Monday Early Arrivers

The tops of the Blue Ridge Mountains were concealed with a blanket of fog as we left the hotel this morning. The sun and the clouds seemed to be having a war in the sky above us; the sun would seem to be winning and then the clouds would take over again. The elements apparently came to a compromise because we had a sunny, dry but cool day. Perfect for riding. We set the GPS for shortest distance and headed out for back roads to find a couple of covered bridges which you see pictured below. Then we pointed the bikes to the west and climbed up and over the Blue Ridge Mountain range traveling through one small town after another. Each had a fire and rescue building, a couple of churches and a mini market, however, our destination was Floyd which is some what larger. Bernadette had heard of some 'goings on' in Floyd which we wanted to check out. It seems Floyd is on a Bluegrass tour route and local bands perform every Friday evening in the General Store as well as on the street. It is reported that hundreds of people show up for the event. The hardware store and the general store were both a step back in time (see the pictures below) and we could hear Bluegrass music being played over speakers outside while Bernie and George showed off their clogging talents. The plan is to take the group to Floyd this coming Friday. Finding our way back to the hotel took us over some great twisty back roads one being Shooting Creek Road; no shoulders, no lines; trees right to the edge and hairpin turns. It was obvious this had probably been a cow path at one time and someone decided to blacktop it. Upon arriving at the hotel we were told the road had been the location of many moonshine stills and no one traveled there back in the day for fear of being shot - hence the name. We have a couple of hours before dinner and we are waiting for more to arrive. We just got word that Minos is in the hospital and will not be joining us as planned. We will miss he and Lucy.