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What were we thinking?
We are dreamers. Our favorite place to dream is in our hot tub while we enjoy a cold beverage. It was a Thursday night in July, and we were lamenting our riding plans to see some friends for the weekend getting canceled. We needed another excuse to ride. The original plan would have only been about 200 miles but our friends are amazing and we hated not getting to see them. So what do you do when a door closes? You find an open window! ha! At around 9:30 pm, my husband said to me "You know? We should ride to Gettysburg and camp for the weekend." Without hesitation, I agreed with enthusiasm.
Gettysburg Here We Come
Early Friday morning we woke up and had to pack quickly. 500 miles is a long day when you have to set camp at the end of it. Plus, the time to pack is doubled by all the gear you must gather and strap down. Needless to say, we generally prepare in advance for these situations. We were finally on the road by 9:00 am. The route to Gettysburg is mostly a straight shot once you get into Virginia. But the ride is beautiful. Our trip started from our home in Canton NC and took us up I-26 through Johnson City Tn where we picked up I-81 to start the trek north. I-81 takes you almost the entire way and includes the Shenandoah Valley which is an incredible site to see. We have traveled this stretch many times and can tell you from experience that sometimes the traffic can be super heavy and other times not so bad. But every time you travel through Virginia we recommend following the speed limit because Virginia loves to give speeding tickets. State troopers are generally everywhere.
We Arrived!!
We found a campsite available at the local KOA. The campground was wonderful with its pool, which we did not use, and the wonderful individual bath stalls. The campground was all gravel and steep in places. Fortunately, I have been developing my gravel riding skills on my Vstrom. I was amazed those skills crossed over to riding my Streetglide. This KOA had some neat cabins, we may consider this next time instead of tent camping. We finished setting up camp and decided to get dinner at our favorite place, Appalachian Brewing.
Oh, the History!!
Saturday morning we decided to tour all the historic places, including Gettysburg National Cemetary and the battlefields, and watched a re-enactment of cannonball firing. One of the more impactful things about our tour is that we were there the same month the battle took place. Ya'll, it was soooooo very hot! To witness the type of uniforms the soldiers were required to wear in the extreme heat, I can't begin to imagine the suffering. Sweat rolled down my back; by noon I had to find shelter.
Time for Beverages, Motorcycles, and Food!
Our first stop, Fourscore Beer Co., once we got refreshed from the heat we headed to Battlefield Harley Davidson. This dealership has not only Harleys but sells Royal Enfield motorcycle and Vanderhall's, which I had never seen before. One of the most unique dealerships we have seen. The next stop was Battlefield Brew Works & Spirits. This building used to be a Confederate field hospital. Pretty surreal to be sitting in this place drinking a beverage. Then back to our favorite for dinner, Appalachian Brewing.
Before dark we made it back to camp for one last night by the fire, and soaked up the freedom we experienced on this adventure. We still had a full day of riding tomorrow to look forward to and guys the ride south on I-81 is twice as beautiful as the ride north, in my opinion.
I hope you enjoyed reading about our adventure and if you are interested in some of the gear we love check out our Gear blog post. Without quality gear, this would not be possible.
Get out there and live a life "Engineered4Adventure" even if you are just now thinking of a plan for tomorrow.
Christy
P.S. Go check out the adventure we have in our home workshop by clicking here or in the menu "Shop Products and Services"
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