Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 6: Charleston, SC to Jacksonville, FL

Man, what a great time hanging with the Wrights in Charleston!  I packed up after a big breakfast, and found my way south on 17.  There was some car dealerships and urban sprawl for a bit, but then just long quiet road through the coastal marshlands.  Kinda scary to think about breaking down out there.  Very pretty though.
Got to Savannah and immediately started seeing the moss-covered, low-hanging trees I was hoping for.

I rode aimlessly through town for a bit, until I saw a big church, parked, and happened to be just in time for a Latin mass at the Savannah cathedral!  After mass, I was really hoping to find a good quick spot for a shrimp po boy and sure enough, after a 10minute walk: Savannah Seafood Shack!!  It was like finding that oasis in the desert. Ha!  In hindsight, this makes me appreciate not having a smartphone to tell me where everything is.  I got my po boy with hush puppies, delicious, and was back on the road.
Highway down to Jacksonville.  The huge bridge coming into Jax was a little scary on the bike.  Chris and Allison have a great house by the beach.  She's so pregnant!  We hung out with Nola the boxer for a bit before Ubering to a music fest on the beach!  Music, weirdos, clouds of pot smoke, beer, food trucks... it was great!  Got a burger and then a beer at Green Room Brewery.
Big, fun day!

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 5: Rest day in Charleston

No riding today.

We had coffee and breakfast, and then went to the beach with the dog and kid.  Dog beach!  You can let them off their leash, and Madeleine will chase her ball nonstop.  Tucker is cute, splashing in the water.

Got some sandwiches, and then Ben and I checked out 2 Blokes Brewery and Ghost Monkey Brewery.
Came back home, cleaned up, and went to a 1yr old's bday party.  There were about 10 1-2yr olds running around, and parents doting and watching.  I was trying to crack some jokes at the beverage and cupcake areas, but quickly found out that the humorous things about the party were lost on everyone- I was the only single guy/person there!
From there, Ben and I went to two different Edmunds Oast Brewery locations, met up with Will, and then went to Lewis BBQ!  We pigged out.

Then Revelry Brewery.
Then a house party of Ohio State football fans watching the game.  A bunch of the guys there were still kinda college fratboy douchebags, but it was still fun mucking around.  I got to hang with Steve French too!
Big day.  Going to bed in 'meat-sweats'.

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 4: Easley, SC to Charleston, SC

Oooff!  My head is still buzzing even though I arrived here in Charleston hours ago!  That bike is LOUD!!
This morning we made breakfast at the lake house, and then took the kayaks out.  Lake Saluda is gorgeous and seems to still have a bunch of properties that have not yet been turned into massive mansion estates on the water.  Rusty and I paddled out for about an hour and finally arrived in front of Debbie's place.  She was a ton of fun and then even offered to put the kayaks in her pontoon boat and drive us back across the lake!

So, I didn't hit the road until late today after an adventurous morning.  This meant that I was absolutely ripping the throttle east on 26 to make it to Charleston at a reasonable hour (hence why my ears and head are still ringing).  I almost crashed today.  I was coming into an off-ramp too fast- I wasn't going to make the turn and had to hit the brakes pretty heavy.  Stupid mistake- I was just in the mindset of getting to my destination quickly.  It's not a good way to ride.  I should remember that and allot more time for each days journey.

So happy to be in Charleston now!  I love it here at Ben and Kelly's place.  Theres Madeleine (one of my favorite pit bulls), and now young Tucker!!  He's adorable, but seems like he worries too much for a 1yr old, hahaha!
I will rest up here until Sunday.

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 3: Salem, WV to Easely, SC

I woke up and the inside of the walls of my tent were a little wet with the dew because the fly cover wasn't fully off the inner tent.  But I slept like a rock from about 11pm-8:30am straight!  No coffee so I was pretty sluggish, but got dressed, had some breakfast at camp, and then walked over to the Caverns and signed up for a cave tour!  It wasn't the biggest or most impressive cave I had seen, but was still really interesting nonetheless.  Dixie Caverns is a "living cave" and the drops come pretty steadily.

Came back to camp and noticed that my GPS had a big spider crack in it.  Didn't notice it yesterday- how did this happen??  Eagle Riders gave me an old model- maybe there was already a small crack in it that they didn't tell me about?  I called them but got no help, so basically I have no GPS for the rest of the trip- I'll be solely using my road atlas and talking to strangers for help.
I left camp late (around noon) and hit the road.  Just highway today- I was flying.

I was hoping to hit Wicked Weed Brewery in Ashville, but somehow passed Ashville entirely (no gps), so I decided to just keep going to Rusty's lake house.
He gave me directions and I eventually found my way to his beautiful lake house (5-week AirBnb) in Easely, SC.

We bar-hopped and watched the Eagles vs. Panthers game with a bunch of dumb hicks.  Back at the lake house was had a few more beers and a smoke.  The lake is beautiful even at night- I'm looking forward to kayaking tomorrow!

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 2: Petersburg, WV to Salem, VA

Beautiful Riding!!
The first road of the day out of Petersburg (220)- farms in the fog, trees in color, hills, curves.  Beautiful.  During the ascent up to George Washington National Forest, one of the corners looked like it defied gravity!  The roads are tilted on corners, but with such a steep incline around this sharp bend, it looked like I was approaching an Escher drawing, or a road out of the movie Inception!  There are so few cars on the road, it's fantastic.  I was wrong to doubt Rodney- cruise control is glorious (on straightaways).  I was in full yellow rain gear through the fog and clouds in the Shenandoah Mountains.  Beautiful country.

The Rockfish Gap visitor center lady (new from Ohio) was great.  Her ears perked up when she heard me mention beer on the phone with Rusty, and immediately recommended I check out a nearby brewery!  Good lookin out, visitor center lady.  I got to the brewery, but it was closed until 3pm though! ha!  Instead, I got lunch at a Chinese buffet in Waynesboro, VA near Rockfish Gap.
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY!!  Foggy, and a little wet, but both cleared up soon enough and it was just heaven.  (I had a feeling it would clear up, so I strip-changed out of my rain gear in a gas station parking lot).

  After a lovely ride on the BRP, I slogged down 81 to arrive at a perfect first campsite, Dixie Caverns in Salem, VA.  I set up my tent, drove to get groceries, came back to camp, cracked a beer and had dinner.  Afterwards, I had a smoke, and played the harmonica in the dark.  Beautiful day.  Thank you God.

*I noticed in myself and then in 2 other campsites: we're still on a phones a fair amount, despite being outdoors/camping.  Just because we can hear crickets doesn't mean people won't still be glued to their internet connection.  But even here- in this trailer park more or less- I find that if I simply turn off my phone or put it away and then sit still and look around at the trees and leaves and hills, I'm not missing anything.  Nature will keep you on your toes- at least for a city boy- anything could happen at any moment.  Which tells me that it's not merely good enough to say, "I'm just gonna to get out of the city and enjoy nature to decompress."  In this instance, physical location might not be enough to change problematic behavior.
I wonder if my perceived attachment to my text messages is really just loneliness kicking in on Day 2 of the solo road trip?

Motorcycle Road Trip, DAY 1: Philadelphia, PA to Petersburg, WV

The bus from Philly was delayed in traffic.  AJ picked me up at the Washington DC bus station.  She's very well-spoken, accomplished, down-to-earth, fun, and pleasant!  Tacos for lunch were dee-lish!
Eagle Riders tells me they don't have a GPS, despite my reservation?!  Finally they got me setup with one, but for about an hour I was almost in tears.  Once I was good to go, I was so surprised- even with the additional helmet, everything I packed fit on the bike!
And I got on the road!!!!....only to hit Washington DC rush hour traffic leaving the city.  It sucked, but I didn't mind so much- I was finally on my bike!  After the traffic, man, riding became FUN.  There were colors, twistys & windys, bridges, and soon there weren't any other cars!  Glorious.  I was racing against the sun though, trying to get to Van's cabin in Petersburg, WV (the middle of nowhere, West Virginia) before dark.

Averaging 85mph, I got the bike up to 105mph at one point!  Yaoowww!!  I made it to Van's road as the last remaining light disappeared.  The cabin was at the end of a long (10minutes?!) road, and it just got worse and worse the further back I went.  Finally I arrived at the gate to her property and turned off the bike so that I could walk up to the house to find the gate key under the porch.  As soon as I turned off the bike's headlight and flipped on my small headlamp, I was like, "Oh fuck this.  Nope.  I'm not getting murdered by ghosts on my first night."
I got back on the bike and found a nearby motel.  The two ladies at the front desk asked if I wanted "the haunted room" and even showed me that their list of rooms had one marked *haunted*.  I was so tired at this point and had little energy to entertain them.  I finally got a room (that wasn't haunted), but still immediately prayed for protection and slept with the bathroom light on ;)
I started reading Last of the Mohicans (my chosen book for downtime on the trip).  But the way Cooper writes, I think I only absorbed about 50% of the first chapter.
I had a dream that Matt McGuiness and all my favorite regulars and I were on a plane and Matt was sitting in the back of the pane on the top of cases of cold beer.  People could go back and ask for however many they wanted.  So we all got drunk and were partying!...but then I woke up and was sober.

Nighthawk, Season 2 (last season)

After some 7,000 miles of road eaten, I've sadly said goodbye to my first motorcycle.  But in the ominous words of Yoda or whatever, "There is...another..."
Here are some highlights from my last few months with that awesome 1997 Honda Nighthawk 750...

Roadtrip to Harrisburg!

I had wanted to do this trip since I got the motorcycle last year, but for whatever reason, couldn't make it happen.  Going through the Amish country of Lancaster PA on the way out was surprisingly pleasant.  I got roasted wearing a tank top in the blazing sun however, and felt that burn for days afterward.  I arrived to my cousin Candy's house without much difficulty.  She had me park the bike on her back patio?! hahaha!  We went to Pizza Boy Brewery and then one of her friends' son's hs graduation party.  It was a great day!  I took 76 on the way home and averaged about 85mph, massacring a few thousand bugs against my helmet, windshield, and body (see pic below).

Roadtrip to Sea Isle City, NJ

Got to visit Arlene and her cute little dog, Rey!  They're attached at the hip.  We took beach chairs out to the beach and enjoyed some beer and wine as the sun started to go down.  The ride to and from SIC is pretty uneventful though unfortunately, and I was glad to hop off the bike after I got home from that one.

Warm Weather Beasts

Though I started it in the fall/winter of '16, a lot of the work that went into my most recent childrens story happened this spring.  Here's part of how I've been pitching the story to publishers and agents:

Warm Weather Beasts is an unexpected buddy story about a boy, a bear, a man, and a motorcycle, experiencing a long winter’s hibernation.  Just as the natures of the two ‘beasts’ are overlapped, I see the physical words and the scene of this story intertwined and enjoyed in playful ways.  Warm Weather Beasts hints of patience, loneliness, and wild joy, with a touch of motorcycle maintenance. 

Penn Queen Diner, NJ with Margaret

Media to visit Steve and Sara at their beautiful new house

Driving range in Fairmount Park

Hahaha!- I pulled up to the driving range with a $4 thrift store golf club sticking out of the top of my bookbag :)

Relay for Life in Conshy with John, Penny, Chris, and Sam

Riding Serena over to her and Nicks place around the corner

Breaking down in Fishtown with Lauren

On maybe our 2nd time hanging out together, I took Lauren out on the bike up to Fishtown to buy an extra helmet.  After the purchase, we were about to hop back on the highway when THE CHAIN FELL OFF THE BIKE!  CK-CHARNKKKKK!  At the time it broke, we were going only 2mph pulling away from a stop sign, but we were told that if that happened at speed, it would've been a chainsaw nightmare inside the motorcycle and against our legs :s   This was just one of the many blessings that happened in what could've been a disastrous day.

Cemetery with Mom to go visit Grandma Rose and Pop-Pop!

Getting caught on the highway in tornado wind+rain with a ton of debris flying through the air!

Wow, that was dangerous.  Just in case mom ever reads this, I won't go into detail..

Heather & Dimitry’s in Lower Gwynedd

I took the bike out their house (about an hour outside the city) to make homemade pasta, sauce, and meatballs with/for the 3 kiddos.  As it turned out, the boys didn’t care much for the motorcycle or even the dinner for that matter!

Mohawk under a Mohawk helmet?

77,000 mile mark!

Granted, I only put about 7,000 on it myself, but still!  That's apparently an incredible amount of miles for a motorcycle!  That Nighthawk is a work-horse!!

Selling the Nighthawk to Nilson

The kid learned how to ride pretty quickly (I consider myself a good teacher!).  Hopefully he's careful out there!

It was tough to say goodbye.

-dreaming of a Honda CB 1100…