Sadly left Mom’s this morning and headed North. Luckily, she only lives 30 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway and so I hopped on the BRP and had a fine ride for about 210 miles today. I got a late start today because it was cooooooooool in the mountains.

Made it to Doughton park and camped there on the Blue Ridge. EVEN COLDER! I think my camping days this season might be over. Met a great guy, Etienne from South Africa (now Raleigh), and he was riding a V-Strom. We decided to share a camp site together and it was fun to be able to spend the evening with another motorcyclist and hear his tales of travel. We had a go at making a fire, but I was a sissy and worried about my wonderful Big Agnes tent catching some sparks, so I let it peter out. It was a full moon and we ate our dinners in the dark watching the moon ride.

Good company, good conversation, so I went to sleep content… and COLD! I never warmed up. I  had everything I owned on my person, INCLUDING my Gore Tex layers from my riding suit, and I was just cold all night.