Day 7 – I’m a Celebrity… get me outta here (not)

Today is my partners birthday… I don’t know how I managed to arrange my holiday without considering this as I could easily have booked a flight for tomorrow instead of last week… I think I had a brain fart!  Anyway happy birthday my love… mwah!

Anyway, this morning I find that breakfast is included, I prepare to be underwhelmed…. and I am right.  There is nothing but a few small cakes and cornflakes.  I have a small bowl of cornflakes and a coffee, the cakes don’t look very nice so I don’t bother.

I am up quite late so don’t get on the road until gone 11, packing the bike up takes some time and I know from experience that it will get quicker as I get used to taking it on and off.  The trolley I bought at the airport is invaluable, a very good buy even though its a pain to find somewhere for it to live on the bike, again that will come with time.

I stupidly left my phone in the sun while I was packing up so when I want to set up my route the phone is cooked and I have to wait for it to cool down before it will work. At last its fine and I set course for….. Niagara Falls.  I really wanted to stay and have a look around the Colonial Triangle, Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, such an historic area, but I need to get out of Virginia, not because I don’t like it, au contraire I think it is a beautiful place, it’s just that I feel like time is slipping way and I have a long journey ahead of me.

I have also decided to miss out Martha’s Vineyard, an island in the Nantucket Sound, which is famous in the Deaf world as prior to the mid 20th century it was known for the common usage of Sign Language as described in the book, ‘Everybody Here Speaks Sign Language’.  Almost all the residents of Martha’s Vineyard both Deaf and non-Deaf signed, it was probably the most unique place in the world for Deaf people.  Sadly that is no longer true, I’m not sure why.  The other item of note is the smaller island of Chappaquiddick that is connected by a sand bridge to Martha’s Vineyard.  This is where Teddy Kennedy caused the death of a young woman when he drove his car off a bridge and she died. It was quite the international news item at the time because he didn’t report the accident until some time after. He was either found or pleaded guilty I seem to recall.

So it’s off to Niagara Falls, just 600ish miles so probably 3 days ride.

Today is glorious, hardly a cloud in the sky so I’m not worried about getting wet today.

I get onto the interstate and make my way back towards Washington DC then into Maryland and Pennsylvania so about 250ish miles before I stop for the night.

Not long after I join the interstate I look in my mirror and see that the bag has decided to try and fall off… eeek!!  I pull off at the next opportunity and then pull in at the side of the road.  The bag is almost sideways, I want to take a photo but the bloody phone has overheated again… come on apple sort this out!

While I am trying to tie it back on I hear a car pull up behind me… oh oh, methinks, here we go again ‘you should have blah blah’ so I turn around and blimey its a copper, lucky I was smiling… he asks me if I am ok and I say oh yes just a luggage problem.  He asks me if I need any help and I politely refuse but thank him anyway.  He was very nice and it was kind of him to offer to help.  I wish I had taken his offer as it is a real struggle to get the bag to sit properly on the seat… that’s the problem with Harleys not having a centre stand, they alway lean quite a way over to the left, which means the bag wants to dive off the bike, although it did behave itself this morning.  It takes a further 10 minutes to get it sorted, holding the bag with one hand and trying to lash it down with the other…

All sorted and tied down so hard they are rock solid.  I stop for lunch around  2.30 at a place called Mechanicsville… boy what a name.  Starbucks of course, I really do like their coffee.  What! I’m still in Virginia.. get out of here.. I’m beginning to think I’ll never leave.

Back onto the interstate and just in time to catch the rush hour traffic around DC… deep joy.  On to the next interstate and the traffic eases off once I have crossed the border into Maryland.  Before long it’s time for another stop.

It’s 7pm so I get my evening meal… pizza… yummy and think that it’s time to book tonights accommodation. I have a look on booking.com and see that I am about 50 miles from Gettysburg, another popular tourist spot I’m sure.  I see there is a Super 8 near there.. no thanks! I find a small motel, the Blue Sky Motel, which seems to have good reviews so I book in there.  It’s about another 50 miles or so north and just over the border into Pennsylvania.

By the time I have got back on the bike the light is beginning to fade and the air is a lot cooler.  After a while I stop and put on my jacket.  There is lightning in the distance.. oh please don’t come this way.  No sooner have I thought that than the gps routes me towards it… grrrrr.  Now I am praying I arrive at the Motel before the rain arrives at me. Driving in the dark now and the bugs are everywhere; some are really big… ouch that hurt!!

Phew made it.  The motel is ok.. the room is decked out in wood panelling, very 70’s, but it is clean and that is good enough.

Sorry no pics today… the camera was strapped into the bag and there’s no way I was undoing it and the iPhone just keeps over heating.

Nite.