I woke up and packed as normal. Since it was 8am and the moto shop didn't open until 10am, I went to the nearby FlyingJ to use their wifi. I'm still trying to catch up on photos and day logs- I'm almost caught up!

I got to Destination Motorcycles and they took down all my information. I asked to borrow a highly technical tool (see pics) and they agreed to lend it to me. It was much nicer than my experience in Chicago- they had a covered outdoor area for me to work on the bike, and it was nice to be in the shade.

Putting the bike on the centerstand while it was on a block of wood was incredibly difficult. I had to remove the side bags and trunk to do it. I thought putting the trunk and bags back on would cause the front tire to go in the air, but it didn't- so I took one of the side bags and slid it under the bike as a wedge. That always works well.

Unfortunately, while they had a couple of tires in my size, they didn't have the Anakee I was hoping for. Instead, they had the Metzeler Tourance. It gets great reviews, so I don't mind trying it.

Destination Motorcycles turned out to be a great place to do the servicing. The people were all very friendly, they were interested in the bike (even though they don't sell them!), they had a comfortable place for me to wait, and they even gave me homemade cookies.

When it was time to leave, the owner ran my credit card. I asked about the shop, and he confirmed that it was a bank before they bought it (the offices were inside the old safe!). Anyhow, he gave me some recommendations on places to eat in Baltimore and the Outer Banks and did some other generous things for me. I left with a great feeling in my heart towards them.

I slabbed about 140 miles northeast until I was in Bristol, VA, and then I headed south on Highway 421. This was a fantastic highway- it is obviously a favorite of the local riders, some of whom even adopted a section of the road.

I then went east on a route over Mt. Rogers before turning north yet again. Mainly, I took Hwy16 north. It is signed in several places that large trucks are not allowed except for local deliveries, and vehicles over 30 feet are not recommended. It was as close to Espinazo Diablo as I've seen in the States- just an amazing road with sharp turns. It was much more technical than The Dragon, and the engineering wasn't as good. It was still very interesting and entertaining.

My final campsite was on the top of a ridge on a gravel road. I had looked for a campground for the last 20 miles and hadn't seen one. Finally, I got to this ridge. There is a trail running along the ridge and a semi-established campsite (in other words, there's a fire pit). That's all I needed. In the 2+ hours since I arrived, only one vehicle has gone past. They backed up to shine their lights on the tent and the bike, so hopefully I don't get in trouble for boondocking!

Unfortunately, when I downloaded my GPS track logs for the day, I made a mistake and lost the track for today. Hopefully I can reconstruct it from memory and from my SPOT messenger; it was an interesting route.