But First! Here are some photos from KTx's camera that I forgot to post with the others in the previous entry.
This is right before we left Rochambeau Ave. in the Bronx. Everything is packed in the van and strapped to the bike. No trip is complete without a 'before' picture. :)
KTx took this picture (below) and the next of me as she was driving behind me in the van. The picture below is at the end of 206th St., just before getting gas. The picture after that one is shortly before getting onto I-95 and parting ways.
I gather this was taken with the van driving through Saint Louis, Mo. You can also see point "A and point "B" listed on the windows. :) It says "From the Bronx, to the Broncos!"...you can also see my cardboard facsimile of a license plate (or "tag" as its called on the east coast.) The NY State Temporary permit is in the back window, but you can't see it. That is why I made the cardboard one.
The first stop - DC
OK, so I am finally on the road.
After leaving the Rochambeau apartment at about 9:30 pm and stopping to fuel at a gas station, it was about 9:45 pm that Tuesday night. This would place me in DC at about 3:00 am. That was not what I had in mind. I was a little worried about falling asleep on the road after several days (weeks) of packing, loading, stressing and late nights. Fortunately I had just enough excitement about the trip to keep me awake. The larger issue was that I would be imposing on my hosts in DC by arriving so late. I felt really guilty about arriving at such a late hour, but there was nothing I could do at that point. I was spending the next two nights crashing at the home of my pastor in DC. He and his wife were really, really gracious to let me stay there, especially considering my lateness and their own full schedule.
THANKS N & B!!!!!
I allowed myself two nights and one full day in the DC/VA area. The last time I was there (weekend of Memorial Day) I went to our previous church in DC and I was able to see old friends there. I didn't see as many as I wanted as a large portion were out of town for the holiday. I was able to tell the people that I saw that Sam and I were separating. I had been putting off telling our church friends there. I wanted to do it in person. Well, I didn't want to do it at all, but if I had to then I wanted to do it face to face. The church in DC was where Sam and I attended for 12 of our 13 years. It was probably the first church we attended after our honeymoon, and where we stayed for the entire time we lived in VA. We were both active in that church and have many friends there. We both served as Deacons. I worked as one of the youth group leaders. Sam organized hiking trips for the church as well as many other things.
So anyway, I was able to say my goodbyes to the church friends on the previous trip.
This time I spent a day in Virginia seeing a couple friends there, many old co-workers at VSE, and buying a tent at REI so that I had a place to sleep that weekend.
It was good to spend a little time, one last time, with Todd & Todd. I would try to see them when I was back in VA, and this was my last chance so I'm glad things worked out. I stopped by VSE -- where I worked from 1996 - 2001 -- and met Todd for lunch. After that I stopped in the old first floor cubicle farm to see a couple people and I was surprised that I was able to see LOTS of familiar faces. I ended up staying there much longer than I intended, but it was good.
After that I stopped by one of my favorite places in Northern Virginia -- REI Outfitters. :) I had been researching tents for weeks in preparation for this trip. Yet by the time I finally chose the one I wanted at the price I wanted it would be out of stock, or the price went up significantly. So I STILL didn't have a tent even though I had already started my trip and would need a tent in which to sleep on Friday, Saturday & Sunday. I checked out all the sales throughout the store because that is what I always do whenever I go to an REI store. I almost bought a pair of light hiking pants to take with me, but the ones on sale were not available in my size. Then I looked at the selection of tents in stock. I settled on the REI Camp Dome 2.
I had initially planned to meet both Todd and Todd for lunch, but then Todd's basement flooded and he had to take care of that. I gave him a call after leaving REI just to say Hi, and he invited me over there just to hang out a little. So, I did!
Once again, it was great to hang out with Todd & his wife. (In case you have seen my motorcycle, Todd made the welded chains & highway pegs. He is an extremely good welder, among other mad skills.) We caught up on our lives for a while, but all too soon it was getting late in the day and I needed to get moving again.
I got back to my hosts later than I had hoped, but such is life sometimes. I re-packed up all my stuff and got to sleep sometime after midnight. I set my alarm back a bit so that I would be rested enough to drive all day Thursday. Thursday morning N & B treated me to breakfast and we were able to catch up a little before we all needed to go on our ways.
Below is the picture of the bike (now with a tent!) and my sweaty self. I had almost forgotten how hot & humid it was in DC! Standing outside packing the bike was warm, but I started turning into a pile of sweaty goo after putting on the motorcycle jacket. Anyway, after the picture I was off again on my epic adventure!
Aaaand, I went about 200 yards before stopping again.
Several weeks before I left NYC there had been a fatal crash of DC Metro trains. The reports said it was at/near the Fort Totten station. When I saw a map of the crash I realized it had been very near our church in DC. The train passes about a block from our church where it passes below North Capital Street. As I left I saw the memorials that people had placed on the fence over the crash site.
And then I was off again.
...well, there was one last stop in DC, but I'll add that later.
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