Day 2 – Riding The Ridge

Woke up at around 8:00 and Raz had already made coffee and was baking some delicious cinnamon bun rolls. He had mentioned that the Blue Ridge Parkway was just up the road from his house and offered to take me there and show me around after bfast.

Raz has a very interesting job working as a machine Mechanic at FritoLay, making sure all operations run smooth and we can all get our snacks on time. He actually showed me a video he made of a particular problem with loading pallets and how the mechanism could fail if they were not up to par, leading to failures in various steps of the ginormous elevators and conveyor belts that sort the items. Very interesting stuff indeed – I even got two bags of Jalapeno Cheetos which I had never seen and they were delicious!

Anyway, after having some delicious food and talking for a bit we geared up and jumped on our bikes!

(I should mention that having a Sena Bluetooth has proven to be very useful as most riders use them and you can easily pair with whoever you are riding)

Our first stop was by a lake, low on the BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway) – this beautiful road goes from Virginia to North Carolina and is America’s longest park (See Wiki). We dismounted our trusted steeds and took a short break to enjoy the view.

After an official ADVrider.com meeting picture we continued our way south through the winding road. Landscape here is very similar to what I see in NY near the Hudson. It’s easy to take for granted what you have on your own backyard I guess. Now that I am “adventuring”, all these different smells, colors, sounds — WATCH OUT DEER!!!— where was I? Oh yea, all these things seem to pop up everywhere, drowning my senses and somehow cementing the idea that I will not be back home in a while.

We then stopped at Peak of Otter info center to look for a map of the Parkway. My plan was to ride the whole thing South and camp where tired. A few miles down the road Raz turned back and we waved goodbye – Thank you sir for all the help, great food, and kind heart!

I continued on south admiring the changing scenery until I got a notification from another ADVrider member, Motor 1, who had gotten my message about tent space in Tennessee and said I was welcomed anytime. I backtracked a bit and hoped on the interstate for a few hours in an effort to reach his place not to late, a few hours later there I was!

Motor 1 was waiting for me by his driveway and instantly got me set up in his RV Camper- I felt like a king, and was happy to have a roof over my head once again. I can’t stress how great this ADV tent space is, if you are on the road make sure you use it often.

Motor 1 offered to take me to town so I could buy some groceries for dinner so we headed out for a bit. On our way there he told me many inspiring stories about his travels on motorcycle around the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Russia and more. I really enjoyed hearing his stories and learning invaluable travel and riding tips from them. He has been a member of ADVrider for a loooong time and can point you to some of the best RR on there

Then he said “oh and we live right by the Dragon” and I had no idea what he meant…

Lesson learned:
I grew up in a very protective household, you know the usual don’t talk to strangers, stay close to your family, people are bad kind of upbringing, and though I’ve always had my doubts about that, I’ve adhered  to this mentality up until now. Well, I’m happy to say that I no longer fear strangers, nor their smiles, or their good wishes. After just 2 nights on the road, I’ve come to understand that famous saying – Only thing to fear is fear itself – you Mister Roosevelt, were a genius. Sure there is evil out there, not everything is good and jolly, but just follow your gut, and welcome the world with an open mind.

Food: $11

Gas: $15.40

Miles: 390