The Roads

It has certainly been (and will be for quite a while yet) an interesting experience living in two places. I find both areas to be amazing places; just about (with just a few exceptions over the years) everyplace has interesting and fun things to offer, and certainly Virginia and North Carolina/South Carolina are no exceptions. Been lucky in my life to have lived in some eight states (living I define as periods of at least a month and usually longer, and some six foreign countries).
On a regular basis I drive the roads of Virginia and North Carolina (less to South Carolina, but at times there as well) and we who have come here have noted a few things. For sure, even my neighbor last night of all things was talking about the roads (he came from Carolina too, but not with my company). Virginia residents have also mentioned it in the past. So here is a bit on travel and...The Roads.
Virginia probably wonders "Are our roads as bad as other states?"and I would answer "Yes and no". Not as bad as some, but pretty bad in comparison with others. For sure the roads are recovering from the massive snow storms of last winter, but even with that, they are rough to say the least. I have been here some two years, and during my drives around town and on the highway I have quite a few places in the road and potholes that I actually know to look for and avoid..sort of like old reliable friends in the pavement. As my neighbor said last night, "was thinking about getting rims for my car, but figure they would get torn up" and its been popular at work to discuss them. I remember driving I-85 and dodging virtual craters in a highway moonscape. Bone shaking, teeth shattering, car repair inducing potholes are hardly uncommon just about anyplace outside or in the city.
I have noticed that cars stick to speed limits much better in Virginia than in Carolina (more on that shortly) partly due to the speed limit enforcement, but also likely due to the roads. You do see a lot of cars pulled over in Virginia and police enforcement is heavy. I also am happy that they have a much longer zone of 70 mph sections than in Carolina (though they have a few). Especially between Petersburg and close to Durham, NC on I-85 there are a lot of places where police can pull off and hide..and they like to do that. So far no tickets, and happy about that.
Much of the roads in Virginia have not been so much repaired as patched. Potholes are filled and bigger sections are repaired in like manor. Once you reach the VA/NC state line the situation changes. I have often said it is like crossing two worlds. North Carolina used to call itself "The Good Roads State" and for sure they seem to try to live up to that. I-85 is smooth and nice from the border onward. Perhaps due to the road conditions or distance you do notice that speeding increases. The average Carolina driver seems to think of the speed limits as suggestions, the tickets (police as in Carolina work the roads in a number of vehicles marked and unmarked) as a "cost of driving", and that they are rolling down the race track. Usually they are chatting on the cell phones as they roll along at 10-20 mph over the limit. It can (and does) get quite interesting at times. The only things that really slow down a Carolina driver is police, traffic, and road construction (the last being the price paid for those good roads).
However its a good road system there, and even the side roads are better. Is every road perfect...no. However in Carolina the bad roads stand out, in Virginia the good ones do. As I mentioned police like to watch for speeders. Radar detectors are illegal in Virginia, legal in North Carolina. Police tend to stop a lot of cars along the entire length but tend to be especially bad in Virginia between Petersburg and the VA state line. All those pull offs in that wooded divider down I-85 make great hiding places. In Carolina police tend to get a great many cars at city limits such as Hendersonville, Durham, Salisbury but can be anyplace and can drive anything. You see a lot of unmarked SUV's in North Carolina and they often are police vehicles. In both states watch out for Dodge Chargers!
Finally a quick note on the roads of South Carolina. They are even better (as a rule) then the ones in North Carolina; driven on some amazing South Carolina roads. Mentioned weather at the start and that may be a big factor, as South Carolina gets even less winter than North Carolina does, and in the winter they use very little salt on the roads in both states.
Finally, be careful on the roads, but enjoy the ride. All lives have a few potholes, some more than others.

Morrow Mountain On Monday (August 30, 2010)

Photo here is of Phil on his Star Stratoliner, a very fine bike. Phil was a former boss in my previous job (for the same company, he retired though) and a good friend. He met up with me for "a ride" which I lead down some of my favorite backroads, and finally ended up at Morrow Mountain in Albemarle, NC. One of my favorite places, the State Park there offers camping, fishing, swimming, and of course the view from the top of Morrow Mountain which is the highest mountain in Stanley County. It is a great ride, and fun also the way we came which took us through the town of Baden, NC. Like riding past Baden Lake, one of the lakes in the area.
Morrow Mountain is free, and has some great views from the lookout at the top. Usually pretty packed (normally draws motorcycles like flies to sugar) it was devoid of people on the Monday afternoon. We checked out the views from there; was surprised to learn Phil had never been there, and was quite pleased to discover it. I enjoyed the ride from beginning to end; good company, great roads and really nice near the end of summer Carolina weather. Hot for sure (lower 90's) but low humidity and not a cloud in the sky. Nothing I enjoy as much as a good motorcycle ride, and this one certainly fit the bill.

A Carolina Motorcycle Ride (August 28, 2010)

One of my favorite things to do, is to take the Vulcan out on the streets of Carolina. I find this an interesting area to ride around, and there is a lot to see. Part of this ride was done a few posts ago, but some events in the area brought me back. Last time on a Sunday the Triumph dealership was not open, and there was a motorcycle event at Charlotte Harley-Davidson. Photo at left was taken on NC-601. That is the Corning factory at Midland, NC. Employment tapered off a few years ago, I was told it was a great place to work. Hopefully it will be again some day. Like riding down 601, lots of farms and animals and some beautiful houses there. I have ridden it deep into South Carolina (all the way into South Carolina), but today turned onto NC-74 or "Independence Blvd". Stopped in and got a photo of this new development there which I saw last time. Seems to be a sort of business/medical complex near Monroe, NC. Riding down NC-74 saw a lot of places closed, but also a number of new places. Tough economy, but being handled in different ways.
Went to "Red,White, and Brews" at Harley-Davidson of Charlotte, and that was a fun event. I have photos of some of the sights there on my phot0 page, but was a good time. Course after driving down from Richmond, and then the ride to get there, the event was starting to wind down, but did get to check out some of the bikes at the bike show and also some of the band. Prior to this stop I also got to see the Triumph/BMW/Ducati dealership, which I found was open on Saturday for the last time...moving to a new location after 18 years at the old one in Uptown Charlotte.
After a visit to this stop, went on to the house via Albemarle Road, and then back to the house via some back roads. Nice riding day, still hot, but the humidity has gone way down and its pretty pleasant riding. Was great to be back, and had a remarkable time indeed out in the breeze.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (August 28, 2010)

Spent a nice couple of weeks in Richmond, but on August 28, 2010 went back to Concord to spend some time with family and friends. Always good to get back, and it was a nice drive with good weather and traffic was not bad either. Visited the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC. It is one of my favorite places to visit and always is a lot of fun. I thought that the Honda Gold Wing Show was this weekend (I am sort of a motorcycle nut...in fact next post here will be sights of the region via motorcycle) but there was no show. There was though this plane, which was formerly on display at Kitty Hawk, and is now at the museum.
NC Transportation Museum was once a train shop, a large maintenance facility. I like this steam engine at the roundhouse (which still works and offers turntable rides for a $1). The museum also has low price (like $5 I believe) train rides using some of the old trains. Steam engines such as these are used generally in the fall, on Saturday they ran the diesel electric engine. There was a large crowd there, and there was a fire engine show going on, which was pretty cool. There is a lot to see, and you can't beat the price of admission which is free. I always enjoy my visits to the museum, and I am a frequent visitor.
Course, being an NC museum, can't not have an automobile section (which also completes the "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" theme of this post...which was also the title of a very funny John Candy/Steve Martin movie of a few years back). Nice car and motorcycle display can be found in this building (so I did get to see bikes there after all) which has some unusual examples of both. The museum will be doing some expanding soon, has a whole new/old building due to open up soon with some more exhibits. If you are in Spencer, NC be sure to stop by here...it is a great place to visit and explore and experience some neat transportation items.

A Drive in Richmond (August 22, 2010)

Got out for a few hours, doing one of my favorite things; exploring Richmond, Va. Got to a few places today. On the way out, went by Cloverleaf Mall. This largely abandoned mall (has a Firestone Auto and a Bank of America open on the lot, but nothing else) is due to be torn down within the next year, re-developed and some new stuff to open there (a Kroger according to the sign out front will be built on that site). Read in the Saturday Richmond newspaper that the company that will be redeveloping it is from Charlotte, NC..which is quite interesting considering my perspective. Will be following this to see what happens here over the next year.
I went up Chippenham Parkway, and stopped at Stony Point Fashion Park for a short walk. I really like that mall; its outdoor, its got some interesting stores, and its dog friendly which is cool as hell. Walk them around, bring them in the stores..they don't care. I like that. While out, came across a bike show at Hooters on West Broad Street; made a quick U-turn and wandered around. Saw some really nice motorcycles..I like that, because I ride! The VW trike in the foreground was just one of the nice motorcycles I saw. In fact, have been finding West Broad Street is a most interesting part of this very interesting city.
Off of West Broad, got on 288 and rolled out toward the Midlothian Turnpike. All this was sort of a big loop. I like the Midlothian Turnpike, which was, I remember from what I have read, the first paved road in Virginia? Been from one end to the other (goes far toward Appomattox in the one direction, out to Shockoe Bottom in the other), but I made a stop a Breakers Sports Bar and Grill before getting back to the apartment. Nice place...people (as as most in Richmond) are friendly, the prices are not bad, and they have a slew of televisions to watch sports and other shows. Not a real "bells and whistles" sort of place, but a nice place to hang out.
Got to give a shout out to the weather forecasters, they called it right, since I got back sounded like a war zone out there with the thunder, and the clouds got really dark, followed by sheets of rain. 60% chance of showers indeed! Thankfully the power is still on, during a storm a few days ago, power was out some 18 hours! We can use the rain though, so not a bad thing.
This was a good day, and I enjoyed the drive a great deal. Should also mention that I play guitar and came across Sam Ash and Guitar Center on West Broad Street; cool thing was that they are within walking distance of each other. I also have been (but not today) to the Richmond Music Center, also a great store to explore if you are a musician (or an aspiring one as in my case.)

Hot..and a Cold (August 13-15)

Pretty nice weekend in the Carolinas, considering that I had a nasty bug the last few days in Richmond. Felt like death warmed over, but with three days to spend with the family, figured to go on home. Plus, I figured there was no better place to get well. That I was right about; felt better by the time I left there....a bit of rest and relaxation did wonders. Got out on the motorcycle a couple of times, shorter than my usual rides, but did go by the Cabarrus Arena. This was mentioned in my last post, and will be the site of the Cabarrus County Fair (plus a few other events of note) this year. It is a pretty nice facility, and is a nice place for larger events in the area.
During one ride, I got a photo of "Five Points". I have been to the Civil War battlefield just outside of Richmond which is located at another "Five Points, but have always liked this road in Carolina. Gives so many interesting choices and directions at this junction. Fun to go riding down the backroads on the motorcycle, its a very peaceful thing to do. Photo of the fountain is at Memorial Gardens in Concord, NC. It is a nice place, especially in the Spring but on an early Sunday morning it is a quite nice and quiet place to visit.
Had a great time with my family during my three days home, now for a while will return my focus to the Richmond area and sights of interest here.

View from the Road...August 10, 2010

Stopped and took this photo during my August 8 ride, still grinning about that ride. Always good to get home and to enjoy things that I have back there (wonderful wife, family, friends and of course the Vulcan). Had an exceptional visit last weekend and a great ride around the Charlotte area. Due to the job transfer don't get out to the degree there I used to, so it is sort of as "old places are new again". Charlotte even with the economy tends to grow a great deal; all sort of things pop up (and notable, seeing a lot of development in the Richmond area as well which is good to see). I am hopeful that the economy will eventually recover, and that things will get better soon. There is a not a pain and fear out there, and a lot of people have had to do some difficult things (like for instance...keeping a house/family in Carolina, and an apartment in Richmond to keep working). In fact in that I am certainly not alone. On the bright side, Richmond has been an interesting place for sure. Though I have been in Richmond for some time now, still finding a lot of things of note to see, and will be bringing more of them here.
Couple of quick notes on the Charlotte region. Couple of items of interest, at the Cabarrus County Arena (which is located on NC-49 in Concord, NC) the Cabarrus County Fair will be held on September 10-18. Its a pretty cool event, state fairs are fun but like the smaller ones too. Also at the same location, on September 17-18 the Cabarrus Quilters Guild will be hosting its annual Quilt Show. My wife is a member and the show is really neat with a lot of interesting quilts. Amazing what those ladies can do with needle, thread and passion.
Here, its another hot week which during this Richmond (and for that matter in Charlotte, plus many points North) summer. Certainly looking forward to fall...which will probably last a few weeks before rolling right into winter if our luck of the past year holds....but tends to be a cooler and beautiful time of year.
All things considered it has been a really good year, and a lot of interesting things are coming up in both places over the next few months. Summer winds down in a bit, and there are a few of my favorite holidays in the Fall and Winter to look forward to.