Bright and early, 6am:

We head up the road a few miles and find the park entrance to the Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park. The lady at the gate warns us that we need to be careful about the wildlife since it is still early in the morning. We heed her warning and cautiously make our way into the park, and start our one hundred mile journey through Virginia’s back country.

The fog is thick and visibility is low. Not even two miles into the park do we exit a curve with a deer in the middle of the road, staring us down! Oh shit! He darts into the woods. That was just the beginning. By the first 25 miles, we had seen nine deer, two gophers, and even a small black bear. We take a break at an overlook and hang around for a little while.

Judd takes a look at his bike. His mileage has been lacking a bit through the trip, so he goes over a few things. Looks like one of the front pads is dragging just a little. Nothing major, and the pads appear to have plenty of life left:

While hanging out, I go and take a leak in the woods just ahead. I walked a pretty decent amount off of the road but realized that peeing in a high-visibility yellow jacket, is a bad idea!!! Fortunately no cars drove by!

By now we've seen at least 8 or 9 deer, but seeing a black bear of decent size got our attention. He ran off pretty quick but we were able to grab a couple pics:

The wet and fog finally clears up and we start getting a clean run through the Skyway. The sights are truly amazing, the pull-offs here show mountains as far as the eyes can see. We have seen some beautiful countryside on our trip but what we see here is some of the best. For a relatively last minute decision, coming here has proven to be a great idea and a perfect way to end an awesome trip.

When we passed by the Shenandoah Park’s restaurant area and decide to pull in for some grub. The food at the buffet ends up being a bit fancier than what we’ve been used to, but it was a good change. On our way out, we talk to someone who definitely knows his bikes. He ends up being Dave Phillips, of Lockhart Phillips. We chat for a little bit and then part ways. While gearing up we chat with a couple in a RSX, who had coincidentally been up to Nova Scotia last year.

Parked at the lodge:

Dave Phillips left us his business card:

We finish up the rest of the way through the Skyline Drive. This was a really great experience and I’m glad we went through the area. We did see a few patrol cars along the way, and this coupled with all the wildlife we saw in the morning, definitely keeps this road from being something to ride fast on. But it’s not about railing as much as it is about seeing the sights. The views from the overlooks here are breathtaking and absolutely worth it! I would recommend it to anyone who was interested.

After making our way back to the interstate, we soon enter what could only be described as the Lion’s Den, or maybe the Heart of Darkness. We were warned early on in our trip that Virginia’s law enforcement does not play nicely on the interstates. They were not joking. We must have seen 20 cop cars along our trek through Virginia. Many were so sneaky about clocking people’s speeds, it was pretty bad! Fortunately, we made it through the state without any issues, regardless of the fact that we were riding pretty fast.

We finally make it into Tennessee. The clouds have started looking pretty rough, and it soon starts to lightly rain on us. At this point, we don’t even care and continue on without changing into any rain gear. The rain was pretty light, but once we approached Knoxville, things started looking worse. Seeing a decent storm front up ahead, we pull off a little early to gas us and reassess the weather.

While filling up, the storm front hits us and it starts raining hard. A gentleman tells us that he has just driven through Knoxville and the traffic through there was pretty bad. If we get caught in any amount of rain while sitting in traffic, things might get bad. We hit up a nearby McDonalds to wait out any storms and traffic. We review the maps of the area but there really is no good way around Knoxville via sideroads, that wouldn’t take us forever.

The storm rolling through:

A quick meal at McDonalds:

Deciding that sticking on the interstate is our best option, we continue south on I-75 and get a nice view of the day’s sunset. Traffic never really was bad at all and the rest of the way into Chattanooga was relatively uneventful. There was almost no traffic to be seen at all through much of it.

The last gas stop for the trip is a familiar one. Seeing my gas light come on, I pull into the first exit I see, which just so happens to be the Pilot station from back when I first attempted to go to Canada. A very fitting stop indeed! At this point, Judd and I part ways. I give Tiffany a quick call to let her know I’ll be home in an hour.

Judd heading out:

My (infamous) Pilot station:

Of course I had to park the bike at the same spot I broke down at, just to make it full circle:

Having a buddy to ride with for 8 days, made pulling out of the gas station alone pretty weird. But I couldn’t think about it much, as I was ready to get home. I missed Tiffany a lot, and to be honest I missed sleeping in my own bed, too.

As I pull into Woodstock, I see fireworks going off in the distance. Although it surely was a day-late Fourth of July fireworks celebration, I can’t help but think that maybe someone out there is celebrating my triumphant return! Okay… maybe not! But pulling into town after an eight day trip to the site of fireworks was a pretty damn cool site to behold.

I pull into the driveway, finally I am back home! As the garage door opens, there is Tiff waiting to greet me. I get the greatest hug I’ve ever gotten from her. Words can’t describe how awesome it was! It was a perfect way to end probably the greatest trip I’ve ever taken so far in my life.

Now the only thing left to do is unpack, get some rest, and start looking at more maps for the next great adventure...

Finally, back home!

The final day:

Nova Scotia, 2008: