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<p class=MsoNormal>*** Long Winded Email Warning ***<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I've tried to organize this into a summary followed by
detail for each day. I think I did a fairly decent job of keeping to that
format, so if you don't want the detail ... just skip it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Many of you know that I decided I needed a mental health
week from work. The stresses of meeting regulatory compliance deadlines
while still dealing with the everyday work was getting to me; it was time for a
vacation. So, I decided to take off the week of July 5th, which
conveniently gave be an extra day since July 3rd was a work holiday.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The weather was so, so on Friday and I didn't get any
serious riding in.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Saturday, Doug and I met a friend of mine (Wayne) for
breakfast and took off for a ride. Aside from having a near miss as
people where playing with GPS'es trying to figure out where we were and how to get
out of it, the ride went well and without further issue.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>We took PA-419 S to PA-501 S and then went west across
US-322. We cut over to US-422 going through Hershey, and then back to
US-322 express-way and that's where we got a little lost. I was leading
and decided I wanted off the express-way, so I took an exit. The problem
is that the exit went much of nowhere and we ended up back in an industrial
park. I asked Doug to check the GPS at a stop sign and then started
moving again. A few hundred feet later I see a no outlet sign and hit the
brakes. Next thing I hear squealing wheels from Doug's bike and Wayne
passes on my left with inches to spare. Everyone escaped with nothing
more than frayed nerves and a lesson in what not to do. From there we went
through downtown Harrisburg and eventually picked up PA-225 N. When we
got to US-209 we started heading north (aka east). US-209 is a beautiful
ride, but the road is in need of repairs in some areas. From US-209, we
picked up PA-901 and took that east (aka south - I love PA sometimes) to PA-183
S to PA-419 S and back home.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Sunday I had house chores (mowing the yard, etc.) and didn't
get much riding in.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Monday I got out for a little bit in the afternoon. I
don't remember much of the ride, so it must not have been that
interesting. I know I was out for five hours or so, but I cannot remember
for the life of me where I went. I was on PA-897 at some point and I
think I was on PA-501 and PA-419 too. It was one of those I'm just going
riding with no real destination or goal kind of rides.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Tuesday I thought about staying at home because they were
calling for rain in the afternoon and I had a contractor coming to the house in
the morning. But, when the contractor left I decided to throw caution to
the wind and got on the bike. It was suppose to be just a short ride
before the rain came, but it turned into a six hour ride; complete with me
getting wet.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I started heading north on PA-419. The plan was to do
the "419 to 501 to 419 and home loop" that I like to do when I don't
have a lot of time and/or don't feel like putting much thought into where I'm
going. But, when I got to Rehrersburg I kept going up 419 instead of
cutting across through Rehrersburg to PA-501. PA-419 dumps out onto PA-183
and I took that north and hung a right just over the mountain onto PA-895
E. Before I knew it I was coming up on PA-443 and decided to jump on
that. Then I got on PA-309 N and picked up US-209 N around Tamaqua.
I took US-209 all the way up to PA-33. On the way there I stopped in
Brodheadsville at West End Motorsports. I spoke with one of the guys
there about saddlebags and then got back on the bike. When I hit PA-33, I
took that south to US-22. I knew I was in trouble when all I saw in the distance
were storm clouds. Apparently there was nothing to the south, but there
weren't any roads I recognize heading south and more importantly ... I didn't
know that there was no weather to the south. So, I'm passing through
Bethlehem and the skies just open up. I tried to ride it out for a little
bit, but I was wearing a half helmet and you'd be surprised (for the
non-riders) how much rain hurts at 60 MPH. So, I gave up and took cover
under a bridge for awhile. I was soon accompanied by a contractor that
had a load of MDF and no cover on his crew-cab pickup (MFD expands when it's
wet and will become unusable). It turns out that he rides too and has a
highly modified Softtail that he trailered up from FL where his permanent
residence is. I got tired of waiting and got back on the bike when it
seemed like the rain slowed down. A couple miles later I'm looking at
clear skies again and my paints are air drying in the 70 MPH breeze of traffic
on US-22. I got off at PA-100, stopped a convenience store and then cut
over to US-222. I took that down to PA-183, stopped at the Harley dealer
to window shop and then headed home.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Wednesday I took the bike up to the Poconos and got a little
damp. The lesson to be learned here? Check the weather for where
you are going before you leave. Aside from getting a little damp, it was
darn chilly up there on the bike. I ended up stopping for an overpriced
sweat shirt around Blakeslee because it got that bad.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>So, I started off by jumping on PA-183 N and heading up to
PA-895 E. I again picked up PA-443 and took PA-309 N to US-209 N.
When I got to Jim Thorpe, I took PA-903 N into Blakeslee. Now, I use to
party hard up in this area because a friend's parents had a cabin up this way
in the early to mid 90s. It been a few years since I headed up this way
and I was shocked to see a full traffic light at PA-534 and PA-903. It
use to be stop signs only, and you could wait 20 minutes to turn if there was
something going on up there. I had to stop and call my friend Karl, whose
parent's owned the cabin, and "say did you know?" It turns up
he had been up there camping with his daughter a couple weekends early and had
known about it, but he was just as shocked when he saw it the first time.
In any case, I continued on and found an overpriced sweatshirt in
Blakeslee. With that taken care of, I took PA-940 S to PA-309 S. I
ran into some light rain on PA-940, but it was just enough to get a little damp
and I dried off pretty quick after it stopped. Then I picked up PA-443 S and
took that to PA-61 S. I decided to stop in the Harley dealer there in
Orwigsburg, and ended up buying a pair of fingerless gloves. Then I
jumped back on PA-61 S and took PA-895 E to PA-183 S and home from there.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Thursday I rode up to State College with my friend Wayne (if
you know me, you knew a State College trip was coming at some point ;-) ).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>We left around 9:30 am and headed down PA-419 S to PA-501 S
to US-322 W. From there we took US-322 all the way out to State
College. It was windy and there is always heavy truck traffic, but all in
all it was a pretty good ride. We stopped a little before Mifflintown and
then stopped again at a Sheetz in Mifflintown itself. Then we stopped
again at the Harley dealer outside of State College proper to look around and
stretch our legs. We found parking in State College and there was an
author doing a book signing right where we parked. He rides too, and
offered to watch the meter for us. Since we were just grabbing lunch and
then pushing off, we politely declined. I should gotten his name, or
bought a copy of the book (just because I actually met him in person), but I
didn't and it's been buggy me ever so slightly since. In any case, we
finished up lunch and pushed off. We took US-322 E to PA-45 N and ran that
all the way up to just north of Lewisburg. While riding through
Lewisburg, we passed a Google Streetview car, so we might be on there; though I
haven't found us yet. Then we picked up PA-147 S to PA-61 S. When
we got into Sunbury, I had about enough of wearing my heavy jacket and it had
to come off. So, we stopped and I stuffed the thing in the bag I have,
then we continued on down PA-61 S. When we go to PA-901 E, we decided to
take that all the way down to PA-183 S. From there we picked up PA-419 S,
grab takeout in Womelsdorf, and sat down at Wayne's to tell the tale of the
ride to his wife (Chris) over dinner.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Friday the weather was nice, but I didn't crawl out of bed
until 11 or noon, and decided I was just going to play World of Warcraft all
day. Doug and I did ride to dinner since neither of us felt like cooking
though.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Saturday Doug and I rode to breakfast, but that was
it. It's supposed to rain tomorrow (today at this point?), so I doubt
we'll get out tomorrow either.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>All in all, it was a good week off of mostly riding. I
logged a lot of miles, and I'm less than 200 miles away from my 10,000 mile
service now. I ordered a set of Boss Bags saddlebags, and am waiting for
those to come in. They're expensive, but everything I've read about them
is positive and they are supposed to be virtually indestructible. We'll
see how they work once I get them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>So, that was my vacation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Until the next big week of riding (first week of August), see
you around and remember ... if you ride, you can post to this list too.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>-George<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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