2024 Milwaukee Run – Day 7

Chilly start again today. I set an alarm for 7:15am to make sure I was up on time. Turns out I didn’t really need it because there’s plenty of traffic the road in front of my campsite. And it’s really loud on this gravel road. Plus, there’s a rooster, and he’s up early doing what roosters do. And…. there just so happens to be a woodpecker out here somewhere, and he’s not quiet. He’s not making a lot of noise but he’s close because when he gets to headbanging it’s loud. I was awake before 7:00am but didn’t get moving until my alarm went off.

I finally got up, got camp broken down and was back on the road shortly after 8:00am. The sky was overcast but there shouldn’t be any rain in my path today. This is the first cloud cover I’ve seen since Sunday morning. We wind our way along the creek back through the back country and soon make our way to I-81 south.

We’ll be on interstate for all but a few miles today. Our first scheduled stop is just over 300 miles away. We’re just a few minutes from the West Virginia border and from there it’s just about 20 miles before we cross into Virginia. By the time we cross into Virginia the cloud cover has cleared and I get back to clear blue skies. But even with my jacket on, it’s still chilly. Not enough to give me the shakes but close.

We’re just under 100 miles into the day before I have to pull off to fill up. I also need a fresh water and a Red Bull pick me up, it’s needed earlier today. After filling up I always pull up to a parking space to free up the pump. Laurelin gets a few comments from few folks but the last one, Tim, tells me he never comes up to strangers but likes the bike and wants to say hello. He then spends the next ten minutes telling me all about Christ and how to ensure I get into Heaven. He’s a nice guy about my age and isn’t some overzealous nut so I let him do his thing. As we part he pulls a mini booklet out of his pocket and hands it to me to read later. My first thoughts are, “You don’t ever do this? You just happen to have this booklet in your pocket? How many more of these are in your pocket or glovebox?”

We’re soon back on the road. The highway moves quickly and though traffic is pretty heavy, it moves well. I rarely slow to under the posted 70mph speed limit and the general flow is moving at 80mph so we’re making good time.

Harrisonburg is the first large town we come to where the speed limit drops, home of James Madison University. Speed drops to 60mph but Harrisonburg isn’t a big city so we’re back up to normal speed quickly. There are no major cities in our path today, which is good because we all hate sitting in traffic.

Most of the view today is the same as late yesterday, tree covered mountain sides. Occasionally I’ll get a nice view of some open farmland but it’s generally trees. I’m making good time so at lunch time I pull off for some lunch in Daleville. The Town Center Taphouse is just a couple of miles off the highway. Lunch today is a Drewban sandwich, a play on the Cuban sandwich, and is an incredibly pressed sandwich. I’ve never seen a Cuban pressed so thinly, but it’s good, though I can only stomach about half of it.

It’s not long after lunch when I have to pull off for a second fill up. It’s warmed up enough that I’m starting to get hot on the road, so I stow the jacket. Not long now before reaching Wytheville where we cut north to Bluefield, West Virginia. I-77 runs north from Wytheville and is another mountain interstate that runs pretty good but does have some tighter, slower turns and good bit of elevation changes. It also has two tunnels.

The thirty minute ride into Bluefield doesn’t seem to take very long. Bluefield is a very hilly mountain town and the Cole Harley-Davidson dealership sits on one. It’s a quick trip inside to purchase my chips and then I’m back on the road, doubling back to Wytheville. I have to go back through the same two tunnels and the view is the same but this time I’m seeing the opposite sides of the mountains I just passed through.

Another 30 minutes goes by quickly and I am soon at the Black Bear Harley-Davidson dealership. The young lady at the sales counter is the first to ask me if I am a Harley rewards member, and I am so she ask my name and number. As soon as I give her the area code to my phone number she says something about it being a Texas number. How does she know that? She used to live in Texas. Where? The Killeen/Fort Hood area, same as me. We both find this incredibly coincidental and I end up telling her my story, including how I write on this blog site every night of the trip. I’ve gave her the web address so, Katelyn, if you do happen to read this, it was an absolute pleasure getting to meet you today.

It’s another quick 30 minutes into Marion, Virginia where I am going to stop tonight. I need a room with a soft bed and warm shower. I’m starting to get short, sharp spasms in my back when I get off the bike and move around. I’m at the Red Roof Inn which I think has a pretty good overall reputation. This one, not so great. It’s bringing back memories from another motel stay on Dad and I’s last trip together.

The seasonal pool is near empty and what water is in the deep end is green and full of debris. There’s light visible through the left side of the door as well as duct tape along the bottom of it. There are several spot on the walls that are a different shade of tan then the rest, obvious touch ups. There’s also a few white plaster spots in the walls. The bathroom counter extends only about two thirds of the way from the door towards the back wall, they usually go all the way across. The toilet paper holder sits at the end of the counter close to the mirrored wall, out of arms reach from the toilet. The desk chair won’t pull out from under the desk, I have to lift the desk up to get the chair to slide back. The lower mount of the right arm is missing a bolt and someone has place that end on the seat making the arm higher than it should be. The arm swings towards the floor once I slide it off the seat. I do report the chair to the office, just in case they try to blame me later.

Dinner is at a little place call the Wooden Pickle, not sure about the name as I didn’t get a chance to ask, my bartender seemed more interested in someone I took to be a regular. Marion is a small town. There’s a few shops and eateries on this little strip and all the parking is on the street. Dinner is just a simple Cobb salad but I do get the full sized one and I’m able to eat it all.

I’m back at the room. I haven’t checked the water and have yet to pull back the bedcovers but the AC works, TV works and WiFi works. I don’t have very high hopes of this bed doing any wonders for my back but we’ll see what happens. Tomorrow I’ll head for Nashville.Should be a bit of a short day and more than likely another, better, hotel stay. And with that I’ll sign off, Good Night!