Dennis Was A MenaceDennis Was A MenaceThe plan was a great one; a year in the making. The timing, however, was terrible. What could have been better than spending Labor Day cruising down the Blueridge Parkway on a motorcycle with your friends? The plan was to leave Orangeburg, South Carolina on Saturday afternoon, ride the Interstate up to Virginia, get on U.S. Route 221 near Hillsville, VA, and drive into Roanoke, VA, (on what we thought would be a nice untraveled scenic road) spend the night, get on the Blueridge Parkway near Roanoke and ride down to Asheville, NC, spend the night, then come back to Orangeburg on Monday. With James and Andrea on their Honda Goldwing and I on my Honda VT-1100 Shadow Ace, we began our adventure.
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Saturday, Sept. 4, 1999
We left Orangeburg, South Carolina at 2:00 p.m. under sunny skies and the ride up to the NC/VA line was as good as it can get. The temperature was warm, the sun was shining... that is until we got to the Virginia line. Then, looming over the mountains were the clouds that were the edge of Tropical Storm Dennis and we knew that it had not swung north and west like it was supposed to. A few miles into Virginia we had to stop and put on our rain gear and shortly after that we sought refuge at a gas station until the rain let up. Our plans to go up U.S. Route 221 were changed when we found out that the little town of Hillsville, VA we were to go through was having their annual gun and knife show, that there were 200,000 people there and it would take us over two hours to drive the mile through town. So, we adapted and continued up I-77 to I-81 and arrived in Roanoke, VA relatively dry.
We checked into the motel in Roanoke and immediately turned on the TV and switched to the Weather Channel to see what Tropical Storm Dennis was doing. The predictions had it moving north and west so we were hoping that by morning, it would be nothing more than a slight inconvenience. No such luck. It was obvious that it was going to be hanging over us for most of Sunday.
James and Andrea at motel in Roanoke, VA"Can you believe this??"
The rain appeared to let up so we decided to go out and get something to eat. We rode about 2 miles from the motel to a Quincy's. Since we thought it was done raining for the evening, and since we weren't going that far, we left our rain suits hanging in the room to dry. While we were at Quincy's eating, it started to rain again, with avengance. We tried waiting it out, but it just kept getting worse so we gave up and headed back to the motel. Needless to say, we were soaked by the time we got back to the room.
Sunday, Sept. 5, 1999
Looking out our motel window in Roanoke, VA
Yep, it's still raining!
(and 2 days before this Roanoke was under drought conditions and manditory water restrictions)
Sunday morning it was still raining. We grabbed some breakfast at a Waffle House that was beside the motel and started making plans for the day. The local weather forecast said continued rain, and high winds on the ridges (gusting to 35 mph) so we thought it best if we stayed off the Parkway since it runs along the ridge.
Our plan (since Dennis was still predicted to move north and west), was to get on U.S. 221 and ride south to Hillsville, VA and get on the Parkway there. Since that's where we got into the rain, we were hoping that we'd drive out of the storm there, or somewhere along the way. Have you ever heard the expression, "the best laid plans..."? We drove from Roanoke, VA to Hillsville, VA in a driving, blowing rain storm. They had flash flood warnings posted and some of the fields were so full of water at points, they looked like they were going to move out onto the road at any moment. The distance from Roanoke, VA to Hillsville, VA on Route 221 is 68 miles and should have taken us about an hour and a half under good conditions. We found a post card that sort of summed up the trip from Roanoke to Hillsville:
It took over three hours to make the 68 mile trip, and when we got to Hillsville, VA, we found that the gun and knife show was still going on! We got stuck there in traffic, in a downpour for another hour (who'd have thought this was the biggest event of this town all year?). After getting gas, we found an alternate route back to I-77 and made our way to Statesville, NC where we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for something to eat. Beside the Cracker Barrel was a Holiday Inn where we decided to hold up for the night in the hopes that by Monday morning, the rains would have moved on and we could salvage something of the trip. They had guest laundry facilities so we were able to dry our cloths.
Monday, Sept. 6, 1999
Looking out our motel room in Statesville, NC
It's not raining!
Monday morning saw a break in the weather and the Weather Channel indicated that Tropical Storm Dennis was moving away from us. It turned out that we were driving near the center of the storm on Sunday.
After breakfast we got on Route 21 and made for the Blueridge Parkway.
Finally! The Blueridge Parkway!
156 miles to Asheville, NC
The sun was in and out, and clouds hung over us during this leg of our trip. We managed to stop and visit some places along the way as we continued south towards Asheville.
The temperature dropped when we got up on the Parkway and we stopped to don our jackets.
Who can pass up a trading post?
About 82 miles from Asheville, NC, we got off the Parkway for gas, and found this place where you can look for gemstones. Andrea couldn't pass it up. So, they looked for gems while I looked at the scenery.
Is she holding up a gem stone or trying to bounce that rock off the photographer?
While James and Andrea were searching for treasure, it started to rain AGAIN! We left the gem store and got back on the Parkway, only to once again have to put our rain suits on. We were in and out of rain from that point until we got to Asheville, NC.
Parts of this leg of the trip were spent driving in the clouds as the Parkway elevation took us higher. Of course, the higher we went, the colder it got. When we passed Mt. Mitchel, it was cold enough that I was wishing I had my gloves on. From this point, we began the slow decent down out of the mountains towards Asheville, NC.
Once in Asheville, NC, we got off the Parkway and made our way into town for something to eat. Off the Parkway, down in the valley where Asheville sits, the sky cleared up and the sun came out so off came the rain suits. As we left the restaurant, the sun was going down, and we got back on I-26 and headed east for home (another 3 1/2 hours by Interstate).
Between Spartanburg, SC and Columbia, SC, we once again got into rain so another stop and out came the rain suits again. Fortunately, this didn't last long and we were out of it in about 20 minutes. As we neared Columbia, SC, we were once again on dry roads, although the sky to the east (in front of us) was flashing with lightning. We didn't see any rain for the remainder of the trip. After a gas stop in Columbia, SC (and removal of our rain suits), we made our way back the last 30 miles to home. We got back at 11:30 p.m. with 920 miles behind us.
