Leaving New York

After leaving JFK we travelled into New York, riding our bikes into Manhattan from the south, we stopped at the trendy Dumbo area, parked our bikes right next to the cafes and restaurants to get some pictures….easy.

After a brief rest and many pictures we headed across Brooklyn Bridge (smaller than I expected) traffic was not so bad but it was nowhere near as much fun as on the CitiBikes.

After some cheeky riding we were free and heading out of town. I was so good to get out of the hot city and head south, we stopped at around 8pm at a riverside campsite. Reception was closed but we could sort that out in the morning. This was a KOA site, very high end and very clean……such a contrast to what would follow.

This was our first night under Canvas in new tents on new airbeds……in fact everything was new…..and it showed as we scratched our heads looking at instruction manuals!

We spent the next morning being really really ruthless, getting rid of unwanted luggage from our overloaded bikes, 3 hours later we had a large bag of paper, probably 0.25Kgs, like I said ruthless.

We paid up in the morning ($45) and headed further SouthWest, after a long days ride, we ended up at a free campsite behind Potomac. Wow this is a wealthy area, the houses were HUGE……some had security guards! Not the most likley spot then for a free campsite. It took a bit of finding but there it was, right next to the old lock gate 21….Perfect! The canal was being worked on so there was nothing around except the wildlife. 

We made camp just before dark, sat in my little tent I looked at a map….well blow me we were only 16 miles from the White House, seemed a shame to be so close and not pop in to say hello to Donald, I would mention it to Gary in the morning.

Washington

Next morning we made plans to ride in to Washington for an hour, before we continued West towards the trails in North Carolina

Washington was great, the traffic was heavy on the outskirts but further in it was easier to move around. The great thing about Motorcycles is that you can park almost anywhere,

We parked right next to the security gates and asked this FBI chap if we could park to take some pictures, he stared at me (well through me actually) and said “Your good”  

We took turns to stay with the bikes and walk to the tourist area to get a few pictures……excellent.

As Gary was not with me I asked this Chinese couple to take a picture, it got a bit wierd as with all the Klim gear on and short hair they must have thought I was part of the security team, (really) they insisted I had a picture with them…..somewhere in China right now they are showing their family a picture of them with a smelly man from the FBI!!!

We finally got away around lunchtime.

The Hills have eyes…

Heading Southwest towards the beginning of the TAT (Trans American Trail) again we were chasing time, it was starting to get late and it was time to look for a campsite, I used WikiCamps and found what looked like a nice forest campsite not far away. We were quickly learning about the distances here, we arrived at the Pines Campsite with 1 hour until dark.

There were lots of large RVs around and Yikes…..warnings about Bears and Snakes!!!!

We found a spot and parked the bikes, first thing we did was build a fire a ruddy big fire that would hopefully last the night. We stomped around the undergrowth looking for wood (Gosh i wish I had not run home from boy scouts all those years ago)

We then hung any food and liquids up a tree as the Bear hooks were too close to the tents!

After a while by the fire we called it a day. I sat a and read for a while…..all quiet….”crunch” what was that?

after a short while I fell into a deep sleep, I actually had a great nights sleep.

Next morning everything looked far less sinister, quite beautiful in the mist.

Guess us City boys need to “Man Up” quick……

oh…..did i mention the killer frogs?