Going Home & American Pie-Saturday July 2

I drove 333 miles today. The total trip was 8,382 miles. About 1300 miles further than I thought I would go and not one ticket, that I know of & only several near accidents. I left East Liverpool early today (no reason to prolong my displeasure with this part of the country). As I crossed over the Ohio River bridge I crossed into Chester, WV. Within 15 minutes I crossed into Pennsylvania on US 30E towards Pittsburgh. Unfortunately I missed my turn at Potato Garden Run Rd., but I did see a sign for "Far Wood 4 Sale" though. I eventually connected with 376 around the city. I jumped onto 79S towards Morgantown, WV & passed thru Presto, Washington & Waynesburg,PA before looping around Morgantown onto 68E. I passed over Cheat Lake which had lots of boats on it. This stretch of road is hilly & has lots of trees, but it was hazy & hot. After passing thru Hopewell (good thought) I got gas at Bruceton Mills, WV. As I stood in the entry way of the restaurant drinking a Gatorade I was amazed at all of the people that were smoking & snuffed out their cigarettes before entering the Sandy's Restaurant. It's no wonder half of them were on oxygen. Further on down the road I passed thru Friendsville & Grantsville where it intersects with 40-National Pike, a very scenic road that heads northwest into Pennsylvania. I crossed thru the Cumberland Gap & headed for Weaver's Restaurant in Hancock, MD. Weaver's makes the best Wild Berry Pie & I had to have a piece for my lunch before I got home. I once had my 1995 Harley Davidson Dyna Super Glide breakdown in Hancock & I had the bike shipped to Frederick to be fixed. I hitch hiked home in the rain. It was a long day. Stop by Weaver's & you will see what I mean about the pie. On the way east I passed by Sleepy Creek (time for a nap) & just south of Funkstown. I was now on 70 heading toward Frederick, MD where the traffic density & speed picked up. Down 270 I flew heading home. When I got to the 495 Beltway it reminded me of LA & its race car roads. I got off at Springfield, VA to get gas & had a women pull out & almost t-bone me. Further on down Franconia Rd. I had a car pull over in my lane while they were talking on their cell phone. Welcome to the worse drivers in the US. I cut over to George Washington Parkway to finish my drive home & as soon as I turned into Villamay, my neighborhood, there was a police car sitting on the corner. Had the Bad Man from the Badlands been caught? Nope, just sitting there in the shade. I revved the engine several times coming up my street & Mischief & Tracy came out to greet me as I rolled up to our house. Tracy had prepared a welcoming sign "WELLCOME HOME". I guess she forgot to use spellcheck. It was funny. I scratched behind my dog's ears & got a hug & got off the bike done with my trip across America, but not forgotten. Lots of people ask me what my favorite part was & if I would do it again. Driving thru Montana & Wyoming,parts of California, New Mexico & Washington was great, the national parks were awesome, the bison fondue in Missoula & Whitehouse Crawford meals were excellent, just riding thru such a pretty & vast country was something I was glad to experience. Lots of people were real friendly & I especially Thank Gordon, Leslie, Scott, Sue, Lou, Carol, my brother Tony, Tracy & Mischief for helping out & inspiring me on the trip. I would do it again, but only if I'm riding with someone else. I needed somebody to talk over directions, joke with, share the ride & have a drink with at night. But I hope to go back to a number of the places I passed thru & maybe there will be a Mischief's Wild Ride Part Two to share with you. Here's to Wind In Your Face & a cool dry breeze every once in a while. The ride made me appreciate even more what we have here that can't be found anywhere else in the world. Keep the bike up & spirits high. Thanks America for the opportunity to enjoy you first hand.

The Question is-should they dredge Ohio & make it part of Lake Erie? Friday July 1

I drove 336 miles today. After some blueberry pancakes from Carol I left Lou's place & got on 94S towards Detroit. I got on 275S, passed the Tigers Co-America Ball Park & jumped on 75S thru the chemical & manufacturing areas around the city. Lots of very large car plants are closed with empty parking lots. Traffic was moving at 75-80MPH, but it was more civilized than around LA-the cars were probably 60 feet apart instead of 20 ft. I passed the familiar nuclear cooling stacks at Monroe, MI & got on 475S around Toledo, OH. At Rossford, OH I stopped at a Subway & watched a tow truck operator with the local police break into a van & haul it away & somebody in cuffs. As long as it wasn't me it was just entertainment. I passed thru Bowling Green on the way to Findlay, OH & turned east at 224. I rode thru the Ohio countryside, sort of like passing thru Arkansas, but less hills. I passed thru Greenwich, Homerville & Lodi finally entered Akron, OH. I turned south on 277 & passed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. I went east on 172 & thought it would be nice to see part of the countryside so I got on 30E. Lots of hills, forest & turns. It was very pretty, but slow going. It's the kind of road where you come to the top of the hill & you can't tell which direction the road is headed so you can't go too fast. I was sort of concerned about deer too. I pulled into a gravel parking lot in Hanoverton, OH at Pinky's Restaurant-home to "world famous fish, steak, etc., etc." & almost went in to check it out. It was starting to get late & I thought better of it. Good thing I did because I had a lot of twisty road to drive yet before I got out of the woods. I finally linked back up with 172E, passed thru Lisbon, OH & went south on 11 towards East Liverpool, OH. I, being naive, thought it would be nice to spend my last night in East Liverpool vs. going onto Pittsburgh. There was lots of road construction & when I exited the highway I had to drop off a 4" lip on the new asphalt. I stopped on a side street to check out the hotels & had another biker stop & ask if I needed directions. I told him I was looking for a hotel & he said I ought to go to West Virginia instead of staying. I decided to go to the East Liverpool Motor Lodge. Yelp gave it a 3 star rating. I guess that rating was based on Ohio standards, i.e., not very high. I put the bike under the overhang in front & got a room. I had to walk about 75 yards to get to it down a long dingy hallway. My room was OK although I was waiting for crawly things to come out of the bathroom. I went to their restaurant, T-Bone, supposedly the best in the area. Maybe it was, but my salad had spoiled lettuce in it. I almost walked out. Instead I ate my steak then asked one waitress if she would eat that mess. She said no, but didn't apologize. When my regular waitress came by I asked her why she didn't apologize & her response was "Well you didn't ask for another salad so I thought it was OK". I gave her the least amount of a tip of the whole trip. I was feeling a bit edgey so I went into the bar and had 3 Maker's Marks & coke. That settled down my nerves. I'm still going to go on Yelp & let everyone know what happened at that dump. It would not have been so bad, but it still cost me $80 for the night. I did get to play two games of pinball on the way back to the room though. Only one more day to go & I would see my dog, Mischief and Tracy.

Escaping Illinois & Visiting Old Haunts-Thursday June 30

I drove 369 hot miles today. It was hot when I left my brother's place in Antioch, IL and I crossed some side roads to get to 94S. I had to gas up & lather up with suntan lotion at an Oasis north of Chicago. I watcheda guy standing in line for McDonalds actually yell at the counter help since they messed up his order. Must have been having a bad day. Traffic was heavy & moving fast. I had to pay 4 tolls on the way to Chicago, but luckily it was only 80 cents each time (my only tolls of the trip). Stopping to pay tolls on a bike is a nuisance. I don't have a change holder on the bike so I have to dig it out of my pocket each time. Then you have to put change back in your pocket while wearing gloves, taking the bike out of gear & making sure the whole time you don't drop your money. All the while cars are zooming around and it's hot. I finally got around Chicago on 294 & headed for Indiana & east. I passed that lovely city of Gary, IN & turned north into Michigan & followed 94E. I passed Kalamazoo, Paw Paw, Texas, skirted Ann Arbor, passed Superior & hopped on 275N to 696E. Caught a big traffic jam near Ann Arbor & cooked in the sun. After getting on 94N I got off at Garfield Rd. & followed that to 19 Mile Rd. to my friends' Lou & Carol's place. The roads in Michigan seem like they've been bombed with all the holes & bumps in them. Very hard on the bike and dangerous. I parked the bike & we went out to dinner. Lou recently had shoulder surgery so we decided not to get in any fights while we were out. I had a lake perch sandwich & a Michigan Salad that included dried cherries, pineapple, mandarin orange & greens. I was ready to rest for the evening & dream of coming home.