Big Ridge State Park, TN

My cabin at Big Ridge State Park is on a beautiful wooded hillside I share with this little fellow. He's an Eastern Box Turtle, like our beloved Tom, who lived with us for 25 years. This one is small, like Tom when we first met him. They often live more than a century.

The view from the Pisgah Inn

The views along the Blue Ridge Parkway were lovely all the way down, but the best of all were from the Pisgah Inn, just southwest of Asheville. It is a dynamic vista, always changing as clouds and sunshine move across the huge expanse of sky.

When leading meditation, I remind folks that thoughts come and go like clouds on a windy day. There is no better place to see it than Mount Pisgah.

The Whole Blue Ridge Parkway

Steve and I completed our ride together, through MA, RI, CT, NY, PA, MD, WV, VA, and NC, including the whole Blue Ridge Parkway. After lunch at an Indian-owned restaurant in Cherokee, he headed Southeast to Georgia, and I west to Tennessee.

I've been honored and blessed to have had the best possible riding buddy. When he's setting the pace, it's a good one, and he alerts me though our awesome headsets of bumps, pavement problems and bicyclists ahead. And when I'm setting the pace, he reminds me if I've left the turn signal on. He's a comfortable travel companion and a good man.

Plants and animals

We have had wonderful close encounters with plants and animals along the road. The top photo shoes the abundance of lovely little wildflowers in the foreground that I almost miss because of the spectacular mountain views stretching out for a hundred miles.

This morning after breakfast, Brandon and walked around the campground, a lovely area with lots of memories for me. I've camped there so many times that I kept seeing old familiar campsites.

We stopped to admire the mountain Laurel in full bloom. I've used up my quota of "wow"s for the day, and it's just lunchtime.

The closest animal encounter I had was with a lonely love-starved dog outside a restaurant in West Jefferson, Va. Steve and I were sitting on the lawn listening to live music, and the dog walked over to me with a tennis ball in its mouth. He lay his sad little head in my lap and wouldn't leave. There was no safe place for me to toss the tennis ball, so I just sat there enjoying the music.

The most dramatic animal encounter was on our second day, drinking through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. I was cruising along at about 40. Suddenly a huge bird--perhaps an owl--swooped right in front of me, clearing my facemask by inches. It filled my field of vision. I could see grey and brown stripes. I'd estimate it passed about six inches in front of my face. I didn't have time to react at all. I don't think I even braked.

Steve was right behind and said, "Wow. How close was that?"

I said I was glad the bird calculated that trajectory correctly because I never could have.

A couple days later, along the Parkway, a deer started to cross the road, well ahead of me. She hesitated. I hit the brakes. When she saw I was slowing, she decided to leap across the road in two graceful bounds.

We haven't seen any bears yet, but Brandon says one became a nuisance recently behind the inn's kitchen.

Zen Tubing

This afternoon (Tuesday) my son Brandon and Poppy Kay took Steve and me tubing on the French Broad River. The company calls itself Zen Tubing, and their motto is "Get in touch with your inner-tube."

It was calm, peaceful, restful, and fun. It's wonderful to see Brandon again. I miss both my sons.

Musical encounters

On Sunday afternoon we pulled into the Blue Ridge Music Center (operated by the National Park Service, and heard a live jam session by the group pictured above. They demonstrated "Old Time" music from about 200 years ago, before bluegrass or country music had developed.

Before the trip, Steve and I mentioned that we would be traveling near the heartland and birthplace of country music. We had no idea what great examples we would encounter.

Dining at the lodge at Big Meadows Saturday night, we enjoyed live music by a talented trio. A young woman sang beautifully and played a cajon box drum (like the one I have). A man who may have been her father also sang and played a guitar, and a woman (the drummer's mother?) Sang and played the fiddle. They did bluegrass, blues, country, and folk music. It was a great show.

At dinner Monday night at the Park Vista Restaurant, a small group of locals were sitting on a patio dinging and playing a banjo, mandolin, guitar and fiddle. We enjoyed watching the sun set over the mountains and listening to them sing and play.

Later that evening, at a motel along the Parkway in West Jefferson, the family in the next room included a preteen girl who serinaded her grandmother with songs accompanied by a ukulele. We were all sitting out in front of our rooms, enjoying the beautiful mountain views. Her "Over the Rainbow" was quite good.

We are delving deep into Appalachian culture. Down here they pronounce it "Appa-latch-an," and we are definitely soaking in some Southern Appalachian style music.

Off the grid

We are having a wonderful time on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there has been no Internet nor cell phone signal, so I haven't been able to update the blog. This afternoon we will arrive at Mount Pisgah, and I will update everything then.

Here is a shot from Saturday. I showed Steve my "happy place," a spot on the Appalachian Trail in Loft Mountain Campground in Shenandoah National Park. The view of the mountains is breathtaking, just as it was in 1973, when I first saw it.

Rainy morning

Our first rain delay: we woke up to a steady rain this morning in Carlisle. We plan to wait it out and leave when it stops.
Last night we almost got caught in a thunderstorm walking back from a nearby diner. It poured once we were back in the motel room. I had a delicious turkey burger for dinner. Life is good.

Traveling on back roads, we are seeing a different side of America than what we see on the Interstates. We slow down and admire the architecture in small towns. The people seem friendlier and less hurried too. On the highways, people are always in such a hurry. What we are all looking for is happiness, and it is right here and now. No need to hurry.

Carlisle, PA

Today we covered about 250 miles, from Bear Mountain, NY, to Carlisle, PA. It was our longest leg, but included some high-speed sections, so we still made our destination by 4. We enjoyed Route 209 through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and some scenic back roads through northeast Pennsylvania. The last hour was damn hot, but soon we we're cooling off in the motel pool.

Bear Mountain

Today we rode from Rhode Island across Connecticut and into New York. We crossed the Connecticut River at Windsor Locks, followed U.S. 44 west across rural northern Connecticut. Then we cut down to Beacon, NY, and followed NY 9D south along the Hudson, crossing it on the Bear Mountain Bridge. Bear Mountain State Park is just on the west end of the bridge. It is also right on the Appalachian Trail. From
our room at The Overlook Lodge, we have a view of the river.

 

 

 

 

Gentleman Farmer

Steve and I had a delicious breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer Diner in Chepachet, RI.

Chepachet, RI

We had a great shake-down cruise from Cape Cod to scenic Chepachet, RI. It's a tiny rural Hamlet on Western Rhode Island, almost at the Connecticut line. We're following old US 44. It had been the main road west of Providence before they built

the Interstates. The old fashioned motel and nearby diner were right out of the 1950s. Steve and I enjoyed sitting in front of the room admiring the lovely pastoral scene.

Ready to roll

It's 11 a.m. Tuesday, and I'm ready to go. I'm meeting Steve at noon, and we'll be off.

Wired for sound

Steve came over this afternoon, and we set up the bike-to-bike communication system for the trip. It is just a $99 Excelvan BT Interphone V6-1200. The instructions appeared to have been translated from Chinese by Google Translate, so we had a little trouble at first, but with the help of some YouTube videos, we got them all set up.

The transmitter clips to the bottom of the helmet, and the wiring is hidden under the padding. A foam-covered microphone sits in front of the mouth.  We took a brief test ride and were able to hear each other clearly on the road. That should make the ride even more fun.

I just have to finish packing tonight, and we should be off on our adventure.

Under way in 24 hours

I'm getting nervous and excited. We leave in 24 hours. Rain is forecast for Tuesday morning, so Steve and I plan to leave around noon Tuesday and aim for Chepacet, in western Rhode Island. I've started the packing process, with a card table in the middle of my living room piled high with stuff for the trip.
I just got some walkie-talkies for the motorcycles, and Steve is coming over this afternoon to set them up and test them out. I still have some motel reservations to make for my return trip.
This is going to be fun!

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

 

The recent death of Robert Pirsig reminded me of one of my favorite books. I like to tell people it is neither about Zen nor about motorcycle maintenance. I decided to bring it along with me on our upcoming trip. Since it is 2017, I downloaded it to my Kindle.

Last night I found some wonderful passages in the first chapter:

 

"You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. ... Secondary roads are preferred. Paved county roads are the best, state highways are next. Freeways are the worst. ... These roads are truly different from the main ones. The whole pace of life and personality of the people who live along them are different. They're not going anywhere They're not too busy to be courteous. The hereness and nowness of things is something they know all about."

 

Maybe it is about Zen, after all.

Slowly but surely

I am finishing up responsibilities and getting prepared. I sent off the text of the second edition of my book, The Elements of Academic Writing last week. I made motel reservations for Big Meadows June 23, Peaks of Otter June 24, and the Pisgah Inn June 26 through July 1. I have a few more to make.

This morning I ran the 1.5-mile loop around my neighborhood. I want to be in good enough shape to make the trip comfortably and also be ready for the Falmouth Road Race  on Aug. 20 (after I get back).

Getting Ready

This mooring I did another 1.5-mile run around the block. I'm getting in shape, slowly but surely. I have also been working on the second edition of The Elements of Academic Writing, my English textbook. I'm making progress in that area too.

Last night I plotted out our route for the first three days of the Great Motorcycle Odyssey of  2017. The first day will be a short shakedown cruise from the Cape to western Rhode Island. Then the second day will take us to a motel near West Point, NY. The third day will take us to Carlisle, Pa., where I used to live.

Another way to look at it is on the first day we cross the Providence River. On the second day, we cross the Hudson, and on the third day we cross the Delaware and Susquehanna. With any luck, on the fourth day we will cross the Potomac and Shenandoah.

This afternoon I also bought a new pair of good leather motorcycle gloves. My old, cheap nylon ones were falling apart and didn't keep my hands warm. These should help a lot on the trip. I also recently installed a cool little handlebar-mounted analog clock. I've wanted one for a long time.