It was cold;not cool–cold. 50’s cold on Wednesday morning in Cadillac, MI. We headed to Midland for two reasons: 1) There is a Grand Traverse Pie Company store there, and 2) It is on the way to see George and Sharon Krieger down near St. Charles, MI. Andy had mentioned seeing them as a possibility on this trip; so we thought Wednesday would be a good day to do it.

First, the pie. I got creative with the iPad screen-shot as a background for the pie (cherry, of course; just like mama made):

Good with any background.

It was a good ride South on the Western outskirts of Saginaw (our hometown). Andy knew the way because he had been there before. He led us right to the correct driveway. The car and the Goldwing (yes, big, beautiful–fully dressed). They were not in sight, but the garage/workshop in the back seemed to be occupied. We went back there, but there was no George our there. I convinced Andy to ring the doorbell. George was there after all. Shocked and happy (I believe) to see us. He said Sharon was not feeling well and had not yet dressed for the day. He let her know who it was at the door, and we went out for a tour of his woodshop while she dressed to greet us. What a beautiful setup for woodworking he had.

This is probably a good time to let you all know why George and Sharon were special to us. We all grew up in Saginaw at Immanuel Baptist Church. George was a little older than we were, and he know everyone. The special thing is that every one of us has kept in touch with the Kriegers, and they were the glue that knit us together for the last 60 years.

We had a couple of hours of delightful conversation talking about all the old gang and where they are now. Sadly for us, not them, some are passed on already–waiting for us to catch up. Turned out that we were all good for each other; it was a God event that we had stopped to see them. This is something that we rarely do. But given the opportunity, we will visit them again.

We regrouped in St. Charles and made a plan for the next day so that we would be in position to start our way home. Spent the night in a nice hotel in Lansing.

Thursday came, and I got up at 6:30! (very early for me; late in the day for Andy). It was a cool, cloudless day–perfect for a ride down US 127. Our plan was to ride together as far a Cecil, Ohio and split up there. Andy just had to travel a couple of hours West to Ft. Wayne while my goal was to get South of Cincinnati before stopping for the night.

So, here I am in Dry Ridge, Ohio tying to sum up the experience of traveling on the bikes together in our home state again (we have done this at least 3 times in Michigan.) I cannot do it. Words cannot express an experience with this much joy, laughter, renewing of friendship, comradery, and shared times. We have been best friends since that fateful night in youth group when we met in 1957. My heart sank when Andy went West and I went South. No way to describe it. We hate goodbye’s; so we always just wave. Good night Andy. Love you, my friend.

Good night Lil. See you soon.

Today we awakened in Whitehall, Michigan, another nice coastal town. We had booked a Comfort Inn at a good price, and because of my points in Choice Hotels, we were offered a suite for the same low price. WoHoo. Two bedrooms, two big TV’s, and the U.S. Open tournament all in one.

We started out trying to find the Whitehall lighthouse with little success–just dead-end roads. I convinced Andy to take one more try, and we got the correct road. But we still would not have found it except for help from a family walking in the neighborhood with there kids. With his directions we found it:

We stopped for lunch at a casino just North of Manistee, MI. Good lunch; too much food; couldn’t eat it all. But the gambling was good.

Just kidding; neither of us see the point in loosing money on purpose.

Then we decided because of timing for the trip to head to Traverse City straight up Hwy 31, which we did. The first stop of course was the Grand Traverse Pie company for some cherry pie. After all, we hadn’t had any for two days!

Andy, for the whole trip, had talked about the peninsula Northeast of Traverse City. So we headed up M22 to see. Best ride of the trip along the coast of Traverse Bay all the way to Northport. Beautiful ride right on the coast looking out onto the Bay. Stopped for gas along the way:

Here is another shot of the Bay:

On down 115 to Cadillac, MI for the night. Who knows what tomorrow will bring; we won’t decide until morning. Night all. Love you Lil.

We woke up knowing that it was going to rain on this day; the expectation was for rain in the afternoon, evening, night, and next morning. So we expected it and knew that we would find a motel early and hole up for the afternoon and next morning.

But we decided that we could probably get into downtown Holland, MI to see Hope College and the lighthouse called ‘the big red lighthouse.’ Here is Hope College; a nice looking downtown Dutch Reformed, liberal arts college:

And here is Big Red–best looking one yet:

Then it rained. We pulled into a gas station to discuss how to proceed. I opened the I-Pad and discovered that we could get into dry pavement just a few miles North on Hwy 31, and that there was a Grand Traverse Pie Company store just 22 miles North. Off we went.

Sure enough, it got dry and we found the pie store (our favorite pie in the world–just like the one’s my mom, Viola, made at home.

We waited about an hour for the rain that had caught up with us to pass. Then we went North on 31 to below Muskegon and a Comfort Inn where I have Gold status and points. We had reserved a room, got there very early before check-in time, but we not only got a room; we got an upgrade to a suite on the top floor. Whee! Take a look, we both have a TV:

AND the U.S. Open tennis has started. Hog heaven. Had a great afternoon lounging in luxury watching the greatest tennis in the world.

Why do we do this? Because of days like today, we do this. We remember a day in upstate New York when this happened and we ordered a rental car Enterprise and went out to see the sights. This small setback can’t stop a true biker. Never has stopped us.

There is nothing like getting to spend this kind of quality time with a best friend from junior high school. We are blessed and know it. Proud to share that with you all. Good night; love you Lil.

We started late enough for it to be a little warmer than the day before, and we were dressed warmer than Saturday.  It was still a pleasant 68 degrees or so.
We had decided to go to the Maritime Museum in South Haven; so it took a short drive up a 2-lane to I 96 (we hate the interstate, but it was the best way to get there quickly). It took only an hour; so it was worth it, but we did not enjoy the ride up I-196 to South Haven.  Found the museum without worries.

Well…I did get us lost before we found the Interstate; this is why Andy almost never lets me lead.  We did see the following lighthouse, however:

Now, back to the Museum:

We could have taken a boat ride on the tall ship above or up the river, but we just enjoyed the exhibits in the museum, the boat house, and around the grounds.  After spending a good while there, including sitting on a bench for awhile watching all the boats, yachts, and speed boats in the channel.

Then we decided to go back down the coast about 20 miles (on a great two-lane highway along the lake-shore from which we could look past the big houses and see Lake Michigan called The Blue Star Highway) to see the lighthouse at St. Joseph. It was a great day ending back up in Holland, MI at a Baymont Hotel. Good night all.

I started the day in Seymour, IN. For some reason I awakened early (7:00–early for me) and got up to start the day. After a bowl of Raisin Bran, I hit the road–cold, cold. It was less than 60 degrees! I had the leather jacket, but forgot to put on the winter gloves. Stubborn me; I decided to tough it out. Still had cold hands an hour later. This is what I came North for; it is beautiful to be cold after weeks in the high 90’s in Tennessee.

And the two-lane highway was beautiful; it was pure Indiana farm country with miles of flat corn and bean fields. I stopped to take this picture:

It was a beautiful long road. Every time I stopped I tried to get warm and to sped some time reading. It was relaxing, refreshing, and exhilarating all at once. We were to meet in LaPorte, IN sometime before 3:00 PM because that is check in time at our hotel. I knew Andy would beat me there, but I did not care because he said he did not mind. So I was an easy day.

Sure enough, his bike was parked at the motel, and he was inside reading. It’s great to be back together. We rode scooters together when we were 14; now we have ridden a tour every year for many, many years. We think the first post we did was 2013, but we rode a few years before that. At any point, since meeting in 1958 in a church youth group, we have enjoyed being together and having a good time. Many stories will remain untold here.

So we took out the map of lighthouses on Lake Michigan tonight, and planned tomorrow. Here is the map:

Tomorrow we start at South Bend and go up. That’s the plan. It also includes at least one Great Traverse Pie Company slice of cherry pie.

DAY ONE: Friday

The day started one hour later than I had planned, but the sleep was good. I pulled out at 8:00 AM and headed up Hwy 111 to and past Cookeville, TN. This is a straighter shot up through KY to catch I-65 North of Nashville at Cave City, KY.

All was well: the weather, the bike, my heart. And breakfast in Sparta, TN.

Then I had an adventure:

Somewhere about 30 miles below Glasgow, KY I pulled in to fill the tank. I heard a bad scraping of my rear brakes. Nuts. Worn out brake pads. Why didn’t Southern Honda in Chatty notice this when they put a tire on? Nuts, nuts.

I got off went inside and googled a motorcycle dealership in Glasgow; there were several. I headed for one (right on my route, by the way). They had the pads, but they said they were too covered up to put them on! I asked who could; “Will can do it.” Who is Will; he runs a bike shop 5 miles back up the road. Anyway, they called Will; he said he could do it; so I went to see Will with the pads in my luggage. About 20 minutes later they were installed; he charged me $15.00. Whew, God must love me today. (Of course He does, idiot.)

This is the bike on the rack. Cool guy, Will.

I stopped in Cave City for gas and to look at the weather because I knew there was a rainy front I had to pass through. It was just ahead; so I put the rain gear on and hit I-65 N. Sure enough. Not hard rain, but hard wind. I could only stand it for about an hour; then I stopped to look at the radar. By my calculations the front would pass where i was in about an hour; so I finished reading a Dorothy Sayers mystery.

Got back on the dry highway; traveled through Louisville; and arrived in Seymour, IN for the night. Capped it off at Cracker Barrel (grilled catfish, hash browns, salad, and baby carrots).

Today We Each Head Home

Andy split off North East form Columbus, OH while I headed straight South towards Circleville and Ohio Christian University on US 23.  I got to the University at about 10:30 am, but didn’t locate Bradford Sample’s office until about 11:00 am.  He was at a faculty meeting, but Michelle works in the same building two days a week, and she was there.

The end result was that we got to to to lunch on campus at noon.  I spent the hour catching up on my more urgent email.  Michelle and I went to the main campus dinging room to meet Bradford.  They were both gracious as usual, and we had a good talk catching up with one another.  Bradford is a wonderful academic administrator; he is my hero among educators that I know.  We worked well together for several years, and I enjoyed every part of working with him.  He is the record in the way of a picture:

This was a highlight of my trip home.  I was soon on my way with a goal of making it to Georgetown, KY by evening.  I stayed on two lane state routes to avoid Cincinnati and all the construction on I-71 and I-75.  There was some excitement along the way.  All of a sudden I was passed by about six County Sheriff cruisers with lights and sirens.  Some I came upon what looked at first like a major wreck, but it was not.  It was a high speed chase.  The Sheriff vehicles threw down a nail rack to stop the one running from them.  I was two cars behind and was glad the front car saw the nail strip in time to stop.  It did not take long for them to haul off the suspect and clear the road.  I had a nice chat with a Walmart 18-wheel driver who was a Harley owner.

Excitement over, I made it to Georgetown tired and sweaty by 6:30 pm.  It was a good day.  In the morning I face the decision to go down Hwy 27 or I-75.  Right now I favor 27; there is no hurry to get home, and it is a beautiful ride that I have made many times.

Good night all.  Miss you, Andy.  Good night Lil.  I love you.

Riding Through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania again, and Ohio

It doesn’t look like an exciting day, but for us the ride is the most important part of the trip.  It is not necessarily the destination; it is the ride.  To get through the Allegheny Mountains on the way back, we decided to do the Interstate, and the best East to West Interstate was I 68 through the top of Maryland.  To get to that road we went down through a valley (all of these valleys remind me of Sequachie Valley back home; they are between two ridges of the Alleghenies.

That was the best part of the day because it was two-lane and because of the cool of the morning and the shade over the road.  We agree that interstates get you there faster, but what you give up is shade and comfort.  The interstate was hot, hot, hot–and crowded with trucks.

There was time to think about the contrast between Monday and Tuesday.  Both days were enjoyable, but the contrast strikes me in a worldview sort of way.  The Amish–a simple life–school through eighth grade, then as a adult (16) one goes away from the community to experience life among ‘the English’.  If they decide to remain Amish,, they are baptized into the faith forever.  They will work the fields plowing behind three mules or raking hay or spreading manure.  They will live with all the generations on the same campus of houses (for grandparents and maybe for great grandparents) for the rest of their lives.

The American display of audacious consumerism represented by Hershey Candyland.  Parents forking over tons of money to try to please spoiled (in many cases) little kids who do not know how fortunate they are to be among the richest people in the world–who in many cases are more distracted by their phones than by the $39.00 per ticket ‘attraction’ in the park.  Just reporting the contrast.  I too am an American affluent consumer.  And by the way, I do not want to plow a field behind 3 mules!

The ride got hotter and hotter during the afternoon.  I guess the most significant event other than the ride was to see this truck.  Andy says his friend Rod worked for this company for many years:

   This one’s for you, Rod.

Good night all.  Love you, Lil.

The Day Bob Has Been Waiting For

It was a 25-minute ride from our motel in Harrisburg to Hershey, PA and Hershey Park.  It was not a really busy day there, I guess, but there were a lot of cars anyway.  We found a good parking space.  One of our pet peeves is that we get two parking passes, but we only take one parking space.  In this case it did not matter because parking is free for three hours; after that it would have cost us $15 dollars each.  It didn’t; we made it out after 3 hours and 15 minutes, but they were not interested in charging us on the way out.

The Park is only in proximity to the actual plant.  Nobody gets to see how the candy is made inside the actual plant anymore.  This is a full-blown theme park and resort.  But they do give several nice experiences.  We bought a package with three things on it.

Here we are going in:

And here we are inside:

Have you ever done a 4-D Movie before.  Our first event was a 4-D flick.  It was oriented for kids, but we got into it anyway because of the media.  Mist on our faces, wind on our feet, and a chair the shook all put us in that 4th dimension of the movie.  It was cool.  Objects would fly right at us, and we could feel the wind and shaking of our seat as they passed.  Fun.

Part of our ticket was a meal pass for the food court.  Three big options:  pizza for the kids, a hot meal for the old folks, and sandwich with soup for the middle group.  We had more than we could eat.  Bob had chicken, new potatoes, and mac and cheese.  Andy had pulled pork, mac and cheese, and slaw.  Excellent–all at a fair price; we were surprised.

Next we got suited up:

Now we were ready to make our own personal Hershey Bar.  We actually stood in line and entered data in computers along the way.  Then we watched the machine make what we ordered.  Along the way we could follow the Bar with our name on the screen like this:

Above is my bar getting stuff I ordered put in it.  This all took time, but we would up with these:

Now, here is the question:  how do you preserve these candy bars on a motorcycle in 95 degree heat?  Answer–you don’t.  When we stopped for the night they were melted.  We put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours in order to recover something.  It worked–in a way.

It was a fun day.  It was a hot day.  It was a tired by 5:00 pm day.  Good night all.  Love you Lil.

As usual we got an early start heading East on US Hwy 30 to get to Lancaster, PA.  What a ride it was!  Travis is was like three hours of the Cherhala Parkway.  For others it was like going over Waldon’s Ridge on 111 for Hwy 27.  Only it was over 10 Ridges in the three hours!  Bob and Andy met the Allegheny Mountain Range for the first time.  Andy got tired of it early; Bob loved every minute.  Could it be because Andy lives in the flat lands of Indiana and Bob lives in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains?  Maybe.

The weather was cool in the mornings with a slight fog on the mountain tops and sunshine in the valleys.  Up and down all morning it was.

As usual Andy found us a good lunch at a diner somewhere in there.  We just ate simple, delicious sandwiches and went on our way East.  Great stop.  Great ride.  Then it got long, hot, crowded, four lane, and boring–all the way to Lancaster.  We had located an Amish Village with tours.  The best was an hour and a half in a small bus with a very knowledgeable guide pointing out the Amish and ‘English’ living side by side in country farms.  Cool trip.  Now we can spot an Amish farm knowing the differences.  They live closely as neighbors and interact freely all the time.

Here is a shot back at the Village:

And another with our ‘House Tour’ guide:

Sorry she was behind the portable propane lamp.  Amish here are allowed to use propane for cooking, refrigerators, and other stuff in the houses.

Here are a couple of pics on the farm:

Horses are for the carriages; mules are used for farm work.  The horses are purchased at auctions of harness-racing trotters.

We scooted back to Harrisburg for our motel for the night.  Watching the U.S.Open tennis tonight and talking with Lil about it.  Tomorrow a little bit of heaven–Hershey.