Day 36 – Begorrah!

22nd July 2018

The motel last night was pretty standard, but very close to plenty of eateries. I decide to try an Olive Garden, which is a chain of Italian restaurants. I have to say it was very good and made a nice change from my usual fare.

During the night there was a huge thunderstorm… torrential rain and very loud thunder directly overhead, so not much sleep I’m afraid.

In the morning it is still very wet and muggy, but am soon packed up and on my way towards New York City. The plan today is to head towards York Pennsylvania; there’s a Harley Davidson factory there that I believe you can visit. I won’t make it today as it’s almost 500 miles away but I am heading in that direction. I hope the weather behaves itself.

I take the main US29 heading north. After about 40 miles I’m a bit bored so take a right turn onto the Rockfish River Road… sounds interesting methinks. Well, it’s not but I do pass a sign for Waltons Mountain.. mmm is that THE Waltons I wonder… Then it starts to rain and so I stop to put on my wet gear. Oh! Well lookee here what I have stopped under…

Very good…. can’t resist a selfie of course:

The rain doesn’t last too long but I can’t be bothered to take the wet suit off. I am now entering what appears to be wine country as there are a number of vineyards signposted along the route including, believe it or not, the Trump Winery… so is it or isn’t it?

I have had a look on google and there are a number of Harley dealerships around but I decide to visit the Stonewall dealers at Orange, Virginia…

Nothing to do with the Gay Liberation movement started by Drag Queens who rioted against police brutality at the famous Stonewall Inn in New York City, which I do plan to visit… obviously!

Quick visit here and divest myself of the boiler bag…. ohhhh that’s better. Onwards and upwards, literally.

I ride through Rapidan and pass by this rather delightful weir.

Very pretty.

After a time I notice the hawks in the sky again…. I would still really like to get a photograph. Suddenly, as I cross a roundabout there are a huge number of the hawks circling the sky so I pull over in the hope of capturing some of them on camera. It takes a while but eventually I do get something.

Yep, a tiny photo and a group of them sitting on the ground… whoopee… not!

Ok, I give up and make my way onwards.

Eventually I am across the Potomac river so its volley off Virginia and My, My Maryland. I cross at the Point of Rocks crossing, which is apparently the beginning of the ‘Hallowed Ground’ area within Maryland.

I, of course, have no idea what that means, so I looked it up:

A Journey Through Hallowed Ground Maryland

The light is beginning to fade now so I better find myself somewhere to stay. Trusty booking.com comes up with a motel in a place called Westminster, so that is my final destination today. But first…