It's Raining!

Day 7 Thursday, April 23, 2010

My alarm went off at 6 AM as usual. I got up and got dressed. I looked out the window and it was raining. Jan and I had parked our Motors just outside our window. The covers were on and they were both wet. I was done so I walked over to the breakfast room. I left Jan in bed, asleep. I got on the lobby computer and plinked for a while. When I was done, Ken arrived and took over the plinking. I went in and started breakfast. Chuck came in and joined me. Ken soon joined us also. C.E. walked in and had breakfast and eventually Rip Van Marshall came in. For those who don't know who Rip Van Marshall is, it is Jan. We all had breakfast and a gentleman was in there with his family and started talking to Bruce and Ken. He had asked about our ride and then told Bruce and Ken that he and friends had gone on some very long rides. He told us that he had gone on a 4 month ride. He said that he and his friend go out without any maps and whatever road looks good to them, they follow it until something pops up.

Since it was raining, we weren't in any hurry to leave. We had designated today as "Laundry Day." We were going to leave the motel and find a laundromat and four of the guys needed to wash. Bruce did his laundry last night at the motel. We all went to our rooms and relaxed until about 9:25 AM when Chuck called me on my cell phone. He told me that if it was OK with us, we would leave as soon as we packed our Motors and head out to the laundryman. It was OK with us and we packed up our Motors. It was still raining as we packed our Motors. We rode around to the front of the motel where everyone else was there and ready. We left at 9:49 AM with Jan leading.

Jan led us to the laundromat which was 2.7 miles away. Six bikers walked into the laundromat and I think that we scared the people. There were several patrons washing clothes. We made ourselves at home and the four guys did their laundry. We talked with some of the people there and they asked us about our Motors and our trip. They no longer seemed to be scared.

As Jan was doing his wash, he walked away from us and soon returned with more clothes. He had taken off his pants and was ONLY wearing his rain pants. He had his clothes in his hands. Chuck asked Jan if he was "going commando." Jan responded that he was. Chuck had that little gleam in his eye and he left us for a while and returned with his clothes in his hands. He was only wearing his rain pants. He told Jan that he was "going commando" also. The laundry was done and packed and we were ready to go. We left at 12:05 PM and Jan was still leading.

We rode through several towns including a town called Versailles. There was a huge castle with four towers on a large piece of property. Chuck googled it castle on his new phone (Droid) and told us that it belonged to a couple who had gone to Europe in 1969. Upon their return, they had it build. There was a fire inside the castle in 2006 and it was remodeled and finished in 2008. It is now used as a Bed and Breakfast or for fundraisers for Corporations. Funny, there was a castle, however, there was no moat and we didn't see any dragons. I think that if there were dragons, Ken would have enjoyed going over and petting them. After all, we didn't go into the Roswell Museum where they may have had an alien petting zoo. We don't know. We didn't go inside. We were there, but we didn't go inside! OK, enough of that. We continued east and took a road that kept us from going through Lexington. The by-pass took us around the city. We got off SR 4 and stopped after 55.3 miles at a Wendy's for lunch. We stopped at 1:13 PM. I bet you thought that I was going to say Subway! While in the Wendy's, I had a man come up to me and start telling me about how his son slipped on some water by the counter. I think that is what he said, it was very hard to understand him. If you have seen the movie, "The Water Boy," this man reminded me of the actor who played the assistant football coach. He had a very thick cagen accent and it was very hard to understand what he was saying. THAT is what this man in Wendy's reminded me of. Lexington is also a University town. the University of Kentucky is in this city. As we were about to leave, two co-eds came in. We left. We didn't need to be there. We left at 2:15 PM.

Jan took us another 8.9 miles into the outskirts of Lexington where we stopped at 2:35 PM for gas. We also used this as our after lunch break. We took off some of our rain gear because it had not rained for a while. We were taking a chance that it would not rain on us again. We left at 2:55 PM with Ken in the lead.

We rode through small towns again. (there are many in this part of the country) As we rode through these towns and on US 60, it had rained earlier and the streets were wet. We all didn't feel very comfortable riding on the wet streets with all of the curves and cars pulling out in front of us. Ken led us for 46.0 miles and stopped at 4:04 PM in Owingsville. We made a pit stop and discussed where we were going to go. We decided to make our goal for tonight in a town names Barbourville, WV. There is a Best Western motel there. I showed the map to Chuck, Jan, Ken and C.E. I told the guys which exit to get off of and the Best Western would be close by. Chuck suggested that since it was late in the day that maybe we should take the interstate and get there quicker. Taking the interstate would mean that we would not take US 60 and ride all of the winding roads at a slower speed and the street is wet. W all agreed. We left at 4:26 PM and Ken led us to I-64.

We made good time. We left Kentucky and entered West Virginia. We got to the exit for the Best Western. Ken was leading, C.E. was next, followed by Chuck, then Bruce, then me and Jan. The exit was a "clover leaf" and as we rounded the road, there was a huge building in front of us with a huge "Best Western" sign. As we straightened out and approached the light, there was a fork in the road. The left lane took us to the Best Western while the lane on the right took you through town and back to US 60. Ken took the right lane with C.E., Chuck and Bruce following. Ken and I took the left lane because we saw the Best Western. We got to the light and stopped for the red. I expected the rest to make a u-turn and come back. They didn't. Jan and I went on to the Best Western and arrived at 5:54 PM. We had ridden 94.2 more miles. While we were waiting, Jan went inside to make a pit stop while I went in to make "the deal." I was told that they were all booked up. We waited by our Motors for the rest. Soon, Chuck and Bruce arrived. We told them that the Best Western was booked up. We asked about Ken and C.E. Chuck told us that he didn't know where Ken was and that C.E. was behind them and then he wasn't. Jan and I rode a block away to check on the Holiday Inn. Chuck told us that he and the others would wait for C.E. to arrive. Jan and I went to the Holiday Inn and "made the deal." I called Chuck on the cell and told him. He later called me and told me that C.E. had arrived and they were coming over. All 6 of us were together again. We checked into the Holiday Inn and took our bags to the rooms. After we secured our bags in the rooms, all of us, except Bruce, rode to Famous Dave's for dinner. Bruce told us that he was going to stay at the hotel and work out. We finished dinner and returned to the hotel, parking our Motors and tucking them in for the night.

Today we had a late start because of laundry day. We did manage to ride a total of 207 miles. Tomorrow we hope to get out of West Virginia and into Virginia. Chuck was looking at the Atlas and mentioned a couple of scenic roads. We will see what happens. So, until tomorrow...