Saturday was spent getting some of these things handled and when Sunday rolled around we weighed our options then decided that we'd go for a "short" ride up to a little country store located just off the BRP in Meadows of Dan, Virginia. She'd seen these particular clay pots on another ride, but couldn't remember if they would be the right size for what she wanted to do.
Hey, any excuse for a ride, right?
We waited until later in the morning so that the temperatures would rise some and headed out around 10:30 am or so. Trying to do my best to keep her off the BRP this year I decided to go up Hwy 8 to Stewart, Virginia then take US 58 west over to the store where we'd seen them. It was a beautiful day and as always the ride up Hwy 8 was both fun and scenic. Julie spotted a sign that directed us to US 58 that we'd never noticed before well before we got to Stewart so we took it knowing we'd at least see some things we'd never seen before.
It was called Ayers Orchard Road and was a small country road that meandered through the farmland and countryside and seemed to be taking us more in an easterly direction than we'd normally go. But no matter, it was something new and different. After several miles we came to the end of this road and had to make a decision to go right or left on what was called the South Fork Loop. The problem was there wasn't a sign directing to 58! The only sign that we saw was directing us toward Danville, which wasn't the direction we needed to be going. So we opted to turn left and see what happened. In only a few miles we found ourselves at US 58 and went west.
We had only ridden a few miles when we saw a sign that told us Stewart was three miles ahead, so our detour through the country had indeed put us further east than we would have normally gone, but was well worth the detour. As I've mentioned before, US 58 is a road we really enjoy traveling and riding on so being able to see a part we'd never been on before was a good thing. It was an enjoyable ride and we found ourselves at the country store we were looking for a little after noon.
Julie went a checked out not only the pots but some plants and flowers that were there for sale while I fueled the bike, after which I parked and joined her. The pots were bigger than she remembered, which was good for what she wants to do with them, and heavier than either of us remembered as well. Since Julie was thinking that Bryan's first official trip with the trailer he is building would be to fetch some of these pots we were glad we had made this trip, they seemed like they may be a bit to heavy and fragile for something like that.
Satisfied with what we'd found we went to a little Bar-B-Que restaurant next door for some lunch before continuing on. For what it's worth, lunch sucked. They touted themselves as serving "Lexington Style Bar-B-Que" but trust me, it was far from it. After eating we wandered around a bit at some other shops close by then saddled up and rode on.
We decided to continue riding west on 58 and this section is a great ride. It takes you across the southern part of Virginia through rolling hillsides and back country and is a flowing, easy ride with just enough turns to make it fun and exciting. In no time at all we found ourselves in Hillsville where I asked Julie if she wanted to stay on 58 or take US 52. I figured if she decided on 52 we'd go where Bryan and I had the week-end before, and if she wanted to stay on 58 we'd just see where we ended up. She opted to stay on 58.
Again, 58 was what we'd come to expect of it. A great ride. Only this time we found ourselves on a mixture of four lane and two lane, and found that we had been on many parts of this section before. In what seemed like no time at all we found ourselves near Mouth of Wilson and the intersection of US 16. It was getting to be mid afternoon so we decided to take 16 south because we'd never been on this section before and we could start heading back as well.
16 is another one of our favorite roads north of where we were as it winds through the mountains toward Tazwell, but this section was more like what we'd experienced all day, winding and scenic. We rode into and through Wilksboro, North Carolina and continued on out of town to where 16 turns off of US 421, staying on 16. We hadn't been on that part long when we came to where 18 leaves 16 and I made a quick decision to take it instead of 16.
Again, more of the same type of road and scenery greeted us, it was turning out to be a day for lazy meandering through the hills and countryside. Perfect. As it was getting later in the day and as our backsides were beginning to ache a little, this part of the ride seemed to be getting a bit long. Eventually we found ourselves in Lenoir and jumped on US 64 west to start the trip home.
We are very familiar with this part of 64, but enjoyed the ride none the less and followed it all the way back to Statesville where we picked up I-40 and did the interstate thing over to Mocksville. There we got back on 64, riding it back home.
It was about 6:30 pm when we pulled the bike into the shop, and we had ridden 335 miles. Not exactly the short day we had set out to do, but what can I say? We love to ride!
Bruce
