| Author | Message | ||
     Damnut |
Crusty.... Let me know when you plan on being back in Massachusetts. Oh and go back and read the first line of my last post.  | ||
| Tootal |
Wow, the price has gone up! I'm assuming you were at Big Meadows. It was 10 minutes for a buck back then! There are a lot of deer, even on the road! Glad you didn't get too personal with one while riding. The last time I was on the Parkway the State Parks were nice but no showers. FYI. You are running it in the right direction as the roads get twistier as you go South. Enjoy it, it's a great road!  | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I'll not have the time to run the Blueridge & Skyline on the way down to Buelltoberfest it's going to be a hard fast run down i81 as I've only got a week to play with starting on the Thursday morning. But with luck I can do them on the way back. | ||
| Damnut |
So I received a nice message from Crusty with his PayPal address. I don't want to post the address on here so let me know if you want to help out and I'll pm it to you. Here's a snippet of the message he sent me. This, I'm sure, is meant for everyone:Thanks for the help in getting me to Australia. It's not easy for me to accept help, but Badweb is very much like a family and if people feel good by helping me, then it would be wrong for me to deny them the chance to feel good. Or so I was told by a close friend. At this time there isn't much that would make me feel any better than helping Crusty out with his Australian adventure. He has shared many interesting stories (and kickass Buell related gifts) with me at various gatherings in 9 or so years since I first met him. I have no doubt that if the shoe was on the other foot, he would be the first to help a fellow BadWebber with their adventure. Should this effort go in a separate thread? | ||
| Chauly |
I believe so, so that we can find (fund?) it...  | ||
| Prior |
John and Innes, If you end up close to Greensboro, NC drop me a line. Would be good to see you guys again! Save travels and I've been enjoying the ride! Prior | ||
| Crusty |
A Simple And Short Snippet If you’ve never ridden a motorcycle on Skyline Drive or the Blue Ridge Parkway, you’re really missing a wonderful experience. If you’re into camping, I can recommend both Big Meadows on Skyline Drive and Mount Pisgah on the Blue Ridge in North Carolina. Of course, every silver lining has its dark cloud. In this case, the dark cloud is that there’s no cell phone signal nor any Wi-Fi in the campgrounds. That’s not always a bad thing; though I think Froggy might just short out if his numerous toys didn’t work. Then again, he probably has a direct link to a satellite and doesn’t need such mundane things. (no offense meant, Frank). I’m in Hendersonville, NC heading for Fayetteville where Grace and Steve live. I shouldn’t even be writing this at all, but the two McDonalds I stopped in yesterday didn’t have outlets to plug into and my computer’s battery is very low (6%). The McD’s I’m in has power, so I’m wasting time charging up the battery a little bit. I’m hoping to get to Grace & Steve’s house before the rain sets in, but if I don’t; well, hopefully it’ll be a warm rain. I’ll be at their place for a few days before I head out for Buelltoberfest, so hopefully, I’ll be able to elaborate on how neat the ride along the top of the ridge was. I will say that the most beautiful fall colors I’ve seen this year were on the Blue Ridge. Gotta go; the sky is looking pretty threatening. (Message edited by Crusty on October 09, 2015) | ||
| Damnut |
Donation thread here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/406 2/771306.html?1444408234 | ||
| Crusty |
Road Hogs And Other Stuff I came down from the mountains yesterday before I reached the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had wanted to ride the entire length of it in one shot, but I changed my mind for a couple of reasons. First; the traffic on the parkway dot fairly heavy as I got close to Asheville, NC. On a few occasions, I got stuck as the fourth or fifth vehicle behind a car going well under the speed limit, and afraid to go around curves. This lasted for a few miles at a time; when I finally would get past the slow flatlander, it was only a few minutes before I’d catch up to another group of cars and have to put up with the same thing all over again. Second; there was rain supposed to move in on Friday night. Call me a wuss, but I’m sick of rain and I wanted to avoid it. So after I left the Mt. Pisgah Campground, I rode south to US Rt. 276 and took that to US 64 to Hendersonville. Rt.276 was a phenomenal road! It was both a sport bike rider’s dream and a touring rider’s paradise. There was very little traffic and I was constantly torn between wanting to strafe the turns, and slowing down to admire the fantastic surroundings. Plus, there was almost no other vehicles using it in either direction. Truly a magnificent ride! In some ways, I preferred it to the Blue Ridge. After I stopped in Hendersonville, I got on I-26, and was reminded about what heavy traffic really is. After an entire week of not dealing with an Interstate, Reality hit me like being slapped in the face with a cold Flounder. I was coming down from the mountains, so traffic was moving fairly quickly (about 75 - 80 MPH), except when some yahoo would get in the left lane going 50, and wouldn’t move over. You know the type; they feel that the road belongs to them, and if you want to get past them, you’ll have to make all the effort. Road Hogs. They have no consideration for anybody else out there and can justify their selfish behavior if asked. I seemed to run into a lot of them yesterday. And not all of them are clueless car drivers; I saw a Semi go from the right lane to the left for no reason and stay in the left lane until he was out of sight of my rear view mirrors. In some states, you get a ticket for traveling in the passing lane and not passing anyone. I wish that was enforced in many more places. When I see a car in the left lane going 45 MPH in a 70 MPH zone, and the car won’t move over, not only are they selfish boors, but they’re a hazard to the other vehicles using that road. Rant over. Anyway, I pretty much stayed on US route 74 until it became Interstate 74 which took me to I-95, then I took it to Fayetteville. Whenever I come to Fayetteville, the first place I go is to the cemetery where my parents are buried. When I was in Cincinnati, David asked me to place a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup on the grave as my mom loved their coffee. I stopped in Lumberton at a DD and instead of a paper or styrofoam cup, I bought one of those ceramic cups with Dunkie’s logo printed on the side. My reasoning was if somebody saw a take out cup, they’d think that it was just trash, and pick it up and dispose of it. Anyhow, I put the cup on the gravestone and said a few words to both Ma and Dad; told them how much I loved and missed them, then headed over to Grace and Steve’s house, where I was treated to a really good home cooked meal of Pork Chops, rice, gravy and vegetables and home made chocolate chip cookies for desert. I ate my fill and enjoyed every bite. Grace told me that she intends to sabotage my weight loss efforts while I’m here, and is cooking well enough to be successful at it. That’s OK, I’ll get back on my weight loss plan when I leave here in a few days. In the meantime, we had Biscuits and Gravy for breakfast, which I haven’t had in a long time. I ain’t complainin’. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I love reading your posts. I can see the A-hole drivers, The cemetery, Smell the Pork Chops and damn near feel the curves of Rt.276 | ||
| Xbduck |
REALLY!!!! He was on the mountains behind my house and I missed him completely. Crusty if you decide to head back up the BRP and the Skyline Drive give me a call. The stop at the golden arches between the Skyline and BRP was, well, I can't believe I am openly admitting this, my town, Waynesboro. If you decide to stop at Chauly's, also let me know. My new job has me in Raphine, which is about half way between Waynes World and the Beautiful View,(Waynesboro and Buena Vista). There are some tremendously beautiful rides all around us. At this time of year they are even greater with the leaves changing. | ||
| Crusty |
You’re Riding A Sportster? Sitting still for a couple of days gives me the opportunity to write about things that aren’t quite directly involved with my day to day travels. things that I think about as I’m cruising down the road. One thing that keeps coming up as I travel is the incredulous statement in the title. People act as if I’m traveling on a bike that’s totally unsuitable for the task. I’ve even heard it from some Sportster owners. Quite frankly, I find the fact that a 1200 cc Torque Monster is considered too light or small as a one up traveling bike. I also get people who tell me that the bike isn’t reliable enough, or that it can’t be comfortable enough. They ask why, if I’m going to ride a Harley, I’m not on a Big Twin? Bill (my friend who died) was a diehard Sportster lover. He got those same comments back in 1979 when he rode from Boston to Nevada in a big circle that totaled 7900 miles in 3 weeks. He used to recount all the nonsensical statements he heard along the way. “Those Sportsters; you gotta stop every hundred miles and let ‘em cool down”; or “Why are you riding only a Half a Harley?” Back in the ’70s, I knew people who rode across the country on 350 and 450 Hondas, and nobody questioned them. That was what they had for bikes, and nobody gave then grief over their choices. So it kind of surprised me when people started picking on Sportsters which were bigger and much more powerful. Here are a few facts about my 2005 XL1200R Roadster. It makes adequate Horsepower and Torque. It has minimal vibration. It cruises easily and comfortably at 75 MPH on the Interstate. It carries all my gear, and, if necessary, would carry a passenger as well. I’d just have to rearrange things a little. It’s been reliable. The only unexpected problem was when my drive belt snapped, and I really couldn’t fault the bike. The belt was 10 years old, and I’d put over 16,000 miles on the bike since I got it in March. A battery bolt loosened a few weeks ago, but that was an easy fix. The bike is rapidly becoming one of the most reliable bikes I’ve ever owned. However, it’s not perfect. The suspension sucks, the gas tank is too small, it has spoke wheels and I’m using soft Cordura saddlebags.I plan to change all that as time goes on. I’m going to get a 4 1/2 gallon gas tank, mount a full size front fender (like the stock fenders from the early ’80s), Put some better shocks and fork springs on it. Maybe some Progressive Suspension items, or possibly a set of Cartridge Emulators. I’d like to figure out a way to mount a set of Hepco & Becker Junior saddlebags; but I’d be willing to try a set of Givi Trekker bags, if they make mounts that will fit. As for the wheels, there are lots of cast wheels out there that will fit. In any event, one of the beautiful things about Sportsters is that they’re one of the most customizable bikes out there. There are enough aftermarket parts to make it truly the ideal motorcycle for you if you just figure out what your idea of ideal is. The best way I know of to do that is to ride the bejeezus out of it. The bike itself is good enough as it sits to meet my needs. The changes I’m planning to make will make it damn’ near perfect. For the time being… | ||
| Tootal |
I must admit I'm guilty of calling Sportsters dirt bikes back in the day. It was just the status quo to give Sportster riders some grief! It was all in jest though but if you look at some history you can understand why. My father owned a 1944 Harley 45 army bike. It was as dependable as a rock but not very fast. He sold it and bought a new K bike, the precursor to the Sportster. He said it was the worse bike he ever owned. Work on it for 2 weeks so you could ride it for one! He soon sold it and bought a Triumph! The later Sportster motors were solid mounted and were known as hay shakers. Long distance riding would kill your keester! ( your wrist and eye sight too) But since Harley rubber mounted them and steadily improved the engines, thanks to Buell, they have come to be a much better design than the Big Twin motors. So take what folks say with a grain of salt as they are just repeating ancient history! | ||
| Xbduck |
I have come to really like my wife's 883 Sportster. I have done a front tire change, speedo sensor change and replaced a throw-out bearing. All very simple straight forward jobs. I think that is one of the things that has brought me to like the bike. I have been able to fix everything that has happened to it so far. It appears to me to be a solid simple bike. It is an '02,last year of the carb, not sure about the newer fuel injected engines. Didn't we have a visitor here some time back who road/rides a Sportster around the world. | ||
| Crusty |
A Little Slack Time I rode into Fayetteville on Friday afternoon and I haven’t been on my bike since. In fact, I haven’t done much of anything; I guess I needed a little bit of a break. Life here is a bit different from what I’m used to. However, that statement holds true with everybody I’ve visited with this summer. It’s not meant as a criticism. Yesterday, we all went out to the B-B-Q Hut for lunch, and I was treated to some very tasty Carolina style Pulled Pork. Since we were out, we went by the Indian/Polaris dealer to look at bikes. Steve rides a Gold Wing, but he was just a bit curious about the new Indians. We both agree that the Powerplus 111 engine is probably the most beautiful engine being manufactured today. The salesman was knowledgeable about the bikes and a pleasure to talk to. He started one up and let the music of the exhaust influence Steve, while pointing out the virtues of the bike. Since Steve likes to travel, he gravitated towards the Roadmaster and I could see the interest starting to show in his eye. However; I used a different approach. I pointed out to Grace the comfort of the passenger seat, and the overall quality of the fit and finish. I was working on the axiom If Momma ain’t happy, then nobody’s happy. Back in the mid ’80s, my Fiancé and I rode to Illinois on my XLH1100. We stopped at a Harley shop along the way, and Nancy took one look at the passenger seat on an FLT, and fell in love, It wasn’t long before I bought my FLHS. I could be very easily wrong, but I think that Steve and Grace’ll be riding a Roadmaster within a year or two. Maybe I should get a job selling motorcycles? Naw, I’m having too much fun being a Tramp. ************************************************** ************************************************* Steve and Grace had some luggage that they gave me. They didn’t need it; one of their tenants left it behind when they moved out. I can use it when I fly to Brisbane. When I went over in 1997, I had a duffel bag, and carrying it was awkward. these bags have extendable handles and wheels. I’ll go by the Post Office today and mail them to myself care of Ernie later on today. That’s one minor problem solved. I knew I was going to have to get luggage of some sort; these bags take care of that. The way things are going, It looks like I’ll be flying out before Thanksgiving. | ||
| Crusty |
GRRRR!!! I’m pissed off. I lost my Elkskin Gauntlets. I was stupid when I was packing the bike this morning and didn’t get them secure. I should have put them in the left saddlebag, but my brain decided to zone out instead and I just stuck them under one of the straps. I’m wearing the winter gloves that I bought in Buffalo, but they’re too stiff and make my hands want to cramp up. I guess I could buy another pair of Elkskins from Aerostich, but then I’d have to bring them to the cobbler and get the fingers shortened. I have wide hands with relatively short fingers and they fit me perfectly. I’ve been wearing them for a few years now, and I think they have close to 75,000 miles on them. Now they’re gone and all I can do is kick myself for being a space shot when I was loading up the tent and getting ready this morning. Oh well. Maybe there’ll be a bike shop near TWO that has a good selection of gloves at a reasonable price. Or somethin’. I got back on the Blue Ridge yesterday. I took a different route from Fayetteville going west than I took going to Fayetteville last week. It worked out OK, though there was a little more Interstate than I wanted to take. However, I wound up back at the Mt. Pisgah Campground at 5:30. Like last week when I stayed there, I went to the nearby Camp store and bought a bag of BBQ Chips and a bottle of Gatorade and that was my dinner. The weather was clear and dry, but there was a strong wind blowing for most of the night. I really shouldn’t drink Gatorade for dinner. I was up four times during the night to go Pee. Still, I was warm and comfortable in the sleeping bag, even though the temps fell into the 40s. The thing that sucks the most is the shortening of daylight hours. It was dark by 7:00 last night, and it wasn’t fully light until 7:15 this morning. I got up at 6:00 this morning, walked to the bathroom, washed up and brushed my teeth, walked back to my campsite and made coffee and drank it and had most of my camping gear packed before it got fully light out. It was kinda neat, though, sitting in the dark and watching the stars while I had my morning cup of Folgers instant. Today, I should make it to Two Wheels Only. According to Google, it’s less than three hours away. I may be the first person there for Buelltoberfest. I need to shut off the automatic spelling corrector on this laptop. It changes words without letting me know. When I was up by Lake Champlain, it changed Ausable Chasm to Audible, and it keeps changing Pisgah to Pigs. I have to be pretty diligent in proofreading my snippets, or else they say things I don’t intend. Yeah, I know; bitch, bitch, bitch… | ||
| 86129squids |
Dang- I feel ya for losing a great pair of gloves... take a look at Rider's Hill on the outskirts of Dalhonega, maybe they'll have some good stuff. FRICKFRACK I wish I could make it! | ||
| Crusty |
Daybreak in North Georgia I once read that Arabs define dawn as being when you can distinguish a white thread from a black thread. I consider it to be when I can distinguish colors from each other. When the difference between the cream colored panel on my gas tank is obviously a different color from the yellow on my saddlebags. By my definition dawn was at 7:20 this morning here in Suches, Georgia. Last night, it was dark when I got out of the shower/restroom at 7:30. Winter’s coming. ::Sigh:: First off, Two Wheels of Suches is a really pretty campground. I expected that, but it’s really nice in ways I didn’t expect. Right now, there are about a dozen bikes and campers here. The majority are on Suzuki V-Stroms. I’m wondering if that’s just coincidence or if they’re more popular than I thought. The people running TWO are very friendly and laid back. The campsites are nice and the showers and bathroom were very clean and well lit. They have a restaurant that serves meals only between certain hours and only on certain days. Friday & Saturday Dinner, Sat & Sun Breakfast and Lunch. The prices look pretty reasonable to me. If the food quality matches everything else about the place, I think I’ll have found the best campground I’ve ever stayed in. Even without the food, it’s close to the top of my list. I went into Dahlonega after I set up camp to get dinner, and Gas and hopefully find a pair of gloves. I went to Rider’s Hill and got there just as they were closing. They stayed open just to let me look through their glove selection. I finally settled on a pair of First Gear gloves. The shop is impressive; they sell a bunch of different marques. I saw Moto Guzzis, Triumphs, an MV and a few EBRs. I was talking with the guy who sold me the gloves, and he was sounding pretty positive about EBR. I think they’re one dealer who isn’t going to bail. Overall, I really liked the shop. Hey; any dealer who sells both Guzzis and EBRs sounds all right in my book. (I do admit that I’m somewhat prejudiced) One thing that really ticked me off was going to get gas and seeing Regular at $2.09 and Premium at $2.99. Ninety cents more for Premium is a Rip Off. I have to investigate a bit, but I suspect that it’s because this area is such a Motorcycle Mecca and most bikes take Premium. An almost 50% increase is outrageous in my book. There ain’t a damn’ thing I can do about it, though. I might as well just roll with it. It still galls me though. It will be pretty neat when all the Buells start showing up later today. I don’t know how many will show, but it will still be nice to see them in a group. I do wonder, however, how many will be here. Innes (Mr Grumpy) is riding down from Montreal on a Guzzi Stelvio and I’m on a Sportster. Squids isn’t going to make it, but if he did, he’d be on a Triumph. Though at Mark’s West Virginia Rally, there were enough Buells to outnumber all the other marques combined. I hope that there are enough Buell/EBRs to be significant. Even if there are only a few though, it should be a good time. We had a great time in West Virgina. (Message edited by Crusty on October 16, 2015) | ||
| Ourdee |
Wish I was there! | ||
| 1313 |
What Ourdee said! | ||
| 86129squids |
Crusticle, you are correct in saying that TWoS is simply one of the best MC campgrounds in existence- actually it was the original MC only campground! The current owner and current caretakers are great people- the owner has invested significant $$$ in major upgrades to the property. The old bathhouse is gone, and although it had a certain whimsy to it, it needed to go. You'd have loved to meet GT and Britt, the longtime former site operators- great folks as well. And, I really REALLY miss all the stuff/junk/decorations/memorabilia that adorned the walls inside the lodge. Be sure to head over to the store across the street and spend some $$$ if you can- they're also great people, but have struggled financially in recent times. If you're looking for good 'cue, Matthew (Pwnzor) and I found a killer place on 129N, IIRC, don't remember the name though. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I'm planning to lead everyone up to that bbq joint tomorrow. I'm on a Kawasaki, hope that doesn't count against me... Lol | ||
| Pwnzor |
Oh, and the station immediately across from TWoS has ethanol free gas. | ||
| Etennuly |
I am doing my best to get my Uly riddin' ass there Crusty! Work is killing me right now, but the adult in me says "do as you must, not as you want". Shit. I hate it when I have to be all growwed up!  | ||
| Crusty |
Be Fast, Crusty! Yesterday, I tried to write a snippet, and couldn’t. I guess having a bunch of friends around me was too distracting. I’m going to try to be fast enough that that doesn’t happen this morning. We had a thoroughly challenging and fun ride yesterday through roads around this area. The North Georgia mountains are a fantastic place to ride a motorcycle. I’m not alone in feeling this way; I saw thousands (literally) of other bikes on our ride. All kinds of bikes; tourers, sport-tourers, standards, sport bikes, ADV bikes, dirt bikes, you name it. I even saw a rat Honda Shadow chopper making lots of noise, but not moving too fast. We had a small group of half a dozen bikes. For Buells, there were an S3-T, an XB9S and an EBR 1190 SX, as well as a motley assortment of other bikes, A Kawasaki 1000, a Moto Guzzi Norge, a Suzuki V-Strom and my humble, slow poor handling Sportster (She managed to keep up, though). Both Buellish and Pwnzor are relative Locals, and knew some great roads. They also took us to a Very Good BBQ joint for lunch. Buellish warned us to not eat a whole sandwich, as it would be too big, so Innes (Mr Grumpy) and I split a Pulled Pork sandwich. Since it came with two sides, I tried their baked beans. I don’t remember what Innes got for his side. My half sandwich was huge, and I was glad for the warning. It was good enough that I probably would have tried to eat it all. After lunch, we rode more roads, and wound up at a friend of Joe and Mike’s that had some beautiful bikes in his garage. He had an almost mint ’78 XLH. The only thing not original was the exhaust. It had staggered Duals instead of the 2 into 1 chromed Salami. He also had a couple of Bultacos, a Norton Commando, a 1960 XLCH that he was building and a bunch of other bikes. We spent a while in enjoyable conversation (once again, I had to explain that my Sportster is a good Traveling motorcycle, and why I picked it for this ride). We came back to TWO and had a light dinner (I was still full from the lunch), then spent the evening is pleasant conversation. Pwnzor had a bottle of Single Barrel Bourbon that was signed by the Master Distiller, and the group (except me) all enjoyed some. It was a cold night as the temperatures fell to the freezing mark by daybreak (7:20 this AM), but my sleeping bag is up to the task, and I was pretty toasty all night. It was tough to get up,this morning, though. If my bladder hadn’t been yelling at me, I’d probably still be in my tent in my bag. I’m in the Lodge, now and they’re going to show the Moto GP race from Phillips Island in a few minutes (it was broadcast Live at 12:30 this morning, but the folks here recorded it) This will be the first Moto GP race I’ve seen since I set out on this odyssey, and I’m looking forward to it. | ||
| 86129squids |
 I'm with Vern... although I had put in for the weekend off several weeks ago, here I sit at the house. To add insult to injury, they called me off Friday about 2:45, as we had too few reso's on the books... DANG it. I know full well that they could have let me off... oh well. I guess that's life back in a corporate restaurant environment. FWIW, whomever might be heading my way from Suches tomorrow, post up and I might try to roll some mileage with ya. I know several of youn's might be heading GA60/TN68 north, which will put you in my backyard... if anyone passes through Tellico Plains around lunchtime, a great little place there is Tellico Grains Bakery. They do from-scratch sammiches, and now serve their famous wood-fired pizzas all week instead of just Saturdays... they installed a new oven just to accomplish that! I'd be happy to meet folks there for lunch if it all worked out... another good place overlooking the river is Tellico Beach Drive-In. Food is quite decent, but the main attraction is eating it while the river runs in front of your picnic table, and all the folks starting/ending their Cherohala Skyway run roll by behind you. Crusty, if you've not done the Cherohala, you oughta! A side trip through Reliance TN is doable too, coming up TN68, you'd just dogleg it at Ducktown on West TN64 to start it, then follow your GPS on a great loop right back up to Tellico Plains. Holler in the AM if anyone's interested! I've been jonesing for a day-run, and I can do a good loop out and back including the Dragon and the Cherohala. Or, just holler if you're passing through Maryville TN. My cel is 865-719-1466, in case I'm doing honeydo's or something.  | ||
| Zac4mac |
Hey Crusty I feel your pain , losing a good pair of gloves. When you find a pair that are close, rinse with warm water and squeeze/wring them out several times. Roll up in a towel and wring as much water out as you can. Pull them on and stretch to your hands; wear until dry. Perfect fit!!! Z Ooops, make sure and use an OLD towel to wring dry, it will stain the towel. (Message edited by zac4mac on October 18, 2015) | ||
| Buellish |
It was a fun weekend!I very much enjoyed meeting John,Innes,Frank,Gretchen (Pwnzor's wife) and hanging with Matthew,Fran and Joe.When we got back to TWoS Saturday,there was Dragon Slayer (who I realised I me several years ago) and his wife Pam and another couple from South Carolina on an 1125CR and a Superhawk,whose names I cant remember.All in all as good a weekend as I have ever had with a bunch of buell folks.The riding was good,the company was good and the food was good.Thanks to Joe for once again being a great host,you cook a mean burger! I can't wait for the next one.Bill Johnson (the owner of TWoS) asked me if we are planning on coming back in the spring.I think we should to enjoy each others company,the great roads and keep the Buell/EBR flame burning.What say ye? | ||
| 86129squids |
I'm in! This whole weekend was a bust for me... I'd been more than happy to bail on the crappy work I was scheduled for. High price paid to be low man on totem pole. | ||
| Crusty |
Centre, Alabama Why is it that I can think of so many good things to write about when I’m on the bike, but when I’m sitting in front of the laptop, my mind goes blank? I rode by a lot of cotton fields. I don’t know the first thing about cotton, other than it makes good T-shirt and skivvy material, but all the plants had a lot of white cotton balls (puffs? pods?) that looked ready to be harvested, to me. I wanted to stop and check a plant out closely, but I also don’t want to start any trouble with any farmers, so I just kept on riding. I’m in the Central Time Zone now. I didn’t know that until I stopped. I knew that the sun was supposed to set around 7:00, so when It got to a little after 6:00, and I was still a ways from my intended stop for the night, I decided to splurge and find a cheap motel. I was feeling the cold, and it wasn’t hard to convince myself that I should find a warm room. I skipped dinner to help justify the expense, but that’s only a token gesture. The few bucks I saved by not eating don’t come close to what a room cost. Still; I haven’t rented a room in weeks, so I’m not kicking myself too badly. Plus, After gorging myself for most of the past week, I could stand to miss a meal or two. One think I need to do is say thank you to all the people who tell me they enjoy reading these Snippets. When somebody comes up to me and tells me that, I get all twisted up in my head and don’t know how to act. It happened to me a few times this past weekend. I feel gratified, but then I worry about how I’m going to keep up writing things that people enjoy reading. I guess that I’m just not used to being a celebrity, however minor. I’m heading toward the Barber Motorcycle Museum. I’ve heard so much about it, that I really want to see it for myself. I didn’t go through the Wheels Through Time Museum when I was close, and I regret that, so I don’t want to pass Barber by. I think I'll go to Jackson, Mississippi next. A friend of David’s is from there, and had nothing good to say about it. He recommended that I pass through to Vicksburg, which is a nicer place to visit. I have to at least drive through Jackson, though; it’s my family name. I’m also thinking that a cup of Chicory Coffee and Beignets in New Orleans might be a good reason to head in that direction after that. Hmmmm; we’ll see. (Message edited by Crusty on October 19, 2015) |
