This photo was not taken by me, there are no storm clouds in sight.

Two weeks ago, Amy’s charger quit working on her Macbook.  After attaching my charger to her Macbook, her battery charged fine.  Her charger would not work on my Macbook.  This troubleshooting confirmed that the problem was indeed the charger.  I decided to pay the Apple Store in Legacy Village a visit.  

Legacy Village is in Lyndhurst, Ohio, about 70 mile from home.  I left work, riding my BMW R1200 RT in light rain.  I rode about 20 mile to get home, grab the offending Magsafe charger, and head north.  It was raining considerably harder when I left on the motorcycle.  I was planning on taking the motorcycle, rain or shine, and that is what I did.  It had been raining for almost 24 hours and showed no signs of stopping.  This trip was as much to test the “waterproof” claims that Olympia places on their liners in the gear that I wear as it was a chance to see the Apple Store. I had my trusty Frogg Toggs in case my Olympia gear left me wet.

While riding to Legacy Village, the weather and my gear did not let me down.  I kept plenty warm with my Tour Master Synergy heated liners in my Olympia Patton Mesh Tech Field Jacket and Olympia Ranger 2 pants.  I kept as dry as I do wearing my rain suit.  I did not get the least bit wet while riding my motorcycle, even though there were times I had to slow considerably due to poor visibility because of the heavy rain.  When I arrived at my destination, the looks of disbelief were priceless.  People could not believe that some bonehead was riding his BMW motorcycle in the rain.

My experience at the Apple Store Genius Bar was terrific.  The Apple Genius checked my charger, which had somehow started working again prior to arriving at the Apple Store.  The Genius told me that he knew that I did not ride 70 miles in the pouring rain to make up a charger not working.  The magsafe charger was replaced free of charge under warranty.  

My ride home was in the same rain, but the wind was about 25 MPH sustained with 45-50 MPH gusts.  These winds were straight out of the west and I was riding due south.  On my Honda CB900 Custom, these winds would have been terrible to ride in, but on the BMW R1200 RT it was very manageable.    

I have always ridden my motorcycles in the rain or shine, hot or cold.  This was the first time that I tried out the “waterproof” claims of Olympia, and I was VERY pleased.  Before this ride, I always donned my Frogg Toggs rain gear if setting off in the rain.  I have since not worried about taking my Frogg Toggs out of my bike if I need to carry a few more things, as long as I am wearing my liners in my Olympia gear.

We have had lots of snow and ice this winter.  Winter in Northeast Ohio usually comes with cold and snow, but this year, at least according to the local weather guessers on TV, has been quite a bit worse than “normal.”  Even after the snow and ice melted from the streets, we had ice six inches thick in parts of our driveway.  Finally, after a week of almost 60 degree high temperatures, the ice in the driveway melted and I was able to take the BMW R1200 RT to work.  It was 17 degrees when I rode to work, and it was 25 degrees on my way home.  I rode home at 8:00 AM and more snow hit at 10:00 AM.  I had to go to my other job and pick up some items, so I rode there too.  It is amazing how much more I enjoy commuting on the motorcycle than driving the truck.

Hopefully I will have a chance to ride more.  Most of the roads I ride do not have salt on them right now, as we had a few storms last week that washed the roads.  I don’t like the thoughts of salt corroding my R1200 RT, so I try to ride it when the salt is gone.  

 It looks like I may get to ride to Martinsville, VA for the NASCAR race in March, I will post photos and a ride report.  I have a trip to Colorado planned for October.  Amy has plans for me to have camera mounts on my bike before I go, sounds good to me.

Last week, I left on a trip to Maryville, TN on the BMW R1200RT.  I had to go there for traffic court, as a Tennessee State Trooper was pretty impressed by the performance of my bike the last time I was there.  As another blogger, Gail puts it, I was given a performance award (ticket).  More on the ticket and court in another post.  

When I left Northeast Ohio after my overnight shift at my part-time job, it was 6:00AM and 22 degrees.  I had been meaning to buy heated clothing for months, but I kept putting it off “for one more week” after not finding any decent heated gear at local dealers.  I donned my jeans, chaps, a t-shirt, fleece sweatshirt, and my Olympia Patton Tech Mesh Field Jacket (they named it, not me).  I rode for about one hour and stopped for breakfast.  With the heated grips and the heated seat on the R1200RT, this ride was tolerable.  

I exited I-70 in Cambridge, OH.  The light at the end of the ramp was red so I had to stop.  To my alarm, my legs did not want to move.  I was having trouble moving all of my muscles.  It was hard to shift my motorcycle because of this.  I had lost all fine control.  I pulled into Bob Evans and had trouble climbing off of the motorcycle.  When I did dismount the bike, I had to look drunk walking into the restaurant, as I was stumbling a little bit.  The hostess seated me and when the waitress came, I realized what was happening.  The waitress took my order.  I ordered the “Rise and Shine” which is eggs, home fries, toast, and your choice of meat.  I always get this when dining at Bob Evans.  When the waitress asked me “Bacon, sausage, or ham?” I replied with “Bacon” (I never get bacon at restaurants, I always get sausage or ham).  I then follow with “I prefer links.”  The waitress countered with “Sir, you ordered bacon.”  ”Yes, I prefer links,” was my reply.  It was at that moment that I knew I was a victim of hypothermia.  After I was at the restaurant for about 20 minutes, I  warmed up enough to start shivering.

When I finished eating at Bob Evans, I crossed the street to the TSC (Tractor Supply Company), a farm store that I know sells long johns.  I bought a pair of long johns and added them to my layers of clothing.  The long johns helped tremendously, but I still suffered from hypothermia for the rest of the ride.  

In Florence, KY it started snowing.  I was halfway to my destination at this point.  It snowed on me for about 1 1/2 hours.  The snow only stopped when the rain started.  The looks I got from people while riding in the snow at 33 degrees were looks of disbelief.  

I pulled in at my Uncle’s house in Maryville, TN at about 3:45PM.  I was glad the ride was over.  This is the first time in my life that I have not thoroughly enjoyed riding a motorcycle.  I was rethinking my decision to take the motorcycle for the last half of my ride.  Again, after I was off of the bike for about 30 minutes, I started shivering.  I shivered for about two hours off and on.  It was about three hours after arriving that we found out the heat had been switched off in the house.  I was still very cold when I went to bed at about midnight.

The effects of hypothermia can vary from person to person, but they usually include the following list:

• pale, puffy face
• cold feet, hands, and face
• shivering (may not be present with the elderly)
• listlessness
• drowsiness
• mental confusion, irrational thinking
• apathetic, hostile, irritable attitude
• cold abdomen
• poor coordination and balance
• stilted, jerking movement
• slow, shallow breathing
• slowed or irregular heartbeat
• stiff muscles and some trembling on one side of the body
• loss of consciousness
• loss of heartbeat

This list actually follows the most common order for hypothermia symptoms.  I am not a doctor, but I am a paramedic.  I realized at the restaurant that I had a pretty significant case of hypothermia, as I had poor coordination and balance, confusion, and shivering had stopped.  As you can see in the list, it is probably a good thing that my hypothermia did not get much worse.

In 500 miles of riding, I saw three other motorcycles on the freeway.  Everybody I know said I was crazy for taking a 500 mile motorcycle ride in the middle of November, but I contend that the ride was not crazy.  My taking the ride with inappropriate gear was what was crazy.  After arriving in Tennessee and spending one night, I went to Destination Motorcycles and purchased my Tour Master Synergy heated liners and a pair of Olympia Ranger 2 Overpants.  The ride home was in toasty comfort.  There was no threat of hypothermia, as I rode with the heated gear on low in the morning, and by afternoon, I had to turn off the heat, as I was getting too warm.  I would encourage anybody who rides in the cold weather to buy heated clothing.  I never realized how nice it would be to have heated gear.  

After riding 500 miles in the cold (35 degrees and below), I realize that heated clothing is safety equipment.  I was not prepared for the ride I was taking, but that has changed.  I have learned from my mistakes.  I will not let that happen again.  I have ridden about 750 miles in my heated gear now and could not be happier.  It snowed on me on the way to work Saturday and the temperature was 28 degrees.  I never felt cold.  It snowed the next day on the way home and the temperature was 27 degrees.  I could ride all winter when the roads are clear.  Prior to getting my heated clothing, the coldest I have ridden has been 8 degrees, and I froze.  My commute is 20 miles each way and is safer now with my new gear.

Last week, I rode my motorcycle to work and it was 33 degrees in the morning when I left home. I was warm enough with the gear that I currently have, but I was thinking how nice it would be to have a heated suit. I called a relative that has used several heated suits and asked his opinion of each. I was told that I could not go wrong with the Tour Master Synergy line. My relative has the Tour Master Synergy Heated Jacket Liner  and the Tour Master Synergy Heated Pant Liner .  He loves these heated accessories as they are thin and do not add the bulk of all of the layers that I pile on while riding in the winter.  He says that he seldom has to turn the heated clothing on the high setting.  He did have the controllers burn up when he first bought them, and the company recognized a problem and sent free replacements.  Since he received the replacements, he has not had a problem at all.

I took his advice and set out looking for the Tour Master heated gear.  I looked up several Tour Master dealers from the Tour Master website.  I found many that carry gloves and luggage, but not many that carry the clothing lines around here.  The nearest store was 30 miles away, not too far to ride by any means.  I rode to the first dealer in Cuyahoga Falls, OH and they were not open yet, but a nice lady told me of a diner to eat breakfast, more on that later.  I returned to the dealer after they were open and they had a huge selection of clothing, but nothing heated.  I was looked at like I had a third eye because I wanted something to allow me to ride deeper into the winter months.  

My breakfast was excellent.  I was glad that I went to the Reggie’s, the diner that the motorcycle shop employee pointed me to.  I was sitting there thinking of how good my breakfast of corned beef hash and scrambled eggs was when the guy sitting at the next table stopped the waitress to tell her “This is the best breakfast I have had in 20 years!”  It turns out that the other guy is an truck driver and eats breakfast on the road everyday.  I normally don’t get very excited about breakfast, but this was very good.  I will be going back to Reggie’s to have breakfast another day.

After my trip to Cuyahoga Falls, I rode home to change clothes.  I continued looking for a set of Tour Master Synergy heated liners.  One big problem that I had was that it was a Monday, and many shops are not open.  I had to ride to Cadiz to meet with my in-laws as they were camping with our daughter.  Amy gave me the location of another dealer that carried Tour Master clothing, and again, they did not have any of the Synergy heated liners.  Again, I was looked at like a creature from outer space because I actually wanted to ride in colder weather than what we have been having.  I was referred to a Harley Davidson shop by the employees at the second shop.  I checked the Harley Davidson shop and was basically laughed out of town.  The guy at the Harley shop said “You don’t ride a bike with this much chrome in the winter.”

I have given up on the search for Tour Master Synergy heated liners at local shops, as I have called several and got the same reply.  All of them can order them, and then I have to prepay, go pick them up when the arrive, and none of the dealers are in my back yard.  I am ordering them online. Motorcycle Superstore
has Tour Master Synergy heated liners at great prices and they have a very generous return policy.  A friend of mine has purchased several items from them and had to return some because of ordering the wrong size (you know how some motorcycle stuff can be).  He reports it to be hassle free.

As soon as I get a chance to ride in my Tour Master Synergy heated liners, I will give a product report.  I do not need them yet, but in a few weeks they will be very nice.  I was willing to look at other brands, but I found none in stock anywhere.  I was looking for the Tour Master Synergy line because of the recommendation of my relative.

Yesterday, we spent the day cleaning up the downed trees from when Hurricane Ike blew through.  We had been without power from Sunday evening until Thursday night.  I know that there have been longer power outages in the world, but this has been the longest for us.  I have a small 1800 watt generator that worked for a few days, but the coil went out in it.  I have planned on ordering a whole house standby generator for backup power, but I have not been in a hurry to do it.  This incident just moved the generator up on the priority list, as this is the second time in 3 years that we have been without power for at least 4 days (there was a tornado 3 years ago that narrowly missed our house),  What I have planned to order is a 20Kw Guardian generator, as our house is all electric and I do not want Amy to have to worry about how to hook it up and start it if I am at work for 24 hours when the power goes out.  We had about 16 trees blown down and have been cutting them up.  All of our neighbors have had trees blown down too.  Every evening the smell of burning leaves fills the air.  

Amy and I got to take two short rides yesterday.  The first ride was to a neighboring town to buy some supplies for the chainsaw.  Amy has been getting fairly comfortable on her ‘82 Honda CB650SC Nighthawk.  She wanted to ride her bike with me. She did really well.  Later in the day, we needed to go south and take her bike to a friend.  Our friend rides a Honda 1100 Shadow Sabre and needs to take his test to get his license.  His bike is a little large and not really all that maneuverable.  He has taken the test once on it and we decided to let him use Amy’s bike, as it feels like riding a toy after getting used to a large bike. We gave him he bike a few days early so that he can have some time to get used to it.  He said he loves how agile the bike is.

On the way to our friend’s house, we turned onto Dover-Zoar road, which I ride all of the time.  The had just chipped and sealed the road!  The main road that I use to get to the town of Bolivar will not be the same for some time, as it is all loose stone right now.  On my BMW R1200RT, I don’t mind so much, as it handles on the stone fine, but Amy is nervous on stone.  I pulled over and asked if she wanted to continue on Dover-Zoar road, and she said keep going.  She rode this mess of a road and gained a ton of confidence!  I was proud of her.  There have been times when she doesn’t want to ride a road in the past because of a stone or two on our driveway, but she was a real trooper yesterday.  

After dropping the Honda Nighthawk off at our friend’s house, we drove to New Philadelphia for supper.  We ate at Texas Roadhouse.  After supper, we rode up to the Belden Village area (or Westfield Shopping Town if you are not stuck on old names).  We needed to stop by a store.  We arrived five minutes after closing time.  Oh well, we will have to ride back another day.  

I will have to write more another day.  I have some family coming over to help cut up these downed trees today.  We supply several family members with firewood every year, and in return, they come by and give a hand when we need it.  I have trees, they have a log splitter and muscles.

I was supposed to get off work yesterday at 8 AM and rush home to get our daughter from Grandma’s house so Grandma (Amy’s mother) could go to work.  As luck would have it, there was a semi-truck crash about 30 minutes before shift change, so I was unable to get Kaitlyn in time for Grandma to go to work.  A few phone calls were made and Kaitlyn was on the way to the Wayne County Fair with my Father and Stepmother.  I ended up leaving work about 3 hours later than expected, but this was not a problem.  Since I had nothing else to do now, I decided to ride through Ohio’s Amish Country and go eat at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Walnut Creek, OH.  

I had wanted to eat at Der Dutchman for several days.  I knew what I wanted for several days, so it was easy to order when I arrived.  I got there at 12:40 PM and feared that I would have to wait in a long line.  There was a tour bus in the parking lot, which has not been uncommon when I have been there before.  I walked in the front door, and was surprised that there was no line.  I was seated and the waitress was there in seconds to take my drink order.  I ordered my drink and food, as there was no reason to pretend that I needed to look the menu over.  I ordered sweet tea to drink, they have only had it for 3 weeks now.  For my entree, I had the noodles over mashed potatoes, the full order.  
My food arrived and as expected, there was a ton of it.  I have had many of the menu items at Der Dutchman, but the noodles over mashed potatoes is my favorite.  With the homemade rolls, it is a carb lover’s delight.  After eating, I was so full that I was almost in pain.  The waitress asked about dessert.  Unfortunately, I could not eat any dessert, I really wanted some chocolate cream pie.  Check out the Der Dutchman website.  This really is one of my favorite places to go to eat.

Leaving Walnut Creek, I traveled Rt 39 to Dover and then went to the BMW dealership in New Philadelphia (or New Pennsylvania if you are running for President of the US).  I wanted to pick up an o-ring for the oil cap on my R1200RT.  There is a slight leak right now, as can be seen in my photos from the Cherohala Skyway post.  While at the BMW dealership, I looked at a couple of motorcycles that may be a part of my collection one day.  First, I looked at the BMW G650 Cross Country.  This was a nice bike, and LIGHT.  The G650 Cross Country felt like a toy after riding the R1200RT all of the time!  According to the dealer, there are people getting 65 and 70 mpg on this bike.  This kind of mileage is normally reserved for scooters.  The other bike I looked at and really liked was the BMW F800GS.  Again, it is very light, and gets great mileage.  The dealer reported that there have been people getting 60-65 mpg on the F800GS.  Outside in the used bike area, there was a Kawasaki KLR 650 with only 500 miles on it.  All three of these motorcycles would be very nice to have.  I cannot have all three, and I am not ready to purchase any of them right now, but one day I would love to have a “dual sport” or “scrambler” to ride.  I would like to keep the bike as light as possible as I would probably ride it when the weather is less than ideal.  There are people on the year round riders forum  that put studded tires on their motorcycles and ride in the snow.

After leaving the BMW dealership, I rode my favorite road in the area.  This road is OH 416, on which the dealership is conveniently located.  I rode south to Rt 36 then  turned around and rode 416 back past the dealership and to the north end of it, where it terminates at Rt 800.  I then followed Rt 800 noth to get home.  With the exception of the stretch of 416 where it passes through downtown New Philadelphia, it is a very fun road.  I don’t even mind the part in town to much, as New Philadelphia is a great city.

The weather was a nice 75 degrees for most of my ride yesterday.  I saw many bikes out, mostly BMW motorcycles for some reason.  I did see two or three Harley Davidson motorcycles and one Gold Wing, but I saw at least 20 BMW motorcycles.  Of the 20 or so BMWs I saw, only 4 of them were near the dealership.  I never notice this many BMWs in our area, as they are not nearly as common as other brands.  I have no idea why there were so many on the road yesterday, but it was great to see others out enjoying their bikes too.  

Once again, I took a trip through one of the most beautiful areas in Ohio and did not take my camera.  I need to work on that.  Until recently, my focus has been on riding, and I didn’t really need too many photos of rides.  This has changed some now that I have started blogging.  I will try to remember my camera to take some photos

Here is Steve at the base of Mt Washington programming the next leg of the trip in the GPS.

In early July, Amy and I visited Mt Washington, in the White Mountains in New Hampshire.  Our return trip took us across New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio entirely on “back roads.”  We never once had to get on the interstates.  

Our ride began following US 2 and US 3 until we reached Vermont.  Once in Vermont, we traveled VT 105.  VT 105 was a great ride, plenty of sweepers and in and out of the woods for the entire length.  We passed many a “Moose Crossing” sign, as we did in New Hampshire.  Amy was hoping that we would see some moose.  She has never seen one in the wild before.  I was hoping we would not see any in the road.  It had taken us a little longer to get to Mt Washington than we had planned, so we were a little later getting across Vermont than we had planned on.  

The scenery was like this for most of our trip across New Hampshire and Vermont.

Our trip continued on VT 5A to VT 58 to VT 100.  VT 100 was another great road full of high speed sweepers.  Both VT 100 and VT 105 took us past many mountains and beautiful streams.  Amy thought that these roads were some of the best of the trip.  We did not get many photos of this part of the trip, as we were traveling many miles before stopping.  

Our stop for the night was in Burlington, Vermont.  We found a room at small motel called the Ho Hum Motel.  This was a nice little place.  It was clean, which was a plus after our stay in north of Milford, PA.  After checking into the motel, we went across the street to eat.  After supper, we returned to our room and we were asleep in a few minutes.  we had just finished a long day of riding.  We had gone from Milford, PA to Mt Washington and then to Burlington, VT.  We had traveled a little more than 500 miles, mostly on back roads, and stopping for a long time at Mt Washington.  

Here is a photo of some sailboats. Amy took this while waiting for the ferry.

The next morning, we woke up and traveled down Lake Champlain.  It was only about one mile from where we stayed.  I had decided to take the ferry to Port Kent, NY.  I had been on ferry boats in Seattle, but not on a lake before.  Lake Champlain is no small lake.  I live near

Here is the BMW R1200RT on the ferry

(within 60 miles) of Lake Erie.  Lake Champlain is not as large as Lake Erie, but it is big as far as lakes go.   The whole area seemed like it was a really neat area.  Amy and I would like to return sometime to Lake Champlain and Burlington.  It would make a great destination.

After getting off of the ferry, we rode for hours in Adirondack Park, what a fantastic place!  It is unbelievable how great the roads are in Adirondack

Park.  There were many dirt and gravel roads that we did not travel, but I may go back with a dual sport bike one day.  It is amazing how large Adirondack Park is.  According to Wikipedia 

The Adirondack Park is a publicly-protected area located in northeast New York. It is the largest park in the contiguous United States, the largest National Historic Landmark, and the largest area protected by any U.S. state.
The park covers some 6.1 million acres (24,700 km²), a land area about the size of Vermont, or of the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined.
More than half the land within the Adirondack Park is privately owned, including several villages and hamlets.

Here is Amy on the "trail" that takes you to the Whiteface Mountain Castle.

After riding around for hours, we set the GPS to take us to Lake Placid.  We passed the entrance to Whiteface Mountain.  Whiteface Mountain and Lake Placid was the site of the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980.  We traveled up to the summit of Whiteface Mountain.  It was a beautiful day, and the clouds were high.  Upon reaching the summit, we parked right next to a BMW RT, from Ohio no less.  The guides at the summit asked if we were traveling with the other people from Ohio.  I guess it would be odd to have two couples on the same bikes, from only a few counties away arrive at a mountain summit several states away within minutes of each other.  The view from the summit of Whiteface Mountain was breathtaking.  The high clouds reflected off of the lakes making them very visible.  Amy and I walked back a tunnel that was carved into the mountain to an elevator.  The elevator had the Olympic rings painted on the door.  There was an elevator operator that was a great person to talk to to learn a little about the mountain.  I guess it is a good thing that he knows so much, as the elevator ride seemed to never stop.  We arrived at the actual summit and took a lot of photos, then took the trail down to the “castle.”  After we had seen enough, we returned to the bike.  As we were getting back on the bike, a large group of motorcycles arrived.  One guy started looking for damage to his bike.  As it turns out, he had dumped his bike in one of the gravel areas when he turned off of the road to enjoy the view.  There was no damage to his bike that we could see.

We left Whiteface Mountain, and went to the Olympic Village at Lake Placid, NY to see the town and eat lunch.  We drove around town and finally came to a restaurant that had no real sign.  It had “Street Side” in the name.  They had some great barbeque!  The owner was the only person working.  He told us of his fascination with barbeque.  we ate on the balcony outside, nest to 6 other motorcycle riders.  I asked the owner about his business, as I loved the food, and he told me that it was his first full day in business.  He was having a grand opening in a few days.  

After out meal, we headed west, continuing toward home.  It took forever to leave Adirondack Park!  Again, the scale of the park is enormous.  We ended up riding to Rochester, NY where we spent the night.  This was the nicest place we stayed the whole trip.  I decided we were going to stay in a nice place, so we found the Doubletree.  Again, after a long day of riding, it took no time for us to be asleep, and this was quite possibly the softest bed I have ever slept on.  

More of our return trip in the next post

During the last weekend in June, I had to go to the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD for some classes. I decided to ride the motorcycle there rather than ride the bus. The last time I rode the bus the movies were lousy, the bus was crowded, and the air conditioning did not seem adequate. Besides that, it is not riding my motorcycle. People that know me will tell you that if I am somewhere, my bike is usually there too, so why should this be any different. My mother-in-law was attending classes there too, and she asked if she could ride along. She has just recently began riding with my father-in-law when he purchased a BMW K1200LT. Before that, she never really rode with him. Now she loves riding and has been the instigator of many a trip.

We set off Friday after a breakfast at Tims Tavern in Canton, OH almost in the shadow of the Professional Football Hall of Fame. I did not set the GPS to take me to Emmitsburg yet as I wanted to ride US 30 out of Canton to Gettysburg, PA. I love riding US 30 through the mountains in Pennsylvania, so I wanted to go that far before actually heading to Emmitsburg, besides Gettysburg is only about 15 minutes from Emmitsburg. Just before we reached the mountains, we were being waved off of the road by Pennsylvania state trooper. Once we were waved off the road, we were told to just wait where we were. Everybody on the road was being waved off. This was right at the base of the mountains. After about 10 minutes of sitting on the side of the road, there were several police vehicles that went then several BMW motorcycles with their flashers on and they were screaming by. A few minutes later the reason for the delay, a bicycle race. We were delayed by over an hour, but it was worth it to see the race. We were right at the base of the mountain where the bikes were flying when they went by. I never realize how loud the tires could be singing on the pavement. This was a large race. We ended up seeing posters for it later, I believe it took place over six days and covered the entires state.

After the we cleared the bike race, we started seeing Harley Davidson motorcycles everywhere! There were roads and businesses that were packed with Harleys and custom choppers. We began seeing “Bikers Welcome” signs everywhere. It was starting to rain, so every overpass that we crossed under was packed with bikes. We stopped just long enough to don our rain suits. It turned out that were were passing through during “Thunder in the Valley.” We stopped to eat at a small local joint, I am sorry that I do not remember the name. I had a good roast beef sandwich, with mashed potatoes and gravy, of course. The rest of the ride to Emmitsburg was uneventful, but wet. I do not have any photos up until this point, as I left the camera at home.

Sunday afternoon, Amy showed up at the National Fire Academy after class. Her father brought her out on the K1200LT. We made the switch, Amy continued the trip with me and my mother-in-law went home with my father-in-law. It was about a six hour trip for them to get to Emmitsburg. Amy and I decided to set the GPS to take us to the Mt. Washington Auto Road and avoid freeways.

The first notable place the GPS routed us to was Gettysburg, PA. I would love to stop there some day again. I spent the better part of a day there last year, and still feel like I saw nothing. Those that have been to Gettysburg will agree, that you could spend a week there and still not see everything.

After Gettysburg, we passed through Hershey, PA.

You can see snow on the next peak over from Mt Washington. This was around July 1st.

  I have friends that go there quite frequently, but this was the first time I have been there. Amy loved the streetlights that look like Hershey Kisses. I loved the smell of chocolate in the air. Once again, if we wanted to avoid the freeways, we had to keep moving for now so we could make some time. We had planned a trip that we needed to cover quite a few miles each day to complete and me to be at work on time Thursday.

 We spent the night in Milford, PA. We stopped to eat at 9:45 PM at the Milford Diner. Let me tell you, this place is amazing! I ordered a meatball sub that would have fed three people! Amy ordered something else, I do not remember what it was, but a family could have shared it. Their menu had everything you could ask for on it. There are photos of the Clintons everywhere here. It turns out that President Bill Clinton ate here. There have been some complaints in some review I have read about the Milford Diner of the place being full of smoke, but we noticed none while we were there. It may be because we got there shortly before closing. I still cannot believe the menu the have for being a diner. After leaving the Milford Diner, we went up the road to a Scottish Inn to spend the night. I stayed there because a relative of mine always looks for Scottish Inns on trips as he says the are always reasonably priced and clean. This place was reasonably priced, but we got the only room in the back of the joint. I was worried about whether the motorcycle would be there or not the next day! The room was small, the bed small and uncomfortable. Within minutes of laying down I was asleep as I was tired after riding all day in the upper 90s.

Steve on Mt Washington enjoying the view.

We woke the next morning, and resumed our trip. We had to get on the highway long enough to cross the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. Our first stop was at a McDonalds in Springfield, Massachusetts. Amy got to see and hear a mockingbird for the first time in her life. I had seen and heard them growing up as a kid, we had them in Kentucky and at my grandparents farm in Tennessee. We sat and ate our breakfast and talked to some great locals. They were older gentlemen who could not believe what motorcycle had become. They told us about when Indian Motorcycles was still in town. They told us to stop and see the Basketball Hall of Fame. These men loved the BMW R1200RT that we were on. One guy said he used to ride a Honda 305 Dream and he rode across America on it. It was one of the most pleasurable breakfasts I have had. All of these men were of the World War 2 generation. Sadly, we are losing too many veterans of this era everyday. I was glad to get to converse with these men. I learned a lot about their city.

We ended up getting on the highway just long enough to exit Massachusetts and Connecticut. While I would liked to have stayed off of the freeways, we were passing through every town on the map and there was no way to escape the constant stop and go of city traffic. Once we got into Vermont, we began running back roads again. We had to stop and put our rain suits on again, what would a ride be without that? We got rained on for the rest of the trip to Mt Washington.

Arriving at Mt Washington was great, we had just busted

Nobody told Amy it was windy at Mt Washington.

out from the clouds and rain. We paid our toll and climbed to the summit. I kept a distance from a tour van in front of us, as they were driving extremely slow. As I came around a switchback turn, on a steep hill, the van was stopped were I had to stop on uneven pavement. I was not sure I was going to keep the bike upright, but I did. The van never once turned into a turnoff to let people take photos, the driver just stopped in the middle of the road 6 more times during the ascent. After the second time, I resolved that I would pass the van if I came around another turn and found it stopped. I gave the van a few minutes to get ahead of me, and I never had to stop for it again, but it was close.

Amy was a little concerned when the road turned to gravel and dirt, but it is far better than the driveway at home, so I was not concerned. Arriving at the summit of Mt Washington, we could see forever. The weather lived up to its reputation. It was cool and windy.  The clouds were getting lower by the second.  We went to the summit building and got lunch.  When we climbed the stairs to the summit building, the Mt Washington Cog Railway was at the summit.  We took some photo and then went in to eat.  I had a chili dog that was basically a hot dog in a

Steve standing in front of Mt Washington Cog Railway locomotive.

bowl with a bowl of chili poured on it.  It was the best chili dog I have had.  I know that chili dogs do not usually become the topic of food reviews, but I was impressed by the amount of chili I got.  The dog costs the same as a bowl of chili, so it is like getting a free hot dog with the bowl of chili.  While we were inside, I heard the whistle blow on the locomotive, so i ran outside to watch it depart.  It was as foggy as it could be!  We had only been inside for about ten minutes.  They are right about how weather conditions can change in an instant at Mt Washington!  We killed a little time, looking through the gift shop and the museum.  I talked to the postmaster for a while and then a park ranger.  I learned much about the history of the park and the railroad.  I then heard the locomotive ascending the mountain.  I am a sucker for steam engines.  I have always been fascinated by them.  We took a few more photos and then left.  We had made it to Mt Washington!

Can you see me now? I would say my Olympia jacket is visible!

  I don’t quite know why, but that was our destination and we are glad it was.  We started the trip home, where we never once had to access a freeway!  

Look for more about our trip home in the next post.

OK, I have found what my employer needs.

Firefighting equipment on a BMW R1200RT. I could like being assigned to this unit!

Those of you who know me know that I am a career firefighter. I am volunteering to be the operator of the new apparatus. What I have found is a “Fire Motorcycle.” Now Harley Davidson has what is referred to as a “Fire Bike” but it is basically one of their everyday bikes with some different badges and paint, it does no firefighting. The bike that I am talking about is an actual firefighting vehicle. This would be a dream assignment for me, as it is even based on MY BIKE! That’s right people, it is a BMW R1200RT that has two tanks of water and a SCBA tank to propel the water. There is a booster reel where the trunk sits on my bike. Because this bike uses a foam solution for firefighting, it appears to be very effective in their propaganda videos. I would love to see this work in person and see how well it does work.

Another photo of the BMW R1200RT outfitted with firefighting equipment.

I can see the big advantage of this fire motorcycle would be the ability to get through heavy traffic faster than a fire engine. Even if there was not enough water to extinguish a larger fire, the water applied by the motorcycle could at least slow the development of the fire until a real engine crew can get there. It is a pretty cool concept, at least I think so. I love my job, and I love riding, so what could be better than being paid to ride?

This unit is being made by Firexpress A/S.  They have many videos and data sheets on their website at http://www.firexpress.com/script/site/default.asp .

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

This thing looks great! I would love to ride one at work (I already ride one to work).

 
……

As I have written recently, Amy and I just got back from a great vacation. Tomorrow is my first day back to work in eleven days.  It seems like I haven’t been to work in a month.  I really had a great time.  I managed to add about 3200 miles to my motorcycle in the course of eight days.  We had a great time riding and spending time with family.  We got to ride some great roads, some that I have already written about, and many that I will write about.  One of my favorite rides was heading out of Knoxville and going west.  We ended up riding TN 30 for a long way.  That road has some great sweepers.  I will write more about that ride later.  I am fortunate enough to have a wife that loves to ride.  I have a few friends that would love to have a motorcycle, but their wives aren’t sure about the idea.

Here is Amy's new favorite photo of us together. This was taken at Bald River Falls just off of the Cherohala Skyway.

I took the bike to the store again today, and when I came out of the store, there was a BMW K100RS parked next to my bike.  I have seen this bike around town and I have been admiring it.  There is some missing tupperware, but the owner explained that the previous owner had laid the bike down and cracked the fairing.  He said he is going to attempt a repair of the fairing, as it is too expensive to buy a new one.  It turns out that we have secretly been admiring each other’s bikes.  I talked to the owner and his significant other (i think girlfriend, may have been wife, or maybe sister, sorry I do not want to make assumptions) and they were super nice people.  Hopefully Amy and I will have a few new people to go riding with.

I have been looking through some older photos on Amy’s computer.  It seems I will have enough material to keep me busy for years writing about some of the trips we have already taken.  With all of that plus future trips, this little project promises to have tons of content!  I am kind of a geek, so I love doing this website.  Look for much more in the future!