We made it! Arrived at our hotel in Old Town Alexandria about 12:00. The two rooms I had reserved were ready and four of us checked in and relaxed. The other guys who had a separate reservation found that there was one king size bed...for 3 of them! It took the hotel about an hour to get another room ready. Finally, we all got settled in and decided to go get some lunch.
We left Staunton, VA at 9:00am. We really enjoyed sleeping in. As I told you yesterday, we decided to take the faster route down the Interstate...about 155 miles. Almost immediately, the traffic on the Interstate got heavy and got worse the closer we got to DC. By the time we got to Fairfax, VA it was very heavy headed into the city...maybe tourists.
We only made one stop today...about half-way. We topped off our tanks, walked around a little and then got back on the road. Our leader drove faster today than any of the other days...guess he was ready to get there...I think most of us agreed...at least I heard no complaints.
For any Civil War buffs out there, this trip could have been very interesting...if we had the time to stop along the way. Of course, we traveled through Vicksburg, but we also saw several famous battle field sites in West Virginia and Virginia as well. Today I saw signs for Shenandoah, Charlottesville and Manassas. I think that I'd like to make the trip again but next time have time to do more sightseeing.
After lunch today, I and one of the guys made a trip to a motorcycle dealership nearby to see if I could find a more suitable helmet than the one I've been wearing...we didn't. Then we went to a Radio Shack to get a small adapter for my GPS so I could hear the directions...might be easier to navigate in the city...the screen is hard to read in the daylight.
When we came back out, my friend's motorcycle wouldn't start. I pushed him all over the parking lot, but popping the clutch wouldn't get it started. Then I remembered I had a set of jumper cables for just such an occasion. Unfortunately, my battery is under the seat so we had a little work to do to expose it. Once everything was disassembled, we jumped his bike and decided to head to a Wal-Mart, where he bought the battery. When we got to Wal-Mart we discovered that they didn't have an auto service.
We decided to head back to the same motorcycle dealer we had visited earlier. The guys in the service department checked the battery and determined that it had the capability to hold a full charge but it did not have a full charge...this was the second time that he had had this problem. The service guy agreed to take the battery and give it a full charge...thinking it would be good for the trip back because it seemed to be getting charged when he checked it. He told us to come back in 30 minutes.
We walked down the parking lot to a fast food place and drank a soda while we waited. When we went back the guy reinstalled the battery the bike turned over and started...barely. With a full charge, it should have started much more easily. The service tech figures it is either a starter or a voltage regulator...or something in the charging system. They said that if we come back tomorrow around 9:30am...they open at 10:00am...they'll make sure he's the first to be waited on. They aren't at all sure they can fix his problem though. His bike is a Honda and the dealership only sells Suzuki and Yamaha. I guess we'll see what happens.
There are not scheduled activities set for Saturday. Earlier in the trip, one of the guys went last year suggested we visit one of the local Harley dealerships as they sell all the event patches and t-shirts...and sew the patches on if you want them to. You can get both at the wall but the dealership will be less crowded. The remainder of the day...until 5:30pm when I'm supposed to go to a mandatory meeting about Sunday...we will do some sightseeing.
I was planning on visiting our friends the Esteps in Fairfax but I couldn't get hold of them today and they haven't returned my phone call. Perhaps I will have time to visit a few places...including the Viet Nam Wall and perhaps the Air and Space Museum annex near Dulles.
No pictures tonight...something wrong with my internet connection/computer. I'll try in morning. See you tomorrow.
We left Staunton, VA at 9:00am. We really enjoyed sleeping in. As I told you yesterday, we decided to take the faster route down the Interstate...about 155 miles. Almost immediately, the traffic on the Interstate got heavy and got worse the closer we got to DC. By the time we got to Fairfax, VA it was very heavy headed into the city...maybe tourists.
We only made one stop today...about half-way. We topped off our tanks, walked around a little and then got back on the road. Our leader drove faster today than any of the other days...guess he was ready to get there...I think most of us agreed...at least I heard no complaints.
For any Civil War buffs out there, this trip could have been very interesting...if we had the time to stop along the way. Of course, we traveled through Vicksburg, but we also saw several famous battle field sites in West Virginia and Virginia as well. Today I saw signs for Shenandoah, Charlottesville and Manassas. I think that I'd like to make the trip again but next time have time to do more sightseeing.
After lunch today, I and one of the guys made a trip to a motorcycle dealership nearby to see if I could find a more suitable helmet than the one I've been wearing...we didn't. Then we went to a Radio Shack to get a small adapter for my GPS so I could hear the directions...might be easier to navigate in the city...the screen is hard to read in the daylight.
When we came back out, my friend's motorcycle wouldn't start. I pushed him all over the parking lot, but popping the clutch wouldn't get it started. Then I remembered I had a set of jumper cables for just such an occasion. Unfortunately, my battery is under the seat so we had a little work to do to expose it. Once everything was disassembled, we jumped his bike and decided to head to a Wal-Mart, where he bought the battery. When we got to Wal-Mart we discovered that they didn't have an auto service.
We decided to head back to the same motorcycle dealer we had visited earlier. The guys in the service department checked the battery and determined that it had the capability to hold a full charge but it did not have a full charge...this was the second time that he had had this problem. The service guy agreed to take the battery and give it a full charge...thinking it would be good for the trip back because it seemed to be getting charged when he checked it. He told us to come back in 30 minutes.
We walked down the parking lot to a fast food place and drank a soda while we waited. When we went back the guy reinstalled the battery the bike turned over and started...barely. With a full charge, it should have started much more easily. The service tech figures it is either a starter or a voltage regulator...or something in the charging system. They said that if we come back tomorrow around 9:30am...they open at 10:00am...they'll make sure he's the first to be waited on. They aren't at all sure they can fix his problem though. His bike is a Honda and the dealership only sells Suzuki and Yamaha. I guess we'll see what happens.
There are not scheduled activities set for Saturday. Earlier in the trip, one of the guys went last year suggested we visit one of the local Harley dealerships as they sell all the event patches and t-shirts...and sew the patches on if you want them to. You can get both at the wall but the dealership will be less crowded. The remainder of the day...until 5:30pm when I'm supposed to go to a mandatory meeting about Sunday...we will do some sightseeing.
I was planning on visiting our friends the Esteps in Fairfax but I couldn't get hold of them today and they haven't returned my phone call. Perhaps I will have time to visit a few places...including the Viet Nam Wall and perhaps the Air and Space Museum annex near Dulles.
No pictures tonight...something wrong with my internet connection/computer. I'll try in morning. See you tomorrow.
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