I woke up early to the sounds of people leaving. I got my stuff together so all I really needed to do was put it on the bike and take the tent down, but I didn't get up until I heard a familiar voice. It was a while and I dozed back off.
When I finally did hear someone I knew, it was the eFnWife mentioning the possibility of breakfast, but nothing was definite yet. I started stuffing things in bags and needed to tend to the chain due to the wet weather the previous day before I could put any luggage on the bike.
While I was doing that, someone said something about leaving in 10 minutes but I knew I was more than 10 minutes away from being close to ready. I mentioned it to MrsTwisty and told her they should just leave with out me, but the frustration at being rushed again was already there. I'd had my fill of it the day before and was looking forward to the leisurely morning we'd discussed the night before.
Hot tears of frustration stung my eyes as I took my time loading the bike. I was ready for them to leave me alone but those tears were construed as something else and soon I had a lot of help taking down the tent and getting the bike loaded. They were going to wait after all. I was ambiguous because my desire to have breakfast with them was quickly going away. After all the effort they went through to help, I felt obligated.
I still got left before I could even get my jacket on. I tried not to rush too much, I could feel theWolf nipping at my heels. He'd been pretty content all weekend, but I suspected I was pushing it. Adding stress was not the answer. As soon as I buckled my helmet, I took off but by the time I reached the entrance, they were long gone.
I remembered hearing something about breakfast on the BRP near the closed end so I headed that way. I had to go that way to get to Auntie's anyway so it wasn't out of the way. By the time I got near the turn for the BRP, I hadn't caught up to the group and had decided that I'd keep going because I wasn't sure if this was the right direction any way.
But I saw them, and made a last minute turn to follow. Once on BRP, I started getting cold and realized in my haste not to be left, I hadn't zipped my jacket. I took it for as long as I could before I pulled over and zipped the jacket, which turned out to be a curve or two away from our destination the Pisagah Inn, I think.
After breakfast, I let the group leave me while I took the time I hadn't before to check my load and get things situated the way I wanted. I tried to sneak away from breakfast early so that I could do that and still join them but when they were right on my heels, as they had been the day before, I knew enough was enough. I didn't want to hold any one up and looked forward to setting my own pace for the day.
I also changed my route home to take the easy way. I wanted to ride 178 again, this time by daylight, but opted to get to Auntie's as simply as possible. That turned out to be BRP back to 276 to 64 to I-26 to I-20 to the new I-520 extension to Aunties. No need to map that, it was pretty boring and gradually hotter the closer I got to Augusta. I left the Inn around Noon and stopped once at a waterfall where I ran into wheaton who was taking pictures.
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| Looking Glass Falls on US276 |
We took pictures and said our goodbyes after I thanked him for organizing a wonderful meet. i don't have the pics now because I accidentally deleted them when I was trying to delete the video I took of this:
It sang "keep them dawgies moving, Rawhide!!".
I met a lady and her husband who were happy to see another female rider and chatted with them a bit before hitting the slab. I'd forgotten it was hotter on the slab than on regular streets and stopped just outside Columbia to cool down and re-fuel. Just as I was getting back on the highway, a shower came cooling me off even more. By the time I transitioned to I-20, the shower was gone but on the other side of Columbia, I rode through another one just as I was getting hot. About the time I was thinking of pulling over, I noticed other riders on the opposite side and figured it couldn't be raining if I kept moving.
Sure enough, moments later I rode out of it. I stopped again at the big 44 and bought peaches for Mom before making my last blast to Aunties. At that stop, I decided to reattach the gps mount to the plate that had worked it's way loose but forgot to put the bluetooth receiver back in it's spot. When I was accelerating to get on the highway, I felt something hit my arm then saw it bouncing down the road behind me right into the bumper of a Ford truck.
No need to stop and I had another one at home. I guess it was good that I had two after all. As I rode down the road, it felt like something was biting me or stinging me in the back near the spot where I felt the twinge the night before when I tried to get the bike off of the side stand. I couldn't feel anything so I pressed on. I got to Aunties around 5 in time for dinner and her to rush us out of the door. I'd fantasized about a nap before getting back on the road, but Auntie's demeanor and Mom waiting impatiently by the door changed my mind.
I'd hoped not to put Baby back on the the trailer, but Mom said she was too tired to drive home. A couple of hours later, the bike was on the trailer, the Kia was packed, and we were heading home. I got a energy shot when we gassed up before getting back on I-20 to go home.
It turned out to be a good thing the bike was on a trailer because we drove through rain for about an hour. We got home right at 11. Ending a long day. I had mom check my back in that spot and she said it was swollen.
The next morning it hurt and Mom told me she thought I'd pulled a muscle handling the ramps for the trailer and all the other heavy stuff I had to carry the day before. Probably all that combined with trying to get the bike up when I knew I shouldn't have.
I spent less than $200 for the whole weekend (including lodging, meals, beer, gas, and snacks) and rode around 900 miles. All in all, it was a great weekend and I look forward to the FZ1 rally even more than before.
Thanks for sharing.
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