| Author | Message | ||
     Cyclone8u |
Just got back the other day from our trip from Maine to South Carolina and back to see my son graduate from Parris Island. Here's a pic of a pic....  Wow! What a trip. What a graduation. I'm still trying to sort it all out right now. I'll be posting an account of our trip as I sort through the pics. For now I just want to thank everyone that gave me advice on roads/eats/things to see. My hats off to any that have served or are serving in our armed forces. Just an absolutely great group of people, particularly (pardon my prejudice) the U.S. Marine Corps. I'd also like to thank Erik Buell, and all the elves that work to make such an excellent machine. The Ulysses performed flawlessly, getting me there and back without so much as a hick-up. And thanks especially to my wife, who made the trip with me, tolerated miles of rain, cold, heat and discomfort with nary a complaint, and who was there to share with me one of the most moving events I've been witness to. More to come...... (Message edited by cyclone8u on May 27, 2009) | ||
| Old_wrench |
You deserve to be proud. I served in the Army and deeply respect the Marines. They are always the first one's in and they have the sh...yist equipment Make sure he's got his MOUT training down pat. He'll need it by the end of the year. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Woohoo! Congratulations to your son and you. Glad the ride went well. Can't wait to read your report. | ||
| Snojet |
The bike runs great, wife is a great passenger (along with all the rest she most likely does), and the boy is a Marine. Sounds like your on top on the world. Congrat's, your a Blessed man. From all of us, tell him "Thank you" for serving. | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Day 1 17 May, 2009 - We woke up to the lulling sound of rain beating on the roof, good day to sleep in. Definitely not the way we wanted to start the trip. A low pressure area was pushing through the east coast, the only saving grace was that we would be riding west for much of the day...hopefully out of the rain. We got up, finished loading up the bike, put on the rain gear and headed out for the longest motorcycle ride by a factor of more six times that we have been on, although this would be spread out across eight travel days. We decided to get on the highway and get the he!! out of New England. We've been there and done that. The trip down 95 and 495 was relatively uneventful. 495 is in poor shape, with lots of holes in the pavement, debris in the road and a bounty of a-hole drivers. Once we got on to the Mass pike, the weather had started to break up. Wind quickly replaced the rain, and we were riding into a 30 MPH headwind. The buffeting associated with running at an equivalent 100+ MPH for 2 plus hours quickly wore us down. Once we got into New York, things started to settle down a little bit. We picked up 209 and followed it down through the Delaware Water Gap. Here's a shot of us in the Gap, you can see in our eyes the toll the windy highway took.  Once we got through the Gap, we checked into a motel in the Pocono's. We headed out for a bit of fine dining. Delynn had spotted a sign for a place she loves so we headed there for some hot eats and cool treats.  We went back to the motel to get some R&R. This is where she wanted to stay:  This is where we ended up:  Oh well, we'll stay in worse places before the trip is over. So here the Uly rests unladen for the night,  With the trip odometer for the day at:  I'll call it a good start. With the weather outlook set to improve for tomorrow, it should be a better day! (Message edited by cyclone8u on May 27, 2009) | ||
| Skinstains |
What's his MOS ? Oh yeah, congrats on raising a fine young man. | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Skinstains - "What's his MOS ?" 0311, and that .22 I bought him for his eighth birthday paid of - he shot expert! I know I'm getting ahead of my story line here, but you asked....  | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Day 2 18 May, 2009 - We got up and went up the road to have breakfast. It was a bit of a cool morning, so we put our rain gear on to block the wind better and headed out. It wasn't too long before we found a reoccurring theme from here on South. Piss poor road signs. Maine and Northern New England may be bass-ackwards in many respects, but they have good road signage. Once we got our bearings, we stayed on 209 for a while. This has got to be the Rt. 66 of Pennsylvania, I'm sure most people just hop on Interstate 80 and bypass the whole deal. We road through one forgotten coal mining town after another. There was so much history on that stretch of road that it could have easily taken up a day by itself. It would certainly be worth a revisit. Here's a shot of the Lehigh River along 209:  We continued along that route, and picked up 81 a little North of Harrisburg. We took 81 right down through West Virginia, lots of truck traffic - my hats off to those guys... They always gave me plenty of room, and are by far the most courteous group of drivers on the road. Delynn is getting pretty good at her speed shots by now:  We rode down through to Virginia, past the dinosaurs,  and up to Skyline Drive. We paid our fee, and started up the Skyline Drive. I pulled off at the first turnout so we could stretch our legs. It was just us and a guy on a Beamer from Toronto.  We chatted with him for a bit and it wasn't long before a a crowd showed up.  One of the guys in the group was on this:  A bike my father has always lusted after. Here's the pack-Buell. I have to admit, for a woman with 200+ pairs of shoes and a 500+ sq/ft. closet, she managed to do well getting 9 days of packing into the space allotted.  The guy on the r/t reminded her of a college professor and a friend of hers, so we had to get a shot....everyone has a twin, right?  And he was kind enough to get this shot of us.  Well, I guess that's long enough for one post. Stay tuned for Day 2 pt. 2!!! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Keep the posts coming.... Tell the Jarhead, Semper Fi from OHIO.. | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Day 2 Pt. 2 We took off from that turnout and headed up Skyline Drive. We quickly ascended to 2,000+ feet and rode along the edge of the mountains. The view was absolutely spectacular and the road was fabulous. Here's a shot of the group we met earlier. Delynn isn't even getting my helmet in the foreground any more.  She took the majority of pics on this ride, as I was busy, well, riding. She rode pillion happilly snapping pictures like this one of the Shenandoah River.  The road wound endlessly through lush green forest, and was extremely well maintained.  Delynn managed to get a shot of us in action...  Another speed shot of the beautiful scenery.  Throughout the course of the trip, we noticed an uncanny number of hawks. Every time we would question whether or not we were on the right road, a hawk soaring above us always indicated that we were on the right road. Coincidence? Maybe that's why they don't need good road signs down here, it's more spiritual....but I digress... Here's one of our winged travel guides.  The road consisted of a twisted bit of pavement winding between panaramic views of the valley 2,000 feet below and the ledge of the mountain, like this:  Throughout the ride up Skyline Dr., we would pass the other group of bikes at a scenic turnout only to have them pass us later down the road when we were stopped. Here's a shot of the hop-scotch in action.  Here we are looking much better towards the end of this day than the last....  We had to pass through the mountain in a couple of spots.  We ended up stopping for the night at Skyland Resort. I nice set of motel rooms and cabins, along with a lounge and tap room. To be continued..... | ||
| Armymedic |
Excellent report and waiting for more! Sempre Fi. Graduated Parris Island in '89. Couldn't get of that island fast enough! | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Day 2 Pt. 3 We arrived at Skyland Resort and checked into a room overlooking the valley. At 3500+ feet in elevation, it was a bit chilly up here but it felt good to get off the bike for the evening. Here's the view from our room:  As we were out on the edge of resort, we had a bit of hike through the woods to get to the dinning room/tap room. Along the way we ran into these guys:   We were treated to a good meal with a great view of the valley and mountains beyond. Not to mention the only good brew I would find for the rest of this trip.  After dinner we went out on the deck and watched the sun set. Here's a shot just before it disapeared over the horizon.  Delynn got this one after it had set.  And here we are in the shot.  Here's a shot from our balcony after dusk had settled over the valley.  And that's a wrap of day 2. Tomorrow we'll get up and do it all over again. Hoping to get out of Virginia and into North Carolina. | ||
| Svh |
That last pic is very cool. | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Svh - "That last pic is very cool." Thanks! I have a thing for photographing after normal light has faded....thank god for high ISO digital! Day 3 19 May, 2009 - We woke up to another chilly morning (just above freezing) and found this guy outside our back door.  We got dressed and had breakfast. They were exceedingly slow serving breakfast for some reason, but given the temps outside it probably was a good thing. Still, we left a lot later than planned which would hurt us this evening... Delynn took a picture of this sign, definitely not a road you want to be on between dusk and dawn, these guys are everywhere.  Another self portrait with the mountains in the background.  Here I am about to saddle up again.  We got off Skyline Drive and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. Knowing that there were state routes intersecting the parkway every 30 miles or so, I figured the 60 miles of fuel I had left would be sufficient. That was until we turned onto the first intersection. Yes, it's a dirt road....  We rode up to the next intersection that was paved and took that. It was absolutely beautiful countryside, but the housing for the most part was well beyond what I would consider to be abandoned...yet there were people living there. I kept remembering my friend Teds advice "If you hear banjos, ride faster." We made it to a gas station/gun store/food market and filled up. The people there were very nice and it's ashamed how stereotypes are cast, something we would see reoccurring throughout the trip. We parted company with small town Va. and got back on the Parkway where we were blessed with some of the smoothest, curviest, and most scenic roads we've been on. Here's a shot of a farm we passed.  Does this not have Buell written all over it?  The lushness of the forest was fantastic, and very reminiscent of the North Woods of Maine back home, sans the nice roads...  Yet another stop to stretch the legs and enjoy the view.  The twisted ribbon of pavement that is the Blue Ridge Parkway ate heavily into our allotment of daylight. It took us all day but finally we saw our target:  Now to find a place to stay. We stopped at one place, but after a look around decided to move on. It looked like the only people staying there had probably broken in... We finally found a place in Greensboro, the Battlefield Inn. Not a bad place, but it was one of the hardest beds we slept on. And after the most excellent brew I was treated to the night before, I was relegated to this tonight.  But considering how late it was, it would do nicely. We met a couple of other bikers at the hotel. One, on a Goldwing, was headed to Florida (hope he brought his rain gear), and the other on a Harley was headed to D.C. for the Rolling Thunder ride. One of the funnest things about a trip like this is the people that you meet along the way. I wish I would have had the forethought to take more pictures of the these interesting characters...perhaps on our next adventure. Well that's a wrap for day 3. Tomorrow we are headed for Beaufort, SC where we have the only hotel reservation for the entire trip. And, more importantly, the destination being the whole reason for the trip; Parris Island. The long hours and endless adventure of the trip had kept my mind off it for the most part, but tonight I would spend some time thinking about the transformation he's gone through in the past 12 weeks. Yet, in less two days, I still won't be prepared for what I'm about to witness.... | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
This is getting good... | ||
| F_skinner |
Thank you for sharing your story and pictures. I grew up in NC and spent a tour in WV and MD. It all looks like home to me. God speed to you son! | ||
| Ulyranger |
Very nice ride report going on here. Keep it up. Thank your son for his service, you have every right to be PROUD. | ||
| Babired |
Very cool  | ||
| Blake |
Great story so far! Thanks for sharing. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Great report! Can't wait for day four!  | ||
| Bculy |
I like your taste in beer! Enjoying the trip report! | ||
| Florida_lime |
Excellent photos - thanks !  | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Thanks all for your kind remarks! I've got to make tonight's post a quick one as my son is here tonight using up a couple days of his precious leave to hang out with his old man. So while he's busy texting his cousin, I'll do a quicky. Day 4 20 May, 2009 - We left Greensboro and headed South on Rt. 220 into Rockingham and then Rt. 1 into S.C.  This was probably 90% farm country with a few bits of manufacturing mixed in here and there. The mix of extreme poverty and wealth was striking. One minute you were traveling by houses with half the roofs missing, yards overgrown with weeds - yet people still inhabited these places. The next minute you are riding by a McMansion with a Mercedes in the driveway. Of course the landscape South of the Mason-Dixon line is not complete without the water towers. But some had more character than others.  We rode through endless farmland, somewhat reminiscent of home - only on a slightly larger scale. Finally arriving in Beaufort, Delynn snapped this pic as we rode by the Marine Corps Air Station.  As we were in much warmer temps now, the heat of the mighty Uly was rearing its ugly head. Even with my home made heat shield under the seat, the seat became increasingly uncomfortable. I wish the company that makes the heat shield blankets for the XB's would have responded to my calls and emails requesting one of his blankets for under the seat. I guess not all Badweb Sponsors live up to expectations, such is life. We arrived in downtown Beaufort and today with the heat of the bike radiating up through the seat we were both relieved to get out of the saddle for a while. We checked into our only reserved room of the entire trip at the Hilton.  While I was tempted to go find the nearest ice chest to sit in, I had to go get our ride for the next day. We were told that they only had a 15 passenger van available, but when I went to pick it up this had just been returned....  This is really a pretty area.  Now it was time to go get supper. Delynn has always wanted to eat at a Sonic, but there aren't any North of Virginia. So she is constantly taunted by the commercials on TV for a place she can't get to. Well, we got her to one finally!  Well that's all for tonight. Gotta go spend some time with my son. He's shipping out Monday morning for Camp Lejeune. More to come later. (Message edited by cyclone8u on May 29, 2009) (Message edited by cyclone8u on May 29, 2009) | ||
| Court |
Spectacular! . . . absolutely spectacular. SEND me your sons name, shirt size and mailing address. Erik and I and out wives have been doing some things for folks in the service and I'd like to let him know how much we appreciate his service. My Marine Corps Graduation, and having my family there, was one of the highlights of my life. You guys and your son will cherish the memory the rest of your life. It's tough to describe until you've been through it, the Marines here will understand, but it's a BIG DEAL. Semper Fi, Court USMC - 1974-1980 Rifle Expert P.S. - Congratulate him on the Expert qual . . . there are LOTS of folks who have shot for years, come in thinking they are hot shot and leave with a toilet seat. Having "shot since I was a kid" is of nearly no value . . you have to LISTEN and LEARN. . . the Marines are riflemen first and foremost. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
there are LOTS of folks who have shot for years, come in thinking they are hot shot and leave with a toilet seat. Thats a fact!! I thought I was da man when it came to putting rounds down range... I went UNK in boot and had to requal.... THEN, after I got in the fleet I got my head out of my butt and paid attention to what I was being taught.... ended up shooting Expert 5 times in a row with the riffle and once with the 9 mil. right before I got out. If your son listens to the people that have been there, done that. He should be good to go whatever the task may be...... | ||
| Cyclone8u |
I just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone for the congratulations and well wishes. It's truly heart warming to see the kind of support he's getting, not only here, but everywhere I go. Court - " It's tough to describe until you've been through it, the Marines here will understand, but it's a BIG DEAL." I've been trying to describe to people the graduation and I haven't been able to. It's hard to put into words the feeling of being witness to such an event. You really do have to be there. To here the sounds of hundreds of voices yelling in unison, to feel the beat of the drums in your chest marking cadence, and the sound of hundreds of foot steps slapping the pavement in perfect time with the drums. The idea that you are witnessing tradition older than anyone present being repeated and passed on to another generation. The feeling of being part of something much bigger than the sum of its parts. It's absolutely indescribable. I'll PM you Court when he gets to Lejeune and sends me his contact info. Thanks again. And now back to our regularly scheduled programing. | ||
| F_skinner |
Cyclone8u, I was born and raised, by a Marine, at Lejeune. Regardless of what that town has become it is home for me. That is probably part of the reason I went Air Force and live in Colorado now. Is he going to part of 2nd MarDiv or just there for training? It looks like I will be going home in July and every time I do I try to hookup with the C3 members (a great group of Buellers) for dinner. Maybe your son can join us. Dinner will be on me! | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Day 4 Pt. 2 Well lets wrap up Day 4 shall we? After eating, we decided to drive by the base to make sure we had our bearings and could find it easily in the morning. We ended up driving up to the gate and the Marine manning the gate told us we would want to get there by 0600 the next morning. Much earlier than we had anticipated, so back to the hotel for us. We got back and this truck was parked out front.  The Hilton really does a great job supporting the families that are down there for graduation. They have a Marine there to explain where and when you want to be the following two days, as well as displaying some of the merchandise that is available at The Corps Store. The hotel gives you a package that has an itinerary of the events along with a map of the base and a list of local eateries that will deliver food to the base for family day. We went up to our room to enjoy some local flavor and change into our swim suits to take a much deserved soak in the hot tub.  The palms were all lit up around the hotel.  Here's Delynn letting some of the 1276 miles traveled thus far soak away.  Home sweet home for the next two nights.  That's it for day 4. Time to hit the rack and get some some rest for our 4:00 AM wake up call..... | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
0600 ??? I can't wait to find WHY you had to be there that early... | ||
| Cyclone8u |
Day 5 21 May, 2009 - 4:00 AM, thank God this hotel has good coffee. We get showered and ready to go and head out stiff from 4 days of riding and a real short night. But we got to The Corps Store shortly after they opened. They had every imaginable shirt/hat/trinket with or without your Marines Battalion insignia. His is:  We picked up some shirts and stuff for us as well as the family. When we went out to the counter to check out, it happened. They had a copy of the Beaufort Gazette taped to the counter with the list of the current graduating class. There listed under Platoon 1033; Pvt J. S. Washington III Delynn immediately broke out in tears, now it was real. It was at this moment, seeing his name in print in a list of hundreds of other names, that we started to realize the magnitude of the whole thing. We packed up our stuff and hopped back on the road for the quick ride over to the base. It's a good thing we followed the guards advice. It was 6:05 and traffic was backed up out of the access road onto the highway. They kept thing moving smoothly and as most people already had parking passes, most of us were waved right through. Just before we got to the gate, Delynn took this picture:  We went out to the parade deck and tried to find a good spot the sit and wait for the 7:00 AM motivational run. It wasn't too long before the platoons marched out and stood in formation. It was impossible to pick John out of the crowd as his platoon was standing back to us. They then began to run, and as they ran by us we franticly tried to pick him out of the sea of faces rushing by. I just started firing the shutter on my camera in hopes I'd snag a shot of him. It wasn't until we got home that I discovered I did...  We then headed over to the all weather training facility where they were going to liberty ceremony. This was parked out front.  And this banner stretched overhead as you approached summed up best what this place is about.  Once inside they had videos projected showing every aspect of what the recruits had to go through, from getting off the bus and standing on the yellow footprints to getting through the crucible. This triggered more tears from my wife, and reinforced what I already knew. John had done something bigger than anything he's done in his life. Something that will forever change his life. He no longer is just an average kid, he's earned something nobody can ever take away. My son is a U.S. Marine. Then Lt Col Paul L. Muller, commanding officer of the 1st Recruit Training Battalion came out and gave a quick overview of the training, what was going to come next for the new Marines and a quick rundown of the rules and regs of on base liberty. Here he is next to John's platoon number.  Here's a shot of his platoon with his drill instructors in front.  Liberty then commenced and we finally got to speak with John for the first time in more than 3 months. Here's Delynn with one happy Marine.  John took us around and showed us his barracks. Notice the empty rack next to his. They don't all make it.  We went over to the museum where we met up with his mother and stepdad. We wish we had more time to spend in the museum. There was a lot of history in that building. We'd like to get back to check it out sometime. Here's a shot of the inside.  There was a small version of the Iwo Jima statue here.  And you couldn't help but notice how clean the glass was and how shiny the brass was on the displays. It turns out that it was one of John's jobs to see to it that it all shined and sparkled.  We got to hang out with him for the remainder of the day and we had BBQ delivered for us so he could have something a little different than the chow he'd been eating for the last 12 weeks. He told us about the day to day drudgery of being a recruit, the stories of things that happened to him and others. Stories that will be with him for the rest of his life. I was struck with how tall he stood, how quick he was to respond, and how he beamed with a new found confidence. He is a different person now. Still my son, the same boy that left last February. But he has grown, not in years or inches. But, mentally, physically, and psychologically. He is definitely ready for the next stage in his training, and in fact is very much looking forward to it. It was a whirl wind of a day, both physically and mentally for us. We left the base and went back to our room for a quite evening of R&R. Just to sit back and digest what we had witnessed today, think about tomorrow, and try to melt some of the stiffness of 4 days of travel on a motorcycle and lack of sleep away in the hot tub. (Message edited by cyclone8u on May 31, 2009) |
