A Day in D.C…

My departure from Parrot Cay was made in rather a big hurry…!!

This is becoming a rather common sight for me…!! Leaving Guest Dock on Parrot Cay, bound for the airport on the main island…

My morning was taken up with a round of acupuncture on my right ankle, and many other parts of my body that I did not realise would be treated by the therapist… I counted no less than 40 needles sticking out of me during my ordeal…!!

After my session at the Spa, I dashed back to do some final packing and then made my way up to reception to be transported to the boat which was waiting to take me, as well as other guests, back to Provodentiales to catch our planes back to the U.S.A. …

I arrived back in Washington later than expected due to heavy rain and lightning in Charlotte… The plane touched down in near monsoon conditions, and I was amazed that the pilot actually received authorization to land…!!

Needless to say, all flights out of Charlotte, including mine, were delayed while the storm passed over… I finally touched down at Ronald Reagan Airport a little after 10 pm and arrived back at Jon and Maria Karl’s home almost an hour later…

This morning I took the cover off Big Fella, slid the key into his ignition and pressed the starter… After two weeks of standing idle, I half expected to have to jump-start him… The healthy roar that he greeted me with put a huge grin on my face, and got my heart beating a little quicker…!!

Karl Stankowitz gets re-aquainted with Big Fella, after a six month absence….

At that point I was still in two minds whether to take a slow ride to Atlantic City, and then meander my way up to Monmouth Beach tomorrow… Patricia arrives there later tonight, and will be “waiting at the end of my ride…” (Who remembers that line from Frankie Lane’s “Rawhide”…??”

An email from Karl, the guy I rode with and stayed with in Ushuaia, changed my plans… Turns out he lives barely half an hour away and was eager to see me before I left Washington…

He duly arrived in a red pick-up, and for a while stood shaking his head as he stared at the Big Fella… He walked around the bike a few times, no doubt reminded of the ride we had made together in February this year, when together (or rather just a few hours apart…!!) we both had made it to the End of the World…

After spending a few minutes in greeting and catching up with our news, we left to tour the city…

“So, where’s your trusty KLR…??” I asked as we left McLean…

“Still in Ushuaia…!! Right where you last saw it in February…!! Parked on the pavement outside Corina’s B & B…!!” he answered with a grin… “Damn thing was going to cost too must to ship back to Virginia, and besides, it had seen better days, as you know…!! I just left the key in the ignition, and went to the airport…!!”

I had to smile at this, as I shook my head at the thought of his green and much damaged Kawasaki still standing forlornly down at the end of the world… I am so attached to my bike, that I could not see myself ever abandoning it, even if it was “technically dead” as Karl’s KLR was…

Easily one of the most humourous road-signs you will see in Washington…!!

“Corina’s probably using it as an advertisement to attract other bikers to her place…” I thought to myself… And with that, my mind flew back to February this year, when Karl and I, spent a week together in Ushuaia, after Roberto had left on his long solo ride back to Mexico….

I recalled our walks to the corner restaurant, where we ate almost every day until we realised that the owner was ripping us off… We switched venues and found a place that made the biggest hamburgers I had ever seen…!! Then Karl had lost all his documents and his wallet, including his passport, and that had us running about for a few days until it was later ransomed back to him for $75.00 …

I remembered the rain and the cold wind that had begun to blow a day before I left to ride to Buenos Aires… I knew then that it was time to pack up and leave before the weather grew any worse…

I left Karl waiting on the arrival of his father, who was flying in from Virginia to spend a few days with his son, and try to sort his travel documents out…

Karl had always had a ready smile for anybody we met, and remained positive despite not knowing how long he may be stuck in Ushuaia…

And now here we were in Washington DC together…!! As we walked along the relatively quiet streets of the capital, I kept looking at him and smiling to myself… The world IS a small place…!!

The Lincoln Memorial, built to honour America’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln… This iconic landmarks stands at the very end of the National Mall, and formed the backdrop of Martin Luther King’s famous speech, which began with, “I have a dream…

Karl turned out to be quite the tour guide…!! He was able to quote dates and historical facts about the many monuments we passed and the various buildings we strolled to during our little tour…

The Capitol Building… This is where Congress meets to discuss issues of national importance….such as keeping the speed limits as low as possible to spite visiting bikers….

The Washington Monument… I had seen this obelisk from a distance on the way to and from the airport, but was in no way prepared for the sheer size and height of it when I finally stood next to it…. It is the worlds tallest stone structure and largest obelisk… It measure almost 170 metres in height… It was built to honour America’s 1st President, General George Washington… An earthquake in 2011, caused structural damage to the monument, and has since been closed to the general public. It is due to be re-opened in 2014 once the repairs have been completed…

The Treasury Department… Where requests for funding by the the Gypsy Biker were flatly refused….!!

We went to the gates of the White House where we stood around with a smattering of other tourists to take a few photos… I was surprised that there were so few of us… Security personnel, including four patrol cars were parked in the pedestrian mall that fronts the White House…

The White House, home of the current President, Barack Obama, who was hosting the Democratic Party’s National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina…

Proof positive that the Gypsy Biker made it to the White House….!!

Light rain began falling as we left the White House and headed for one of Karl’s favourite watering holes to have lunch… While we munched down on hamburgers, in my mind’s eye I saw us far away to the south, and many months ago, eating our way through huge hamburgers that were served by a small roadside diner at the end of the world…

Karl and I take cover from the rain at a restaurant that he frequents in the nation’s capital…

After lunch we walked back to where we had parked Karl’s truck, passing near the Capitol Building again… I stopped to admire this beautiful building again, and wished that I had more time on my hands to take a much closer look at the many other monuments that Washington is famous for…

Another view of the Capitol Building…

After our tour, Karl dropped me off at the home of Jon and Maria Karl (another strange co-incidence, that…!!) and after a brotherly hug and a firm handshake, we parted ways for what I hoped would not be the last time… Karl is due to join the Marines next year, and I wished him well with his future plans…

Depending on what my own plans are for the Big Fella, there is a small chance that we may ride together again before the end of the year…

I spent the afternoon preparing my gear for the ride to Freehold, New Jersey the next day, excited at the prospect of reaching the East Coast of the USA, which would complete my ride from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, via the Arctic Ocean…!! Bet THAT hasn’t been done too often…!!

I planned to ride through parts of Maryland and Delaware before entering New Jersey via the ferry from Lewes Bay… The weather report for the following day ensured that I kept my rain gear handy… It looked as though I would have a wet and windy end to my ride across the United States…

The thought of that did not faze me in the least… All I could think of, was who would be waiting for me in Freehold…

©GBWT 2012