#1 Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains

Fleeter Log #1 
Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains

2005 July 9
185 miles

We took the bikes on a ride to Front Royal in Northern Virginia, drove down the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley to Luray and came back across the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Trail / Skyline Drive at Sperryville and on to Culpeper and back home again. We took a shortcut near Opal, Virginia.

On the map, it looked like a good (at least paved) road all the way though to the highway on the other side. Here, the road looks fairly good. A few miles later, the surface went "rustic" in the way that makes you wish for a dual sport bike. Being on heavy cruiser bikes, we were a bit nervous when the bad asphalt turned to pea gravel. But we hung in there and hoped to see better surface around each corner we turned. Finally, after about 3-4 miles of gravel, we reached what would qualify as asphalt again. We were relieved to be back on a surface that the cruisers were happier on. This is a little cafe & grocery store in Orlean, Virginia.

 

In Orlean, they still get the kind of transportation that needs to be hitched up.

Up from Opal, we came across the beautiful Oasis Vineyards.  

I borrowed this aerial photo from the Oasis Vineyard's website. http://www.oasiswine.com/

Hume Road, that we were traveling, enters the picture at the bottom left and transverses the corner to the right - between the two ponds. You can see the entrance of Oasis Vineyards where the picture above was taken. That's the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. While there, we met Georgia, the Great Dane, and her people.  

After driving through Front Royal, we followed along a stream…  

...and arrived at our next stop at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Browntown, Virginia.

 

At Rudacille's General Merchandise in Browntown, we enjoyed a small bottle coke while the owner snapped our photo.  

This is the inside looking out of the grocery store. It reminds me of a small grocery store I knew as a child located in Mullin, Texas. 

(Thanks for the memories Dimples & Dew!)

We left Browntown headed into the Shenandoah Valley.

 

In Culpeper, we stopped for a cheeseburger at Frost Cafe.
It was a good meal, at the end of a good day.

 

Copyright 2005 Fleeter Logs