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Waking Up After First Night of Camping
“Day two of our ride is here, I'm so excited. Today we hit new territory! I get my poker chips! Oh no, we have to navigate New York.” These are the emotions I'm feeling as I was talking myself into climbing out of my warm sleeping bag. My husband had already climbed out and was preparing his delicious coffee which is a staple in our morning routine.
We enjoyed our coffee and began the process of packing up camp. This was our first repack, and it's always humorous trying to remember where everything goes to be sure the bikes are packed correctly. At approximately 8:30 am we are ready to hit the road. I was surprised he wasn’t insisting on breakfast, he loves his breakfast!
The Luggage Saved Us
We crank up and head out. My mind keeps circling back to this challenge of New York and it was affecting my appreciation of the ride. 45 minutes into the ride I noticed his luggage had begun leaning to the right. I knew based on our packing that his luggage would not fall but if it got worse it may affect his balance on the bike. Now, of course, I'm worrying about New York and my husband. His luggage continued to increase in the lean, and I decided it was time to address the issue.
We had only been on the road approximately 120 miles and waiting for the normal gas fill up at 150 was just not gonna happen. I twisted my throttle and pulled up next to him to motion for him to find a place to pull off. He pulled off the very next exit and we stopped at the top of the ramp on the shoulder. Yep, a strap had broken on his luggage and now he needed to find a better way to strap it down. Luckily he had anticipated this type of issue and had several spare cam lock straps.
Time to get back on the interstate. To our surprise, this exit did not have an on ramp back on. GPS had to navigate us through a small town, and we used this as an excuse to fill up the tanks. After every fill up we find a place to park and have a snack and use restrooms as needed. Our parking space was directly next to the end of the convenience store and there was an interesting vending machine. I have to laugh at how entertained I was by it. Live bait and tackle? Well that was new and of course I had to take a picture.
We decided to consult the GPS and confirm we were still being guided to the northern route planned in an effort to avoid the major traffic. GPS gave us a new option. It was a route even farther north and that worked for me. It added an hour to our trip but today's ride was expected to be about 4 or so hours, I didn't feel at the time this would be an issue. Route was selected, and we cranked up and headed out.
Nothing Better Than Unexpected Epic Roads!
My mind was finely clear of worry, and I was hitting that meditation state I crave on long-distance trips. Life was glorious. GPS directed us on a two-lane road that was taking us through small towns. At first, I was thinking “uh oh” I may have messed up with this route. But ya’ll, I had no idea we would get to experience the Delaware Watershed National Recreation Area. The road was closed to commercial traffic, and it was beautiful. Trees lined the road, and it followed the river most of the way. These are the moments I get spiritual. Our dreaded ride had turned into a new incredible ride memory. Moments like this are so impactful.
It was time to get back on the interstate and GPS alerted us that we had a 17-minute slow down due to construction. It was stop-and-go for at least that long but it was a pretty day and it's just part of it. While we were stuck, three cops raced up the emergency lane and to our surprise they were responding to a Penske truck that thought it would be a good idea to utilize a restricted cutover to the other side, I'm sure to get out of the traffic. He made a very poor decision. His front right tire had collapsed into the dirt on the edge of the very complicated path across and he was now very stuck. I enjoyed this bad decision-making on his part for many miles.
OMG Where did the time go?
Next stop, Freedom Road Harley-Davidson in Connecticut. We arrived around 3:15, happy to get a bathroom break and I was going to browse the store.
We picked out the poker chip first thing and I told my husband to "Go ahead and buy the chip, I need to use the bathroom!" When I finished I pulled up the handy dandy GPS to see our route to the next Harley-Davidson in Rhode Island. Suddenly I hear an alert that we will be arriving within an hour of closing. WHAT!!! We had to go. The lady who helped with the purchase of the poker chip loved hearing our story of coming from North Carolina and didn’t want us to rush off. She was wonderful and agreed to call Ocean State Harley-Davidson and ask them to please stay open if we arrived late. You never know what traffic will do, and I was terrified we wouldn’t make it. Cranking up we headed out.
We had a little over an hour ride on I-95 to get there and fortunately, traffic did not delay us. Parking our bike at 4:40 pm we strolled in to get our chip. They offered us free bottled water, and I enjoyed every drop. They also let us know they received the call and were happy we made it. Again I checked the GPS. Another alert, “You will arrive at your next destination within an hour of closing”. Only this time with only 10 minutes to spare. We didn’t even take the time to ask them to call ahead. We bolted out the door and cranked up. Now at this point, we had not eaten a meal at all. We had snacks at the first gas fill-up but not a bite since. My husband was getting hangry and not happy that I was insisting we make it to this last Harley-Davidson in Massachusetts. He was super nice but you could see the stress of hunger all over his face.
We arrived at Sheldon’s Harley-Davidson in Massachusetts at 5:53. A whole 7 minutes before closing. Quickly removing our helmets we ran in and I snapped a couple of pictures and we got our chip. It was time to get to the motel and get some food! He was not going to make it much longer. As we are putting helmets back on the owner comes out, having witnessed our race in and race out. He tells us that this particular dealership is one of the oldest in the country having been open 103 years. I was so sad we didn’t get to spend more time there. I officially need a T-shirt from Sheldon’s.
20 minutes later we unpacked bikes at the Hamilton Inn and found ourselves across the street sitting at Teddy G’s Pub and Grill. We enjoyed great food, good beer, and good conversation with a traveling businessman. These are the moments when you look back at your day and you say wow! That was so good!
Ya'll, we slept with peace knowing we were living an "endgineered4adventure" life, and it felt amazing. Go chase yours!
In Vol 3. We will head up into our "not to miss" ride in Vermont. I hope you keep following our journey.
Christy
P.S.
1. Check out the adventure we have in our home workshop by clicking here or in the menu "Shop Products and Services" and
2. Check out our Gear List Blog for our favorite gear
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