I'm Leaving On A...

[Bustanut joker]

Damnit Andy yer right!! The roads and the scenery suk!

I feel sorry for you and Sooze, having to suffer through journeys like that...

It's pucked up bro.

 

[BikerGeek99]

It's pucked up bro.

Yeah, I know. But SOMEone has to be the goalie, ya know?

Waitaminute .... what're we talkin' aboot? :blink:

 

[wheatonFJR]

Good job Andy... and Susan, too. :clapping:

 

[BikerGeek99]

So, one week ago we were without power at home thanks to a MAJOR storm that ripped through and caused pretty severe, wide-spread damage to the region. Now that our power is back on (there are still folks who do not have their power restored), and the A/C is fixed, and the neenernets access has been stabilized, time to get this ride report reportin’ again!

Monday, June 18, 2012.

Monday. And we’re not heading to work. We are officially on vacation now. Oh, yeah….

We didn’t have too far to ride today, so we lollygagged a wee bit, slept in a bit, and took a relaxed approach to a beautiful Monday morning.

We headed out, leaving Smithfield in a south-ish direction.

Ya know, it’s kind of interesting to me how much of the country looks alike. We’re in Virginia but this could be a lot of different places in the country.

Not too far down the road we crossed into North Carolina.

The morning was warm but not too warm.

The local agriculture experts were doing controlled burns in some of the farm fields.

At first I thought it was something bad, but the local agriculture experts didn’t seem very concerned, so I wasn’t concerned, either.

I think this shack / small barn / mother-in-law suite, North Carolina-style, has been here a while.

We made it to the Geek’s Preferred Hotel of Choice in Elizabeth City wayyyy early for check-in on the hope that our room would be ready. It wasn’t, but the very friendly staff at the hotel allowed us to drop off the big-honking bag from the Tour Pack and we changed into jeans, knowing what was in store for us. SUPER thanks to the staff of the Elizabeth City Hampton Inn – every single member of the hotel staff that we encountered were, without exception, super friendly.

Ah, the quips of touristy places.

Since we do not have enough t-shirts, we had to stop in Outer Banks HD for the obligatory shirt stop. The folks in here were as friendly as the folks at our hotel, and the gal who was explaining the t-shirts to the patrons was funny as hell.

Lots of stuff like this around here – bridges over bodies of water! Exciting stuff, isn’t it??

After a brief stop at a rest area / tourist information area, where I think we pissed off the guy working there since we were clearly clueless but didn’t ask him for help, down the road a ways we found one of the stops we were looking for.

What is it? Why it’s….

 

[BikerGeek99]

The Wright Brothers National Memorial.

We paid our admission fee ($10 or something like that) and mosyed in. There is a visitor’s center and, up on a hill, an actual memorial monument that you can walk up to.

It’s a long, up-hill walk to the monument. Luckily we grabbed our comfy shoes outta the bag we left at the hotel in anticipation of something like this.

Looking up from where we parked:

The monument itself is, of you ask me, bad-assed.

For mid-day Monday, the place was hopping.

No, not the popcorn guy – the aviation guy!

No, not the kid that had the talking horse – the other aviation guy! They’re brothers, ya know.

From the monument, looking down to where we parked – see the bike? It’s the small dot in the parking area down yonder.

My camera has a bitchin’ zoom so I zoomed in on it.

 

[BikerGeek99]

[beevis] Uhhhh…. Huh huh huh…. “Erected.” Huh huh huh…. [/beevis]

I think the way the stone was carved or whatever is cool and really gives the monument character. Otherwise it’d just be a big monolith on a hill.

We could see this down yonder – gonna have to check that out, too.

Us.

The visitor’s center is the far building on the left that looks like it has a cereal bowl on the roof.

We were high enough up to see over the trees and buildings to be able to see the ocean.

I kind of have a special attachment to aviation. A now-deceased friend of mine whom I’ll call Steve because, well, that’s his name, used to own a small airplane and was a huge geek about, among other things, aviation. Plus, an old friend of mine whom I’ll call Big Al because, well, that’s his name, completed his civilian pilot’s certification. Plus, my uncle was a corporate pilot for his entire career. So, you know, I know people who have kinda been involved in aviation. So if you have any bones in your bodies that have any enthusiasm for aviation, the Wright Brothers memorial in Kitty Hawk is something that is worth going to see.

We walked back down to the bike, swapped our comfy shoes for our riding boots, and moseyed to that other thingajiggie.

Down by that other thingmajiggie…

12 seconds – the first flight was only 12 seconds. To my little pea-brain it’s kind of hard to fathom the changes that have taken place since then, you know? From the Wright Flyer to the SR-71 which, for the record, is one bad-*** hunk of airplane.

How f’n cool!

 

[BikerGeek99]

Sculpture. Thingamajig. Whatever. You know what I meant.

It is pretty cool, though!

Sooze was pretty stoked to be here!

Big finish! Gawd I’m a doofus sometimes. OK, most of the time.

Funnin’ around a bit.

Getting an idea for the view that….

This guy had.

The view.

We hopped back on the bike and headed for the visitor’s center.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

It is amazing how "Motorcycle People" can communicate. I have read numerous travel reports but I never ever get the same amount of useful information as I get from the Ride Reports on a motorcycle forum. You are teaching me things and taking me places exactly the way I want to learn about them. Please thank your lovely companion for the pictures one more time.

 

[BikerGeek99]

The field where the first flight is over by the visitor’s center. Standing there this day, it was understandable why they chose here – there was an almost-constant wind coming off of the ocean.

These guys were smart.

And, I learned (or knew but had forgotten) that they actually did four flights that day.

There is a reproduction of the camp used by the Wright brothers.

“Rustic.”

The takeoff point.

We couldn’t really get a decent picture of the landing spots due to a hug gaggle of a family that had a gazillion kids running around in a spastic, disorganized manner, bumping into anyone and anything in their path since they never looked where they were going, but trust me – there are markers in the field. You can see them in the background a couple of pictures back behind the “Four Powered Flights” info mahoogie.

It was a pretty warm day by now, and the A/C inside the visitor’s center was very much appreciated.

I know that the south prides themselves on their rednecks. And that’s all fine and dandy. But, I have been saying for years that Ohio breeds a redder-necked redneck than the deep south can ever hope to breed.

Our visit to this memorial this day cemented this in my mind forever.

While we were up at the monument, there was a group of the most ohmyf’ngawd tacky rednecks – a guy dressed kinda like what a pimp would look like in the south, and a couple of wimminz (mother and daughter is our guess) dressed in Daisy Dukes that were so short and tight that their baby-making parts coulda popped out at any time, cowboy boots, tank tops that may have fit properly a few years prior, cowboy hats, and aviator shades. The younger of the two wimminz was juuuuust on the cusp of still being able to pull that look off; the other one not so much. How they were acting … well, just low-class and tacky. I’ll leave it at that and to your imagination.

After we finished up in the visitor’s center, as we were heading to the bike we noticed a big-ol’ Ford F350 or F450, big-ol’ lift kit, big-ol’ tires – you get the idea.

With Ohio plates.

Sooze and I were ready to take bets that the rednecks would be in that truck.

And we were right, straight down to the wimminz sitting in lawn chairs in the bed of the truck.

<sigh>

I wish we could have gotten pictures of ‘em to fully convey their look but, quite frankly, it was clear that they were trying for “shock value” and wanted people to look at them. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction that they had succeeded. So no pictures.

But that is proof positive that Ohio breeds the reddest-necked rednecks out there.

Exiting the memorial, we headed to the Ocean Road and rode a bit, pondering the utter train wreck we had just witnessed at one of the most significant historical places I can possibly think of.

Most every place along here is on stilts. Go figure – the Atlantic ocean is just off to the left!

It is amazing how "Motorcycle People" can communicate. I have read numerous travel reports but I never ever get the same amount of useful information as I get from the Ride Reports on a motorcycle forum. You are teaching me things and taking me places exactly the way I want to learn about them. Please thank your lovely companion for the pictures one more time.

Thank you for the very kind words. They are deeply appreciated and I will pass on the pictures kudos to Sooze!

 

[FastJoyRide]

Syl and I killed a 1/2 day at the Wright Bros National Monument when we were staying nearby last March. it is an outstanding display. No Daisy Duke look-alikes wehn we there, but it was light jackets weather then. Great RR Geek!

 

[BikerGeek99]

Maybe it was just because we were along the Atlantic once again, but this kind of reminded me of our visit to the Hamptons during our honeymoon ride a few years back.

But, for the record, the Hamptons are a wee bit more swanky.

This area – the Outer Banks, Cape Hatteras – is kind of known for lighthouses. Lighthouses are cool – Sooze sucked me into their coolness, so we stopped by the Bodie Island Lighthouse. They’re doing some work on ‘er.

But it’s still VERY cool!

Trash ‘n trinket shop is in here. We know ‘cause we got some trash ‘n trinkets. It’s what we do.

After scoring our trash ‘n trinkets – and going back since the gal working the register didn’t charge us for my t-shirt (we hope we get some good karma points for that) – we continued our ride down the Atlantic coast.

The Atlantic Ocean was immediately to our left.

There were more bridges.

And sand dunes right along the road! Note the position of the dunes relative to the fog line in the oncoming lane (that’s called foreshadowing).

As much as I wanted to pull off for some pictures … well … the uber-sandy areas weren’t really terribly inviting while on a Harley bagger, 2-up, still loaded for touring.

So we continued.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Every now and then there were people doing beachy-stuff.

I finally found a paved parking spot to pull off, so we did and checked out the beach.

Off to the left, there was an area that was closed. Guess the tree-huggers are in a snit about people actually ENJOYING the beach. Damn hippies…

The ocean was doing it’s thing.

I have seen guys that go to an ocean and stand in it in their riding boots. Knowing (or at least hoping, since they’re new) that my Sidi’s are as waterproof as my old Sidi’s, I decided WTF and headed in…

And got this shot – the waves kinda came higher than they had the minute or so I was watching ‘em. Guess they knew I was coming, or TWN was trying ta punk me.

Boots? 100% waterproof. Jeans? Wet. But the boots kept my feet and legs dry. Gotta love Sidi’s…. Those Italians make some good boot.

Us again. This day Did Not Suck.

There were a few folks at the beach, most of ‘em out of frame to the right.

There they are.

The bike, patiently awaiting our return.

 

[BikerGeek99]

This was an … interesting house.

Does this sign look familiar?

Our southern terminus for this day – the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

Cool stuff, for us, anyway.

We parked the bike and sauntered to the visitor’s center. There’s stuff like this around here.

Cool pic by Sooze.

We didn’t take the time to check these out because it was pretty durn warm and was getting later into the afternoon.

But the lighthouse was definitely cool!

After getting our pictures, trash ‘n trinkets, and listening to a kid have a meltdown because his mother wouldn’t let him get a “periscope,” we hopped back on the bike and headed out.

And started back the way we came, and the skies were not looking like they would cooperate.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Rather than retracing our route the entire way back, we took Route 64 (thanks, Mike!) which took us on a less-traveled, lower-traffic route back to the hotel. We were looking for gators off to the right but didn’t see any.

We hit small spots of light rain here and there, but it was a fairly smooth ride.

Back at the Geek’s Preferred Hotel of Choice, we were relaxing in the lobby, enjoying a beer courtesy of the Manager’s Reception (even though a couple of guys were trying to hog all the beers for themselves), HappyHours walked in! It was great to see him again, especially when it was unexpected!

After a while catching up with him, we walked across the street for some grub, and called it a night. While this was supposed to be “light,” we still managed over 300 miles just screwing around.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Tuesday, June 19, 2012.

A Day Of Awesome.

Knowing we had a fair number of miles to ride, and that we had some “stuff” we wanted to see when we got there, we were up fairly early (for us) and on the road.

The skies were getting creepier, and eventually they decided to open up on us. We were fine for a while – just light mist that was just enough to piss ya off, eventually it evolved into just enough of a shower where I was having troubles seeing the road so it was time to pull over and pop the face shields onto our helmets.

Action shot – I pulled off under a bridge and was cleaning the lenses on my sunglasses.

We were in and out of the rain (but mostly in) for quite a while this otherwise fine morning.

About the time we got onto some 4-lane, the skies cleared and it was bright, clear, sunny, and WARM!

These jokers were following us around.

That dew-rag looking thing may seem very redneckish (we ARE from Ohio, after all), but it actually Sooze’s neck cooling wrap thing. I put hers there and mine on the other side of that bag to dry out all the way. We bought a couple of ‘em in Eureka, CA, in 2010 but … ah … didn’t store ‘em right, so we needed replacements. In this heat, and these miles, we used ‘em on this day! We soaked ‘em in some ice water and moseyed on down the road.

I was focused on making sure we weren’t a traffic statistic, and Sooze was bored so she played the alphabet game with herself and took pictures.

One of her sisters had mentioned this and we’d be going right by it. Kinda like Wall Drug, only different.

Closer we got.

Well, the sign says to do so, so…

Harumph.

 

[BikerGeek99]

That’s one BIG sombrero!

And it’s right on the border coming into South Carolina.

If we didn’t have some “stuff” we wanted to see, we prolly woulda stopped. But we didn’t stop.

As were heading towards Charleston, South Carolina, we made one last fuel, bio, and water stop and I punched in the address for the hotel into the GPS. This little fella came up to say hi.

A fella riding a metric cruiser rolled in and got whatever he was after inside. He then approached me and we had The Talk that only happens between people Who Ride. He also has a 2009 Ultra Classic, and since I also have an FJR, we had Bike Talk comparing the different types and styles of bikes.

Only on The Road.

Meanwhile, the little guy kept his eye on us for a few minutes and mosyed on. I tried to pet him, but he wasn’t really interested. He was cute little guy, though.

We’ll be riding over the bridge in the distance is a few minutes.

Closer….

Before long we were on it.

 

[BikerGeek99]

That’s it for tonight – more pics to come, featuring this.

 

[BikerGeek99]

We arrived at our hotel in Charleston, got settled, and went for a little walk. After riding 400+ miles, it felt good to get out and walk a bit, even if it was a very warm South Carolina day.

We headed this-a-way.

Which is where this is kept.

There is a memorial for submariners as well.

Sooze is a fan of the TV show “Ghost Hunters.” We happened to catch an episode where they came to the U.S.S. Yorktown and, to say the least, they saw some freaky stuff, including what looked like a man walking across the flight deck, even though there were no doors where the man came from or went to – they captured that on camera. Since we stopped at the U.S.S. Alabama last year when we were passing through Mobile, we decided to make the hike down to Charleston to check out the Yorktown.

We paid our entry fee and headed toward the ship.

The U.S.S. Laffey is right next to the Yorktown. There was some ***** talking on his phone to someone saying that the Laffey is “only some support ship – it’s nothing, not worth the time to check it out.” I imagine that the sailors who served on the Laffey would present him with an alternate opinion.

The Laffey is “only” a destroyer.

In case ya didn’t know, the Yorktown is an aircraft carrier.

Entering the Yorktown. This is one seriously big ship.

Inside the hanger is this.

 

[BikerGeek99]

There is definitely history here.

There are many airplanes in the hanger. Note the airplane in the foreground – there is a ladder next to it and you can climb up and sit in the cockpit.

What’s a geek to do….

Duh. As if!

All I can say is that pilots have GOT to be lil’ fellers – there is NO damn room in there.

I have no idea what any of these switches are for, but MAN are there a lot of ‘em.

And more on the other side…

That was cool. REAL cool!

More planes…

Bigguns!

Rocking out the black riding socks look once again. Man – my legs are so pale I could be mistaken for a Canadian!

 

[BikerGeek99]

The Corsair. This was one of the first aircraft that I could identify on sight, thanks to the TV show, “Black Sheep Squadron,” which was a dramatization of the antics of Greg “Pappy” Boyington.

The Corsair is a helluva aircraft.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen one up close and personal.

Moseying on…

There is a good view of the bridge we had ridden across not too long ago.

And an opportunity to take our picture!

Them Wright guys are EVERYwhere! I liked the spacecraft stuff, too.

There are 6 self-guided tours setup on the Yorktown – we went with Tour #3: the flightdeck and bridge!