Days 29-31, October 30 to November 1 - At Cherry Hill, NJ and then back home - 321 miles

I know, I know. It has taken me a few days to get this post created. For a month, I had been inhabiting a world filled with moments of excitement, reflection and some anxiety. Once home, I found that it was over. I guess I've been mentally resisting this final post for the trip, but here it is:

One of the big events for this weekend was the birthday party planned for Noah (age 3 on 10/28) and me (age 66 on 10/24). We went out to a very fine Greek restaurant in Cherry Hill with the big family which included: Meredith, Meghan, Noah, Peggy & Dennis Pitzer (Meghan's Mom and Dad), Beth, Mary-Kay (my sister...in Philadelphia to produce and direct a play), and me. What fun!

After the restaurant, it was back to the house for cake and presents: 

An Elmo hat was required at this event. Noah and I managed to get our candles extinguished. My wish was fulfilled, FWIW.

Next day was Halloween. I didn't engage in the TorTing, but Noah did. Noah was no fading violet regarding the requisite question, and soon had a haul of refined carbs. Here he is in action:

He really liked these blowup friends: 

Well, Monday morning 11/1 arrived, and after saying goodbye to Cherry Hill, it was time to head home again. The temperature was 45F at my starting point, rose to about 53F somewhere in CT, and then was back to 45F by the time I arrived home 321 miles later. I chose the Tappan Zee Bridge route, and then went up the Merritt Parkway to I-91 to I-84 to I-90. I had to stop in Stamford, CT at a Walgreens to get those nearly-useless foot warmers as my feet were getting cold. Otherwise, thanks to Gerbing's clothing, I was toasty. 

I was glad to be home, but sad that the adventure was at an end. I was trying to explain to someone the dichotomy of the sense of grief I felt at the end that I was not out on the road, atop the BMW, contrasted with the feeling of relief that I was not doing that very thing. How odd.  Candidly, it has taken me a few days to gain any sense of perspective about this. I think my head is back in Brookline now, but I did take the bike out today (Sunday) for a few miles to see if I still liked it. I did. I'm already thinking about the next trip.

One final bit of information. While I was traveling, Karin Heymer of Canyon, TX (see reference below) made contact with the managing editor of "The Canyon News," a twice-weekly newspaper in Canyon, TX to interview me about my journey. James Barrington and I had a nice chat, and a few days later (on my birthday 10/24 no less) I was a front page item on the Canyon News.

I'm sure you can't read the article here, but the URL for these two pages is here, and I believe you'll be able to read it: 

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgamelpi/CanyonNews10242010#

There are so many people who helped me with this, and I do know how to begin to thank everyone: 

Karin Heymer - She took my first 'phone call at the Registrar's Office at WTAMU in 2003 and took enough interest in my project to send me all kinds of information, and truly was the catalyst for it all. The photographs of my father in his early 20's from the WTSC yearbooks have been very important. If it weren't for Karin, I'd have never have seen them.

My wife Beth - Who has put up with my sometimes-crazy ideas for 42 years, and was tolerant of and encouraging of this one.

Family members who put up with me for a night or two, fed me and actually seemed to enjoy my incessant stories - Meredith, Meghan, & Noah, Carola & Stu Cohn, Jane, Jared, Ethan & Rob Trescott, Rita & Dan Cohn,  Alissa, Matt & Elena Thornton, and finally MM&N again. 

Yankee Beemers members who gave me advice and help throughout: Roy Bertalotto, Mike Valentin (Texas), and Sandy Becker (North Carolina)...as well as all those who told me about the wonders of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Steve Munden - my Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor at the Central Mass. Safety Council who helped me understand the stuff I never learned about motorcycle-riding 40 years ago, who helped me try to master cornering techniques, who monitored this blog, and as a result gave me a few mid-course corrections which saved my life a couple of times, I'm sure.

Martin Hensel, my Ducati/BMW riding pal who helped me understand what was possible and encouraged me to go for it. 

It has certainly been a long, but not strange trip. I'm sad that it's over, but am already thinking about the next one...

John, aka Dad

Day 28 - October 29 - Bethesda, MD to Cherry Hill, NJ - 143 miles

It seems that this whole adventure is about to end. I'm now in Cherry Hill, NJ. Candidly, the crosswinds I encountered on the road today made this day one of the most difficult of the trip. The semi-trailers on I-95 were so troubled by the winds, that most were in the Northbound right-hand travel lane, being blown occasionally into the breakdown lane. Recalling the drama of winds on the Delaware Memorial Bridge from Day 2, I avoided that route, went through Philadelphia, across the Betsy Ross Bridge, and into New Jersey.

Soon I was with our daughter Meredith, her partner Meghan, and grandson Noah. We're to have a  big birthday party on Saturday the 30th where Noah (age 3 on 10/28), and I (age 66 on 10/24) will be honored.  Of course, Noah is costume-fixated these days. Here's a shot of him with some interesting makeup on:

A couple of days here in Cherry Hill, and then on Monday, 11/1, the last leg of the trip...about 330 miles back to Brookline.

Day 27 - October 28 - Wake Forest, NC to Bethesda, MD - 270 miles

I was up early this morning, and had a very fine pre-ride breakfast with Dan and Rita. Everyone gave me the advice to get into Bethesda, and off the roads around Washington, DC before 2PM when the traffic starts to build.

I followed orders, riding along parts of US Route 1, Interstates 85 and 95, and finally 495. Not much traffic on 1 and 85, but a lot on 95. Those readers who ride motorcycles know that being around big semi-trailer trucks almost anywhere can be dangerous. Generally, the idea is to stay far enough behind them (at least 200 feet). The idea is that at that distance the driver would probably be able to see a motorcycle rider in his rear-view mirrors. Also, the air turbulence associated with the big rigs, while still present, is minimized. I addition, I tend to want to get past them to minimize my exposure to the turbulence, but also to minimize any possibility of  my being exposed to tires coming apart, as they're prone to do. On this trip, I have found most drivers of interstate trucks to drive very predictably, and reasonably.

My only real moment of drama (other than when I crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge on Day 2), was when a driver of a Mercury Sable just north of Richmond, VA on I-95 zoomed past me on the right, then immediately, decided to occupy the space I had in my lane. Hard braking and a loud horn kept us out of contact, and sent her back into her lane. Whew.

Soon I was in Bethesda, spending time with Beth's niece Alissa Thornton, her daughter Elena, and her husband Matt Thornton. We have a very fine dinner at Guapo's Tex-Mex restaurant, which I can highly recommend if you're in the area.

Days 25 & 26 - October 26 & 27 - Greenville, SC to Wake Forest, NC - 270 miles...and then at Wake Forest

The trip up from Greenvile, SC to Wake Forest, NC was OK. Lots of clouds, and it looked like it could rain at any moment all the way. Finally, I arrived after mostly-Interstate travel.

My hostess was Beth's cousin Jane Trescott, and her two boys, Ethan and Jared. Jared was really interested in my BMW, and so I put it up on the center stand, and let him and his neighborhood friends try it out. Sadly, I did not get any photos of this, but Jane did, so perhaps I'll be able to integrate some into the blog later.

I spent much of the these two days visiting with Jane, her friends on Hidden Jewel Lane, and Beth's Uncle Dan and Aunt Rita. I did give Jared a ride around the neighborhood, which he seemed to like a lot.

Next stop...Bethesda, MD and more family.

Days 23 & 24 - October 24 & 25- At Greenville, SC

   I had an appointment with some folks on Monday October 25 at the BMW Car Club of America, which has its headquarters in Greenville, SC. Overnight, a front came through, the skies opened, and it was clear to me that I wasn't going to Downtown Greenville with that much rain falling. Dwayne Mosely (a fellow BMW CCA ombudsman) picked me up in his very nice M3, and we had a very fine meeting at the BMW CCA.

I had planned to head for Wake Forest, NC after the meeting, but the rain deterred me. I asked the hotel to put up with me for another night, and of course, they did.  Then, just about one PM, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the sky was blue. Ah well.

For those who don't know, BMW has a major automobile-production plant just outside of Greenville. The company produces X5, X6 SAVs and is just adding X3 vehicles (formerly made in Europe) to those produced there. I went out to see if I could get a plant tour, but was out of luck because of the introduction of the new X3 to dealers and the motoring press. The BMW Zentrum Museum was open, and I made a couple of photos of that place:

All in all, just an OK place. Probably the plant tour would be a pretty good thing to see...but the museum...a little lame.

Next...on to Wake Forest.

Day 22 - October 23 - Bremen, GA to Greenville, SC - 220 miles

 My luck with good weather continued. I was mostly on Interstates this day, and left to get some water to drink. I stopped at a little place in Gerogia near an exit which catered mostly to truckers. The shop consisted of about 50% devoted to snacks, etc. and another 50% devoted to items which a trucker could put on his rig to shine it up a bit. Lots of chrome and reflectors.

   I had a pleasant chat with a Harley-riding fellow by the name of Terry Gibbs. Seems Terry decided to take the afternoon off and meet some fellow riders so that they could tool around for a few hours. We discussed bikes and different philosophies regarding protective gear. He was riding a very nice 2002 while Ultra-Glide. Seems his wife is not really interested in riding on the very nice passenger seat for more than about ten miles, thus he spends most of his time solo. He's been in the business of supplying wheels to the manufacturers of small trailers in the South, and has been doing this for 27 years. He said business was good.

   We discussed route to take to get to Greenville, SC, which was my goal for the day. He suggested that I stay on the Interstate for a bit, then go down through a town named Livonia, then head over to Hartwell to see the dam and the lake there. I thanked, him, mounted up and was off.

     Candidly, Livonia was a nice little town, but the most interesting thing to me was a small lot near the center of town which was filled with old cars and trucks, many in OK shape, and apparently available for sale. Here's a couple of photos I made while sitting on the bike:

  

A very odd little collection...

Anyway, I was soon in Hartwell (near the dam) which is a very pretty little town. Here's a shot of the downtown area:

  

I drove a few more miles, and came to the dam. I'm a sucker for civil engineering, so I wanted to see this place. Created by the US Army Corps of Engineers, it's a dam to aid in flood control, but also, it will produce hydropower. It controls the flow of the Savannah River, covers an area of 56,000 acres and has 962 miles of shoreline. Here's what it looked like on this day when I stopped by. Did not seem to be much hydropower production underway, alas:

A lot of people seem to use the dam, and the lake as a spot for fishing. Here are a couple of shots (made from the South Carolina side), of that kind of activity...as well as some boating on Hartwell Lake:

I spoke with the man and wife in the last photo who told me that they mostly catch bass, and bream at this location. I counted about ten people making the long walk to the dam along this walk where they'll go fishing.

     Then, I was back on the bike, and soon was in Greenville, SC.

Day 21 - October 22 - Hamilton, AL to Bremen, GA - 214 miles

     I was out of the Key West Inn in Hamilton pretty early. Breakfast at the Huddle House next door left me caffeine-deprived. My short-term goal for the day was the "Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum" in Birmingham (actually Leeds), Alabama.

    Now some readers may know that I put a lot of trust in Garmin and Google Maps to get me to various places, tell me distances, etc., etc. My experience is that generally, I can put "Starbucks" into either my bike-mounted Garmin StreetPilot 2820 or my BlackBerry Bold and get a reasonably-accurate result. Hard to believe, I know, but both sent me to a street corner in Birmingham, Alabama, behind the Social Security Administration building there. If this blog were destined for a more youthful audience, I'd spell out what I was saying, but you know: "WTF??"

   I gave up, went across Birmingham, and stopped at a McDonald's where everyone seemed to be angry, and the manager was reading out a list of failures of the staff while customers waited: "DJ - Your score is 30...what happened?...Jimmy, you got a 49...why'd you go down?..." Woh. Coffee was OK. Sun was out. It was a very nice day outside that place and soon I was too.

    On to Leeds, and the Barber Museum. Candidly, I had never heard of this place until Roy Bertolotto told me about it. Roy's the President of Yankee Beemers (my motorcycle club). The satirical motto of the club is: "Ride to Eat...Eat to Ride." Anyway, long before I started this trek, I asked for advice from Roy. He told me that I should not miss the Barber Museum in Birmingham, AL.

    Finally, about seven months after I heard about it, and I was there:

Fail me for my lust to see gorgeous motorcycles, but I can't tell you how this place came into existence, nor who financed it but there are motorcycles here such as you've never seen before:

Five floors of them...old to new, simple to exotic, pristine condition, achingly beautiful. Here are just a few of the 750 (!) motorcycles on display (and 700+ are in storage, rotating into and out of the collection):

(I'm a former Navy guy, but where did the Navy expect to use this nice machine?) 

I love digital photography. I made about 100 photos here of things I thought were interesting (I'm breathing hard as I write this). I could have made many more. Time to calm down.

    When I arrived at the Barber Museum, I saw that there was a circle outside where visitors' motorcycles were parked. I spoke with Dan Smothers who is a member of the security staff and a former deputy sheriff. I asked if my bike would be OK there with my luggage, etc. left on it. Dan (who is about 2 inches taller than me) said: " I don't think it will be a problem. We've never had a theft from a motorcycle here, and won't." Serious guy. He also told me there was a gear room inside for my helmet, gloves and tank bag. Very, very nice, and motorcycle-friendly.

     Here's the circle outside the museum:

Of course, I parked next to another BMW RT (albeit a 2010 model) from Missouri. Note the parking signs between the two bikes.

   As I made it through the collection ("Start at the top and work your way down") I ran into Dan again. He said that the museum might be expanding, so that more of the motorcycles (and Lotus cars...the largest collection in the world) might be displayed. Stupid me didn't take a photo, but there is a road course for cars and motorcycles which is on the property in which 20 identical Porsches were taking driving instruction as I watched.

    I learned also that next Fall (2011) there will be a BMW rally at the Barber location. Start making plans now, you Beemerfolks!

    Now the scary part (but only briefly scary). I'd left Leeds, and was headed East at 72mph. As the shadows grew longer, I suddenly felt the need to get my sunglasses off, and the clear glasses on. I got off the Interstate, stopped, made the switch, and got back on. Within 30 seconds I was involved in a major slowdown, and in short order was stopped completely on the road. For 30 minutes I and a whole bunch of other people waited while multiple ambulances arrived at a crash scene 50 yards in front of us (but they didn't leave right away-a clue as we used to say), fire trucks arrived, Alabama State Troopers arrived. Finally, our side was let through. Bad stuff for sure.  I was now into the hours of near-darkness, a time when motorcyclists know that deer are can be on the road. Choosing speed over caution, I zoomed (don't ask me how fast) the 19 miles to Bremen, GA to stop for the night.