Your dad only turns 80 once...

[CanDman]

I've always wanted to do another trip like that.

Taking a cross-country trip in an airplane means you meet a ticket agent and maybe the person in the seat next to you.  Taking the same trip in an old car...or on a motorcycle...means you meet a great cross-section of people every day.  You learn from them...and hopefully, you leave some experience behind that they remember.  Either way, it's the difference between going out and absorbing life and it's experiences...or reading about it in a book.

I have a couple of future trips in the planning stages...I'd definitely like to get up to Alaska by motorcycle.  I'd like to spend some time exploring/riding/camping Australia.  I'm thinking of a four-corners ride in the states.  I'd be thrilled to ride around Great Britain for a month, but not even sure where to start on that one...

Cap'n Ron. . .

Let me know if you need a travel mate Capy....
CanDman

[Capn Ron]

Day 7:  Coldwater, MS to Wildersville, TN (150 miles)

I took one more look at the lake...soaked that in for a few minutes and headed out.



I make attempts to become part of the nature I'm in...really soak it up rather than just look at it.  It takes more than the standard Griswold's quick glance at the Grand Canyon...It's more about letting yet another sense pull it in.  Looks beautiful...Wow...listen to those birds!  Did you feel that cool breeze?  I just love the smell of pine trees!  Given enough time to absorb it all, it puts you in a very nice place.

I didn't have much of a plan today except to go poke around Memphis a little.  It was definitely a "Where the day takes me" sort of a day:



I headed up towards Memphis and started to think about what I'd like to see.  Hmmm...Memphis...Beale Street?  Country Music?  The Mississippi River front...Then it hit me!  I'm goin' to Graceland, Graceland...sing it with me...



I had no idea what to expect.  I just showed up...wandered around...took a tour.  I have to say, I kinda became an Elvis fan in the process!

The house:



There was a museum of all his cars and motorcycles:



The famous "Jungle Room"



The Billiard room complete with upholstered ceiling and walls:



His private jets:



There was a lot to see and I must have taken a few hundred pictures!!  You really get a sense of his amazing life and I'm glad I got a chance to check it all out.

Thanks for the tour Elvis...thank you vaaaary mush...



I spent quite a bit of time there...I didn't leave until around 6:00pm!!  I figured I needed to make at least some progress towards home, so I hit the interstate heading for Jackson, TN.  I figured I could get a hotel there pretty easily and off I went!

I got a room at the Super 8 just off the interstate.  Checked in and went to find my room.  The place was pretty empty...I thought that was a bit strange.  He put me in a room way around back and it seemed I had the place to myself.  I started unpacking my hard cases from the bike and a car parked next to me with two girls in it.  One of them starts chatting me up.  "Wow, you're from California?"  "Wow...I think motorcycles are sexy!"  "Can I touch it?"  Hmmm...where was this going?    Anyway, this was all seeming pretty sketchy when she says, "You know if you want some company, me and my girlfriend do in-room massages to help pay for our trip..."  I said, "Yeah, no...I think I'm okay thanks." 

I rode my bike back around to reception...The guy says, "Is there a problem with your room?"  I said, "The two girls you put in the room next to mine are HOOKERS.  ACTUALLY hookers.  I'm checking OUT!"  Now, I don't have a problem with the profession...Hey, if that's the way you make your living, no worries here.  My problem was my nice "sexy" motorcycle was parked outside of my room and I wanted to make sure I would still have it in the morning!  I was probably more paranoid than I needed to be regarding my "professional" neighbors, but I think leaving was the better call. 

I packed the Givi cases back on the bike in record time before I had to answer, "Hey, where are you going?" ...and rode up the interstate another 30 miles to get a hotel room without whores. 

It was a great day...Very relaxing...even without the massage.   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

I'm going thru withdrawals......

I was loving all the chatter about an Australia trip, but I'll open another thread for that.  Hope you enjoyed a little Elvis in your day...We're back on track! 

Cap'n Ron. . .

[FJmonkey]

It was a great day...Very relaxing...even without the massage.   

I had a business trip that had a first night kind of like that, hookers all over the place, the front desk behind bullet proof glass. It was too late to change hotels. But I checked out the next morning and to hell what my company thought of the cost of the next hotel..... I did not want a cap in my ass from some drug dealer or gang banger....

Keep the chapters coming, I'm loving it....

[Capn Ron]

It was a great day...Very relaxing...even without the massage.   

I had a business trip that had a first night kind of like that, hookers all over the place, the front desk behind bullet proof glass. It was too late to change hotels. But I checked out the next morning and to hell what my company thought of the cost of the next hotel..... I did not want a cap in my ass from some drug dealer or gang banger....

I can so relate!  I was thinking there might be an issue with the girls and the bike...They had their door open and were having a party outside their room with some guy...ohhhh, I'll call him "John"...worried about that element as well.  Even if nothing happened to the bike, I wouldn't have been able to sleep.

I didn't even care how much the next hotel cost!   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

Day 8:  Wildersville, TN to Winchester, Kentucky (365 miles)

After another good night's sleep, I woke up and had to make some serious decisions.  All of the eastern seaboard was getting pummeled with rain.  I had to figure out a way to get through the next six states AND try to stay dry.  I watched the weather patterns carefully and tried to figure out the moving "dry areas" and how I could stay in them as much as possible.  This ended up being my route:



The storms throughout the East were so bad that at one point, my dad called me.  He warned me about the storms and had been watching both the news and my progress on the bike for the past several days.  He told me that he called U-haul and found out that they could help load the bike in the back of a truck and I could drive the truck one-way to New York.  I took his advice in the spirit in which it was intended...but reminded him that this was a MOTORCYCLE trip...not "getting to NY in a rental truck" trip.  He cares. 

I was threatened with rain all day, but managed to stay dry.  Nice!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

Day 9: Wildersville, TN to Hagerstown, MD (565 miles)

Today was my longest ride so far on the trip.  I wanted to head North East continuing on from my plan the day before, but weather wasn't cooperating.  While I slept, the temperatures dropped and if I kept heading in the same direction, I would have hit snow going over the Allegheny mountain range.  Yikes!  I decided to head nearly due East and then cut North and use the Cumberland Gap to cross the mountains.



It was a very long day in the saddle...I got to ride the 219 up through Virginia and West Virginia and it was beautiful!  It actually runs the border of those two states, so as you're riding along, you see this giant sign that says, "Welcome to West Virginia!"...then 20 minutes later, there's another sign that says, "Welcome to Virginia!"...15 minutes later, "Welcome to West Virginia!"  It was hard to keep track of.

I only got sprinkled on briefly and after the long day, I sprung for a nicer hotel room in Hagerstown...The first place that I didn't just park right outside my hotel room door!



Another fine day of riding...albeit long.  I did notice on a couple of occasions today that the FJ wasn't starting quite right.  When I stopped for fuel a couple of times it would crank but wouldn't even *try* to fire up.  I'd release the start button, try again...and it'd start right up!  Thought that was weird...Oh well, it was running like a champ so I'm not going to worry about it.  Besides, only one more day of riding and I'll have a garage and lots of downtime at my parent's place.

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

Day 10: Hagerstown, MD to Amsterdam, NY (401 miles)

I've been on the road for nine days and I had just one more to get to see my parents.  Even though I now live in Los Angeles, I was going home.  Just one more day of riding and I would be able to spend time with my folks.  Enjoy my mom's home cooking (an apple pie to die for!)...Work on some project with my dad out in the garage...maybe take a motorcycle ride with my brother.  There really is no place like home.

The weather issues had mostly cleared out and I was free to pick a route north that was more to my liking.  I checked out of the hotel, got some breakfast and headed out.  The only thing I had in mind was to run a section of the Taconic State Parkway on the East side of the Hudson River.  It's a most beautiful section of road...They left the trees and the curves when they engineered it as if someone on the design board back in the 1920's really enjoyed driving!  Given that goal, I set out North and my day's ride looked like this:



As I was going through Pennsylvania, I thought about the last few days.  Because of the weather, I really just logged miles...I knew after the first visit with my folks I would be heading down to South Carolina to see a friend of mine and wondered what would be good to see on the way back down through this area.  Many miles alone with my thoughts, I seemed to recall that Frank Lloyd Wright had designed a famous house in PA called "Falling Water"...I put it on my mental list for the next leg of the trip South in a couple of weeks.

About mid afternoon, I found myself in Orange County, NY and while having some lunch I wondered how far away Orange County Choppers might be.  It was only five miles down the road so off I went!



Now, I'm not a fan of cruiser bikes...and certainly not V-twins with Harley DNA...but I am a fan of fabrication.  I wandered around the shop and there were some AMAZING bikes in there!  When I watched the show, I was a bit meh...about a bike reveal.  I wondered what all the fuss was about.  In person?  Stunning.  The amount of work that goes into a custom bike blew my mind.  I really enjoyed seeing that.  When I was gearing up to leave, some woman came up to me in the parking lot and said, "Paul Sr. just arrived and he's in there signing autographs!!!"  I thanked her for the heads up, put on my helmet and got on the road.

I crossed the Hudson River, ran a section of the Taconic State Parkway and then meandered my way home over country roads...surrounded by farmland and rolling hills...picturesque streams and small towns.  I arrived in my parent's driveway right about sunset and I was looking forward to some downtime!



After nearly 4,500 miles, It's good to be home.

Cap'n Ron. . .

[ribbert]

"Paul Sr. just arrived and he's in there signing autographs!!!"  I thanked her for the heads up, put on my helmet and got on the road.


Cap'n Ron. . .

Man!!!!! You passed on meeting Paul Sr. in the flesh? What were you thinking? AND could have got his autograph.

[Capn Ron]

Man!!!!! You passed on meeting Paul Sr. in the flesh? What were you thinking? AND could have got his autograph.

I thought that getting in another 100 miles was more important.  It was!  

Cap'n Ron. . .

[simi_ed]

Man!!!!! You passed on meeting Paul Sr. in the flesh? What were you thinking? AND could have got his autograph.

I thought that getting in another 100 5 miles was more important.  It was!  

Cap'n Ron. . .

FTFY
Another "fan" ...

[Capn Ron]

Day 11 through day 23:  Upstate New York (700 miles)

I spent a dozen days with my parents...getting in some great visiting and using it as a home base.  I was glad I got to be there to see my dad turn 80...he's working on projects like he was still in his 20's!!  He's been a great dad and a great person.  When I grow up, I want to be just like him!

I did another oil change since it had been 3,000 miles since the last one in Texas.  Sure was nice having a garage to work in!  I also mounted a luggage rack on my Givi top case...my girlfriend flew out for a week and was going on some rides with me...I know I'd have to do some creative packing with the extra helmet, clothing and a passenger! 

My brother has a KTM 660 that looks like this:



He offered to host a ride up to Tahawus, NY...an old historic iron mining town well up into the Adirondak mountains!  My girl rode on the back of my FJ for the first time ever and we knocked out 250 miles that looked like this:



It was a very cool old town...complete with a giant smelter:



And old run-down buildings:



A few days later, I met up with an FJowners forum member Jay Speed who lives in the Albany area.  We did a 200 mile run over into Vermont and then back over into New York on some great country roads!



He's a great guy and even has a matching '92 FJ!!!



One of the highlights of that day was going back to my home town.  All the streets looked familiar and I asked him to get this shot for me:



I grew up on this property when I was a kid.  The forest you notice in the background used to be an empty lot...When I was 10 years old, my dad, my brother and I planted 3,000 saplings that is now that forest!  Unbeknown to us, long after we moved out of that town, the locals named that forest after our family.  Pretty cool!

My visit with family in New York was great...It's nice to be reminded of the stock you come from.  The downtime and home cooked meals were excellent, but I'm now headed SOUTH to Beaufort, SC to visit a great friend of mine and his family.

The Pirelli Sport Demons now have 4500 miles on them and the rear is getting pretty thin!!!  I'll keep an eye on it and at this point I'm thinking I'll get some new rubber in South Carolina while I'm there for a week.  Definitely looking forward to getting back on the road!!! 

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

First leg is finished...

I hope you're getting some enjoyment out of this...I'm having a blast reliving the miles!   

If you ask google to take you from my house in Los Angeles to my parent's house in New York, it'll suggest this route at 2,800 miles:



Through the process of things I wanted to see, getting suggested routes from people I met along the way, dodging rain storms up the east coast, doing some day rides with friends and family when I arrived in New York and generally having a blast, the ACTUAL route of the first leg ended up looking like this and was a total of 4,500 miles:



What I thought was going to be a 7,000 mile trip is looking more like it's going to be 9,000 miles!   

I'm now off on leg 2 of this trip which will take me from New York...to South Carolina...and then back to New York.  Hang on!! 

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Bones]

Keep the pics and stories coming Cap'n Ron, totally enjoying your exploits.

[ribbert]

"Paul Sr. just arrived and he's in there signing autographs!!!"  I thanked her for the heads up, put on my helmet and got on the road.


Cap'n Ron. . .

Man!!!!! You passed on meeting Paul Sr. in the flesh? What were you thinking? AND could have got his autograph.

Ok, if my humour falls flat on the other side of the world, I don't care.

But, given the embarrassment of this comment being taken seriously, which it seems to have been, I must clarify it.

I WASN'T SERIOUS!

Noel