Stories of the road to Florida

Hi Everyone – Kirsten here.

After leaving Virginia a little before 8:30 pm, I was just past Richmond when the GPS gave me my next marching orders, “Travel 562 miles and exit right” – easy enough. It wasn't until somewhere in North Carolina that the Sandman tried to mess up my plans. So what does any reasonable person do? They head for the Iron Butt Motel.

I took the next exit and began looking for a likely spot to rest as Mrs. Pennyworth (the voice of my GPS) repeated over and over, “Off route, recalculating.” Have you ever noticed how things look different in the wee hours of the day? The houses were all dark, but I didn’t want to just pull into anyone’s driveway. So, I found a place that looked abandoned and pulled into the sand and gravel lot. I put down my kickstand and turned off everything but the GPS (I use it to keep track of my average MPH to help me keep on pace). I then cracked my face shield and leaned forward to rest on the tank bag. For those not familiar with long-distance riding, this might sound uncomfortable, but think about when you’re on a plane. You put the dropdown tray in the lowered position and then lean forward to rest your head. Well, the bike is much more comfortable then that.

There were the usual night noises, or so I guessed. With the helmet and earplugs in I couldn’t hear much. Despite having done this a number of times, I found myself popping up like a hedgehog to look around. However, I did get the needed rest and was back on the road headed south. The rest break scenario was repeated one more time in Georgia before I crossed into Florida at 6:30 this morning. By 7:30 am I was rolling into the hotel parking lot.

“Good morning. Can I help you?” asked the front desk clerk.

“Yes, thank you. I have a reservation for this evening, but I’m a little early.” (Understatement?)

She didn’t say another thing besides confirming my reservation before asking, “Do you mind a second floor room?”

“Not at all,” I answered.

“Then we have a room ready for you.”

Hotdog! After a quick call to Jennifer to let her know I’m here and safe it was time to sleep.

Last night’s ride confirmed the advice I’ve received to take it one mile at a time. It also confirmed that I need a new clear faceshield. Unfortunately, my home shop didn’t have one and the shops open today didn’t either. But, it sounds like I’ve found one that I can get tomorrow. I hope to find one closer though. I’d rather not drive an extra 180 miles the morning before I head for California.

Got a call from Calvin “no socks” from the bmwst.com board. Tomorrow night he's hosting a dinner before I head out. This is going to be nice.

I’ve been getting requests to repost the departure information for folks who want to send me on my way. We leave tomorrow evening at 9 pm. I plan to be at the Shell gas station at 1539 3rd Street South, Jacksonville, FL 32250 at about 8:30 pm.

Thanks for all the notes and comments – I am very lucky to have such great folks around me!

And you all should help Jennifer. She took a video of my departure and tried to post it, but couldn’t get it to go. I think she just needed to let it sit for a while (one time it took over an hour to upload).

More later…..