VA

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Well, I am now back home in Chicagoland, LaGrange, specifically... my parents house. It's an odd situation, because all my siblings and I are planning to move out soon, my bro and sis to college and me back out on the road. It's been nice to take care of some administrative issues, making sure my bills are paid, my accounts are in order, and in addition use my brother's toolset to do some preventative maintenance on Gretchen. In Champaign I experienced my first mechanical malfunction, my clutch cable broke and I had to do the "Miss Sunshine" thing all the way to my friend's place in Urbana and then all the way home. I've gotten quite good at it, but I'd rather ride with a clutch. Today I did a whole lot of work on Gretchen and am sooo happy about that. With a motorcycle you are constantly assessing your confidence in your ride and with a girl like Gretchen it's just best to be sure about as much as you can. I'm sure about her now, well... once I get another clutch cable and some backup cables for throttle and brakes. Specifically... I changed the engine oil, checked trans, final drive, and shaft drive (yeah!) oil. Checked brake fluid, it's where I left it after 4500 miles. Excellent. Washed her, armor-alled her seat, which makes it slippery a bit but probably good for long term. Also Scotch-Garded her cover. This will be nice, as sometimes it rains and somehow Wal-Mart didn't find it necessary to waterproof a motorcycle cover. How useless... Of course I can only blame myself for buying it there. It does fit rather well I'll admit. Of course now I have to complain about their commercial... "what am I supposed to do about high gas prices? Drive a moped to work???" Uh... yeah.... I mean, they're super cheap, easy on gas, fun, and you can just get one in addition to your regular car...
So the last time I wrote was in DC. So much has happened since then. I left DC around 11am and took 66 west to 29-S, then 230 to 33 to Skyline Dr, which went through Shenandoa National Park and was kinda worth the $10 moto admission fee. It was beautiful for sure, but I feel like any road through there may have been just as scenic but not cost money. I spent a lot of time thinking about the work that must have gone into making those scenic outlooks safe from rainfall after working on trails in Philmont Scout Ranch as a high schooler. I could see the drainage tunnels and it was obvious that a lot of work had been put into this scenic route which was now being shared by me, a biker couple from Quebec on a goldwing with a trailer, a family with a camper that kept pace with me and a couple of middle-aged women in a Subaru Forester that felt bad about holding me back. That day I just headed South and West, made a major stop at a State Park which featured an exhibit of a Confederate stronghold for a while and still had a section of dugout trench they'd hid in. This should have been foreshadowing but I didn't recognize it at the time... I just rested and boy was that needed. After this little historic site (reminiscent of my mom's insistence of stopping at every one we passed on family trips...) I continued S and W and ended up on a small county road taking me south through a valley (rt 678) and it was perhaps one of the most beautiful drives I've experienced. I remember colors being bright and fresh, cattle ranches with open space, and thinking that I would love to spend the night here. Eventually once night was about to fall I asked some folks hanging out at a gas station where I could camp nearby and they said there was a State Park. Douthat State Park. I filled up and (broke) headed in that direction. Stopped by a guy cleaning a toilet, thinking he must be responsible in some way for the area. Immediately I was offered leftover BBQ hamburgers and corn and I of course accepted. I met a family from elsewhere in VA on vacation for the week, ate heartily, and then the table cleared out and I was asked about my situation with Jesus. I had not yet been saved! So my host, Tim, talked to me a while about what Jesus was and such, asked me to pray with him to take him into my heart. Honestly, knowing what Jesus had done I couldnt' really say no to having a bit of Jesus in my heart so I was like "alright!" During the prayer, Tim said some things I didn't quite agree with and so I held back a bit, and when he was done I couldn't honestly say that I'd given my heart to Jesus. On the other hand, I asked him to write down the prayer I should say when I do decide to give my heart to Christ and give up evildoings. We'll see. It's odd how on one hand I couldn't see how having the Spirit of Jesus in my heart would be a bad thing. On the other hand I'm so ashamed of the things people and their governments have done in the "word of Jesus." He seems like a nice guy. Of course so did Lenin but killing capitalists was AOK with him.

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