Day 2:
We woke up only 10 minutes before checkout but it was the best sleep ever. On second thought, an overnight flight and then running around all day and evening was a bad idea. We got our stuff loaded into the car and went for a walk around town again. We had missed breakfast at the hostel so we stopped for it at the Nostalgia Cafe. On to Kilkenny Castle (Heritage Card), and shopping across the street. Back to the car and on to Cork. We listened to our new CD on the way and it was a great drive. We arrived at Bru Hostel and had to get into separate rooms. I was with a bunch of Aussies. We went out to eat at Greene’s, which was at the end of an alley next to a surprising waterfall. Good seafood there. Then on to a trad session at the LV Bar. All the musicians were pretty young. We were entertained by a very drunk woman with a dog, who kept pointing at the dog, saying “That’s my dog,” and shrugging in a very spastic manner. Over and over again. She also kept insisting to anyone who would listen that “That’s not Irish music!” I don’t know what she thinks is necessary for something to be classified as Irish music but it sounded like it to me. We missed the reggae and free barbecue (hot dogs) at the hostel but still had a fun night.

Day 3:
We woke up relatively early, ate breakfast at the hostel, then were off to find a post office to send off some postcards. We got lost again but asking for directions has become frequent and we made it. It’s Niki’s birthday and she wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone so we went on to Blarney Castle (€10, not on the Heritage Card). The stairs getting up to the roof where the stone is were extremely narrow and got tighter as we got higher. To kiss the stone, you have to lay on your back and lean upside down. After kissing it, there was a sign saying that’s not the actual stone. We made our way to Kinsale for lunch where I had my first fish and chips experience at Ned Kelly’s. We then walked around a bit, lovely town, and went on to Charles Fort (Heritage Card). It’s an old British star shaped fort that was only ever in one battle and it surrendered at that. We wanted to take a road west past a stone circle but never found the road. We’d planned on staying in Skibbereen but couldn’t find the hostel so went on to Bantry. There was a private room left at the Harbor View Hostel so we grabbed it. We were recommended Ireland’s best seafood restaurant, O’Connor’s, for dinner but it was full up for that night and the next several nights. Lots of other places were closed as it was a Monday night but we finally found food at the Snug. Great vegetarian lasagna there. A guy from the hostel joined us and we moved on to drinks at Ma Murphy’s and JJ Crowley’s. Ended the night early again (all pubs close at 11:30).

Day 4:
We woke up at 10 and were ready for the 11:00 checkout. We wandered through town to get internet access for email and directions then stopped in at the market for more food for the car and a picnic brunch. The latter took place when we drove above town to the Knocknaveagh lookout point where we could see all oof Bantry, the harbor and the surrounding countryside. The ham-chicken we got for €1 for brunch was a mistake but the view was gorgeous. Leaving town, we headed into the Beara Peninsula. We cut across half way down to go over the Healy Pass and stopped many times for pictures, most of me trying to befriend the sheep. The blue ones were jerks and the pink ones were afraid. I will find sheep somewhere on this trip who like me and get a photo. Going back up the peninsula, we joined up with the Ring of Kerry in Kenmare. We stopped in Sneem for homemade ice cream, then checked out the Staigue Ring Fort, which was off down a one lane / two direction road. On roads like this, when encountering another car, one of you has to back up to a wide spot in the road or pull into some shrubbery so that the other person can pass. Continuing on the Ring of Kerry, there were more excellent views, then we stopped in Portmagee for the night. The Portmagee Hostel looked very nice and new inside and we got another cheap private room. After relaxing a bit, we walked down to town and had dinner at the Bridge Bar. After dinner we stayed for more drinks and live music. They were totally playing to the tourists but it was a lot of fun. One guy on a guitar and one guy on keyboard / accordion played mostly and invited anyone who could play, sing, dance or tell a story to come up as well. There were lots of young girls there to step dance and we learned one dance as well. The drink of the trip continues to be Bulmer’s.

Day 5:
We woke up in Portmagee and went right on down to the pier to hop on our Joe Roddy and Sons boat out to the Skelligs. The ride was a lot of fun, about 45 minutes and what I thought were big swells, but it was apparently a calm day. I don’t think I’ve ever been out on open water like that before. We landed on Skellig Michael and had to read a long warning sign and hear a long warning speech before venturing up the stone steps to the monastic ruins. We saw lots of puffins and they make an interesting noise instead of squawking, kind of like a lawnmower starting growl. The ruins were very cool and unbelievable how they were built up to level terraces off a very steep incline. After a picnic lunch outside the monastery, we heard a very interesting speech from a guide on the history of the Skelligs. We wandered around a bit then went back down to catch the boat back to the mainland. We detoured to go around the Little Skellig slowly to see all the birds in the sanctuary there (the mountain was completely white with them) and some seals as well. Another fun boat ride back to Portmagee, soup at the Bridge Bar, then on the road to Dingle. We hadn’t booked a hostel before getting into town so we asked for directions to some and walked around to find them. The Hideout Hostel was our goal since I’d have a discounted price with my Rick Steves guidebook. They looked very nice and clean but were full. The Grapevine Hostel down the street also looked very nice and clean but only had beds available in the mixed dorm, which my friend prefers not to stay in. The guy there was nice enough to call the Blackberry Lodge and Hostel for us and they had a cheap private room. We picked up some more phone credit and groceries and settled there, then headed out for the night. There happened to be a fun fair right on the pier so we went to check it out and ended up riding The Orbiter. So much fun! I haven’t been on carnival rides in forever and it was well worth my €3. From there we went on to eat at the Marina Inn, on recommendation of a guy at our hostel. After dinner, we went on to John Benny Moriarty’s, on recommendation of a guy at the other hostel, to hear some great trad music featuring the owner’s wife singing. Eilis Kennedy sounded great and we picked up a CD. After a bit we went back to the Marina Inn to see the musicians who were just starting to play as we had left earlier. There was a guy on guitar and a guy on banjo, both very good, but the guy on banjo was just using one regular pick and was so quick it was amazing. I’m used to 5 string banjos played with several picks. My camera battery needed to be charged but Nichelle got a video for me.

Day 6:
The water temperature knob in the shower was broken so I tried to take a scalding hot shower, but ended up having Niki help me finish rinsing my hair in the sink in our room. We drove right out to Ventry to Long’s Horseriding Centre for an hour long trail ride. My horse’s name was Paddy and it was English riding style. He mostly walked pretty slowly but at one point I needed to catch up with the other horses and kicked him into a trot. I was told to, but I wasn’t told to stand up and sit down for it, so I pretty much just bounced up and down, which can’t have been any more comfortable for him than it was for me. Once we arrived back at the stable, the riding guide offered to let me trot again, prepared this time, and I did catch on a bit, although Paddy kept stopping whenever he felt like it. After the ride, we continued driving around a Dingle Peninsula loop and stopped at the Celtic & Prehistoric Museum (nothing in the museum seemed to be from Ireland) and some famine cottages. We continued on and saw some great scenery – mountains, patchwork fields, beaches. At one point in the road we had to ford a stream – the road was designed to do that instead of having a bridge – and it reminded us very much of the best computer game ever, The Oregon Trail (side note: possible future vacation is to trace the trail and keep an awesome log of it). We stopped for lunch at Tig Aine then went on to Kilmalkedar Church, an old Norman church. Niki and I renewed our friendship through the thumb hole of the ogham stone (people make deals there, or renew wedding vows, so that was all we could think to do – after all, we do have a friendship contract written on Lisa Frank stationary from a long time ago), then we both fit through the “eye of the needle” window in the church, which supposedly means that either we’ll get into heaven, be lucky, have our bad backs cured, or be married within a year and a day. We stopped there because we were told we’d find out whether we were going to heaven or hell by going through the window, but then I found all these other possible fates as well through google. We got back into Dingle town and napped for a bit which was much needed. I did some laundry in our in-room sink upon waking then we walked around town some more, mailed post cards, and settled on the Dingle Pub for dinner. The town seemed to be empty, a big change from the previous night. I asked our server about it and he seemed to be stumped as well and said Thursdays are generally hopping. We walked around some more, got some ice cream, did some shopping, and listened for music along the way. We stopped into Paudie’s Bar for some drinks. There was a man playing guitar and banjo with a young girl on fiddle, both very good. At about 11:00, we went up to An Droicead Beag to catch the last of some music there – three guys, one on uillean pipes.

Day 7:
I started the day with a slightly less hot shower since I waited until several people had already gone in. The weather was rainy, our first bad weather of the trip. We stopped for gas and cash then got on the road to Doolin. We ate breakfast in the car, then took the Shannon Ferry to avoid Limerick traffic and also ate lunch in the car on the ride. There wasn’t much scenery to see since everything was shrouded in fog. We got to the Cliffs of Moher just as it was clearing up. You can’t actually walk far along the cliffs officially, but if you climb over a short stone wall and walk past the private property sign, there is a walkway all along them. Everyone was doing it and there were rangers hanging out along the trail too so it seems as if it’s allowed but just not recommended. Apparently there have been six deaths there this year. I walked along the path for only about 15 minutes before turning back because Niki hadn’t come out and was waiting for me. There were great views farther out though, and it looked like there were ruins at the end. It was windy but I felt safe the whole time since the path was several feet in from the edge. After walking back in we did a bit of shopping and by the time we left, the fog had rolled back in and you couldn’t see the cliffs at all. We were lucky. We got back on the road to Doolin, just 10km up the road, and landed at Paddy’s Doolin Hostel. Out to dinner at Fitzpatrick’s Bar, then out for drinks at Gus O’Connor’s. We met our new adoptive parents, Karen and Bob, who tried to set us up with some inappropriately aged guys from Vermont. To be fair, Karen did try to find us some nice Irish boys, there were just none there. Fun night.

Day 8:
The first thing we did this morning was drive out to the pier and hop on a ferry to the Aran Islands. Only €10 each way. We were headed to Inishmore, the largest of the three, and the last stop. There was no room left to sit outside on the boat so we had to sit inside. I started to feel slightly seasick due to a combination of being very hungry (missed breakfast) and being in a hot, airless, rolling box of a room. Once we dropped some people at the first stop, I was able to sit outside and felt much better. I had been fine on the Skelligs boat so I was surprised when I started to feel sick since this boat was much bigger. We landed on Inishmore after a little over an hour, and found a tour bus with an interesting guide. He pointed out lots of interested tidbits and had a number for each of them – 14 villages, 3 Catholic churches, 7 pubs, 1 grocery, 3 police officers, 2 court days per year, etc. He was very funny but I’m not sure if it was intentional or not. He made some comments about tying up sheep and goats to keep them in the fields. “No one keeps sheep here because they tend to wander. To keep them in the field you have to tie their feet together, and then, you know, they don’t do too well.” “See those two goats tied together, that’s to keep them in the field. It takes them a while to figure out how to jump over the wall together so they can’t get far.” “There are 7,000 miles of stone walls here and it’s for two reasons – it’s to mark the boundaries and it’s to have something to do with the stone.” We stopped for a few minutes at the Seven Churches, then were dropped off for a while at Dun Aenghus, a stone fortress on the cliffs. It was a very cool site and we had time for soup and bread and shopping before being picked up to go back to Kilronan. A little bit more time for shopping there, then the ferry back to Doolin. I was fine on this ride, both outside and inside on the boat. Once back in the car, we headed to Ennis to stay at the Rowan Tree Hostel. Best hostel yet – very clean, good security, great facilities. We grabbed a quick dinner at Kearny’s then went to the local Cois na hAbhna Hall for a ceili. Several men were kind enough to teach me so I danced most of the sets. It was so much fun! Mostly middle aged to older people there but I wasn’t too surprised at that. The whole ceili was three hours longs, a great workout and very dizzying.

Day 9:
We did some laundry at the hostel this morning then got on the road through the Burren. Someone had told me it’d look like Mars and that was spot on. Niki was tired of rocks at that point but I still thought it was great. We stopped at the Poulnabrone Dolmen, an old portal tomb. It was a bit disappointing, not very large, and roped off so I couldn’t get my picture taken on it like I had planned. This was the first roped off ruin we’d seen though. All the other ones you can walk around, on, etc. From there we drove to Ballyvaughn and stopped for lunch at the Tea Junction, then went to the surprisingly small Burren Craft Fair. There were only six vendors, not at all like the fairs I’m used to. Leaving Ballyvaughn, we took the wrong road and ended up with a very scenic detour near the bay, and back to Lisdoonvorna. We then went through Ballyvaughn again and made it to the Sleepzone Hostel in Galway City. The most expensive hostel so far but it looked nice. We went out to McSwiggan’s for dinner and walked around a bit but all the shops were closed. It was too early to start drinking so we went back to the hostel to rest. After that we walked around some more, tons of street performers out. We stopped into Tig Coili for a drink but it was way too crowded to stay so we took our drinks outside (which is perfectly acceptable by the way, even bringing the drinks into other bars). A woman promoter for Coyote’s offered us stickers for free shots and also showed us the way there so we went and got more drinks. There was a good cover band playing (American covers) but we made it an early night.

Day 10:
My birthday and I woke up to a naked old lady. Actually we were in a six bed girls dorm with three German girls. The last bed was empty when we went to sleep. In the middle of the night, I woke up to an unfamiliar old lady voice yelling at one of the girls that she was “SELFISH, SO SELFISH!!” She had turned on her bedside light to change by. Not the overhead light, mind you, but her small bedside light, which was specifically for that purpose. She very politely said “a few more minutes please” but continued to get yelled at that she was selfish so she turned the light off and got a flashlight out. Then this morning, one of the girls’ cell phone alarms went off, again perfectly acceptable, and she was yelled at for being “SELFISH, SOOO SELFISH!!!” Now neither the light nor alarm had woken me up. What woke me up was this woman yelling over and over. After the alarm was turned off, she kept huffing and throwing herself around her bed for a bit, then decided to get up. I had no contacts on, but as she came closer (we were both on top bunks and she had to come towards me to get to her ladder), I found out she was buck naked. After using the bathroom she continued to stand in the middle of the room naked, rubbing lotion over her entire body, for 20 minutes. She finally dressed and left and the rest of us starting giggling and calling each other selfish. We’re so mature. I walked down to the post office, only to realize they were closed for the bank holiday. We left Galway for Connemara and stopped in a small town for some groceries before driving through some very scenic areas. I tried to befriend more sheep but they were having none of it. We saw a simple cross memorial, for the famine walk along that road (Doo Lough Valley). Then we saw the National Famine Monument in Murrisk, a bronze coffin ship with skeletons swirling around the masts. We arrived in Westport very early and got some beds at the Old Mill Holiday Hostel. I walked around town a bit to see what was going on that night then went back to the hostel to rest. We ended up at the Wyatt Hotel for dinner, then to McCarthy’s for a few drinks and a trad session. We ended the night at Matt Molloy’s, owned by the flautist in the Chieftains. Another trad session was going on there as well, this one very high level.

Day 11:
Nothing much to do when we got up today so we hopped on the road to Donegal town. We drove through Co. Mayo and Co. Sligo, no ruins or anything, just beautiful scenery. The weather was gloomy and cold all day. Got into town early and found some beds at the Donegal Town Independent Hostel, a ten minute walk from the city centre. We got settled then went into town to find soup and see what was up that evening. We ate at Mama’s Restaurant then went back to the hostel. I checked email and researched some stuff for the coming days. We went back out for dinner at the Olde Castle Bar, then to the Reel Inn for music and dancing. That was the only place that had been recommended to us for the evening, it being a Tuesday and not much going on, so we soon recognized about 20 people from the hostel there. Apparently it was the only thing being recommended to everybody else too. I recognized some Dutch guys that had been in the common area with me checking email earlier so we started hanging out with them and having competitions as to who was the worst at everything (best worst). When the music was winding down we went to the Abbey Bar for a few more drinks. Our latest night yet because we are apparently lame and don’t find the late bars. Great times.

Day 12:
We woke up very early, despite the late night, to sunshine! But it kept switching between sunshine/heat and rain/cold every 5 minutes all day. We got on the road and stopped in Derry because I wanted to see the Bogside murals. Got a bit lost looking for the right road so we stopped in at the tourist office and found out we were very close, and a walking tour was starting in 30 minutes. We ran across the street to a shopping center to grab lunch and cash (pounds now, not euro) then ran back in time to catch the tour leaving. The guide was Martin McCrossan from City Tours and he was super interesting. We got to walk up on the city walls a way. After he was done, we went out to find the Bogside murals. We found all of them then went in to the artists’ gallery, where I picked up a book. We got back on the road to Coleraine, to go to a hostel called Twenty Six that had been recommended to me. The door was open but no one was in and we were having trouble making calls so we drove down to the tourist office and they were super helpful and set us up at a hostel in Portrush – the Portrush Holiday Hostel, newly opened. It’s very nice and we had a private room again. We went out to dinner late at the Coast, some internet time, then bed.

Day 13:
We got on the road to the Giant’s Causeway early to beat the tour buses there. We walked out along the cliff path then down to the shore. One danger zone was blocked off. We got to the hexagonal rock area though and climbed around for a while. Climbed back up, ate lunch, then went along the road a bit more to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. It was a 1km walk out to the bridge and then people had to take turns going across. It was pretty cool though, just out to a little empty island. We continued driving around the Causeway Coastal route all the way past the Glens of Antrim and through Carrickfergus to Belfast. We parked, used up our pounds at a grill across from City Hall, then met up with a driver from Ken Harper’s taxi company for the political tour. We went and saw murals in the Protestant Shankill area, then the “Peace Wall” dividing the city (which we got to write on), then the Catholic Falls area. We saw a memorial garden there and more murals. The Catholic houses just on the side of the peace wall all have steel grates over the backs of them and fireproof slate roofs. Unreal that they feel the need to still live like that. The tour was very interesting. After it was over we got on the road to Dublin. A few wrong turns, and we had to ask for directions several times, but we finally found the hostel, Jacob’s Inn – very nice, a lot going on, very secure. We were starving since it was late so we went to the Thai Spice restaurant right across the street for dinner, then right back to the hostel for sleep.

Day 14:
We got up early to get the car out of a ridiculously price garage before the night rate was up, then drove a bit north of Dublin to see Newgrange (Heritage Card), part of the Bru na Boinne prehistoric monuments. It’s older than the pyramids. We had to take a bus from the visitor center out to Newgrange and got a tour there. Despite it being a huge mound, there is only one narrow hallway into a small room in the center. We all shoved in, then they turn the lights out and showed us what it looks like on the winter solstice when the dawn sunshine comes in through the roofbox (window over the door). It shines right down the hallway to where we were standing, very cool. On the way back to Dublin, we stopped in at the Hill of Tara (Heritage Card) for a walking tour there. Supposedly the seat of the high king of Ireland, it was chosen because you can see for miles in any direction from that point. There were some interesting monuments there, and let’s not forget the sheep. I finally made friends with some (although Nichelle disagrees). It was my last chance though since we were leaving soon and would be in the city the rest of the time. We headed back into Dublin and parked at a garage with a special rate for our hostel. I went out to the Temple Bar area to see what was going on and get dinner. I stopped in Gogarty’s to eat since they had live music going on. Back to the hostel to get Niki, then we went out again to several bars in the area. She went back to the hostel at about 11 but I stayed out at the Temple Bar and found some new friends from Ireland, Kansas, Manchester, Singapore and Wales to hang out with for a few more hours.

Day 15:
I had planned on doing a free walking tour from the hostel at 10am then meeting up with Niki again around 1:30 but it turned out the tour wasn’t starting until after 11 because we had to pick up more people at another hostel then meet even more people at City Hall. I saw a bunch of the hop-on/hop-off tour buses going by and saw on the schedule that they went to all the places Nichelle and I had planned on going to, so I went back to the hostel and she was thankfully still there. We grabbed some breakfast (great quiche!) then started our bus tour. We first got off at Guinness, which was actually a disappointment. You don’t see the brewery, you see the visitor’s center. And I still don’t like Guinness. Next we got back on the bus and got off at Kilmainham Gaol (Heritage Card), which was very interesting and very important in a lot of the political history as well. We got back on the bus but skipped Jameson since we had heard it was like Guinness, then hopped off the bus back near our hostel. We had a different driver each bus we were on but the last one was so funny. He was super enthusiastic. We went back to the hostel for a bit then I called my Aunt Theresa, who had just arrived in Dublin to start her vacation with her friend Judy. Niki and I walked over to the hotel they were staying at, we chatted for a bit, then we went out to find a pub to eat in. It took several tries to find something close to there but we ended up at this place in an alley with delicious food. I wish I could remember the name of it. After dinner, Niki and I went out in the Temple Bar area again for a bit, then back to pack up for our flight the next morning.

Day 16:
We were out the door early and stopped by my aunt’s hotel to drop off some things they might be able to use (atlas, bus tickets, city maps, stamps, etc) before heading to the airport. Dropped off the rental car, then had to wait a couple turns for the tiny shuttle bus to fit us in to get to the airport. Good thing we gave ourselves plenty of time because there were no self check in kiosks and we stood in line for forever even though we weren’t checking bags. We finally got through, did the paperwork for our VAT refunds, and made it to the gate in time to grab breakfast before boarding. The flight was incredibly uncomfortable but I got to watch a bunch of free movies and they did feed us. Michael and Blair met us at the airport to drive us home.

Many, many pictures.

Day 2: PA, OH. The next morning we met up to go out to breakfast at the Coca Cafe, which was delicious, and walked around a market area for a while. It’s a good thing I was on a bike and had no room for souvenirs or I would have bought a lot. I ended up with only a pair of earrings from a flea market. I did have to get going to make it to Cleveland though so I left mid afternoon. The weather was decent although I noticed that the battery harness on my bike had melted a little bit so I couldn’t plug in my heated gear or charge my phone. It wasn’t really cold so I just put on lots of layers until I could get to a dealership. I made it to Cleveland without incident and found a parking spot right outside my cousin’s apartment building. It’s a pretty cool building that used to be a hotel. Christian and I waited for Sean to walk over, then we went out to dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant and hung out the rest of the night at Christian’s place.

Day 3: OH, MI, IN. I got up early because I needed to make it to South Bend, which wasn’t too far, but I was also meeting up with some fellow Sportster riders along the way who were going to show me some nice roads along southern Michigan. I met up with Perry at a Cabela’s and we rode along route 12. After filling up at a gas station at one point, I started having problems not getting gas when I twisted the throttle, and of course it also started raining at that point, so we limped along on the shoulder to the next gas station where we got some Gum Out, which fixed it right up. It stopped raining and the sun came out for a while so I took off my rain jacket, and of course it started raining again. So I put the jacket back on and the sun came back out. And nature and I went back and forth like this all day until I finally just left the jacket on so we’d have sun. We found an open dealer so I could get a new battery harness, then stopped for a late lunch and met up with Joe, then continued riding for a while. Perry had to break off to get home so Joe and I continued on and met up with Bud. They took me right into South Bend and we found my great uncle and aunt’s house. I hadn’t seen my Uncle Charles and Aunt Mickey in a long time so it was great to see them. They took me on a tour of Notre Dame’s campus, where my uncle used to teach, and I got to see the cathedral and grotto and lake, all very pretty. We went out to dinner then hung out for a while more at the house.

Day 4: IN, IL, IA, MO, KS. It was hard to leave the next morning but I had a long day ahead of me, all highway to Kansas City. The weather was gorgeous, sun and clear skies all day, which made the highway very enjoyable. I didn’t stop much since I had far to go but I did stop for the World’s Largest Truck Stop (Iowa 80), and the Iowa Firefighter Memorial. I made it to Cindy’s late but she had some chili waiting. It was great to meet her, she has something like 127,000 miles on a 2007 Sportster.

Day 5: KS. We stopped by the local dealer then I had to get on the road. I took highway for a little while west across Kansas, then broke off to hit some touristy spots. First stop was Cawker City to see the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, which I actually missed on my first way through the town because I was expecting to see this ball of twine looming up over the houses. It’s not actually that big though so I found it on my second pass through. After that I stopped at a little red schoolhouse from 1874 that had been restored. Then on to Lebanon to see the Geographical Center of the Continental United States. I finally made it across to Goodland where I planned on seeing a giant Van Gogh and camping for the night. I had seen on a map that morning a place called the Mid America Camp Inn and planned on staying there, but when I arrived there wasn’t anyone in the office and it looked pretty run down so I went back to the KOA I had seen listed on the exit sign and got a spot there for the night. It was pretty cold so as soon as I was done cleaning up after dinner I got in my sleeping bag. I was in Mountain Time at this point but still sort of running on Eastern Time so it felt later than it actually was.

Day 6: KS, CO. I woke up way too early but I managed to fall back asleep for a little bit. I was very impressed with the bathrooms when I showered, very clean (important when camping!), and took my time packing up to get back on the road. I wanted to get to Boulder so just took all highway to Tim’s house there. We went out for a ride on some nice twisty roads, especially nice after the endlessly straight roads of Kansas. We ran into some elk crossing the street (not literally) so I stopped to take pictures, although they started getting a little too close so we moved on. We also stopped by the hotel from The Shining, one of the creepiest movies I’ve ever seen. It was a nice loop and we went out for dinner when we got back then stopped at REI so I could pick up another baselayer for the coming very cold days.

Day 7: CO, WY, SD. I had planned to ride around Colorado and Wyoming for two days on my way to Rapid City but my cousin there told me there was supposed to be snow and very cold temperatures so I went straight up in one shot to beat it. I left Boulder early and there was some rain mixed with snow falling but I was okay in my heated gear. Nothing was collecting on the road but a thick crust of ice managed to accumulate on the front of my bike and my lower legs. I didn’t even notice at first since I had so many layers on, I just happened to look down and see it, pretty surreal. Once I got into Wyoming for a little bit, the sun came out and it warmed up enough that the ice started melting enough for some of it to start falling off. I knocked off the rest at a gas stop. I didn’t make too many stops since it was so cold. I rarely even got off the bike at gas stops since that would’ve meant unplugging the heated gear. I did get off at the first gas stop to put toe warmers in my boots, and at the second gas stop to put more toe warmers in my boots. I made it into South Dakota before I realized I hadn’t made a single stop or taken a single picture in Wyoming. I wanted to stop at Ft. Laramie but it seemed too far off the exit and I wanted to make time to Rapid since I was unsure of the weather. I think for a future trip I want to trace the Oregon Trail, I’ve always been really interested in that. Any way, I hopped off the highway to take back roads the rest of the way in since the sun seemed to be staying out. I knew I probably wouldn’t get much chance to ride around western South Dakota like I’d planned because of the weather so I wanted to at least get some nice riding in before the snow. I took a route through the Black Hills National Forrest, which was beautiful. I saw Crazy Horse and went past the turnoff for Mount Rushmore but didn’t go in since I knew I’d probably be sightseeing with my cousin over the weekend. I arrived much earlier than I thought I would, only Erin was home. Once Matt got home we went out to dinner at the Firehouse Brewing Co, then out for a drink at the Hotel Alex Johnson, a cool old place built in 1927.

Day 8-12: SD. Temperatures were below freezing and I worried about black ice on the back roads I wanted to ride so I didn’t do any riding. Mainly just went out in downtown Rapid at night and did some touristy things. Matt took me in to Ellsworth AFB for a tour and I got to see the inside of the B1 Bomber that he flies, very interesting. We went out to see Mount Rushmore one afternoon as well.

Day 13: SD. I had decided to stay in South Dakota longer if the weather was nice and just miss some later planned stops, but of course the weather was still crappy so I just got going. It was raining but I went through the Badlands and stopped at a prairie homestead any way. Once I got back on the highway though, it was miserable with the rain and really strong winds so I stopped early and got a room to dry out in since I don’t like riding sideways on an already slick road.

Day 14-15: SD, NE, MO, IL, IN, KY, WV, VA. I had to do all highway and lots of it to make it to my friend’s house in southern VA so I didn’t make any really long stops. I did go through the Nebraska sand hills and check out a few historical things (Pony Express station, sod house), along with being caught in a NE State Police check point, but they were all quick. I made it to Caz and Scott’s late but we managed to stay up even later to hang out.

Day 16: VA. Caz had to work so Scott and I went out for a barbecue lunch and then hiking at the Cascade Falls with their dog. Once she got home we went out for a tour of Virginia Tech’s campus and a very good Italian dinner then hung out some more at the house.

Day 17: VA, PA, NJ. I took all highway home since I was expecting to run into some storms but I actually had sun the whole way. I must have been right behind the storm because everything was still wet when I got home. I was exhausted so didn’t even bother to unpack. It’s very nice to be back in my own bed.

Pictures!

Note: I had this song stuck in my head for most of the trip.

Destination: Raleigh, NC. Got a late start, of course, because I left some things to do in the morning that I should have already had done. The day was gorgeous but it seemed like I was riding into the sun the whole time, even though I was headed south. A little bit of traffic around DC but nothing else in the way. Almost out of Virginia (which is entirely too long) and started having gas problems. A few months ago I had a problem which I thought was bad gas or something blocking the line and switching to reserve got me through it. This time that wasn’t working. Any way the bike was still running, just hiccuping once in a while, then I had to sit in almost stopped traffic for no apparent reason for almost an hour and after that the bike could barely run. I got up to 60 but couldn’t go faster, and had to keep goosing the throttle in a certain spot to keep it up. It still gradually slowed down though so I took the next exit for a gas station. I had my service manual with me and I ran through all their possible problems and couldn’t find anything wrong. A guy saw me and came over to help, turns out he’s the road captain of his club, and had a bunch of tools in his trunk. He couldn’t figure it out either so I located a Harley dealership 10 miles away and called them. I explained the problem and everything they told me to check we had already done. At this point their service department was already closed and the rest of the place would only be open for another hour but he told me some guys offered to stay and take a look and he came and got me in the truck. The guy who had been helping me offered to come along and that way if they were able to fix it, he could follow behind me a ways in case I had any more problems since we were both headed in the same direction. We got to the dealership and they were able to fix it in around 30 minutes. Turns out there was a bunch of junk in the float bowl, which I should have known to check but missed. Back on the road, only about 90 minutes left to my cousin’s house. Arrived late, went out to eat dinner, collapsed in bed.

Day 2

I had planned to head to Jacksonville that day but because of my late arrival the night before, I decided to stay an extra day to hang out with my cousin and her husband. They just got a German Shepherd mix puppy so we went and hung out at the dog park. Very cute place, I’d never been to a dog park before. There was a bulldog there named Fats Magee, which is probably the greatest name ever.

Day 3

Destination: Orange Park, FL. I left Raleigh just around lunch time, hit some rain for a while through South Carolina, and after searching a while at the end for a road name that didn’t exist, arrived through some other road at my friend’s house. She and her husband and 3 girls just moved there because he’s stationed nearby (Navy). One of her daughters had just told them at 8:30 that a school project was due the next day so they were working on that. They fed me dinner and I went to bed.

Day 4

Husband and twins out to work and school so it was just me, my friend, and the super cute baby. Election Day so we went out for her to vote. I had already done absentee ballot, don’t worry. We had fun honking and cheering for Obama supporters and booing and giving thumbs down to lots of McCain supporters out with their signs. I had to fix my front brake light switch again. I had broken it before and instead of replacing the switch, just glued a bit of plastic to my brake lever so it could reach (which I intended to be a permanent fix because I’m lazy). The plastic fell off at some point though so I glued another piece in. I guess I’ll actually replace the switch now. After taking care of that, we basically just caught up all day, watched the election results that night, were very happy, and went to bed.

Day 5

Destination: Stecoah, NC. I left right after the girls left for school, nothing out of the ordinary on the ride, arrived at the campground around dinner time. I was staying at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge since I knew several people who’d been there before and liked it, and it looked great from the website. It was just dark when I arrived and the office was closed, despite their hours saying they’d be open, which made me nervous since I hadn’t called ahead. The cook lives on site though and came out and told me to just pick a spot to set up my tent and pay in the morning. I found some picnic tables in my headlight and found a grassy spot near them. No other tent campers, one couple in a cabin. This place is great though. They have a lodge that’s open all night and I was told I could take my sleeping bag to one of the couches in there if I got too cold in my tent. My sleeping bag is rated at 0 degrees so I was fine, but that is very cool of them. They also had the cleanest campground bathrooms I’d ever seen, in addition to providing shampoos, soaps, and a hair dryer. Usually I just hope the bathroom has a hand dryer I can hang my head under. Definitely don’t want wet hair outside in November. Any way I made dinner and went to bed.

Day 6

Talked to the owners of the campground and they recommended some good roads in the area. I got sort of a late start but managed to do a 5-6 hour loop and got back to the campground right at dark. I took 28 out to the Tail of the Dragon, continued on 129 to 72, 411, 360, 165 to some water falls, the Cherohala Skyway, continued on 143, down another part of 129, 19 to Wayah Rd which they told me is sort of a mini Tail of the Dragon, 64, then 28 back in. It was a great ride. That night there were 2 more people in the cabins, but no more tents. Cooked dinner and went to bed.

Day 7

Destination: Fancy Gap, VA. Got on the road early and made my way up to the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’d gone maybe 15 miles when I ran into a road closure, which wasn’t listed on the park’s website and also had no detour signs. I had ridden by another entrance not too far away on my way in the other day but it had a Road Closed sign on it too so I decided to just take highway up to the end of a 45 mile detour I knew was coming up. Finally got back on the parkway and stopped at an overlook for lunch. Back on my way, that road is just fantastic. Long, sweeping curves at a nice speed and not much traffic when I was there. It’s just so relaxing and happy compared to highway riding. I was aiming for Fancy Gap Cabins since I knew they’d be open in November (hard to find). Arrived at 5 and was able to set up camp, cook dinner, and clean up before dark. Again, no other tent campers and only one couple in a cabin. That campground was little but nice, especially since it’s right on the parkway. The sites weren’t too big and were mostly set up for RVs, not tents, but they had a nice bathhouse with a bunch of individual bathrooms (toilet, shower and sink in each), and a bunch of tiny cabins for rent. I think I saw a sign saying the campground was for sale. I’d love to live up there and run a campground. As a matter of fact, I never realized people lived right on the parkway. I mean their driveways don’t open on to it but their houses are right there. I think I need to go live in the mountains.

Day 8

Destination: Middletown, VA. I finished up the Blue Ridge Parkway. At one point I left the parkway for gas (I think route 43) and took a fun little twisty road through some national forest for a few miles. Very steep drop on one side, rock wall on the other side, blind curves, and almost every oncoming car seemed to think the double yellow lines didn’t apply to them. One time I came around a curve and found an oncoming car completely in my lane. Any way, made it to the gas station where some old guy who came over to look at my bike thought I was a dude until I started talking back to him. I know I had a full face helmet on but I think my jacket’s pretty girly. Back up the twisty road, had to drop into first to get around some of the curves which were on a steep uphill at the same time. Back on the parkway and made it to Skyline Drive. Gas stations are on Skyline Drive which is very convenient. It was a lot more crowded than the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a lower speed limit, and in my opinion not as good views. Also it cost me $10. So the BRP wins. My plan had been to stay at the Battle of Cedar Creek Campground in Middletown (also open in November) and take highway home in the morning but I finished Skyline around 5:00 and didn’t feel like going to bed at 7:30 again because it was cold and dark and I had nothing else to do (I’d already finished both books I brought with me) so I decided to just go the rest of the way home. Still got home at a reasonable time, just had about a 13 hour day. I wasn’t tired though, or cold either due to my new heated gear (love it!), and was happy to be able to sleep in my own bed that night.

Pictures!

San Francisco

Eddie Rickenbacker’s is a fantastic bar that has all these old motorcycles hanging from the ceiling – mostly Harleys and Indians with a bunch of other older ones thrown in. I think there was one bike from the ’50s, with all the other ones being even older. A lot were the almost bicycle looking ones with pedals. They have one ’41 Indian that had been given to Clark Gable by MGM. Apparently the owner sits in a recliner in the front all day long and tells people about it but he was actually in the hospital while I was there so I didn’t get a chance to talk with him. One last cool thing – the fat cat that wanders around and all over the bar.

I toured the USS Pampanito, a submarine from WWII. That kind of thing is interesting to me because my grandfather was in the Navy in WWII, although he was on a LSM (landing ship medium) and not a submarine. The quarters in there were ridiculously tight. I don’t know how they stood it.

I saw Tyrone Wells at the Red Devil Lounge. It was a cool little venue, kind of reminded me of the Troc. Wells was good although I honestly can’t remember the name of the opener. Wells was more soul and the opener was more emo I think, which I’m not at all into.

The Plough & the Stars in SF is so much better than the one in Philly. They have live music almost every night, whether its Irish or bluegrass, an actual concert or a jam session, or even set dancers. I’ve heard the one in Philly has Irish music on Sunday afternoons but I’ve never been. I know it’s pretty crappy and crowded on Friday and Saturday nights but that’s because it’s in Old City. While I was in SF, I went on a night with an Irish jam session and had a great time, ended up talking with some of the Gasmen most of the night. They opened for Gaelic Storm back before Titanic made them big.

I also saw the Ed Earley Band at Biscuits and Blues. Another cool venue although it was practically empty that night. The band was good, great rhythm and blues going on.

One last thing about San Francisco – it has absolutely amazing weather to walk around in, and motorcycles are everywhere – on the road, tons of parking for them. I’d love to see Philly get into that.

Camp Jam in the Pines

This was my first time at Camp Jam although my dad had gone before. I had a great time even though it rained for half the weekend. Everyone still stood or danced in the rain though to see the great musicians playing. Friday night had a sort of Cajun / blues theme going on so that was my favorite night. I saw the Red Stick Ramblers again along with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys – both were really good. It was at a really nice campground too, which is surprising for South Jersey. Most of the ones here are not in good shape but I would definitely go to Old Cedar Campground again. Actually I’m already scheduled to go there this fall for Camp Jam again (they do spring and fall festivals every year).

North Carolina

I went down to North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend to visit my cousin and her husband and check out their new house. Raleigh is a nice little city, although it feels more like a small town. The people there are way too friendly for my comfort zone, although I think coming from the North East I’m weirded out if people even look at me. We actually spent most of the weekend backpacking though. It was my second trip and their first so we did a 2 nighter in the Uwharrie Lakes Region. Beautiful and we kept crossing over a creek so we got to use my new water filtration system – the Katadyn Hiker Pro. I highly recommend it. Lightweight, quick, and works like a charm. The water was pretty tasty too. One other piece of new equipment I got to try out was my Thermarest Trekker Chair. Nothing feels better after hiking all day than having a comfortable chair to sit in, but since any kind of camp chair or stool weighs more than I want to carry this was a great solution. I bring a Thermarest any way and that slides right into the extremely lightweight “chair” (really just a fabric pocket) and it’s oh so comfy.

Usually when you go camping with someone new, you get to see their gear and then you have a new list of things you “need” to have for next time. Well my cousins had the tent I already knew I wanted – REI’s Quarter Dome T2 – but it was nice to see it in action and made me want it more. It actually weighs less than my current one person tent, and has room to sit up and store your pack. They had a hammock too, which was cool and made me look into camping hammocks where I found the Hennesy Backpacker Hammock. With a mesh top and even a rainfly, who needs a tent? It can actually be set up as a tent with two hiking poles though if trees aren’t available for hanging from. Plus, since you’re off the ground there’s also no need for a Thermarest, and you can just sit in your hammock so no need for a chair either. Having a hammock would save so much weight. It might be my next purchase instead of the new tent.

Miami

Well Miami turned out to be not that interesting because it was a quick trip where I worked late every night and wasn’t feeling well the whole time. I did get to go to a nice Argentinian restaurant though, although I’m totally blanking on the name right now. Maybe it’ll come to me later.

North Jersey

North Jersey doesn’t sound too exciting but since I had just been gone for a month and had barely any chance to ride my new bike, I decided to take it with me to North Jersey for the two weeks I was there. I got in a lot of solo riding time, in addition to longer distance riding, and I feel much more capable on the bike. Not all my riding was solo though since a friend of mine who rides lives near where I was staying so I got a chance to ride with her a couple nights too. I mainly spent my time riding to state parks since they’re generally a free destination and are usually surrounded by nice roads. I managed to get to Hopatcong, Washington Crossing, Round Valley, and Spruce Run. I passed 1,000 miles on the bike while I was up there too which made me pretty happy.

Appel Farm

I went to the 20th year of Appel Farm’s Arts and Music Festival. My family has been going for 18 of those years and we always get our tickets ahead of time so we were definitely attending, despite the 103 degree temperature. We set up canopies so we weren’t right in the sun but it was brutal. Great musicians but we ended up leaving early and missing both stages’ headliners because it was just so damn hot.

Scranton

What’s interesting in Scranton? Cliff jumping near a big dam and some waterfalls. You have to walk along some railroad tracks and then go down a trail to get there so I think we were technically trespassing but it was a great spot. Obviously well used by the locals so it’s not like we were going to get in trouble for being there. I didn’t do more than a 12 foot jump because I’m a baby but there were some people I was with doing maybe 30? I’m awful at guessing heights. Some locals who came and sat at the top of the dam getting stoned for an hour then proceeded to jump from the very top. I felt like I was about to watch someone die but they made it. I guess they’re used to the place. We brought goggles to check below the surface for any rocks or whatever before jumping but they just went right in. It was a gorgeous spot though and I plan on going back.

I’ve been traveling a lot for work, with more trips scheduled soon. For personal trips, I just booked one to San Diego in October for my cousin’s wedding and one to Lafayette (LA) in November for the Black Pot Festival. Can’t wait!