Allen rode down to Fredericksburg to participate in the Big Daddy Leather (BDL) charity ride for the Garden of Angels. BDL hosts many charity rides throughout the year and this ride was done on a fine Sunday afternoon. The ride was supposed to be one to one and a half hours but we went 118 miles in two and a half hours! The main route was south on Route 17 once we got out of Fredericksburg, and then north coming back on Route 3. Add another 40 miles down and 40 miles back up, we are talking a 200 mile ride for Allen.
Once we returned to BDL at 4:30PM, they did a raffle drawing for everybody that contributed their $10 for the ride collection and then there was a 50/50 raffle (hey, another $5 contribution), but Allen didn't win anything. Oh, BDL is also selling tickets for that Sportster you see in front of their store. All the proceeds will benefit another charity, and this bike has three sponsors contributing to make it almost like new. Overall it was a nice ride and everyone had a good time.
Rose/Jim and Sandra/Allen met at Rose and Jim's place around 10AM on Saturday morning with a good weather report in one hand and sunglasses in the other. We rode our bikes up to the Dreamcatcher Motorcycle Rally at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Maryland. For fun we rode through Washington DC and up the Baltimore Washington Parkway, stopped for lunch in downtown Baltimore, and then continued up Route 40 to Aberdeen. Jim and Allen dropped the girls off (well, Rose was riding her bike so we didn't technically drop her off) and scouted ahead to see how far the walk would be from the hotel to Ripken Stadium. It was only 1.2 miles, so we all walked over and avoided concerns about drinking and riding.
The choppers on display outside the stadium were a sight to be seen! We walked around with beers and a camera in hand and looked, touched, and even sat on a few choppers. Unfortunately the camera had a dirty lens and there is a small vertical smear on some pictures - blame it on the beer I guess. Anyway, Allen hopes to get one for his 50th birthday present - which is about 15 months away (but who's counting). Prices vary quite a bit, but there are deals to be had if you buy a used one or perhaps you start out with your current bike and customize it. Anyway, once the gates were open around 6PM, we headed down to the stage and got right up in the front/center row. Rose kept bringing us beers so we didn't have to vacate our spot. The first band to play was "Great Train Robbery" and they played just about everybody else's material - but very well I might add. Then Steppenwolf came on stage and since it was their last concert they did a fantastic job. You might remember some of their great songs like "Born to be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride". Overall the music was excellent and we walked back to the hotel without getting lost.
For our return back to Virginia on Sunday we decided to head up north a bit and go over to the east side of the Chesapeake Bay and come down south via Route 213. This was a beautiful road, as it took you through several small towns and over some pretty bridges on the edge of the bay. We ended up on Route 301 and took that over to Annapolis via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Lunch and Starbucks coffee was on tap for us in Annapolis and then we headed north a bit up Route 450 West. This was to avoid the traffic on Route 50 and we found parts of Route 450 to be very nice. Everyone arrived home between 4:30 and 5:00 PM, a bit tired but very satisfied. Riding your motorcycle has that affect on you sometimes....
Sandra and Allen decided the weather was just so nice on this fine Sunday morning that we had to get out on the Harley for a long ride. The arts & crafts festival just over the border in West Virginia was within reach so we took off around 10:30AM and headed out west. The back roads were our main interest on this day so we took Fairfax Station from Route 123 over towards Braddock road. Then we jumped on Route 28 for a short ride to the old Braddock road and headed for I-15. Little did we know that part of this old Braddock road became a dirt road, but it went through and soon we headed up I-15.
A short way past Route 50 we turned west on Line Kiln (733) and rode over to Route 7. This Line Kiln road was really nice - curves in all the right places. After a bit on Route 7 we took Route 9 into West Virginia and the festival was near Harper's Ferry. But we didn't quite reach the festival at first - instead we stopped at some small arts and crafts fair that we thought was the big festival. We parked the bike (yes there were some cars there - not just us) and walked down to the small tents and soon learned this was an impostor event. We got back on the bike and rode maybe another mile before we found the big event. There was even special parking for motorcycles. Allen parked the bike right next to another Fat Boy - and when we came back out a few hours later, that Fat Boy was gone and another one had taken it's place. Check out the comfy seat on that 2nd Fat Boy - the same year mine was made in case you're wondering.
While we were walking around the arts & crafts tents, we did a little wine tasting and some shopping. Sandra saw a big stuffed turtle but alas, there wasn't room on the bike for that sort of thing. We did get some jewelry and lunch however. The prices were kind of high but you could see that these were real craftspersons trying to make a living. We saw pottery wheels, a blacksmith pounding iron, and lots of wood crafts. Before we returned home for the day, a nice dinner was in store for us at Carrabba's Italian Grill in Centreville. The food is just superb and the prices are quite reasonable. It sure was nice to avoid cooking dinner after a long ride. Hey check out the pictures we took while walking around....
