We rolled out of our undisclosed bunker just west of the twin cities that tobacco built at 0645 on Wednesday the 18th. It had been raining very hard for a few days but the rain has stopped. We did see some damp roads and water falling off overhead tree limbs but all good otherwise.
The group met up at 0800 at the Circle K at Hwy 52 and Hwy 268 in Pilot Mountain.
Everyone was on time, ready to ride with smiles on their faces. We all topped the tanks off and picked a bike to be the first through the toll booths and pay for everyone. This was especially important to me so I would not have to put my feet down in the grease and oil. We all ponied up $13 bucks per bike for the three tollbooths through WV on I-77.
Let’s Roll!
Rolling up the Gap into Virginia. Still damp out and foggy in spots. The truck traffic was heavy.
Making the turn onto I-81 through Wytheville.
In no time we were entering the Big Walker Mountain tunnel.
It’s always a different world weather wise when you pop out the north end of the tunnel. The roads were wet again and lots of spray off the semi’s.
When you get to the East River Tunnel you know you have arrived in By God West Virginia.
Rex and Patsy organized this ride. They are on a sweet 2023 Anniversary trike. They also have a Softail at home that he rides solo. They used to ride an Ultra Limited prior to the trike and have logged a lot of miles. Sweet people to spend time with. They took car of paying at the toll booths for everyone.
Looks like a nice ride, we left a Sunday and got 15 minutes of rain in Burlington then not a drop for the whole trip in 2900 miles…Chamber of commerce weather.
Time for our first rest stop and breakfast plans. We were going to enjoy a late breakfast and let that tie us over to dinner.
Meet Blaine and Sandy. They rode a Harley Road King for many years and did not care for the HD trike. They bought this nice Cam-Am Spider but are not enjoying it as much as they had hoped. They are looking for a 2018 or newer Goldwing DCT trike.
Our next stop was at the Cracker Barrel in Princeton, WV. I was hungry when we arrived!
We took I-77 to Charleston, WV and then I-64 east to Lexington, KY and on up I-75 to Williamsburg, KY. We stayed at the Hampton Inn right next door to the Ark Encounter.
After everyone got checked in and I got a shower we went to dinner the next exit down and all got to bed pretty early that evening.
Day #1 mileage was 461 and we all rode very well together. They like running 5 mph over the speed limit and I was leading and made them all happy with the pace, and frequency of the stops.
We ran into a little construction along the way but nothing major.
Day #2 started out nicely after a great nights rest.
Let me start by introducing Randall. He is a mess, and we messed with each other the entire trip.
Randall is a long time Harley guy. He was an avid drag racer back in the day and likes to shoot sporting clays. Randall rides a beautiful 115th Anniversay trike with a stage IV 131 CI kit. It sounds really sweet! Randal likes the interstate highways and ripping it as fast as the law allows.
By the way his trike is also a “FJB” Edition!
We all met up a few at a time in the dining area and enjoyed a nice breakfast. This Hampton did a very nice job on the breakfast meal. Interesting we learned when we checked in that it is an “All Female” run hotel. Randall asked if they accept cash and she promptly said No, we are all female and take credit card only. We picked at them that females are known to not be too mood at math and the counting change issue is understandable. They had a great sense of humor.
At 10am we walked across the parking lot to get our tickets and jump on the shuttle for the Ark Encounter. Half way across the lot you could see the Ark in the distance. We were all excited and then this happened. Yeah, security stopped me and said I could not come in.
No lie, look at the shirt above I randomly wore this morning. Because it is a Christian based theme park they have a very strict dress code. This shirt is not allowed. I had three option. Turn it inside out, accept and wear a loaner shirt or go change it. Since our hotel was just a 100 years away I went and changed it. Only took maybe 15 minutes. I get it and honestly as a born again Christian that loves the Lord it made me give some serious thought to some of my HD shirts. They were extremely nice about it and I respect their dress code. That said we did see a lady inside and her lack of clothing in a couple of areas made us wonder how she got in.
Is the trip to the Ark worth it? Absolutely, we all enjoyed it a lot. We spent about three hours going through all three levels. If you tried to stop and read every detail it would take three days. Instead we took a lot of pictures and three hours was enough.
For me it was a must see, one and done. Hats off to those that created this. It was extremely well done.
We left the Ark and walked back to the hotel and were on the road in 15 minutes North on I-75 toward Florence, KY heading to the Creation Museum. It was about a 50 minute ride and we had purchased the combo ticket package at the Ark for both attractions.
Time to pay the lady for parking. She allowed us to double up in spaces and slit the parking fee.
I accidentally left my Insta 360 running on the handlebars and it was still there when we returned. Praise God. Of course, this should be the last place you would expect something to be stolen from.
The museum was interesting. Very well done some both schools of thought. For me it is just one, our Lord and creator.
After the Creation Museum we were all really hungry. But our first stop was about 10 minutes away at High Stakes Harley Davidson.
This was a nice dealership, but they were on us like stink on you know what. It really takes away from the visiting and shopping experience. I purposefully did NOT buy a shirt from them, even though they had one I liked.
One thing that was very suspicious were all the bikes with “Hold” tags on the handle bars. I counted 8 and I feel like these guys are full of crap and really high pressure.
I really do not care to visit this dealership again.
Time to eat!!!!!
We are surrounded my many nice places to eat. The general consensus was the “Ford Garage”.
Randall and I enjoyed a beer and I have to tell you that first sip was fantastic!
What a good day. We were all tired, but really enjoyed the rest and the good meal. Rush hour traffic is over and we have a one hour ride back to the hotel.
We stopped and topped the tanks off so we would be ready to roll the next morning.
The gang all slept well and we met for breakfast prior to checking out. Time to split up. The three wheelers headed back to NC, while the Carolina Girl and I wanted to spend more time in Kentucky. We had considered going to Mammoth Cave, but we have had enough walking for one trip and definitely wanted to visit the Corvette Museum.
We said our goodbyes and rode with them about 40 miles south toward Lexington before peeling off.
The Carolina Girl and I rolled south to Bowling Green, KY and enjoyed a great ride on the Bluegrass Parkway. We passed by so many Distilleries and caves. As well as the birth place of Abraham Lincoln. We need to make another trip back and spend a few days just exploring these.
We had reservations at the Stingray Grill and were ready to each when we arrived.
Time to eat. The food was not bad and the service was excellent.
Look at all the sweet C8’s ready to be delivered to their new owners today. We saw two couples drive off in their new Vettes shortly after walking in. I was told they deliver around 10 per day. In case you are not aware if you purchase a new Corvette you have the option of taking a Museum delivery which is pretty special. My boss owns a C7 that was delivered at the museum. Pretty cool experience.
This black convertible rolled out with the new owners right after we walked in. Sweet car.
They was bringing in this R-Ray when we arrived. Nice color.
This is a must visit museum. Even if you are not a Corvette fan, you will still enjoy it and appreciate the history. I’ll share some photo’s and let them speak for themselves.
I could post another 100 photos but I suggest you make the trip and enjoy it first hand.
At the end of the tour, prior to entering the gift store there is an amazing art gallery of everything automotive and motorcycles. We were not allowed to take pictures in this area.
09-22-2024 | 12:46 PM
Ark Encounter + Corvette Museum
