Motorcycling Across
North America
| Trips on this page: • Greenbriar • Virginia • Skyline Drive & Blue Ridge Pkwy • Key West • Newfoundland • Biltmore Mansion |
Greenbrier Motorcycle Trip
On May 17th, one of our wedding
anniversaries, we headed to
Lewisburg, West Virginia, on our
motorcycle. Our friend Phyllis and her husband, Bob Parks, were
traveling with us. We headed down the middle of the state on a
beautiful sunny day. The scenery was spectacular!
We arrived in Lewisburg that evening and
checked in at a small motel with one room and two double beds. So,
the four of us spent the night there. The next morning, we headed
for the
Greenbriar Mansion. We weren’t allowed to park our
motorcycles near the mansion, so we parked them in a field and
carried our helmets in with us. We enjoyed our lunch and touring the
inside of the mansion and learning more of the Greenbrier’s history.
Now it was time to head home, and we decided
to go west to
Charleston, West Virginia, then north on
Interstate 77
to
Parkersburg. The route was good, but the weather turned against
us. It started raining before we got to Charleston, and we were in a
steady, cold rain until we arrived home several hours later and
after dark. We were all very cold and tired. What helped me survive
the trip was remembering my electric blanket waiting at home for me.
It was a trip that none of us ever forgot. Phyllis and Dale are now
in heaven waiting for Bob and me. I thank God for keeping us safe in
the middle of the storm.
Virginia Motorcycle Trip
One Day Toomey rode south from Connecticut
and met us at a motel in Virginia. The next day we went to visit my
brother Ervin at his workplace at a fire station in D.C. After our
visit we rode to historic
Williamsburg, Virginia, to visit all the
sights in that area. This was a very interesting place. While in the
area we visited George Washington’s home,
Mount Vernon, and Thomas
Jefferson’s home,
Monticello. We learned some American history in
Virginia. Then it was time to cross the mountains into West
Virginia.
We traveled to
Moorefield, West Virginia, my
hometown. It was getting dark and starting to rain. We checked at
the motel, but they didn’t have any rooms. We headed towards
Petersburg, when I told the guys that my Aunt Lena, Dad’s sister,
lived in a two-story house in South Moorefield.
We stopped there, and I went to the door with
my helmet on and told her who I was and told her there were two more
who looked just like me. Aunt Lena told us she had rooms for us, but
no food for supper. We told her that’s OK as we were within walking
distance of a restaurant. She had already had her supper, but she
went with us to keep us company. When we got back to her house we
had a great visit, and she served us pickles and cake before we went
to bed. There was a photo of my dad and mom in one of the bedrooms.
When morning came all of us went to the restaurant for breakfast. We
said goodbye and thanked her for sharing her home with us and for
the wonderful fellowship we had.
We headed west to Parkersburg, where Toomey
spent a few days with the family before leaving for his home in
Connecticut. We thank God for our great country and its history.
Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway
Motorcycle Trip
We had another trip with Toomey starting with
meeting him at a Virginia motel. The next day we drove on
Skyline
Drive, where there are many scenic views. We could look down on the
Virginia towns, and in whatever direction you looked, it was
beautiful. I celebrated one of my 4th of July birthdays
on Skyline Drive. There were many rest stops and places to eat or
spend the night.
One night we were tent camping and I decided to
change jeans before we went to dinner. The guys said they were OK.
So, I changed and got back on the motorcycle just as Dale started
it. We were sliding in mud, and I slid right off and landed in the
mud. I had to change back into the other jeans. The next morning,
they had to wait until I used the laundromat.
When we arrived in North Carolina on the
Blue
Ridge Parkway, the scenes were just as beautiful. We stayed at some
of their motels, which were very nice. The mountains were very high,
and again any direction you looked it was a spectacular view. This
trip took several days to travel from Virginia and ended in
Tennessee. We will never forget this wonderful trip and the beauty
of nature we enjoyed for many miles. The three of us always had so
much fun on our motorcycle trips.
We headed back to Parkersburg and Toomey left
soon afterwards for his home in Connecticut. We thank God for this
beautiful country He created for us.
Key West Motorcycle Trip
We brought our motorcycle from West Virginia to
Florida on a trailer in the spring of 1979. We were staying with my
brother Russ and his wife Cookie in
Deland, Florida.
One spring morning we headed out on the
motorcycle to
Key West to visit our son Steve who was in flight
school there. On our way out of town a wild pig ran in front of us,
but we were able to miss it. We took the
Florida Turnpike down the
middle of the state. The weather was nice except for the wind. It
was fairly strong that day.
All was going well until we ran out of gas
halfway down the turnpike. Dale had to walk a short distance to get
gas. I stayed with the motorcycle and decided to sit down and rest
in the nice grass. I wasn’t there very long before I jumped up after
being bitten by fire ants. The bites turned into blisters by the
time we got to the Keys.
By the time we arrived at the first
Key, it was
starting to get dark, and we were tired and hungry. We decided to
stop and call Steve and tell him that we would stay here tonight and
come in the next day. He said, “Mom, I only have a few days off and
we have your room ready. Eat your meal and come on in.” So we did,
and what an exciting trip that was!
After travelling the Keys, we had a seven-mile
bridge to cross. The wind was much stronger, and it was very dark.
The only light was the headlight on the motorcycle. The only sound
was the waves on each side of us, one from the Atlantic Ocean and
the other one from the Gulf of Mexico.
The Bible says we are to pray without ceasing.
I was doing my share of that until we arrived in Key West later that
night. We didn’t have any problem finding Steve’s home
We spent several days with them and saw many
interesting sights, including their fabulous sunsets. Sandi and I
had to purchase sweaters to go on a sunset dinner cruise. Steve also
took Dale and me for a plane ride over the Gulf of Mexico. That was
a beautiful sight until I heard Steve say, “I just ran out of gas.”
I wondered what we would do! They soon corrected me because it was
Dale saying, “I just ran out of film.” That was a relief. We had a
wonderful visit with them, and then it was time to travel north. We
started early one morning under a blue sky and plenty of sunshine.
The view across the bridge and the Keys was spectacular. This was so
different than on the trip in the middle of the night. We had a safe
trip back to Deland, and later back home to West Virginia.
I thank God for our safe trip and helping us
experience and enjoy more of His awesome creation.
Newfoundland Motorcycle Trip
In September of 1984, just after Labor Day, we
headed north on our bright yellow Gold Wing motorcycle. We were
really loaded with all our gear. We had a tent, two sleeping bags,
two snowmobile suits, rain gear, several changes of clothes, a few
cooking utensils, and a camera. When we started from Parkersburg we
traveled east to
Cumberland, Maryland. It was raining when we
started, and when we arrived in
LaValle, a small town near
Cumberland, we believed this heavy rain was due to a hurricane that
came from the south and hit West Virginia. I wanted to tell Dale I
wasn’t having fun yet, but I was afraid he might want to stop and
pitch the tent. We were so happy to find a small motel with heat,
and that was near a restaurant. We hung all the wet clothes up to
dry and had a good meal before we went to bed.
After a good night’s sleep, we awoke with
sunshine and a clear blue sky. We headed north and had a wonderful
trip from there to Connecticut. We stayed the night with Toomey and
family.
The next day the three of us continued north to
Nova Scotia. We toured that beautiful country for several days. We
had an interesting experience there in a restaurant. As the girl was
seating us, she looked at me and asked if I was a sister. Before I
could answer, Toomey said, “No, she’s a motorcycle rider.” It was
then I knew she thought I was a nun. I looked to see what I was
wearing. I had on a navy sweater with a white collar and was wearing
a large silver cross and also a white hair band to hold my long hair
in place. All of us had a big laugh and a good memory.
While we were traveling there one day, I heard
some people saying they were going to take the last ferry boat to
Newfoundland this year. I told Dale and wanted him to ask Toomey.
So, all of us decided to go on the ferry boat. It was an overnight
trip, and we would have a place to sleep and shower. I was so
excited and thought we would have a good meal and restful night. I
did not know how rough the North Atlantic Ocean could be. I got
seasick as soon as the ferry boat started, and the only comfort I
had was lying on the bed. Dale and Toomey went out on the deck, but
no one was there. Dale tells the story that the tables kept moving
while they were trying to drink their cups of coffee. The others
were all in their rooms. We had no meal or shower, but it was like
sleeping on a big waterbed all night.
The next morning, they wanted me to see an
animal in the ocean. I staggered out to look, and when the ferry
boat stopped the seasickness was gone immediately. We got unloaded
and were on our way again. I told Dale I should eat very light after
being seasick. But when we stopped at the first restaurant, I was so
hungry Dale said I ordered everything on the menu.
We were finally on our trip across Newfoundland
and the weather was great. We were able to relax and enjoy this
beautiful country. When evening came, Toomey was in the lead and his
motorcycle turned in to a Holiday Inn, but we were ready for a good
night’s rest and a shower. The next day was sunny and another
wonderful day for traveling. The following day we started hearing
rumors that the moose hunters were coming out of the woods because
they heard a hurricane was coming through this area. As the wind
blew stronger and the sky got darker, Toomey started having some
serious motorcycle problems. He decided he would stay with his
motorcycle and wanted us to go to the nearest town and find shelter
approximately twenty miles away. We left and found a little cabin
just outside the town. Dale left me there, and I knew he wouldn’t
stay. It had already started to rain. I went to bed and slept about
an hour. When I woke up, the wind was blowing very strong and heavy
rain was coming down.
I kept listening for sounds and watching for
lights for the next couple of hours. At last, I saw two lights, so I
knew both of them were there. I stepped out on the little cabin’s
porch in my white long johns, and when Toomey got there, he said
that was the nearest to an angel he had seen for a long time. He was
so glad to be out of the storm. Dale had gotten some help from
someone in the town, but he still had to make several trips back and
forth before the motorcycle was repaired. I thought later that if
anything would have happened to them, I didn’t have any money or ID,
only six layers of clothes.
As they were putting the motorcycles away for
the night, Dale discovered that a bottle of liquid soap had spilled
in one of the saddlebags which he had to clean up. After they came
into the cabin and hung their suits up to dry, all of us went to bed
very late. Dale said that Toomey was talking to his snowmobile suit
in the middle of the night. All of us had a good night’s rest and
the storm had passed during the night. We got ready for about a
day’s ride to the short ferry which would take us back to the
mainland. Before we left Newfoundland, I bought some oatmeal to take
back to my six-year-old grandson, Andy Johnson, to take to Neale
school for “Show and Tell” and to tell his class this was brought to
him by his grandmother on her motorcycle trip.
We had another beautiful day to enjoy this
amazing country. We saw many little fishing villages before we
arrived at the ferry boat that evening. Once we were on the mainland
we would be planning our trip home. This would take several more
days and many miles.
We spent several nights in campgrounds and
sleeping in our tents. It was always exciting to check with the
campground store to see what we would have for our evening meal. I
remember one time I carried a watermelon back on my lap.
We had great weather and awesome sights on our
homeward trip. I was able to relax one sunny afternoon and lean on
Dale’s back for a short nap. The seat on that motorcycle was a
custom-made saddle seat. When we arrived in Connecticut, we spent
the night there with Toomey before heading to West Virginia the next
day.
I thank God for this wonderful adventure and
for keeping all of us safe through the storms.
Biltmore, North Carolina Motorcycle Trip
In the summer of 2000, we headed south to meet
Steve and Sandi in
Wytheville, Virginia. Zack was 14 years old and
was attending a boy scout camp near there. They brought their
motorcycle on a trailer.
We started from Parkersburg in light rain, so
we had on out bright yellow rain gear. All went well until we got to
Fancy Gap, which is near the border of Virginia. We saw in the
distance that there was heavy fog, so we parked and waited to see if
it would lift. We had to make a choice to turn around or go
straight ahead. On a clear day you could look down on the valley
below, but in fog there was always danger. We decided to go ahead
and follow a car and their lights until we got across Fancy Gap. We
stopped at the Virginia rest stop and a lady asked me if we were on
a motorcycle, and I said yes. She told me they could barely see our
bright yellow rain gear. There have been bad wrecks at this
location. I thank God for his protection.
When we arrived in Wytheville, Virginia, we met
Steve and Sandi and stayed in a motel that night. The next morning,
we got on the
Blue Ridge Parkway and travelled through North
Carolina. The mountains and scenery were spectacular.
Steve and Sandi wanted to give us a tour of the
Biltmore Mansion near Ashville, North Carolina. It was very
interesting, and the flower gardens were very beautiful. There were
so many varieties and colors. We spent several hours there and all
of us enjoyed the tour.
We stayed in motels on the Parkway. We shared
one room, and Steve and I always had to see the clock during the
night, but Dale and Sandi didn’t care; they just wanted to sleep.
Sandi and I have memories of having to use the bathroom behind some
bushes beside the road while the guys were checking out the
motorcycles. These trips always bring many surprises. We never know
what may be around the next bend, but whatever it is it will make
for another exciting trip.
There is a road in North Carolina near the
Parkway called “The Tail of the Dragon.” It is well known to
motorcycle drivers for many short curves in a short distance. They
showed us a video of the road so we would know what to expect. Of
course, we rode it. And what a scary, exciting adventure!
Our Parkway trip took us across North Carolina
into Tennessee where we had to separate. Steve and Sandi headed back
to Virginia to pick up Zack, load up, and head south to their
Florida home. We would head north to West Virginia and home.
I thank God for our safe family trip and many
good memories.
