Today we rode the remainder of the Parkway bar just a few miles. There was no breakfast included with yesterday’s hotel so we were on the road early. Lovely road, no traffic and cool air. By 10 we found a proper roadside diner/cafe and had breakfast and topped up with ‘gas’ (just over two dollars a gallon!). The diner was full of motorcyclists out for a Sunday run – see picture. We then rode on with periodic stops to look at the scenery, take on water, for nearly a couple of hundred miles till I had only 40 miles of petrol left. The Blue Ridge Highway hasn’t any petrol stations, shops etc on it – but my sat nav was showing numerous gas stations within a few miles of it. However when I loaded them as destinations I realised that it was showing where they were as the crow flies – to get to them was nearer fifty miles. Our spirited riding then turned into economy mode. Fortunately, as I was just starting to think we would soon be finding out how helpful Americans really are to stranded bikers, we saw a turn off to Asheville. And Asheville was littered with petrol stations and a very pleasant and competitively priced Days Inn. Plus there was a nice Italian restaurant in walking distance. Happy times.
