The truck that should tow anything

(Oct. 15) This was our last day of the trip. We stayed at Hungry Mother State Park because according to their web site, check out isn't until 3 p.m. which means we get a chance to ride before we have to pack up and head back home. The drive home is a six hours from Hungry Mother. Doesn't matter, still got about 160 miles in first.

We still had two more counties to get in this part of Virginia, Buchanan and Dickenson. We also found ourselves another little dirt road.

Day 5 route

Right out of the campground is highway 16, the one I had talked about on Day 3. The plan was to travel that twice today, and luckily, the weather was absolutely beautiful, blue skies, unlike Day 3. 

Here's a video to give you a taste of this perfect road. 

Today's dirt road was about 8 miles perhaps. Here's a close up of the road.

This dirt road was better marked than the other dirt roads. First time seeing a sign like this.

On the way back, we got to do Highway 16 again. Even though I'm learning to go a little faster through the curves, I still feel obligated to pull to the side if someone comes up behind me that wants to go faster.  At one point, another BMW rider with a passenger came up behind us. We pulled to the side and let them pass. Steve said, "Can I try to keep up?" I said, "Go ahead, wait for me at the top." Our conversation system (ScalaRider) works pretty good, but definitely only line of site. Steve took off. A few miles up the road, I saw him waiting for me on the side of the road. I kept going and let him fall in behind me. I got a glimpse of the other BMW taking a curve not too far in front of me. I was like, "What? How am I that close?" Steve said they were going really fast for a few minutes, but the passenger must of hit him or something and said to slow down. So, the other BMW slowed way, way down. We met up with them again at the top of the mountain. It seems Highway 16 is very popular among motorcyclists, and with this being a Saturday, we saw plenty.

other bikers out and about on highway 16

 This is the same view that I was trying to take on Day 3, with my reflection in the mirror, 

but it was a little cloudy that day.

Steve and I at the top. The guy that Steve was following is taking the photo.

Steve's Adventure at the top of Hwy 16

I have to say that in all the counties we have ridden so far in Virginia (we only have about 15 left to get), Tazewell has my vote as the one with the most spectacular views and best for motorcycle riding. Just great.

We timed our trip perfectly, pulling back into the campground at about 2:30. We packed everything up and got on the road by 3:15. It was looking good for us to be home by 10 p.m. We have a 2011 Ford F-350 Super Duty pulling a small 18-foot toy hauler. That truck is capable of pulling anything out there. We got through all the mountains (thank God!). Made it just outside of Richmond, with still about 120 miles to go and the truck just quit trying. I was driving and it started slowing way down and I had my foot pressed all the way down. It just didn't want to work.  The engine light came on. We called roadside service but their option was to get a hotel for the night and they would take care of us the next day. We decided to limp along back home at about 45 mph. We ended up getting home at about midnight. I took the truck to the shop and it needed some software update and there was a wiring harness that needed repair or something like that. Anyway, it's back to normal, but that sure was a painful ride home, especially with such a new truck. We could get faster going down a hill, but slowed way down going up. When we had to go through the tunnel, we got up to 70 mph by the time we got to the bottom. We were down to 33 mph by the time we climbed out of the tunnel. A few people were probably a little upset. Oh well.

Next update will be the county count, including now having a couple of counties in West Virginia.