Eastern Shore Today

Steve and I started our day at the monthly BMW Motorcycle Club of Hampton Roads meeting. Since there wasn't too much of an organized ride afterward, Steve and I decided to go to the Eastern Shore for lunch. Oh, and to collect two more counties in Virginia.

Going to the Eastern Shore requires us to go over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel unless we take a long trip around DC. The tunnel was a $12 toll one way for each bike, then an additional $5 each bike coming back. $34 to cross over to the Eastern Shore.

Once across, we traveled up highway 13, a big 4-lane road with lots of traffic. Not very fun. But it was considerably cooler on that side of the water, probably by about 10 degrees. Anyway, we went to the Island House Restaurant in Wachapreague, Va. for lunch. It was a charming little place on the Atlantic side of the Eastern Shore, with multiple islands in view, all uninhabited.

On the way home, we took route 600 or Seaside Dr., a wonderful little 2-lane road with no cars in sight. When I saw it on the map, I was a little concerned that it would be a lot of stops, but there were maybe only two stop signs in 40 miles. If only the tunnel wasn't so expensive, we might actually take that trip more often.

Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out the GPS quite yet. I had created a route on Mapquest that should have brought us down Seaside Dr., and sent it to the GPS. But when we started to leave the restaurant, it changed it the fastest route, even though I imported it as a custom route. It was still nice to have though as I just watched it and decided the route as we went.

Another wonderful day on our bikes, about 172 miles total today.  Of course, that means another weekend of my yard not getting mowed. Yikes!

Oh and my son, Taylor, got his motorcycle license this weekend after taking the motorcycle basic rider course. So proud of him, and of course, a little worried.  Taylor is 20 and goes to college at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., about a 3-hour drive from Norfolk. This will be great on the gas mileage. He has a 1996 Honda CB750 Nighthawk.

GPS Initiation

The new GPS is really great, though I do have a bit of a learning curve with it. I need to figure out multiple destination points versus "via" points. A couple of wrong turns today but not too bad.

We rode 340 miles total today and collected seven additional counties in Virgina. I won't add that map just yet as it seems somewhat insignificant compared against the rest of the country. When we finish Virginia, I will add another map. That's only 35 more counties to go.

Today's trip was quite awesome, as they always are. Even with the heat, as long as we kept moving, it was just fine. Both Steve and I had been in areas of Virginia we had never been, including passing George Washington's birthplace in Westmoreland County.

We did end up at Morton's BMW in Fredricksburg and miraculously didn't spend any money there. I did pick up my heated jacket which was being repaired, but that was a warranty item, and obviously something I don't need for a few months.

Steve and I daydreamed today about taking a year off from work, in about 10 years or so, and just traveling the country by motorcycle. That will make for a great blog. So, now we have a goal. Pay off all bills, sell most everything, then just go...

Dream Class

This is my dream class in case any one wanted to buy this for me. (haha)  Maybe in a few years, Steve and I can save up enough money to take this class. Looking forward to it.

New Farkle

Just got a GPS today for my motorcycle. Got a Garmin Nuvi 660 with a specific mount for my motorcycle. I'm playing with the whole mapping of a day trip on map quest and sending to the GPS. Guess I'll find out how well that works when we try it out this weekend. Also not sure if it's going to bluetooth itself to my scala rider (headphone).

Initially, I didn't really want a GPS because I really enjoy mapping out my route on a good ole fashion paper map.  That works, and I can write out all my turns on a piece of paper and put them on my tank bag. Problem is I don't always see the turn coming and we have to make a lot of U turns. Or, if it was really not obvious, we might actually make a 25-mile detour (which happened on the Key West trip). Luckily, Steve doesn't seem to care, just follows my every move and doesn't complain when I make a wrong turn or miss a turn.

I finally decided, though that with the GPS, I can still map it out on the big paper map, then create the route on MapQuest and then send it to the GPS. Then I plug it into my motorcycle and I still get to take all the out-of-the-way roads I want to take, but the GPS will warn me when the turn is coming up. I can live with that. :)

The other cool thing is that I can use this GPS in my car which is not equipped with GPS. And somehow, I can make phone calls through it, which means I'll be hands free. Just got to figure out how that works.

Speaking of new things, also got new tires for the GS today. Steve changed them himself. So, I've taken off the knobbies in favor of a more street friendly version. Looking forward to testing them when it stops raining.

The map attached is the route I created on mapquest that will help us collect some counties we haven't been in yet. Total of 320 miles. It will be a long day, but fun. And, oh bummer, we have to make a stop at Morton's BMW in Fredricksburg so I can pick up a jacket they were repairing for me. 

Jonesin

I'm ready for a motorcycle ride. It's been a few weeks and I miss it. It's too hot to just ride it to work, so need a nice long Saturday ride with Steve. Think we are going to try to capture some counties next weekend that we haven't been in yet. This is a map with the counties that we have ridden in together since I started riding in August of 2009.