Full Day Shopping and Rode to Galax

Day 7

June 13, 2019

We had no real plan for today other than go to Mt. Airy and let Todd get a haircut at Floyd’s but the day ended up pretty busy.  Todd brought me coffee while I got ready for breakfast then we spent some time at breakfast talking to 7 bikers from Quebec and a nice couple traveling from Indiana to Nashville by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway in a jeep.  Leaving the hotel we headed for downtown and found Floyd’s did not have a barber today so we stopped at another local barber who has been cutting hair in Mt. Airy for 51 years; same old chairs, clippers and cash register.  Then off we went to the Antique Mall for one more sign for Todd’s room.  A stop at Robby’s to get new cowboy boots but they didn’t have any his size.  So we purchased a couple of nice denim shirts for me and Don (75% off); some slippers for Don and I purchased a hammock with a stand.  It was suggested we go to Harmon’s Western Wear near Galax for boots. Wow I cannot believe we never found this place when we were here with the club; 3 large buildings and more boots and shirts than I’ve seen in one place.  Todd found boots, a shirt and a vest; and Don purchased 2 shirts.  Now it was lunch time so we headed on into Galax to Porky’s for a very nice buffet lunch.  Time to head back to the hotel and on the way to Galax we saw a huge traffic backup.  I knew route 58 would take us directly to Mt. Airy but I set the GPS for shortest and oh my goodness the roads we ended up on.  Great for the motorcycles but a little bit tight for this big truck.  Up and over the Blue Ridge mountains on a back road with no shoulders; straight down the mountainside; no paint and the road barely wide enough for two vehicles.  One switchback after another; tight turns heading down and then right back up.  I was very concerned about riding the brakes and I knew I could shift the truck into manual but wasn’t sure how to do it.  I remembered burning up the brakes in the van on our trip west so I was concerned.  Figured it out and put her in 2^nd gear and still had to hit the brake some because the grade was so steep.  Todd was getting a little tight and while Don wasn’t saying much I think he was ready to get off that road.  It would have been fun but tense even on the bikes.  Like most mountain roads there was no way off until I finally saw a sign to exit for route 77.  When we go off we were just a few miles from the hotel and no one got sick on those switchbacks.  As soon as we got in the room Todd changed into his bathing suit and we headed to the pool for almost 2 hours.  We’ll head out for dinner soon and then pack for an early departure heading for Danville tomorrow to the tank museum.