September 24- Day Three- Waynesboro, NC- Gaithersburg, MD

Today was a short day and an easy one at that...a good thing, since I had ridden hard for two days and hadn't slept worth a $hit.  After toying with the idea of riding I-81 to I-66, my final plan called for me to ride Hwy 340 up to I-66 and then take Route 15 up to Leesburg, VA, on a short ways to a ferry crossing the Potomac River and then a straight shot to Gaithersburg, MD where I'd bunk at my brother Jack's house.

I formulated a porion of this plan after talking to a "Harley guy" at breakfast.  He was well acquainted with the area and strongly suggested taking Hwy 340 (instead of Skyline drive) to Front Royal.  As it turned out, 340 was delightful...the road was in great condition with no traffic to speak of.  Weather was perfect...the sun flirted with me all morning while heavy low clouds occasionally dripped down the mountains and onto the valley road I was riding.

I stopped briefly at a McDonalds for a drink and a bite and listened to an older black man rail (loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear) that "without money you can't do nuthin".

...true dat brutha.

From Front Royal I was able to easily get onto I-66 and begin approaching the metro Washington, DC area.   Traffic was light, but fast and I was consistently hitting 70-75 MPH...which is about my upper confort level.  After about 30 miles or so, I found Route 15 and took it north through the Maryland countryside to Leesburg, VA which is located on the Potomac River.

Just outside of Leesburg I found the sign for Whites Ferry Rd.  Quick right turn and I shot down a road that wound through lush Virginia farm country for a couple of miles, ultimately dropping me at the Gen. Jubal A. Early, which is a tiny commercial ferry that operates on the Potomac River.


 As I approach a short line of cars the ferry was just beginning to unload the cars on our side of the river.   Minutes later I was able to ride onto the ferry and into the forward position.  We were quickly pulled across the high and muddy brown river and into Maryland.

I had a bit of time to kill, so I found a fitness center that also had a little sandwich shop and ordered a bite to eat.  I settled into a picnic table outside the shop and struck up a conversation with a couple of locals.  One of the guys, an 80 year old art gallery owner, had an outrageous hair dye job...basic gray with pinkish red highlights...dude!  But he was confident and alert and an entertaining guy to engage...a guy who's ego was under control.

We talked about how miserably screwed up our country has become and how the wars the U.S. has fought since WW2 have been pointless wastes of lives and money.

He was a Korean War veteran and said,

"The whole thing was pointless.  We'd fight like hell and take a hill top.  Next day, they'd take it back.  Only thing was, we'd loose a boy or two in the process."

I thought, indeed...nothing but boys...and gone forever.  Makes me sick to think of the wasted lives.  Imagine losing your own son in a lousy mess like that.  It would be horrifying.

I bid them goodbye and mounted up.

From there the ride to Jack's home was quick and straightforward and I rode directly to his house where he was sitting on the front porch waiting for me.

We were laughing and telling stories within seconds.  It felt a bit like coming home.

Mileage for the trip was 675, making today's ride an easy 160 miles...nice, I needed an easy day.