Ride to Yorktown via Northern Neck of VA

We took a (very) out of the way route to visit family in Yorktown on Sept 7th. I wanted to get some seat time on my new Moto Guzzi, so my wife and I headed south to visit her folks but we decided to go via Rte 3 which goes through that peninsula in VA known as the Northern Neck. This is the land bordered by the Potomac River on the north, the Rappahannock River on the south, and the Chesapeake Bay on the east. There's no traffic to speak of and it is a very picturesque ride through farming country. We had lunch at a small dinner along the main drag in a town named Kilmarnock--I've been informed we're going back to check out the numerous antique and craft shops. The excellent weather contributed to a great ride.

The Guzzi was great. The Norge is very comfortable and is an easy ride. The adjustable windscreen allows me to get away with wearing my half-helmet which likely causes die hard sport tourer riders to cringe. (I need to get someone to take a photo of me on the bike with the helmet to see if a half-helmet messes up the feng shui of sport tour riding.)

Moto Guzzis apparently bring out the quirkiness in riders. I've already run into a number of folks who either ride Guzzis or have owned Guzzis or their father owned Guzzis or they know someone who owns Guzzis. And they all want to tell Guzzi stories. It's great.

I commuted to work on the Norge last week on a day when I had to travel to another office building across town. Apparently, someone had scribbled a note on a 3x5 index card and stuffed it between my mirror and throttle, which of course, I didn't notice until it tried to fly away when I got on the gas on the main highway. I reached up with my left hand as it flew across my face and luckily caught it (it was luck...as much as I'd like to pretend I've got ninja reflexes, it was dumb luck that I caught the card).

It read:

Dear Norge Owner,
I've owned 3 Guzzis in the past but ride a BMW now. I need to buy another Guzzi and yours is the first 8-valve motor I've seen. I need you to call me at 703-xxx-xxxx and tell me about your experiences.
A friendly rider.

So, I called him.

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