Wednesday, June 8, 2011

We headed up route 15 for Williamsport today to take the Trolley tour of the historic district and to take the cruise on the Susquehanna River aboard a paddle boat, The Hiawatha. The day was informative and very enjoyable even though the temps reached 97 or more. Returning to camp around 5PM Don and Glenn built the fire in preparation for roasting hot dogs and I mixed up the ice cream for freezing. The night was still very warm with a gentle breeze blowing off the river as the guys pulled out the cards. One more day to ride and then we head home.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - Another Birthday

Another birthday on the road; three years ago Don asked what I wanted for my birthday and my reply was to be on the bike any place but home and he has tried to make that come true every year. We all watched Bernie and Shirley leave and we each wiped a tear from our eyes. We certainly will miss them. The destination today was Penn’s Cave which turned out to be a great ride and a very interesting attraction. Found a great little local restaurant in Centre Hall, Brody’s Diner, where the food was good and the prices right. A quick search in the GPS and we selected the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven as our next destination. We were now in some of the most beautiful parts of PA riding what seemed to be a level road but we were really on a mountain ridge with higher mountains to the left and right and a valley between us and the far mountains. Below were farms with fields displayed as patchwork quilts with brown squares of plowed fields, or light green harvested hay baled and waiting to be stored or dark green fields of corn. Large farms with red and white barns, silos and white houses.

With still a lot of daylight remaining we headed north to Renovo for no particular reason other than a very dear person I once knew came from that town and I wanted to see it. The ride up was magnificent as we began to climb mountains rider and bike becoming one as we dance around each curve in the road. Forests of dark green creating a shelter for our ribbon of black suddenly open to reveal the Susquehanna River and allow the cool air to reach us. Reaching Renovo we gas up, take a look around and turn the bikes towards the campground 79 miles away where we plan to have dinner at The Fence Drive-In. This little place doesn’t look like much and you eat outside on picnic tables or in your car but it is packed every night. We were not disappointed – the food was very good. Just proves the point if you want good food follow the locals to their favorite spots.

Monday, June 6

Breakfast at 8 and then off to the Grand Canyon of PA traveling all country roads. GPS set for no highways and no unpaved roads and found some beautiful roads with twists and turns, uphill and down, riding beside rivers and streams or mountain drop-offs with flowers blooming and the air sweet with their smell. As we approached our last mountain climb for the canyon we made a left turn onto a small, blacktopped road when suddenly up ahead I saw it turned to gravel. Now this girl doesn’t like gravel – twice I’ve turned the bike over on gravel and broken my ankle one of those times. Bernie has told me I have a phobia which I need to get over. I hit the brakes and the bike began to fish-tail, smoke streaming from the back tire which was screaming her resistance. I wasn’t going to get stopped before the gravel so I released the brakes and prepared to hit the gravel at a faster speed than I wanted to. I heard Glenn on the CB behind me saying to ride it out and don’t use the front brake. I have learned not to use the front brake on gravel but I kept reminding myself as the bike slowed to a manageable speed for gravel. I heard Don say 2.7 miles of this road with curves and uphill climbs. I didn’t think I could turn around so I kept going. I heard Andy and Bernie say something about meeting me at the other end so I thought only Glenn had followed me. We proceeded on weaving past pot holes working the clutch and the back brake to maintain just the right speed. It seemed like 20 miles but finally I saw the end and a blacktop road but it was going to require a sharp, hairpin turn to the right and I had not positioned myself as far to the left as I should have. I carefully walked Abigail around the turn and not wanting to turn the wheel too sharp while still on the gravel which was piled pretty heavy at the end, I got the bike within a hair of the left side of the road which was facing on-coming traffic if any came over the hill and on the very edge of a deep drop over the side of the mountain. Glenn said I made his heart stop – it didn’t do much for mine either – but obviously I made it. We headed up the hill to the park entrance of the Grand Canyon. I could hear very little of anyone else on the CB but I did hear Don asking if someone had dropped their bike. No one came up the hill so Glenn turned around and went back. He radioed up that Bernie had dropped his bike. Don came up to get me on his bike and I left mine at the park. Shirley was sitting up on the ground with Bonnie, our nurse, holding her. The ambulance had been called and arrived in just a couple of minutes. We all traveled to the hospital in Wellsboro where it was determined she had broken her shoulder in two places and was going to have to go home because it required surgery. The remainder of the day was spend finding a U-Haul for Bernie, loading the bike and his trailer, getting our girl out of the hospital and doing all the necessary stuff to make her as comfortable as possible. They planned to head home tomorrow.

Sunday, June 5, 2001

Breakfast was our first order of business. Andy and Bonnie had gone to Lewisburg yesterday and lead us to a great place on Water Street. A huge building that had once been a textile factory but the machines were silent now and the dust had been swept from the floors. Now there was a nice homey restaurant surrounded by 125 consignment shops selling handcrafts, vintage clothing, books, antiques, furniture, you get the idea. We spend an hour or so wondering the multi-levels of this old building serving a modern need. We ladies thought making another trip up in a van or trucks would be a wonderful idea (for some reason the men didn’t agree). I got an old spinning top with a closed flower inside that opens to reveal a bumblebee when you spin it for Zoey and a Teach Me Bear for Todd with buttons, zippers, belts and shoe strings to work on.

Last night a group of 8 people touring the area on vintage bikes stopped at the campground. This morning Don was checking the bikes and talking to the owner of the bikes and leader of the tour. He told us about Bill’s Old Bike Barn just 30 miles from here. According to him and the website Bill has collected a little of everything you can imagine so we decided to head to Bloomsburg and find it. We were not disappointed. The ride was nice on secondary roads and we were overwhelmed with everything to see. Bill has even created a little town “Billsville” inside with various stores and even a tavern with a complete bar from the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. We spend a couple hours and still didn’t see everything.

Check out the website at http://www.billsbikebarn.com/

A stop for lunch and then back to the campground where Bernie proceeded to build a fire (we have dubbed him the fire maker) and I began the fixings for homemade ice cream. Bernie cooked hot dogs over an open fire, Andy did the second batch while everyone kept telling him to stop placing them directly on the burning logs. Glenn chopped some wood (really playing with the hatchet) and after our dogs and chips we began making smores. Bonnie prepared the crackers and chocolate while the guys roasted the marshmallows. Bonnie took the first turn cranking the ice cream freezer and then the guys took over and within a few minutes we had orange ice. The cards were dealt out and the quarter knock games began until it was getting too dark to see.

Heading Out to Steel Steeds

Pulled out at 6AM and joined everyone at the bank parking lot and headed north by 7AM. Had a great ride with a few extra miles since I changed my mind and the GPS settings in mid stream. Oh well - we were out for the ride and it was fun. Stopped for lunch at 1PM and while eating another biker came in and wanted to join us heading for Steel Steeds for the BON rally. The more the merrier. Arriving at the campground we eased our way down the gravel driveway to our trailers. Not bad trailers either - miniature models of home. Well not exactly but they are nice campers. The guys immediately set about gathering wood to build a fire - thank goodness Bob the owner of the campgrounds brought us two loads and soon a roaring fire was going. Just like survivors LOL. The campground was providing a BBQ so we ate here and then sat around the campsite and the guys played their first game of quarter knock. Just after turning out the lights for night the sky began to light up and thunder rolled. Glad we had good weather while riding.

Scouting Trip to Galax Virginia

Every year we send a small scouting party to our rally location to find a hotel and set up a block of rooms at the best rate possible. This year I was able to be a part of this fun activity. The plan was to ride straight down on Thursday, spend Friday and maybe Saturday checking hotels and restaurants and then ride straight home on Sunday. Galax is about 430 some miles or so from home so riding straight through was going to be tiring I knew.

We packed light for only 4 days and stuffed everything in the two trunks of Bessie. Don had the ice chest filled with bottled water strapped to the little slide-in and one last leather bag with my sneakers strapped to the back seat. We pulled out of our drive at 5:45 AM bound and determined to beat Bernie and Shirley to the meeting location in Templeville. One hour later we joined George Hires at McDonalds on Kent Island and headed west around the Washington Beltway to Front Royal and then south down I-81. The cooler so carefully strapped to the slide-in on the back of Bessie came loose as we travelled 65 mph around the beltway. I wonder if that thing bouncing down the highway caused any accidents.

Weatherman was calling for rain and we had a couple of slight periods of rain where we would stop and put the rain gear on and then take it off and then put it on again. Then just 8.9 miles from Hillsville we stopped. It was beginning to rain and Don had just hear on the radio a warning of an approaching storm with 1 inch hail, heavy rains and 65 mph winds coming right for us. We pulled into a truck stop just in time! Grabbing the GPS and covering the CB we ran inside and watched out the windows as more and more bikers pull in as lightening flashed and thunder rolled and the hail began to bounce off the pavement. Three times the rain let up and we walked outside only to have the storm circle back around and start again. Mountains surrounded us and the storm was bouncing off of them like a ball in a pinball machine. After spending 2 hours in the truck stop we, like the other bikers, decided we were going to mount up and go; the lightening had stopped and the rain had slacked. No more than a mile down the road the rain came again in buckets. By the time we traveled the 8.9 miles we were all wet and poor Bernie had packed their clothes in a small bag and strapped it to the top of his bike's trunk and had not covered it with anything water proof! Every stitch of clothing they had on them and with them were soaked. Dripping water all over the counter of the Super 8 we signed in and headed to the nearest restaurant for dinner 13 hours after leaving the McDonalds on Kent Island.

Friday George talked to the manager at the Super 8 about the rally and got prices for our group to stay there. Then we went to the Quality Inn to see what our chances were of getting a reasonable rate and to our surprise the manager offered us a fantastic rate at this fairly new hotel with great amenities. Okay hotel choices selected now to find a banquet location. The manager of the Super 8 had suggested the Countryseat Restaurant right across the street for dinner so we discussed the idea of a banquet with the manager. Not a problem and within a few minutes everything was discussed and the room surveyed.

Mid morning - now what to do? Well lets ride to Galax and find the Rex theater and a short walk down the historic district brought us to The Galax Smokehouse, winners of the "Best of the Best BBQ Restaurant Award" from the National Barbeque Association for 8 years in a row. It wasn't lunch time yet so we decided to leave the tasting until the rally.
Heading out of Galax we wondered some of the best back roads with our destination being Mt. Airy (Andy Griffith's hometown) for lunch at Snappy Lunch where Don and George had the famous pork chop sandwich for $4 and I enjoyed a cheeseburger for $2. I was riding on the back of Bessie but I've made a mental note of the roads and how I found them and this is going to be the ride I lead during the rally. One of the roads was very much like Snake Road when we were on the 2009 rally at Smith Mountain Virginia.

Back to the hotel and then walked to the Countryseat Restaurant for dinner around 5:30 pm. Ate our fill of a wonderful buffet, sat and talked and laughed and then - it started raining again. Not a soft easy rain but a down pour! We had our only dry clothes on so we sat and talked and laughed some more.

We decided to leave for home at 6:30 am Saturday morning and not take I-81 and fight the trucks or that awful beltway with it's never ending construction and traffic. We would head east on 58 where we traveled through fog on the mountain tops so thick you needed a knife to cut it. Reaching Danville Don, Bernie, Shirley and I headed north on 29 planning to take 33 into Orange and then 301 to the bridge and home; a 12 hour ride but much nicer. George continued on 58 to the Bay Bridge Tunnel and then north on 113 to his home in Salisbury, MD.