Never really point the bike East. Always West. This trip is different in a lot of other ways too. Instead of going out West alone just to ride for a few weeks, this was more about visiting some folks I haven’t seen in many years in Indiana, the Northeast, Maine coast, avoid the moose, Shenandoah Valley, BRP, down the eastern states to the beach for a family reunion in the South. Heck, will even spend a few days with my wife and kids at the beach somewhere in there. Then through the dragon to home.
Even the packing is different. Clothes for events and days / nights out instead of bare essentials for drinking by a campfire. Hmmm. Having set locations and days set aside rather than just roads to ride involved different planning too.
In the end though, it’s still about packing up, traditional bottle of Jack from my wife in the side bag, and hitting the road for a while. In the end, still about getting on the bike and riding. Finding squiggly lines and scraping some pegs.
Geeky dude ready for a ride
So day 1 was a big 110 miles to Indiana! Caught Ben the day before he was leaving to go on tour with Modest Mouse. We met during our college years and shared a brotherhood for 15 years. Each other’s best man at our weddings. I moved away from the rock star dream, but Ben has gone on to become a lifelong musician. He has toured the US and Europe extensively with Caliphone, Modest Mouse, and various incarnations. Of course, none of this would be possible without support from his wife Mary and their two daughters. Mary is a lifelong friend of my sister’s. They met at one of my gigs in the late 80’s. Pretty cool. Her dad was pastor at their wedding. All that kind of stuff. Alignment of many stars made a great thing happen.
Nothing that you need to add on to, they love each other...
Great dinner with the family. The girls are both awesome and brimming with personality. One is a singer and the other just returned from surfing camp in Fla.
Well, with Ben going on tour tomorrow, the afternoon consisted of driving around some haphazard route picking up things from wine and groceries to chlorine for the pool for his daughter’s b day party tomorrow. Can you imagine if we were there for 10 teenage girls having a pool party? I’d say the timing worked out just fine. Wine was flowing, and, as in olden times, Ben and I outside at the end of the night discussing everything from politics to Buddha. Immediate flashback, and I’m pretty sure the conversation picked up exactly where it left off 15 or so years ago. Life has ways of making sense at times. I knew exactly where I was and who I was with.
Pool side - later than we should be.
Tomorrow was all about slabbing it past Syracuse and winding my way down to Ann and Ken’s summer camp on the lake in Erieville, NY. Tonight was all about trying to figure out how to kill that last bottle of Cabernet and still get both of us on the road tomorrow bright and early.
Life changes everyone, but it is cool to find out that it doesn't always beat the greatness out of people we’ve known. 30 years ago, we could have gotten a lot of bets against both of us being around in 2014 to hang out by the pool talking most of the night.
Day 2 started with a bunch of slab, slab, slab. Bleh.
Here is what every stop looked like. Nobody likes super slabs, but how else you gonna get from Chicago, to Valpo, to the finger lakes / leather stocking region south of NY?
Met up with this Guzzi at a service center. Guy was relocating from Chicago to DC. Riding the bike, shipping the car. Good for him. Old School California - keep thinking I’m gonna wind up with a Guzzi.
Enough of that. As the day wore on, I found some smaller roads. About 5 years ago, I stopped touring with GPS because it was turning my brain to mush. Six google maps in my tank bag map holder was it for the entire trip. I thought I’d get fed up with 80/94 or whatever it is I was on, so I had an alternate route planned.
Much better.
I came across this guy…
...waiting for this guy…
… and for the first time, I felt that I was on a ride away from home. The mountains helped too cause we sure don’t have them back in IL.
Got there before dark. Ann retired two years ago. I was her colleague for her last decade teaching. Special Ed teacher. Loves kids, loves her family, loves adults, loves to tell stories and crack herself up, loves to make me laugh so hard that my stomach hurts, tears rolling down, and I’m unsure I will ever get my cheek muscles to relax. The kind of infectious laugh where it physically hurts. Pain. Laughter through tears.
Ann was a child here. Her dad built the camp next door that her brother has now. Many years of family time here and they welcomed me with open arms.
So, I show up and dinner is ready. Gave Ann the bottle of wine I brought, and her husband, Ken, offers me a rusty nail to drink. Being a professional, had to give it a shot. Well, what do ya know, I love rusty nails. Lots of them.
2 am with Ken, Ann’s brother and her.
Well, he kept those rusty nails coming. Discussing all sorts of pleasant topics, laughter through tears, and what do ya know. 4 am with more rusty nails. Don’t let their age fool you. These folks stay up late when on vacation!
In bed late and breakfast set for 8:30. Hmmmm. Another short night’s sleep.
Tomorrow would be a tour of the area in the AM and then a 4 or so hour ride in the rain to some pretty isolated land outside Saranac Lake to visit my old high school buddy Gregg and his family. The roads are finally getting good.
Morning included an excellent breakfast and a tour of the area. The finger lakes / leather stocking area of New York is beautiful. The rains began and really wouldn't end until I got to the Adirondacks near dark.
Cool architecture we just don’t see back home.
And some awesome views. Imagine a pic like this on clear day.
I don’t remember any more but I think it was something like 5 hours to get up towards Saranac Lake. Hard rain, sideways rain, all of it. All my gear did well except for the boots. Instantly wet and squishy every step I took. The rain helped me keep my speeds sane on those beautiful roads - which is good because I’m sitting on two tickets.
To give you an idea, Gregg lives something like 20 miles from the nearest cell service. So, rather than try to find it in the dusk, in the rain, we just met at a Mexican restaurant in town for some big hello’s and great food. Jan is doing great and Niklas is going to be a freshman this year. Toddler last I saw him!
Followed them back to his house well after dark and did a number on some tasty micro brews. No cell service, but he has wifi, so eventually, I go to sleep listening to an old Art Bell broadcast on youtube. Ahh, life in the wilderness.
Day 3
Morning found us up early with the sun in the sky. When we graduated high school, Gregg stayed home and went to the local JuCo. The whole time he was working full time as a union printer in the suburbs. He had a goal in sight.
Somewhere in his early 20’s, he took all that squirreled away money and bought this acreage. I think there are three lots on his “road” of 30 acres each. That’s it. The rest is all national forest. No more neighbors - ever. I visited back when he built his one room house, outhouse, no electric, no water. A few years later, I visited when he built the second room and loft. That is the stone wall you see in the picture. Eventually, electric came in, led to a well, which led to building out the rest of his beautiful two story house (hired some guys to help with that part).
So Gregg runs an outdoor program for at risk youth. By the time kids get to him, they have been through multiple levels of the system. Multi day camping, rock climbing, canoeing, white water, and a lot more. He took the day off, but we had to drop off supplies for a group using a new facility he had recently secured.
This camp is owned by a man with 3,000 acres and wants his land utilized more than it has been. He just wants people with a good purpose to enjoy and benefit from it. Pretty cool. His gated “road” is shared with the DuPonts and the Rockefellers who each have over 20,000 acres. It is out there and as remote as you could ask for.
But the amenities are simply impressive. Here is the camp portion down the hill along the lake.
The big house and chapel were off limits, but here is one of the two bunk houses for the kids to use. The inside looks like a magazine spread.
And, the story goes, this is the nicest outhouse in all the Adirondacks. Didn’t verify that personally. He got the counselors and kids set up, so we had the rest of the day.
Quick side story: My kids play hockey. Middle son finished high school playing juniors in Springfield this year. Next year, he will be in Sioux Falls playing in the USHL.
The week I left on this trip, he accepted a scholarship from University of Vermont and committed there for 2015. Gregg and Jan love Burlington, so we headed on over to check out the campus and get some dinner.
Talked to these guys getting on the ferry. Quebecers.
Expensive, but a cool ride.
I’ll leave it at this: He is a hard worker and had some other offers. I am glad he chose Vermont. I believe, life outside the rink will show him more here than some other schools.
Of course, we had to check out the rink and, surprise, this years boys were just getting a summer skate in. Evidently, this place really rocks on game day. Old barn.
Well the rains stopped so we headed over to Church Street for dinner. How cool. Several blocks closed to traffic with restaurants and touristy shops a plenty. Remember, this is a Monday just as the rains stopped. Can’t imagine the scene on a weekend.
We went to some Irish joint and all wound up doing the fish and chips. good stuff. Good Guinness.
I’m happy for my son. The campus is a great mix of old and modern, the town is cool, and Hockey East will show him some of the best competition in D1 hockey. Good for him; he’s earned the opportunity. Now it’s up to him.
We get back at sunset for this pic of the lake by his house.
Great news! My boots are dry! We finish off the micro brews and eventually call it a night. Tomorrow is a whole bunch of side roads to the Maine coast then start heading down to Myrtle via the Shenandoah Valley.
I go to sleep far too late in the morning, listening to Art Bell with a smile on my face knowing even the aliens can't get to my dry boots.
Day 4
Left Gregg’s early and got a chance to ride some of the great roads by his house.
Enjoyed the morning ride and back on the ferry for Vermont.
Since we got to enjoy such a great day in Burlington yesterday, today was all about finding some twisty roads to get to the coast in Maine.
Vermont is green.
So I started seeing the “look out for moose” signs. Sure enough, heading into this town, I caught site of one. Luckily, well off the road and walking into the forest - couldn’t get my camera out in time. So, seeing the moose helped me remember to keep the speed down - which is good because I’m sitting on two tickets. This town is similar to several others I passed in Vermont and New Hampshire.
Big a** mountains for the East. Hmmmm, storm clouds coming in.
Beautiful country up here.
As I came down in altitude, the weather started getting real warm, but, hey, sunny skies. You always know when getting near the shore. Tourist shops, lobster restaurants, and boat stores led to the Maine shore. Then, suddenly, the smell of the ocean. Just beautiful. Excellent shore breeze that I wish a camera could capture.
Spent a while just enjoying the breeze and salt air smell. Gear off and cool lying back in the shade of a lone tree. Seagulls. Some kids running around in the distance. The whole time that awesome ocean breeze. A long way from home and at the end of the first part of the trip. Good stuff.
----
So, the time had come to get heading down to Myrtle Beach for my wife’s family reunion. There was no way I was going to head down the coast on the interstate, so it was time to head inland a little, slab for the rest of today, and some Shenandoah Valley tomorrow.
Well, let the storms begin. 2 minutes into it, my feet are soaked, of course. Got real bad, but I just kept going. Maybe a bad idea because somewhere in Mass going over a bridge, I had a major back wheel loss of grip fishtail incident. It has been a while, but I believe a full blown tank slapper was about to happen. Not cool.
Off the throttle, hazards on, get to the right hand lane, and look for a pull over. Every overpass was occupied by parked cars. Take the next exit, look under the bridge, no good. It turned into a lake and passing cars just spraying water. Got on, rode less than a mile and found a car wash. Woot!
Spent nearly a half hour there waiting for the wall of rain to let up. My cell phone even got an emergency message saying that there was flash flooding in my area. No s***.
Too early to stop riding, so I looked online for a cheap motel down the road. Rode another few hours in drizzle, steady rain and wound up in a cheap motel for the night.
Cheap food, no company, so I finally broke into that bottle of Jack. Stayed up too late watching bad tv. Free wifi, so I went to sleep listening to Art Bell on youtube knowing there was no possible way my boots would be dry come morning -- no matter what the aliens did.
Day 5
Beautiful, sunny morning. Started heading inland to avoid the mess around the coast. The turnpikes and slabs in Conn, Jersey, and NY actually had relatively light traffic. Cool. Somewhere in WV I got off it and enjoyed some great two laners.
The roads were dry, but plenty of reminders of the big rains kept me in check a bit - which is good because I’m sitting on two tickets.
Entering the Shenandoah Valley, I happy to be here. Skyline Drive was a little too slow of a speed limit for me, so I stayed on other smaller, less patrolled roads.
History here is alive it seems. Plenty of museums and smaller sights I passed up. I think I’d like to come back to this area and spend some real time in the future.
Old homes still being lived in. My pre ride planning let me down a bit. I really wanted to see an example of Shenandoah Valley shape singing in person, but I didn’t know when any sessions were happening. Asking once or twice to no avail. Look it up on youtube. I heard a great segment on it on PRX. I need to spend some more time here.
A couple of diet cokes and off to sleep. Boots still wet. Socks ready for the garbage. But, feeling great around the fire.
Day 6
Next day is more sun. Woohoo. A great start to the morning hopping on the BRP. Gotta stay slow because I’m sitting on two tickets. So I devise a great strategy, keep it slow slow slow in the straights, have some fun in the curves. Hey, it’s working.
BRP is beautiful.
A momentary time out - then back to riding. For those planning to go, the construction is not too long, and you pass by pretty quickly. Free escort too.
So the strategy was working - until I came out of a turn a little too hot. Big smile turned into oh s*** in one skipped heartbeat. Bummer. And I’m sitting on two tickets back in Illinois…
The real pisser is that my exit off the Parkway was only two miles later. Got to the beach on kinda boring, hot roads. But, hey who’s complaining. My family is already there, nice resort, a balcony to dry off my boots and not stink up the joint, and many, many drinks to be had over the next few days.
First night hanging by the pool. Just over 40 Kelly’s (my wife’s family) in attendance. A lot of stories to be told.
Uncle Bob regaling the group.
My father in law and some of my kids.
No Art Bell tonight. Not sure I’d even get through the intros anyway. Too late, too drinky! Great to be here.
Ok, so this is the family pictures post - will keep it short.
Days 7, 8, and 9
Very nice to spend three days on the beach. Obviously a big thanks to my father in law and his two brothers for putting this all together. This family works hard and plays hard. They came from very humble beginnings and all three are heavy hitters.
I’ll leave it at this: Uncle John was a big wig with GM in Detroit, then the golden parachute and now consulting. Uncle Bob recently sold his very successful dental practice in Maryland for a figure that would make us all blush. My father in law, Dennis, got out of teaching early on and had success with Nestle in the business world. He then saw the impending housing boon in Charlotte and jumped on board with real estate at a great time. They are all great, humble men, who love their families. I have been very fortunate with my in laws, and I always try to show my appreciation.
What do you call a bunch of old, goofy dressed white guys around a bar? Golfers. I used to be pretty good with an honest scorecard. But, sunny afternoons became time to be with my boys. Now that they are older, it becomes a ride on twisty roads along the Mississippi or in Wisconsin. I play once a year with Dennis - he gave me a set of lefty clubs years ago to keep in Charlotte with him. Not a cruel joke - I am a lefty.
Well, the big dinner party night was themed St Patrick’s day. One of my son’s got the idea to wear Paddy’s Pub shirts. While “It’s Always Sunny” is a favorite around the house, few of the Kelly’s knew the show - and those who did just showed distaste. Go figure - it’s not for everyone. Very irreverent and we love it. My wife decided to pass and just wear some green in her skirt.
From left to right, number 2 son who just committed to Vermont, number 1 son who is beginning his junior year in the pre med program at University of Illinois Chicago. He is loving the city life and it gives us a chance to visit and rediscover a world class city and it’s dining. My beautiful and lovely wife next to my impish, surly self. Then our youngest who is beginning his freshman year of high school. He is a high level student, and a hockey goalie that busts his a** every practice and is seeing results.
The night included many friendly competitions including the “drink a yard of guinness” race. Not sure that I’m necessarily proud, but facing two men with kids and mortgages, my college aged son clearly was the favorite to win. And he did. Still, not sure this is a proud papa moment. More of an “I thought so” thing.
The beach! Number 1 and 2 with their younger cousins.
Number 3 son enjoying the day.
The next night, Grandma and Grandpa had a “Dennis’ family” dinner at their condo. We were to wait for the text to go over there because they were having a surprise high school graduation party for son number 2 since they couldn’t make the one in Illinois. As we walked in, the Vermont fight song was playing. Can you imagine? University of Vermont having a fight song? I thought it would be more of a “let’s talk through this disagreement” song. Or, “why aren’t you recycling” song.
Ok, no more family pictures.
All my “long” trips are about getting away. The open road far from home. Got to admit, though the romantic notions of being out in the world far far from home was lost, it was quite a pleasure to see my family and extended in-law family on this ride.
I was a bit bummed to leave my family at the beach, but excited to be heading to some good roads home including the dragon. The second part of the trip has ended and now was the final part three: the way home and trying to make the most of it.
Went to sleep listening to Art Bell talk about government conspiracies - so my dry boots were definitely safe.
Day 10
The ride home for me is usually a struggle between get-home-itis and still trying to enjoy the ride. For my hyper, ADD self, I think I did ok this time.
Leaving the lowlands of the shore, I was hoping to get some pics of the big, rolling tobacco fields. Not too many - rather, it was sad corn and beans (compared to IL standards). Public habits have certainly impacted the local agriculture. More rain - boots got wet in minutes.
So I know a lot of people are cynical about the dragon. I get it. But, every time I have been there, the experience has been a positive one. Always a weekday. This time would be a Sunday afternoon. Internet “friends” told me no problems, and they were right.
This is one of the roads leading up to it. What can I say? I live in IL so I am a sucker for this kind of stuff. Roads were drying out, but I had my first incident with the front PR3 losing grip somewhere around here. Good reminder cause I’m sitting on three tickets now...
The Cherohala is my favorite road down this way, but I had a bit of a schedule so it was straight to this obligatory pic. The dragon was dry!
A US 129 Pic. How can you not like this road when light with traffic and no law enforcement present? Late Sunday afternoons here (around 5 PM) rock.
An internet friend said that late Sunday afternoons is when the locals come out to play. He was right. Guys were flying. Some in cars. Nobody crossed the double yellow, but I have to admit, two cars on the inside of a turn had me A LOT on guard. All good though. Three passes. I scraped the pegs quite a few times - but I was pretty tired after a long, wet ride, and I’m sure my form was crap. More body position, less scrapes, right?
The other obligatory pic. Talked a while with a guy from Toronto who trailered his KTM super moto down here. He has several days and was having a blast. Sorry all fans of Orange. I forgot which model - but it looked badass.
Fell asleep listening to Art Bell discuss string theory with Michio Kaku knowing the balanced universe would bring me still wet boots by morning - hopefully with no roaches in them.
Day Last
Day last. Slab it all the way home and get it over with? Perhaps my usual MO, but determined to make it better, I found some great side roads in northern TN.
Loose black top and gravel all over the place, so certainly not a high pace. But, hey, it’s sunny and the slow slalom is cool. Kinda proud of myself for enjoying the ride home.
Eventually some slab to make miles. I decided not to do the Gary, IN armpit of lake Michigan, so at Indy, I veered West and took some two lanes home from Champaign, IL.
Funny, ride all this way to get away from the Midwest, and wouldn’t you know it, one of the best pics, and best breaks in the ride comes in the flat lands of central IL. The beauty of the Midwest is something I don’t appreciate as much as I should. But I guess we are all like that with the places we are accustomed to.
Well, construction on the slab forcing trucks to my escape route two laner led to a long a** ride home. Oh well. I was relaxed, (remember, I’m sitting on three tickets now), and enjoyed the ride home despite being stuck behind some bozos!
I got to my fair village on the rural side of the Chicago burbs. Of course, caught that train a mile away from home.
So, here’s how it went. The bottle of Jack was close to empty. I certainly wanted more to share with my wife upon our return. Pulling out of the liquor store, I saw our car with my wife and sons literally a 1/2 mile from our house. They left the shore at 4AM and drove straight through - road dogs for sure. All these miles and we pull into the driveway within seconds of each other. Go figure.
Well, maybe 20 mins getting suitcases and bags into the house. Beautiful early evening. Sun golden right before the colors of its setting. Cool. The dog going nuts to see us. So I excuse myself to my computer in the garage to start uploading pics.
After a while she came out and we enjoyed a diet coke and jack. Too much to talk about so we just put that off and enjoyed a drink on the deck.
I love riding away from home. Each summer, I try to get away for a few weeks. This one was different. Almost each leg of the ride was reconnecting with a friend or family. Not the same as getting lost in the mountains or deserts out West. The distance and disconnect from people I know was missing. But so many great evenings and times with friends and family made “heading East” worth it for sure.
In the end though, I was happy to end the ride on the deck having a drink with my wife.
Love this picture we took on a ride weeks earlier. Not the part where I have a big belly - but the part where she keeps putting up with me….
So, that night I went to sleep holding my wife listening to her breathe. Knowing that no matter what Art Bell was talking about, my boots had plenty of time to finally dry out.
Next year, I think I'll go to the canyons - maybe Mexico. Keep the boots dry and all.
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