FINALLY! In Search of Bourbon - Day 6

So yeah...here we are on Day 6...almost two weeks after I published Day 5. Sorry about that! I got a little busy, and then, the more I thought about writing the last day's post, the more I didn't want to do it. Because if I didn't write it, then the trip down memory lane of our trip down to bourbon country wouldn't have to be over. Right? Makes total sense!

But Day 6 did happen. Like this...

It was another early morning for breakfast and our departure. We met in the breakfast room at 6:45 and were on the road by 7:30 that morning. To say it was a brisk morning would be an understatement. We hopped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway to head north. The good thing about being on the Parkway was we were above the fog and clouds. The bad thing was we were at elevation; it's cold at elevation. 

A chilly morning at the Colony House Motor Lodge.

Chris is ready to spring into action!

Turning onto the Blue Ridge Parkway.

As much as we all wanted to head south and do the trip all over again, we headed north toward home.

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning on the Parkway.

The scenery along the Blue Ridge Parkway NEVER ceases to amaze me.

We stopped at an overlook to take in the awesome view while we were above the clouds.

While we were stopped, and despite the beautiful scenery, we decided to leave the Parkway in pursuit of some warmer air (it was in the low 40s). We took VA 43 (Parkway Drive) to drop down off the Parkway into Buchanan, where we picked up I-81 to run north briefly to Lexington, VA. We stopped to add more layers, warm up, and grab hot beverages at a Sheetz. When we left, we got a little turned around in Lexington, but that meant we got a nice little tour of the VMI and Washington & Lee campuses!

Whoa! Regular gas for under $3.00/gallon. We MUST be in Virginia!

After our detour through Lexington, we headed north so we could hook up with US 250 from Staunton, VA over to Monterey, VA where we stopped to warm up, "rest," and take in the always intoxicating smell at "The Chicken Gas Station."

This photo is for our friend Jeff.

And this one is for our friend JT.

From "The Chicken Gas Station," we headed north on US 220 all the way back to Moorefield, WV where we stopped for a late lunch at Subway. It was here that we parted ways with Shane and Andrea (boo!) and set out for home. But we didn't hop on the highway since it was still early enough in the afternoon that we could take "the long way home." We took US 220 north to WV 28, which lead us to Cumberland, MD. After getting turned around in Cumberland (seriously...WHY is it so hard to find a Sheetz when you have to pee?!?), we picked up Pleasant Valley Road near Rocky Gap State Park, which turns into Beans Cove Road in Pennsylvania. Beans Cove Road is a fun little road with great scenery, especially in the fall.

Giving Chris bunny ears!

In-motion selfie!

We took PA 326 north to US 30 where we jogged east briefly to pick up Lower Snake Spring Road, which is a road Chris has ridden several times and mentioned to me, but was one that I'd not yet ridden. We eventually found ourselves on US 22, which we took to PA 453 to PA 550 to Marengo Road (YAY!) to get home.

Stopped at Yellow Springs along US 22.

We were so close to home that we were starting to get punchy!

One last selfie before the final leg of the trip home.

SO CLOSE to home! In fact, we'll be there at 5:45 (it was probably 5 PM at that point).

We did arrive home at 5:45 and were enthusiastically greeted by Oscar! He was so excited to see us that it wasn't just his tail that was wagging - it was his whole backside!

Smooches for his daddy!

Oh, hey Mom...good to see you, too!

Final trip stats.

As you can see above, our total mileage was 1,810 miles. We fell short of the 2,000 miles we'd originally planned because of the changes to our route that we made on Sunday and Monday. But that's OK! We spent nearly 36 hours in motion and kept a moving average over 50 MPH...not too shabby!!!

I said to Chris later that evening over dinner, "You know, we just spent six days on vacation together in close proximity to each other nearly the whole time. Seriously, think about it. For nearly 36 hours, we were actually touching on the bike while we were riding. And then when we weren't on the bike, we were still together. That's A LOT of time together. AND IT WAS FUN!" 

It really was! I think this might have been my favorite motorcycle trip to date - the destinations, the roads, the friends - it was all fantastic! Now I'm just left to wonder...when is our next trip?!?