Virginia!

We left Jonesborough on Friday, May 17 in cold and damp weather arriving in Salem, Virginia meeting our hostess Marian McConnell at the Hanging Orange Market. It was exciting to ride in and find her waiting for us! Unfotunately, I was too cold to even think about taking her picture...Marian took this of us. We were so happy to get off our bikes and just stand in sunshine.


We headed across the street to Billy Barns for lunch and to warm up. We were frozen to the bone! Even though the sun was shining the air was chilly and damp. Riding in cold, damp weather is really tough - it completely zaps your energy. The warmth of the restaurant was exactly what we needed.

After lunch Marian guided us through gorgeous countryside stopping to get a great view of McAfee Knob, that overlooks Catawaba Valley, which is part of the Appalachian Trail. The view from our vantage point was breathtaking and I can only imagine what it's like from the top of the Knob.

A few miles through the country we arrive at Marian's and I was faced with a packed gravel and dirt driveway with a curve! Yikes! Marian had warned me and I just got my gumption up and followed her up the hill. I was pretty happy that I made it. 

MURDER HOLE CAVE...oh my!
We parked our bikes at the cave entrance and what an entrance. It's slightly shrouded by trees and brush, but the hole is HUGE! We walk all around it and take pictures. I'm a little nervous standing so close to the edge. Marian tells us that people and animals have fallen in and died in the cave. EEK! In spite of my trepidation about staying with total strangers with a cave on their property, Marian was a great guide and didn't attempt to push us in. So far, so good!

Marian is an author and wrote a book entitled Murder Hole which was recently published. Marian gave us a signed copy and I'm excited to read it, especially since I survived my visit to Murder Hole Cave. Here's the cover of her book and  check out this website for an overview of the legend of the cave http://ww2.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story137647.html

We had a fabulous afternoon on Marian's deck enjoying the Virginia sunshine. Marian introduced us to her husband Dan and her mom Tillie who welcomed us warmly. We felt at home and it felt like we were in the company of old friends.

After a home cooked dinner, we went with Marian and Dan to a Blue Ridge Grotto Cavers Club meeting and saw an amazing presentation about Dry Cave which isn't really dry but rather wet. The photos were incredible and beautiful. Caves have a whole beauty that most of us never see. Everyone at the Club meeting were genuine cavers with an amazing passion for exploring, documenting and protecting caves.   We learned from Dan that "cavers rescue spelunkers" and he's an expert in rescue missions. 

We also went to the Third Street Coffee House which was a remarkable experience and place. It's only open on Friday nights, it's non-smoking, no-alcohol and provides singer-song writers a platform to showcase their music and songs. The place was packed and we had a great time, listening to 3 different singer/songwriters. We'd never been to a place like this before. A fabulous experience. I could have sat and listened to music for hours. In her free time, Marian books the musicians for most of the events.
Saturday found me enjoying an off day, again doing laundry (even on the road it piles up), writing and just hanging out at the house. Dan and Randy went on a sightseeing ride and Marian was off at a gem, mineral and jewelry show selling her new book.

Our conversation centered mostly around the rides that we've done and the McConnell's upcoming road trip to the west. They'll be touring all of our favorite destinations, Yellowstone, Cody, Moab and we'll excited to see them this summer in Utah. 

Dan grilled us the thickest steaks ever.  Marian pulled out a ruler and measured for us - imagine 2" thick steaks grilled to perfection - we ate every bite!  Saturday evening was even more amazing because after dinner we enjoyed a private accordion concert by Tillie who was simply fantastic.


Randy played the accordion in elementary school and he even picked it up again. He didn't remember anything but he looks pretty good holding it.


Dan and Marian also played several songs for us and told the stories behind the song. One of my favorites was a song Marian wrote about her Deluxe, Scarlet O'Harley. Fabulous!







Sunday we parted from Catawba Valley after a terrific ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Roanoke's Historic Star. The star is lit every night and it's huge! It's even on the National Register Historic Places and was installed in 1949. It overlooks Roanoke Valley and we could see McAfee Knob in the distance. The view was spectacular.

We took lots of pictures and didn't say goodbye, but we'll see you again.



We loved visiting Catawba Valley and even more so because we had the chance to meet new friends. Marian and Dan were fabulous hosts and showed us a side of Catawba Valley that we would have missed. We're so grateful for their friendship and outstanding visit. Meeting Marian, Dan and Tillie was an incredible experience and it all happened because of Facebook!

Jekyll Island, a magical place

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 

The ride from Apalachicola to Jekyll Island was wonderful  We rode along the Gulf and then through the rural areas of Florida.  Wide sweeping curves with small towns, old cemeteries and farmhouses dotting the road.  We encountered very few stop signs or stoplights - we just cruised all morning.  It was fabulous; this is what riding is supposed to be.  

Eventually we lost our gorgeous roads and had to get on the Interstate.  Although a highway, most of the highways was lined with huge tall trees which made it just a little more pleasant.  We were excited because we knew when we arrived at Jekyll Island we will had completed our "coast to coast" part of our journey. 

We originally planned to stay in Brunswick, but in searching for a hotel, Jekyll Island kept creeping into the search.  Jekyll Island is a small historic island on the southern coast of Georgia.  I'm so glad it did as it did because our stay there was perfect.  We stayed at the Days Inn and it was right on the Atlantic Ocean and when we arrived we immediately hit the ocean!  We had ridden all the was from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast a monumental milestone in our trip.  Woohoo!!!

After a quick dip in the pool we cruised the small island.  There's lots of homes and several historic houses on the island.  It's a tourist mecca but in the off season it didn't feel like the Pensacola area It was charming and quaint.   Lots of historic homes, streets lined with trees covered with Spanish Moss.

 Jekyll Island Club is the historic hotel and it looks like something from a movie.

 It looked a little pricey for bikers, so we headed over the the outdoor Rah Bar for the sunset.  Definitely more our style!

We learn that on the Island you can enjoy the sunset and the sunrise!  We were rewarded with an incredible sunset and the best shrimp and crawfish dip ever.  Our waiter warned us to fend off the birds as they were bold enough to steal your food.  We almost most lost our crackers but we were faster than the greedy bird.  It was a fabulous evening! 

Most of you know that I'm not a morning person and rarely see a sunrise.  However, getting up at 6:00 am for the sunrise was completely worth it. Randy stayed in bed sleeping but he did peek out the window to see the sunrise.  The Atlantic was warm and the sun was a brilliant orange.  As I stood on the beach I can't believe that I'm actually there enjoying the gorgeous Atlantic sunrise. I reflect on how our lives have dramatically changed in just a couple of months. We're just two weeks into our journey and we've already had the experience of a lifetime.  

I was so happy to have my toes in the sand that I start to ponder why I'm living in the desert of Salt Lake City.  As much as I love Utah, I really love the ocean. 

In the morning we jet over to the other island...a little more touristy Saint Simons Island.  It's still cute and quaint just busier.  We have a fabulous breakfast at Palmer Village Restaurant (that we found on Yelp) and we do a drive by of their famous lighthouse.  

Over breakfast we chat about our Jekyll Island experience and are amazed that we experienced a sunset and sunrise, both over water.   That is something that is rare...both a sunset and sunrise from the same location.  Jekyll Island is special to us and we talk about moving to the Island.  See, it's not the destination, it's the journey and we're learning that you never know what the road will bring.

NOLA Jazz Festival

In planning our trip we discovered that we were going to be near New Orleans during the Jazz Festival.  I have no clue what this is but Randy is really excited telling me that he's always wanted to go.  After googling it and reading about it, we redesigned our entire route to arrive in New Orleans in time for the second weekend of the festival. 

According to the website, the New Orleans Jazz Festival is an eight day festival that spans over two weekends and has been around for 40 years.  Sounds like an adventure made for us!

Our, New Orleans hosts Patrick and Stacie Ireland join us on this adventure guiding us to the festival via car, trolley and bus.

We ended up on the bus which was the cheapest and easiest way to arrive.   It's great to have "locals" get us around town.  The bus drops us off right at the Festival or so I thought - we still had to walk about a mile to the entrance.  The Festival is at the fairgrounds and horse racing track and is huge!  This is much bigger than I expected. 

We wind our way through the security and ticket lines and  pass the Gospel Tent and enjoy a rousing sermon and some southern gospel music.  I think this is a good way to start the day.   We land at a huge map and begin plotting our day.

We had a light breakfast because we had heard all about the food court and we are ready to eat lunch. We hit the first food court and to get our bearings. There are at least 20 foods booths filled with creole and cajun specialities.  So much food to choose from that it's hard to select.  We all debate the merits of each booth, and we all want something different.  We split up and meet back with plates filled with New Orleans specialties. I end up with a stuffed artichoke and a fried oyster spinach salad; Stacie has a fried crawfish po'boy;  Randy & Patrick have the Sample Plate with a biscuit covered in crawfish sauce, crawfish fritters and a crawish money bags.  Everyone standing around us is eating something different and it all looks amazing!  Our food is yummy and all very New Orleans.  

We head over to the Blues Tent and listen to Joe Krown Trio featuring Walter "Wolfman" Washington and Russell Batiste Jr. who are excellent!  This is the biggest tent I've ever been in and it is packed to gills with people.  There isn't anywhere to sit - no where!! So we settle in the very back on the ground and chill out.  Although everyone keeps telling us that the weather is fabulous, I think it's hot and humid and the crowds aren't helping.  After an hour or so of chilling to a rocking band we venture out to the main stage.  Excited because we're going to see Bruce Springsteen!

We arrive and the main stage is PACKED and we walk, and walk, and walk and walk, finally squeezing in our chairs in the very last row of the racetrack.  All around us everyone keeps telling us that it's never this crowded. Patrick & Randy leave us to find something cold to drink and Stacie and I hold down our chairs.  

While waiting for the concert, people just keep coming and there is no where to sit.  The guy next to me is from Wales and he's been to several Jazz Fests and is shocked at the crowd.  This event brings in people from all over the world!  

Even though we can barely see the stage, we're OK, it's the Boss and we have binoculars.

We hang out in the sweltering sun for over an hour and the concert starts!  Yahoo...but right at the same time the wind picks up and we can't hear ANYTHING!  Seriously, the wind is taking the sound away from us.  All that time waiting and NOTHING!  We all look at each other and start laughing...time to move on and find another artist to listen to.

Walking back through the Festival we do enjoy a little of Bruce.  We check out several other stages and walk the entire grounds.  This place is HUGE, I can't say it enough. HUGE!  

We head over back over to the Blues Tent to listen to Johnny Winter.  He's a fabulous blues artist who was famous in the late 1960-1970's.  Going to listen to him  was the best decision as that man can still Rock!  He's 70 years young and plays a mean electric guitar.  His band was amazing.   Plus the tent is shaded and has misters.  We loved it!

This was the biggest event we've ever been too.  At least 125,000 people in attendance and I believe at least 90% all came to see Bruce Springsteen.  It was pretty well organized, lines everywhere but tons of food, drinks and bathrooms so you never really waited very long in line.  The NOLA Jazz organizers know how to do this!  

Now that we've experienced the Jazz Festival we know exactly how to roll.  Take the bus; cheapest and easiest way to get there. Get there early right as the gates open and go directly to the main stage and stake out your spot.  Go with a group and rotate jobs...yes jobs.  One person has to be responsible for blanket watch; two others responsible for food and beverages.  The last person rotates in with the positions so that everyone can cruise the stages and still have a seat for the headliner.  If we go again, we now have the system down.   

Even with the crowds and the heat, the event is something to experience and I'm really glad we went.  We're on the trip of our life and we just enjoyed the event of a lifetime!   Rock on!

Bisbee, Arizona

On Monday, April 28, after Tombstone we cruised the short ride to Bisbee, AZ a cool western town that seems to be thriving.

Finding breakfast was a little challenging and we were surprised to find 2 small restaurants open, all featuring vegan and vegetarian options as their specialty.  There were a few crystal type shops and the town seemed mystical.  Not what we expected in a western town.  Randy wanted to ask the maintenance workers if they had a suggestion for food, as he figured the locals would know where to go.  What he didn't notice is that the workers were wearing bright fluorescent orange jumpsuits with the letters "ADC" stamped on the back.  I suggested that the inmates from the Arizona Department of Corrections might not be the best for restaurant suggestions. :) We did find the bustling Bisbee Coffee Roasters open, but we passed opting for food instead of coffee.  Smelled great.

About 1/2 mile away, we discovered, Lowell, AZ  and the Bisbee Breakfast Club, BBC.  This by far has been the best breakfast we've found on the road.  It's a fairly large diner that serves home made breakfast and lunch and had huge menu making it hard to decide what to eat.  Great coffee  and huge biscuits that were the size of a salad plate!   It's right next door to  the Bisbee copper mine.  Huge mine, still is a lot smaller than Kennicott.  It's a posted "scenic view point".

Lowell is a one street abandoned town lined with modern cars, vintage cars and lots of motorcycles and we proceeded to explore.  Down from the BBC was a huge Harley Repair sign - we ventured into it thinking it was a dealership only to discover an old repair shop repairing bikes.  Hanging from the ceiling was hundreds of bike parts and I mean hundreds.  I should have taken a picture inside.

Across the street from the shop, was a display of vintage Harleys and Indians.  The only "real" businesses was the BBC and a gym.  There was a display of the worlds fastest Indian and a memorial  about Samantha Morgan - I posted a picture below.  Female rider inspiration to keep me going! 

Lowell is where we ran into the Biker Patrol, quite the surprise to find in this sleepy, abandoned small town.   

Odd town, the guy in the repair shop said that Bisbee was a "hippy" town at one point and now about 70% of the areas residents are on assistance.   He was a great tour guide though, he sent us off on a gorgeous backroad to Rodeo, NM.  Nice rolling hills, and beautiful desert.  At the end of the road we ended up back on Interstate 8 and more wind, dust and flat desert.  Next stop...Las Cruces, NM.

San Diego to Tombstone

On Sunday, April 27, we leave La Mesa and head up HWY 94 winding through a fabulous valley right on the border of .   We are guided by Boyd and Kim Richardson, our San Diego hosts.  We ride through Jamul, then right along the border near Tecate and then through Campo.  The ride is gorgeous with sweeping turns and wide open spaces.  Homes range from simple and rural farms  to megamansions. We ride right next to the Mexico border and Kim, points out the Border Control fence.  It's rusty red and must be at least 20 feet high and goes on for miles.  There's a road below it and along our ride we see several white and green US Border Patrol vehicles. It's odd seeing the fence in it the hillside.  I didn't take a photo and I've posted one from the Internet to give you an idea of what it looks like.  

We ride for about an hour and it is really cold!  We arrive at the Golden Acorn Casino, in Campo, California and we're frozen.  We need HOT coffee and we need it fast.  We have a yummy breakfast and unfortunately, must go our separate ways.  It was fun to hang out with Kim and Boyd and we look forward to more adventures with them.  We should have taken a picture all together but we didn't!  Here's a great photo of Boyd and Kim and she looks really cute in her helmet!

Leaving the Casino, we pop on HWY 8 East and we dropped from the high elevation to the desert floor we went through a huge boulder field which in it's own way was quite beautiful.  

After leaving California, perhaps in Arizona, we went through our first Border Check Point and saw lots of US Border Patrol Officers.  They are everywhere. 

Dateland

Upon Boyd's recommendation we stopped at the famous "Dateland" for a date shake.  We decided to go against convention and had date ice cream instead.  Interesting, tastes a little like chocolate and strawberry mixed together.  Date shakes were quite the hit with many people in line.  Date trees are beautiful and they also sold dates stuffed with walnuts.  Reminded me of my Grandma Holmes because she always made these.

They also cater to pets with outdoor kennels with water and misters to keep the pups cool in the hot Arizona sun.  We thought it was cool.

Tombstone AKA Helldorado 

The ride to Tombstone was long, boring, windy and cold. We arrive in Tombstone before sundown with anticipation of a gun fight at the OK Corral and Wyatt Earp's ghost.  What we found was a ghost town - not a real ghost town, but a town that truly rolls up their sidewalks.  Everything was closed.

We stayed at the Trail Riders Inn a cute motel that was in so-so shape but the pool and hot tub are nice.  The hot tub is called the "Tiki Love Shack"  doesn't quite fit the western theme but it's cute.  I thought the motel was ok until the next morning when I discovered a 3" cockroach in our room. EEK!!!!!

  

After a quick dip we ventured out into the town for some vittles and a brew.  That's when we discovered that Tombstone closes up at dark!  Everything is closed and there's no lights making the town feel creepy.  We found the only town bar that was open (you knew we would) and ordered an Amber Bock (other choices were Bud, Bud Light & Coors) and pondered the extensive menu of hot dogs, burgers, chilli and lots of fried veggies.  We decided to go vegetarian and ordered fried mushrooms, zucchini and onion rings. The bars's name is Vogan's  which is similar to Vegan so we ate healthy...right? 

Vogan's was founded in 1879 as a Saloon and Bowling Alley.  The nicest part of Tombstone was meeting Felina, our bartender.  She's a  fifth generation Tombstone native and had just moved back to Tombstone.  She had great stories about her great-great-great grandfather Clanton who owned the cemetery and donated to the city as long as his entire family could be buried there forever.   Amazing to have such a history tied to Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clanton family.  Google them... interesting. 

Tombstone was disappointing at best. Luckily we found Felina & Vogan's and ended up having a good time. However,  a town that boasts the name 'Helldorado" doesn't have the right to say that when they close restaurants and saloons at 8:00 pm.  

A gunfighter in town after a hot ride can't even get a sasparilla in notorious Tombstone AKA  Helldorado!