Day 43: Home Again

If yesterday’s ride was uneventful, today’s was down right boring.  Cruising along the Interstates on a Saturday with little traffic, almost no construction, good weather and good roads, there isn’t much to do but reflect on the days behind you and plan for rides yet to come.

I left Paducah a few minutes after 6 a.m. as the rising sun broke through the scattered clouds, giving me a beautiful sunrise to start my day.  It was cool but not raining so I wore neither rain gear nor heated gear for the first time in many days.  I savored the soothing sound of my worn but adequate tires rolling down the road, enjoyed the sensation of a chill wind blowing against my skin, and watched the sun paint the gray clouds rich hues of pink, orange, yellow and red.  Being alone on a motorcycle rolling effortlessly along an open road is a good time to collect and sort one’s thoughts.

A couple of short gas stops in Tennessee and a brief lunch break and I was able to coast down my Maggie Valley driveway at 2:30 to a great welcome home from Marilyn and two motorcycle friends from Orange Park, Steve and Ruth, who are spending the last two days of their 10-day motorcycle riding adventure with us.  We compared ride experiences, friendly and unfriendly border crossings, inclement weather, various wrong turns and surprise finds along the way.  Motorcycle adventures, whether 10 days or 43 days always result in tales to tell and re-tell to willing and unwilling listeners.

This weekend as time permits, I’ll collect some thoughts for a final post summarizing this year’s motorcycle trip and laying out hopes and plans for the next one.

For now, I’ll just say thanks to all who followed the blog again this year; I couldn’t hear you, but I could imagine you commiserating with my rain stories, envying my fishing stories, and laughing at my pie stories.  I could imagine the “oohs”  and “aaahhhs” as you opened mountain pictures, critter pictures, flower pictures, and, of course, pie pictures.  It was nice to have cyber company who took the time to join in the trip.  I hope I can take you along again on another adventure somewhere.