I think that this picture tells the story. 703 miles. 10 1/2 hours of moving time. 1 1/2 hours stopped. (That actually should be more like 2 - 2 1/2 hours as I turned it off while eating.) All in the same day.
We woke up at the motel in Kingsport, Tennessee, and got on the road about 9 a.m. We went up into Virginia for all of five minutes so that I could pick up one cache and add Virginia to my states found list. I didn't even take my helmet off while signing the log. Then we were on our way. A fairly nice day though a little cool. We were making good time and stopped for lunch in southern Kentucky around noon or so, at a Cracker Barrel. This is where Steve first said that we might as well try going all the way in one day. I thought (and hoped) he was kidding. But, in reality, it's out of my hands. I'm just along for the ride...
As we headed north, the weather seemed to be getting cooler. Somebody took Christmas in July to a whole new level, I think. Anyway, I put my turtleneck on after lunch, and at the next gas stop, I went in and bought hot chocolate. I drank it through a tall straw, that helped. I had also found a hand warmer in the tail trunk, and that helped as well. We hit Cincinnati at about 2:30 or 3:00, I realized by now that he was serious and that barring complications we would be going all the way home. The weather was cooler and cloudy, not the most favorable ride conditions. Tried a few different reasons with Steve..."Is there anything you want to see while we're passing through Cincinnati (his home town)..." "Why don't we stop for the night in Dayton and go to the Air Force Museum tomorrow?" Nope, let's get on home. We ran into a little bit of rain in the Dayton area, and the skies looked threatening much of the rest of the way. After a gas stop in Van Wert, Ohio, we lasted until Charlotte, Michigan. We were both cold by then, stopped at a gas station, drank more hot chocolate, and Steve put on his windbreaker over his riding jacket which helped stop the wind from going through his jacket and on me. We made it through those last 50 or so miles, and made it home around 10 p.m.
No caching, obviously. If I had thought about it (and known Steve's plans) I would have asked to stop at every rest area cache along the way to slow him down. Even an hour or two earlier in the day would have probably made him stop for the night instead of going straight through. He doesn't like to ride in the dark because of deer, etc. I know there was one rest area we passed by in Tennessee that had four caches in it!
Overall a good trip. But Steve's thoughts are that this would probably be our last long touring trip on the bike. Partially because he doesn't really like the beemer as much now (and last night actually said he was going to try to sell it) and partially because he doesn't feel his body can take it so much anymore. Not much I can do about it - I can't ride the bike by myself.
The "butt buffers" seemed to help. Not sure if they helped enough to justify the cost. Let's just say I was glad this morning that our chairs in church are amply padded!
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