gauley and Sewell mountains - awesome twisties.  19 is boring but 219 has some great sections, and once you get around Elkins and Canaan Valley 


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[smooth operator]

There are tons of great roads just east of Charleston...in fact, the whole state south/east/north of Charleston should be on your list of rides.  Rt. 60 going east of Charleston you hit Glenn Ferris and then Gauley Bridge on the way to Gauley and Sewell mountains - awesome twisties.  19 is boring but 219 has some great sections, and once you get around Elkins and Canaan Valley 

Thanks HB, I was counting on you. Glen Ferris was the town I was trying to come up with.When I'm ready to make a trip with the bike I'll look you up. By then you should be healthy and maybe on that Concourse your thinking about.  Dan

[PitterB4]

Hey Dan... Sounds like a GREAT trip!  I hope to get my girl out on a trip like that sometime. 

[smooth operator]

Hey Dan... Sounds like a GREAT trip!  I hope to get my girl out on a trip like that sometime.
  Ya Rob, It turned out pretty good,I only pissed her off once the whole trip. The Vineyard Cabin was great. All the Effort they put into it to make it a great place for couples paid off. They rent it all yr. long. No kids or pets,couples only. I think next time (in NC) we'll go farther south though,Maybe back around Banner Elk or closer to Ashville.Our next trip though will probably be around Gettysburg.How far are you from there? Right now I have to replentish the funds 1st. But the wife would like to head that way in....Sept?.. I'll have to find out the date. There is some kind of event,Christian concert or something,I forget.
  And after spending time with her,she doesn't even mind so much when I head to the track.Hopefully I'll run open practice next Mon. I have to wait and see if I get my work done by then and pay some bills.       :beers:Dan

[smooth operator]

  Correction: Its Lancaster my wife wants to go to. They have a mock-up of the Tabernackel she wants to see. Among ather things that Lancaster has to offer. Not sure when we can make it though.
                         Dan

[PitterB4]

  Correction: Its Lancaster my wife wants to go to. They have a mock-up of the Tabernackel she wants to see. Among ather things that Lancaster has to offer. Not sure when we can make it though.
                         Dan

The Vinyard Cabin sounds perfect!

Lancaster is about a half hour from me - my home turf.  Some nice roads around too.  There's also the Breakfast For Bikers the first Sunday of every month at the American Legion in Ephrata.  If the weather is good, you can count on several thousand bikes.  It's only about 15 minutes or so from Lancaster.  You ought to make the trip!

[smooth operator]

 Awsome Rob, I'll let you know when we get a date planned. You can try out my trusty Bandit.   Dan

[Old_n_Slow]

I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat after reading the first post, the Mrs and I like to vacation in North Carolina and make 3 to 4 trips there per year. On our last trip, we decided to take the plunge.



We closing on a vacation home in Franklin on Monday!

[smooth operator]

  Cool, thats closer to where we had the rally a few yrs ago in Curso. Thats awsome down there. Have a great time

[Old_n_Slow]

Thanks! The house is now ours and next week I get to set up all the stuff that goes with a new home. This is going to be weird, because we're not moving anything from our home in Tampa, just buying all sorts of crap that you need to have in a house. I haven't done something like this since we were married 36 years ago!

The great news is, if you have a mapping program or Google Earth, zoom in close on the southwest side of Franklin and look at those roads!!! I'm already jealous of myself !!   

[smooth operator]

   Cool, that has to be exciting! My Mrs, would love to do something like that.  Dan

[jimmym1296]

Your plan sounds similar to mine Dan. Build a small cabin in NC or TN for cold months, live up north in the warmer months (I sell and build log homes/cabins for a living so I'm partial to logs!). Beautiful country in NC & WV for riding. Traded my Bandit for a DRZ400 so I could trail ride with the kids but I'll gear up again when they get older and I can restock the garage.

[smooth operator]

  Ther are LOTS of log Cabins down that way. When we first built our home (29 yrs ago) My wife and I were considering a Log Home. But scinse I started out as a Mason befor moving into the tile trade,I Laid a 10" block basement and bricked the whole thing instead. I would love to get a break from the snow in the winter. Even moving down your way would be a break. When my son went to school in Pitt., it was like a different world in the winter. If we have the precipatation this winter that we have had this summer, I'll have to shovel out a hole for the door! Its been raining practicly every day this summer! Havn't even been able to get any firewood out of the woods yet. When its not raining every stinking day, we do have nice summers here. Just getting tired of fighting and working in the snow through the winter. And the vehicals take a beating through it too.   Dan