Blue Ridge Parkway - July 1, 2022 Jump Day

The Jump Day is our travels to the muster point to begin our journey. Magellan is coming from Tennessee, Butter Cup is coming from Mississippi, and Francois is coming from Chicago, Illinois.

We are all meeting in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

I left very early due the threat of rain: wheels up at 4:20 am. Further, I took the interstate highways for the first 200 miles - to put distance between me and the incoming weather front. I am not a fan of riding the interstate highways, but I hate riding in the rain more than I hate interstates.

Further, the traffic was surprisingly light - so I took full advantage of the interstates and put down some tracks. 

Central and southern Illinois is one big corn/soybean field. It is relatively flat, and soybeans and corn stretch for hundreds of miles. 

There is not a lot to see. 

Once I crossed over into Indiana, I got off the Interstate and rode the US Highways. I know that there are Amish communities in northern Indiana. But I did not know there were Amish communities in southern Indiana. 

Two of  three hiccups were navigational. Harley engineering strikes again with the GPS/sat nav sending me in the wrong direction. While the ride was great, it extended the trip. 

The third hiccup was that I was driving on a US highway, and came upon stopped traffic. While my Harley is liquid cooled, I am still concerned about overheating and the requirement of an oil change in that event. I patiently waited in the 92 degree heat, and nothing moved. I saw a medivac helicopter fly in, it did a recon, and then slowly landed on what I thought was a roadway - about 2 to 3 miles in the distance. Given the heat, the fear of overheating and having the attention span of a gnat; I turned around and took an alternative route. 

But I did reward myself. For those who didn't know, I love Waffle House. And so to compensate me for these extensive delays, I stopped into Waffle House for lunch.

After 500 miles on the bike over 10 hours, I arrived at our hotel at almost the exact same time as Magellan and Buttercup. Timing is everything.

Tomorrow we start our trip. The shenanigans include visiting Tammy Wynette's childhood home, and June Carter Cash's childhood home. I was voted down on visiting bourbon distilleries. 

The weather is calling for rain tomorrow. Did I mention that I hate riding in the rain!