I've come to realize that I could stop eating on this trip, I don't need the food for calories. I'm just eating to give my stomach something to play with. I am pretty sure I'm getting all my necessary calories from sweet tea. Gallons upon barrels of sweet tea. Well, maybe a slight exaggeration, but much sweet tea has been consumed in recent days by the two of us. About 1.2 metric bladders full per hour. That's a scientifically verifiable number.....
Today we met more of the nicest people. It came to my attention a couple of days ago that my estimation/hope that my tires would make the 7 to 8 thousand miles I intend to ride was a bit optimistic. So, I hoped they might last anyway. Then I decided to hope they would make it to Arizona, then Florida, then...... well, then reality set in, and tires are pretty important on a road trip. So, near D.C., in Woodbridge, Virginia we went and got my Valkyrie some new tires and got Nathan's Goldwing it's first oil change. Not only was it a couple of hundred dollars cheaper to buy and install tires here as compared to in California, but it was the nicest and most amusing service that Nathan or I had ever experienced in a motorcycle shop. Seriously, they were washing bugs off of Nathans windshield and joking with me about the parking break on my bike (there isn't one) before they had finished the initial paper work to start the service. And that was just the beginning of the conversations. It was a good time talking with all the guys in service, accessories, and in sales. It was model service. It was exchanging stories. It was considerate people. And because the service duration was a couple of hours long, a salesman suggested a restaurant within walking distance where we ate and drank.... you guessed it.... glasses full of sweet tea.
After all was done we rode back towards D.C. passing the Mount Vernon exit that we had taken before the service stop. Mount Vernon is the name of President Washington's home and we had stopped there and walked around previously for a bit because we were running early for our service appointment. You can see the entrance to the Mount Vernon property in the picture.
Riding to our hotel after the service, the scenery got very cool in a different way. D.C. came into view. The monuments came into view. The seat of our country's government came into view. Stunning in it's significance, I found myself super excited at the sight of it all. I am so looking forward to tomorrow when the three of us will walk around and tour D.C., the museums, and the monuments. You heard right. The three of us. Nathan is picking up Laurie from the airport as I type this in the hotel room, four blocks from President Obama's house.