Rideabout 11/27/2020

 Yesterday I took the motorcycle on a rideabout. I headed Northwest via local roads to Buena Vista, aroud Lexington and through the Alleghany Highlands which included Clifton Forge and Covington. Along the way I took photos of some abandoned places (below). 

First I found this abandoned place. It looks like it was some sort of factory or mill.

 

Across the street was a house that was literally cracked in half.

Later on in the ride I found this old furnace built in 1827 and used to supply iron to the Confederate army during the Civil War.

Kure Beach, NC

 In September of 2020 I went to an Air Force recreational area in Kure Beach, NC. This is the second time I've been to this particular campground. 

I like this area because it reminds me of other beach towns I've been to such as the Outer Banks and even Myrtle Beach. The difference here is that it's not as crowded, especially in the off season which is when I prefer to go.

On this particular trip I did some tent camping for a few days. The temperatures at night made it comfortable enough. Unfortunately, the campground decided to bring in some tree surgeons and for the entire time I was there they came in during the day and loudly cut down branches from trees and ground them up in their huge chipper. I even had to move my campsite once because there was a risk of large branches falling on my tent and gear.

The sunsets here can be amazing. The sun sets over the harbor side of the campground. 

There is a dining facility on the shoreline that has a big deck and Adirondack chairs from which you can soak up the sunset.

After sunset the dock comes alive with its lights. Usually there are a few stragglers fishing. On this particular night there was someone casting a net into the water from the dock. It would have been nice to capture an image of that.

I went to a state park area that had a trail leading out to the tip of a peninsula. Along the trail was this old World War II bunker. There is a placard there that tells the story of a man who made this bunker his home for many years. I believe this was in the '60s. It was said that he was escaping humanity and the troubles of the world.

I'm with you, dude! 

In the mornings I can walk across the street to the ocean side. Most mornings I had the beach virtually to myself, except for a few people who were a good distance away.  On this morning I also captured some video of pelicans as they skimmed along the waves. It's always amazing to me how these odd-looking creatures are so clumsy on land but are so graceful as they fly in formation above the surface of the water.

Maine Coastline

 My final destination during my Fall trip in October 2020 was Maine. I've been there a couple of times before and absolutely love the coastline there. My friend, Jeanne, moved back there after Allen Moscowitz died, so I definitely wanted to stop in and see her.

She and I went hiking on the first day that I arrived. She made steaks which were delicious, even though I went plant-based a couple of years ago. She had to work the next day so I went exploring on my own.

This is a lighthouse in Rockland, Maine. This walkway is close to one mile long and allows you to (normally) walk from the shore to the lighthouse. It's made of large boulders that were laid in the water. On this day the tide was high and I could not walk all the way to the lighthouse, but I got close.

The next three pictures were taken at a lighthouse and state park area in New Harbor.

I love the rocky coastline. The ruggedness of the rocks, the lines and layers, and the instability while navigating them is more enticing to me than a sandy beach.

Upstate New York Camping

 As part of my travels in October of 2020 I stayed in a state park campground in Hennellsville, New York.  I was the only person camping in the area where there were no utilities. That's my kind of camping!

The park was well kept and sparsely populated. The shower building was quite cold, but at least the shower water was lukewarm.

This is a shot of my campsite shortly after I arrived. No people = ahhhh!

Here we see the silhouette of the surrounding hills and the tree as the sun goes down.

This is a view of the dam that creates the lake in the early morning hours just before sunrise.

Niagra Falls

 In October of 2020 I took a fall road trip up north.  I went in my 2000 Honda Odyssey which has been gutted and converted to a utility van with the option of making it into a mini camper.

My second day on the road found me at Niagra Falls State Park in New York. This is the first time I had visited the falls and they did not disappoint. Of course, it didn't hurt that it was an absolutely gorgeous day for a visit. 

I'm usually skeptical about others' reports of a place, especially tourist traps. But on this day my expectations were definitely exceeded.

The water was the most amazing blue-green color. The mist rising off of the turbulence below sometimes gave the whole scene a somewhat dreamy feeling.     

It's definitely worth it to take your time while you're there and to try to see it from every angle possible.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the border with Canada was closed. It would have been nice to walk across the bridge and see the falls from the Canadian side.

In this view from another part of the park, you can get a better view of the bridge mentioned above and some of the Canadian structures on the left. 

The tourist boats were running on both the Canadian and the American side. We were in the middle of a pandemic, and the way the boats were loaded with people revealed a stark difference in how the two governments were handling the virus. The Canadian boats had much fewer people on board and everyone was socially distanced. The American boats were packed with people shoulder to shoulder. Canada for the win!

So if you ever get the opportunity I would highly recommend a visit to Niagra Falls. Hopefully, you'll be able to go when there is NOT a pandemic racing through the world and you'll be able to visit the Canadian side as well.  A ride on the Maid of the Mist might even be in order.

West Virginia MC Trip

 On 11/20 - 11/21 my friend, John, and I went on a motorcycle trip to West Virginia. On the first day we went to a couple of state parks. 

We also took some time visiting the New River Gorge Bridge. This bridge has a fascinating history. More fascinating to me is the route people had to take to cross from one side of the river to the other before this bridge was constructed. John and I road that route on our bikes. It was hard to imagine big vehicles trying to pass that way.

We also visited an abandoned coal-mining town called Nuttallburg. There's not much left to it now. The tipple remains intact. This was a conveyor system that ferried coal from the mine opening up on the mountain down to the riverside where it was burned in coke furnaces.

On the way home the next day we traveled along Highway 60 into Virginia. Near Eagle Rock we stopped at this covered bridge called Humpback Bridge.

We stopped at Buchanan before Highway 43 turned left to head up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. John knew about this suspension bridge which was made on the site of some older bridges which were burned and washed away.

While at the Humpback Bridge we saw this Dodge Challenger Hellcat. I sent this picture to my friend who is a big time car guy. His response? "Why in the hell would someone do that to their doors?"

I don't know buddy, except that the guy who owned the car looked like he was going through a mid-life crisis.

On our way home the ride was beautiful. I saw the sun going down and told John to pull over at an overlook. I just had to snap a quick picture with my phone.