Tuesday morning, The day after Labor Day, was upon us. There were still a dozen straglers that had refused to leave the festivities. Most didn't want to get involved with the holiday traffic of the day before.
It soon became evident that Zim and Linda weren't going to adopt any of us, so plans to actually leave were made. Final goodbyes were said.
Special thanks goes out to Jason for getting me involved one more time. Jason has been a good friend to me ever since I met him. Thanks Jason.
And I can't say enough about Zim & Linda or Anna, the granddaughter.


I finished loading the Wing for travel, and hit the road at 9:30 am. There were rain clouds and damp pavement, but the day only improved from those conditions.
I had spent lots of time looking for out of the way roads in order to get to Burlington VT. But in the end, I took the most direct route, HWY 2. It was only a 300 mile ride to a rider friend's house there. Bob Hooper wasn't able to make the Zim ranch this year, so I figured to make a visit to him instead.
The bike was just zipping along, and the sun shined brightly. It was a great day. Along about noon I was getting hungary.
Now I'm a frugal guy when it come to a traveling budget, so I stopped at a small town's market, and bought a cantaloupe and a package of carrots. I found a shady spot in the back parking lot, and had a pleasant feast.
I boiled up some coffee with my Alcohol stove, and sat back and enjoyed the moment.


So back on the road. I continued on thru the lush New England countryside. I love the older building of the east. We don't have many areas in Calif with buildings older then 75 years. It refreshing back there.
.....but I do complain about not being able to see the lakes or rivers because the trees are in the way. :cry
My GPS took me right To Hooper's front door. This is my first trip with a GPS. I love my maps, but I can see that these GPSs are going to make a lazy man out of me. :clap
Soon Bob and Kathleen got home from work. It was good to see them again. Bob took me to Fatty's BBQ in college town Burlington. We caught up on old times, and I recounted all the reasons that he should retire soon. I think that he listened. Every day that you work is one day less for your own life......of course, I realize that some work is necessary. UGH.
Here's Bob & Kathleen's new home. It's a beauty.


The Hoopers had to work the next day so I wanted to be up early to continue my trip when they left for work. To that end I walked out the front door as it was getting light.....and met Kathleen coming back from her morning run. I swear that girl is going to live for ever. It just make me want to throw rocks at my own life style. Ha.
San Diego is 3500 miles from Maine, and I had a minor surgery appointment scheduled which left me 7 day to complete the trip.....or 500 miles a day. I was already 200 miles behind schedule......
The next stops was to see family in Columbus Oh. I didn't figure I could get there tonight, but I could get most of the way....if there were no surprises.
I motored on toward Columbus. The sky was troubled, but none the less beautiful


Somewhere along the way I finished my Cantaloupe and carrots.


Along about 7pm I pulled into a campground in Emlenton Pa. John, the Manager, was happy to put me up at a campsite for $20. Wow, I like national campgrounds or gorilla camping. $20 bucks for a campsite is high brow for me, but free camping in the East is a lot more difficult to find than out west.
I coughed up the big money and took advantage of the Wifi with my net book and caught up on some mail.
It turns out that Emlenton is about 30 miles from a good rider friend in Pittsburgh....but following a GPS I find that, while you may be on route, you don't really know where you are relative to the rest of the world. Damn, I could have scrounged a free night with Dave Ryder...no really, that's his real name.

My camp setup .........I call it 'sleeping bag under drop cloth'. :clap


John had told me to take a run thru town in the morning before I got underway. Small towns USA are alway charming when you take time to see them.




There's my freeway going over the Allegheny River


So today I was to meet my riding nephew, Mike, in Killbuck Oh. We had selected Killbuck as it was a couple hour ride from Columbus. I had found a picture of an IGA market on Google Maps, and we set the meeting place. The meetup was to take place at 11AM. I was five minutes late.
Killbuck IGA store....Looks just like the Google pic

That's Mike and his '09 EX500


I spent a wonderful evening with Mike and Rani. These guys are techies to the max. It gave me a glimpse of the future families. They are hooked at the waist to their I-phones.....in a good way. They are completely in touch, at all times, with the world thru those things.
They're trying to adopt European babies as well. What a great life they are leading. We had dinner at Olive Garden with my 2 beautiful sister cousins, Jean and Terri.
After dinner Mike and Rani took me to a sewing shop to get me some raw materials to make a seat improvement for the Gold Wing. Did I tell you that my motorcycle seat was killing me?
So I whipped up a couple rudementory Sweet Cheeks kind of seat supplements that worked pretty good. As far a moto seats go, it doesn't matter what you try, but the sin is, if you do nothing about the monkey butt.
Here's my try....


Three days and only 1200 miles......that wasn't going to get me to my doctors appointment.....I'd have to pick the pace up a bit.