Road Trip: Asheville and Atlanta (Cross Country Road Trip Ep. 2)

When we last left our intrepid travelers, they had just spent the day exploring the Finger Lakes. In today's installment, their adventures continue to take south along the East Coast of the United States. To read part 1, click here!

After a good night's sleep, we packed up the car, bid farewell to our cabin, and set course for NYC, where we would be seeing some friends for dinner. On the way out of the Finger Lakes area, we made a quick stop at Watkins Glen International Raceway, because the gasoline flowing through my veins would not allow me to be so close to a race track without stopping for at least a look. Our drive for the day took us through Pennsylvania and back into New York before we arrived in NYC during the late afternoon at the Chelsea Pier. The stop in NYC was brief, but hectic and we spent that evening in Princeton, NJ with friends before heading out to DC the next morning to see some family and friends.

Day 5 opened with us in familiar territory as we headed towards Charlottesville, VA, a city we have visited several times. The original intention was to stop in the area for lunch, but progress was so good that we continued on and actually made it onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was my first opportunity to drive this legendary road and it was a blast, low speed limit and all. However, it actually was not the BRP itself that impressed me the most, but rather Route 56, a tiny twisty two-lane highway that connects the BRP to Lee Highway and I-81. The TSX performed like a champ, dancing through the corners with aplomb, its weight distribution no doubt a bit more balanced by the presence of our luggage and bikes towards the back. While it would have been fun to stay on the BRP the entire way into Asheville, we had hundreds of miles to cover so we opted to take the most direct route for the remainder of the day, which would take us through several states and all manners of stunning terrain.