Miss Suzy is finally coming home

[Bob Dahringer]

AKA as the conclusion to 2008's "Bobs go to **** Tour."
Long story short, last summer I did Part I of the tour which went from Sugar Land to Flin-Flon Manitoba to NYC; originally between part I and II, there was supposed to be a 30 day gap while I worked in NY.
Well......between an extended work schedule, a flat tire which led to a dead bike caused by an over-zealous power washer jockey at the dealer which led to an expensive tow back to the dealer which ultimately led me to fixing the bike myself, (new ECM) yada yada.... ..well lets just say Suzy spent alot of time residing in my parents garage on Long Island.
That all changed today; left Long Island at still-dark-o'clock (0515), passed thru Manhattan to Jersey via the Mid-Town Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel to I-80 west bound towards Pa.
Traffic was no problem and the fall foliage was great, but I dont think it wouldve photographed well due to heavy overcast, so sorry no foliage pix.
I made two stops in western Pa, the first was the Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, an incredible feat of railroad engineering dating back to the 1850's and still very much in use today.
My second stop, and the impetus for taking a route thru western Pa., was to pay my respects at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville.
Kinda sad that there is not a proper memorial on the site.
God bless all the innocent people that were on that flight.
The rest of the day was spent riding in the rain as far as Charleston W. Va., that was far 'nuff for the day.
Start 0510, finish at 1900, yes I use military time, thats 7 pm, ok?
Critter count: a few turkeys, only one deer, about a dozen flattened deer and enough flattened lesser critters to fill a pick up truck.
Miles made good: 666
Tunes of choice: XM Liquid Metal or 80's hair metal.
SPOT linky:http://jasonjonas.org/spot/tripViewer.do?id=3280, or the link in my sig. line
Pictures to follow, I swear. Bob

 

[cdc]

How has the weather been other than the rain?
Good luck with the trip.

 

[Squeaky]

YAY! We await Suzy's adventures (and yours of course) when you get back. Ride safe, and make sure Suzy plays nice with the "new kid" at home.

 

[M38A1]

Be safe mi amigo..... Looking forward to your tales of the trip home.

 

[Bob Dahringer]

Day 2 of the conclusion of Bobs go to %&@! tour.
I'm at a loss as how to write out the actual name of the town mentioned in the name of the tour
(%&@! Michigan) without gettin busted by the filter police.
Anywho.....
The day started out with heavy mist, fog and temps in the low 50's, which made me glad I started off with my heavy jacket, same as yesterday.
Didnt start till 0800 and rode till just about 1800, so between riding 4 hour less today and the route I took, I only ran 385 miles today.
I did manage to ride on some of W. Va's back roads, including the road thru the New River Gorge, very twisty to say the least.
I ran on I-68 a bit too, heck even that was decent, long sweeping curves, 7 & 8% grades that went for miles at a clip and done mostly in fog.
Early in the afternoon I was gonna stop to swap jackets, it had warmed up and the sun started to show thru, that thought lasted all but 10 minutes, the temps dropped and it started drizzling hear and there so the heavy jacket stayed on.
Ended the afternoon by putting on a few miles on the south end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but even I myself, the consumate slow poke, got tired of the 45 mph speed limit so I bailed on that in short order.
Stopped at a Mom n Pop motel in Maggie Valley for the evening, there is a museum nearby (Wheels Through Time) so I may hang around for awhile to see if it'll be open in the morning; if not, I'll continue south thru the Great Smoky Mts Park and west towards the Natchez Trace.
(I'm forgoing the Dragons Tail, been there, done that)
.....and as promised from yesterday a few pics...

Horseshoe Curve.
There are three sets of train tracks that pass that pass from one side of this valley to the other in a 220 deg. loop; this was done for the same reasoning there are switchbacks on hwy roads, to reduce the grade to be climbed.

Flight 93 Memorial, Shanksville, Pa.
Even after all the time that has passed since that awful day, this temporary memorial is all that is there to remember those who perished.
There are memorial markers placed by individuals and orginizations at the site, but its really no more than spot in the middle of a reclaimed strip mine, I think as a country we can do better.
IIRC, there was recently a settlement between Uncle and the property owner so maybe that will come to fruition.

Hwy 20, New River Gorge, W.Va.

New River at Hinton W.Va.

 

[Bob Dahringer]

Day 3 Maggie Valley NC to Chattanooga Tn.
Short on the miles for today, only 240
Today started off sunny and clear and a bit on the cool side, like 28 degrees.
Fortunately I didnt have that far to go this morning, just a few miles down the road to the Wheels Through Time museum, ended up spending almost 6 hours there.
I'm probably gonna do a seperate report about the museum, so for now all I can say about it is if you ever are in the area definitley it is worth stopping in to see. (keeping in mind that is exclusivley American motorcycles, mostly Harleys)
By the time I left in the afternoon, it had warmed up enough to break out the mesh jacket, then it was off to the Blue Ridge Parkway continuing on into the Great Smoky Mountains Park
The views in the park were incredible as was the traffic, I guess an autumn Sunday isnt a real good time to pass thru the park.
Passed thru Pigeon Forge enroute to the Foothills Pkwy., good Lord what a tourist trap from what I saw.
The Foothills Pkwy was great despite the 45 mph speed limit, prolly just as well, by the time I got onto the parkway it was nearing sunset, so there was a lot of riding into curves blinded by the sun.
Forest rat count for today: 0 guess theyre all hiding, thats ok by me.
No pics for today, computer is real slow uploading pics.