Whats Next?

Completing the Blue Ridge Parkway leaves me at a transition of sorts, after having completed a number of goals.

Certainly, my primary goal was to retire and begin travelling and living in some way other than the "settle down in some spot and wait to die" lifestyle that so many retirees adopt. And try to understand what is necessary for a happy and contented  life... something that we, as Americans, seem to have lost touch with.

Beyond that, I have specific goals I want to achieve and can check these off the list:

1. Motorcycle tour of the Arkansas Delta

2. Motorcycle ride in all of the southern states that I had not been to yet, which were Louisiana,          Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.

3. Ride to Key West and the end of US 1.

4. Ride the Natchez Trace Parkway

5. Ride the Cherohala Skyway

6. Ride the Blue Ridge Parkway

So, what is next? Tires. For me, tires are always "next". After tires, a few landmarks to visit and then the next stage of the trip, which will be the Mid-Atlantic BDR, or Backcountry Discovery Route.

What is that? Read More Here... Essentially, the BDR's are routes that have been mapped out, using public access roads and trails, in various sections of the country, that provide varying levels of challenge to dual sport and adventure riders. Just the sort of thing that my motorcycle,  "DR", was built for.

The MABDR will begin in Damascus, VA and take me all the way to  Lawrenceville, PA., a route that will be slightly over 1,000 miles.

From there, I am hoping to head over to the start of the NEBDR (North East BDR) and ride all the way to the US/Canadian Border in Maine. 

I have done a lot of motorcycle rides, involving varying levels of difficulty, but completing these two BDR's will up the bar a bit. And timing will be everything. I want to be in Maine in autumn to catch the fall colors, but need to be out of there, heading west through the Great Lake states and North Dakota before snowfalls and freezing temperatures begin.

Today, I will see my buddies Al and Jimmy off, as they head back to St. Louis and I will visit the graves of Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Tomorrow, new tires and visits to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and the grave of President Jefferson Davis. Then, a couple of days to finish prepping for the the BDR. 

I realize that I will never understand formatting on Blogger...