It was Wednesday morning and I could tell it was going to be a nice day as the suns first light created leafy shadows that seemed to dance across the sides of my camper as I contemplated the day ahead.
I could tell that one of my newfound traveling buddies was already up. I could hear his footsteps as he moved about the site and I could smell the coffee he was preparing. I threw on some clothes and decided to join him. These guys were heading to up state New York and then over closer to the coast. My plan was to make a beeline for Niagara Falls, NY to pick up an item I had ordered online for my truck. If I put in a long day today I could be camped out in Niagrag Falls that night and back home by Thursday night so I could beat the Friday night traffic around Toronto. It wasn't long before Ken (white t-shirt) emerged from their shared tent and joined Brian and I for breakfast. By the time we'd finished breakfast and had some more conversation about our travel plans I had made up my mind to accompany them for another day. The weather had cooled off and I was really starting to enjoy their company and all the crazy stories we all had to share.These are a couple of really down to earth nice guys. Their ultimate destination was a place called Ricketts Glen State Park which boasts some 22 separate waterfalls in the park. We knew we could make it in a day if we jumped on the interstate (slab) but instead we wanted a more slow paced and more scenic route which meant we may not make it that far today. We picked out the roads we wanted to travel and got all packed up. I took a few picks before we left of both them and the camp site.
I decided to warm my engine a bit before leaving which meant taking it out of gear and putting it in neutral. It was on it's side kickstand and I was standing beside it and when I took my hands off the brake the bike rolled forward and fell over sending my helmet rolling down the grassy hill. I lunged at it trying to save the bike in vain and wound up ripping half a fingernail off. Fortunately Penny had given me some band-aids before I left as part of her annual pre trip care package. Fortunately my finger nail was the only damage. I was very fortunate to have two other guys right there to help me lift my 900 lb. bike up. Not the best start to the day but it all worked out anyway.
We found a town in Maryland called Hagerstown that was our first destination of the day. I plugged it into my GPS and we hit Hwy 81 with me in the lead. No sooner had we entered the roadway than we became aware that we were in the middle of some kind of truck convoy. Almost all the vehicles rolling down the highway were these huge eighteen wheelers. Hw. 81 must be a very heavily traveled truck route because they dominated the road for the next 180 miles to Hagerstown. It was noon by then and we pulled into McDonald's because I always get good wifi there and they make a really delicious Bacon Ranch Salad. Being the lead bike and having no communication with my fellow bikers they both commented when we stopped at "Mickey D's" that their routine was to have a quick burger there each afternoon and were both smiling to themselves when I lead them there.
During lunch we planned our afternoon and decided to take a slower pace and more scenic route. Ken copied down the directions and he took the lead until about 4:00 pm when we wanted to find another KOA campground. We had covered many miles today through gorgeous rolling hills and acres of corn that looked to be at least seven feet tall but we were tired and needed to stop for the day. I plugged in a search for another KOA camp ground and found one about 16 miles away so I took the lead again and off we went. Now, anybody who uses a GPS knows that they can sometimes lead you off on a wild goose chase that is anything but a direct route to your destination. We drove and drove, turning this way and that out on some very rural roads. I wasn't sure what my buddies were thinking but I was getting rather anxious as it seemed that the machine was taking a very strange route indeed. Then seemingly out of nowhere appeared a big yellow KOA entrance sign. Inwardly I breathed a sigh of relief as we rolled up to the registration office.
After getting our camp set up Brian and Ken suggested we get our swim trunks on and walk over to the pool for a nice refreshing dip before dinner. This was something that I would never do on my own and it was just what the doctor ordered.
Back at our camp site we broke out the vodka tonics which they had never had before and has now turned them into vodka/tonic devotees. We wound up using all my tonic and they both made sure we restocked the next time we found a grocery store. What have I done?
It had been a long day so we all retired to our tents about 9:30 and then it was lights out.
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