We have begun to develop an interest in wines, especially reds. Two weeks ago while camping at North Landing Beach in Va Beach, we visited two wineries on Knotts Island in North Carolina (Moonrise Bay and Martin Vineyards) While we got wine from both the martin wines were better wines.
This weekend while in the Waynesboro Va. area we didn't get out to check out the local wineries early on Sunday morning so we had to do it AFTER we checked out of the campground. (those who have read my post on the starbucks drive through may guess where this is going )
The first winery was less than 3 miles from the campground. It was the King Family vineyards and the place is beautiful. There were many familys having picnics and a couple meeting a wedding planner planning their wedding which was going to be on the grounds.
The second one, Stone Mountain Vineyards, was closer to Charlottesville. The brochure we had gave directions from the Charlottesville area but since I had a GPS unit I just punched in the address. According to my GPS the vineyard was 24 miles away from the King Family vineyard, but the GPS had no problem with the address so off we went. As we started out heading down country roads instead of backtracking towards the interstate, DW read in the brouchure that the vineyard was at 1700ft. Looking at the printout on the GPS I noted we were only at about 400 ft at the time but 24 miles is plenty of distance to go up 1300ft.
The first 5 miles were not too bad although the roads were a little narrow and local folks seemed to always come flying around blind corners straddling the centerline. Then the centerline went away as the roads continued to get narrower. The shoulder also started to disappear and where the asphalt ended on the side of the road there was a 2-4 inch drop to the dirt. We bounced the trailer off the edge on one curve as we avoided oncoming traffic that wanted his half out of the middle.
15 miles from the winery the asphalt went away to be replaced by washboard gravel. Still things were not too bad ...Yet
. The scenery was beautiful and included passing the original WALTON homestead. The GPS even directed us onto the brokeback mountain pass road. as we left the last of the farms and entered the tree line the road became more of a foot path and assumed a 30 degree incline. My tow vehicle could not hack it and we almost slide back down backwards. I ended up having to back up about 1/4 mile to where a level field opened next to the road where I could back the trailer in and turn around. Zooming out on the gps I saw that ther was an alternative road that circled around and joined back up with the road we wanted on the other side of the mountain. We were about 1300 feet at this time so it shouldn't be too bad.....
This road turned out to be the Simmons Gap road. I now have a better idea of what a gap is (that space between my ears that thought I could tow my 3023 through it!). There were a number of switchbacks that required hugging the outside edge so the trailer would clear the inside of the turn. I had been in 3rd since losing the asphalt but some spots required downshifting all the way to 1st and I still wasn't sure we were going to make it up until we actually cleared the top of the rise. Just as I started to get comfortable with the steep inclines and the hairpin switchbacks the mountain through us a new curve - hairpins in which there was a 1- 1 1/2 foot difference in height ower the width of the track (couldn't really call it a road anymore) where it looked like a third of the road was gullied by rain water. I now had to worry about the TM sliding sideways across the road as I went around the turns. I think there were angels pushing to keep the low side supported but the equalizer anti sway might have helped some too!
Well, long story short we finally pulled into the parking lot of the Stone Mountain winery. Managed to get the rig turned around and lined up for the exit. My knees were literally shaking. The view from the tasting room was fantastic as was the effect of the wine on my nerves.
The locals were amazed. They would not have recommended the 3 mile gravel road drive up from Dyke with a trailer let alone coming over the top of the mountain the back way. It took me two attempts to make it up the ramp out of the parking lot but after that it was the 3 miles down hill til we reached paved road again. There were some tight turns and the GPS tried to turn us up into a driveway instead of a road but in general it was much easier than the trip there. I want to go back again on our next trip and take some pictures but without the trailer.
I definately need to go through and tighten up some loose screws (maybe some of my own while I am at it!
Bill
Winery (s) - don't always trust your GPS!
GPS experiences
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