Day 1
Destination: Raleigh, NC. Got a late start, of course, because I left some things to do in the morning that I should have already had done. The day was gorgeous but it seemed like I was riding into the sun the whole time, even though I was headed south. A little bit of traffic around DC but nothing else in the way. Almost out of Virginia (which is entirely too long) and started having gas problems. A few months ago I had a problem which I thought was bad gas or something blocking the line and switching to reserve got me through it. This time that wasn’t working. Any way the bike was still running, just hiccuping once in a while, then I had to sit in almost stopped traffic for no apparent reason for almost an hour and after that the bike could barely run. I got up to 60 but couldn’t go faster, and had to keep goosing the throttle in a certain spot to keep it up. It still gradually slowed down though so I took the next exit for a gas station. I had my service manual with me and I ran through all their possible problems and couldn’t find anything wrong. A guy saw me and came over to help, turns out he’s the road captain of his club, and had a bunch of tools in his trunk. He couldn’t figure it out either so I located a Harley dealership 10 miles away and called them. I explained the problem and everything they told me to check we had already done. At this point their service department was already closed and the rest of the place would only be open for another hour but he told me some guys offered to stay and take a look and he came and got me in the truck. The guy who had been helping me offered to come along and that way if they were able to fix it, he could follow behind me a ways in case I had any more problems since we were both headed in the same direction. We got to the dealership and they were able to fix it in around 30 minutes. Turns out there was a bunch of junk in the float bowl, which I should have known to check but missed. Back on the road, only about 90 minutes left to my cousin’s house. Arrived late, went out to eat dinner, collapsed in bed.
Day 2
I had planned to head to Jacksonville that day but because of my late arrival the night before, I decided to stay an extra day to hang out with my cousin and her husband. They just got a German Shepherd mix puppy so we went and hung out at the dog park. Very cute place, I’d never been to a dog park before. There was a bulldog there named Fats Magee, which is probably the greatest name ever.
Day 3
Destination: Orange Park, FL. I left Raleigh just around lunch time, hit some rain for a while through South Carolina, and after searching a while at the end for a road name that didn’t exist, arrived through some other road at my friend’s house. She and her husband and 3 girls just moved there because he’s stationed nearby (Navy). One of her daughters had just told them at 8:30 that a school project was due the next day so they were working on that. They fed me dinner and I went to bed.
Day 4
Husband and twins out to work and school so it was just me, my friend, and the super cute baby. Election Day so we went out for her to vote. I had already done absentee ballot, don’t worry. We had fun honking and cheering for Obama supporters and booing and giving thumbs down to lots of McCain supporters out with their signs. I had to fix my front brake light switch again. I had broken it before and instead of replacing the switch, just glued a bit of plastic to my brake lever so it could reach (which I intended to be a permanent fix because I’m lazy). The plastic fell off at some point though so I glued another piece in. I guess I’ll actually replace the switch now. After taking care of that, we basically just caught up all day, watched the election results that night, were very happy, and went to bed.
Day 5
Destination: Stecoah, NC. I left right after the girls left for school, nothing out of the ordinary on the ride, arrived at the campground around dinner time. I was staying at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge since I knew several people who’d been there before and liked it, and it looked great from the website. It was just dark when I arrived and the office was closed, despite their hours saying they’d be open, which made me nervous since I hadn’t called ahead. The cook lives on site though and came out and told me to just pick a spot to set up my tent and pay in the morning. I found some picnic tables in my headlight and found a grassy spot near them. No other tent campers, one couple in a cabin. This place is great though. They have a lodge that’s open all night and I was told I could take my sleeping bag to one of the couches in there if I got too cold in my tent. My sleeping bag is rated at 0 degrees so I was fine, but that is very cool of them. They also had the cleanest campground bathrooms I’d ever seen, in addition to providing shampoos, soaps, and a hair dryer. Usually I just hope the bathroom has a hand dryer I can hang my head under. Definitely don’t want wet hair outside in November. Any way I made dinner and went to bed.
Day 6
Talked to the owners of the campground and they recommended some good roads in the area. I got sort of a late start but managed to do a 5-6 hour loop and got back to the campground right at dark. I took 28 out to the Tail of the Dragon, continued on 129 to 72, 411, 360, 165 to some water falls, the Cherohala Skyway, continued on 143, down another part of 129, 19 to Wayah Rd which they told me is sort of a mini Tail of the Dragon, 64, then 28 back in. It was a great ride. That night there were 2 more people in the cabins, but no more tents. Cooked dinner and went to bed.
Day 7
Destination: Fancy Gap, VA. Got on the road early and made my way up to the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’d gone maybe 15 miles when I ran into a road closure, which wasn’t listed on the park’s website and also had no detour signs. I had ridden by another entrance not too far away on my way in the other day but it had a Road Closed sign on it too so I decided to just take highway up to the end of a 45 mile detour I knew was coming up. Finally got back on the parkway and stopped at an overlook for lunch. Back on my way, that road is just fantastic. Long, sweeping curves at a nice speed and not much traffic when I was there. It’s just so relaxing and happy compared to highway riding. I was aiming for Fancy Gap Cabins since I knew they’d be open in November (hard to find). Arrived at 5 and was able to set up camp, cook dinner, and clean up before dark. Again, no other tent campers and only one couple in a cabin. That campground was little but nice, especially since it’s right on the parkway. The sites weren’t too big and were mostly set up for RVs, not tents, but they had a nice bathhouse with a bunch of individual bathrooms (toilet, shower and sink in each), and a bunch of tiny cabins for rent. I think I saw a sign saying the campground was for sale. I’d love to live up there and run a campground. As a matter of fact, I never realized people lived right on the parkway. I mean their driveways don’t open on to it but their houses are right there. I think I need to go live in the mountains.
Day 8
Destination: Middletown, VA. I finished up the Blue Ridge Parkway. At one point I left the parkway for gas (I think route 43) and took a fun little twisty road through some national forest for a few miles. Very steep drop on one side, rock wall on the other side, blind curves, and almost every oncoming car seemed to think the double yellow lines didn’t apply to them. One time I came around a curve and found an oncoming car completely in my lane. Any way, made it to the gas station where some old guy who came over to look at my bike thought I was a dude until I started talking back to him. I know I had a full face helmet on but I think my jacket’s pretty girly. Back up the twisty road, had to drop into first to get around some of the curves which were on a steep uphill at the same time. Back on the parkway and made it to Skyline Drive. Gas stations are on Skyline Drive which is very convenient. It was a lot more crowded than the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a lower speed limit, and in my opinion not as good views. Also it cost me $10. So the BRP wins. My plan had been to stay at the Battle of Cedar Creek Campground in Middletown (also open in November) and take highway home in the morning but I finished Skyline around 5:00 and didn’t feel like going to bed at 7:30 again because it was cold and dark and I had nothing else to do (I’d already finished both books I brought with me) so I decided to just go the rest of the way home. Still got home at a reasonable time, just had about a 13 hour day. I wasn’t tired though, or cold either due to my new heated gear (love it!), and was happy to be able to sleep in my own bed that night.