We met at Dunkin' in Hubbard shortly after 8AM, had a quick breakfast, and got on the bikes. Our first leg of the tour was a quick start across I-80 west to OH-11 south. We exited at OH-154 west to Lisbon, and there caught OH-164 southbound (164 is a sweet ride if you've never been on it). At OH-9, we took that west all the way to US-22 west to head towards Zanesville.US-22 was closed somewhere north of the town of Holloway, and we only know that because we followed the guided detour that far. A local rider who belongs to the American Legion there stopped to talk with us at a gas station, and told us not to follow the detour, but to go back and go around the detour sign, go left at the Y, and through the tiny neighborhood, then go right across the road that runs atop the dam wall. I takes you on the other side of the construction closure! Who knew; that's why Meanie said you have to talk to locals who know the area.
Once back on US-22 west, we cruised along and as we got into the town of Cambridge, I knew right where we were and where to stop for lunch: Chelsa's! When I rode my bike to Cincinnati in May of 2017 for Felicia's wedding, I stopped at this homespun restaurant to use the bathroom, and committed myself to returning someday to eat there and support this local business. Our server was a nice gal who got in the photo of us at the table. We enjoyed the food and break from the heat!
Zipping along we made it to Zanesville at about 1:30 or 2:00, or sometime! We took a break and filled the tanks because our destination was Ohio's Triple Nickel, route 555. This is a well-traveled road by bikers, and other bloggers had noted that there is nothing along that route, so fuel up. It runs about 66 miles long or so all the way to OH-7 close to the Ohio River. (Did you know that Ohio is a Native American word meaning beautiful river?). To catch the 555 south, you have to get on OH-60 to where they intersect on the south side of Zanesville.Once on it, it's quite a ride! Sharp curves and sweeping curves, and few straight lines but don't get comfortable. Great ride, and just as much fun as NC roads.
We stopped for a photo op with a road sign early, and then rode. No other pictures were taken until we reached the end. Speaking of that, the original plan was to go north on OH-7/US-50 over into West Virginia. Meanie was leading, spotted a gas station up a small hill along the left side of the highway, and decided to go to it, but the road there was mighty unfortunate. We did a U-ey and turned right onto this road pictured here. It was like a few bombs fell on it and nobody gave a shit. Holes 4-5 inches deep at least, some filled with water, and two speed bumps. The first bump was not so bad, but the second one all of us scraped going over it. 
Hammer got the worst of it: a stretched out kickstand spring that no longer held the kickstand up! Either he was going to have to stay on his bike the rest of the trip or we would have to get the kickstand fixed. We went with the second. As we were done riding the Triple Nickel earlier than expected, we altered the trip immediately with a plan to stay overnight near the next closest Harley dealer. So to Charleston, WV it was! I had to tie up and untie Hammer's kickstand with a bungee cord every time we stopped and started. I'm a nice gal!
We took off south on OH-7, had dinner at Bob Evans in Gallipolis, Ohio around 7pm, and then made our way over into WV on US-35. Our destinations were a Holiday Inn for the night off I-64 in Charleston, and then Harley-Davidson of West Virginia in the morning. Man, after that hot sweaty day in the sun, it felt good to get a shower and relax. So that was Day 1. Partly as planned, and then a pleasant change that made the trip even better.
Day 2
We got up in the morning and had a great breakfast as usual at the Inn. The options are just as healthy or not as you want. It was another hot day, but we were getting used to the swamp ass. All powered up, we packed up, and hit I-64 east to exit 54A I believe. It was only ten minutes from the hotel. We exited, and Tiny took these pics while waiting on a very long red light. See the HD billboards?
A left turn, and maybe 1/2 mile down on the right was Harley-Davidson of West Virginia, which is technically in S. Charleston. There are two buildings, go into the first one for the motorcycles and collectibles. There was a BBQ joint inside, but closed that day (maybe it's used on weekends and for special events). This is the motorcycle parking pictured, and more is on the other side of the building. 
Meanie lost is mind when he saw this hill climbing bike in the showroom. I told the one woman in the apparel area that he would be staring at it for ten minutes, and I was right. Just staring! Well, and talking, and staring, and talking.
Hammer went to the parts department and bought two kickstand springs (just in case of another bottoming out!). The repair department was closed on Mondays, so to the parking lot we went. Tiny held the bike up while Hammer installed the new spring. It went well. I took pictures. After the install was complete, and everyone had bought a shirt or 500 to add to their collections, we hit US-60 westbound. We were told it would take us to WV-2 which is the road Hillbilly Hot Dogs is on. Away we went!
We travelled quite a ways before hitting WV-2, and route 60 was a nice ride. Routes 2 and 60 meet in northern Huntington, WV. We turned north on 2 which follows the Ohio River. There were a few places that could have been Hillbilly Hot Dogs, but they were just residences with an equivalent amount of junk. Then there it was, a heaping pile of organized old rusty stuff on the right side of the road mixed in with trees and bushes, and poison ivy, and a huge weiner!
The weather was sweltering humid and hot. The place almost looks like a wreck, but it's a super collection of old and modern things that nobody wants. Things that nobody uses. Things that people used to want and use. It's like going to an antique mall where you can't buy anything. BUT...you can buy hot dogs and that was what we did!
You can see here Meanie going through the entrance line. There you pick up menus and decide what you want before going in. The dogs have funky names and toppings, or just get traditional. Mine had coleslaw, onions, chili, corn chips, cheese, and they were heavy! And REALLY good! I'd go back again. Be careful pulling in when you go.
Bellies full, Tiny did what any sane caffeine-addicted person would do and asked his phone for the location of the nearest Starbucks. Huntington? Oh, really? Let's go! South bound and down, we took WV-2 back to Huntington, and it was a hell of a thing to find the Starbucks. It's mixed in with the Marshall University campus in a nifty, crafty, "I like to read books" part of town and shopping area. AND there's also the homeless heroin users living on the sidewalks (more on that later).
We found street parking across from the Starbucks. No sooner was my kickstand down when I spotted it: a handmade pottery place!!! I left the guys at the bikes yelling, "Meet me at Starbucks" and bolted jaywalking fashion to the entrance of "The Pottery Place". Oh man, you can go in there and paint and finish pottery pieces, make your own, or buy things that others have made. I did the latter. You may recall that my thing with traveling nowadays is to collect handmade mugs so that when I'm old and can't travel, I'll sip my morning coffee from mugs that bring me good memories of where I went. So I looked everything over and decided on the only rainbow mug there. There were ones that looked like knit sweaters, but I only needed one.
Herding bikers is like herding cows - they need a guided fenced-in path to follow and a cowgirl to move 'em out. The guys were still standing at the bikes when I exited the pottery place. We got into Starbucks and oh boy, we are a group that loves coffee, iced drinks especially, and air conditioning.
Also, the town is full of large ceramic (or something) painted boats. I only got a picture of one by Starbucks; I loved the colors. It's cool to see things like this, just like the pigs in Cincinnati and the groundhogs in Punxsutawney and the vases in Zanesville.
We located a Holiday Inn in downtown Portsmouth, and rode there, but they said they were full. We called a Quality Inn north of there, and were able to secure two rooms for the night. The radar showed a storm coming. We rode north quite a ways, and luckily, out of Portsmouth, found the QI and moved in. It was reasonable at $79 with taxes, clean and comfortable. A late dinner was had at McDonald's where were learned that Hammer has no idea that the lid on a hot fudge sundae is there to keep the fudge in! LOL He had that shit everywhere. This picture is after he scraped it all up from the sides of the cup. We had a good nights sleep, and woke only to have breakfast at McD's. I figured new directions to Serpent Mound, and away we went.
I had been to Serpent Mound when I was working on my bachelors in anthropology at Youngstown State University in 1996. Dr. John White, an archaeologist, took people on an annual tour to Serpent Mound, and Fort Ancient and the solstice markers. After 23 years, I was looking forward to taking people there too.
It is located on Ohio route 73 in Peebles, Ohio. We stopped at the entrance for a photo op with the bikes. Up the entrance hill, there is a large parking lot and bathrooms, and picnic areas. At the far end is the entrance walkway to the visitor center and museum. It's $4 per bike to park, but no other fees. The visitor center has lots of neat things to look at and buy, which supports the facility and preservation. They have patches and pins, plus books, rocks, projectile points, thunder makers, shirts, etc. A hall leads from the store to the museum. There you'll find all kinds of displays of tools and items natives of the time used, some excavated at the site and other relevant sites in Ohio. There is also a movie that plays telling you about the place, the serpent shaped mound, the people who lived there and more.
It was day three of the trip, Tuesday the 16th, and we were supposed to be home that night. If we hadn't detoured to Charleston, we would have been in Jackson, Ohio Monday night instead of Portsmouth. We still had plenty of time to finish the rest of the plans and get back to Hubbard that night, late. Following the directions, we made our way on 73 east to 32 north to OH-93 north, intersected with US-50 and took that east, and then followed OH-278 through the Zaleski State Forest. Wow, was that a nice road too! It was a much appreciated cooler ride through the tree shade with winding bends after blinding sun on 32, 93, and 50.
Our goal was to get on OH-78 eastbound and stop to see the Big Muskie dragline bucket at the miners memorial. But let me tell you about route 78. It's a beaut!! One of those roads that twists and turns, and up and down, usually less sharp than the Triple Nickel, but just as much fun. We all want to take a ride on that again as well as 555. It was a long road too; goes all the way to OH-7, and intersects with the Ohio Tail of the Dragon, route 536.
The sun was heading to the west when we finally found the Big Muskie. This is a site dedicated to the miners of Ohio who dug coal from the hills for decades. The giant dragline bucket that is on display here was huge! When you see the photo of the machine it was attached too when used to scrape away "overburden" as the coal industry calls everything above the coal seam, the enormity of the Big Muskie machine is mind boggling. It took two years to build the machine on site.
The area around the memorial park was mined, but is now a state park and wildlife area, and these kinds of developments are part of the contract of mining - to return the land as close as possible to what it was. That can never be done, but making a good re-use of the land is better than leaving it as a hideous scar on this beautiful planet Earth.
The scale of the dragline bucket was impressive. You really can't believe it until you're there. We were all glad to have had the chance to see it. We were running a little behind, but who cared. We were having a great trip and had been to so many interesting places on really nice roads.
Well, we left the Big Muskie and continued east on 78. Our goal was to catch OH-513 north to US-22 again. We got to the town of Caldwell at the intersection with I-77. As it was later than hoped, we stopped at McDonald's to eat and revise the trip. We decided to hit I-77 north and hightail it home. That's what WE decided. Nature didn't agree. We heard people start talking about the dark clouds rolling in and the storm that was coming. What? A brief look and we started considering hunkering down or hitting the highway.
We hunkered! Starting to hustle out to the bikes, the raindrops started falling. The clouds were black as night, the sun disappeared. On the way to my bike, I said to a fella in the drive through line that I was gonna get wet, and he laughed suggesting I roll up the windows on my bike! The guys were coming out and it started raining harder. A man told Meanie about the Hotel 6 down the road. I was going to lead to the Best Western across the street. Nope. We were on the bikes backing out and the rain poured. We rode to the street, I looked right (toward the traffic light), then left, and that's when I saw the Microtel right there! I made a b-line for it, we didn't have time for eyewear, or anything for that matter, I missed the main entrance confusing with construction, turned around in a parking lot behind the hotel, and back to the entrance. We had to park around back, and the rain was relentless. Then I ran around to the front open entrance, soaked, and with a desperate voice asked for two rooms.
They had rooms, and as I was standing there looking at the woman through watered eyeglasses, someone let the guys in through the back door. LOL, they were drenched! Soggy doggies! I just laughed. Had we hit the highway to try to outrun it, in the dark, who knows what would have happened. So we stayed out another night. We would not be back in time to open the store, and Tiny and Hammer's plans would have to be postponed. It was all okay. Plus, the new Microtel was only $55 for the night with taxes and breakfast; couldn't beat it.
Well, after sleeping in lovely accommodations, we packed up the bikes in the morning with dry weather ahead. Until we reached somewhere I can't recall, and we pulled over. It was raining hard again, the skies sucked. In this plaza, we took refuge in the sheds that were for sale, it was cool. I found my she-shed for only $7,500! Who's buying?
We got back on the bikes when the rain let up, but it never stopped. We made it to Columbiana and stopped for coffee and donuts. It's the way of the world. After that, it kept raining, it rained when we stopped in Hubbard to say goodbye and headed to our homes. Our boots were full of water, and our lives were full of life!!!
Bellies full, Tiny did what any sane caffeine-addicted person would do and asked his phone for the location of the nearest Starbucks. Huntington? Oh, really? Let's go! South bound and down, we took WV-2 back to Huntington, and it was a hell of a thing to find the Starbucks. It's mixed in with the Marshall University campus in a nifty, crafty, "I like to read books" part of town and shopping area. AND there's also the homeless heroin users living on the sidewalks (more on that later).
While riding through the town trying to find the Starbucks, we saw an HD store. Black Sheep HD. We had no idea it was there. You can guess what happened. We had to go there. That made TWO HD stops that were not an original part of the trip plans. It was a really cool store, though, with two levels of retail area and a large area with motorcycles too, and plenty of parking.
The guys shopped for collection t-shirts and poker chips and whatever else men do at HD shops. The goth girl that was working there was kind of scary; her dark lipstick reminded me of myself in the 1990s when I wore it too. But I wasn't as scary. Maybe.
We found street parking across from the Starbucks. No sooner was my kickstand down when I spotted it: a handmade pottery place!!! I left the guys at the bikes yelling, "Meet me at Starbucks" and bolted jaywalking fashion to the entrance of "The Pottery Place". Oh man, you can go in there and paint and finish pottery pieces, make your own, or buy things that others have made. I did the latter. You may recall that my thing with traveling nowadays is to collect handmade mugs so that when I'm old and can't travel, I'll sip my morning coffee from mugs that bring me good memories of where I went. So I looked everything over and decided on the only rainbow mug there. There were ones that looked like knit sweaters, but I only needed one.Herding bikers is like herding cows - they need a guided fenced-in path to follow and a cowgirl to move 'em out. The guys were still standing at the bikes when I exited the pottery place. We got into Starbucks and oh boy, we are a group that loves coffee, iced drinks especially, and air conditioning.
Also, the town is full of large ceramic (or something) painted boats. I only got a picture of one by Starbucks; I loved the colors. It's cool to see things like this, just like the pigs in Cincinnati and the groundhogs in Punxsutawney and the vases in Zanesville.
Meanie was ready to get the hell out of West Virginia and leave them behind along with their helmet law. Couldn't have been easier! We turned left out of the street parking spot, and straight down the road it turned to cross a bridge over the Ohio and into Ohio. We rode about 15 miles or so before finding a place along US-52 to stop and take off the helmets, relax, and continue our plans which included our next stop at Serpent Mound. Yeah. We rode on westward along the river. It was hot and sunny, our second day of great weather with the bikes running all smooth and sweet.
As we approached the town of Portsmouth, Ohio, a sudden wind kicked up sending debris and dust into our faces and eyes. Dark clouds were rolling in from the west. It was starting to look by the clouds and time that we were not going to make it to Serpent Mound, which is out in the middle of nowhere. I had been leading most of the trip, and pulled over into a large Speedway station. We parked the bikes out in front of the store, got off, and within two minutes, almost simultaneously, Hammer was approached by a Hispanic woman who said he looked familiar, and then asked if he wanted to buy a coupon book for $20, and Meanie was approached by a white woman who must have seen the weather was a concern; she told us about a motel up the road behind Speedway that we could go to and to follow her an her husband in their truck as they were trying to get a room there too. We all just said thanks but no thanks.
We located a Holiday Inn in downtown Portsmouth, and rode there, but they said they were full. We called a Quality Inn north of there, and were able to secure two rooms for the night. The radar showed a storm coming. We rode north quite a ways, and luckily, out of Portsmouth, found the QI and moved in. It was reasonable at $79 with taxes, clean and comfortable. A late dinner was had at McDonald's where were learned that Hammer has no idea that the lid on a hot fudge sundae is there to keep the fudge in! LOL He had that shit everywhere. This picture is after he scraped it all up from the sides of the cup. We had a good nights sleep, and woke only to have breakfast at McD's. I figured new directions to Serpent Mound, and away we went.
Day 3
It was day three of the trip, Tuesday the 16th, and we were supposed to be home that night. If we hadn't detoured to Charleston, we would have been in Jackson, Ohio Monday night instead of Portsmouth. We still had plenty of time to finish the rest of the plans and get back to Hubbard that night, late. Following the directions, we made our way on 73 east to 32 north to OH-93 north, intersected with US-50 and took that east, and then followed OH-278 through the Zaleski State Forest. Wow, was that a nice road too! It was a much appreciated cooler ride through the tree shade with winding bends after blinding sun on 32, 93, and 50.Our goal was to get on OH-78 eastbound and stop to see the Big Muskie dragline bucket at the miners memorial. But let me tell you about route 78. It's a beaut!! One of those roads that twists and turns, and up and down, usually less sharp than the Triple Nickel, but just as much fun. We all want to take a ride on that again as well as 555. It was a long road too; goes all the way to OH-7, and intersects with the Ohio Tail of the Dragon, route 536.
The sun was heading to the west when we finally found the Big Muskie. This is a site dedicated to the miners of Ohio who dug coal from the hills for decades. The giant dragline bucket that is on display here was huge! When you see the photo of the machine it was attached too when used to scrape away "overburden" as the coal industry calls everything above the coal seam, the enormity of the Big Muskie machine is mind boggling. It took two years to build the machine on site.
The area around the memorial park was mined, but is now a state park and wildlife area, and these kinds of developments are part of the contract of mining - to return the land as close as possible to what it was. That can never be done, but making a good re-use of the land is better than leaving it as a hideous scar on this beautiful planet Earth.
The scale of the dragline bucket was impressive. You really can't believe it until you're there. We were all glad to have had the chance to see it. We were running a little behind, but who cared. We were having a great trip and had been to so many interesting places on really nice roads.
Well, we left the Big Muskie and continued east on 78. Our goal was to catch OH-513 north to US-22 again. We got to the town of Caldwell at the intersection with I-77. As it was later than hoped, we stopped at McDonald's to eat and revise the trip. We decided to hit I-77 north and hightail it home. That's what WE decided. Nature didn't agree. We heard people start talking about the dark clouds rolling in and the storm that was coming. What? A brief look and we started considering hunkering down or hitting the highway.
We hunkered! Starting to hustle out to the bikes, the raindrops started falling. The clouds were black as night, the sun disappeared. On the way to my bike, I said to a fella in the drive through line that I was gonna get wet, and he laughed suggesting I roll up the windows on my bike! The guys were coming out and it started raining harder. A man told Meanie about the Hotel 6 down the road. I was going to lead to the Best Western across the street. Nope. We were on the bikes backing out and the rain poured. We rode to the street, I looked right (toward the traffic light), then left, and that's when I saw the Microtel right there! I made a b-line for it, we didn't have time for eyewear, or anything for that matter, I missed the main entrance confusing with construction, turned around in a parking lot behind the hotel, and back to the entrance. We had to park around back, and the rain was relentless. Then I ran around to the front open entrance, soaked, and with a desperate voice asked for two rooms.
Well, after sleeping in lovely accommodations, we packed up the bikes in the morning with dry weather ahead. Until we reached somewhere I can't recall, and we pulled over. It was raining hard again, the skies sucked. In this plaza, we took refuge in the sheds that were for sale, it was cool. I found my she-shed for only $7,500! Who's buying?
We got back on the bikes when the rain let up, but it never stopped. We made it to Columbiana and stopped for coffee and donuts. It's the way of the world. After that, it kept raining, it rained when we stopped in Hubbard to say goodbye and headed to our homes. Our boots were full of water, and our lives were full of life!!!
Take it from the four of us: Tiny, Hammer, Meanie, and Mama Stitch - the road is a place of joy and fun, strangeness and detours, food and sun, curves and rain. You take it all; you live it all; you face the wind over and over without hesitation, and your motorcycle becomes you and you become your motorcycle. I'd do that trip again in a heartbeat and with the same crew. They will agree.
Our tour of Ohio and a bit of West Virginia was 840 miles of freedom.
Tag, it's your turn!
~ Holly
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