While this day had me logging the most miles, it will be the shortest in terms of comments and photos as nearly all of them were spent on I-81.
My rendezvous with Jim was at 11am in Hagerstown only 25 miles away, so I had plenty of time in the morning to check out the campground and repack my luggage.
Site #3 I believe
I like the honor system for the wood pile
Food storage pole makes a nifty coat hook
I stopped at a post office in Hagerstown to mail some of my camping gear back home. While it did all fit in the luggage, it was squeezed pretty tightly in there and I'd rather shed some weight and gain space. I was forced to bjy tape (as well as a box) at the post office, because they're not allowed to tape a box closed for you. Sigh. While parts of Hagerstown might be nice, the area in and around the post office was definitely not. I waited at lights with the bike in gear, ready to make a quick getaway.
I got to the Five Guys in Hagerstown around 10:30 with just under 1100 miles invested in this trip so far, all but around 100 of them spent criss-crossing PA. I'd had a great time over the past 4 days riding back roads, camping, visiting amusement parks and riding roller coasters. With that part of the trip over, I was very eager to begin the next phase, joining friends and riding the Dragon for the first time. Of course I still had to get there...
Jim rolled in around 10 minutes later. Five Guys had not yet opened, so we postponed lunch and instead made a quick stop at Starbucks for coffee/bathroom break. While I had only been on the road for 40 minutes or so, Jim already had 4 hours in the saddle having left NJ's eastern shore at 6:30 am. We were looking at 450+ miles from this point on, so I didn't envy his day.
Jim rolls in looking blue :-)
One of the things that makes travelling with Jim more enjoyable is that we both have Scala Q2 headsets so we can chat while we ride. Unfortunately I had reset mine and paired with Dave's back on the Ride to the Rides, and couldn't remember the button-pressing sequence to reset things again. We started our slog down I-81 in silence.
Lunch stop in Harrisonburg, VA gave me time to surf the net and find the correct sequence of button pushes to get us talking again. This time when we rolled back on the slab we could converse. Life was good.
Somewhere along the way we swapped bikes at a gas stop, and did 100 miles or so on each other's bike. Jim had previously had a short ride on the Multi, but I had never ridden his brand new Versys (so new that today's ride nearly doubled the mileage on it). I liked the sound and low end power, and the ergonomics felt pretty good. I sat a little more "in" his bike than I do on the Multi. Once we starting putting miles on the freeway a few things started coming to light - his windscreen and I didn't get along as it knocked my head around, and the seat - even with the Airhawk - was not conducive to long freeway drones. After 40 or 50 miles Jim was becoming a firm believer in the "power of the (taxi) beads". When we switched bike again I was happy to back on the broad saddle of the Multi, but immediately noticed how much louder the wind noise was on my bike. While his screen might not have been ideal for buffeting, it made for a much quieter and more relaxed environment. I'm eager to try the Versys again on some back roads where I think it will really shine.
We had some laughs along the way as at some of the gas stops people came up to chat about the Ducati, completely ignoring Jim and his brand-new shiny bike. It was especially funny as one guy was confiding in me "no offense, but them Jap bikes..." and I'm sure Jim could hear me over the intercom.
We eventually rolled into the Super8 in Knoxville around 8pm, completely done with riding. Big kudos to Jim for putting around 700 miles in on his new bike in one very boring day of riding. We walked over to the Ruby Tuesday's next to the hotel, and had a great dinner accompanied by some ice-cold Fat Tires. A great way to end a day.
On the walk back we talked for a bit with a guy who had an orange (Lamborghini Gallardo Orange, according to him) Monster in a pickup truck with Washington plates. He was on his way from Washington State to Florida to start a new job, and was not looking forward to the (lack of) riding opportunities that lay ahead for him.
Never happier to see a Super8
Gallardo Orange Monster
Tomorrow we head to the Dragon!!!!