[Motorcycling] I think I could get us to this...

[George Fazio]

***Long-winded post warning***

OK.  I'm getting bad about sending updates, so I'm probably going to 
miss some details.  If I'm going to keep doing this every two weeks to a 
month thing ... I'll have to start taking notes.  In any case, it's been 
a fun two weeks.

I can't remember what I did from the last email to 7/12, so it must not 
have been that interesting.

On 7/12, Doug and I ran up to the Scranton area.  It was a good, almost, 
300 miles of riding.  Note to self, if you're not going to ride with a 
jacket ... don't apply sun block (SPF 50!) just once - apply at every 
stop.  I was so burnt.  Anyway, it was a good ride up PA-183 to PA-61 to 
I-81.  We took I-81 up to Noto's Harley-Davidson in Plains, PA.  Then we 
ran over to Electric City Harley-Davidson in Dickson City, PA.  Those 
were the only dealers on the EHDDA "Ride With Us" program, but Doug 
wanted to hit Baer Harley-Davidson in Honesdale, PA.  So from Electric 
City, we ran up US-6 to Honesdale and stopped in at Baer.

I believe I've mentioned that I want louder pipes previously, and I 
still do.  At Baer, there were a bunch of bikes leaving as we got there, 
and while we were there, that made my ears bleed.  That's not want I'm 
looking for.  When I crack the throttle wide open, I want people to know 
it's wide open.  But, in "normal" riding, I'm just looking for a little 
more throaty sound which will undoubtedly be a little louder - but, not 
obnoxious (at least that's not what I'm going for).

We decided to take the roads less traveled, more or less, on the way 
home.  PA-191 comes into US-6 in "downtown" Honesdale, so we picked that 
up and then jumped on PA-196.  Now, if I had more closely looked at a 
map, I would have known that we should have taken PA-423 to PA-940 
instead of taking PA-196 all the way down.  I forget the name of the 
town, but I've been there before and should have known better.  Traffic 
was the pits.  After we go through that, we stopped at a Wawa in 
Blakesley at PA-940 and PA-115 for a quick rest.  A friend's parent had 
a cabin up that way while I was in college and we partied there a lot, 
so I knew where I was.  We took PA-115 to PA-903.  Then jump on some 
back roads that dumped us out on PA-209 by the turnpike entrance at Jim 
Thorp (or whatever they are calling it now - old exit 34).  We picked up 
PA-443 off PA-209 and ran that down to PA-895.  A wrong turn, or no turn 
in this case, ended up being a nice detour before picking PA-895 again.  
Then we jumped on PA-183 and ran that down to home.

The week that followed was a great week to ride to work and, with the 
exception of Monday and Friday, I did.  Friday 7/18, I played hookie and 
ran up to State College with a friend and co-worker, Chuck.  We stopped 
at the Harley-Dealer to satisfy my newly discovered Harley T-shirt 
fetish (?), and then headed to the "Ye Olde College Diner" for lunch.

Getting out there, we met up on the PA Turnpike at the Lawn service 
plaza just east of the Harrisburg East exit (old exit 19), and then 
jumped on US-322 west.  It's been awhile since I've done that run, and 
we (or at least I) almost missed the exit off I-83 for it and had cut 
over at the last minute.  Chuck gave me some group riding tips on the 
way up.  I hadn't even realized I was doing it, but when I was changing 
lanes I wasn't giving enough lead time before and cutting back over too 
soon.  Good tip that I'll definitely try to keep in mind while group 
riding if I'm leading.

Going home we ran up PA-45 to Lewisburg if I'm not mistaken. Then we cut 
down PA-147 to PA-61, picked up PA-487 and then ran down PA-54.  Traffic 
through Lewisburg and on PA-147 sucked, but the bike didn't go into heat 
management mode ... even if I was.  Some where on PA-54 we picked up 
PA-901 and ran that down to PA-183.  We stopped at Classic 
Harley-Davidson, and then split up and headed for home.

Saturday, 7/19, Doug and I ran up to Corning, NY.  We left at 8:00 and 
got home around 21:00.  It was a full day of riding and we logged just 
over 400 miles on the trip.  Because it was so many miles and we wanted 
to make in home the same day, we stuck to a lot of express-ways, which I 
generally try to avoid on at least one - if not both - legs of the 
trip.  We were going to come home through Wellsborough via PA-287, but 
that got shot down in the interest of time.  We did manage to get some 
back roads in though.

Going up, we took PA-183 north to PA-61 north to PA-41 north.  Then we 
stopped at Vreeland's Harley-Davidson on US-11 south in Bloomsburg.  The 
next stop was Cox's Northen Tier Harley-Davidson.  We took US-11 to 
PA-54, and picked up I-80 heading west.  From there is was express-way, 
express-way, and more express-way.  I-80 to I-180 to US-15 (soon [?] to 
be I-99).  We exited at PA-660, and stopped at Cox's in Mansfield, PA.  
Then we headed for American Twin Harley-Davidson in Corning, NY.  US-15 
eventually, up near New York, drops down to a two lane road.  Then we 
got on I-86 east/NY-17 and got off at NY-354.  A left on Bridge Street, 
and we landed at American Twin.

Coming home, we decided that the express-way sucked.  So, somewhere on 
I-180 we exited at PA-405 and picked up PA-442 after a quick pit stop 
and some "no name" gas station/mini-mart.  PA-442 is a nice ride if 
you're ever up that way.  We picked up PA-42 south when PA-442 
dead-ended into it.  By the time we got to Bloomsburg it was dinner 
time.  I had eaten at this place called Quaker Steak and Lube out around 
Pittsburgh in 1998/1999 when I was on the road for Entex (now Siemens) 
on a project.  It stuck in my head as being a fine place to eat for some 
reason, and there happens to be one in Bloomsburg, so we stopped there.  
After a quick bite to eat, we were back on PA-42 south heading home.  We 
picked up PA-61 off PA-42, ran that down to Dauberville (just north of 
Leesport), and picked up back roads from there.

All-in-all these long trips have been great.  I was trying to stand on 
the pegs at the end of the trip coming home from Corning, NY.  But, I'm 
not surprised after doing 700+ miles in two days.  The next trip is a 
week off from work.  Doug and I are going to try to get 14, of the 15 
left, dealers to bring us up to 39.  We'll head over to New Jersey, then 
get Delaware and some of Maryland, and wrap up finishing off Maryland 
and getting the one dealer in VA that is on the list.  If we pull it 
off, we'll have all of them except for Cerini Harley-Davidson in North 
Belle Vernon, PA (south of Pittsburgh somewhere).  That trip should be 
sometime in August, I just have to clear a week with work and book two 
hotel stays.

I think I could get use to riding all over the place.  Maybe someday 
when I retire (or hit the lottery).

Anyway, I'm sick of typing, and you're probably sick of reading at this 
point.  So, until next time, see ya on the road.

-George