I slept well and woke up early to get all packed and ready to go. When I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth an old man came in and started talking to me. It turns out he is the husband of the woman from last night and they have been running the campground for twenty or so years.
We were standing in front of the bathroom talking about the weather on the trip and I heard, "Do you want your ten dollars, honey?"
I shrugged and said, "Sure."
"Well, come on over and get it then," she said waving me over and turning back to go into the trailer.
I started to walk over and the old man followed, still talking. When I got to the trailer she handed me the money and said, "Money is money when you're traveling."
After I got my money they both continued to tell me all the stories about accidents that happen on the Interstate right nearby. They seemed especially interested in telling me about all the motorcycle accidents. (I'm still not sure I understand why everyone wants to tell the guy on the motorcycle about all the people they know who have been in motorcycle accidents…)
During our conversation a little black cat, Peanut, came up and started yelling at us for something. I put my hand out for him to come over and say "hi" and I was told that he doesn't like anyone but them. But within a couple of minutes Peanut was rubbing at my legs and let me pet him. I guess there is just something about me that attracts cats.
So I left Snow Shoe destined for Washington, DC to see my good friend Tim. I set the GPS to avoid Interstates and off I went.
After about an hour I was riding on US 322 along side the Juniata River. The valley was beautiful, and I stopped at a little wayside to get a closer look.
While wandering the parking lot for a stretch I met Mark, a fellow motorcyclist currently confined to a car for a business trip. He, like all other riders, expressed his jealously, but also had an interesting bit of trivia about the roads in rural Pennsylvania.
Evidently, the Amish wear ruts into the road with the wheels from their carts, and then the horses hooves polish the hump in between the ruts to a smooth finish. The result, for a motorcycle in the rain, is a slick hump that the bike won't stay on and ruts full of water on either side. Mark rides a cruiser and explained that he just put a car tire with rain tread on the rear of his bike so that he could stay alive in the rain.
Just after leaving the wayside on the Juniata I stopped in Mifflintown to refill water and go to the bathroom. While getting ready to leave again I saw an Amish man pull in and park his cart. I asked if I could take a photo because the irony killed me.
He asked if I was traveling far and I explained the trip. He didn't say much after that, but wished me a safe journey. When I was leaving the station he was back in his cart and watched me leave with the fascinated gaze of a child, as though he had never thought much about getting out of the area he lived in. I felt sort of sad for him at that moment and I hope that he finds whatever it is that he needs to satisfy the curiosity I saw in his eyes.
After Mifflintown I took a left onto PA 74 and was immediately ecstatic about the road the GPS had chosen for me. It had wonderful switchbacks and was tremendously fun to ride, unfortunately it started to rain about half way across the mountains, and all I could think about was what Mark had said about sliding off the hump and hydroplaning - that took a lot of the fun out of it.
After the rain started it mostly drizzled the whole day and I was chasing the storm and it kept looking like it was going to pour on me so I kept my rain gear on. The result was that it never really rained on me and by the time I pulled into DC I was sitting in a puddle of sweat inside my rain gear. Damn Mother Nature sometimes!
As soon as I got to Tim's house it was time to turn around and head back out to a meeting. Luckily Cory, Tim's sister-in-law, was already going to a meeting and came by the house to pick me up so I didn't have to get on the bike again.
The meeting was the Camel Group and the format was a few short speakers at the beginning, followed by a break and then a 30 minute speaker. The stories were good, and it was sort of nice to be able to sit back and not have to share for a change. Thanks, Cory!
After the meeting Tim and I got to just hang out and laugh like old times. It's good to be with a best friend!
