50 States Day 195

  50 States, Day 195 Newcastle to Hagerstown,   159 miles
 
"I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate."
~George Burns
 
Happy days are here again
The stars are bright and clear again
Let's sign a song of cheer again
Happy Days are here again!
(1929, Ager/Yellen)


 Yes, the sun shone bright today. QG said if this is fall, we'll take it. And blazing hot, the temp shot up to fifty-seven. Okay, that's not hot, but very nice. We geared up anyway and after an hour, unplugged the (PP!) Gerbings.

Autumn is waning-at least by the look of the trees. Where in the beginning of autumn a colorful tree was an anomaly; today, once again, the isolated tree with beautiful fall colors stands out from the denuded trees.



We searched-we really did-for a decent road to Hagerstown, but found only spider web lines zigging and zagging. We elected to take 40 south, then I-70. Ugh. Two lanes of traffic, and convoys of trucks. Yet the countryside, in spite of an ebbing autumn, was very nice.





Backing up a day or so, let's check out Power Sports East, the dealership that serviced the Gold Wing.

After our failed attempt for a service in Dover, we headed north to a shop they recommended. At first glance, it seemed pretty small, but there are some things about small shops that I like. For instance, when it came time to pay, the service writer, Jamie, just rang it up. No running around the store to find the cashier.

Everyone was friendly, in fact, (trumpets!) Friendliest Shop of the Trip! Yes folks, not only were people friendly, but they asked questions about the Adventure, a first. And some read the blog by the next day. Oops, getting ahead here. It needed oil and filter, headlights (finally) and differential oil changed. Jamie wrote up the estimate. $379.00. I picked my teeth up off the floor and asked why and he showed me. $179 for an air filter. And lots of other dingers. That's close to an insurance deductible, so maybe next time I'll just ride it off a cliff. Wait a minute, that sounds like a bad idea. Set it on fire. Much better.

They took the bike and worked feverishly on it and found a bad fork seal. Called me late afternoon, got the OK, ordered and got one and by the next day, we're mobile again. 27 hours. Not bad, but when it's your only set of wheels, 27 hours is quite a while. And the bill was $408.00. Youch, considering the forks were under warrantee. In summary, a great shop, very friendly, but spendy, you heard it from Mr. Cheap.

Today (yes, I'm jumping around-deal with it) we stopped at Bob Evans for dinner. And we have another winner today, Juanita, Best Waitress of the Adventure So Far. Great job, J! Oh, she's blushing. She greeted us, then took and dished the humor with me. Like for instance, her tag that said Bob Evans. "I thought you were Bob Evans!" I gushed. Juanita covered and not hovered, served but not cowed. She checked in to make sure our meal was fine, and entered into personal conversation without bogging us down. For example, I know her son is studying at the (PP!) Motorcycle Mechanics Institute School, but she didn't tell me about her worthless neighbor. Know what I mean? She did her job well. And yes, I told her so. She was very gracious about that. Been doing it fifteen years and since August for old Bob. Bob Evans, who wasn't there, serves good food at a fair price. Stupid me, I ordered the 3 Course Turkey Special, $9.99, and waddled out of that place. QG enjoyed a Chicken Burger and brought half of it home...er, to the motel. Gee, what a novel idea, take some back and put it in the fridge. She's the one using self control.



Took the cover off the trailer and found Hurricane Sandy water on the tent and Astroturf. Hung it out to dry, and perhaps Sunday will open up the tent and give it some air.
Thanks for following.


And now, dry and sunny, Quilter Girl!

QG here, not much to say today, Kevin has about covered it all.  We did find a Maryland welcome center and got maps and other info.  If you have never visited one of these when traveling, give it a try.  We never bothered before, but on this trip we stop whenever we can.  At the very least, we get a state highway map. There are helpful people and lots of info on things to see and do in the state.  There is so much history in this part of the country, civil war, war of 1812 and Star Spangled Banner.  I am anxious to see as much as we can.  
QG
Tomorrow we travel to Antietam, the Civil War site with the dark distinction of being the most one day casualties in U.S. history, 23,000 men killed or injured. Bring your history books and there will be a test afterwards. Wait! Come back! I was just kidding.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

4 comments:

Pam said...

Antietam was the first civil war battlefield I visited ....walking the grounds and seeing all the nearby farms really made this history come to life for me....and realizing how much ground these battles covered...crazy.
Hope you have some sunshine.
you are getting so close.... I can almost see that bike driving down a road near me......

Unknown said...

We don't want to miss you! Probably the end of next week? Near Wasington DC right?

Pam said...

yep, I live right across the river from dc. in arlington va. pamsjoy@gmail.com

Unknown said...

So noted!