Roanake, VA to Moorefield, West Virginia

I started out the day by getting lost.  I sure miss Lola.  Can't live with them and miss them when they are gone.  I wanted to get back to the Parkway without going all the way back and thought there was another entrance close by.  The gal at the service station told me how she would go and I don't know whether I didn't listen or she didn't give me good directions.  I expect the latter.  She said she didn't know how many miles it was, but about 10 minutes.  I rode for about 15 and asked for directions again.  He said keep going the way you are going for about 11 miles and you will come to a bridge.  Don't cross it but turn right on Hwy 43 and go 4 miles and there is the Parkway.  Sure enough there it was.  All was good again.  I have sure had to ask for directions a lot this trip.

When I was getting dressed this morning I decided I was wearing my rain clothes because I had looked at the weather and there was a good possibility I would encounter some rain.  I had been cold on Tuesday and decided if it was to warm I could change.  I ended up putting on another jacket under the rain coat as I was cold and left it on all day.  The temperature just made it to the mid 70's and much of the time was cooler than that.  I forget how far the end of the Parkway was yesterday but I think around 100 miles.  I took these pictures near the James river.

I made it to the end at 11 AM and I had my route planned out I would take after I got off..  For some reason it didn't seem right and I couldn't find the road I wanted so I pulled off I-81 and filled with gas then asked the attendant.  She didn't know but there was another guy there that took my map and showed me where I was and then it dawned on me that the Parkway quit but then it turned into the Shenandoah National Park and he said it goes on another 50 miles.  I thanked him and went to a Subway for a sandwich then headed back the way I had came from.  It was probably 20 miles back and I got back on headed north on the Shenandoah.  I showed my Golden Age Passport and saved the entrance fee again.  It was another 105 miles.

This is a beautiful park.  The speed limit is 35 mph but I mostly drove 40.  I hadn't gone too far when I saw this guy near the road.

Then it started a light rain and continued for about two hours.  It wasn't bad, just annoying as I had to keep the camera covered so I missed a few pictures I would have taken.   I see some of my pictures have water spots.  I did manage to get most of the shots later as the rain let up or I just decided I was going to take them.  Here are some of them.

All of a sudden there were two deer on the road and I stopped.  It took a while to get the camera out but this one stood in the middle of the road and scratched an itch.

There were lots of pretty flowers again.

I'm not sure if this was a weed or flower but it took me a long time to find the right one where I could pull off for a picture.

Then it was foggy in places.

At times it was difficult to see to ride.  I slowed way down and hoped others did too.  I made it without any problems.

So I guess it is time to put it in get-r-done gear and head for home.  May try to go on West in West Virginia before heading north to I-70.  Should be home Friday if all goes well.  If you want to see more pictures they are posted on Picasa at: http://picasaweb.google.com/home