So me and my son Tyler have Saturday to ourselves. Mom and Madison have gone on a bus trip for the day and will not be back until late. We knew this day was coming but all conversations about what to do usually involved renting movies and/or playing video games. Bah! The weather's too nice for that stuff!!
After sleeping in he started to come around to the idea of going on a small motorcycle camping trip with me. I told him what to expect, showed him pictures of Willville (The motorcycle only campground) and agreed to let him take his new Gameboy DS Lite. He says I'm to just call it the “DS.â€Â
Now I've done a bit of motorcycle camping, but taking a passenger was a new challenge. Boxer showed up at Hungry Mother last year with his son Chris on the back. I was most impressed that he could pack everything he needed and have room for a passenger. The passenger seat is where I normally strap my two camping bundles. Several attempts at packing my gear like I'd seen Phil do failed to win my confidence. I finally unpacked my tent and stuffed it into the small saddlebag. The poles even fit and that was a complete surprise. This left only the two bed bundles to be stacked on the luggage rack behind Tyler. My earlier attempts had bundles strapped on top of the system cases. The bulky bundles didn't leave any leg room for him, or hung off the back at a downward slant. Not Good. The final result may not be optimal, but was secure and turned out to be satisfactory.
Willville isn't that far away, but I didn't want to push Tyler too much. He's only ridden on short rides with me. After a blast on the boring Interstate to make up time due to a late start, (unexpected, but much welcomed company) we were off on US 52 and enjoying the relaxed pace. I kept looking for a place to stop and finally decided on this spot under an I-77 bridge near Fort Chiswell, VA. I later read this bridge is 140 feet high and 1800 feet long.
Off in the distance was Shot Tower, a historic monument that's part of the Virginia State Parks. I explained how the tower was used and surprisingly Tyler took an interest in it. He wanted to stop by on our way home the next day.
After short trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway from Fancy Gap we made it to Willville and set up camp.
We immediately headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Tuggles Gap because I wanted to get some supper, maybe even some pie, and get back to the campground before dark. Deer are very thick here, as they are many places, and I didn't like moving around at dusk. On the way to the restaurant we encountered several deer at different times. No close calls, but no fun either.
Dinner was hamburgers and a shared plate of fries. Tyler had already checked out the ice cream stash that will keeps but I just had to split some homemade apple pie a la mode. I got the larger split of course. Guy's, and some of you who've been there know this, Tuggle's Gap Restaurant has some wicked good pie!! Sorry, no pics, no time.
A magnificent sunset showered us with it's orange glow on the way back. Again, no pics, no time. One lone deer grazing in a field paid us no mind as we passed. Safely back at the campground Tyler gets his ice cream sandwich and we hang out in the shelter just chatting before making our way to the campfire. Tyler tended his Sim on the DS and I made small talk with a couple of the other campers. It wasn't long before it was time to turn in.
A good night's sleep, a chicken biscuit, and a shower had us ready to head home by about 9:30am. I normally would have been long gone, but there was not real need to rush this day. Tyler played in the stream that runs through the campground and saw a snake that scared the daylights out of him. Good stuff.
DJ, this picture is for you. Note I need practice in lining the bike up in the center. Centering the tower in the frame wouldn't be a bad idea either.
Shot Tower is a neat old place. We stopped by for a little while on the way home Sunday morning. It appears to be neglected at the moment. You cannot climb the wooden staircase inside and is marked as “Temporarily Closed.†I'm guessing it's all a result of budget cuts for the parks system.
I like this shot from the river side on the trail below:
More info about the tower can be found here:
http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/parks/docs/shottower.pdf
The 2 pages in that .pdf seem to be reversed. I found the part about the area's ties to the “Father of Texasâ€Â, Stephen Austin, interesting. Read the part about the “Fincastle Resolutions†under the Austinville Lead Mines heading.
This footbridge was an old N&W Railroad Trestle, it is now part of the New River Trail State Park. If you've ever heard of the “Rails to Trails†to program you are probably familiar with these abandoned railroad lines that are converted to horse and bicycle trails.
Some information about the bridges:
77 Bridge in the background, 52 Bridge barely visible through the trees, old rail bridge that I'm standing on in the foreground.
another shot of the 52 Bridge:
Tyler found this hole in the bottom of the old rail bridge:
We both really had a good time on this trip. Hopefully this is just the beginning and there will be many more like it. Seems like I read a report on the old board that included info about the Shot Tower, can't really remember though. Thanks for reading along!
DSKYZD
..btw..Melbourne has two of them...so when I get my bike back I'll take pics of them for you.
