Days 4 and 5 of the Rally were to be marathon days for the riders. They were going to be staying at a remote Bivouac, in the tiny town of Itea. I was going to use Day 4 as my day to go see Meteora and Delphi. It was a 4+ hour to get there on the toll roads so it was good day for it since they weren’t coming back to main bivouac. I asked Deb if she was interested in going. This time I made sure that I had a cord to keep my phone charged, so she could watch Jim without killin my phone. I also downloaded the routes so it wouldn’t matter if she burned up my data.
Little did I know as I took this picture, that I’d be driving over this bridge 3x this day.
We stopped for coffee just past the bridge. There was a message from Jim, that he had his rear wheel bearing going out and that he wanted us to get his spare wheel to the organizers so he’d have it at the remote biv. Unfortunately, we were already 2.5 hours away. After some coffee and a bathroom break, I knew that we were going to have to go back, get that wheel and take it to him in Itea. So back we went. I will admit was a bit upset about missing out on Meteora, but thought we might still get Delphi in. (I didn’t)
It was great of Deb to pay for all the tolls on the way back and onto Itea, we ended up driving that toll road 3x that day. Crossing the bridge in Petra was expensive.
We got there not too long after Jim arrived, he found a small cafe to meet us. He spent the waiting time checking to see if there were hotels so we might not have to drive back. He wasn’t able to find any. We hung around to have dinner with him, Deb didn’t want to head back, she delayed as long as she could. She kept pushing finding a hotel, or staying in the tent with Jim. I new that wasn’t going to fly. Finally, when it was getting late I stepped in and said that we were going now. She wasn’t happy with me, but I had no intention of taking that toll road for a 4th time. So the drive back was going to be a long one, I wanted to see some nice sights. By the time we finally got on the road, there wasn’t time to see Delphi. It really was a nice drive back.
I slept in the next day, did some laundry, and spent more time on the beach. I spent time sitting outside on the porch reading. It was great to get so much reading time in. I also drove around to see more sights around town. I didn’t go far, since I wanted to be back to the pit when Jim made it back. Deb was in the Roamer the entire evening, working on getting a some CEUs and other things.
Jim did an interview about the Rally. I went to the trailer to collect his gear from the organizer’s trailer. He had a better day since his wheel was intact. But again he needed new tires. He needed a new set of tires just about each day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a knobby become a slick before.
The next day I was wanting to hit Nemea as well as a vineyard. I ask Deb is she wanted to go with me. We headed off once again on a toll road. I swear that no matter how many times I select NO toll roads, it just can’t stay off them. However, it was kind of cool that we got to see a number of riders from the rally trying to figure out where to go.
A few of them go help from people who were watching. They would point in the direction other riders before them had gone.
We found some great ruins to explore and a nice little museum to check out.
After that it was time for lunch, so we hit the closest vineyard.
It was a small place where they had a hard time with english, so google translate to the rescue. I got a nice wine tasting, souvlaki, greet salads, and desert. Deb offered to buy lunch, but she insisted on using a card, even after they asked for cash… It was kind of painful to watch her be rude to them for not understanding english well. Her card didn’t work, and she argued with them about it. When I gave her my phone with google translate, it paid for lunch. When she waved it over the card reader. I really need to disable that when traveling. I used it to buy a bottle of wine, I want red but I grabbed the bottle of white. Oh well, it was good too, just not as good. While we were eating we got to see the SxS from the rally come through the town, just like the bikes had earlier in the day.
After that we headed to the store to pick up some things, I wanted juice, coffee and milk. She picked up some things to make dinner.
We got back just before Jim, he stopped off to wash the bike on his way back. He had had a great day and was sitting in the top 3 for all of his classes.
The last day of the rally was a short one but it had very technical navigation. Since it was such a short day I got there early to watch the start.
After they were off, we walked down the road to see the other bridge over the ancient canal. They had bungy jumping there. No. It wasn’t something I was willing to try. I also wanted to pick up a few small gifts for those at work.
There was still a number of things that I wasn’t going to have time to see. Just more reasons to go back again.
After he was back I headed back to my apt so I could shower and clean up for dinner that night. I guess Phillip wanted get everyone together. So a lot of us met at a place close to the hotel in Lotracki. It was a very fun night, too much so. I haven’t laughed that hard or much in a long time. I also had a bit of a hangover the next day thanks to all those mojitos at the hookah bar.
After dinner we walked to the awards ceremony.
Since I was feeling the prior evening, I slept in, slowly got my stuff packed up for my trip home. This was my last day. So I spent some time on the beaches again. Went to get my covid test so I could fly home the next day. Tracked down Jim and Deb for brunch, Talked with a couple of the guys from last night. Since I was heading back to Athens to turn in the rental car I was just going to give them a ride. The cab ride out had cost them over $150. I dropped them off at the airport and checked into my hotel.
When I say the hotel was at the airport, I really mean AT the airport. It was really nice but, best of all was that it was soundproof. I never heard a plane while in my room or the building. After getting settled in I dropped off the rental car.
I wanted to be close to the airport since I had to be there at 6am to check in for my flight. I am very thankful that the flights back when better than the flights over did. I was able to get through Heathrow a great deal quicker and with less stress since I knew what to expect.
I however didn’t expect to see this at LAX.
I made it home on time. The flights were more relaxing going home, could be that I wasn’t as excited to be going home…
I picked poor princess Sable up the next day. She was very happy to see me and go home.
I was worried about coming back. As about three days before I was to come home I started to come down with something, bad sinus drip, cough, and headache. I took a home test, it was neg. I got an official test so I could fly home it was neg, I also got tested again once I was home it was neg too. I’ve heard from a few other that have traveled around the UE, that there was something going around that wasn’t covid. Just because I can I worked from home for a few days until I felt better. Sable was very happy about that. She was a bit on the needy side for about a week.