Day 29 - Reinsertion into my homeland

My hotel (The Little Switzerland Inn) is on the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile marker 334 and the Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles long. Thus I had 135 miles left before I reached Cherokee. It was a beautiful morning.

I drove 40 mph the whole way even though the speed limit is 45 mph. I wanted to milk these last few miles as much as I could. 

I pulled over at a particularly attractive overlook and sat down under a tree for a quite a break. I wrote in my journal, ate a little lunch, meditated and then filled out some postcards for the last time.  

As I was sitting there Sharon and Trish stopped by to take some pictures( and take the picture above). They were on their way home too after a three week 11 state trip of their own. They were from Bradonton FL and were as unprepared for reinsertion back into the real world as I was. We talked about Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, etc. and that common travelers bond emerged. I think we were all sad to see our explorations coming to an end.

   Sharon and Trish heading home to FL

No sooner had they left than Tom arrived. Tom is from Johnson City TN and he has been hiking the BRP trailed for 9 years. Today he was hiking a spell right around where we were. We talked about all kinds of things before he headed into the trail head and began his trek.

    Tom from Tennessee about to go hike

As I packed up I looked back at the tree I was sitting under and realized how old and how magnificent it was. 

As I left when the weather changed and it turned very rainy. The mist and clouds and rain rolled in fast and quite beautifully.

The thing about rain on a motorcycle is that if you have the right gear it is not a big deal at all and can actually be enjoyable. I do have the right gear and so I enjoyed the hell out of it. I love the Blue Ridge Parkway. Period.

I watched the mike markers as they neared 469. No! I don't want it to end! 

But end it must and end it did. Disappointingly there was no sign saying "The End", it just ends in the Smokey Mountains National  Park at a dead end into a 4-lane state highway where you have to take a left it a right. I took a left and that was the end. No pictures.

My plan was to stay in Cherokee or somewhere along the Nantahalea River but a) it was lightening and raining and otherwise just miserable and b) all the good hotels were sold out and I was not mentally prepared to take on bedbugs or setting up camp in a heavy thunderstorm. So I went home. 

Day 28 - Jerry, Norm and Little Switzerland

I am sure at this point many of you are wondering if I am making this stuff up just to fill the pages - like writing a fiction novel for mass consumption. I promise you I am not. And you have to believe me because this next story is a doozy.

My friends like to take advantage of my "have to say yes to any invitations" rule while I am on these trips and yesterday was my friend Mark Shaver's turn. Mark says "Ralph, you are going right through Roanoke VA, do you want to go by the Shaver family burial plot?". My answer? "Why yes, Mark, I sure do!" And so I did. The directions were all a mess but he also gave me the geo coordinates (Lat and Long) and my GPS knew exactly where to go. But something was amiss - the location was directly besides the Blue Ridge Parkway, I mean like immediately beside it. So thinking it was wrong I decided to just go there and see if I can figure it out once I get there. And blow me down - as I approached the location the woods stopped, a wide meadow unfolded and there was the Shaver family plot. As I was examining the plot a blue pick-up truck comes rambling by and I yell at the driver "Are you a Shaver?"  And he yells back "Sure am". I f'in freak out, call Mark, ask the man in the truck if he'd talk to my friend who is another Shaver and the two of them talk for 29 minutes. It turns these two complete strangers share the same great, great grandfather.  Ladies and gentlemen, Jerry Shaver:

   Jerry Shaver

I talked to him for awhile after he and Mark hung up and he is a wonderful, generous and kind man. He is also 84 and the last Shaver in the area. Mark, you need to get up there and meet this wonderful relative of yours. It was a wonderful gift to have met him and to have enjoyed how generous he was with his time and openness (to say nothing about a having a stranger like me crawling all over his family plot.

As I get back on my bike my mind goes to how special this whole trip has been. And how fortunate I have been to experience so much time alone - time which felt like purgatory after the party that was time with high school friends, Amalia and her friends, Mike, Beth, and Sam / Kristy and the biker entourage. These last two weeks alone have been so good for me - the black to the white, the ying to the yang, the me to the us. I had pulled over at an overlook and was just thinking when a crazy guy on one of those reclining bicycles pulls up next to my bike and gets off with a smile the size of Virginia on his face. He meanders about for a while and eventually we talk. "Norm" is from Marietta (a suburb of Atlanta) and is in the midst of riding his crazy bike from Washington DC to Atlanta. He is about 2/3 complete. 

   My friend Norm from Marietta

His optimism and excitement are contagious and the next thing you know we are talking about the benefits of taking long trips like these alone. We share stories of similar crazy thoughts and how freeing this time is. It was such a good conversation for me as I bear the end of my journey. Thank you Norm!!! You gave me the gift of appreciation and gratitude for what's been given to me. I really do hope you contact me so we can have a beer back in Atlanta. 

And now I stopped in Little Switzerland NC and grab a room at what seemed to be a bit run down hotel. And then I stepped out the back lobby:

What a beautiful view!  I sit down, order a glass of wine and sit down to write this blog. This is me right now:

Oh how I love these trips. 

Day 27 - Mary, Mary and Mike

Today was the last day of unfamiliar territory. Now all that's left is Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, both of which I have traveled before. When I exit Skyline Drive (which connects directly across the street to the BRP) and then the BRP, I will exit in Cherokee NC which I have visited so many times its like home. Entering Skyline is the last run before I'm home. But I should start at the beginning.

    Entering Shenandoah and the Skyline Drive

It was another beautiful day today and I continued to be impressed with just how beautiful is the West Virginia countryside. Don't get me wrong - it's beauty is the nature part. I took some back county roads to see the lands more clearly and what I also saw was abject appalachian poverty. I won't post pictures it was so sad. How this rich country can let our fellow brothers and sisters exist like that disturbs me greatly. WTF.

When I came out of the mountain roads I found myself surprising close to Skyline Drive, so close that I thought I might as well drive some of it today. I felt great so after filling up with gas I entered the park and began my final trek home. And then something amazing happened. 

I hadn't taken many photos so I pulled over at the first scenic turnout. There were a few other people there but it's a Wednesday at 2 pm, not too many tourists. There was a small group of three taking pictures next to me looking at a river when the guy saw my motorcycle and asked me about my trip. As we were talking his wife Mary came up to me, looked into my eyes and asked me why my heart was so heavy. I mumbled something about being on the road for a month gives you a lot of time to think about things when she said from out of the blue "God wants you to know that He is right here with you, right here right now". She went on to say how He has heard my prayers and that everything is going to be ok. 

    Mike, Mary and Mary

Something about the certainty in her voice, the timeliness of her message (I was planning to use this time on Skyline and BRP to put all the pieces of the things I've been thinking about back together), her kind smile and her sincerity overwhelmed me. And when I looked at her husband Mike and her mother they were both looking at me and both of them had this knowing smile on their face - this smile that said "this is the man God wanted Mary to talk to today", a look that knew how fortunate I was to be getting this message from Mary.

To hear this message at the beginning of the final 600 miles trek home - the timing was uncanny. I had just finished an 8,000 miles journey around the United States of American and was going to use this Last leg home to pull it all back together. Mary's message gave me perfect perspective - my struggles are in my head. I need to let it all go and just live a good and honest life; God will take care of the rest. Sorry, there is just no way the timing of that message was coincidence. Thank you God, thank you for Mike, Mary, Mary and for Your grace and generosity.  You astound me at how obvious You are sometimes. 

OK, back to earth. 

After exchanging information I rode down the rest of drive thinking about what just happened and before you knew it I had gone the 109 mile length of Skyline. I saw the BRP across the street but decided to save that for tomorrow and so I headed east to find a hotel room. Then I remembered my friend and ex-coworker Sandy Medlin lives around here so I called her up and the next thing you knew we were having dinner together. 

After dinner she asked me if I wanted to meet her parents and I of course said "Yes I do" and so we went over to her house and I did just that. Here is me with her mother (her father is ill so no photo):

   Me with Sandy's mother

What an amazing day. There are more stories but this is enough for today. 

"God wants you to know that He is right here with you, right here right now"

I feel so very blessed to have aeen my good friend Sandy again and to have had God's message given to me so clearly today. 

Day 26 - West Virginia is georgeous

After thanking my hosts for their hospitality, I headed out to Athens Ohio to catch lunch at "Casa Nuevo", a suggestion from Karl. It was a great recommendation!

From there then I just rode very leisurely across the rest of Ohio and into West Virginia. It was a great day for riding a motorcycle - excellent weather, wonderful views of nature, light traffic, and under no time constraints at all. Rain had gone through some of the areas a few hours before me making it cool and clear. Nice day to ride a motorcycle! I listened to some great music (thank you Beth), danced some on my bike (also thank you Beth) as we were motoring down Hwy 50, and just generally enjoying being alive. 

A very light day. Tomorrow I reach the entrance to Skyline Drive and the Blueridge Parkway for my final stretch back home. I hope to stop at the NOC and look for a cabin to rent on weekends.  That would be a great find. 

God bless all of you.

Day 25 - Donkey Punch in the Bagel & Deli

By popular request and as an overall update on my trip, here is where I am (in red) on my overall trip.

 

As you can see I rode down to Ohio today, specifically Oxford Ohio, home of the fighting Miami University RedHawks! Watch out for Swoop!  My friend Peter Lewis gave me some tips on where to go and so I went to most of them.

    Hello Rachel!

And of course I went by Peter's favorite studying spot:

    A "Tower" of beer

It is said amongst the students that a tower of beer before studying helps loosen up the memory cells for a more productive study session (at least after you wake back up).

The drive down here was quite dreary and storms were predicted all day. So I geared up in my rain gear but nary a drop of rain all day! Cool.

I did, however meet Karl and Aioki and enjoyed their fine hospitality. Thank you for everything! Karl and I then went to Mac and Joe's and the The Circle, a at with no name sign and a blank door as an entrance:

    Hello Darrell!

I was up with Karl until 2:00 am. I need my rest!

Day 24 - Lake Michigan and Notre Dame

Except for the last 10 miles when I entered Indiana, today (Sunday Aug 9th, 2015) was all about Michigan. I woke up in the UP and after breakfast I rode across the Mackinaw Bridge and landed in "lower Michigan".  I then headed out to Traverse City trying to hug the coast as much as I could. 

I don't know but it all looks so New Englandy to me. Everything was very clean and very white. Little homegrown shops everywhere and nary a Starbucks or Target to be found anywhere. I had lunch  in Traverse City, a very nice place with tons of people on the beach. They were selling burgers right off the charcoal grill. Delicious! 

I finished my ride by entering the grounds of my least favorite college football team - the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (Alabama beat the snot out of them the last time they played for the National Championship - ha!). I wanted to see their "Football Jesus" which I always thought was really cool but alas they were adding sky boxes to the stadium and so they must have removed the statue for relocation. Beautiful campus, magnificent really. But I still hope their football team goes 1 - 10 next year. Their only win can be against another sucky team to be determined. 

And then (drum roll please) my last laundry until I get back home on Saturday!!  Hooray! 

   Sunrise on Michigan's UP