I love camping. It’s so simple. It’s pretty cool to carry a little home neatly packed in a small space in the luggage. Quick set up, do a bit of the nightly clean up ritual, a time to relax and write, then off to bed in a cozy little temporary space I can call home for the night. Wake up, prayers & meditation, clean up, pack & I’m off… It’s so simple and easy!
Today was a lazy day. I took my time at breakfast to do some budgeting and some planning for the next few days. I’m thinking of going to ride the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. From what I read online, they look awesome! A perfect way to enjoy the motorcycle experience. It’s quite a way down South, so I better take the interstate highways to get there. By the time I hit the road, it’s 10:30AM: I better get moving!
Man! The highways are long and straight and busy. Definitely not as fun as the back roads, but it’s a different experience. There’s usually a lot more landscape to see as they are most often higher than the back roads in this part of the country. Also, there are a lot more services available to motorists on these big interstate roads, so I tend to stop a lot, and sometimes, I stop for a little too long.
I found a little bit of home today on one of these stops: a Tim Hortons! The doughnut tastes quite different than back home, but the coffee is the same. I definitely took a little too long on that break. My butt is taking a beating these days!
While I was looking for another place to take a moment to check on the road ahead, I found signs to a restaurant called Vincent’s Italian Restaurant & Pizza in Afton, NY; I just had to eat there! Pizza was good and the service was awesome! I must remember that everything is huge here…
After that delicious and very filling meal, I head back onto the highway to go as far as I can before I must camp for the night. I usually plan to start looking for a campsite about an hour before sundown so I have time to set up camp and relax a little. This time, I found a place called Camp-a-While. It’s next to the highway, but it’ll do for tonight. No other tent campers tonight, so it should be nice and quiet. As I set up the tent, I bang on my thumb while hammering a pick with a stone and I cut its tip open. Not that bad, but dang! Oh well, better get the first aid kit out: I’m prepared!
Well, I have another long road ahead before I get to the parkways so I’m off to bed. I look forward to more exploration tomorrow!
[Click the “Next” link at the bottom of the page for the next article in the series.]
