Saturday 18th August
2012 Corydon – Louisville – Charleston –
Williamsburg VA 653 miles.
Another
great riding day weather-wise. Clear and cool to start (fleece on) just before
sun rise, then the sun appeared for a while as a bright red ball. A quick run
across the Ohio River and into Kentucky at Louisville. The city looked really cool with all the old
style metal bridges. They have more character than the new concrete ones. I
rode past the Louisville Slugger Field, home of the Louisville Bats. another piece
of baseball trivia. It was then onto Lexington, and one could see the reason
why Kentucky had the name for horses. Lots of lush looking grass. Washington
has its wine tours and trails, Kentucky has the same for bourbon. The terrain
started to climb into the Kentucky Mountains, and the scenery changed to that
of thick forests covering everything. I guess one has a different criteria as
to what constitutes a mountain if you live out west. Let us call those in
Kentucky, and also West Virginia (they were to come) low mountains, and not
just large hills. I wonder how many times I saw the name “bluegrass” riding
through the State. It was quite scenic,
and the names were known, such as Daniel Boone Forest. Stopping for gas outside
Lexington, I passed a few minutes with Daniel B, who informed me he was going
to pay his respects to a couple of ‘brothers’ who had recently passed away from
cancer at a young age. I offered my condolences, and passed on attending. So
continuing east I crossed in West Virginia, and even more mountains. It was
quite impressive, just many mountains completely covered with forests, in all
over 250 miles I reckon as they continue into Virginia. I elected to ride the I64
into West Virginia, and it is quite a good ride, with very little traffic,
climbing one minute, then swooping down and around the next. Not tight bends,
but easy curves. The road crossed enumerable massive ravines, so the number of bridges
is quite something. I would imagine building the highway was quite a feat.
One
arrives in Charleston, crossing the Kanawha River, then riding alongside it.
Charleston is a really good looking town, with its gold roof on the Government
building. I continued on I64, and it suddenly becomes a ‘Turnpike’. Hmmm. It
looks like I64 to me. I guess another one of the Interstates, built by taxpayer
money, then the State slaps in a few toll booths and calls it a ‘Turnpike’. For
me, the only true “Turnpike’ I have ridden or driven on is the Florida
Turnpike. At least the road was in good condition, and the scenery truly great
as I mentioned earlier.
View
of Virginian valley – not sure which one.
Into
Virginia, around Richmond, and then heading south towards Newport News and
Norfolk. The traffic was quite heavy
after Richmond, so as it was a weekend, and I had no idea how busy the motels
were in that area, I cut off at Williamsburg for the night. No problem there.
Tomorrow
I’ll head across to Delaware, then north towards Rhode Island. That may be a
pain as I have to travel around a few cities to get there.
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