What a wonderful day!

George and Bernadette led us on a great ride today which was also very educational. We visited the Booker T Washington birthplace and watched a short documentary about his life and accomplishments. Our second stop was the Smith Mountain Lake Dam which was not easy to find but after riding miles over some great motorcycle roads we entered the visitor center and wonder around reading history and then walked the short distance to the overlook area. Getting back on the bikes and retracing our route we stopped at the Mayberry Diner. It was obvious they don't normally have a crowd of 22 people at one time because they didn't have enough menu but the food was good old American bergers or hot dogs. And again Andy Hale was served first. All UTR members will understand - no matter where we go Andy and the people at his table manage to be served first. After lunch we headed to Bedford to visit the National D Day Memorial. This was a very interesting and educational tour. The whole day was spent visiting places close to the hotel but we still managed to log over 100 miles. Chrissy and George arrived today while we were out and joined us for the after hours gab session as we shared stories of rallies past. We now have 24 UTR members present for the 2009 rally.

Booker T Washington Monument

Smith Mountain Lake Dam and Lunch at Mayberry

Our second stop for the day was a trip to the Smith Mountain Lake Dam and then lunch at the Mayberry Diner. Reaching the dam was a great ride over more back mountain roads; roads with no center or edge lines; no shoulders and lots of turns. I know I keep saying this but every night we all think we have spent the day riding the best roads only to find more the next day. The dam was impressive and the Mayberry Diner was a step back in time. They also have a drive-in theater. There doesn't seem to be much for people to do in this area other than travel for 50 miles or more to the larger cities so I'll bet the drive-in is pretty popular on the weekends.

National D Day Monument

Our last stop for the day other than dinner was the National D Day Memorial. As we drove up the long driveway I wasn't sure what to expect but as we rounded the curve we could see the huge monuments in honor of the men who gave their lives for freedom. This park is located in Bedford VA because Bedford lost the highest number of citizens based on their population at the time. A small town of 3000 where everyone knew everyone and most were related, it was devastating to receive one telegram after another telling them of the deaths on the beached. The park manager gave us a very informative tour for about 2 hours. After this we were ready for dinner and stopped at Joe's Pizza and Restaurant for a great buffet and then raced back to the hotel just in time to miss the rain.

National D Day Monument

A day at the Indian Village

Don and I were joined by 13 others for our trip to the Wolf Creek Indian Village this morning. The day started damp and overcast and remained slightly chilly all day but no rain. The GPS was set for back roads and we traveled 226 miles total. The Indian Village was a hands on exhibit and very interesting. No one knows which tribe this small band belonged to or where they went when they left this area. They are still learning from the digs and hope to some day be able to identify them. We learned how they lived and shared the work of their small village. Since today was a pretty full day we stayed close to the hotel for dinner. Mike Brittingham arrived just before dark. The guys are all gathered in the conference room to play cards. My laptop has finally given up the ghost and died. I've contacted our tech person back at work and he has confirmed we are not going to be able to retreive any of my email (and I had years' saved). Thank goodness I backed up all my files the day before leaving.