Day 47; another day in Lee's Summit
As we all know, family is important. That's why I love seeing mine on this trip. If you didn't know, one of my cousins is deaf. I have always wanted to take an American sign language course, but it always conflicted with other classes. Problem? Not for my cousin Mary! Shortly after going upstairs this morning to visit, she grabbed a pen and paper and started writing. We spent the whole morning talking to each other (I think we wrote close to 15 pages).
She told me about her friends and family add I did the same with her. She asked about my parents (they had not arrived yet), my sister and nephew, and my brother. Then she asked about a game I was playing, so I taught her the basics and let her play around until it was time for me to head out.
I met my parents in Louisburg Kansas where my great great great grandparents are buried along with a few others from my family. My aunt told us all about it and how the McDowell family (mine from a long long time ago) owned 100 acres in that town and opened up an auto mechanic shop. That building is still standing and has been converted into the town's library. It still has a name plate high on the wall with the name McDowell on it. We are learning so much about our family on this trip!
Then we headed back to my cousin's house and hung out until it was time to gain some weight. We found a great BBQ place called Jacks stack here in town. I have to say, I like it better than Kansas City BBQ. Both my parents and I are still having fun visiting with family and friends, and are looking forward to the days ahead.
Bye now, LB
Friday, July 31, 2015
Day 46
Day 46; Joplin Missouri to Lee's Summit Missouri
Hello again! Today was another fantastic day. I got up and had a huge breakfast (eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls, toast, and a glass of milk) below family members started coming over. I was packing up my stuff as people kept on strolling in.
I met tons of family members and friends I had only ever heard of, and we had a delicious potluck before I headed out on my own for the day. My parents stayed in Joplin to visit with family a little longer while I rode toward Kansas City to see an old college friend of mine.
The original plan was to go dancing... That didn't end up happening, but we still had a good time talking about the past and future. We struggled to find parking, but ended up getting it for free. Then we walked around a bit to check things out. Ultimately, we went to the Yard House because she had never been and they have over 100 beers on tap! She told me I had to try one from a Kansas City brewing company so I did, and it was pretty tasty.
As we walked around the Power and Light district, I saw a pool table in the window of a bar/pizzeria. Naturally, I wanted to play. Camille held her own throughout the game. She suggested we get frozen custard, so we did that too! It's amazing! By that time, it was getting pretty late and past both of our bed times. (Now it's really far past my bed time).
Bye now, LB
Hello again! Today was another fantastic day. I got up and had a huge breakfast (eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls, toast, and a glass of milk) below family members started coming over. I was packing up my stuff as people kept on strolling in.
I met tons of family members and friends I had only ever heard of, and we had a delicious potluck before I headed out on my own for the day. My parents stayed in Joplin to visit with family a little longer while I rode toward Kansas City to see an old college friend of mine.
The original plan was to go dancing... That didn't end up happening, but we still had a good time talking about the past and future. We struggled to find parking, but ended up getting it for free. Then we walked around a bit to check things out. Ultimately, we went to the Yard House because she had never been and they have over 100 beers on tap! She told me I had to try one from a Kansas City brewing company so I did, and it was pretty tasty.
As we walked around the Power and Light district, I saw a pool table in the window of a bar/pizzeria. Naturally, I wanted to play. Camille held her own throughout the game. She suggested we get frozen custard, so we did that too! It's amazing! By that time, it was getting pretty late and past both of our bed times. (Now it's really far past my bed time).
Bye now, LB
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Day 45
Day 45; still hanging out with family
Today was pretty low key again. Had some sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast. It's a typical breakfast here in Missouri and it is good! I'll have to learn how to make it one day. Then we hung around the house as a ton of family kept joining us. The plan was to go out for lunch at 3.
Eventually everyone showed up and we headed just south of Springfield to a place called Lambert's cafe. It's the home of the throwed roll. Weird thing to claim, I know, but they literally throw rolls across the restaurant to whoever wants them! Don't worry if you have terrible dexterity... you drop the roll, they throw another! It's kind of funny to see the staff kicking the rolls around to get them out of the walkways.
We got situated, ordered our food and let the fun begin! As we were eating, the staff walls around with sides and give you whatever they have to offer. I do have to warn you, only go there if you are really hungry. We went the for lunch. It is now midnight, and I still can't eat anything.
After lunch, we drove to where my aunt had previously lived. It was destroyed in a tornado not too long ago, and the rebuild was aired on television. They built 7 homes in 7 days, and gave them away. Now she loves a few blocks down the street.
We had a few more visitors when we got back to the house, and had a relaxing evening. My parents and I will be splitting up for a day (tomorrow), so I can go out with a friend of mine while they visit with family for another day.
Bye now, LB
Today was pretty low key again. Had some sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast. It's a typical breakfast here in Missouri and it is good! I'll have to learn how to make it one day. Then we hung around the house as a ton of family kept joining us. The plan was to go out for lunch at 3.
Eventually everyone showed up and we headed just south of Springfield to a place called Lambert's cafe. It's the home of the throwed roll. Weird thing to claim, I know, but they literally throw rolls across the restaurant to whoever wants them! Don't worry if you have terrible dexterity... you drop the roll, they throw another! It's kind of funny to see the staff kicking the rolls around to get them out of the walkways.
We got situated, ordered our food and let the fun begin! As we were eating, the staff walls around with sides and give you whatever they have to offer. I do have to warn you, only go there if you are really hungry. We went the for lunch. It is now midnight, and I still can't eat anything.
After lunch, we drove to where my aunt had previously lived. It was destroyed in a tornado not too long ago, and the rebuild was aired on television. They built 7 homes in 7 days, and gave them away. Now she loves a few blocks down the street.
We had a few more visitors when we got back to the house, and had a relaxing evening. My parents and I will be splitting up for a day (tomorrow), so I can go out with a friend of mine while they visit with family for another day.
Bye now, LB
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Day 44
Day 44; chilling at my aunt's house
We stayed in Joplin today and had a very relaxing day. I've figured out that I can't sleep in well anymore. I woke up before my alarm (I forgot to turn it off) multiple times and forced myself to go back to sleep. Finally I got up at 9 and spent some time helping my aunt solve mind puzzles on her tablet for a few hours. My dad came out of the room and we all relaxed in the living room for a while.
I got to meet one of my cousins that I've never met before, so that was awesome. We started bonding over our thoughts on vegetables (disgusting) while eating pizza at Cici's. Then we did a word search puzzle on our way to the store after dinner, and continued playing games the rest of the night. We also got to sit out on the porch the way I always imagined I would when I get old.
While I was sitting out on the porch, my dad went to the airport to pick up my mom! It's really good seeing her! Now everyone is sleeping everywhere (beds, couches, air mattress, and the floor). Not much space, but we make it work (that's what family does). Hopefully I can sleep longer tonight.
Bye now, LB
We stayed in Joplin today and had a very relaxing day. I've figured out that I can't sleep in well anymore. I woke up before my alarm (I forgot to turn it off) multiple times and forced myself to go back to sleep. Finally I got up at 9 and spent some time helping my aunt solve mind puzzles on her tablet for a few hours. My dad came out of the room and we all relaxed in the living room for a while.
I got to meet one of my cousins that I've never met before, so that was awesome. We started bonding over our thoughts on vegetables (disgusting) while eating pizza at Cici's. Then we did a word search puzzle on our way to the store after dinner, and continued playing games the rest of the night. We also got to sit out on the porch the way I always imagined I would when I get old.
While I was sitting out on the porch, my dad went to the airport to pick up my mom! It's really good seeing her! Now everyone is sleeping everywhere (beds, couches, air mattress, and the floor). Not much space, but we make it work (that's what family does). Hopefully I can sleep longer tonight.
Bye now, LB
Monday, July 27, 2015
Day 43
Day 43; Ozark National Park to Joplin Missouri
I only woke up about 4 hours earlier than I wanted to (2 hours before I had to). We went to check out some of the springs in the park and they are incredible! The water coming out of the springs is 54 degrees. The cold water and warm air combine to make a thick layer of fog over the river that gives it an incredibly eerie feel. It was time to hit the road again.
We decided to do a little bit of backtracking because it would be a shorter route and I'm glad we did! Road E is one of the best roads we have ridden on this trip! Not only does it have awesome curves left and right, but also up and down! As I came to the crest of the road (on multiple occasions) I couldn't see the road in front of me until I felt my stomach floating. The feeling you get when you're free falling. It was absolutely incredible! Then we hit highway 60 and I44 to make our way to Joplin.
As we got off the interstate for gas, my dad's bike crapped out. It had barely any power going to the wheels, so we found a gas station and pulled into it (after struggling to make it through a few intersections. Slowly but surely, dad rode it 14 miles to the Honda dealer and found the cause (busted fuel filter). We had to leave his bike with them. Dad got a rental car (and I rode my bike) so we could get to my aunts house in Joplin. (It's a Kia soul. I feel like I should be wearing a hamster suit like the commercials have).
I get to see my mom tomorrow! She is flying out here and my dad will pick her up tomorrow from the airport in the car. Anyway, that's it for today.
Bye now, LB
I only woke up about 4 hours earlier than I wanted to (2 hours before I had to). We went to check out some of the springs in the park and they are incredible! The water coming out of the springs is 54 degrees. The cold water and warm air combine to make a thick layer of fog over the river that gives it an incredibly eerie feel. It was time to hit the road again.
We decided to do a little bit of backtracking because it would be a shorter route and I'm glad we did! Road E is one of the best roads we have ridden on this trip! Not only does it have awesome curves left and right, but also up and down! As I came to the crest of the road (on multiple occasions) I couldn't see the road in front of me until I felt my stomach floating. The feeling you get when you're free falling. It was absolutely incredible! Then we hit highway 60 and I44 to make our way to Joplin.
As we got off the interstate for gas, my dad's bike crapped out. It had barely any power going to the wheels, so we found a gas station and pulled into it (after struggling to make it through a few intersections. Slowly but surely, dad rode it 14 miles to the Honda dealer and found the cause (busted fuel filter). We had to leave his bike with them. Dad got a rental car (and I rode my bike) so we could get to my aunts house in Joplin. (It's a Kia soul. I feel like I should be wearing a hamster suit like the commercials have).
I get to see my mom tomorrow! She is flying out here and my dad will pick her up tomorrow from the airport in the car. Anyway, that's it for today.
Bye now, LB
Day 42
Day 42; Ekron Kentucky to the Ozarks
We got up, packed or stuff, and had our last meal with Gary and Terri. Then we had to get some photos before hitting the open road. We were hoping for another day without rain, but mother nature had another plan.
As we rode west on highway 60, the clouds started looking pretty scary. It was time to fill up the bikes anyway, so we got off t the highway in Princeton, filled up and found shelter. By shelter I mean we found a combination kfc/a&w that we stopped at for lunch. We covered up the motorcycles and headed on inside.
KFC was having an all you can eat buffet (their mistake). We had some time to kill as we waited out the storm, so we both ate our fill to the point that we skipped dinner (four pieces of chicken and sides plus dessert).
When the bulk of the storm passed, we hit the road again. We got rained on a little bit as we rode, and again when we got to our campsite in the Ozark National Park. Setting up a tent in the rain usually sucks, but it was so hot I didn't care. I set up my stuff and then walked around in the rain for a few minutes before going to sleep. It was a really early night, but not add restful as I had hoped due to the heat and humidity. I slept without my bag or pad. I woke up multiple times sweating because of the heat.
Bye now, LB
We got up, packed or stuff, and had our last meal with Gary and Terri. Then we had to get some photos before hitting the open road. We were hoping for another day without rain, but mother nature had another plan.
As we rode west on highway 60, the clouds started looking pretty scary. It was time to fill up the bikes anyway, so we got off t the highway in Princeton, filled up and found shelter. By shelter I mean we found a combination kfc/a&w that we stopped at for lunch. We covered up the motorcycles and headed on inside.
KFC was having an all you can eat buffet (their mistake). We had some time to kill as we waited out the storm, so we both ate our fill to the point that we skipped dinner (four pieces of chicken and sides plus dessert).
When the bulk of the storm passed, we hit the road again. We got rained on a little bit as we rode, and again when we got to our campsite in the Ozark National Park. Setting up a tent in the rain usually sucks, but it was so hot I didn't care. I set up my stuff and then walked around in the rain for a few minutes before going to sleep. It was a really early night, but not add restful as I had hoped due to the heat and humidity. I slept without my bag or pad. I woke up multiple times sweating because of the heat.
Bye now, LB
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Day 41
Day 41; hanging out with the cousin
What an eventful day! I didn't know we could pack this much awesomeness into one day! It started out with a nice breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes), and getting on the motorcycles. We had a third rider today because Gary (my dad's cousin)rides a Harley. We went about 30 miles before finding president Lincoln's birthplace here in Kentucky. There was a visitor center that played a short film about his family and reasons for movingaround so much. It also touched on his interest for writing words, that he learned in his limited schooling, in the dirt. He only had 2 years of formal school. That combined with his humble beginnings (lived in a cabin much like the way Lincoln logs work) went to show that the American dream could be accomplished.
From there, we headed out to go see the corvette museum. My dad used to have a corvette until it caught fire about ten years ago. After today, we may need to get another :) is a really good thing I'm not a cleptomaniac because there are so many corvettes that I want to have. They too had a short video to watch before going through the museum, and they had corvettes from each era on display. One cool thing they had, let people pick up half of the corvette chassis to see how light it is (extremely light weight!). They also had fun facts about each car on display which is cool. Then we had to rush home for my favorite part of the day (yes better than looking at corvettes).
We got back and I had high hopes for riding a horse (Gary and his wife Terri have three). Horses weren't the first priority, so I got to do chores. Used the chain saw to cut down a few low hanging tree limbs and cut them into small pieces. Then we got to the horses.
I started out learning how to groom them (brushing them and picking their hooves), and then saddled up Fancy (the horse I got to ride). We did some ground work so I could get the full experience and then I basically got free reign of the yard to run around in. I'm just going to say, horses are awesome!
I suppose that's all for today. Bye now, LB
What an eventful day! I didn't know we could pack this much awesomeness into one day! It started out with a nice breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes), and getting on the motorcycles. We had a third rider today because Gary (my dad's cousin)rides a Harley. We went about 30 miles before finding president Lincoln's birthplace here in Kentucky. There was a visitor center that played a short film about his family and reasons for movingaround so much. It also touched on his interest for writing words, that he learned in his limited schooling, in the dirt. He only had 2 years of formal school. That combined with his humble beginnings (lived in a cabin much like the way Lincoln logs work) went to show that the American dream could be accomplished.
From there, we headed out to go see the corvette museum. My dad used to have a corvette until it caught fire about ten years ago. After today, we may need to get another :) is a really good thing I'm not a cleptomaniac because there are so many corvettes that I want to have. They too had a short video to watch before going through the museum, and they had corvettes from each era on display. One cool thing they had, let people pick up half of the corvette chassis to see how light it is (extremely light weight!). They also had fun facts about each car on display which is cool. Then we had to rush home for my favorite part of the day (yes better than looking at corvettes).
We got back and I had high hopes for riding a horse (Gary and his wife Terri have three). Horses weren't the first priority, so I got to do chores. Used the chain saw to cut down a few low hanging tree limbs and cut them into small pieces. Then we got to the horses.
I started out learning how to groom them (brushing them and picking their hooves), and then saddled up Fancy (the horse I got to ride). We did some ground work so I could get the full experience and then I basically got free reign of the yard to run around in. I'm just going to say, horses are awesome!
I suppose that's all for today. Bye now, LB
Friday, July 24, 2015
Day 40
Day 40; Mount Vernon Illinois to Ekron Kentucky
I'm not going to lie to you, today was limiting on exciting stuff to write about. We got up, packed and headed out. The speakers we bought worked great for the first part until we got on the highway. That's when the noandise from the motorcycles andand I wind were too overwhelming for the speaker to compete. I just turned it off and listened to music through my communicator.
The ride was really pretty, and we had great weather (warm enough to warrant using our cooling vests again). Speaking of cooling vests... mom, I'm keeping this one. We bought you a new one from cycle gear along with a few phone holders and shirts. I also traded in my chaps for new ones because mine were already beginning to tear at the seems (I bought them on this trip).
After shopping, we rode to my dad's cousin's house and went out to pizza in an old jail house. Believe it or not, it's called Jailhouse Pizza! It was transformed into a restaurant, but still had jail cells upstairs with a place to hang people (kinda scary). It also had a bunch of wanted posters and am old police car as decorations. Awesome place to check out if you're ever near by.
Well that was our entire day, so bye for now. LB
I'm not going to lie to you, today was limiting on exciting stuff to write about. We got up, packed and headed out. The speakers we bought worked great for the first part until we got on the highway. That's when the noandise from the motorcycles andand I wind were too overwhelming for the speaker to compete. I just turned it off and listened to music through my communicator.
The ride was really pretty, and we had great weather (warm enough to warrant using our cooling vests again). Speaking of cooling vests... mom, I'm keeping this one. We bought you a new one from cycle gear along with a few phone holders and shirts. I also traded in my chaps for new ones because mine were already beginning to tear at the seems (I bought them on this trip).
After shopping, we rode to my dad's cousin's house and went out to pizza in an old jail house. Believe it or not, it's called Jailhouse Pizza! It was transformed into a restaurant, but still had jail cells upstairs with a place to hang people (kinda scary). It also had a bunch of wanted posters and am old police car as decorations. Awesome place to check out if you're ever near by.
Well that was our entire day, so bye for now. LB
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Day 39
Day 39; Lincoln Illinois to Mount Vernon Illinois by way of the St Louis Arch
Our original plan for today was to go check out the arch. We added on to that plan because our campground had some papers that showed interesting things about president Lincoln and the town. We rode to Lincoln's tomb (he has a huge memorial that was paid for by donations, $170,000). His body was kept in a temporary tomb while his final resting place was being built. Now it also contains other family members, and it is magnificent.
We also checked out the Vietnam and World War II memorials while we were in the cemetery. Then we took off to St Louis Missouri. We saw the arch as we crossed the bridge into Missouri, but we didn't go directly there. We found a place that had been on television for lunch called Pappy's. There was a huge line, but the ribs, brisket, and sausage made it worth the wait! Pappy's has won competitions and been named the country's best barbie que multiple times. I keep eating at these wonderful places and my stomach keeps getting larger... Anyway, this is when we finally headed to the arch.
We had to walk a little ways to get tickets for the tram to get to the top, and then walk to the arch from there. My boots were not made for waking and I almost got a blister on my foot. We got to the arch when I realized I had my knife in my pocket (we had to go through a metal detector). I put it in my bag and sent it through the scanner. Apparently knives don't count as weapons :) We went up to the top of the arch where we could see the whole city! The view from the top is amazing, and the ride up and down is pretty cool. (A little cramped, but cool).
We headed out of the city and back into Illinois to find a best buy. We bought some new toys today (waterproof Bluetooth speakers), so we can listen to music and talk on communicators at the same time. After that we headed back east to go to my dad's cousin's house. We will get there tomorrow. For tonight we got a motel and made pasta for dinner. Now I'm exhausted and is time for bed.
Bye now, LB
Our original plan for today was to go check out the arch. We added on to that plan because our campground had some papers that showed interesting things about president Lincoln and the town. We rode to Lincoln's tomb (he has a huge memorial that was paid for by donations, $170,000). His body was kept in a temporary tomb while his final resting place was being built. Now it also contains other family members, and it is magnificent.
We also checked out the Vietnam and World War II memorials while we were in the cemetery. Then we took off to St Louis Missouri. We saw the arch as we crossed the bridge into Missouri, but we didn't go directly there. We found a place that had been on television for lunch called Pappy's. There was a huge line, but the ribs, brisket, and sausage made it worth the wait! Pappy's has won competitions and been named the country's best barbie que multiple times. I keep eating at these wonderful places and my stomach keeps getting larger... Anyway, this is when we finally headed to the arch.
We had to walk a little ways to get tickets for the tram to get to the top, and then walk to the arch from there. My boots were not made for waking and I almost got a blister on my foot. We got to the arch when I realized I had my knife in my pocket (we had to go through a metal detector). I put it in my bag and sent it through the scanner. Apparently knives don't count as weapons :) We went up to the top of the arch where we could see the whole city! The view from the top is amazing, and the ride up and down is pretty cool. (A little cramped, but cool).
We headed out of the city and back into Illinois to find a best buy. We bought some new toys today (waterproof Bluetooth speakers), so we can listen to music and talk on communicators at the same time. After that we headed back east to go to my dad's cousin's house. We will get there tomorrow. For tonight we got a motel and made pasta for dinner. Now I'm exhausted and is time for bed.
Bye now, LB
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Day 38, RIP Luther and Ellen
Day 38; DeForest Wisconsin to Lincoln Illinois
Where do we come from? Who makes us who we are? Our parents...siblings, friends, extended family? I am fortunate enough to have this opportunity to learn some of this for myself. A while back, my father and I went to Ellis Island. His grandparents came to America through that island, and today I met them for the first time in Grand View Cemetery. It got me thinking about my history. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them, and even though I never got to talk to them or have been influenced by them personally; they are a huge part of my life. Now, Luther and Ellen Keller lay in a beautiful field with a view of hills, and a big sky.
If you don't know my father, he is the greatest man I could ever hope to be. He's level headed and rarely let's his emotions get the best of him, but today was a special occasion. His grandmother passed away when he was in high school, so he could not attend her funeral. He told me today, that he never got to say goodbye until now. I'm so happy he finally had the chance to see them in their final resting place. I let him have some time alone with them as I went into town to get some flowers.
Not having any place on the bike to carry them, I placed them (vase and all) in my vest, and rode slowly back to the cemetery to keep them nice. We placed them next to their headstone and visited for some time.
The rest of the day was of little importance, but it was a good ride with fair weather. We found a small campground with a swinging chair, and people playing music. Exhausted from the day, I fell asleep before dinner and woke up a few hours later. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight, so I can be ready to go tomorrow.
RIP Luther and Ellen
Your great grandson, Gregg Keller
Where do we come from? Who makes us who we are? Our parents...siblings, friends, extended family? I am fortunate enough to have this opportunity to learn some of this for myself. A while back, my father and I went to Ellis Island. His grandparents came to America through that island, and today I met them for the first time in Grand View Cemetery. It got me thinking about my history. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them, and even though I never got to talk to them or have been influenced by them personally; they are a huge part of my life. Now, Luther and Ellen Keller lay in a beautiful field with a view of hills, and a big sky.
If you don't know my father, he is the greatest man I could ever hope to be. He's level headed and rarely let's his emotions get the best of him, but today was a special occasion. His grandmother passed away when he was in high school, so he could not attend her funeral. He told me today, that he never got to say goodbye until now. I'm so happy he finally had the chance to see them in their final resting place. I let him have some time alone with them as I went into town to get some flowers.
Not having any place on the bike to carry them, I placed them (vase and all) in my vest, and rode slowly back to the cemetery to keep them nice. We placed them next to their headstone and visited for some time.
The rest of the day was of little importance, but it was a good ride with fair weather. We found a small campground with a swinging chair, and people playing music. Exhausted from the day, I fell asleep before dinner and woke up a few hours later. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight, so I can be ready to go tomorrow.
RIP Luther and Ellen
Your great grandson, Gregg Keller
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Day 37
Day 37; East Marquette Michigan to DeForest Wisconsin
We got up and packed things up when my dad went to the restroom. As I was about to put on my chaps, my dad hollered my name and told m me to come over. The campground host opened up the theater (built by hand), and let us check it out. It had a projector screen at least twice my height, surround sound, a furnace, and a bar with beer on tap. The place we stayed last night is incredible and I wish we could have stayed a while longer, but it was time to move on.
We headed out on highway 41 all the way to Wisconsin where we stopped for lunch. Right next to a river was a park with covered picnic benches, and a Marine memorial. My dad tried to post photos on Facebook after lunch, so naturally I took advantage of the situation by laying down on the bench. His upload was taking a while which gave me ample time for a cat nap. (You better believe I took advantage of that)
We found a few interesting things on our ride today. One of which was a statue of a cow flashing her utters to everyone passing on the highway! Too funny not to take photos. There was also hotdog and Bigfoot statues. Someone pull out of the driveway as we were taking photos, and they smiled and waved to us (like it was a normal thing to do). Anyway, we had a nice day of riding. I was actually a little bit worried about not having enough stuff to put on this post, but the cow and other incidents showed promise.
Later in the afternoon, we noticed some airplanes flying in formation right over our heads as we rode! 3 sets of four planes, all in formation, flew over us and out to our right side. They came back and flew over our heads a second time! We were trying to take photos, but it didn't work well for me. That gave me enough excitement to keep me going through the rest of the ride. Our day got even better when we got to camp.
I think we may have found the friendliest KOA that exists because 6 people came by to talk to us (not including the staff). 3 of them are from Los Angeles, CA! Now let's talk about the staff. Basically they are kind of old and frail. That's why they asked me to help them lift something. I didn't know what it was, but I accepted and got my dad to help. We had to lift an air conditioning unit up and put it in its place, and we got a six pack of beer as payment! Mmm :) We got the locally brewed one called spotted cow, and it was pretty good.
Some of you may be wondering how we could keep beer cold with very little space in our cooler. Well, we couldn't. We drank them while playing a few rounds of cribbage before going into the pool (I'm going to sleep well tonight). Then we went through the nightly routine and now am ready for bed.
Bye now, LB
We got up and packed things up when my dad went to the restroom. As I was about to put on my chaps, my dad hollered my name and told m me to come over. The campground host opened up the theater (built by hand), and let us check it out. It had a projector screen at least twice my height, surround sound, a furnace, and a bar with beer on tap. The place we stayed last night is incredible and I wish we could have stayed a while longer, but it was time to move on.
We headed out on highway 41 all the way to Wisconsin where we stopped for lunch. Right next to a river was a park with covered picnic benches, and a Marine memorial. My dad tried to post photos on Facebook after lunch, so naturally I took advantage of the situation by laying down on the bench. His upload was taking a while which gave me ample time for a cat nap. (You better believe I took advantage of that)
We found a few interesting things on our ride today. One of which was a statue of a cow flashing her utters to everyone passing on the highway! Too funny not to take photos. There was also hotdog and Bigfoot statues. Someone pull out of the driveway as we were taking photos, and they smiled and waved to us (like it was a normal thing to do). Anyway, we had a nice day of riding. I was actually a little bit worried about not having enough stuff to put on this post, but the cow and other incidents showed promise.
Later in the afternoon, we noticed some airplanes flying in formation right over our heads as we rode! 3 sets of four planes, all in formation, flew over us and out to our right side. They came back and flew over our heads a second time! We were trying to take photos, but it didn't work well for me. That gave me enough excitement to keep me going through the rest of the ride. Our day got even better when we got to camp.
I think we may have found the friendliest KOA that exists because 6 people came by to talk to us (not including the staff). 3 of them are from Los Angeles, CA! Now let's talk about the staff. Basically they are kind of old and frail. That's why they asked me to help them lift something. I didn't know what it was, but I accepted and got my dad to help. We had to lift an air conditioning unit up and put it in its place, and we got a six pack of beer as payment! Mmm :) We got the locally brewed one called spotted cow, and it was pretty good.
Some of you may be wondering how we could keep beer cold with very little space in our cooler. Well, we couldn't. We drank them while playing a few rounds of cribbage before going into the pool (I'm going to sleep well tonight). Then we went through the nightly routine and now am ready for bed.
Bye now, LB
Monday, July 20, 2015
Day 36
Day 36; Traverse Michigan to East Marquette Michigan
What a beautiful day! It started out with both of us forgetting to set an alarm:) so we got to sleep in. The forecast was 0% chance of rain for the day, and we had sunny skies for most of the day. We rode between lakes Heron and Michigan all the way up to Superior.
We stopped by a vacant lot with lake front for lunch at Heron (The lakes are so big that you can't see the other side). It's really humbling to sit at the edge of something so massive. We had some sandwiches and cherries that we bought from a farm on the side of the highway. They are good!
We had to cross a bridge to continue north to Lake Superior. This normally is no problem, but half the bridge has a metal deck instead of asphalt. Metal decks have grooves in them like ruts that tires get stuck in making it incredibly hard to steer the motorcycle. While trying to keep the river side down, I realized that I could see the lake through the metal grates! Freaky! Fortunately, we both made it across without incident. We continued riding up to Superior.
Lake Superior is the biggest freshwater lake in the world, covering over 31,000 square miles! It holds 10% of the world's fresh surface water. It also contains enough water to cover north and south America in a foot of water! Crazy, I know. Guess who touched it today. That's right, this guy! We found a good place to pull off the road for pictures and decided to test the water temperature. It's a tad bit nipply... I mean nippy. (Probably because it's so big and 1300 feet deep). Shortly after starting up again, we came to our campsite.
It's called gichee gumee campground, and is the best one we have stayed at the whole trip! The guy who runs the campground built everything here. It's very natural and inviting. He built a lodge, theater, and office by hand. Most of the furniture is handmade and exquisite! At this point in time, I am sitting here with my dad as we write our posts while listening to the radio. We played a few rounds of pool earlier (completely free), and there is even cable television if that's what you're into. He even has a small library of books and movies for campers to enjoy (the movies are vhs... so cool!). I love this place!
Anyway, need time for me. Bye now, LB
What a beautiful day! It started out with both of us forgetting to set an alarm:) so we got to sleep in. The forecast was 0% chance of rain for the day, and we had sunny skies for most of the day. We rode between lakes Heron and Michigan all the way up to Superior.
We stopped by a vacant lot with lake front for lunch at Heron (The lakes are so big that you can't see the other side). It's really humbling to sit at the edge of something so massive. We had some sandwiches and cherries that we bought from a farm on the side of the highway. They are good!
We had to cross a bridge to continue north to Lake Superior. This normally is no problem, but half the bridge has a metal deck instead of asphalt. Metal decks have grooves in them like ruts that tires get stuck in making it incredibly hard to steer the motorcycle. While trying to keep the river side down, I realized that I could see the lake through the metal grates! Freaky! Fortunately, we both made it across without incident. We continued riding up to Superior.
Lake Superior is the biggest freshwater lake in the world, covering over 31,000 square miles! It holds 10% of the world's fresh surface water. It also contains enough water to cover north and south America in a foot of water! Crazy, I know. Guess who touched it today. That's right, this guy! We found a good place to pull off the road for pictures and decided to test the water temperature. It's a tad bit nipply... I mean nippy. (Probably because it's so big and 1300 feet deep). Shortly after starting up again, we came to our campsite.
It's called gichee gumee campground, and is the best one we have stayed at the whole trip! The guy who runs the campground built everything here. It's very natural and inviting. He built a lodge, theater, and office by hand. Most of the furniture is handmade and exquisite! At this point in time, I am sitting here with my dad as we write our posts while listening to the radio. We played a few rounds of pool earlier (completely free), and there is even cable television if that's what you're into. He even has a small library of books and movies for campers to enjoy (the movies are vhs... so cool!). I love this place!
Anyway, need time for me. Bye now, LB
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Day 35
Day 35; Chesterton Indiana to Traverse Michigan
I wish I had more time to spend with my cousin, but we have a schedule to keep. Well we actually make it up as we go along, but we do need to get to Missouri in time to pick up my mother. We chose to see all 5 Great Lakes which adds a few miles to our trip, but it will be cool to do (we have already seen 3). Back to today.
My aunt made breakfast burritos for us this morning, and gave us some leftover bratwursts to take. When we left, it was mid 70's with 93% humidity! Luckily the humidity dropped significantly throughout the day, but the temperature kept rising. Overall it was a beautiful ride along the eastern side of Lake Michigan.
In case you're interested, there is an application for phones that tells you where food places that have been on television are. My dad used it to find a pizza place for lunch but it is closed on Sundays. Then he found another spot, but it had closed by the time we got there. Since the original idea was to get pizza, we found a different pizza place that turned out really tasty!
We are just south of where Michigan and Heron meet at a KOA. We got in earlier than usual, so I laid down on my motorcycle while my dad took a shower. Slowly but surely we set up camp and started cooking dinner. Tonight was a special one because we used the leftover bratwursts to bring our spaghetti to the next level! It was good, but I couldn't finish it. Our normal spaghetti is enough to stud the two of us... throw in 4 brauts and it's a feast! We played a few rounds of cribbage during dinner, then cleaned up and headed off to bed (avoiding mosquitos). My tent is my safe haven from getting bit.
Now it's late, so bye for now. LB
I wish I had more time to spend with my cousin, but we have a schedule to keep. Well we actually make it up as we go along, but we do need to get to Missouri in time to pick up my mother. We chose to see all 5 Great Lakes which adds a few miles to our trip, but it will be cool to do (we have already seen 3). Back to today.
My aunt made breakfast burritos for us this morning, and gave us some leftover bratwursts to take. When we left, it was mid 70's with 93% humidity! Luckily the humidity dropped significantly throughout the day, but the temperature kept rising. Overall it was a beautiful ride along the eastern side of Lake Michigan.
In case you're interested, there is an application for phones that tells you where food places that have been on television are. My dad used it to find a pizza place for lunch but it is closed on Sundays. Then he found another spot, but it had closed by the time we got there. Since the original idea was to get pizza, we found a different pizza place that turned out really tasty!
We are just south of where Michigan and Heron meet at a KOA. We got in earlier than usual, so I laid down on my motorcycle while my dad took a shower. Slowly but surely we set up camp and started cooking dinner. Tonight was a special one because we used the leftover bratwursts to bring our spaghetti to the next level! It was good, but I couldn't finish it. Our normal spaghetti is enough to stud the two of us... throw in 4 brauts and it's a feast! We played a few rounds of cribbage during dinner, then cleaned up and headed off to bed (avoiding mosquitos). My tent is my safe haven from getting bit.
Now it's late, so bye for now. LB
Day 34
Day 34; stayed in Indiana again
I have to say that it's been nice staying with family the last couple of days. Today was pretty low key. We had some amazing pancakes and sausage for breakfast (dad had blueberry pancakes), and then relaxed for the morning. Actually I basically slept through morning, so we relaxed more in the afternoon.
It was a hot day again, and it was very humid. Even the beach was hot. We went to Lake Michigan for a dip, but only went in half way because the water temperature was a little cooler than refreshing (refreshing is code for really cold). As we got out in the lake, there was a thunderstormon the other side of it. Lightening bolts lit up the sky time and time again. Soon there after, we noticed a dark cloud coming our way. That's when we got out of the water, dried off, and then got dumped on (making drying off completely unnecessary). We were drenched when we got back to the car and the storm only got worse as we drove home.
The trunk of the car didn't close all the way, so I got out and closed it. (I didn't think I could get any more wet). Flashes of lightening and clashes of Thunder were going off constantly as we drove, and it started to hail. Luckily it was only reading cats, dogs, and tree branches when it was time to run to the house (no hail). Once again I was mistaken in thinking I couldn't get any wetter. The storm was so bad, there were huge branches in the yard that had fallen from trees!
A while after the storm passed I went with my cousin to get a bottle of wine on a bicycle (I hadn't ridden a bicycle for a while). And later on we went to the bar and played pool for a few hours (undefeated!). That's it for today.
Bye now, LB
I have to say that it's been nice staying with family the last couple of days. Today was pretty low key. We had some amazing pancakes and sausage for breakfast (dad had blueberry pancakes), and then relaxed for the morning. Actually I basically slept through morning, so we relaxed more in the afternoon.
It was a hot day again, and it was very humid. Even the beach was hot. We went to Lake Michigan for a dip, but only went in half way because the water temperature was a little cooler than refreshing (refreshing is code for really cold). As we got out in the lake, there was a thunderstormon the other side of it. Lightening bolts lit up the sky time and time again. Soon there after, we noticed a dark cloud coming our way. That's when we got out of the water, dried off, and then got dumped on (making drying off completely unnecessary). We were drenched when we got back to the car and the storm only got worse as we drove home.
The trunk of the car didn't close all the way, so I got out and closed it. (I didn't think I could get any more wet). Flashes of lightening and clashes of Thunder were going off constantly as we drove, and it started to hail. Luckily it was only reading cats, dogs, and tree branches when it was time to run to the house (no hail). Once again I was mistaken in thinking I couldn't get any wetter. The storm was so bad, there were huge branches in the yard that had fallen from trees!
A while after the storm passed I went with my cousin to get a bottle of wine on a bicycle (I hadn't ridden a bicycle for a while). And later on we went to the bar and played pool for a few hours (undefeated!). That's it for today.
Bye now, LB
Friday, July 17, 2015
Day 33
Day 33; relaxing day in Indiana
We had an appointment to get to this morning to get new front tires for our bikes, so we got up kind of early and had eggs with bacon for breakfast. Then we rode to the Honda dealer to get the maintenance done. I tend to wander around when we go to dealerships and I found an interesting looking motorcycle. It looks like batman should be riding it (it's called NM4).
The NM4 is an automatic transmission which means there is no shift lever, but it has paddle shifters. For some reason you can switch from automatic to manual. I'm still confused about how it works, but I've found more bikes that I want to buy (it's a real problem). Then we went strolling around in my cousins car.
I took a nap when we got back to the house because I was (and still am) extremely exhausted. That was slightly remedied by a stop at dairy queen for a blizzard. Shortly after that, we went to the Craft House for dinner. The steak was fantastic!
We went back to the house and relaxed watching television (the office) with my cousin and a couple others. My aunt made chicken salsa, and it was delicious! Anyway, tomorrow will be a little bit more exciting because we are going to the beach at Lake Michigan.
Bye now, LB
We had an appointment to get to this morning to get new front tires for our bikes, so we got up kind of early and had eggs with bacon for breakfast. Then we rode to the Honda dealer to get the maintenance done. I tend to wander around when we go to dealerships and I found an interesting looking motorcycle. It looks like batman should be riding it (it's called NM4).
The NM4 is an automatic transmission which means there is no shift lever, but it has paddle shifters. For some reason you can switch from automatic to manual. I'm still confused about how it works, but I've found more bikes that I want to buy (it's a real problem). Then we went strolling around in my cousins car.
I took a nap when we got back to the house because I was (and still am) extremely exhausted. That was slightly remedied by a stop at dairy queen for a blizzard. Shortly after that, we went to the Craft House for dinner. The steak was fantastic!
We went back to the house and relaxed watching television (the office) with my cousin and a couple others. My aunt made chicken salsa, and it was delicious! Anyway, tomorrow will be a little bit more exciting because we are going to the beach at Lake Michigan.
Bye now, LB
Day 32
Day 32; Kingsville Ohio to Chesterton Indiana
We were tired from the ride the day before, so we chose to sleep in a bit. It was almost ten by the time we left the campground. Most of our day was spent on the bikes and on the interstate because we had over 300 miles to get to my cousins house in Indiana.
I figured out that my speedometer doesn't really show my speed when I'm going fast. My speedometer showed that I was going 85 mph. My dad's only said 75. It also goes faster than the speedometer shows! It was along day, but a fast one:)
We rode along Lake Erie and found a nice park to have lunch. It was right on the lake! The lake is one of the smaller Great Lakes, yet you can barely see the land on the other side. We sat on the rocks at the water's edge and had our sandwiches. Then we hopped back on the bikes and continued riding hoping we would avoid any bad weather.
When we looked on storm tracker, we saw a pretty nasty storm coming from where we were headed. The weather stays to look gloomy, so we stopped at a service plaza for dinner. I didn't rain (and we had a place to be), so my dad put on rain gear and we kept on riding. I think mother nature noticed that he was prepared, so she didn't bother raining on us for the rest of the day. We barely beat the storm to my cousin's house (Lightening started as we were getting situated in the house). After chatting for a while, we all went out to a bar and played pool for a couple hours before going to sleep (more like passing out). It was a long day.
Bye now, LB
We were tired from the ride the day before, so we chose to sleep in a bit. It was almost ten by the time we left the campground. Most of our day was spent on the bikes and on the interstate because we had over 300 miles to get to my cousins house in Indiana.
I figured out that my speedometer doesn't really show my speed when I'm going fast. My speedometer showed that I was going 85 mph. My dad's only said 75. It also goes faster than the speedometer shows! It was along day, but a fast one:)
We rode along Lake Erie and found a nice park to have lunch. It was right on the lake! The lake is one of the smaller Great Lakes, yet you can barely see the land on the other side. We sat on the rocks at the water's edge and had our sandwiches. Then we hopped back on the bikes and continued riding hoping we would avoid any bad weather.
When we looked on storm tracker, we saw a pretty nasty storm coming from where we were headed. The weather stays to look gloomy, so we stopped at a service plaza for dinner. I didn't rain (and we had a place to be), so my dad put on rain gear and we kept on riding. I think mother nature noticed that he was prepared, so she didn't bother raining on us for the rest of the day. We barely beat the storm to my cousin's house (Lightening started as we were getting situated in the house). After chatting for a while, we all went out to a bar and played pool for a couple hours before going to sleep (more like passing out). It was a long day.
Bye now, LB
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Day 31
Day 31; Hamilton Ontario to Kingsville Ohio
There are some really cool things in Canada, eh! I also learned a few things during my short stint in that country. Canada uses kilometers to measure distance as well as speed, and I noticed something cool about the road signs. You know the yellow signs that say how fast you should take turns? I happened to notice one in particular that said 50 kmph. I was going 50 mph (almost twice as fast) and it was the perfect speed to safely make the turn while maintaining a sense of fun and speed through it. Posted kmph means it's fun at the same number put into mph. I also noticed that speed limits in Canada are ridiculously slow (I could hardly feel the wind in some places). Anyway back to cool stuff.
Heard of Niagara Falls? Incredible! Not gonna lie, the Canadians have a better view of the falls (They also have pretty good sushi in their visitors center). The falls are massive! More water used to flow through, but now is controlled to avoid erosion. Nevertheless, there are millions of gallons that fall every minute. You can't even see all of the falls due to mist produced from the fall itself. It's basically raining.
Then we crossed back in to America via the rainbow bridge and down to Buffalo New York. Being in Buffalo, we found a Buffalo Wild Wings to see if they were any better here than on the west coast. You would think Buffalo would have the best Buffalo wings, but they were the exact same. (I realize it's a chain restaurant). After that, we rode along Lake Erie to Kingsville where we are staying for the night. The mosquitos are pretty brutal, so I'm hiding in my tent :)
That's pretty much it for today. Most of it was spent taking photos... if you want to see them, you can look on my Facebook page.
https://m.facebook.com/gregg.keller.545?_rdr
Bye now, LB
There are some really cool things in Canada, eh! I also learned a few things during my short stint in that country. Canada uses kilometers to measure distance as well as speed, and I noticed something cool about the road signs. You know the yellow signs that say how fast you should take turns? I happened to notice one in particular that said 50 kmph. I was going 50 mph (almost twice as fast) and it was the perfect speed to safely make the turn while maintaining a sense of fun and speed through it. Posted kmph means it's fun at the same number put into mph. I also noticed that speed limits in Canada are ridiculously slow (I could hardly feel the wind in some places). Anyway back to cool stuff.
Heard of Niagara Falls? Incredible! Not gonna lie, the Canadians have a better view of the falls (They also have pretty good sushi in their visitors center). The falls are massive! More water used to flow through, but now is controlled to avoid erosion. Nevertheless, there are millions of gallons that fall every minute. You can't even see all of the falls due to mist produced from the fall itself. It's basically raining.
Then we crossed back in to America via the rainbow bridge and down to Buffalo New York. Being in Buffalo, we found a Buffalo Wild Wings to see if they were any better here than on the west coast. You would think Buffalo would have the best Buffalo wings, but they were the exact same. (I realize it's a chain restaurant). After that, we rode along Lake Erie to Kingsville where we are staying for the night. The mosquitos are pretty brutal, so I'm hiding in my tent :)
That's pretty much it for today. Most of it was spent taking photos... if you want to see them, you can look on my Facebook page.
https://m.facebook.com/gregg.keller.545?_rdr
Bye now, LB
Day 30
Day 30; Watertown NY to Hamilton Ontario Canada
Welcome to Canada! Well not yet because I haven't told you how we got here. When we got started this morning, so did the rain. We rode north on highway 81 up top the Canadian border crossing the Thousand Island Bridge. I can't tell you how many islands there actually were because I could barely see the river below me. Luckily we got out of the storm before we stopped for lunch.
Both of us were soaked (the rain gear couldn't stop the storm from getting in), so we found a place to go in and eat. We found John's restaurant in Napanee. John is 86 years old and runs his own restaurant because he enjoys it. restaurant He stayed telling us about himself as we were paying the bill. He emigrated from Greece and worked on a farm while sleeping with the cows. His inheritance from his father was a 2 dollar bill that he had laminated, and carries it in his wallet. Obviously he started his restaurant and continues to run it because he has fun doing it. The man is truly inspirational.
The rest of the day included a lot of good riding weather and beautiful views as we rode next to the lake. Toward the end of the day, we stopped in Toronto for dinner. Dad found a BBQ place called Montana's grill. We had terrible reception on our phones, so we asked the waitress if there were good places to stay on the west side of Toronto (so we don't have traffic in the morning). She didn't really know, but her mother (she was having dinner with her daughter) was full of helpful information! Then we got to talking about all kinds of stuff (she made the night go to the next level of awesome). Dinner ended up being two hours which made it so we didn't stop riding until after 10 tonight, but it was worth it.
We got rained on again tonight before we got to the hotel. Hopefully our gear will dry out tonight. Niagara falls tomorrow! (I guess it doesn't really matter if our stuff dries out). Anyway, time for sleep.
Bye now, LB
Welcome to Canada! Well not yet because I haven't told you how we got here. When we got started this morning, so did the rain. We rode north on highway 81 up top the Canadian border crossing the Thousand Island Bridge. I can't tell you how many islands there actually were because I could barely see the river below me. Luckily we got out of the storm before we stopped for lunch.
Both of us were soaked (the rain gear couldn't stop the storm from getting in), so we found a place to go in and eat. We found John's restaurant in Napanee. John is 86 years old and runs his own restaurant because he enjoys it. restaurant He stayed telling us about himself as we were paying the bill. He emigrated from Greece and worked on a farm while sleeping with the cows. His inheritance from his father was a 2 dollar bill that he had laminated, and carries it in his wallet. Obviously he started his restaurant and continues to run it because he has fun doing it. The man is truly inspirational.
The rest of the day included a lot of good riding weather and beautiful views as we rode next to the lake. Toward the end of the day, we stopped in Toronto for dinner. Dad found a BBQ place called Montana's grill. We had terrible reception on our phones, so we asked the waitress if there were good places to stay on the west side of Toronto (so we don't have traffic in the morning). She didn't really know, but her mother (she was having dinner with her daughter) was full of helpful information! Then we got to talking about all kinds of stuff (she made the night go to the next level of awesome). Dinner ended up being two hours which made it so we didn't stop riding until after 10 tonight, but it was worth it.
We got rained on again tonight before we got to the hotel. Hopefully our gear will dry out tonight. Niagara falls tomorrow! (I guess it doesn't really matter if our stuff dries out). Anyway, time for sleep.
Bye now, LB
Monday, July 13, 2015
Day 29
Day 29; Cooperstown New York to Watertown New York
Baseball hall of fame baby! I didn't know you could fit so much history and tangible memorabilia into such a small building! It's 3 stories tall with hundreds of stories to be heard inside. My dad already knew a lot of the information (he's a huge baseball fan) because he grew up watching quite a few of the hall of fame inductees play when he was a child. Some of the older players could still teach him a thing or two.
In fact there were some short videos from the beginning of baseball that showed plays and then asked a question about them. The idea was to make the correct call; however, it was in a time when the rules were different. Before 1864, runners were not allowed to run past first base and be considered safe (you would have to stay on the bag). Before 1862,fly balls caught after one bounce were consisted outs. Why? Because they didn't play with gloves; catching the ball like you must today would have been extremely painful!
So many facets of the game have changed to keep up with new advances. They were also playing who's on first toward the end of the self guided tour. If you haven't seen it, look it up on YouTube. Following the tour, we walked through town and found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant for lunch that had chili dogs! It's what I always get to eat when I go to a ball game. They weren't anything to really write home about, but our dinner was.
We took off from Cooperstown and rode to Watertown where we found a motel for the night (5 nights of camping makes a bed feel really good). The clerk told us that the diner across the street was pretty good, so we checked it out. My dad and I both had steak :) I got the T-bone and he got a porterhouse. Steak is so tasty! We then found a beautiful place to take pictures of the sunset and got back to the motel just before it started raining.
Dad found a large frog hopping around outside, and I watched a movie inside to relax. Now that we are both fat, happy, and dry is time to get some rest.
Much love, LB
Baseball hall of fame baby! I didn't know you could fit so much history and tangible memorabilia into such a small building! It's 3 stories tall with hundreds of stories to be heard inside. My dad already knew a lot of the information (he's a huge baseball fan) because he grew up watching quite a few of the hall of fame inductees play when he was a child. Some of the older players could still teach him a thing or two.
In fact there were some short videos from the beginning of baseball that showed plays and then asked a question about them. The idea was to make the correct call; however, it was in a time when the rules were different. Before 1864, runners were not allowed to run past first base and be considered safe (you would have to stay on the bag). Before 1862,fly balls caught after one bounce were consisted outs. Why? Because they didn't play with gloves; catching the ball like you must today would have been extremely painful!
So many facets of the game have changed to keep up with new advances. They were also playing who's on first toward the end of the self guided tour. If you haven't seen it, look it up on YouTube. Following the tour, we walked through town and found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant for lunch that had chili dogs! It's what I always get to eat when I go to a ball game. They weren't anything to really write home about, but our dinner was.
We took off from Cooperstown and rode to Watertown where we found a motel for the night (5 nights of camping makes a bed feel really good). The clerk told us that the diner across the street was pretty good, so we checked it out. My dad and I both had steak :) I got the T-bone and he got a porterhouse. Steak is so tasty! We then found a beautiful place to take pictures of the sunset and got back to the motel just before it started raining.
Dad found a large frog hopping around outside, and I watched a movie inside to relax. Now that we are both fat, happy, and dry is time to get some rest.
Much love, LB
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Day 28
Day 28; Littleton NH to Cooperstown NY
Today we really got to see some stuff that is out of the norm for most of us (especially in California). The weather in California is so mild that it doesn't call for extreme measures. That is why we don't have covered bridges. New Hampshire on the other hand, has tons of covered bridges! We only speed at a few along the way, but they are incredible!
The first one we stopped at had a sign that said there is only one vehicle permitted to be on the bridge at any given time. My dad and I took turns crossing, videotaping as we rode through. The second one was an older one that was no longer allowing vehicles to drive across. Both of them were architecturally fascinating! The main structure was supported by two wooden arches on either side of the bridge, and built using wooden dowels top hold everything together (instead of screws or nails). The dowels are the size of my wrist and holding strong considering when they were built (1700's). The towns they are located in are equally old.
We saw the oldest general store in America right next to the first bridge, and the townsfolk were having a pancake breakfast for a reason unbeknownst to me. We had already eaten breakfast... Speaking of which, it is now cold enough in the morning to eat oatmeal! Since getting into the northern states and higher elevation, it has begun to cool down! Tonight is speed to get down to 60 degrees. That means I have to unpack my sleeping bag, but it's so much better than sweating all night long.
Anyway, it's 1am here and I need some rest. Baseball hall of fame tomorrow!
Bye now, LB
Today we really got to see some stuff that is out of the norm for most of us (especially in California). The weather in California is so mild that it doesn't call for extreme measures. That is why we don't have covered bridges. New Hampshire on the other hand, has tons of covered bridges! We only speed at a few along the way, but they are incredible!
The first one we stopped at had a sign that said there is only one vehicle permitted to be on the bridge at any given time. My dad and I took turns crossing, videotaping as we rode through. The second one was an older one that was no longer allowing vehicles to drive across. Both of them were architecturally fascinating! The main structure was supported by two wooden arches on either side of the bridge, and built using wooden dowels top hold everything together (instead of screws or nails). The dowels are the size of my wrist and holding strong considering when they were built (1700's). The towns they are located in are equally old.
We saw the oldest general store in America right next to the first bridge, and the townsfolk were having a pancake breakfast for a reason unbeknownst to me. We had already eaten breakfast... Speaking of which, it is now cold enough in the morning to eat oatmeal! Since getting into the northern states and higher elevation, it has begun to cool down! Tonight is speed to get down to 60 degrees. That means I have to unpack my sleeping bag, but it's so much better than sweating all night long.
Anyway, it's 1am here and I need some rest. Baseball hall of fame tomorrow!
Bye now, LB
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Day 27
Day 27; Conway New Hampshire to Littleton New Hampshire
If you have read all my posts, you should remember one about a few guys we met at a motel a while back. While trading stories and chatting with them, one of them told us about a place called Mount Washington. It's the highest point in the US this side of the Mississippi River (and a great road). He said we had to go ride it, and we did. First, let me back up.
When we talked to the ranger yesterday, he told us that it would be closed for a bike race until 1:30pm. We were pretty close to the mountain already, and didn't want to wait around all morning. We took the scenic route through White Mountain National Park to see what we could see (nature and covered bridges were on the agenda). Unfortunately the covered bridges were quite a trek that wasn't about to happen if we wanted to make any progress for the day. We found a nice spot by the river to stop for lunch before heading to Mt Washington to ride the auto road.
Back to my story... This guy Barry told us to ride up the mountain. There is a sign before you enter that warns you about sharp turns, steep grades, no guard rails, and basically everything that could be wrong with a road. It is also a 5000 foot elevation gain in 7 miles! How could we resist?! We paid to go up the mountain and then got stuck behind (what I am hoping was) the slowest person on the road. I can drive ten mph in first gear with the clutch engaged, and I had to feather the clutch to stay behind this guy. For those of you that don't know motors, it's not good.
We made it slowly, and not so surely (a few times I thought I wouldn't make it). The view from the top was spectacular! Mountains as far as you could see, almost on the same level as the clouds! Apparently having your head in the clouds makes it easy to make friends. A woman from Ukraine walked up to my dad (who was wearing chaps, a vest, and a skull cap), and asked if he was a gypsy. I couldn't believe what she had said because... well because I've never met a gypsy and never thought of my dad as one. Then she said I look like "Russian boy". We took some photos with her and parted ways. She made my day.
The trip back down was almost as frustrating as the way up. Once again stuck behind slow people who don't know how to use lower gears to slow down their cars. This leads to burning breaks which has a heinous smell. Two people we got stuck behind would come to a complete stop every time a car would pass them going the other direction... It's a two lane road.
The trip up and down the mountain could have been made better by getting rid of some of the drivers. Given the choice, I would rather ride the mountain than not.
Then we found a KOA, met some neighbors, took showers, went in a hot tub :), and then made spaghetti for dinner. My dad wanted a rematch at horseshoes, but I don't want to ruin my one game winning streak! We played cribbage instead. Now, as it always is when I finish writing, it is past my bed time.
Bye now, LB
If you have read all my posts, you should remember one about a few guys we met at a motel a while back. While trading stories and chatting with them, one of them told us about a place called Mount Washington. It's the highest point in the US this side of the Mississippi River (and a great road). He said we had to go ride it, and we did. First, let me back up.
When we talked to the ranger yesterday, he told us that it would be closed for a bike race until 1:30pm. We were pretty close to the mountain already, and didn't want to wait around all morning. We took the scenic route through White Mountain National Park to see what we could see (nature and covered bridges were on the agenda). Unfortunately the covered bridges were quite a trek that wasn't about to happen if we wanted to make any progress for the day. We found a nice spot by the river to stop for lunch before heading to Mt Washington to ride the auto road.
Back to my story... This guy Barry told us to ride up the mountain. There is a sign before you enter that warns you about sharp turns, steep grades, no guard rails, and basically everything that could be wrong with a road. It is also a 5000 foot elevation gain in 7 miles! How could we resist?! We paid to go up the mountain and then got stuck behind (what I am hoping was) the slowest person on the road. I can drive ten mph in first gear with the clutch engaged, and I had to feather the clutch to stay behind this guy. For those of you that don't know motors, it's not good.
We made it slowly, and not so surely (a few times I thought I wouldn't make it). The view from the top was spectacular! Mountains as far as you could see, almost on the same level as the clouds! Apparently having your head in the clouds makes it easy to make friends. A woman from Ukraine walked up to my dad (who was wearing chaps, a vest, and a skull cap), and asked if he was a gypsy. I couldn't believe what she had said because... well because I've never met a gypsy and never thought of my dad as one. Then she said I look like "Russian boy". We took some photos with her and parted ways. She made my day.
The trip back down was almost as frustrating as the way up. Once again stuck behind slow people who don't know how to use lower gears to slow down their cars. This leads to burning breaks which has a heinous smell. Two people we got stuck behind would come to a complete stop every time a car would pass them going the other direction... It's a two lane road.
The trip up and down the mountain could have been made better by getting rid of some of the drivers. Given the choice, I would rather ride the mountain than not.
Then we found a KOA, met some neighbors, took showers, went in a hot tub :), and then made spaghetti for dinner. My dad wanted a rematch at horseshoes, but I don't want to ruin my one game winning streak! We played cribbage instead. Now, as it always is when I finish writing, it is past my bed time.
Bye now, LB
Day 26
Day 26; Middleboro Massachusetts to Conway New Hampshire
Today was the best weather we have had all trip long! It didn't rain, and it didn't get above 85 degrees! We road north through Boston (awesome looking city), but you have to be careful looking around. The roads are not exactly will maintained (giant pot holes everywhere).
We rode across some cool looking bridges as we passed through New Hampshire, Maine, and back into New Hampshire. One river in particular was really cool to cross because we could see the bridge for I95 off to our left. Most of today was on state highways which made for a fun, curvy day of riding. Granted or day today was much shorter than others (200ish miles), it felt like it should have been longer. In that short distance however, we saw a lot of beautiful scenery! I also keep noticing all these cars and motorcycles for sale that I want to buy. One place in particular had about 20 cards on the lot from before the 1960's! I chose to ride on so I wouldn't get too attached. Anyway, back to the scenery.
Lakes, rivers and forested areas are in abundance in the North East. One of our gas stops turned into a rest area when we noticed a creek running right behind it. We ducked into the shade trees next to it and had a cold drink and snacks. As ephemeral as it was, I was extremely refreshed afterward. We hit highway 16 there, and rode it north until we hit traffic.
Luckily, there was an information Center for White Mountain National Forest at the next turn off. Rather than sit in traffic, we chose to check out the visitor center. The ranger there brought out multiple maps to show us where we could go. (His station emblem on the map was a ranger with his hands on his hips). On every map, he showed us where the station was, told us that was him, and put his hands on his hips. It was pretty entertaining.
Mount Washington (supposedly a great ride) is closed for the first part of tomorrow, and we weren't about to start it tonight, so we found a camping site in the national park and mapped out what we want to check out in the morning as we had dinner.
We created a new dish, made of fish. And scallops, and shrimp, and haddock, and onion rings. All of these things mixed with a cheese pasta created our spin on lobster mac and cheese (very popular near the Atlantic). I like to call it a Mac Medley and it turned out pretty good. Then came our biggest challenge of the day.
We are in bear country now, and that means keeping our food out of a bear belly so it can go in our own. We had to hang the food and smellable items in a tree. We tired a rock on the end of a rope, threw it over a tree branch, and tired our food to it. As we hoisted the bags, the branch broke and came crashing down. It took us a few more tries to get the food up, but it's still not that high. For this reason, my dad fashioned a redneck alarm system out of metal cups. Bear tries to get food, good moves rope, rope jingles cups, hopefully bear gets scared and runs off. If not, I wake up, grab my knife (combat style) and try to scare it off. The knife only makes me feel like I have a fighting chance...
Now we are both writing our posts next to our campfire before we turn in for the night and it is relaxing.
Bye now, LB
Today was the best weather we have had all trip long! It didn't rain, and it didn't get above 85 degrees! We road north through Boston (awesome looking city), but you have to be careful looking around. The roads are not exactly will maintained (giant pot holes everywhere).
We rode across some cool looking bridges as we passed through New Hampshire, Maine, and back into New Hampshire. One river in particular was really cool to cross because we could see the bridge for I95 off to our left. Most of today was on state highways which made for a fun, curvy day of riding. Granted or day today was much shorter than others (200ish miles), it felt like it should have been longer. In that short distance however, we saw a lot of beautiful scenery! I also keep noticing all these cars and motorcycles for sale that I want to buy. One place in particular had about 20 cards on the lot from before the 1960's! I chose to ride on so I wouldn't get too attached. Anyway, back to the scenery.
Lakes, rivers and forested areas are in abundance in the North East. One of our gas stops turned into a rest area when we noticed a creek running right behind it. We ducked into the shade trees next to it and had a cold drink and snacks. As ephemeral as it was, I was extremely refreshed afterward. We hit highway 16 there, and rode it north until we hit traffic.
Luckily, there was an information Center for White Mountain National Forest at the next turn off. Rather than sit in traffic, we chose to check out the visitor center. The ranger there brought out multiple maps to show us where we could go. (His station emblem on the map was a ranger with his hands on his hips). On every map, he showed us where the station was, told us that was him, and put his hands on his hips. It was pretty entertaining.
Mount Washington (supposedly a great ride) is closed for the first part of tomorrow, and we weren't about to start it tonight, so we found a camping site in the national park and mapped out what we want to check out in the morning as we had dinner.
We created a new dish, made of fish. And scallops, and shrimp, and haddock, and onion rings. All of these things mixed with a cheese pasta created our spin on lobster mac and cheese (very popular near the Atlantic). I like to call it a Mac Medley and it turned out pretty good. Then came our biggest challenge of the day.
We are in bear country now, and that means keeping our food out of a bear belly so it can go in our own. We had to hang the food and smellable items in a tree. We tired a rock on the end of a rope, threw it over a tree branch, and tired our food to it. As we hoisted the bags, the branch broke and came crashing down. It took us a few more tries to get the food up, but it's still not that high. For this reason, my dad fashioned a redneck alarm system out of metal cups. Bear tries to get food, good moves rope, rope jingles cups, hopefully bear gets scared and runs off. If not, I wake up, grab my knife (combat style) and try to scare it off. The knife only makes me feel like I have a fighting chance...
Now we are both writing our posts next to our campfire before we turn in for the night and it is relaxing.
Bye now, LB
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Day 25
Day 25; still in Middleboro Massachusetts
We didn't use an alarm today! Just slept until we woke up naturally, and it felt great! Today was easily our laziest day. We had donuts (from dunking donuts) for breakfast and headed out to Cape Cod.
On our way out of the KOA, we stopped to ask about good places to eat lunch. One lady told us about this"great place", but she couldn't remember the name of it. She told us to go ask her husband (he was in their car) because he would remember. Sure enough he did; is called Lindsey's. When the lady heard it, she told us that she should have remembered because that's her grand daughters name! Anyway, we headed on our way.
Before lunch we headed eat to Plymouth rock. Just so you all know, the rock itself is not very impressive. The town on the other hand is a blast from the past! There is so much history packed into such a small area. The people at the visitors center were extremely helpful and fun to talk to. One of them asked where we are from and then proceeded to tell us that she can always tell who's from California. She says we are always so happy and fun. When we brought up lunch plans, the other lady chimed in telling us how good Lindsey's is. Then we walked around Plymouth to check out everything before making our way to the Cape.
The ride down there was wonderful, and Lindsey's was easy enough to find. We both are on the see food diet; we see food and we eat it! But seriously, we both got sea food dishesthat we couldn't finish (even though it was good).
Stuffed from lunch, it started to feel like nap time to us. Being on Cape Cod made it extremely easy for us to find a nice beach to lie down on for a while. Our nap lasted an hour, and then we rode back to the KOA. Don't think our day was over yet.
My dad noticed that the campground has horseshoe pits and challenged me to a game. All I'll say is that tonight was my lucky night! Then we changed into our swim suits to go relax in the heated pool (I think the heater is broken).
Ps, it hasn't rained on us yet today! But it's supposed to tonight, so we will see how it goes.
Bye now, LB
We didn't use an alarm today! Just slept until we woke up naturally, and it felt great! Today was easily our laziest day. We had donuts (from dunking donuts) for breakfast and headed out to Cape Cod.
On our way out of the KOA, we stopped to ask about good places to eat lunch. One lady told us about this"great place", but she couldn't remember the name of it. She told us to go ask her husband (he was in their car) because he would remember. Sure enough he did; is called Lindsey's. When the lady heard it, she told us that she should have remembered because that's her grand daughters name! Anyway, we headed on our way.
Before lunch we headed eat to Plymouth rock. Just so you all know, the rock itself is not very impressive. The town on the other hand is a blast from the past! There is so much history packed into such a small area. The people at the visitors center were extremely helpful and fun to talk to. One of them asked where we are from and then proceeded to tell us that she can always tell who's from California. She says we are always so happy and fun. When we brought up lunch plans, the other lady chimed in telling us how good Lindsey's is. Then we walked around Plymouth to check out everything before making our way to the Cape.
The ride down there was wonderful, and Lindsey's was easy enough to find. We both are on the see food diet; we see food and we eat it! But seriously, we both got sea food dishesthat we couldn't finish (even though it was good).
Stuffed from lunch, it started to feel like nap time to us. Being on Cape Cod made it extremely easy for us to find a nice beach to lie down on for a while. Our nap lasted an hour, and then we rode back to the KOA. Don't think our day was over yet.
My dad noticed that the campground has horseshoe pits and challenged me to a game. All I'll say is that tonight was my lucky night! Then we changed into our swim suits to go relax in the heated pool (I think the heater is broken).
Ps, it hasn't rained on us yet today! But it's supposed to tonight, so we will see how it goes.
Bye now, LB
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Day 24
Day 24; Edison New Jersey to Middleboro Massachusetts
We didn't get to bed by the time we thought we would (again), so we slept in until 7 to make up for it. We got on the road before 9, and headed north through New York, Connecticut, and into Massachusetts. Our ride was perfect! Plenty of sunshine, 85 degrees, and a light sprinkle at the beginning. We got through to lunch with no problems (except that we missed the New Jersey sign).
We thought we missed New York and Connecticut too, but fate had other plans. We stopped at a gas station a little before noon to fill up the bikes. Wouldn't you know it, the New York sign was staring us right in the face! A sign for Connecticut was right behind us. Seriously could not have been better placement! We took pictures there and chose to eat lunch while we were there because we were hungry (we skipped breakfast).
After lunch, it continued to be a beautiful day of riding except for one spot. The clouds started to look daunting. From experience, I have learned it's better to put rain gear on before it starts raining. We weren't fortunate today... The downpour started before we could get off the highway and we were completely soaked (my clothes gained a few pounds) by the time we got to a good spot to change.
We were making our way back to the highway when a car came passed us fast enough to launched most of the water out of a small lake (puddle) onto my dad. He was a good sport about it though. Once we made it back on the highway, the clouds had disappeared. Within a matter of only a few minutes, there was enough rain to flood streets and make the clouds disappear. I'm pretty sure the whole cloud decided to come down at once.
The weather then decided to give us a break until we made it to camp and got set up. We made pasta for dinner, and sat in the rain as we ate it. What's the worst that could happen, we get more wet? Impossible! :)
Now I'm sitting under the protection of my tent as it pours around me, not wanting to leave for the rest of the night.
Bye now, LB
We didn't get to bed by the time we thought we would (again), so we slept in until 7 to make up for it. We got on the road before 9, and headed north through New York, Connecticut, and into Massachusetts. Our ride was perfect! Plenty of sunshine, 85 degrees, and a light sprinkle at the beginning. We got through to lunch with no problems (except that we missed the New Jersey sign).
We thought we missed New York and Connecticut too, but fate had other plans. We stopped at a gas station a little before noon to fill up the bikes. Wouldn't you know it, the New York sign was staring us right in the face! A sign for Connecticut was right behind us. Seriously could not have been better placement! We took pictures there and chose to eat lunch while we were there because we were hungry (we skipped breakfast).
After lunch, it continued to be a beautiful day of riding except for one spot. The clouds started to look daunting. From experience, I have learned it's better to put rain gear on before it starts raining. We weren't fortunate today... The downpour started before we could get off the highway and we were completely soaked (my clothes gained a few pounds) by the time we got to a good spot to change.
We were making our way back to the highway when a car came passed us fast enough to launched most of the water out of a small lake (puddle) onto my dad. He was a good sport about it though. Once we made it back on the highway, the clouds had disappeared. Within a matter of only a few minutes, there was enough rain to flood streets and make the clouds disappear. I'm pretty sure the whole cloud decided to come down at once.
The weather then decided to give us a break until we made it to camp and got set up. We made pasta for dinner, and sat in the rain as we ate it. What's the worst that could happen, we get more wet? Impossible! :)
Now I'm sitting under the protection of my tent as it pours around me, not wanting to leave for the rest of the night.
Bye now, LB
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Day 23
Day 23; day trip into New York
We rode the train! It was a 30 minute drive to the train station from our hotel, and another 40 minutes into New York from there. We visited ground zero for the September 11th attack where there now stands a monument in its memory. There is a museum being built on that spot, and there are two memorials where the twin towers once stood. They are beautiful fountains that sink into the ground (like a pool) with names of people who died engraved in metal around them.
On another note, we are tourists. What kind of tourists would we be if we didn't go to the statue of liberty and Ellis Island? We took the fairy over to liberty island and partook in the self guided tour (they give out recordings that talk about the island and lady liberty). I learned that the statue's copper is only 3/32 of an inch thick! That's the same as two pennies! I also learned that she was designed to move in the high winds that run through the bay.
I find it peculiar that on the day of her revealing, women were not permitted to go see it. Women not able to go to the revealing of a woman statue that stands for liberty and freedom makes no sense to me. Women protested this by hiring boats to take them in circles around the island.
There was a medical emergency while we were visiting the island which is unfortunate, but that meant a helicopter rescue unit had to fly to the island! I got a great video of the helicopter landing on the lawn as well as a great view of a hat that had flown off someone's head from the high winds. The hat must have been 25 feet off the ground. There were napkins from the lemonade stand taking flight as well as people running away from the helicopter because of the high wind. I kept getting closer so I could have a good video :)
Then we went over to Ellis Island to see the place that my great grandparents came into this country. The island was expanded many times in stages in order to keep up with the ever-increasing immigration to the United States. There would be 5000 new immigrants at Ellis Island every day trying to start a new life.
Eventually we worked our way to Wall streetand got ice cream comes before heading back to our hotel for a little nap (4 hours). We had snacks for dinner and mapped out our next few days of the trip. Now that it's almost 2am we finally know where we are going and are getting ready for bed.
Much love, LB
We rode the train! It was a 30 minute drive to the train station from our hotel, and another 40 minutes into New York from there. We visited ground zero for the September 11th attack where there now stands a monument in its memory. There is a museum being built on that spot, and there are two memorials where the twin towers once stood. They are beautiful fountains that sink into the ground (like a pool) with names of people who died engraved in metal around them.
On another note, we are tourists. What kind of tourists would we be if we didn't go to the statue of liberty and Ellis Island? We took the fairy over to liberty island and partook in the self guided tour (they give out recordings that talk about the island and lady liberty). I learned that the statue's copper is only 3/32 of an inch thick! That's the same as two pennies! I also learned that she was designed to move in the high winds that run through the bay.
I find it peculiar that on the day of her revealing, women were not permitted to go see it. Women not able to go to the revealing of a woman statue that stands for liberty and freedom makes no sense to me. Women protested this by hiring boats to take them in circles around the island.
There was a medical emergency while we were visiting the island which is unfortunate, but that meant a helicopter rescue unit had to fly to the island! I got a great video of the helicopter landing on the lawn as well as a great view of a hat that had flown off someone's head from the high winds. The hat must have been 25 feet off the ground. There were napkins from the lemonade stand taking flight as well as people running away from the helicopter because of the high wind. I kept getting closer so I could have a good video :)
Then we went over to Ellis Island to see the place that my great grandparents came into this country. The island was expanded many times in stages in order to keep up with the ever-increasing immigration to the United States. There would be 5000 new immigrants at Ellis Island every day trying to start a new life.
Eventually we worked our way to Wall streetand got ice cream comes before heading back to our hotel for a little nap (4 hours). We had snacks for dinner and mapped out our next few days of the trip. Now that it's almost 2am we finally know where we are going and are getting ready for bed.
Much love, LB
Monday, July 6, 2015
Day 22
Day 22; DC MD to Edison NJ
My dad's roommate made us pancakes and bacon with banana bread, and it was good! Then we packed up and headed out so he could go to work. We had the best day of riding since we started the trip with respect to weather. It sprinkled a bit, but at least it was cool and we didn't get terribly drenched.
We worked or way into Philadelphia Pennsylvania where I got a new tire and oil change for my motorcycle. While we were waiting for the work to be done, we had to find the best Philly cheese steak in Philadelphia. One of the guys at the shop recommended pats, but my dad heard Geno's was the best. Turns out they are across the street from one another and are the two best places to get cheese steaks.
My dad and I split one from each place to determine which is actually the best. (Drum roll please) Pat's is the original cheese steak created in 1930; however, Geno's hot sauce (which is very hot) brought there sandwich up a level. Both places had fantastic tasting bread rolls, and provolone. The steak at Pat's was thicker and treated good, but Geno's steak was more tender. The best in Philly (according to my dad and I) is Geno's. Fortunately for me, I still think my hometown cheese steak is the best. (I'm probably biased)
After lunch, we went to go see the liberty bell, Betsy Ross's house (woman who sewed the first American flag), Benjamin Franklin's gave, Efereths street (the oldest inhabited street in America), and independence hall. All of these places were pretty cool. I think it is a little bit unnecessary for there to be so much security in that area though. We had to go through security to get to the liberty bell, but it wasn't good enough to keep weapons out. Not to mention that a weapon inside that building would cause any more damage outside of it...
Then we went back to the dealership to pick up my bike and head north toward New York. We made it all the way to Edison New Jersey. Tomorrow is going to be full of new experiences, and I need my energy. Bye for now.
Much love, LB
My dad's roommate made us pancakes and bacon with banana bread, and it was good! Then we packed up and headed out so he could go to work. We had the best day of riding since we started the trip with respect to weather. It sprinkled a bit, but at least it was cool and we didn't get terribly drenched.
We worked or way into Philadelphia Pennsylvania where I got a new tire and oil change for my motorcycle. While we were waiting for the work to be done, we had to find the best Philly cheese steak in Philadelphia. One of the guys at the shop recommended pats, but my dad heard Geno's was the best. Turns out they are across the street from one another and are the two best places to get cheese steaks.
My dad and I split one from each place to determine which is actually the best. (Drum roll please) Pat's is the original cheese steak created in 1930; however, Geno's hot sauce (which is very hot) brought there sandwich up a level. Both places had fantastic tasting bread rolls, and provolone. The steak at Pat's was thicker and treated good, but Geno's steak was more tender. The best in Philly (according to my dad and I) is Geno's. Fortunately for me, I still think my hometown cheese steak is the best. (I'm probably biased)
After lunch, we went to go see the liberty bell, Betsy Ross's house (woman who sewed the first American flag), Benjamin Franklin's gave, Efereths street (the oldest inhabited street in America), and independence hall. All of these places were pretty cool. I think it is a little bit unnecessary for there to be so much security in that area though. We had to go through security to get to the liberty bell, but it wasn't good enough to keep weapons out. Not to mention that a weapon inside that building would cause any more damage outside of it...
Then we went back to the dealership to pick up my bike and head north toward New York. We made it all the way to Edison New Jersey. Tomorrow is going to be full of new experiences, and I need my energy. Bye for now.
Much love, LB
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Day 21
Day 21; still in DC
Our hosts graciously made breakfast for us this morning, (eggs, potatoes, muffins etc.) And it was great! Then we took care of some household items before heading out to the air and space museum!
It's a gigantic museum that's basically a large hangar filed with airplanes, helicopters, and space crafts. The Enola Gay (airplane that dropped the first atomic bomb) was there along with all manners of things that fly. The museum also has the Discovery (most utilized space shuttle in the space program) that completed 39 missions in its years of service. In the room next to the shuttle, is a work shop where the crafts are resurrected from the grave to be put on display.
After spending a few hours there, we went back to the house to get ready for the Giants vs Nationals game. Unfortunately we didn't win, but there is a bright side. The Nationals stadium sells chili dogs! I couldn't believe it when I realized that Miami doesn't have chili dogs because that's what I eat every time I go to a game (sometimes two). Needless to say dinner was good. The game was well played and the fans were fun to mess around with.
Now it's time for bed because I'm getting up in 5 hours for our next adventure
Much love, LB
Our hosts graciously made breakfast for us this morning, (eggs, potatoes, muffins etc.) And it was great! Then we took care of some household items before heading out to the air and space museum!
It's a gigantic museum that's basically a large hangar filed with airplanes, helicopters, and space crafts. The Enola Gay (airplane that dropped the first atomic bomb) was there along with all manners of things that fly. The museum also has the Discovery (most utilized space shuttle in the space program) that completed 39 missions in its years of service. In the room next to the shuttle, is a work shop where the crafts are resurrected from the grave to be put on display.
After spending a few hours there, we went back to the house to get ready for the Giants vs Nationals game. Unfortunately we didn't win, but there is a bright side. The Nationals stadium sells chili dogs! I couldn't believe it when I realized that Miami doesn't have chili dogs because that's what I eat every time I go to a game (sometimes two). Needless to say dinner was good. The game was well played and the fans were fun to mess around with.
Now it's time for bed because I'm getting up in 5 hours for our next adventure
Much love, LB
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Day 20
Day 20; Lexington WV to DC Maryland
We got up around 8 thinking we had plenty of time to get to DC, boy were we wrong! If we had taken the interstate, or ride would have been 3 to 4 hours. We took the path less traveled over the Blue Ridge Mountainsand through Shenandoah national park. It was 100 miles of beautiful scenery and winding roads! (Highly recommend this road)
While riding I discovered a few things that had not fully occurred to me before... first of all, I no longer think Californians are the worst drivers. There was a 35 mph speed limit that many cars were struggling to go (I dislike slow drivers that don't use turnouts to let people pass). My dad and I may (or may not) have done some questionable maneuvers regarding the laws about passing.
The second thing I discovered, is that the road signs with a squiggly arrow and a suggested speed on them don't really mean you need to slow down for the turns (at least for motorcyclists). What it means for motorcyclists is "fun road ahead, X number of miles". We hit a few of these and the new interpretation worked for every single one.
There were so many overlooks throughout the day that it was difficult to choose one for lunch; however, I think we got the right one. As we ate our sandwiches, we looked out upon miles and miles of tree covered mountains with the clouds shading the ones further out. It was the perfect temperature with crisp mountain air after a rain storm. Then came yet another rain storm.
We ran into some wet weather after lunch. It felt like we were riding through the clouds at first. The clouds got thicker and thicker until we were riding through a downpour. Luckily, as the day went on, the rain became lighterand eventually stopped altogether.
We are staying with one of my dad's college roommates and his wife for a couple nights as we roam around our nations capital, before continuing north toward New York. After getting into some dry clothes, my dad and I went to the reflecting pool (by the WWII monument) to see the fireworks show (it was awesome). Then we went back to the house and passed out. Our 3 to 4 hour dayn had become a 16 hour day and I was exhausted!
For those that are interested, we have now gone through 20 states in 20 days. Happy independence day, and God bless the USA!
Much love, LB
We are staying with one of my dad's college roommates and his wife for a couple nights as we roam around our nations capital, before continuing north toward New York. After getting into some dry clothes, my dad and I went to the reflecting pool (by the WWII monument) to see the fireworks show (it was awesome). Then we went back to the house and passed out. Our 3 to 4 hour dayn had become a 16 hour day and I was exhausted!
For those that are interested, we have now gone through 20 states in 20 days. Happy independence day, and God bless the USA!
Much love, LB
Friday, July 3, 2015
Day 19
Day 19; Dillard GA to Lexington Virginia
Fried chicken and ham for breakfast, Rode through a storm, Hardee's for lunch, waited out the storm. Rode through part of it in a t shirt, went through north Carolina and Tennessee to get to Virginia, met cool biker dudes from Washington DC
You all know the morning drill by now. Got up, had fried chicken and ham for breakfast, and got on the road. Most of the morning we were racing a storm. We rode just ahead of it for most of the morning, only getting rained on a little bit. At least until the smokey mountain national forest. It got its name because of the hazy fog that comes from the conifer trees. The leaves release what's called terpenes that produce a dense fog that covers the mountains. We didn't get many photos because we were getting rained on throughout the mountain road. Then we got a little reprieve from the weather until lunch time.
When we stopped for lunch, we checked the radar to see how big the storm was. Radar wasn't promising and neither was the weather just outside of Hardee's. The rain was more like a down poor,(could have made good time on jet skis) so I came up with a little spin off an old song I know.
It's raining is pouring, we both should still be snoring... go the hell away, and don't come back another day. After singing this a few times the rain actually stopped. That's when I took off my rain coat to cool down. Of course it started raining again when we started down the road. I got pretty cold when my shirt got soaked, but I was determined to keep moving forward. It seemed like the rain clouds were trying to keep us wet because we always headed for the darkest grey clouds... I now know all 50 shades of grey and I haven't read the book or seen the movie!
Eventually we got out from under the rain clouds and hauled some serious butt to get to Lexington for the night. This is the most expensive motel 6 I have ever been to, but I'm glad we stopped here for the night. Just as we were finishing up moving all our stuff from the motorcycles to our room, a few more bikers showed up. We started chatting about our trip and their experiences on the road. We talked for a few hours and I had a few beers with them as we conversed.
Overall it was a wet, but good day of riding. The smokey mountains are a fun ride.
Much love, LB
Fried chicken and ham for breakfast, Rode through a storm, Hardee's for lunch, waited out the storm. Rode through part of it in a t shirt, went through north Carolina and Tennessee to get to Virginia, met cool biker dudes from Washington DC
You all know the morning drill by now. Got up, had fried chicken and ham for breakfast, and got on the road. Most of the morning we were racing a storm. We rode just ahead of it for most of the morning, only getting rained on a little bit. At least until the smokey mountain national forest. It got its name because of the hazy fog that comes from the conifer trees. The leaves release what's called terpenes that produce a dense fog that covers the mountains. We didn't get many photos because we were getting rained on throughout the mountain road. Then we got a little reprieve from the weather until lunch time.
When we stopped for lunch, we checked the radar to see how big the storm was. Radar wasn't promising and neither was the weather just outside of Hardee's. The rain was more like a down poor,(could have made good time on jet skis) so I came up with a little spin off an old song I know.
It's raining is pouring, we both should still be snoring... go the hell away, and don't come back another day. After singing this a few times the rain actually stopped. That's when I took off my rain coat to cool down. Of course it started raining again when we started down the road. I got pretty cold when my shirt got soaked, but I was determined to keep moving forward. It seemed like the rain clouds were trying to keep us wet because we always headed for the darkest grey clouds... I now know all 50 shades of grey and I haven't read the book or seen the movie!
Eventually we got out from under the rain clouds and hauled some serious butt to get to Lexington for the night. This is the most expensive motel 6 I have ever been to, but I'm glad we stopped here for the night. Just as we were finishing up moving all our stuff from the motorcycles to our room, a few more bikers showed up. We started chatting about our trip and their experiences on the road. We talked for a few hours and I had a few beers with them as we conversed.
Overall it was a wet, but good day of riding. The smokey mountains are a fun ride.
Much love, LB
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Day 18, this is a good day to read about
Day 18; Kingsland GA to Dillard's GA.
Dillard's House=awesome (we will get to that)
Like I said in yesterday's post, last night was perfect sleeping weather. Dad and I woke up refreshed and well rested (didn't even take a mid day break, aka nap). We had yogurt and cheese for breakfast as we adjusted our route for the day. The first half of the day went by crazy fast! The first stretch we rode 130 miles in what felt like half an hour. The second stretch went by quickly too. Lunch; however, was a turning point for the day.
We found a nice shade tree off the highway and decided to eat among the trees. We made our usual sandwiches, got some sodas, and got fat :) I had some skittles left over from a previous stop (I had never seen a green bag of skittles before, so I had to buy them) and dad picked up some cheetos from the store a couple days ago.
Here's where today's journey gets good... THUNDER STORM! On a recommendation through Facebook, we changed or route to go to Dillard's house for dinner, and our new direction lead us to some fun. As we approached the storm, my dad got me on coms and suggested we find a gas station to pull into so we could fill up and get our rain gear on. Not finding any, I chose to continuedown the road until (all of a sudden) we were getting dumped on. We raced to cover our bags and ourselves from the rain before continuing.
Here's where today's journey gets great... Sore from today's ride, we finally got to Dillard's House! (Second turning point of the day). We walked in, and were instantly taken care of. We chatted with some of the ladies about our trip (specifically about our day in the rain) as we got situated with a room. Tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast were/are held in a beautiful dining hall, and dinner itself made staying here worth it. My stomach is quite a bit larger than it was before dinner. It's a southern, family style dinner that includes red potatoes, sweet potatoes, cooked carrots, deep fried okra, creamed corn, chicken fried steak, corn bread muffins, ham, cabbage with cheese, and fried chicken. If that wasn't enough, there was strawberry cobbler for dessert, mmmm :)
After dinner we went back to our room and out on the back porch in the rocking chairs where we enjoyed a marvelous view of the mountains. When thesun set, we started enjoying the show the fireflies put on for us. Little flying lights out in the bushes, and some so close you could touch them. I want to give a shout out to my friend for telling us about this rejuvenating piece of history, and a thank you to the hostesses for accepting us when we walked inside in our rain gear and wet clothes. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED :D
Much love, LB
Dillard's House=awesome (we will get to that)
Like I said in yesterday's post, last night was perfect sleeping weather. Dad and I woke up refreshed and well rested (didn't even take a mid day break, aka nap). We had yogurt and cheese for breakfast as we adjusted our route for the day. The first half of the day went by crazy fast! The first stretch we rode 130 miles in what felt like half an hour. The second stretch went by quickly too. Lunch; however, was a turning point for the day.
We found a nice shade tree off the highway and decided to eat among the trees. We made our usual sandwiches, got some sodas, and got fat :) I had some skittles left over from a previous stop (I had never seen a green bag of skittles before, so I had to buy them) and dad picked up some cheetos from the store a couple days ago.
Here's where today's journey gets good... THUNDER STORM! On a recommendation through Facebook, we changed or route to go to Dillard's house for dinner, and our new direction lead us to some fun. As we approached the storm, my dad got me on coms and suggested we find a gas station to pull into so we could fill up and get our rain gear on. Not finding any, I chose to continuedown the road until (all of a sudden) we were getting dumped on. We raced to cover our bags and ourselves from the rain before continuing.
Here's where today's journey gets great... Sore from today's ride, we finally got to Dillard's House! (Second turning point of the day). We walked in, and were instantly taken care of. We chatted with some of the ladies about our trip (specifically about our day in the rain) as we got situated with a room. Tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast were/are held in a beautiful dining hall, and dinner itself made staying here worth it. My stomach is quite a bit larger than it was before dinner. It's a southern, family style dinner that includes red potatoes, sweet potatoes, cooked carrots, deep fried okra, creamed corn, chicken fried steak, corn bread muffins, ham, cabbage with cheese, and fried chicken. If that wasn't enough, there was strawberry cobbler for dessert, mmmm :)
After dinner we went back to our room and out on the back porch in the rocking chairs where we enjoyed a marvelous view of the mountains. When thesun set, we started enjoying the show the fireflies put on for us. Little flying lights out in the bushes, and some so close you could touch them. I want to give a shout out to my friend for telling us about this rejuvenating piece of history, and a thank you to the hostesses for accepting us when we walked inside in our rain gear and wet clothes. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED :D
Much love, LB
Day 17
Day 17; Miami to Kingsland.
There was no reliable wifi, so the post had to wait a day. That makes this the perfect opportunity to say, day 18 was awesome! Check out the post.
We got up pretty early, so dad could return the rental car (I slept in a bit). We packed everything up and headed out for the day. We rode interstate 95 up the Florida coast so we could go through Daytona Beach. Just so happened that we went right past the Daytona international speedway. That place is enormous! We wanted to go a few rounds on the track...they didn't let us in, so we took a few photos and kept moving.
A little while later, we found a great place on the intercoastal waterway in Daytona Beach for lunch. As we ate, we noticed that the fish love the air (or they wanted to catch bugs). Tons of them were jumping the whole time we were eating, and getting some serious height! Then we stopped at the actual beach to check out the... water, check out the water. It's much warmer than the Pacific ocean.
We hit the road again and didn't stop for anything until we found a gas station with (wouldn't you know it on a hot day) a Dairy Queen! Blizzards are amazing when it's ridiculously hot outside. Cookie dough and butter finger are both highly recommended.
Since we had to go over 400 miles, our next real stop was at our campsite just across the Florida/Georgia boarder on the Georgia side. Dad cooked rice with chicken for dinner, we took showers, and then slept in beautiful weather. It was warm enough to sleep without my sleeping bag, but not so warm that we couldn't sleep.
Much love, LB
There was no reliable wifi, so the post had to wait a day. That makes this the perfect opportunity to say, day 18 was awesome! Check out the post.
We got up pretty early, so dad could return the rental car (I slept in a bit). We packed everything up and headed out for the day. We rode interstate 95 up the Florida coast so we could go through Daytona Beach. Just so happened that we went right past the Daytona international speedway. That place is enormous! We wanted to go a few rounds on the track...they didn't let us in, so we took a few photos and kept moving.
A little while later, we found a great place on the intercoastal waterway in Daytona Beach for lunch. As we ate, we noticed that the fish love the air (or they wanted to catch bugs). Tons of them were jumping the whole time we were eating, and getting some serious height! Then we stopped at the actual beach to check out the... water, check out the water. It's much warmer than the Pacific ocean.
We hit the road again and didn't stop for anything until we found a gas station with (wouldn't you know it on a hot day) a Dairy Queen! Blizzards are amazing when it's ridiculously hot outside. Cookie dough and butter finger are both highly recommended.
Since we had to go over 400 miles, our next real stop was at our campsite just across the Florida/Georgia boarder on the Georgia side. Dad cooked rice with chicken for dinner, we took showers, and then slept in beautiful weather. It was warm enough to sleep without my sleeping bag, but not so warm that we couldn't sleep.
Much love, LB
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