Fluffy Forest

Today started out a little strange. I woke up around 8:20 and immediately wondered if my girl was getting on a plane in Atlanta. So, I got dressed and went out for a smoke and call Mandy.

I was relieved to hear that she had slept a few hours on a bench in the airport and she was about to board her plane in spite of the fact that the first class ticket they had given her the night before was for a different person and had been torn up when she tried to use it. (Who runs these things, really?!) She told me later that when she got on the plane one of the other passengers had said, "Oh good, she got on!" That would have been a nice thing to hear after feeling so alone in the airport all night.

In my relief I went back to bed to lay down for a bit, and thought to myself, "Maybe I should just stay up and…" and, well, the next thing I knew it was noon. I guess I needed the sleep.

I got up, made some coffee, and started to wake up. I knew that I wanted to get to a specific town in Pennsylvania today, but I was a little worried given my unintended late start, but for some reason I didn't panic. I just took my time getting things together, talked with Angie and Ryan, and finally left around 3pm. (By the way, Angie is Mandy's best friend, and Ryan is her boyfriend. That's where they come in to this whole thing. And I want to thank them for the incredible hospitality, it was like being at home on the other side of the country.)

So I got on the road again headed south. Once I got out of town I noticed only one thing - Mandy wasn't there. I couldn't reach down and squeeze her calf to say "hello", and her arms never wrapped around me going into a corner. I was missing her terribly already!

As I continued on the sadness didn't go away, but I did get distracted by the change in scenery approaching the state line. The road started to get more narrow and twisty, and the forest thickened all around. I have never seen a forest as dense as what I rode through today. It was amazing. I got one photo that sort of shows what I saw:

The best way I can think to describe the real-life look of it is to liken it to a well-manicured juniper bush. You know, the ones that look like they would be nice and soft to roll around on? Only it was entire hillsides that looked like a giant, green, fluffy pillow. And where the woods met the road looked like walls had been cut out. When I looked to the side into the forest I was lucky to see twenty feet in. Incredible!

Through northern Pennsylvania there were still several small towns, (They call them hamlets, villages and townships out here) and beautiful old brick buildings to look at. I stopped for gas in Ridgway, PA and talked for a minute with a couple of guys on Harleys. When I told them I was from Seattle one of them said, "What the hell are you doing in Ridgway. Pennsylvania?"

I responded, "Just going for a little cruise."

We all had a good chuckle and I told them about the trip. They admired my bike, and made sure to tell just how envious they were, repeatedly.

Shortly after Ridgway I was forced onto I-80 for about 30 miles, and they were long miles. I had forgotten what it was like to battle with the trucks and other cars because Mandy and I had done such a good job staying on little country roads in New York. The only highlight was that I got to chuckle at the "highest point on I-80 east of the Mississippi - 2250 ft". That was a good laugh given the 9000 foot passes I crossed to get out of California.

I was, however, happy that I had gotten on I-80 because I pulled in to Snow Shoe, PA just in time for the 8 o'clock meeting. I had seen Snow Show ion the map yesterday and knew that I had to get to that meeting if I could, and I was pleased that I did.

The meeting was full of laughter and fun, and the topic was being stuck in our own heads (they called it camping out in their heads…) What a perfect topic for me to hear about again. As always, the solution we discussed was a combination of prayer, meetings, getting busy with something, and working with someone else. Thanks for the reminder, Snow Shoe!

Ice Cream Days

Alright, it's been a couple of days and a lot has happened, so bear with me. I apologize for being late with the posts, but Mandy kept me quite nicely distracted!

The day we left Old Forge began peacefully in our campsite at Nicks Lake, but started to get a little strange as soon as we got to town for breakfast. We couldn't find a place that advertised breakfast, so we tried Walt's Diner thinking that a diner would have breakfast. We were right, they did have breakfast, but only until 11:00 and it was 11:13, so no breakfast for us. The service was marginal and we paid far too much for the little sandwiches we got, but we were fed, and that was the point.

Our bellies were full-ish, so we headed out of town and stopped for gas. I pulled up and started filling the tank. I spaced off for a bit and then looked over at the gallon counter on the pump and it was a little past 5.5 gallons and I thought, "It can't possibly be taking that much…" Then I looked at the bike and the gas was pouring out all over the bike! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! I began to panic and Mandy stood flabbergasted and not knowing what to do, then she went to get paper towels. Just as I was starting to make some progress with the towels a guy there to fix another pump said, "Did that nozzle not shut off?"

"Nope, just dumped all over my bike," I told him shrugging my shoulders

"Well, here," he said handing me a box of heftier paper towels.

Things were looking up a bit because someone had extended some help to someone, and I appreciated it greatly. Later, after drying off the bike and cleaning myself up I went to tell the attendant inside that the pump had failed to shut off and she responded, "Again? The guy just fixed it a couple of days ago." I know that was meant to make me feel a little better, but it made me feel like they were more neglectful than before. I wasn't exactly angry, but I wasn't happy about the situation either.

We sat around for a bit and waited for the rest of the spill to evaporate before getting back on the bike to leave. When we got on the road and didn't burst into flames I was feeling better. We were moving again and the scenery was nice. We had decided to backtrack a little bit and then cut over to the shore of Lake Ontario, so we headed toward Camden via Florence. Things were going along just fine up to this point:

Seemed harmless enough until I got to the corner and saw this:

Now, some of you will remember my adventures leaving Tucson. Granted, the wildlife in New York is not nearly as dangerous as the deserts of Arizona, but I was not in for having a repeat performance of that day, especially not with Mandy on the bike.

So we turned around and went around the little hill on roads that were not only paved, but painted too! We wound up Westdale and needed a break, so we stopped for ice cream cones. (Ice cream became my favorite tradition with Mandy on this trip. It was awesome!)

After the sweet treat we pressed on toward Oswego, and things started to get even weirder. A little way out of Westdale there were couple of bikes ahead of me going a little under the speed limit, so I passed them. As I was passing Mandy waved, like she always does, and the guy flipped us off! I will never know why he did that. Maybe it was the BMW, maybe the yellow jackets, maybe because we passed him, I have no idea, but I do know that I am grateful that I got to sleep with my untroubled head that night, and not his. I knew I had done nothing wrong, and that was a comfort.

The rest of the ride to Oswego was short, and uneventful, but it was getting hotter out. We had planned to go to a 5:30 meeting in town, but when we got there realized that food was far more important. We got some sandwiches and ate in the parking lot of the grocery store. Not ideal, but functional.

Afterward we decided that we would try to make the 7pm meeting instead. We had time to ride down to Fair Haven State Park and see about a campsite and off we went. Once out of town we started to cool off a bit and felt better about where we were, and just then a bird flew out of the bushes and right into the side of the bike. I am not sure who hit who, but we crossed paths at the wrong time. Mandy said she had turned around to see the bird roll in the road a little bit, and I was glad to hear that it was not suffering.

The woman I talked to at the park seemed convinced that I did not want to register for a site at that time because I wasn't going to pay, when in reality we just needed to get back to town for the meeting. I left with a sort of ill feeling about the park staff, but knew that the place looked nice and had showers so we would still stay there.

Back in town there was some kind of a fair happening on the downtown street with the meeting so we parked the bike and hiked in to the meeting. We both noticed that the people of Oswego seemed a little off. I may have imagined this, but I am pretty sure I have never seen so many people with physical and mental disabilities in one place, and I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Plant near town. As we entered the door to go up the stairs into the meeting there was a guy, who was clearly high on something, in the way and stared at us with a vacant stare. He mumbled something to us as we walked by, and I felt uncomfortable.

The meeting was the Oak Hill group. It was a small meeting and we both got to hear about and talk about things that we needed. It was nice to be in a place with family for a bit.

After the meeting we left and had some more strange encounters with people. There was another kid who was high that wanted a cigarette and wanted to tell us about the tattoo he was going to get. His eyes looked in two different directions and his ears had two different size earrings in them. He made me nervous, and I wanted him to go away, but he kept talking for a little while.

While we were getting ready to get on the bike woman saw Mandy's jacket and then tried to sell her another one. Who does that? I mean, she was wearing a jacket. What makes her think she needs another one? Mandy was polite and said that she want interested, and then the woman made a comment as she was getting in her car that sounded like, "Jeez, I was just trying to sell it to her." Don't ever go to Oswego, NY if it can be avoided…

So we left town and went back to the park and found a campsite. We set up the tent and started to get situated and I went down to the office to pay for the site. When I got back to the site someone had pulled a trailer into our site! I asked if I could help him, and he told me that he had reserved the site for the night. I told him that I had been told a few hours before that I should pick a site and come back and pay them for it, so I did, but he insisted that he had reserved that site, and that we should move.

So I walked out onto the road to see if there was another site nearby and that's when things finally turned around for the day. The man across the way came out onto the road and said that we were more than welcome to move our tent in behind his trailer. He said that it was ridiculous that someone would come in and insist that someone move out of a site, and that he would love to help us out. Thank Dude! So he, Danny, and his wife, Jacque, helped us to move our things over, chatted for a minute and then left us to ourselves. The folks next door also offered their chairs and fire to us since they were going to bed. It was a great gesture of humanity and it saved our day. Thanks Jacque, Danny, and the family next door!

On top of the good natured folks letting us stay we also got a refund for the site that had been taken from us, so we got to camp for free! I guess the office woman's fears from earlier were all for naught, because we didn't have to pay anyway.

The next morning it was raining when we got up, but it didn't much matter. We were headed back to Buffalo and would be able to dry things off, and we had been reassured of the goodness of people the night before. We didn't spend much time at camp, and went into Fair Haven to find some breakfast. We found a place with a sign out front advertising waffles, pancakes, and french toast, so in we went. It turns out that the place is an antique shop, a cafe, and has a studio apartment upstairs for rent. The woman working there explained that she was buying the place and that breakfast was all they were serving. Hooray, we had wanted a good breakfast for days!

She took our order, and then went back to make our breakfast. We actually got to talk to the person who made our food, it was awesome! Not only was the service perfect, but the food was indescribable! The best breakfast I have eaten on the trip. (Minus the eggs Mandy made in Buffalo, those were off the charts.) It was the perfect way to start our final day on the road together and we were thankful!

The ride for the day was mostly a straight shot on HWY 104, and mostly peaceful and easygoing. We did, however, stop for some fruit at a roadside stand somewhere near Ridgeway, and man, was it worth it. We bought a couple of peaches and a pint of cherries and they were all wonderful.

While we were eating some cherries and old man came up and started talking to us. He explained that he was the third generation of his family to work the land and that they owned all the land from "that tree down there to the cemetery." He was about to turn 89 and he was still as peppy and active as anyone else at the stand. He stood and talked to us for at least five minutes, chewing the same cheery pit the whole time. He said that he had always talked too much, and that he was sorry for boring us, and walked away. He returned a few minutes later with two more peaches and told us to enjoy them, but not to let them sit in the sun or they would turn to mush. We ate them the next day and they were more wonderful than the two we had picked. I guess 89 years around fruit makes you a pretty good judge…

Once we were back in Buffalo we went out to a meeting at the Serenity Shack. It was another experience of being in the right place at the right time. The three other guys in the room were the perfect ones to be there for us. The meeting was small, homey, and comfortable, exactly what we needed after the day before. Thanks, Paul (Pink-Cloud-Double-Dipping-Uncle Paul), Mike, and Larry!

We then went and got dinner and our daily ice cream cone, only this time it was frozen custard, something I had heard a lot about but never tried. It was amazing! I have never had soft serve that was so good!

When we were leaving the ice cream stand I saw this:

I have no idea what it means or why it's there, but it was something that I had to share with all of you.

Mandy and I had another great evening together here in Buffalo just relaxing together and soaking up the last bit of time we had together. It was wonderful.

Today was relaxed and sad. The morning and early afternoon were spent mostly relaxing with Mandy. And interesting thing happened though, we were able to talk about what we were feeling about being apart again. We both got to say that we felt sad about leaving each other again, but that we knew we could do it for another 29 days because we had done it before. We talked about my thoughts about just ending the trip now and heading home (Don't worry, I'm not going to), feeling that there was something sort of magical about the distance for the first leg of the trip, and that really neither of us wanted to be without the other one. It was wonderful to talk so freely and openly about the way we felt.

After I dropped Mandy at the airport (with only a few tears this time) I went to another meeting over at the Serenity Shack. The guys from last night weren't there, but there were two new people. Something remarkable happens in a room of us when a new person is there, and I love it. I love to be around a bunch of folks who are all in it just to help someone! Amazing!

It turns out that Mandy has been stranded in Atlanta airport for the night, and will not get home until tomorrow. I love it when the airlines overbook flights and then have to kick people off! That business strategy doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess that's why I am out on the road writing and not in an executive chair.

As for me, I am well rested and ready to get headed out on the next leg of the journey! 

I have a lake!

This morning we woke up late and hung around the hotel until they called to kick us out just after noon. It was nice to continue taking it slow and relax.

We left town around 1:30 after breakfast (the best food either of us have ever had at Denny's) and had a leisurely ride through mountain (at least that is what they call them here) roads and more quaint little towns. We stopped in Boonville to get stamps at the Post Office. It was a nice little town, but there was a sign coming into town that said, "Christians Unite Against Abortion," and a sign on a church about celebrating 200 years in Christ or something like that. Now I'm open minded and all of that, but I was a little freaked out. On top of that, no one talked to us when they passed us on the street, but just looked at us a little sideways. It was a little un-nerving.

Leaving Boonville we crossed the Moose river, it was beautiful, and I had to stop for a photo:

From Boonville to Old Forge was a short little jaunt and the weather was getting cooler. The road was twisty and fun, and I was happy to be able to really ride the bike.

We stopped for some coffee in Old Forge to try to locate our campground, and soon discovered that coffee here is sort of a mistake. Both our lattes were watered down and weak. Mandy reminded me that this isn't home, where coffee is a way of life. We are in the land where people are content to drink warm mud puddles instead of coffee. Bummer.

We found a campsite at Nicks Lake because how could we not stay at my lake? The campground was quiet and peaceful and entirely surrounded by forest which made for great enjoyment of one of Mandy's favorite sounds - wind in deciduous trees. It was beautiful.

At night we were lucky to have clear skies got to see this:

It turns out that out here in New York the stars can be just as brilliant as New Mexico.

For a meeting we went into Old Forge to get to a 5:30 meeting but there was no one there. It turns out that the meeting had been moved to 8, so we went for food and ice cream and lazed around in town until the meeting. While we waited I noticed that this town is obviously a tourist town with a population that quadruples in the summer. I found out later that it is the same in the winter because of snowmobiling, so spring and fall are the only times that the locals have the place to themselves.

The 8 o'clock meeting was, cleverly enough, The Adirondack Group. And we met in the Social Room of the church, a fireside room filled with couches and big comfy chairs. Unfortunately the meeting was too full for Mandy and I to get comfy seats, but we managed. Being a resort town there were lots of visitors, which meant that the locals got the chance to hear new stories, and they clearly enjoyed it.

One topic that was discussed was dealing with children who are potential future members of our club. I was pleased that I could relate my experience in being the kid getting in trouble. I also got to share my gratitude for the way that my family handled me and my trouble. I appreciate that nothing was ever candy-coated, but that there was also an understanding that I would have to make my own mistakes and live my own experience in order to learn. As a result of that I have been given the opportunity to live a tremendous life and for that I will always be grateful. Thank you everyone!

Lollygagging

Monday morning Mandy and I hung around Angie's house and took it slow. We did some laundry, packed the bike, talked with Ryan, just relaxed, and it felt wonderful after the days I had just had to get to Buffalo.

We got moving out of town sometime in the early afternoon with no real destination in mind. We were planning to go toward the finger lakes, but beyond that we had no plans.

Getting out of the city was a little tricky. I didn't want to get on an Interstate, so that meant a lot of snaking through neighborhoods that appeared to have no traffic laws. There were cars going the wrong way down streets, multiple lanes of traffic on single lane roads, people everywhere. The neighborhoods changed in a block from peaceful little places with manicured yards to areas with signs offering $2500 rewards for murder convictions. We needed to get out of the city, fast.

Eventually we got out onto US 20 and things started to open up a little bit and I was able to relax again. We stopped and had some food and decided that we would try to get to the town of Penn Yan. Once off the main highway the road was flanked by farmland with old barns scattered around, and something that I didn't plan to see in New York - wind turbines:

The scenery was stunning as we wound through the hills and small towns. Every ten miles or so we rode through another quaint (the only word to describe them) little town with it's own cemetery right off the main drag, something that isn't seen nearly as much in the West.

The ride was fabulous because I got to turn the bike for a change, and there was very little traffic so we could take everything in.

We found our way into Penn Yan and got a wonderful pizza and went to the Third Tradition Group. We were late, but no one seemed to mind too much, and as is typical in small towns, they noticed us as visitors and called on us early. We felt welcomed and at home immediately.

After the meeting Sean invited us to pitch our tent in his back yard. The spot was perfect:

The conversation on the back porch that evening was fantastic. Thank you to Sean and his family for welcoming us to Penn Yan.

I woke up in the morning to the clip-clop of horse hooves on the street. It turns out that we are in a place where the Amish live near town and come into town in their little carriages. Crazy!

We started the morning with coffee and, to use Sean's words, crappy store bought danish on the back porch. Amazing hospitality.

We left town with the Adirondacks as a destination. There is a town called Speculator that sounded interesting so we pointed the bike that way. We got on US 20 and is was quickly apparent that the road was too crowded to be enjoyable. We had only gone 25 miles and we were both tired, so we stopped and I found a new course for us to take on a state route north. We had a far more pleasant ride without all the cars on the road. The roads were lined with trees and farmland again, and we were in bliss.

Around 3pm we stopped for an ice cream cone and wound up staying about an hour. (This traveling with Mandy thing is really wonderful!) We didn't stay for any reason, just hanging out.

While we were having a cup of coffee I realized that there was no way we would make it to Speculator, so we got the map and started plotting plan B. While we were looking at the map a local woman came up and really wanted to tell us where to go and what to see. This was when I noticed that people around here love to talk, but aren't much for listening. She would ask us a question and we would get a half-answer out and she would start talking again. I thought it had just been a fluke up to this point, but it's regional. After that we began to notice groups of four to six people all talking and no one listening. It's a wonder that people talk at all.

After ice cream and coffee our new destination was Rome, NY where we found the Copper City Original Group. As we were pulling up in front of the church I asked Mandy if the group out front looked like out people. She said, "Yep, these are our people, funny how we can spot each other." There are few places you will find and old Indian, two black women, three middle-aged Italian men, and a young couple visiting from Seattle (us) all in one place and getting along. These are our people!

The meeting was about fear and worry and what we do with it, a topic that was perfect for us to hear given the way our minds tend to go about things we cant control.

We got a room at the Quality Inn and holed up for a quiet evening, just the two of us. It's good to be with Mandy!

Rushed Excitement

I woke up in Columbus and I was mostly rested and ready to go, but my stomach was turning a little for no apparent reason. I sort of lagged a little as a result, and then when I got to have lunch it took forever to eat it. At one point the waitress came up and asked, "Are you even eating, honey?" I told her that I was, but that I was a little slow today. She smiled and said ok, and then left me to my lunch.

The slow lunch combined with a difficult time finding Wi-Fi made my departure from Columbus a little late. I was irritated with myself, and all I wanted was to see Mandy, but I still had several hours to go.

I ran Interstates the entire way and saw almost nothing interesting. The roads were crowded, fast, and exhausting. I was sore and tired from the day before and grateful that the ride for the day was fairly short. I wanted to be there, and the miles couldn't go by fast enough.

At some point in Kentucky and continuing up into New York I realized that the daredevil birds of the West and Southwest (you know, the ones that swoop down in front of you and get out of the way just in time) had been replaced by daredevil butterflies, and they were good. There were a couple of times that I felt like ducking to get out of the way.

Along the ride into New York I talked to very few people, but there was one kid at a gas station in Ohio that seemed really fascinated by the trip. It was apparent to me that he was the kid in High School that was not well liked, and likely picked on. My suspicion is that his family is from the poor side of town and that people treat him differently as a result. He spoke loudly and a little slurred, although it was clear that he was not drunk. Everyone working at the station seemed perfectly happy to talk to him and joke with him and I was pleased that he is now treated like a human being.

Just before crossing the state line I stopped for a break and saw this:

It is sad to me that a building is pretty as this one has a fate like this. I stood there trying to imagine what it must have been like when this was a popular stop along the drive from Cleveland to Buffalo. Sad that these things go by the wayside with our faster paced travel dynamic.

I paid my toll for I-90 and entered New York brimming with excitement to see Mandy. It had been almost a month since I had seen her, and I was anxious. When I arrived at Angie's house I was almost shaking with excitement. I understood now where my stomach issues earlier had come from. I was giddy.

I got inside the house and she looked better than I have ever seen her. She was beautiful, and her smile was glowing like it always does. We hugged and we kissed, and we hugged. It was wonderful!

Because I was running a little late we had to rush out to get to a meeting. We walked to the Why Group about a half mile away. It felt nice to be off the bike, and almost surreal to be with Mandy again. The meeting was a great mix of people in the basement of a church, and to be honest, I really have no idea what was said because I was so excited to be with Mandy.

When we got back to he house we stayed up chatting with Angie for a bit. It was wonderful to have Angie and Ryan open their home to us the way that they did. I felt instantly at home and at peace. Thanks, guys!

P.S. In my excitement I forgot to take an odometer photo. Sorry about that...

Speechless

I am fairly sure that I will not be able to capture the real magic of the last couple of days here in this post, but I will try.

Friday was sort of an up and down day all the way. Ultimate Cycle did all that they could with the bike, but without a replacement slave cylinder the bike was still crippled. I don't want to take back any of the good things that I said about the guys at that shop because they did the best that they could with what they had, and I appreciate that. They did clean the bike up for me, and for that I am grateful, she was in desperate need of a bath.

I called the central office in the morning to see about getting to a meeting at some point that day because that was still a priority for me. They were extraordinarily helpful and willing to make calls to find someone to give me a ride to a meeting. While waiting for the call back I got the bike back from the shop and found that it was worse than I expected, I could shift once I was moving, but starting and stopping was going to be tricky, so I made an appointment with the dealer in Nashville to get it repaired in the morning.

Then I started to panic. I began imagining all of the bad things that could happen while trying to get to Nashville and once in Nashville, and the result was going to be that I could not make it to Buffalo to see Mandy - I wanted to cry.

So I waited, pondered my fate and called a few people. I felt a little better after talking to people, but I really needed a meeting. Then Rodney came to the rescue. He called and said that he would be happy to come pick me up for an 8 o'clock meeting. I was relieved enough by this that I was able to take a little nap and wake up just in time for Rodney to show up.

He picked me up and we went to a meeting at the East Brainerd Club . It was a book study and a wonderful group of people. We went out for some food afterward and I felt tremendously better. Nothing like being around family to soothe my mind.

At one point Rodney and I were discussing the convention in San Antonio and he said that he knew one of the speakers. I told him that my favorite speaker was the final one on Sunday morning. He said, "Yeah, that's him. That's Steve. I know him. He's from Nashville."

Rodney said he was sure that Steve wouldn't mind him giving me his number. After all, I was family. So I went back to my room with a contact in Nashville and had one of the worst nights of sleep in my life. I was fearful, anxious, and my mind was racing about how tomorrow might go. It was terrible.

I woke up early and packed fast to get on the road. If something was going to happen on the way to Nashville I wanted it to happen early in the day. I geared up, got on the bike, said some hail mary's, pumped the clutch, shifted into first, and off I went. It had worked! I was able to powershift without the clutch and make it to Nashville. It was about a two hour ride and it went smoothly through the fog.

When I got to Nashville I got lucky with the first light and it turned green as I was approaching. The second light was red and I crept up on it as slowly as I could, but no dice, I had to stop. I pumped the clutch again and by some miracle that I may never understand it worked one last time and I was able to make it to the dealership, and salvation!

The guys at Bloodworth BMW were great. Jessie got to work on my bike right away and I went to find some breakfast. Wendall Smith's proved to a perfect little meal and great entertainment. There was an old man sitting at the counter next to me named Frank and he was obviously a regular. He would shout across the place at the waitresses and they would smile and answer him. I was feeling better and now had food in my stomach, so I knew I'd survive.

On my way back to the shop I walked past a little hair salon and decided that I had time for a haircut. (I didn't want to be too Grizzly Adams for Mandy.) I stopped in and got a cut from Moonstar, a wonderfully friendly southern woman. During the cut the phone rang in the shop. It was Johnny. After she got off the phone she explained that Johnny was an autistic man who worked at the tire store across the street. She said he was on vacation but his routine was still to call and check in with them every day. I was awestruck by the love and compassion she showed for this man whom many people would have thought to be a nuisance.

I got back to the shop and they said things were looking good and I would be ready to go in the afternoon. Before breakfast I had called Steve and left a message to see if he was around. By the time I got back to the shop he had called back and left a message for me. We were playing phone tag. We got hold of each other finally and made a plan for him to come pick me up for an 11:30 meeting! This couldn't happen anywhere else. (I had a brief thought about what the people in the dealership thought about me being in a town I didn't know and then suddenly having a local show up and treat me like an old friend and take me away. If I didn't know what was happening I would have thought that a little strange.)

Steve picked me up and I had the chance to thank him for what he had said the week before. I had wanted to that day, but couldn't fight through all the people to get to him. I may not believe in the dude in the sky every day, but there's gotta be something that helps line these things up.

The meeting was the Westminster Group, a little discussion meeting filled with joy and delight in sobriety. It was the perfect way for me to spend my time in Nashville. Thanks, Steve!

When I got back to the shop the bike was ready. I thanked the guys in the shop (Justin wanted me to make sure that you all know what well-mannered and handsome guys they are.) I even got to take a look at the culprit:

All the sludgy goop is what made it stop working.

So I was on the road again with a functional clutch and a goal of getting to Ohio. If I made it my day would look something like this: Start in Tennessee on Eastern time, cross through Georgia and into Central time, then back into Tennessee still in central time, then into Kentucky and the change back to Eastern somewhere there, then into Ohio. The states are a lot smaller over here, and it makes me feel like I am making more progress than I really am.

At around 8 o'clock I was getting hungry and stopped outside Cincinnati for a meal. I found a mallish looking place and pulled up in front of a burger joint, but want really feeling like eating a burger. I looked across the way and saw a little sandwich place, Potbelly. I went in and was greeted by Lindsay, and incredibly perky and sweet girl. "You look like you're on a bike," she paused and looked closer, "and you look tired."

I was getting tired, but was hungry more than anything. I told her about the trip and what I was doing, and she got so excited I thought she might jump out of her skin. She and her co-worker, Maddy, were enthralled with my story and kept asking questions. It was the perfect way to be refueled physically and spiritually to get me to Columbus. If you're ever in Cincinnati go find the Potbelly sandwich shop north of town in a mall. They fed me great food and made me feel incredibly welcome in their place. Thanks, Lindsay and Maddy!

I made it to Columbus and found what I believe to be the last available room in town due to a giant hot rod show in town, and slept better than I thought I could.

Thank you to all the folks along the way who turned two of the hardest days of the trip into two of the most rewarding and wonderful ones!

Georgia? Really!?

Alright, so I didn't make it to a meeting today, and I don't have an odometer photo, but I'll get to that.

First things first - the ride. I left Tupelo, MS this morning and headed north on the Natchez Trace based on the recommendation of a local Tupeloian? Tupelite? Tupelese man?…whatever. I took the Trace north into Alabama, then got off and rode a fairly hot and ugly four lane US highway for what seemed like forever. I saw almost nothing of interest, but for the sake of laughing at myself, it took me most of the way through the state to realize that places with Bama in the name were referring to the state and not something to do with the president. Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake.

I also noticed along the way that I was entering a different time. The buildings were mostly stone or brick and built in a style that we don't get to see on the West Coast. They are truly beautiful. It was sort of nice to be riding through a bunch of structures built by people with true pride in their work. Not that builders today don't have the same pride about their job, but it felt different to me somehow.

Somewhere near Albertville, AL I stopped for a break and met Crazy Bob, a biker riding a police special Harley. "Long way from home, arncha?" He asked. We go to talking and he was one of the first people I've encountered in the South that I could understand when he spoke. (I didn't realize that it was going to be so hard to talk to people here.) We talked about the trip, Deal's Gap in North Carolina, and staying alive on the road, the usual bike talk. It was nice to have someone walk up and start talking because I had been in my own head most of the day and was starting to get a little sideways. He informed me that I was almost to Chattanooga, my destination for the day, and to be careful for the next 20 miles because people don't pay attention on these roads. And he gave me this:

Bob was right, along the stretch of highway to get back out of civilization I watched several people drift in and out of lanes while talking on the phone, nearly not stop at stop lights for lack of paying attention, and my favorite was the guy driving with his knee and leaned over toward the passenger's side for something. It was a little terrifying.

But it paid off when I got onto the smaller roads through the countryside and quickly noticed that I have almost forgotten how to turn the bike since I haven't seen a road turn for what feels like weeks. Suddenly there were turns in the road and I was actually traversing hills (yes, hills!). It was fantastic! I was riding along and the GPS told me I was about 40 minutes from the meeting in Chattanooga and I thought to myself, "I should be crossing into Tennessee at any minute". A few blinks later I passed a sign saying "Welcome to Georgia." What?! How the hell did I get into Georgia? I didn't see that one coming. I guess that's what I get for blindly following the GPS and not looking at a map.

As I was riding along the road I looked to my right and I saw this:

The first canyon-like thing since at least Texas. Then I got to ride down into it! It was only about a quarter mile, but the road actually turned! It was phenomenal. Then up the valley and into Chattanooga!

I got into town and went to find a meeting. I got to the address I had and no one was there. (This is becoming a theme.) So I got another address and off I went and that's when things got weird. I was pulling up to a stoplight and I pulled the clutch and…nothing. Shit! Luckily I was about to get onto the freeway and I didn't need to stop, so I got on the freeway and forced shifts to ride into town. As I was getting off the exit to go to the meeting I was hoping that I wouldn't have to stop at any lights, and then the first one was red. Double shit! I tried to see if I could get going but it was hopeless so I pushed the bike into a gas station and started trying to figure out what I was going to do. At this point a meeting was out (hence the missed meeting) so I was working on finding a place to get the bike towed to.

First thing I did was call Steve in Texas to see if he knew anyone. He said he didn't, but he did help me to troubleshoot the bike over the phone and establish where I stood. He said that I could certainly do it myself, but I allowed as how doing that in a parking lot in horribly humid 100 degree weather was just not something I was willing to do if I could avoid it.

After searching for a BMW dealership and all manner of other things I found these guys. I called and they had someone there within 30 minutes. It was awesome! Speedy was driving the truck, an altered moving truck with a brilliant lift setup in the back to haul the bike in. (Speedy built the truck by the way.) He reassured me that their mechanics were good and that the dealership had some issues, so I was comforted that I had done the right thing. We got the bike to the shop and then he even gave me a ride to a hotel! Frickin' awesome! Thanks guys!

So here I am, stuck in Chattanooga, TN waiting for the next indicated thing. For now I will eat and sleep soundly knowing that the guys at Ultimate Cycle and Scooter have my back and will get me on the road as soon as they can.