Appomattox and Lynchburg, VA (July 20, 2013)

 Took a ride to the Lynchburg area with Kaye (who rode her Harley) on a nice but very warm and humid Saturday. Took this photo at Appomattox, this is the very house where the surrender was signed. I actually later took a nice photo of the people in this photo (from Canada) and they took a nice photo of Kaye and me in front of the house. Amazing that these sights are still here, glad that Virginia has done so well keeping this and many other Civil War sites up...it is remarkable to see the places where history happened and to see largely what they saw when all this was going on.  

 This is the room where General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant. The tale of the surrender was amazing, General Grant gave Lee some very generous terms which later on always stuck with Lee. In fact he would tolerate no negative terms of Grant in his presence.
I have seen paintings of this room but it is remarkable to stand in the very place. Not sure the furniture is the actual furniture....as with all armies after the surrender much of the furnishings were taken as trophies of the event. It was a monumental event in the history of the US ending a very terrible war.   

Speaking of war, this is the War Memorial in Lynchburg, VA. Went there to see this (which started out as a WW1 Memorial and then was added too) but a bit different. We spent some time walking around, stopped into a restaurant on the shores of the James River.
Lynchburg is a very cool town, I have been there a long time ago (well a few years) but nice to be back though the visit was short. Due to the heat we did not stay standing real long...felt better to have the breeze and be moving on the bikes. It was cool though and had a good time on the ride which covered some 260 miles in all. Great company was also a wonderful thing!
Love this part of Virginia and will be back again. I think  it will be remarkable in the fall, and really looking forward to that...both the fantastic colors and the cooler temperatures.
Hope you enjoy these photos though, and look forward to my next adventure in the RVA.

Ride to Yorktown (July 6, 2013)

 Rode with a female friend (who rode her Harley Heritage) to Yorktown. Went via Highway 5, very scenic and went past a number of plantations. It sure beat my previous two trips via I-64. Also of note, this time it was both warmer (in fact it was very hot and humid) and there was a crowd there on the beach and in town (last trip earlier this year was almost empty). Neat having a beach this close and of course in one of the most historic places in America. This is the city where the Revolutionary War ended. They also have some very old buildings dating to the 1700's...a cool place to explore and not far from RVA.  

 Second photo is on the Jamestown Ferry, we left Yorktown on the bikes, rode the Colonial Parkway (just an amazing road) to Jamestown and got on the ferry.
The ferry is free and crosses the water (not sure what water, but it took about 20 minutes to do so) to the other side. Was cool getting loaded on there and enjoyed the view as we went.
As I noted was my first time to do this, had a great time on board. Nice views and even got to go past Jamestown (which you can see in the last photo below. 

Jamestown is a very historic place, and I have been there before as well, and it is seen at left. As for me, we rode back via Highway 10 which again was a very scenic route past a lot of farms, more plantations, and light traffic.
Spent a lot of time there, did not bring stuff to get wet in the York River (damn the bad luck!) but sure was nice there. Looking forward to the next visit there, it was a great deal of fun.
 

Visit to the Ville II (June 29-July 3)

 End of June to early July took a road trip to Louisville, Kentucky. Made a visit to the State Capital there in West Virginia, a very cool place with a lot to see. Dog needed a walk and I thought that would be a good place to do it as I love that golden dome. They have a museum there which I have also seen in the past, but made a short visit this time to the grounds. Traffic was bad there due to road construction but trip overall was very good and did not take long to get to Louisville which is some 550 miles from Richmond.
Weather was really good though it was hot and humid. Strange week weather wise during the entire trip, had a lot of big storms and some high heat and humidity as the nation was in a wild sort of weather pattern (temperatures over 100-120's out in the West) but did have a few sunny periods and in fact even a couple of rain free days.
Good time on the road trip with my traveling companion, Mollie the Border Collie!  

This is Louisville from the Indiana side....only a short distance across the Ohio River divides the two places. They have a lot of things in common though, and the interests of Louisville are certainly tied into those of Southern Indiana.
Things have been slow in the area and still looks as though the economy has not taken off, though it is showing signs from the things I saw of starting to really improve.
A number of cool things continue to happen. Many places have opened up, and a number of new things are happening. They are finally starting construction on the bridges across the river!

 This is one old bridge....it was an old railroad bridge which was known as the "Bridge to Nowhere" for a number of years. Now they have lined it with concrete and have a walkway to get up on it...where you get a nice walk and a fantastic view of the Ohio River. Soon it will go all the way to the Indiana side where you can walk across it, but right now that work is not yet done, but here on the Kentucky side the bridge is up and running.
I went there twice once alone and once with the grandkids, and had a great time both times. Glad to finally see this project done!

 Very old airport here is Bowman Field, and it goes way back. It is the smaller of the Louisville airports and is not far from the massive Standiford Field which is Louisville's main airport (and I believe the largest in Kentucky).
A lot of history in Bowman Field...plus I remember my father taking me here years ago. Always have been a big fan of aviation and it is good to see this place again. Second visit to the city this year, and this also is my second visit to the airport.
Not just the terminal but many of the buildings around it are historic...you get a good look at the early days of aviation here.   

Finally, got this photo of the Shenendoah Valley in Virginia on the way back to Richmond. Took this from one of the lookouts on I-64. Though it has a small section of road that turns into I-77 (which of course has toll booths...as you could figure) I-64 links both Richmond and Louisville. Both being river towns and big on reusing older buildings, they have a lot in common.
At any case, back now and will have a lot of great memories after seeing  family and friends during this visit. Looking forward to my next time there, and hope it is soon!