In Ohio

I have an avatar that I sometimes use on motorcycle websites that I belong to that shows the states I have ridden in.  I have added West Virginia and Ohio to this map:

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I would love to bag those New England states, but that may be a bit of a stretch. 

Today Carolyn followed me and we did a couple of roads listed in the website in yesterdays post.  The first was West Virginia highway 16, and it was a nice road, but not spectacular.....mostly scenic with lots of gentle curves.  On this segment I needed to stop for gas at a little burg in the boonies.  You know you are in the heart of the sticks when there is this sign in the restroom:

One of the benefits of having Carolyn following is that we can have a picnic lunch together.  We found a state park with a picnic area just a few miles off our route:

The second of the recommended roads was Ohio's state route 555, called the "triple nickel".  It was towards the end of the day and it kicked my ass.  It was getting hot, I was getting tired, and the roads was a real challenge.  It was like a roller coaster with lots of blind hill crests and tight curves.  Not being able to see over the crests caused a bit of tension in not knowing which way the road went on the other side.  But I was still having a great time.   Then we came upon this:

I guess he was Amish, or something, but if he had been on the other side of a blind crest I would have had a hard time stopping in time.  After that I was even more careful about bombing over the hills, but we didn't see any more horsey traffic. 

It's kind of dangerous to generalize about the difference in drivers from one part of the country or another, but unlike in Oregon, California and Washington, I have yet to have a driver pull over to let me pass.  They may be going 20 mph below the speed limit, but if you are following, it's your problem.  Needless to say I do a bit of double yellow passing. 

Tomorrow Carolyn and I separate.  I will stop by the AMA museum in Pickerington Ohio and she will visit relatives near Columbus.  We will be staying in different motels, so I will not have access to my computer to update the blog.  Then Wednesday we will meet up at my nephew's house in Greenville.