Day #69 October 18, 2007

Day #69
Thursday October 18, 2007
Meadows of Dan, VA to Boone, NC
137 beautiful miles today (27,633 - 27,770)
13,303 miles total
1 new state today: North Carolina
35 states total (+Wash DC & Canada)

The “Word for the Day” today is: F-O-G!!!! More on that later…

I got up early and packed, ready to go long before the sun got up. Once daylight appeared, I realized there would be NO sun today! I went to the back porch of the campground and Will was making coffee. Another rider showed up, named Bruce, who had arrived after dark last night. He was from NH and on his way to Birmingham, AL to a vintage motorcycle show/swap meet and museum. We had breakfast together at Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We parted company from there, as he had to go back and tear down his camp. I headed south on the Blue Ridge.

I traveled only 16 miles until I literally had to pull over. I wanted to pull over sooner, but this was the first available spot. The fog is so thick I can’t see to ride. I paced off the steps from my bike before it disappeared before my eyes, and all it took was 20 paces, or about 60 ft, and I could no longer see the bike at all. Riding in this is crazy and VERY taxing on the senses. Everything is heightened and tense.

After 45 minutes or so of sitting there, reading, checking maps, walking around, a Gold Wing pulling a Bushtec trailer pulled in with a couple on it. This was my “divine appointment” for the day. They too were tired of riding in this and had pulled off hoping for it to lift. We visited a while and I found out they were believers from Nashville, TN. They knew of Paris, TN (their hometown originally), Paducah, Benton and Mayfield, KY. They lead worship conferences at different places. We decided we’d ride together, since we both had CB’s and it would provide some additional security/safety to have someone else along on a day like this. We rode along, talking about our families, jobs, trips etc. and had lunch together at one of the park restaurants along the parkway. Finally about 3:45PM, shortly after a gas stop, they went ahead down the parkway toward Asheville and I turned off toward Boone to find the KOA.

The fog was off and on all day long. At two different times for 15 or 20 minutes, I led us along at 30mph because the fog was just so thick. But the leaves…the leaves were MORE BEAUTIFUL than the previous two days, if that is possible. The colors are just popping out! We rode through one really neat “tunnel” of trees where the trees nearly touched one another toward the center of the roadway.

Forecasted tonight is rain! There are no cabins available for tonight at the Boone KOA.
They do have some tent sites with covered, graveled “patios” for lack of a better description. The guy at the KOA store suggested I drag the table out and pull the trailer in under the cover. The graveled area has a 4x6 frame, with the 6” dimension coming up out of the ground. I build some ramps out of gravel and 2x’s to get over it, but in trying to get the bike OUT of the framed in area, I got stuck…I got high centered on the crashbars! I had to get help getting out. They were kind enough to help, especially the guy that suggested I try that! They were good sports about it!

Showered, did laundry, moved photos from the camera to the laptop and tried the web.
Nope, no service. The blog is SO far behind….