Day 7 of our trip to Deal's Gap.

Day 7 started with the complimentary breakfast at the hotel. Once we were on the road again, we went up up past the Chili's and jumped onto i240 down to i40 east. The section of the Blue Ridge Parkway was out just after the exit we had gotten off at yesterday, so the detour began right were we ended pretty much. Following the directions of the guy I talked to the day before, we stayed on i40 till Old Fort. There was a rather intersting section of i40 through Pisgah National Forest That had the road doing some really wavy twisty turns just before we got off at Old Fort. From there we took US70 east to route 80. This was the road that the guy said was worth the detour. He had told me that they redid the detour because people with campers and trailers had complained. This was the original detour apparantly. I had some high hopes for it considering how he had raved about it.

We headed north toward the BRP and almost immediately got stuck behind an octagenarian in a Buick. We sat behind him for at least 10 minutes going through some nice roads before I got impatient. He wouldnt let me pass (he slowed down for every turn) so I ended up passing on a double yellow. I will almost never do that. Wouldnt you know it, soon as we got out of the next turn, there it is, passing zone. Sigh. No matter, we continued up 80 and things got better and better the further in we got. This was an absolute blast to ride and I recommend you try it out if you are down that way. Up near the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway, the road gets crazy. Switchbacks into switchbacks with elevation changes. Real tight switchbacks too. Near the end I came up on a pickup truck with a trailer and had to slow to a near stop. The turn ahead was so sharp the truck almost couldnt cut the corner. Glad he was in front of me because I probably would have gone into the corner too hot not expecting it.

This is the ride from Asheville to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

From there, we rode the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way into Blowing Rock. The ride along the parkway was really nice. Good weather and temps. Once we got near Blowing Rock, there were cars pulled off to the side of the road at every available spot. The view was amazing. I wish I had a chance to stop myself. We pulled off the parkway in Blowing Rock on US221. Gassed up and decided what to do about lunch. We opted to go into Boone as the detour took us through there.

The Boone Detour

Once we were in Boone, we looked around for a place to eat. Chik-Fil-A caught our eye and Amy suggested it. As we are pulling into the parking lot, I notice a Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar. Woot. I point it out and Amy immediately starts riding toward it. All I did was point it out! Sushi it is. We stop in and grab a bite. Had a chef's choice sushi special. Had many raw things I had never tried before. Good salmon and tuna, but I could have done without the octopus. Its a little to chewy for me. Good food though.

Makoto's, Sushi in Boone, NC

After Lunch, we headed back to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Had a nice ride up to Fancy Gap. More great scenery and sweet roads.

At Fancy Gap, we grabbed some gas and a couple of shot glasses :) Spent some time deciding where we were going to end the day. Looking at the map and looking at how far we had come, I wanted to try and make it up to somewhere north of i81. Amy didn't. We decided we would go as far as we felt we could. It was starting to cloud up a bit by this time and looked like it could start raining at any time. We jumped onto i77 north. Immediately we were greeted by radar guns and cops on the side of the road. Virginia is one place that I do not speed. A couple of years ago we were pulled over in VA for speeding. Turns out there is basically a zero tolerance for speeding in VA. Not wanting another ticket, I kept it within about 5-10mph of the speed limit on the interstate. Saw about 5 cop cars between Fancy Gap and i81. Still saw people blowing past us at 85+mph in a 70 though. Crazy. Someone told me that if you are a VA resident, they tack on some extra charges like dangerous driving that they don't give to out of staters. Unreal. We stayed on 77 and it turned into 77north/81 south. Found that kind of amusing. Amy saw a sign for a Cracker Barrel, so we pulled off just before the turn off to get back onto 77 north (no longer 81 south). Stopped in a gas station and looked around. There were a few hotels there. The cracker barrel was up the hill where there were a few hotels. I didnt feel like walking too much so I said lets just go up there. Amy wanted a nicer place. We go into the gas station and were greeted by some bona fide rednecks. We asked about the hotels up the hill (motel 6, travelodge) and was told "I wuddn stay up thar, s'all a bunch of crackheads up there". The horrified look on my face must have made him uneasy or something because he replied "not that I have anything against that or anything". We thanked them and walked out. I started laughing once we got outside because Amy was quite concerned about the crack problem in Wytheville VA. She says "lets stay over across the street". I am laughing now and tell her. He really said "Ragheads" not "Crackheads". I can only imagine how he must have felt to see our faces as he says ragheads. Probaly thinking "OH great, i've offended the politically correct yankees" or something. Us thinking he said crackheads. I had to laugh.

We ended up staying away from the crackhead hotels and crossing the street to the Quality Inns and Suites. Not a bad place. Clean room and a pool. After unpacking we took a ride up to the cracker barrel on my bike. Had some friday night fish fry and went back to the hotel. It was raining when we came back out. Finally had the rain catch up with us. Back at the hotel we covered up our seats and packed it in for the night. Another great day of riding and good weather with a Sushi lunch bonus.

The ride from where we got onto the BRP to Wytheville.