Day #61 October 10, 2007

Day #61
Wednesday October 10, 2007
Staying in Gettysburg, PA
0 miles today
11,776 miles total
31 states total

Traveling by tour bus today to Washington D.C. I’m was sitting at the pickup bench in the KOA at 5:40 AM. I’m excited about the history, the sites, the whole trip today.

I sat on the bus next to a guy named Ron from Minnesota. He is retired, and his wife nearly so. He was good company. The traffic into DC was awful. I just cannot imagine having to drive in this every work day. I just don’t see how people can do this. It must be worth it to some...

First stop: Arlington Nat’l Cemetary where we saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Such precision, such ceremony, and so solemn an occasion. It was very impressive. The cemetery itself is just so large. The story of Robert E. Lee’s home there at Arlington just adds to the whole place.

Second stop: Iwo Jima (and Marine Corp) Memorial
I really appreciated the bronze sculptures and the sand blasting in the stone.
And the Marines have been there in every conflict we’ve been in as a nation it appears.

Third stop: Vietnam Vets Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Korean Conflict Memorial. Having been in the awards/engraving business for years, I’ve blasted black marble, drilled and handled lots of white marble, and have sold and delivered to customers lots of bronze plaques/castings. All of these elements were present in these memorials. The white patina of the Korean monument was really striking. Kind of spooky looking almost. The size and scope of the Lincoln Memorial was much larger than any pictures I had seen. Six huge blocks of marble form the Lincoln statue portion. The many references to God, the Almighty, divine Providence and various Scriptures assures me (or reassures me) of the Godly foundation our great country has. The Vietnam Memorial was much different in its construction than I had envisioned. It’s amazing to see the extent, or the number, of the names on the wall. Each one represents a loss to our society, our culture, our country; and then a very personal loss to each family.

We finished up at the Smithsonian with a little more than 90 minutes to go on our own way. The American History museum and the Arts & Industry museums were both closed. I wondered in the natural history museum for a while, but just couldn’t even really get started.

Our tour finished up driving around and viewing many of the DC landmarks. We had dinner at a restaurant in Gettysburg before everyone was dropped off at their hotels or campgrounds.

Day #60 October 9, 2007

Day #60
Tuesday October 9, 2007
Gettysburg, PA to Gettysburg, PA
30 miles today (26,313 - 26,343)
11,776 miles total
31 states total

I slept better last night for some reason. Maybe I’m here and settled in. But I did have some “neighbors” come in about 3:30AM and make camp. They were a little loud for 3:30 in the morning!

This morning I’ve just read, prayed and reflected in the stillness and quietness of the morning. I’ve had 2 cups of coffee before the sun ever came up. It’s great. I just love the outdoors in the early morning. Just me and God. There’s something good about that.

God’s goodness is all around me, not just in the beauty of His creation either.
I’ve had TWO offers to take me to pick up my bike when finished. Early this AM, a lady was walking her dog and just spoke about my trailer as she passed. I told her where the bike was, etc., and later in the morning she came by with her husband and got my phone number. They were going to the battlefields and would call me before coming back to see if I needed the ride. The other offer was from a lady in the laundry room. As I was doing laundry and talking, she found out about my trip and said “I’ve got to send my husband to see you! That is his dream!” He came to visit with me just a little bit later. After 1PM the bike shop called and the 2nd couple took me to pick the bike up. I spent the rest of the afternoon running errands. I went to the bank, got a haircut in a real barbershop and went to the grocery store. I also popped into an award/gift/souvenir store. This is probably the first time I’d been in an award business since selling mine over a year ago.

Once I got back to camp after 5PM, the sky really began to darken. I thought the storm was going to go around us. It ultimately did not. But I was able to get everything inside and get the bike covered up in time. A light rain fell during the night and the wind gusted from time to time.

Day #59 Monday October 8, 2007

Day #59

Monday October 8, 2007

Gettysburg, PA to Gettysburg, PA

63 miles today (26,250 - 26,313)

11,746 miles total

31 states total

The air is pretty humid this AM. Pretty sticky. A noisy air conditioner on a nearby RV kept me awake a lot of the night. Even with ear plugs, it was just too loud. But hey, if I had it, I’d use it too in this humid climate!

I got out about 9:30 to get to the bike shop. I took the back, scenic, country road route which even turned into gravel for about 2 miles. The countryside is beautiful here. There are huge open fields between patches and rows of thick woods. You can see for many miles and just count off the many hilltops and ridges as you look to the horizon. It’s very easy to imagine, as I’m riding, that soldiers from either side could be hiding in the tree line just waiting to ambush the other. It’s almost creepy.

The bike shop, Rider’s Edge in Gettysburg, PA can get me in tomorrow Tuesday.
I’ll have to somehow arrange a ride back to camp after dropping it off. It’s probably 6-7 miles, maybe a little more. After confirming with the bike shop, I came back to camp and paid up for 4 more nights, through Thursday night. Then I headed off to town to catch some of the sights of the battlefield. I went to the Visitor’s Center and toured around the inside at the museum a while. I studied the artifacts that had been collected for many years after the battle. After that, I made my way to the Gettysburg Nat’l Cemetery across the street. I know there is great loss here, but the strongest emotion I sense is the tremendous sense of purpose or cause displayed by those that fought here. I’m sure many were pressured, either by peers, family or just a sense of duty. Others might have had some ulterior motive, who knows. But I’m sure many felt so strongly in their cause that they were willing to take up arms against their enemy. Yet, I do NOT sense anything profound or positive toward the terrorists of this age who so willingly attacked us, their perceived enemies.

I had lunch at a place called Friendly’s and came back to camp to clean out the saddle bags before delivering the bike at 5PM. I had to pay the only transportation company in Gettysburg $15 to take me the 6-8 miles back to camp.
Beats walking in the heat!

I made dinner of canned Ravioli and meatballs…yummm… (My wife is SUCH a GOOD COOK! I miss home cookin’!) Had ice cream from the KOA store for dessert, checked email and turned in about 9PM.

Day #58 Sunday October 7, 2007

Day #58

Sunday October 7, 2007

Allentown, PA to Gettysburg, PA

160 miles today (26,090 - 26,250)

11,683 miles total

0 new states today

31 states total

Had a very good nights rest at the Allentown KOA. Very nice folks there that own that one!

This morning, another lady came over and visited with me as I was packing up. She reminded me so much of Nat's mother. She was small in her stature, but very independent and self assured. She has put 183,000 miles on her Chevy camping van since the early 90’s. She took her first trip then to Alaska with a caravan of other campers. Most of the time she said, she camps alone with just her cat for company.

The ride yesterday was SO enjoyable! New Jersey just blew me away…I wasn’t prepared for the way it looked compared to what I was expecting. It was good to camp again after spending nearly a week in a motel at various locations as I came down the east coast from Madawaska.

As I traveled from Allentown to Gettysburg, the traffic was pretty heavy. I passed the H-D factory in York, PA. I’ll want to make that a place to visit for sure! I arrived plenty early, before 3PM, and had enough time to make camp at a leisurely pace. The trailer is on a raised gravel pad, nice and level, and I am happy about where I am located. Some of the “fun” of the trip was coming back. I went to the grocery and got back before dark. I had time to eat dinner and then I went to an introductory movie on the history of the Gettysburg battlefield.

I plan on having the bike serviced while here, I hope, so I have to make camp and STAY PUT for a few days. Tomorrow I'll find the bike shop and make plans based on how long I have to stay here.

All in all, another good day. It is WARM and HUMID here though. Once again,
as in many parts of the northeast, I am hearing about how UNusual this weather is.

Day #57 Saturday October 6, 2007

Day #57
Saturday October 6, 2007

Guilford, CT to Allentown, PA

239 miles today (25,851 - 26,090)

11,523 miles total

0 new states today

31 states total

I made breakfast in my room again, since I had both a microwave and a fridge.
This place even had CAT5/6 dataports! YEAH!

I didn’t leave Guilford until nearly 9:30 AM. I had to get on the interstate, I-95, right out of the gate this AM. Twice I had to hit 4 lane, but only for short stretches. But it was a good morning of riding. The sun was shining, the weather was very pleasant, so it wasn't too bad. I had mapped a route that would take me AWAY from New York City, so I was looking forward to being "out in the country" for a little while.

I traveled through New Haven, the home of Yale University. Once founded as a seminary, now a "progressive" university. I took CT 34 through beautiful, rolling country side. Out of New Haven, I followed a river for many miles. The Yale crew club was practicing/racing and well as a lot of individuals in their long, skinny boats. I rode until intersecting US 6 then turned west back toward NY. My morning coffee (and donut some days!) stop was in Derby, CT where I met a man TOWING his Harley to Cape Cod. He said his wife didn’t like to ride that far, so they trailer it over there and then ride on the Cape all weekend. Lots of bikes are getting trailered these days to various destinations. I have a pin and patch I purchased in Sturgis that says “I RODE MINE” which in some folks minds gives credibility or something like that to the experience. Some of the "hard core" folks look down on those that trailer their bikes to events

and then ride them around there.

The ride through the rural southeastern portion of New York, was as beautiful as the ride through the northern portion. Hills and curves, trees in falls colors, rocks formations of every size and shape, it was all just striking. But the shocker of the day was yet to come. All of my mental pictures of New Jersey are a city “across the river” from NYC. Just kind of a dirty, polluted and dangerous place.

But as I got off US 6 and onto 94 the scenery just improved and the ride became breathtaking. Rural NJ just shocked me! I wasn’t prepared for the narrow, twisty and hilly 2 lane road. It was a blast to ride! And as I could, I would glance out at rows of corn, some cut into mazes for the kids at roadside stands. Families were going through the pumpkin patches picking out the pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns I’m sure. At some places, the road narrowed even more as dozens, literally dozens of cars lined the road to visit the roadside fruit and vegetable stands. It was just a striking picture, and one so far from what I would have expected. If Rhode Island was the most frustrating state I have ridden in, then Jersey would win the prize for “most surprising!”

I hit I-80 late in the afternoon and had to ride it just a little before hitting PA 33.
I might as well have been on the interstate, as it was all 4 lane and moving at what seemed like 80 mph. It was a pretty easy trip into Allentown where I stopped and reviewed my map for the KOA. I had about 10 more miles to go, as this KOA was 7+ miles off the freeway.

When I arrived there, they gave me a spot near the office and bathroom, but it was down a steep bluff and across the little brook that ran through the camp.
It was great! And as I set up camp, little did I know I was drawing an audience.
When I stepped out of the tent portion, nearly set up, two ladies were standing there “amazed” they said that such a big camper could come out of a small trailer.
These two ladies, each driving their own camper/van, were just touring the country together. One was from LA and one from San Diego. We visited quite a while. I also visited with the campers next to me, and the retired Chicago police officer who was across from me. I made dinner, settled in and called it “a good day.” I went to sleep just thinking how great is was to be in such a beautiful place and to be surprised by the landscape of New Jersey! My one regreat today is that I did not make ONE single picture of anything in New Jersey. But I was there...honest!

Day #56 Friday October 5, 2007

Day #56

Friday October 5, 2007

Hamilton Falls, NH to Guilford, CT

252 miles today (25,599 - 25,851) 11,284 miles total

3 new states today: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut

31 states total

Only 17 more states to go! Of course, Florida, Texas and California are 3 of those.
With no “lollygaggin’ around”, those will take a week the way I want to go through them! I have been gone 74 days now from Eugene, OR. This is “Day 56” of my “Four Corners Tour” since I’m not counting the 18 days I spent in West KY working on Nat’s mom’s property. And I’ve done over 11,500 miles if I count the 300+ I accumulated while there. Wow, what a journey. Many people, and rightfully so I’m realizing, have called this “a journey of a lifetime.” I now see it really is.

But today…was NOT a good day. It may have been the most frustrating day of the whole trip. It certainly was up to this point. I slept “ok” and my back is easing up, but again, I’m in a nice hotel and have NO internet service. Made my breakfast and coffee in the microwave and got out early.

I rode “around” Boston, MA without incident. US 1 goes right down through the heart of it. I rode US 1 for 30 minutes or more this morning until it crossed I-95. From then on it would be all freeway until Providence, RI. I got off the freeway on the west side of Boston for coffee and gas. One thing I noticed, at every construction zone there were uniformed/armed police officers directing traffic. The stoplights were working, so the only thing I can figure is the drivers just don’t pay attention enough to the construction zone, thus the police add an additional bit of seriousness to the situation. I-95 around Boston was busy, but not like it would be later in the day. At the coffee stop, one man made my picture and we talked several minutes about our country, its beauty, the people and how good it was to be here. He drove trucks in the past and had seen a lot of it, and got to fly over a lot of it in the Air Force when he was younger.

I don’t want to say I’ve “gotten lost” anywhere on this trip, and I’ve been in some very remote country. But Rhode Island is the state I have been the most “turned around” in, or as Daniel Boone would say “a bit bewildered on occasion.” Isn’t it the SMALLEST state??? The signs indicating road direction and information are BY FAR the WORST I have encountered. At many MAJOR intersections, there are just not any signs indicating which direction to go to stay on US 1 or 1A. Today alone, I have had to stop and ask directions from a policeman, a UPS driver, and the owner of a small “service station.” At the service station they were checking under the hood and pumping gas. Amazing! I rode a lot and covered little ground today, and didn’t enjoy the little I did.

And today, in Rhode Island, I had 4-5 people pull out in front of me like I was invisible (no fog present), I pulled out in front of one driver, and one lady nearly ran me out of my lane at 65mph! I don’t remember where (on a bridge somewhere) I crossed into Connecticut, but I was hoping the traffic situation would change. I got back onto I-95, tired of chasing US 1, and now discover I am only 2 hours from New York City. The traffic is thick as syrup, but it’s running at 65+ and I can barely keep up. New York City, the traffic, the rush, the big cities are all working against me to enjoy the ride today.

I rode till 4PM. The clerk referred me to a “nice” restaurant down on the waterfront. I went and it’s old, run down, expensive and just as I pulled in, the whole place was just enveloped by a thick, damp, foggy mist. It’s weird. Dinner was ok, but the place was too loud for me.

I wasn’t expecting a bad day today. In fact, on the contrary, I was looking forward to a good one, back on the road again along the shoreline. It just didn’t work out that way. Somehow, I need to regroup, refocus and recommit myself the goal and press on. Tomorrow is a new day!

Day #55 Thursday October 4, 2007

Day #55

Thursday October 4, 2007

Bar Harbor, ME to Hamilton Falls, NH

250 miles today (25,349 - 25,599)

11,032 miles total
0 new states today
28 states total, 2 “Corners” visited

I left Bar Harbor (Ba Haba) in the fog this morning, just shortly after 8AM. I put on my yellow rain gear just to make myself more visible. The temp was probably above 50 degrees, but it was humid. I didn’t wear long underwear or a long sleeve shirt as I’d done the previous 2 mornings. The weather man is calling for a clear and nice day, possibly breaking records in regards to warm temps.

I rode in and out of the fog until about 10 AM. At times it was very, very thick and heavy. Only rarely would the sun peak through. I stayed on US 1 just all day long. Enjoyed the riding, and would eventually shed my leathers at lunchtime in Brunswick, ME. I could see some of the coast (shore) as I rode, but it wasn’t like the highway was built right near the ocean.

Scarborough, south of Portland, was a neat little town with US 1 turning into a regular city street, lined on both sides for a mile or more with motels, hotels, restaurants and tourist shops. There was a mix of old and new buildings. But the place was a ghost town. There were only a few cars at a few of the motels, and hardly any traffic at all. I could imagine it being packed in the summer time. The buildings, none taller than 2 stories, were just crammed in nearly on top of one another. By now, I was close to the ocean, the sun was shining, and the wind was blowing in from the Atlantic. Wow, the Atlantic Ocean…amazing that I am here.

I took a side trip down state route 9 to Kennebunkport. Lots of big, older, stately homes that you would expect to find in an old wealthy east coast community. I think the welcome sign said it was founded in 1693. I’ll check on that when I post the picture.

I crossed the NH state line around 4PM sometime and checked in a motel in Hampton Falls, NH. Of course, I could not get net connected, so there was no posting of the days events that day. I rode to the grocery and bought some supplies. On the way back, I came upon a wreck where a car had pulled out of a shopping center onto a 5 lane highway (middle turning with no divider) and had hit a motorcycle! The bike was “stuck” upright, wedged somehow on the cars bumper. I saw no rider and no ambulance. But the fire and police depts. had everything under control. That was the FIRST bike incident I have seen on my whole trip!

Tomorrow, continuing south on the “shore” as they call it here…