catching up...

the past week or so has been hectic. now that things are slowing down, it's time to catch up...

two weekends ago, while waiting for the family to return from florida, i took the opportunity to ride around the southern part of virginia snagging some bbq joints for the smoke chasing grand tour. and threw in a waffle house just for the fun of it...

day started early, heading up to henderson to get pictures of a few bbq places. as is common in rural areas and the gps, the locations the gps thinks the place should be and where the place actually is aren't the same. or the place doesn't exist at all. i'd find both in henderson. missing my first bbq opportunity to a place that didn't exist. while stopped at a light on my way to the second place, i stopped another bbq place. ahhh, this will make up for the first one i missed, i thought. only to realize, as i pulled into the parking lot, it was actually the second place i was headed - mis-located by the gps. the rest of henderson would be this way. luckily i only had a few stops in there, including a waffle house, before heading up to virginia.

virginia was good, spanning from south hill to danville. i picked up all the locations i planned. and one additional place that i quickly turned around for because it had the word "smoke" in the title. i ended up picking up seven places in virginia - two more than needed for my goal of obtaining griller status - five bbq joints in three states.

leaving virginia, heading home, i picked up two more bbq places, making for a great day out on the bike. although one of these days, i really should stop into one of these places and take in a meal.

you can follow my smoke quest here or see the route i took for my ride here - track in green.

smoke chasing bonuses...

every once in a while, the smoke chasing grillmaster will throw out a bonus. needing all the help i can get, i do what i can to participate in these bonuses. as an added incentive, there's usually a prize associated with the bonus. last month's was a backwards bonus - just needed a picture of the bike, the bbq place and the back of our flag. easy enough... and the prize?? which i didn't win!! a set of  dunlop tires!! not a bad deal.

this month there are two bonus opportunities. first, a dive contest. basically the worst looking bbq place we can find. compared to some of the other competitors, i don't think i have a chance at this one.

the second bonus this month is called friends don't let friends go hungry. for this one, we get one chance at winning the bonus for every friend that signs up for the smoke chasing tour. for all of you who thought this tour might be fun, now's the time to sign up!! sign up over here, then e-mail the grillmaster (smokechasing [at] hotmail.com) and tell them i sent you. but hurry, this bonus ends at the end of april.

nice little ride...

was able to squeeze in a short ride this past sunday. skies were overcast, threatening thunderstorms. but i decided to head out to durham to visit with some guys i used to work with. it was great seeing them and good to be back out on the bike.

while i was out i also wanted to bag a few more waffle houses and some bbq places. but that didn't quite work out. i was able to get one bbq joint on the way home but that was about it...

smoke chasing begins...

started the smoke chasing grand tour yesterday... first stop, and only mandatory stop on the tour was ole time barbecue!! decided to make a nice lunch of it. ole time has some good barbecue and jerry donates an awful lot to charity, giving to eddie's road through this grand tour, as well as ride for kids and many more...
you can keep up with my smoke chasing travels here...

smoke chasing...

started the smoke chasing grand tour today...

short sugar's bbq

having a wonderful lunch with my awesome wife. first stop on my smoke chasing quest...