Frank and Eric go camping.... 4-18-09

[Yamifj1200]

I thought I might do a little write up about last weekend's ride out to Willville Motorcycle campground just west of Meadows of Dan Virginia.

http://www.willvillebikecamp.com/

Frank and I have been chomping at the bit to get out and do some mountain riding and camp at a  motorcycle campground we have never been to before.  I headed out a little after 7:00 am to meet up with Frank around noon at Mabry's Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway in southern Va. It was just over 40 degrees that morning and some heated gear was needed to make the ride more comfortable. The ride west from Richmond to the Parkway on rt. 460 was uneventful and rather boring as are most of the highways in the area. Once I got to the Parkway it was a perfect day to be on the bike, clear blue skies and warming temps made for wonderful ride south to meet up with Frank. There was little or no traffic on the parkway that morning making the ride even more special.



Here is a couple of pictures we took at Mabry's mill. Frank took his picture before I met up with him and my picture was taken on the way back north on Sunday.





It was still late winter on the Parkway and none of the trees were even budding yet. I enjoy riding at this time of year because you can see so much more of the mountain.  When the trees are in full bloom it is easy to miss some of the mountains rugged rock features.

From Mabry's mill it's only a couple of miles ride down to Willville Motorcycle campground.  The campground is clean and well setup for bike camping. There were only 3 other folks in the campground so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. In a short time we had our camp setup and were able to start some coffee and enjoy the afternoon just relaxing around camp. Here is Frank's setup, followed by mine.











As most of you know Frank and I are both into cooking in camp and this trip was no different.  I enjoy taking the time it takes to have a great meal after riding. I brought my gilliput and some charcoal to cook up a couple of steaks that Frank brought with him. We cooked up some asparagus, mashed potatoes and some spiced apples.









After dinner we cleaned up camp and relaxed by the stream listening to some music and just chilling out till dark. The campground owner Will rolled over some firewood and setup the evening's fire all that was needed was Franks match to get it started. With a fire going a couple other campers came over and enjoyed the fire with us. We all swapped stories and trip reports and had a good time laughing until the firewood was burned up around midnight. I headed back to camp to get some sleep, with the cool evening temps I was asleep in a matter of minutes. In the morning I woke up to a view of my bike from my tent.



Not a bad way to wake up. I packed up my tent and sleeping gear and was loaded for my ride back home.



Frank and I were ready to head out so I took a couple more shots of the campground before I left.







Frank and I said our goodbyes and rode off on our routes home. I headed north on the BRP for an hour or so and decided to take a few more pictures before I got to the Peaks of Otter and headed east to Richmond.





We had a great time checking out Willville Motorcycle Campground. The weather was perfect, being able to spend time with friends, meeting new ones, having a good meal in a new place was a great way to start this year's adventures.

Eric M

[racerman_27410]

Nice write up Eric,

pictures are nice for those who dont read 

lover's leap Virginia (rt 58)




KOokaloo!

Frank

[jvb_ca]

Wow...that's some incredible scenery guys. What a great way to start the season. Thanks for sharing that .....
Roads are just getting clean enough around here now.

Cheers...Jake