9R and I are in Greensburg, PA. Today was a long one, mostly due to our own navigational issues, but there were also some GPS issues. We left at 7:50 am and parked at 7:15pm. 305.3 miles, sad but true. We started the day by going the wrong way out of the hotel --- on us -- we followed someone else without knowing what our plan was. That is something I rarely do --- I have been frustrated because we have only been using GPS and turn by turn instructions. I need the big picture -- paper maps --- very hard to find around here and for some unknown reason, this AAA member did not think to get them ahead of time. I have in my map case tons of different maps for states south of us, and once we cross the Mississippi we are covered. I did not have NY, PA or OHIO. I do now. We finally got fed up after 2.5 hrs and went to Walmart. Maps in hand. After that, we were able to match turn by turn with the big picture, highlight and bingo. Another issue on us was that we didn't understand the punctuation in the turn by turns. I was reading something as "into" when it means "at". We are taking turns leading and have pretty much given up keeping track of missed turns. We are both still making them, but feeling like we "Got This". The nice thing is that we are both navigating now. So we have each other's backs.
Once we got out of NY -- things were good. We finally felt like we were headed WEST. The twilight zone is real and I could hear Rod Sterlings voice in my head. We left on July 3rd and went to Todd's cabin in NY for the night, then to MA. For the kick-off event, then back to Sayre -- which is actually in PA but barely. We stopped for fuel at the exact gas station in Nichol's that we did 2 days before, my GPS had a blue line, I had already been here. Just tried to type the theme song for the twilight zone out and failed......... Tired.
So much to say but exhausted -- will have to wax philosophically about the differences between solo riding and group riding another time.
Quick notes on yesterday's ride. Beautiful morning ride on "Jacob's Ladder" U.S. 20. It runs through the foothills of the Berkshires in western MA. I wanted to stop and get a picture and pulled off - there was a bit of a hill, so thinking of 9R on her big hog, now officially named "Betty the Beast", I keep on going down and pulled off on level ground. I thought she would follow me --- not. Betty went over........ Guess who is to blame...... Lol. Luckily the scout rider for the group ( we are self guided) came by and helped us get her up. She is a big girl.
We took a short detour outside of Schenectady to go visit Lisa's Aunt Fran and Uncle Dody. She hasn't seen them in 25 yrs. It was so great! Fun back roads, felt like going home. Seriously. Welcoming,natural and easy. Good stuff!! It was touching to see the long hugs as we said goodbye.
Good Night........ And quick question --- who brings a back scratcher on a cross country trip? 9R ---- YES.
I completely forgot about the highlight of our day ---- we met Punxsutawney Phil. See photo at top.
Once we got out of NY -- things were good. We finally felt like we were headed WEST. The twilight zone is real and I could hear Rod Sterlings voice in my head. We left on July 3rd and went to Todd's cabin in NY for the night, then to MA. For the kick-off event, then back to Sayre -- which is actually in PA but barely. We stopped for fuel at the exact gas station in Nichol's that we did 2 days before, my GPS had a blue line, I had already been here. Just tried to type the theme song for the twilight zone out and failed......... Tired.
So much to say but exhausted -- will have to wax philosophically about the differences between solo riding and group riding another time.
Quick notes on yesterday's ride. Beautiful morning ride on "Jacob's Ladder" U.S. 20. It runs through the foothills of the Berkshires in western MA. I wanted to stop and get a picture and pulled off - there was a bit of a hill, so thinking of 9R on her big hog, now officially named "Betty the Beast", I keep on going down and pulled off on level ground. I thought she would follow me --- not. Betty went over........ Guess who is to blame...... Lol. Luckily the scout rider for the group ( we are self guided) came by and helped us get her up. She is a big girl.
We took a short detour outside of Schenectady to go visit Lisa's Aunt Fran and Uncle Dody. She hasn't seen them in 25 yrs. It was so great! Fun back roads, felt like going home. Seriously. Welcoming,natural and easy. Good stuff!! It was touching to see the long hugs as we said goodbye.
Good Night........ And quick question --- who brings a back scratcher on a cross country trip? 9R ---- YES.
I completely forgot about the highlight of our day ---- we met Punxsutawney Phil. See photo at top.
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