Well, I survived yet another journey. I logged in over 500 miles today to Carlisle, Pa where a friend got promoted to the rank of Colonel in the Army. We had been stationed together at Fort Bragg in the 80’s and he was even my best man at my wedding. I retired from the Army in 1999, yet he stayed on being an officer. As an NCO I felt it was time to move on, which I don’t regret. He’s just over 22 years in now so I would have been gone anyways with over 20 years at the time I retired. Anyway, a great ride up, leaving at 6:00 am to arrive by 1:00 pm with a planned stop at a high school friends house in Maryland along the way and all work according to plan. I returned home leaving at 4:45pm and just pulled in the drive at 9:58pm. My saddle time appeared to be roughly 9 ½ hours with an average speed of 48mph. Of course I took Route 15 from Warrenton which is a great ride, but there are a lot of people moving out that way and there was a lot of construction. Still, I rather have taken 15 instead of the beltway around DC. I couldn’t have asked for better weather, though it was rather humid today. On the way back I did run into some rain around Warrenton, but I just kept plugging along. The clocked pushed over 22K on this trip but won’t change my yearly average at this time, still looking at 26K by November 16^th. If I go to S. Texas that will push it to 29K, but I know I can clock another K for my goal of 30K.

I don’t want to keep echoing all the praise that we have done since riding the best tourer on the market but I did want to share some thoughts. I’m tired only because it has been a long week starting last Saturday when my step-son got married. I’ve had some late nights this past week then I was up at 4:00am to ensure I left at my planned time. On the way back I was thinking I was very glad I wasn’t riding the Goldwing GL1200 any longer. Even though I loved that old girl, it took toughness and tenacity to ride her, endurance to say the least. It is not to say she wasn’t a world class bike in her day and I had it set up for riding, I always had issues with my knees because of the leg riding position. Then there was the “have to shift in the saddle rather often” to keep from getting monkey butt. Also, should I mention the buffeting of the suv’s and semi’s that would keep me on wit’s end, another, tough it out situation that made me feel manly riding a motorcycle. While at the friends house seeing other old Army friends, we were sitting on the porch talking about being old men sitting on the front porch. I said not me, I won’t sit on this front porch and watch the world go by, I’ll sit on my front porch, the Vision, and let the world watch me go by. What a solid contrast in riding from those Wing days. I need to get me a cup holder and some wind chimes so I can sip ice tea and listen the winding singing through the chimes as I tool on down the highway on my front porch.

I have to share this one; when I made a pit stop on the way up, it was at a gas station convenient mart deal where there is parking by the front door. I was parked off to the  side and when I started my bike, a young mother with her little blonde hair, looked to be three year old daughter was walking from the car at the gas pump to the store, the little girl was just staring at me. As I pulled on around, they had gone on the other side of a car parked at the front and she was tugging at her mom’s arm to keep looking around the car to watch me. She was holding her mother back and you could tell she was aggravated with her. As I pulled on around she was at a dead stop just staring so I waved at her and it was then the mother realized what caught her daughter’s attention so much and she smiled. I’m not going to say it was the Vision that did it…

Anyway, I’m ready to go to bed now, refreshingly it is because it has been a long week and not from working riding my motorcycle. My knees don’t hurt and my heart is not palpating from all the nerve racking buffeting. I’m just saying…