Day 1 - Home To Days Inn Staunton
184 miles, 3:45pm - 8:45pm
It rained as I was leaving. Stop and go on the beltway, with heavy downpour. The further I got into VA, the more beautiful the scenery. Went over one small ridge apparently. Incredible view, even with the fog. 250 from Charlottesville to Staunton was incredible. It was a divided highway, two lanes each way, but the surrounding trees were great and the way the road swept through them looked like a video game. Going through one small town, it looked like I had just missed the big part of the storm. Pieces of tree were scattered all over the sides of the road, power was out for about two miles, and it looked like every firetruck and ambulance in the state was there. Once past that mess (and the accompanying backup) it was a pretty smooth ride to the hotel (just long).
I didn't stop anywhere to eat on the trip, so it was five straight hours of driving. Right now Papa John's is on its way. Tomorrow, the highlight of the trip - a trek across West Virginia on one of America's greatest driving roads in a 300 horsepower "near supercar." Hopefully the weather will cooperate. It's going to be a long 250 miles if it rains the whole time, although that may be better than 100 degree heat. I'm planning on waking around 7, relaxing a bit, and getting on the road by 9. Hopefully that will get me to Wheeling by dark.
Day 2 - Staunton to Wheeling
273 miles, 10:00am - 6:00pm
Today was absolutely incredible. It has been the single greatest day of driving I have ever experienced. As soon as I got out of Staunton, the speed limit jumped to 55 and the "maximum safe speed" dropped to 25. The road twisted up the first mountain with the sharpest turns I have ever seen. The funny thing was that the local drivers were all going just as fast as I was. There I am having a blast whipping through the turns and I've got a Saturn behind me keeping up. So, the first couple hours were spent going up twisty mountain roads, winding down the other side, and coasting through small valleys. Each break in the twisties found a small town - anything from a couple houses to a string of buildings (usually including a library but missing a police department). The only time I saw somebody pulled over, it was by a cop (I guess) in an old station wagon. I definitely got the feeling that I was a long way from the city.
At early afternoon, the road became bigger as it joined up with 50 and 79. While the view of the mountains was nice, the road was basically a highway and didn't make for very exciting driving. At this point I thought the most exciting driving was behind me. While, in retrospect, I think that the first two hours of the day were still the best, the late afternoon drive had the best combination of mountain twisties and outstanding scenery. The road returned to its usual small windy self after I separated from the major highway running from the Southwest to Northeast. I shot up the mountain again, no music playing, only the sound of the engine and the tires occasionally voicing their limits. 250 shot up the mountain, usually surrounded by trees on each side, occasionally opening up on one side to reveal a glimpse of the rolling mountain landscape. The lack of terrific view on these twisties didn't bother me, because the road really only afforded a brief glance to the side every now and then.
After climbing the mountain for about 45 minutes, the trees on each side of the road ended and were replaced by rolling green hillside and the occasional house. At this point I could frequently see the next several turns, as the road began sticking to a single ridge instead of going straight up and over. As the road dipped past a set of small houses, the hills and trees to the left side of the road suddenly disappeared, leaving a majestic view of the mountains stretching for miles and miles. Lining the road on the left was now only about six inches of grass and a guardrail - the earth just seemed to drop straight down beyond that. Soon later, the scenery on the right matched the left, and I was flying along at the top of this mountain road with nothing but miles of mountains below me on each side.
Tomorrow I head home on Alternate 40. The weather is supposed to be bad (It was great today). Hopefully I'll get out before the rain and hit some of the twisties that I have such a fond memory of from our vacation to Deep Creek Lake.
Day 3 - Wheeling to Home
366 miles, 7:30am - 3:30pm
After 830 miles, I am finally home. I woke up at 6:30 today and was on the road an hour later. I succeeded in my first goal of the day - making it to my old stomping grounds near 219 before the rain hit. At about 10:30 I had already left Ohio, passed back through West Virginia, cut across a corner of Pennsylvania, and was riding along the roads that I kept such fond memories of from my vacation in Deep Creek Lake a year earlier. I was disappointed to find that it was a bit more crowded than I remember, due no doubt to the fact that it was well into the day. After taking a run through the hills , seeing again the landmarks of my favorite driving memory, I turned back to take some pictures. This backtracking finally landed me at a McDonald's just as the heavy rain began. This rain continued into mid-afternoon, finally slowing up considerably and allowing a little bit of fun-filled driving between Cumberland and Hagerstown. After Hagerstown, I was fortunate to miss Alt 40 and take regular US 40 for several miles. In trying to rectify this mistake, I took 17 South, one of the twistier roads I saw today and some accompanying back roads.
Allow me to step back to the beginning of the day. The road out of Ohio was reasonably interesting. 40 took me through some old, small houses in a neighborhood that looked as though it had seen more prosperous times. After winding through the old neighborhood, the road suddenly shot back up the mountainside. After going through several miles of mountains similar to those of the previous day, I was in Pennsylvania. I'm very glad I started on 40 all the way in Ohio because it gave me the chance to see the transition from the old winding mountain roads of West Virginia to the more rolling, sweeping curves I was used to in Maryland.
Final Thoughts
Now that I'm home, I am very tired from 830 miles of driving in three days. I have gotten a new appreciation for several things on this trip, though. First is the outstanding natural beauty of this region. The entire weekend consistently put a smile on my face from the outstanding views. This weekend has also given me a passerby's view of what life is like in these impoverished mountain towns. I now appreciate a little more the life that I live and the opportunities that I have.
Last but not least is my car. This weekend has truly shown the value of a 300 horsepower "Grand Touring" car. I could easily go gliding along a highway at 60 MPH. When the time came though, I clamped the side bolsters to my body, popped the suspension into sport mode, and gunned through the mountain twisties like a true sports car. At the end of the day, I did not feel the slightest bit sore, although I was a bit tired mentally. It was also great rolling through the towns of Hancock and Wheeling and seeing my car make people's heads turn. Three days ago I took my car for granted and even began disliking it for its kinship with the import tuner scene. If this trip did nothing else for me, it reminded me that my car is not in the same breed as the civic. The 3000GT VR4 is a powerful beast that can climb mountains with ease, comfortably soak up miles of highway, and take on drenched roads and pouring rain - a good car to spend all of a kid's money on.
This trip was about more than just my car, though. It was about driving. In the last two days I took on two of the greatest driving roads in America. There is nothing like the thrill of shooting up and down mountain roads with the gorgeous mountain scenery in the background. 250 and 40 were advertised as great driving roads. I have driven them, and I am thoroughly satisfied.
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