July 15, 2011 Asheville, NC

July 15, 2011 Asheville, NC

I left my sister Beulah’s early the morning of August 12, heading south from Pennsylvania on Interstate 81.  Interstates, or the Slab, are my least favorite routes.  They tend to be straight, flat, and boring, with lots of chain restaurants and motels in route.  They are also efficient; it was very hot and muggy so lots of miles at 45 MPH on the Blue Ridge Parkway sounded less than inviting.

I stayed on Interstate 81 to Wytheville, VA, 448 miles from my sister’s, and added West Virginia to my list of states, though I was only there for 23 miles.   Amazing how much better time I make on the Interstate, but not amazing enough to make it fun.  I stopped early, keeping open the option of running down the Blue Ridge Park Way the next day.

The next morning, August 13, I turned off the Interstate and picked up the Blue Ridge Parkway.  What a beautiful part of the world!  Check out some pictures at http://s1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/gypsyjudge/  Sorry, but I couldn’t create a hyperlink today, so you’ll have to copy & paste.

It was only 250 miles to my niece’s in Asheville, so I made a lazy day of it.  The 45 MPH speed limit wasn’t an issue, and the terrain is beautiful.  Perhaps because it was a little higher in altitude, it was a little less hot than the Interstate but no less muggy.  I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, until the gnats came out.  They were biting gnats.  I have vents on my helmet to circulate the air on hot, muggy days, as well as a vent in my windshield for the same purpose.  The vents turned into gnat runways.  One gnat flew in a helmet vent and slowly crawled across my scalp, to be joined by his cousin who went straight for my eyelid.  After strolling between my eyebrow and eyelash, she signaled to the cousin on the high road, and they both began to bite.  The gnat on the eyelid wasn’t satisfied with an ordinary bite, so she pushed the “Swell” button.  I tried opening the face shield to scratch and was greeted by a couple dozen more gnats.  About this time, I came to an overlook, stopped, and jerked off my helmet to scratch shamelessly.  Then I carefully closed each vent, lowered the full-face shield, and jammed the helmet back on my head.  Before I got the strap connected, there were two more gnats playing hide-and-go-seek in my hair.  It was too hot to keep the vents closed, and there were way too many gnats to keep them open.  I was at least two hours north of Asheville.  At times I was able to take a very Zen approach to the gnats; other times, there was a high-pitched whine in my helmet, me at my un-Zen like best.

July 13 was my mother’s birthday; she would have been 97 years old.  She often talked of the Bay of Fundy, though she didn’t get to see it.  So when I got to Maine, I knew I had to make a slight detour to New Brunswick and Fundy Bay.  I had to see it, for Mom.  She had a grand time, through my eyes.

I’m at my niece’s in Asheville, and will leave tomorrow.  It may sound like I’m resting a lot these days, but that’s only because I am 😉 They have scheduled some publicity for my arrival in Key West, and they simply don’t want me there so quickly. So I’ve enjoyed a couple of days visiting with my niece and her husband and playing with their 5 yr old and 2 yr old.  I’ve washed clothes yet again, and chilled out.

On this long trek, I’ve received several warm invitations to stop & visit friends.  And generally I’ve been unable to make that happen because I’m wholly unable to schedule.  At best, I’ve known where I’ll be tomorrow; at worst, I’ve been uncertain where I am today.  If I had a couple of more months for this sojourn, perhaps then I would have been better.

In case you’re counting, I’ve ridden 10,703 miles, through 26 states and 4 provinces.  I’m about 950 miles from Key West and 1,800 miles to my point of beginning, my grandkids and my dog.