Christmas, FL Ride-In II

The alarm went off and I awoke to a balmy 44 degrees. Yikes! Well, this is a "Christmas" ride. Might as well get i nto the spirit. At least we didn't have snow. After getting on all the warm gear I could find, I headed over to the predetermined meeting spot right off of I-4. It was only a fifteen minute ride and I was the first to arrive. Al soon came rolling in on his Wing.. Wing? He loves his ST.... but with 40 degree temps, he loves his fairing on the Wing even more. :-)

Joining the Gold Wing Riders, we rode I-4 for about 40 miles and then did a few of the back roads to Kissimmee and a short break. Russ and Betty from the VTXOA were along too. Glad I wasn't the onl non-Wing!! Another 30 minutes and a fuel stop. The ride over was a typical Cruz'n Al kinda ride.

Then it was off to the U.S. Post Office in Christmas for mailing of the cards. The post office was relatively quiet this year...wonder if we just arrived at a slow time. Last year was entirely different. We waited in line just to drop the cards in the mail slot.


After finishing the required postal duties, we mounted up for the quick ride to Ft Christmas and our little "bring your own" lunch. Our little group of 8 were met by a receiving party... Richard, Joe, and Ray from the MTF were waiting for us. Shortly after we arrived, the Honda ST folks pulled in. It was quite a showing...typical for Al's rides.

A quick lunch, some time with frends, and departures were in order. Al left with the group that he led over. The ST riders had left a few minutes early. I stayed awhile longer, discussing the world of the rally with Richard, Joe, Ray, and Chuck Gittner. I don't think we solved any of the world's problems but we had fun anyway.

The lap around Florida is a ride that Chuck came up with, touching all four corners of Florida and Key West. It's a ride that I'm planning on doing and it was a pleasure to meet the instigator!!

1:30pm was soon upon us and it was time to head home. The return was a solo gig and I was needed at home to complete the Christmas decorations... super slab!!

I arrived at 3:15pm and thanks to the aux tank, no fuel stops! Another fun day, a pin to add to the collection, and great memories to relive. See ya next year.

Horseshoe Beach Cafe RTE - MTF Style

Kevin Healey, aka Wizard, was adding a spin to his annual Wizard's Wild Weekend in Cedar Key. Why not have a RTE as part of the weekend's festivities? So he did...and the MTF came out in force.

Clem (Ironmorph or Nomox) posted the ride on the VTXOA board and we found a small group ready to complete the 40 mile round trip for a bite to eat.

James and I departed at 7:00am for McDonald's in Lutz, our meeting place for the ride. A short 35 minutes later, we arrived. Russ (Noledad) and Betty were already there. Tracy arrived soon after. Clem crossed the pavement on the Wee Strom and had ChefBob in tow. Temps and moisture were not what we wanted but seeing as we were all there...let's go.

I had the honor of leading the parade up US 41 to Brooksville before heading west on 98. A right turn onto US19 woudl eventually lead us to our fuel stop. Wizard had warned us that gas was not available in Horseshoe Beach. Chiefland was the fuel stop of choice!

A qucik jaunt to Cross City and we were headed down the rode leading to Horseshoe Beach and the local hangout... Horseshoe Beach Cafe.

We arrived at 11:30am, having made good time along tghe route. In fact we were the first to arrive. There would be plenty of room for the entire group, even though our little RTE doubled the population of this quaint little seaside village.

The MTF gang soon came to a stop in the parking lot. Richard, Joe, Ray, Al, Randy, Mark, and a few others wandered in looking for some chow! Oh yeah, Kevin was there too.

Bikes were everywhere and the locals seemed to look upon us as a rather unique group...hehe, if they only knew.

Lunch was fabulous and the restaurant overlooked the gulf. Too bad the weather was not cooperating. I'm sure that sunshine adds to the view!

We filled our bellies and made the decision to head back. There was a parade in Crystal River and 19 would be shut down between 3:30pm and 6:00pm. Not wanting to add another 75 miles to our route home, we made sure we were through the city before it was shut down.








The ride ended with the temps finally reaching 80 degrees and James and I had fun. It was good seeing the MTF and VTXOA groups again and we look forward to the next excursion.

Founder's Feast 2008 - Epilogue

After a great two days in Mississippi, it was time to head to the Big Easy and get back to work. The Sunday ride was non eventful and I-55 treated me well. Six hours after departing Clarksdale, I had arrived in New Orleans.

The weather was cool in the morning but just right by afternoon. I didn't get much chance to sightsee as I had to prepare for evening festivities and Monday classes. Next time!

Wednesday was already here and the 4:00 am departure resulted in no traffic and NO HEAT. Another ride in 45 degree temps. I just kept trying to think of a solution to increase the alternator output. I want electrics!!

Today was slab and semi-slab (US 19 through west Florida). I made a few stops along the way but still digested the 650 miles in a bit over 11 hours.

The week long trip is now over and the GPS tells me that I rode 2208 miles. It was an excellent week and a good mix of highway and byway and even a little dirt and gravel. The rain makers gave up after Birmingham and you'll get no complaints here.

Now its time to plan the next ride!!

Founder's Feast and the Shackup Inn

After the mini rally concluded, the festivities turned to the "official" Founder's Feast. Dinner, awards, door prizes, and entertainment were the agenda items for the evening.

The Commissary was to be tonight's venue. On the grounds of the Shackup Inn, it maintained the ambiance well. Rustic, cluttered, and unique are all words that could be used to describe the hall.

Kevin was in his official "zoot suit". Amazingly, Dan "Papa" Ross uses the same tailor. It's hard to believe that two copys of the suit exist but there were witnesses!

Dinner was buffet style and the pulled pork was excellent. So was the company! John and Tom were telling anyone who was interested how well they did in the rally. Take note that I was NOT at that table.


Following dinner, Alan introduced the Directors who, in turn, recognized the volunteers on their teams.

Flamingo Jake, Jr and TJ were in attendance but both refused to speak to the media or have their pictures taken. Little Grizz was nowhere to be found. I sure hope is all right after his little meeting with TJ in Florida last week.

The night ended with the music and mayhem of Robert "Bilbo" Walker. It was a great ending to a great event.












He arrived in his customized, I mean personalized" motor home! Playing all night long and into the morning, he and his band entertained the troops who were homeward bound in the morning.

Me? Another early night as I would be up and at it at O-Dark-30 for my ride to New Orleans and a couple of working days in the Big Easy!

Founder's Feast - Mini Rally

Saturday morning was bright, sunny, and cold. Did I say COLD? One would think that a native of Vermont could handle 50 degree temps. Not so! I headed off for breakfast at McDonalds. Quite a few of the participants were there as well, partaking of the gastronomic splendor of the world's most famous fast food stop.

Back at the Shackup Inn, our pre-ride meeting began promptly at 8:00am. We received our packets for this three state scavenger hunt. No photos this time. You had to locate buildings, signs, and other assorted and sometimes trivial landmarks in order to capture the details needed to claim the points. It could be a name, the shape of a prominent memorial, or even the number of gates in a dam.

Multiple classes were available including one and two up, expert, novice, and newbie classes. Aux fuel cells usually relegate one to the expert class regardless of actual expertise. The solution was to require two gas stops, one at least an hour after departure and the second at least an hour after the first. Looking at the list of rally riders including Richard Buber, Dave Hicks, Mark and Karen Campbell, and many other multiple rally riders, I chose to go with the two fuel stops!

Alan had sent out the list of locations a week prior which included the city or town but no other detail. The bonus location would be within 10 miles of that geographical point. Having plotted a number of routes, I went with a northern Arkansas ride of 360 miles and a total of over 11,000 points if I were able to capture all of them. Pretty agressive indeed. Not only were the approximate locations plotted in the GPS but I had built a plan of "must arrive by" times so that I could analize progress and make changes as necessary.

My odometer was checked and off I went at 8:20am. Already 5 minutes behind. First stop was Elaine, about an hour away. My target arrival time was 9:15am and I rolled into town exactly on schedule, having made up the 5 minute deficit. I was looking for marker honoring four local veterans, located next to a First Bank. I saw a bank but it had a different name so I drove further down the street...and right out of town. I turned around and went to the other side of town. Nope, not here either. I finally went ack to the first bank, not the "First Bank". I had passed the market. There is was right next to the building! With a population of 352, just how many banks did I think I'd find? So much for being on time! Information captured, it was off to location two.

St. Charles was the next stop and I was looking for the White River Wildlife Management Area entrance and the information kiosk located in the parking area. It was another 50 minute ride and I was pleasantly surprised to arrive only 2 minutes past my projected arrival time. Better yet, I had made my first fuel stop enroute. and considering that I took a 4 mile scenic detour, thanks to the good 'ole GPS. The bonus sheet said the information that I was looking for was on the back side of the kiosk. Reading comprehension seems to be a failing, I started on the front and wasted about three minutes before reading the instructions and finding the information immediately.. on the back! I was bagging major point locations and close to being on time. Next!

Pine Bluff was 75 miles distant and I made great time. Right on schedule again. I was llooking for a monument in front of the courthouse. I parked across the street (???) and walked up to get my needed information and move on. I was looking for a memorial to a Revolutionary War veteran. This one was the Civil War... are there two monuments here. I walked towards the other end of the building and there it was. That cost me a couple of minutes but I was still doing great. This was the biggest point bonus on my route and I had snagged it.

Grady was next. I had to locate the Huff Island State Park. The goal was to count the number of gates at the dam. Instructions noted that you had to walk about 100 yards to the water's edge to get an unobstructed view of the dam. I did, counted the 18 gates, and moved on. By the way, 100 yards was an estimate and a short one at that!

Leaving the park, I began the journey back to Star City and the town square. It was another 28 miles to the location or about an hour round trip. No problem. Or so I thought. I had barely gone 3 miles from the Huff Island State Park when I encountered an 18 wheeler. The driver had tried to navigate a very tight turn and went off the side of the road. Unfortunatelty the trailer was across the entire road and traffic wasn't going anywhere. There were no alternative roads to take. So here I sit for about 20 minutes until the wrecker is able to pull the cab out of the ditch.

I checked the GPS and it said Clarksdale was 72 miles away. Hmm... I could still pick up Star City but the rest would not be possible if I were to return by the 3:00pm checkin requirement. It was 12:35pm when I got moving again. 25 minutes to the bonus and two hours to get back. Piece of cake!

I made good time to Star City, located the town square, wrote down the needed information and pulled into the gas station that was directly across the street. How convenient! Fueled up and ready to go, I selected "ShackUp Inn" as my destination; 77 miles away. Time...1:10pm. With slightly less than two hours to go, I could stop in Clarksdale and get about 1000 additional points, including the two state bonus. My total would be over 10,000! I hit go and for the first time realized just how much of a mistake I had made.

While is is 77 miles direct, the actual route was 134 miles. This is not slab riding and the ETA was 3:53pm. Some of the riders had spoken of the limited river crossings along the Arkansas-Mississippi border, myself being one of them. BIG ROOKIE MISTAKE. I decided to twist the wrist and give it a try. To my amazement, the ETA kept coming down as I literally raced through the route. While I took a huge bite out of the deficit, I came to the realization that I could not make it on time. I continued at the rapid pace but arrival came at 3:16pm.. I missed it by 16 minutes.

I added up the points I had; just slightly under 10,000 points. Miles? 387 total! Not bad in 7 hours and 1 minute. Unfortunately, the alloted time was 6 hours and 45 minutes. Looking back, I could (and should have) eliminated Star City. It would have saved 45 minutes and my point total was still at 9000. Of course I would have had to "recalculate" the route and not just look at the mileage to realize that. I could have saved 10-12 minutes by not fueling. Expert or not, I had a bunch of points...in fact enough to win the individual rally, regardless of whatever class I wound up in. Can you say "competitive"?

While I am disappointed in the results, I had a great time and it was a spectacular learning experience. I was able plan and ride a route that maximized points to both time and miles. I learned it makes more sense to park in front of the bonus instead of walking across the street. Every minute counts. And I learned the need to "recalculate"! The errors were all mine and I can work to elmimnate them from the next rally...and oh yes, there will be a next one!!!

Founder's Feast - Friday

After an early Friday morning departure from Birmingham, I was off to Clarksdale, MS. Seems Mother Nature wanted to have some fun too. It was raining and cold until I reached the Mississippi border. High temps did eventually hit 70 degrees; not exactly a heat wave.

The ride took me through Tupelo, MS which is the birthplace of Elvis Presley. And there is no way that you will forget it! I continued the journey, arriving at the Shackup Inn at 12:30pm. Quite a few had already arrived, including Alan, Kevin, Braz, John, Barb, and many others. The stream of motorcycle arrivals continued throughout the day.

We headed for Ground Zero Blues Club for dinner and entertainment. Great music to be sure. However, I was in the mini rally in the morning. Time for bed.

On the road to Founder's Feast

Seems like James and I just returned from the Florida C2C and now I'm off for a solo trip to the MTF Founder's Feast in Clarksdale, MS. But before I arrive, I will stop in Birmingham, AL for a day of work.

The first half of the route was, well, boring. I-75 from Tampa to Tifton, GA. Not much to see other than the never ending construction in Georgia. Once off 75, it was a mixture of towns and open country. The two major cities on the route are Albany and Columbus. I made good time through Georgia and the same can be said for Alabama. There were a couple of gorgeous river shots that were begging for a camera. But today is a work day and time was of the essence. The 549 mile excursion took a bit over nine hours. Not Bun Burner Gold pace but quick nonetheless.

Looking forward to Friday and getting back on the road.

Florida Coast to Coast 2008

The 25th anniversary of the Florida Coast to Coast ride was upon us. The start of the festivities was the pre-ride dinner at the Olive Garden in Brandon. A great turnout of over 80 showed up for the chance to tell tales and get ready for the ride.

Saturday morning was warm but not hot! Cloud cover keep the early morning rather nice. We rode up to the Holiday Inn Express in Brandon for the start of the ride. It was a 7:30am start. An arrival at 7:15am should be just fine...NOT! Over 300 participants were there to sign in, mount up, and get going. Needless to say, we were not at the head of the line.

The ride takes you from the west to east coast of Florida on out of the way roads of central Florida. With few exceptions, turns occurred every 2 miles! Many of the MTF riders were there... Grizz (Mike), Sarki (John), and Rocky (Pat) allowed me to join their group. Tom Lowdermilk of the Sidestand Up radio show also joined in on our merry chase through the rural areas of Florida.

John was our leader and did a great job of not getting us lost. A bit displaced at times but never lost. His GPS was determined to circle a few times regardless of correctness. The first leg was a bit over 110 miles; direct route was 70. We arrived at the American Legion on Lakeshore Blvd in Kissimmee just after 1:00pm. Four hours to go 110 miles.

A brief stop to roll the dice and we were off for leg two. A quick stop for gas and a longer stop for food at Crabby Bill's and we were on the road again for the remaining 50 miles to Cocoa. Not quite as many turns on this leg as "you can't get there from here" is a statement of fact. We rode the last four miles along the Indian River. Needless to say, the majority of the homes were not only beautiful, but well out of our price range!

A final stop in Cocoa for the dice roll and we were done. It was a nice 190 mile ride with great friends and great scenery.

The majority of the group reconvened at the Holiday Inn Express in Cocoa for the wrap up and awards. Many shared stories of a U-turn (or two). Door prizes from some of the sponsers and awards in various categories. James had previously won the youngest participant. Getting older has its price. No longer is he the kid.

The awards finished, and a few goodbyes and we headed off for our hotel for the evening.

Cruz'n Al did his remarkable job again with the route, planning, and organization. THe end result was that all had fun and $3,000+ was raised for the Lukemia Association.




as we look back on the ride, the only thing that comes to mind is... it's only 364 days until we do it again!

HRCA - August Ride

The Wesley Chapel chapter of the Honda Riders Club - "The Holeshots" took place on Sunday, August 17th. Meeting at 10am at Performance Honda, the ride would take us to Inverness over the back roads of central Florida. A mere 60 miles, the ride took almost three hours. A break after the first thirty miles was a hydration break. The temps were HOT!

Twenty seven motorcycles of various types formed two groups as we headed out. I was hiding in the corner. The lime green shirt gave me away!

There were actually a few twisties along the route and after the rest stop at Hess, we continued on to the Cove restaurant in Inverness. A nice burger, some good conversation, and air conditioning. Not sure which was best....

Looks like I'm holding court at the head of the table. Hmmm...hope that doesn't mean that I have to pick up the check.

After spending an hour at the Cove, I headed back to Riverview. Needing to get back quickly, I took the more direct route on I-75. It was 91 miles of slab. No scenery but the time savings was a necessity.

Not sure where the September ride will be but it's a plan. Two more rides and I get a T-shirt!!!

The Last Leg

Seems that getting up early is not part of the last part of this trip, regardless of the planning and the promises.

After an uneventful evening in Perry, GA, we mounted the scoot for the final leg of our 12 day journey. 356 miles were all that remained of the 3800+ miles of our excursion. Our 9:00am departure was good for the body as far as rest was concerned but was not so good from a temperature aspect. By 10:30am the temps had risen to the 93 degree point and the thermometer on the bike was registering 104 degrees. HOT! HOT! HOT!

It was a straight shot down I-75 and we made stops about every 75 miles to rehydrate, cool off, and sneak into a DQ if it happened to be close. It was less than 5 hours of riding time but in the end, it took over 7 hours. Better to be safe.

James was a bit excited as he saw signs indicating Tampa to be less than a three digit distance away. I think he began counting down at the 50 mile mark. We turned into the driveway at 4:20pm to end our journey.


It was quite a trip and we changed nightly stops quite a few times. Hilton was very understanding and kept changing our free rewards stays as we made our decision to route differently.

It was lots of fun and we saw many places that neither of us had ever been to. Now is the time to recover and plan next years travels.

On The Road Again...heading home

We are close to the end. Of our twelve days on the road, only two are left and our destination today is Perry, GA. Nothing special about the selection other than the fact that it is about half way from Tennessee to our house.

We started off in nice temperatures that soon changed to unbelievable heat. We found that hourly stops to hydrate were a necessity. With reported temps in the high 90's and the thermometer on the bike indicating 105+, we couldn't go too long without water and rest.

We made but two stops today. First on the agenda...Chattanooga, TN and the home of the "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Now a Holiday Inn, the original train station and home of the Choo Choo, the location has must history on its grounds.

Sitting on top of the old station, the Choo Choo sign announces your arrival. Viewable from many blocks away, it draws tourists to the exhibit.









The station does not look like a hotel unless you happen to observe the Holiday Inn sign flying in front of the building.

The interior has not been changed and the front desk is the old ticket area for the arriving passengers.

Passing through the station to "Track 29", one finds the train standing guard over the loading area.

Many children were at the exhibit, viewing the transportation of old and taking in the "old world" sights. Hard to believe that air travel was not the way to travel but fifty years past.

Landscaping was well planned out with fountains, plants, shrubs, and flowers throughout the grounds.





The locals have taken history to the next level with the largest "HO" scale model train exhibit in the eastern U.S.

Well over 300 feet long, many trains weave through mountains, tunnels, and cities, on the miniature locale.











Keeping with the theme, you need a "ticket" to get on the train...







The intricate display must have taken hundreds of hours to build and an equal amount of hours to maintain.















OK. We have seen the trains and the exhibits. Now it's time to head out again.

We have one more stop to make before we get to the hotel...another NASCAR track! Atlanta Motor Speedway was the photo op for the day!

Our timing remained consistent... the track was closed for the day and there was no opportunity to take a tour of the facility. We spent just a couple of minutes here before continuing our travels south.

The backroads traveled back to I-75 took us past what could be described as rural areas interrupted by huge, and very expensive, housing! A fly-in community is being developed and we observed many homes with aircraft in the "driveway"!

An hour later, we were in Perry for our last night on the road...

Tennesee

Wytheville, VA to LaFollette, TN is the order of the day. As we rode through southern Virginia, the sights were few and the temperatures were hot. Our first stop is NASCAR's famous short track, the Bristol Motor Speedway.


The track was not open as we arrived so we were forced to settle for a picture at the entrance.


After taking a few minutes to rest and cool off, we headed back towards the slab and our next destination, Caryville, TN.



Caryville is six miles from our final destination of La Follette and a visit with our cousins. I had not seen them in over 35 years and James...this would be his first opportunity to meet them.

The Hampton Inn overlooks a state park and has a theme that reflects the historical aspects of the location. There are plenty of statues, old vehicles, and views of the state park from this perch, located on the top of a hill overlooking the area.








The hotel owners purchased many items belonging to Alex Haley, author and local resident, most famous for "Roots". Many of the props used in the movie are located here along with some old Ford Model A cars.



Here are a few pictures of the equipment and cars which are located on the hotel property...












The cars...




Not exactly what one expects at a national chain hotel property. A nice change of pace and an interesting take.

We made our short ride to the home of my aunt and spent a few hours meeting and greeting our family before heading back to the hotel for some sleep before heading out on our return to Florida.

It's only a travel day

Plans were to leave early in the day and ride to Wytheville, VA. Originally, we had intended to head towards Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. James wanted to spend more time with his cousins which meant a more direct, and faster route.

Issue number one...the wake up call. Nada. Fortunately, we woke up at 8am. Unfortunately, we didn't depart until 10am. The benefit to the late departure was that the fog was burning off. It was a bit like soup earlier in the morning.

So be it. Better late than never!

Today's distance was 430 miles of slab. Over the course of our route, we passed through four states... Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. Getting up late also meant passing on some great attractions such as Hershey and Gettysburg, PA and the memorial at Virginia Tech in Blackburg. Skipped the Natural Bridge outside of Roanoke too.

Amazingly, the scoot, which thinks it's a baby "Wing" displayed some of the behavior of it's bigger brother. We were looking for food and low and behold...


It found a Dairy Queen. The Gold Wing would have been so proud.

While eating, I noticed that I still had the stamp from the Baseball Hall of Fame on my hand. Hmmm... if I don't wash it I can get in free next time. Nope, I think not. Here lies the last remaining evidence of the stamp!











Our trip somehow took all day. James was in the "my butt is sore" mood and we took plenty of breaks in addition to the DQ. At one rest area, James determined that the name was appropriate and he proceded to do just that...rest. In fact, a nap is a more fitting description.

As you can see, waking up is less than pleasant!!!!

One event that did take place on our trip was the spotting of numerous NASCAR team haulers. The race was in Pocono and all were making the trip from North Carolina to the track in Long Pond.

A few of those we passed intermittently over a two hour time frame... Matt Kenseth (#17), Elliott Sadler (#19), Regan Smith (#01), Kyle Petty (#45), Bobby Labonte (#43), Scott Riggs (#66), Kurt Busch (#2), Sam Hornish (#77), Kasey Kahne (#9), Denny Hamlin (#11), Tony Stweart (#20), Travis Kvapil (#28), Jeff Gordon (#24), Jeff Burton (#31), Kevin Harvick (#29), and David Reutimann (#44). Sixteen of the field of forty three were on the road. For those NASCAR fans, the parade was quite a sight!!!

Tomorrow we are stopping at the Bristol Motor Speedway for a photo op and then we head to Knoxville.

The Last 48 hours

After spending the weekend and Monday in Vermont, we packed up and headed east! First stop on Tuesday was Mt Washington, NH. Our ride took us over Route 2 through St Johnsbury, VT as we motored on towards Conway, NH and the Auto Road to the summit of the highest peak in the eastern United Stated.

We took a short break at a rest area overlooking the valleys near Danville, VT.

While there was no rain forecast, the cloud cover did look less than inviting.

The GPS routed us over the Dolly Copp Road, a shortcut to Route 16. About a half mile up the road, a sign announcing that the road is not maintained for winter travel comes into sight. The truth be known, it is not maintained for any travel, much less on a street scoot! Narrow dirt roadway; many ruts (some deep). The paved portion of the road stopped immediately after the sign!



This part of the road was ok as long as we kept our speed down to 10-15 mph. With a total weight of over 1000 pounds, our VTX was not quite the nimble dual sport.

A couple of cars did approach us from the other direction. Each one was courteous enough to give us the room we needed and not force us to the side of the road.





A bit further up the road we found that it again smoothed out and ws nice hardpacked dirt. The tree cover was thick but the sun was still able to peek through. Take note of the GPS. The only civilization was on the road. Not much to either side!!






We found the Auto Road and paid the fees to start our ride to the Summit.
They post the current weather at the summit and we should have paid attention. 100 foot visibility and wind speeds of 45mph. But we didn't. Oh, by the way, James is quite afraid of heights. Should have paid attention to the sign as the base of the road too!

The pavement ends at roughly the 4500 ft altitude mark and becomes a dirt pathway. The picture to the right was one taken when the weather was good. We were not fortunate enough to have weather like this and as we approached this point in the climb, visibility was maybe 50' and we could not see approaching cars. It was raining and the winds were gusting.

After continuing another mile, we began to pass other motorcycles on the way down. Most were shaking their heads "No" and one finally stopped and recommended that we forget it. Everyone was turning around in the pull off area at 5500 feet. You could not see the road! James had decided that he had enough so we called it quits at the turnoff and headed back down.

The bike had a bit of mud on it and so did we as we reached the base of the mountain!

It was asy to clean the boots. The scoot...not until we get back home.

After leaving Mt Washington we headed south and then east. Passing through North Conway, we ventured into the lakes region and rode through the scenic Meredith area before meeting up with I-93 for the ride to Manchester, NH.

We met Pat McGhie (RockyNH) for a quick bite and then it was off to Lowell, MA for the evening.



Wednesday was to be a fun day as we headed from Lowell to Hazleton, PA. On the way, we would detour a bit north and stop at Cooperstown, NY, home of the Baseball Hall of fame. It was another great weather day and after a late start, we crossed the Berkshires of western Massachusetts and entered New York. It was a quick ride to I-88 and a lunch break. We left the slab about 5 miles from our destination and rode the back roads to Cooperstown. Nice scenery and no traffic to speak of.

There is limited parking near the HOF so we parked about four miles away and rode the Trolley to the center of town.

Strolling up Main St, it doesn't take long to realize that this area is supported by tourism and specifically, the history of baseball. The shops all have a baseball flavor and there isn't much else to do unless you are a baseball fan.

Hank Aaron was one of those enshrined that James had heard of! Here is his plaque. And he did recognize the "Babe", George Herman Ruth!















We were unable to attend the first induction and we would miss the 2008 ceremony as well.

Too bad we scheduled our trip but one week late.

The crowd was good sized for a mid week visit but we enjoyed ourselves as we dove into the history of America's pastime.











Maybe we will be able to attend the induction ceremony of the future Hall of Fame'r pictured to the left!


We departed Cooperstown on Route 28 and rejoined I-88 for the ride to Binghamton before heading south on I-81 into Pennsylvania. We had missed rain (except for on Mt Washington) and had always stopped before dark. Today was the exception. Our stay in Cooperstown put us at a 9:00pm arrival in Hazleton, PA and it rained steadily for the last hour. My driving lights are non-functional and that did not help one bit.

But we did arrive safely, watched TV for a few minutes, and drifted off to sleep. Thursday was a travel day with no planned stops. The route is entirely along I-81 from Hazleton to Wytheville, VA as we head towards a family visit just outside of Knoxville, TN.