Monday, July 4, 2011

7.2.11 Day 10 Butch


Last night I asked Taylor and Rob to wake me up since my phone was broken. Got up before they had the chance to wake me. Got showered up and grabbed a coffee. I forgot to check in and pay last night so I filled out my card. Apparently I could have gotten a breakfast sandwich too. I’m definitely coming back to this place one day. I got back to the tent where Rob and Taylor were getting ready to leave. They were headed out for breakfast and start their day of riding. We said our farewells and they took off while I finished packing. I went back to the country store where I had dinner last night to get some water for the camelback and saw Rob and Taylor at the gas station. I tried to recommend some good roads in the area and a local mentioned Mabry Mill just a mile up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’ve been there before and told Tob and Taylor is was worth a visit since it was just up the BRP. I followed them up to the Mill and kept moving towards Roanoke with a mission. I needed a new phone and I knew what was going to happen. I’ve been holding onto my Palm Pre because I get 5 gigs of Mobile Hotspot for free. They don’t replace the Palms anymore so I would need to buy a new phone losing my free hotspot. It is tough to give up since I travel so much.



I slowly made my way up the BRP. Roanoke is only a couple hours away, then my destination for the night was only a few hours from there. The BRP is always a great road, great views plenty of riders from all over to meet and some cool stops along the way. Since my GPS cradle already went out, Ive been using my spare GPS but just putting it in my tank bag and looking at it during stops. I pulled off at the 220 exit for Roanoke and I figured I would just run into a Verizon store somewhere. There was one right off the exit, its like they were expecting me. Talked to the salesman for a while and picked out the cheapest smartphone they had and was in and out in less than an hour. Problem is that my old Palm Pre screen was broken so you couldn’t choose the option to transfer on the phone. We couldn’t find a memory card in the phone, then my Backup Assist I have been doing wouldn’t pull up either. Great, there goes a whole lot of pictures and phone numbers.

Back on the BRP, I let the new phone charge for a bit so I could play with it. I pulled off close to the end and found that I was able to pull off my old phone numbers one by one, but had to turn off the phone between every contact. This is going to take a while. The pictures are probably gone for good now though. Almost at the end of BRP, I felt a smack on my neck. Hmmmm, last time I felt this it was a bee that ended up stinging me. I better pull over. As I getting over on the first overlook I see, I feel something fluttering on my stomach, then a sting. Damn. People probably think I’m crazy when I stop suddenly and start stripping. Might as well have a snack and play with the new phone while I’m pulled over. I got a hold of Butch and he was visiting his mother in Baltimore and wouldn’t be in Front Royal until 7pm. I’ve got plenty of time. I cruised through the rest of BRP, then got off before Skyline Drive since I didn’t want to pay $10. I passed by a bike shop and made a u turn. I need some more chain lube. There were a coupe of bikes parked out front but the shop was closing soon so I just went in, bought some chain lube and left. I was looking for a Starbucks or McDonalds, I wanted to use the internet to try and catch up the blog. Found a Mickey D’s in Luray that wasn’t completely packed like the other ones I passed and ordered a smoothie then sat down for a while to download pictures and put some stuff down on paper before I forgot everything.




























Butch calls me up and tells me he’s almost home
so I pack it up and ride the rest of the 30 miles to Front Royal. Always good to see Butch. I saw him a not too long ago when I rode the BRP. We caught up real quick then went to dinner at a local pizza place called Melting Pot. We used to eat here quite a bit for lunch when we worked together on a race team in Front Royal. I left my camera in my bag and my phone on the charger so no pics of this one but it was good, you can trust me when it comes to food.

The rest of the night, we watched Pawn Stars and other random shows on tv until I fell asleep on the couch. Nice and easy day and I still fell asleep early. Tomorrow, another short day to DC.

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