My daughter and grandsons came from Denver to visit! Ashely only got to spend a short time with us but, the grandsons will spend most of the summer between the two sets of grandparents. Looking forward to some time with them!
One of the things on Ashley’s “to do” list was a motorcycle ride. With the Covid quarantine lock down still going on strong in Maryland and Virginia I decided to ride out to Berkeley Springs, WV.
Berkeley Springs was the first “spa” in America, where people would go to “take the waters”. Berkeley Springs history goes back to the at least the 1740s when George Washington reportedly took a bath in the spring water. Berkeley Springs is also on the George Washington Heritage Trail (an America Byway). I rode this byway a few years ago you can read about it here. An awesome ride for a motorcycle by the way!
Ashley having a good time!
For our ride we pulled out on the motorcycle mid-morning. The sun and puffy clouds were out, and the temperature was more than reasonable. A mix of rock and country music playing through the Harley Davidson speakers provided a background soundtrack for our ride.
My plan was to take a lot of backroads and end up at our destination about 1PM. The motorcycle was humming along as we rode through Virginia and Maryland. We crossed both the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers as well as Cortactin Mountain and eastern side of the Alleghenies. The views were idyllic and the ride smooth and comfortable.
It couple hours later we arrived in Berkeley Springs. Ashley, much like me, is a bit of a 
history nut and we spent a some time in the museum before our stomachs told us it was lunch time. Walking down main street we decided to have lunch at the Naked Olive Lounge. This was a particularly good decision!
They were at serving at a reduced capacity and disinfecting everything as people left, per the Covid free directions. The atmosphere was nice, the wait staff/person was friendly, but the best part was the food, excellent. I will be going back soon.
After lunch it was time to head back home. Mounting the motorcycle and pulling out we took a more direct route home. Ashley wanted to go to an antique store before she went back to Denver the next day so she and the wife had their afternoon.
I had a great day out with my daughter!
Ride on, Ride Safe
Virginia. We left our home Thursday morning with neither true routes set nor lodging planned. 
were quickly riding our motorcycle on the Washington Heritage Trail. There are 
Our motorcycle tour of the Washington Heritage Trail started into the Appalachian Mountains shortly after passing through Martinsburg on WV Route 9. Steep accents and deep valley roads brought us to the little town of 
WV. A four way stop intersection and a blink and you have rolled past. Climbing and deciding another mountain and we were back into the Shenandoah and heading towards the 136 mile marker and the end of the Washington Heritage Trail. 
Shortly after crossing into WV you head into the Appalachian Mountains. These mountain roads are some twisty fun for a motorcycle! Swooping around turns, quick climbs and steep descents (up to a 9% grade) with spectacular views from the mountain tops and rolling farmland in the valleys make this a route, in my opinion, as much fun as any of the roads around the Tail of the Dragon. By the way I dragged the floorboards of the bike a few times without even trying!
I had forgotten that Route 50 passed into Maryland for a few miles so today we traveled in 4 states. When we left Maryland and rode the motorcycle back into WV Route 50 also became the 
We did make a side trip to Cairo … I am still taking my wife to all the 
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 