Wandering Retirees

Had a terrific day riding Skyline Drive, from Front Royal, VA in the north, to Rockfish Gap, 109 miles to the south. The speed limit is 35 or less the entire length. So, with stops to ogle the scenery and chew the fat with fellow travelers, it took us all day. This is not a complaint! Just a wonderful way to spend a relaxed day, just the Queen and I. And some nice folks out for a drive. One couple, Craig and Carrie hail from Canberra, Australia and are enjoying their visit to the East Coast. Had a lot of fun comparing notes about the pleasures of travel. We also met Richard and his wife (Really embarrassed not to have learned her name!) from Connecticut who are retired and cruising through the area just because. We both are driving BMW’s and started a mutual admiration society around our rides.

Sitting in our room waiting for supper to cook. Bought fixings at the Kroger’s for dinner, breakfast and lunch tomorrow. Helps economize a bit, and keeps me from creeping into warehouse status. Did eat out last night and this morning at a cute, small town diner called … wait for it … the Knotty Pine. Good food at a very reasonable price. Drafts for about 3 bucks. If you’re in Front Royal, stop in for a bite. 

Well, dinner’s ready. And the Rangers are on in a few. Gotta go. Till tomorrow … 

Monday the 1st: took off (at last!) mid-morning today. Covered 275 miles point to point to Front Royal, VA, just outside the north entrance to the Skyline Drive. A fairly easy first day. Avoided city roads and related traffic. Only had to outrun a line of thunder storms (and possible tornados!) the last 60 miles. Arrived in fine fettle with a thirst, soon quenched. Supper at a wonderful little country diner in town (Knotty Pine) – inexpensive and very good.Today was a shake down day. GPS (aka Spot) had to be cajoled into working our way. Some packing a little awkward, so forth. We figure another couple of days to really sort things out. But we’re so happy to be on the road. We planned for so long and are glad it’s here.

Met a couple from Australia on a wandering tour of the eastern US. They are as happy as we are to be traveling our beautiful country. They only have 10 days, though. We have a surfeit of time. So glad!

A few pix from this morning are posted, along with a peek at the mountains we’ll travel through tomorrow. So glad you’re following us. It’s a bit humbling, actually, to know that folks want to follow along on our dream trip. All we can say is, “Thanks!”. See you tomorrow …

There isn’t much left to do now.  We are both very excited and a bit nervous.  Connie’s mom, Pat, is housesitting for us.  So she’s moved in.  It’s funny, her car was packed to the gills for her stay here; meanwhile for the same length of time … we have three small bags packed as lightly as possible.

We depart tomorrow morning around 9 am!

We named our bike Trixy, cuz she is tricky.  Trixy is a BMW K1600 GT touring bike.  But even though she’s labeled a touring bike, she is quick and nimble. It’s easy to go fast on her and she can take off like a bat out of hell when she needs to (and sometimes just because Hank wants her to).   Isn’t she so purdy?

 

So here’s the “grand plan” for our cross country trip. Of course, mother nature and fate may have different plans for us along the way. So this is subject to revision at a moment’s notice.

A couple of notes.
1. As of 4/17, we haven’t planned our route to Ft. Worth.
2. We are deliberately not planning our route past Duluth, MN. We want to see how we feel at that point.

We are so jazzed.  Three weeks seems like so long. Let’s go now!

Half the fun of taking a motorcycle trip is planning. Seriously. This trip across country, in particular, required a couple of years. We have and will continue to spend hours talking about what we want this trip to be like. It’s important to have a shared vision. In a nutshell, we want to enjoy the natural beauty of the USA, without hurrying or being overwhelmed with things to do. We keep coming back to that vision as we find yet another beautiful road or monument or valley.