Your dad only turns 80 once...

[Capn Ron]

R&R #2, Part 2: Beaufort, SC (0 miles -Waiting for parts)

So...We suspected a bad ignitor.  Do those even GO bad?  I mean at this point, we've tested all we could think of over the last three days...what else could it be???  I put in a call to Randy...I told him that the timing was 180 degrees out and we're suspecting the ignitor and asked him what he thought.  He asked me two or three questions about what else we've checked and concluded,  "Yeah...that sounds like a bad ignitor!"  I should have called Randy three days earlier!  Anyway, with that bombshell, I said, "Okay...so  that's good to know, but how to I get my hands on one of those 3,000 miles from home?  Randy tells me to hang on and puts the phone down.  A couple of minutes later, he comes back and says, "I've got one for your bike on a race car I'm not using...I'll ship it out to you...just return it to me when you're done with your trip."  Is this guy for real?  WOW...just wow. 

I'm now on an island just off the coast of South Carolina with nothing to do but wait for an ignitor to show up in the mail in a couple of days.  I made the best possible use of my time.

Took a boat ride:



Saw a red bird:



Made a salad:



Had a beer:



Saw a cool house:



Visited a Civil War cemetery:



Saw an alligator:



That was a fun two days!!!  I checked the mail and sure enough...there was an ignitor from Randy!  I was like a kid on Christmas morning...I unwrapped it and plugged it into the wiring harness.  Bike fired right up!  Over and over again!  We verified our timing theory with the strobe light and it was dead-on TDC.  My starting troubles were OVER!!!  I'm not sure how I could have solved this problem without my friend, Chris.  I can't thank Randy enough for salvaging this trip for me with a loaner part in short order.  Wow...Thank you, thank you, THANK you!!! 

Just one more day here and I'll be heading north to New York again...

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Bminder]

I"m so jealous.

[Capn Ron]

Third Leg, Days 1-5: Beaufort, SC to Upstate, NY (1,400 miles)

My girl flew into Savannah, GA to join me on the third leg of this trip.  Having sorted out the starting issues with the bike, installed a new chain and gears, put on a fresh set of tires and had a week of great visiting with my buddy Chris and his family, we were off to Upstate New York.

The five days of riding took us through these 1,400 miles:



Again...not the most direct route but that's really not the point.  I had a goal before I left on this trip to ride the entire 470 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the entire 105 miles of Skyline Drive.  The roads and the scenery are amazing.  You basically run the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains all the way from the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina to Front Royal, VA.  On the upside, the roads and views are just about perfect!



On the downside, the max speed limit for the entire 470 miles of the BRP is 45MPH and the 105 miles of Skyline Drive is 35MPH!  Yikes!  This is going to be a long few days, but we get to see the Mabry Mill:



Enjoyed the view from many pull-outs:



Camped next to this lake:



Stayed dry in the "Taj Mahal" while the FJ got a good wash!



Spotted a rainbow:



And even hiked a couple of miles down to a waterfall:



Both of those roads were great...at 35MPH, we rode right up on a black near cub bumbling across the road!  It took me a second to realize it was a bear...usually don't see them up that close and personal.  I was able to stop in time to watch him bound over the guardrail and up the hill into the woods.

I did my best to stay within the 35MPH speed limit...At one point, I got behind a car that was going 20MPH!!  There wasn't anywhere to pass for five solid miles and I was looking for any opportunity.  The center line finally became a dashed line, and the road dropped, but I couldn't quite see because of an overhanging tree blocking my long-view of the road ahead.  My girl yelled, "Go for it!!!"  I waited until I thought it was clear and began to pass this guy.  Right as I got next to him, a truck was heading at me and I had a decision to make...commit...or get back behind the car.  I dropped a gear and twisted the throttle.  I pulled in front of him in with plenty of road to spare, but as the truck passed, I saw it was a park ranger!!!    Doh!  He wrote me a ticket for going 70 in a 35...  It's a "Park only" ticket and wasn't too bad at $135.  My girl split it with me.  Nice.   

On the last day of this leg to New York, we stopped off at Gettysburg to say hello to Mr. Lincoln:



He's much taller in person!  We rode the "Auto Tour" of the battlefields...well worth the stop on the final stretch of this leg!

We got to New York and I dropped my girl off at the Albany airport so she could fly back to Los Angeles.  My folks were out of town for the weekend so I was completely on my own for the first time in two weeks.  Well, almost...I had this critter staring me down:



Apparently she was hungry.  I kept her well fed and she was great company!

I'm not sure where I'm heading next, I'm thinking of going north up into Montreal after a few day's rest here.  I have time to figure it out, in the meantime, I have another oil change to take care of and some more riding with my brother...

Cap'n Ron. . .

[fintip]

Nice. That one would have taken me forever to figure out.

People say the list is "Fuel, Spark, Air" around here, but they forget to mention the other two small things that are equally essential--compression and timing. Temperature could be said to be another one.

Kudos to your friend! And I'm not even the least bit surprised by Randy. Not even one little bit.

Keep it up, my friend.  

[Capn Ron]

Nice. That one would have taken me forever to figure out.

People say the list is "Fuel, Spark, Air" around here, but they forget to mention the other two small things that are equally essential--compression and timing. Temperature could be said to be another one.

Kudos to your friend! And I'm not even the least bit surprised by Randy. Not even one little bit.

Yeah, Chris is a great friend and one of the best troubleshooters I know.  When I was getting frustrated on day two, he calmly said, "The answers are here, we just haven't figured out the right questions to ask."   

Y'know it's funny...one of my favorite expressions is, "Timing is everything!"  Mostly as it applies to life...Odd it's the last thing I checked!   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[ribbert]

People say the list is "Fuel, Spark, Air" around here

My check list is "Fuel, Ignition, Compression at the right time in the right quantity and it must run"

[fintip]

"...and it must run"

Haha.

[Capn Ron]

R&R #3: Amsterdam, NY (500 miles)

Well, I was back at my parents house in Upstate New York enjoying about five days of down-time.  Since I had a nice garage to work in, I did a full maintenance on the bike...changed the oil and filter, new fuel and air filter, adjusted and lubed the new chain, checked the tire pressure and gave it a good wash and wax.  A full PM and she was like new again!   

In the interest of "when am I going to get a chance to do this again?", I went on another ride with my brother.  We did this route around the reservoirs and it was a most enjoyable 300 miles!!



It was beautiful!!  Most of New York is rolling hills, green pastures, lakes and farmland.



Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love New York City...but it's a completely different world than the rest of the state!  We went to visit the neighbor's horse ranch...This is one of their mares and her newborn foal.



With another 200 miles of riding around to visit my old haunts in Albany and Saratoga, I brought the total so far for this trip to 8,000 miles.   

I have just a couple more days here and I still haven't figured out which direction to head to get back to Los Angeles.  I know what you're thinking...WEST!!!  ...but that just seems too obvious.   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[X-Ray]

I'm just blown away by all the scenery and adventures you are having Cap'n. As far as that "Bates" motel goes, I wouldn't have gone anywhere near it unless I had 5 other people with me, safety in numbers I reckon, 

[Capn Ron]

I'm just blown away by all the scenery and adventures you are having Cap'n.  

Thanks X Ray!

Y'know...I just jumped on the bike to go see my dad.  The farther away from California I was, the more people I met were just raving about how EPIC this adventure must be.  The stoic in me just kept replying with, "Really?...I'm just riding to New York for my dad's birthday."  I had a very utilitarian view at the outset.  At about the 3,000 mile mark, it was the culmination of all those comments...the well-wishers...the people I met who SO wanted to join me for the ride if only they could...A few people who did join me for a leg...the wealth of what I had seen thusfar...the accumulation of miles and smiles...that completely straightened out my thinking on all this.  I WAS on an adventure!  I was on the journey of a lifetime!  ...and this IS epic!   

This is the perfect segue for my thought process in picking a route for leg 4 of what is no longer a "trip", but indeed a "journey."     Hang on tight...we're not even half-way there!   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

R&R #3: Amsterdam, NY (Route planning)

Over the last few days, I've been studying maps...Mostly on-line...where you type in where you are and where you want to end up and it grinds out some uninspired amalgam of interstates that will get you there in the "shortest time."  Some maps have the option of choosing "Avoid Highways" or "Prefer Scenic Routes" but their idea of "scenic" wasn't aligning with my idea of scenic.   

The most direct route was tossed almost immediately.  I was, afterall...in the "While I'm here" mindset and the thought of super-slabbing it 3,000 miles from New York to Los Angeles was depressing.  Before I left LA, it occurred to me that I'd be close to Canada on this trip and went to find my passport.  It had expired!!!  I scrambled around between reinstalling the engine and buying camping gear getting a new passport.  I even paid the "expedite fee" to make sure I had it in my hands before I left home.  After all that effort, it seems like I ought to use that, don't ya think? 

With visiting Canada now in my head, I plotted a few more routes where I would pop north over the border and check things out...then come back down into the states.  Niagara Falls perhaps?  Toronto?  Hey, maybe Montreal!  These would all add some miles, but when would I EVER get a chance like this again?   Some of my initial ideas looked something like this:



As a bit of background, my dad drove a tractor-trailer all over New England for thirty some odd years and knows every road up there with shocking accuracy!  I asked him for some advice and interesting roads up into Montreal to help me sort this all out.  He suggested I avoid Canada altogether!!!  I think he had a run-in once with the French-speaking folks in Quebec and vowed to never return.  This solved it.  I was going into Canada for CERTAIN and riding as much of it as I could!  With that in mind, I set my sights not to the West...but to the EAST.  I'm going to ride NOVA SCOTIA!! 

When I woke up the next morning, I started looking at the maps and it turns out that Nova Scotia was VERY out of my way!!!:



On the other hand, when I commit to something, I make it happen!  Tomorrow morning, I'm heading east...I have a LOT of packing to do!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

Forth Leg, Day 1: Amsterdam, NY to Bangor, ME (400 miles)

"So, I met this girl at a diner in the capitol of Maine."  "Bangor?"  "No...we just had coffee."   

I was sad to be leaving my folks...we got a lot of nice visiting in, but I knew it would be a while before I could get back to New York.  With a lot of good route advice from my dad, I headed northeast...  I was excited to be moving towards Canada, but first I had to knock out some miles through New England.  Today's ride would be just around 400 miles and take me through parts of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  Four states in one day! 



Every mile I rode was another mile further from my home in Los Angeles, but that was in the very back of my mind...I kept my goal of Nova Scotia in the forefront and picked Bangor, Maine as my destination for the day.  Once you get out to the big cities like New York, Albany, Boston...New England is VERY rural.  Most of it is rolling hills, mountains, maple trees and a smattering of small towns.  I intentionally picked roads that I had never been down and saw some great scenery!

The Quechee Gorge in Vermont:


The White Mountains of New Hampshire:



As I was riding along through the White mountains, I had one of the great wildlife sightings of my life (so far)...about 30 feet in front of me, a cougar (Mountain Lion) lept across the road.



It was very graceful taking just three bounds...from the shoulder to the center line...from the center line to the right shoulder...from the right shoulder up into the woods and she was gone.  I guessed nearly 9 foot leaps each time.  I was awe struck! 

I got to Bangor, ME pretty late.  It was a nice relaxing day of riding and I got a room at the Motel 6.  The room was just fine, but the highlight is that it was right next to THIS PLACE!!!!



Holy crap!!!  They just print that stuff up here!!!   

The 400 miles today seemed long, I took a quick look at some maps and turned in early.  Looks like I'll be crossing the Canadian border tomorrow!!! 

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Firehawk068]

Holy crap!!!  They just print that stuff up here!!!   

Yup! Just ask "Dan The Bacon Guy"

[Capn Ron]

Yup! Just ask "Dan The Bacon Guy"

Would that be Dan Filetti with his 3/8" thick slices??   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

Forth Leg, Day 2: Bangor, ME to Saint John, NB Canada (275 miles/442 km)

I left Bangor, Maine this morning and as usual, figured out the least direct route to get to my destination!  I immediately headed towards the coast of Maine for no other reason than it looked interesting.  I rode 275 miles today...or for my Canadian friends, that's 442 kilometers.  Now THAT was something I had to get used to...to be honest, I STILL can't do the miles/kilometers conversion in my head.  

My ride looked like this:



Getting back to my theme of "sometimes it's better to not have a plan". I just rode along the coastline...taking in the sights.  I knew I wanted to go see a proper east coast lighthouse.  I saw a sign, hung a right and took a detour to Quoddy Head State Park:



Being a sailor, I find myself drawn towards lighthouses...The lighthouse keeper has much the same task as the helmsman on the night watch.  Just one job that seems mundane, but has the utmost importance in keeping sailors safe.  A bonus for going out to the point to see this particular lighthouse was that it was in Lubec, ME...the easternmost town in the U.S.!!  This made me feel far from home...but in a good, adventurous sort of way!



I enjoyed the little side trip, but I needed to make progress towards Canada...I kept going along the coast and I ran into this!



It was a small bay with the tide out.  It's on the Bay of Fundy which has huge tidal swings.  I had heard about this, but had never seen it up close.  The sailboats have twin keels so as the tide is going out, they just settle into the mud while still remaining upright.  This is a boat with a solution engineered into its design specifically for these type of tide swings.  Just amazing!  



I proceded to the border crossing at Saint Stephen.  I wasn't sure how long it would take and I was a bit nervous at first...after all, I hadn't been out of the United States since I was a teenager!  As I queued up in line, a guy on a motorcycle went to the third of three booths and was only there for maybe twenty seconds and rode through to Canada.  I was hoping I got that same booth and sure enough I did!  I figured this would be quick and simple.  I had nothing to hide, short of a bottle of wine in my Givi topcase, but ended up getting the third-degree.  After I presented my passport, I got my picture taken.  I was then asked a series of what I thought at the time were very odd questions.  How long will you be in Canada?  What is your purpose?  Do you have a job?  What is your profession?  Do you own a house?  Are you married?  Is anyone expecting you back home?  When are they expecting you?  Do you know anyone in Canada?  How much money are you carrying?  Can you completely fund this trip?  Do you have a means to defend yourself?  Are you carrying any weapons?  Are you transporting any alcohol?  Wow.  I answered each of the questions honestly (except that last one) and he sent me on my way.  As I was riding along heading north, I kept going over those questions in my head.  At some point it occurred to me that they wanted to make sure I wasn't planning to stick around for the rest of my life living off the good Canadian taxpayers.  Satisfied that I had solved that mystery, I rode on to Saint John, NB.  

The first speed limit sign I saw said 100!!!  I am going to LOVE this country!!   I picked up the pace and was making good time.  Oh...wait a minute...is that in kilometers?  OHHH!!!  I had to look down at my speedometer and see that if the needle was at 100 KPH, that was like our 60MPH.  I backed it WAY down!!  Everytime I saw a new speed limit sign, I had to look at the speedometer, do the conversion and say out loud, "50 is 30...50 is 30!!!!"  I never got used to that.

The other disturbing thing was that my navigation app didn't have any detailed road information for Canada!!!  It just had the major highways.  That was enough to get me to Saint John, but I had to ask some locals for directions from there.  Met some nice folks!  With a few map downloads, I'm going to enjoy Canada!

I stayed at the Hillside Motel which is...you guessed it...up on the hillside overlooking the town.  As I pulled in, two women on motorcycles started chatting me up.  When I told them I was heading over to Digby on the ferry in the morning, they started rattling off all the things I needed to see when I was in Nova Scotia!!  I scribbled down a few, but I really couldn't keep up with how many things they were throwing at me!  I was getting excited about my adventure!

It was getting late, so I went to a pub just up the road to get a burger.  I was the only one in the place and the bartender asked me what I'd like to drink.  I knew what I wanted, but I felt like a silly American tourist asking for my favorite Canadian Ale.  I sheepishly asked, "Well...I dunno...uh...would you happen to have any Moosehead?"  She smiled, but didn't answer my question.  She just pointed and said, "Go look out the window!"  Litterally...right across the street was this:



Boy did I feel silly...AND thirsty!  She had six on tap and was the perfect end to my first day in Canada!!!  

Cap'n Ron. . .