Thunderstorms and hot weather were forecast so we headed off at 8.30am to try and get ahead of what we could and managed well until 60kms from our destination and down came the rain. At least there was no lightening and the rain stopped about 10minutes out and the road was dry, more or less, so we weren’t thoroughly saturated to check in. Canton is a much larger place than we were expecting and there are lots of major roadworks going on which wasn’t a lot of fun in the rain, but we got through without too much stress or delay and checked in a bit before 4pm. We had a lot of ground to cover today so limited photo opportunities and nothing worth capturing at most of our stops.

Some interesting facts: Elevation above sea level. 

Canton USA – 295m

Mount Kosciusko Australia –2,228m

Traralgon Australia (hometown) – 60m

Highest elevation on our travel’s today – 897m and I expect this will be the highest elevation we will experience until we are flying home, but we will see.

One exception and yes that is me dribbling along in the distance.

And a stretch and hydration spot in a private yard as it turns out, ah well no one chased us away.

Then across the road from our hotel. A First Lady’s House (Library) and we may have been directed here to park so long as we are gone by 9am which won’t be a problem as a reasonably big day again tomorrow.

And from our hotel. There are many sport centers here in town and somewhere a Hall of Fame for Po Football ... we didn't see it.

Last 3 nights' accommodation:

Comfort Suites, near Gettysburg Battlefield Visitor Center.

Comfortable room with parking and breakfast include. No guest Laundry Nooooo! Snacks and microwave stuff to buy but no restaurant and most a good hike away so a challenge for old creaky codgers, lucky we had access to a car for 2 nights. Handy to all things Gettysburg and worked for us catching up with family. No pic sorry.

After a good sleep was had by the four of us, we headed off for a comprehensive 2-hour tour of the Gettysburg Battlefields then had some lunch at the Centre and explored the Museum. We were about historied out by then and came back to the hotel for a bit of a break before dinner.

The first photo below was taken as we headed to our car after dinner last night. There were lots of walking tours happening with the summer holidays starting. The next couple were in Steinwehr Avenue and then it's onto the Battlefield. So much to see, so difficult to decide what photos to take but after hearing there were over 1,300 monuments, cairns and markers I didn’t bother taking too many photos of them! Gettysburg was a brutal 3-day conflict, but it saw the beginning of the end of the Civil War. Confronting. Bloody. Determined. Sobering. Heart breaking.

The Lutheran Seminary on Seminary Ridge It was from the Cupola that both civilians and military looked as the first battle unfolded.

Local home involved and still standing.

General Lee's base in Gettysburg.

A private home in the park but the forest to the right clear underneath is an example of how the forest in the area was at the time, as in clear under the trees so there was no shelter until over a ridge or behind a stone wall.

And an original barn and house still here, currently accommodation for park workers and some of the memorials.

And more fun things. Ashley's car and our bikes.

Ashey and Norm. Grandson and grandfather, former apprentice and boss but best of all good mates.

And the four of us with Abraham Lincoln at the Memorial.

I caught up with the blog this morning and Norm cleaned up the bikes and since then we have had a lovely day catching up with our grandson Ashley and his wife Gee and exploring a little of Gettysburg including the Museum and Cyclorama and will go back tomorrow for the bus tour of the battlefields and perhaps some walking of the sites ourselves. It has been lovely to be in the company of such lovely young people and kicking back like we are on holidays. The weather has been a little friendlier today and the temperature is expected to be a little cooler tomorrow.

Hotel Gettysburg where we had a lazy lunch under umbrellas followed by random shots in the street.

Norm and Nola.

Then at the Museum, Ashley and Gee.

And then the four of us.

June 23^rd, always a tough day for us and this year it is the 30^th Anniversary of the death of our eldest son. We see you in your grandbabies / grandchildren, so we know you are here, but we miss you greatly.

We started expecting a dry day and got wet early, donned the wet weather gear and headed off again. The day soon warmed up, really warmed up and we were uncomfortably hot and sweaty for the rest of the day, but we had an awesome ride through forests and farmland, small villages, larger towns and incredibly beautiful curving roads with eagles overhead and just enjoying each other's company. Was a big but good day with plenty of lovely green surrounds and space for reflection.

So much evidence of Civil War activity on our travels and we are so grateful our family and country hasn't experienced that. A sobering experience in many ways especially given our own situation today. The pictures can largely speak for themselves.

Some interesting facts: Elevation above sea level. 

Gettysburg USA – 945m

Mount Kosciusko Australia –2,228m

Traralgon Australia (hometown) – 60m

Highest elevation on our travel’s today – 981m

Heading to the Blackwater Falls at Davis and this great shelf of rock was typical of the structure along the river.

The Falls, I've seen a photo of it from side to side so small now compared to then.

And again.

The plaque is self-explanatory...but I wonder if this is where the name comes from.

We had a coffee at Oakland where we found a cute little station.

And there is also a historic train out front.

A rail bridge on the mason Dixon HWY and yes, it is still in use we assumed it was abandoned given all the rust but when we climbed above it there were 2 sets of shiny well used tracks.

Into Gettysburg. History of war everywhere and I'd like to think Peace moving forward.

Last nights' accommodation:

The Billy Motel and Bar, Davis.

To quote a reliable source ‘there’s not a whole lot happening in lil’ol Davis’ and she was right, but the Motel while an interesting choice suited us well. Ground floor and parking outside. No breakfast included but a bar and restaurant on site and last night was one of the night's dinners were served so worked for us. Basic furnishings but quirky and practical and room to spread out. It worked for us.

Lewisburg WV via HWY 219 to Davis WV 258kms (Total 17,961kms)

We left our motel and headed out to find a covered bridge we had read about and encountered just so many beautiful vistas, substantial as well as cute little houses and barns of all description and windy country roads to delight and that was just in the first few miles but, it set the tone for the day. We saw lots more of the same as well as adding winding mountain roads and prolific growth wrapping around the mountains and us as we rode. I think I’ve decided West Virginia is one of my favorite places and to be amongst such beauty was a consolation for this Australian who has not experienced the brutality of family fighting against family in a brutal war as the residents of this area and so many others did in the civil war. There were memorials and plaques all over the place. We read some and deliberately didn’t read others. We were just grateful our family has not had to experience that and pray it never will. I can understand the hatred and resentment and pain that could be handed down from generation to generation like an ugly and unwanted inheritance at best or perhaps as a reason to harbor those dregs of memory to corrupt younger generations. I don’t know how a country can heal from that and my sincere congratulations to all those who have and condolences to all. Such pain, loss, grief and absences from so many families. Truly heart wrenching.

But enough of that. The beauty we rode through was solace for the soul and gave us time to quietly reflect on how fortunate our own life has been as we approach the 30th Anniversary of our eldest child's death. A bit of a crazy mixed-up bowl of emotions. The pics below will talk more about our day.

Some interesting facts: Elevation above sea level. 

Davis USA – 945m

Mount Kosciusko Australia –2,228m

Traralgon Australia (hometown) – 60m

Highest elevation on our travel’s today – 1,082m (helped to keep the temperature down for a good part of the trip)

A cute house across fields on our way to find a covered bridge,

And then WOW, another beautiful but more substantial house on the way.

And the barns that went with it.

And a little house just down the hill and there goes Norm after stopping to get the previous 2 photos.

And almost down to the Herns Mill covered bridge built in 1884 and rehabilitated in 2000. Was getting a little concerned if there was something coming the other way as there was nowhere to go but all good.

And Herns Mill Bridge. All kinds of cute.

Valley View Farm another beautifully kept property.

And what looks like a refurbished Mill at Mill Point.

A huge bridge / fly over under construction to continue IS 219 4 lane

.

The Courthouse precinct buildings at Parsons. There was a historical case here in 1892, I'll let the plaque tell the story but bear in mind this wasn't all that long after the Civil War.

And the plaque.

And a great mural beside a community garden recently awarded a prize. There was a live band tuning up and all sorts of tents there so community still active even though the town seems depleted.

And an old bridge and Church in the distance across the street.

Still on HWY 219 and we came across an Overlook where we could see across some of the Allegheny Mountains we were travelling through.

And again.

Last nights' accommodation:

Super 8 by Wyndham, Lewisburg.

A budget choice so limited facilities but reasonable space and a hot shower. Staff very friendly and bikes secure. Breakfast included and walking distance to dinner.

We left Pikeville later than planned as we wanted to explore the ‘Pikeville Cut’ Overlook we had read about last night. There is more to come with the photos, incredible! then it was a bit of a mission to find some breakfast and get on our way. Norm again found winding country roads, some of them 4 lane highways with sweeping corners and lush growth sometimes towering over the road. More to come with photos of that also. Then a chance glance at a sign identified that ‘The Back of the Dragon’ an awesome tight winding motorbike ride was in the vicinity, and we had already ridden ‘The Tail of the Dragon’ on another trip so it was too good an opportunity to pass up and we weren’t disappointed. Just beautiful…and I have the patch to prove it. There was a combination of country and 4 lanes and even the ‘Big Walker Mountain Tunnel from one side of a mountain to another after that but still awesome roads, all of them, so a few more kilometers than we had planned, and we don’t regret any of them. We also spotted 5 deer on our travels, thankfully beside the road and not on it as there was quite a bit of evidence about of others encounters.

Some interesting facts: Elevation above sea level. 

Lewisburg USA – 630m

Mount Kosciusko Australia –2,228m

Traralgon Australia (hometown) – 60m

Highest elevation on our travel’s today – 1,005m (on the Back of the Dragon)

The Pikeville Cut was an epic engineering and construction project between 1973 and 1987 second in the world only to the construction of the Panama Canal in the amount of material moved. The details are on the plaque, but Google it, you will be amazed as we were.

And this is the view from an Events Centre above the Overlook down across the new 4 lane highway and town on newly established land with a small view to the right to some of the old town around the bend. The cage below is the official viewing platform. The railway is at the bottom of this hill between the cliff face and the river. Just incredible.

And an example of the cut but most of it has tree growth so it is difficult to pick now.

And some of rail activity associated with the coal mining still active.

The lush growth through this area was incredible and as you can see from this, creepers are covering anything standing still. We saw examples of many things being covered entirely. Easy to see how quickly evidence of man can be erased.

Norm went to check where the Back of the Dragon was and came across this.

And then the sign that told us we were on the right track to the Back of the Dragon.

We found the restaurant / brewery before we set out on the ride. An impressive enterprise and a lift to the small town of Tazewell I would think.

And we weren't the only ones there or on the ride. Prior to discovering this we had come across three lots of sportscar groups and realize now that they were likely on their way to or from the ride. We met a couple ourselves on our ride.

And that is me on the ride but might see if we can find the professional ones, we saw being snapped of us both as we rode. Apart from a beautiful road to ride the scenery was incredibly picturesque with what often resembled green leafy tunnels. Pleasant temperature on a hot day as well. All round beautiful.

More picturesque farmland as we wound our way back to civilization. Absolutely awesome from start to finish.

Last nights' accommodation:

The Landmark Hotel, Pikeville.

A very nice hotel with welcoming staff. Rooms spacious and comfortable and Restaurant on site for which we were grateful given the hot sticky weather. Reasonable rate and parking included. Impressively disabled friendly with lifts and access into and out of the swimming pool.

We left at 7.30am this morning because it was supposed to get silly hot and sticky really quickly which it did, but we did pretty well. We had to stop for breakfast, to fuel up twice, for a coffee and lunch and got to our hotel in Pikeville at 2.15pm and even better news, they had a room we could check into straight away. We had an awesome ride barely getting onto any 4 lane highways and wound our way through lovely country leafy roads up hill and down sticking pretty much to the terrain, so it was awesome. We particularly loved the countryside after Paris where we encountered incredibly picturesque and beautifully maintained Kentucky horse racing country. Would have, should have had lots of incredible photos here and in the leafy glades we traversed but no verge off the edge so couldn’t safely stop. It was too hot to consider a ride through the town here when we got in so will likely do a drive by in the morning depending on the weather.

Some interesting facts: Elevation above sea level. 

Pikeville USA – 241m

Mount Kosciusko Australia –2,228m

Traralgon Australia (hometown) – 60m

Leaving Cincinnati this morning we pulled up to get a shot of an awesome bridge only to find the only spot we could park all we could see was a tree but Norm did manage a shot of these two paddle steamers, we assume Casino’s (don’t know if that’s true or not).

Paris Kentucky main street. A funny grubby sort of little town in beautiful countryside. Perhaps we didn’t see the best part of town but were redirected al over the place with one-way roads, hence the view we had.

And of course, there had to be an Eifel Tower or two with that name. We saw two.

Some big cuttings on some of the 4 lane roads and an interesting sign here as well.

A lot of the cuttings were reminiscent of those around Newcastle NSW but with more tree growth and the layers of rock were quite different as well.

Last 2 nights' accommodation:

Hilton Cincinnati Netherlands Plaza Hotel.

A lovely period hotel with a modern feel. Bing Crosby was a favorite here and the Restaurant is called '1931' which was the year the hotel opened. Gracious public spaces and our room was spacious, comfortable and nice and quiet, Parking available and attached to the building. Restaurant on site and food was lovely though the noise from the bar at the other end of the room was loud which was surprising given the size of the area. The second night it was much better so likely a very noisy crowd the first night. Price was up there but was a lovely spot to drop for a good break which we felt like we needed.

We started the day off slowly sleeping in until 10.30am, how decadent! Following a leisurely breakfast, we kicked back for the remainder of the day, Norm planning routes for upcoming days of riding and me exploring and appreciating the grand old lady of the hotel here at the Hilton which occupies the whole block with shops, offices and associated businesses incorporated in it. Built in 1931 it is 20 years older than me and is just beautiful…and I’m happy to say the loud crowd who were filling up the place last night have disappeared today. The weather outside is hot and steamy and the hotel being in downtown Cincinnati there is much construction in and around the streets and buildings in the area, as we have found in other cities and towns we have visited. Much restoration and reviving works taking place, so we were happy to be comfortable.

We are used to travelling alone on our bikes, so it has been quite a different experience for us to have others accompanying us. We have had a lot of fun and lots of laughs together as we have shown them sights, we have previously enjoyed and discovered and new ones as well and it sort of feels a bit weird to be by ourselves again, now that they have headed for home today, but we are looking forward to what the rest of our trip has to offer.

The pics are from some of my exploring.

Some interesting facts: Elevation above sea level. 

Cincinnati USA – 226m

Mount Kosciusko Australia –2,228m

Traralgon Australia (hometown) – 60m

The front entry where we booked in.

Yep it takes up a whole block.

Decorative touches at the top of the1931 Restaurant and Bar.

Restaurant and bar from above,

Above the restaurant area and on the way to other great places.

The coat check. How cute. Check out the detail on the ceiling.

The foyer looking towards the entry stairs. The reception is to the right.

The lobby with someone in an Aussie hat .... I wonder ..

From the upper ballroom space heading down.

Lifts to important places.

A very specie light fitting suspended over the entry area.

A visit to the shopping level revealed many empty shops compliments of COVID a couple of shopkeepers told me and they are hopeful now these areas are being refurbished along with a lot of the downtown area that things will improve but they are concerned about the amount of empty office space there is all around them in the city and this is the same elsewhere they told me. Sounds familiar and makes sense again of a lot of the construction activity we have witnessed right across the country. Note the detail arched over the end wall. That is beautiful individual tiles specifically designed to make this arch. Incredible work. Hope all the effort pays off. We saw a concert in a square today with only a dozen or so people present and not many more people than that walking around the streets. Don't know who businesses are selling to.

The stairway up to the ballroom.

The foyer area before entry to the ballroom called the hall of mirrors. Okay the ceiling needs some work but still awesome.

Lifts to rooms from the foyer.

And the ballroom itself which was breathtaking.

A big sacrifice for this pic, I had to stay up until dark to get the Hotel lights lit up and in spite of best efforts not on. Aaahh well.

It has been a big day. We started dry, then got wet, then dry, then wet, then dry again and ended up on a freeway to come in with the wet gear on and very hot and sweaty. We were pleased to get in. Norm plotted our course to avoid large towns and we stuck to regional roads and scenic byways and wound our way through beautiful winding roads and lush forest areas. So pretty as well as lots of lovely farmland. We headed out of Lafayette to Crawfordsville on HWY 231 then to Bloomington for lunch. From there we headed down State Road 446, a Scenic Byway to Madison where we were grateful for a large chocolate milk shake. A pretty town but sad also. Lots of shops filled with clutter along Main Street and not many open but the buildings have been largely looked after. A little bizarre. From Madison we headed across the Ohio River into Kentucky because we could and then back and headed alongside the Ohio River on the Scenic Byway HWY 75 into Cincinnati.

Some interesting facts: Elevation above sea level. 

Cincinnati USA – 226m

Mount Kosciusko Australia –2,228m

Traralgon Australia (hometown) – 60m

A cute little Standard Oil Building on the opposite corner to our hotel last night.

The County Building at Lafayette.

City Offices Lafayette, across from our hotel.

A sad little building (The Gentry Building) on Gentry Street, the only original building in the street in Bloomington.

Another street scene in Bloomington.

Lots of lovely roads on the way sticking to the contour of the land so lots of ups and downs. This was on the way from Bloomington to Madison.

A quirky street sign in Madison. I didn't look for the shop.

Street view in Madison.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And full on with an interesting car of some sort.

And the bridge from Madison across the Ohio River to Kentucky.

Made it to the hotel. Grateful it is 2 nights. Will do some exploring tomorrow after a sleep in.

Last nights' accommodation:

Holiday Inn Lafayette City Centre.

A lovely comfortable hotel and spacious room and bathroom. A guest laundry, yay, washed everything!! Restaurant on site so convenient for dinner as well. Breakfast and parking included. The shots show a view of the entry and foyer area as well as front on with a couple of specie bikes parked up at the front.

We left with hot sticky weather which got more so as the day went on. We headed down HWY 47 then headed east for Lafayette. Saw lots of corn, silos, trucks, rail carriages, well-kept farm properties and a number of little country towns gradually dying. A bit sad really. Managed to sit out a thunderstorm over lunch which worked for us.

Some interesting facts: Elevation above sea level. 

Lafayette USA – 202m

Mount Kosciusko Australia –2,228m

Traralgon Australia (hometown) – 60m

The Sundog Cafe in Fowler had an Open flag hung outside when I pulled up buy by the time I had my helmet off it was closed. Doh! 

Some more shops in Fowler.

A little Art Deco theater in Fowler.

And exploring how far the original road went. Not far as it turns out.

Last nights accommodation:

Hotel Baker, Saint Charles.

Another lovely period hotel beautifully maintained and cared for and where we have stayed a number of times before. Love all the Art Deco original pieces like the brass mail chutes and boxes, sculpture, ballroom and so much more. A step back in time but beautifully maintained. Impossible not to feel spoilt when we stay here and have added a whole lot of pics here. Haven't included the ballroom this time but it is in previous post.

Hotel from the front.

The lift doors in the foyer.

The mailbox where guest mail collected to be posted.

And the mail chute beside the elevator on each of the floors.

Hotel from the end on the Fox river.

And more of the river looking towards the Municipal Buildings.

Hotel front entry.

And from the opposite direction.

And the restaurant area.