I'm Leaving On A...

[BikerGeek99]

Touring away…

Note the arrows on the floor – these are spaced here and there to let you know where the tour goes.

Now I know how Maverick and Goose felt.

As you can imagine, pretty much every square inch is utilized for something, and the passageways are not very spacious.

Early radar console, IIRC.

Note the pack of smokes…

I wonder how many miles of wiring are in this thing. A part of me is amazed that the ship could actually function at all!

Now to the flight deck…

Too. F’n. Cool!

 

[user 28803]

:good: :

 

[BikerGeek99]

F4 Phantom. Another aircraft that me likey!

Note the nose gear of this one – it is attached to the catapult used to launch aircraft off the flight deck.

Looking back…

0 – 100 MpH in 250 feet. I can only imagine…

That is pretty much the length of the catapult. 250 feet is NOT very far!

F18 Hornet. It’s really not a very large aircraft.

This big-boy is, though – H-3 Sea King. I like helicopters. They’re cool.

From there to here to get to 100+. Dayum!

 

[BikerGeek99]

As we were walking around the flight deck, I swear but I caught a weird vibe. Maybe it was just my imagination due to the ship having been on “Ghost Hunters.” I dunno. But I swear that I did catch a vibe from the ship itself. It was weird – I think I’d been feeling it, but all of a sudden I realized it.

The ship felt tired. It wanted to either be out at sea, or just left alone. It was too proud to have all these hooting and hollering kids running amok; it didn’t want to be a dang museum.

Like I said, it was weird. Maybe it was my imagination going crazy. Maybe it was because I listen to my “Spidey Sense” more than most people due to riding motorcycles for 20 years. I am just not sure, but I swear I got a vibe from the ship.

We took a minute to check out the shore line around the boat through .. uh … whatever you call those things.

More aircraft.

They had one of the aircraft attached to the arresting wire, which the pilots have to hit when they come in for a landing.

There were points where several arresting wires could be set. Note the scoring in the steel plating!

If you have ever seen the movie “Top Gun,” you should recognize this one.

“I feel the need – the need for speed!”

The F14 is a bit larger than the F18.

And it’s REALLY cool to be able to walk right up to one.

Moored behind the Yorktown is the U.S.S. Clagamore, a submarine. It was not open for tours during our visit.

 

[rogdeb]

Oh yeah :clapping: :clapping: One most excellent ride report you guys. Well done. Scenery shots, people shots and misc. info that makes it especially interesting. Love it!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

You know there are many reasons boats and ships are given names. Most of the time we give our boats a female name and with good reason. They are pretty to look at, fun to play with and they cost tremendous amounts of money. Female. Ships of war are usually not given female names but they have personalities nonetheless. If you think about the many craftsmen that built the ship and all the different warriors who operated it, yeah, you could easily "catch a vibe". Motorcycle people are alot like boat people. Our pursuits put us out in the elements and we pick up on things that ordinary people don't need to notice. That helps us survive.

My father loved the Phantom like no other. He said that when you heard that Unearthly Howl that was the distinctive sound of an attacking F-4 you knew help was on the way. I have never heard one fly.

It's not over is it? I mean, you and Sooze are going to take us back home right?

 

[BikerGeek99]

It's not over is it? I mean, you and Sooze are going to take us back home right?

Nope, not over yet. Still have a couple more pictures and stories to share...

 

[Niehart]

Good stuff.

Can you imagine the rush taking off or landing on the carrier? Factor in boat speed, weather and damage, yikes. Got to hand it to the pilots and crews. :clapping:

 

[BikerGeek99]

A few more random shots from the Yorktown.

The bridge.

They even have an escalator in there! It was used by the pilots so they would not have to climb steps with all their flight suit stuff on. It is disabled now, though, because the gaps in the treads are big enough to take off toes! I thought that was very considerate.

“Contemporary safety codes.” Kinda like how yard darts aren’t sold any longer, ya know?

We also went below decks to check out the engine room tour. It’s a tad bit tight – the sailors on this ship musta been little fellers.

Once again I was – and still am – amazed that this whole contraption actually worked.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Can you imagine the rush taking off or landing on the carrier? Factor in boat speed, weather and damage, yikes. Got to hand it to the pilots and crews. :clapping:

I was thinking the same thing - those guys had some serious skills, that's for sure!

 

[BikerGeek99]

Remember when I told you that my Spidey Sense was going off while we were on the flight deck? It kinda went off again down here.

Not really anything as specific as what I felt on the flight deck, but just … something. This time it could have just been a touch of claustrophobia, which I never knew I had until I tried scuba diving back in 1997, but that’s another story.

After a few minutes the sense subsided, and I was pondering if it was ‘something’ or just my imagination knowing what “Ghost Hunters” encountered in here. Or claustrophobia. I have no idea.

I believe this is where the crew controlled the direction and speed of the boat. Kinda like in the movies, you know? From the bridge: “All ahead full.” And the answer: “All ahead full aye.”

I always wondered if, like in the movies, there were all those pipes and valves and stuff all around that a sailor could just reach up and close a valve to stop a leak. Now I’m no expert, but it would not doubt me one bit if that were truly the case.

But with pipes and valves this large, I get the feeling that if any of them ruptured, it would be a Very Bad Thing.

Kinda looks like a beer makin’ vessel, doesn’t it? Well, it does to me, anyway. Me likey beer.

Check out this candy-stripe looking thing. Care to guess what it is?

One of 4 main shafts. Dang!

 

[BikerGeek99]

When I was but a wee geeklet, I always had a thing for gadgets. Some things you just never out-grow.

Kinda like what was built in the movie “Under Seige,” which starred the ship we saw last year in Mobile, AL – the U.S.S. Alabama.

I really had to watch my noggin in this ship.

Back in the hanger.

Indeed we do.

How cool would it be to have one of these things to fiddle-fart around on? All I need to do is win the lottery…

This was too cool to pass on. Well, for me, anyway. Sooze politely declined. I paid my five bucks and had my own private simulation of a bombing run in Afghanistan.

We stopped in the trash ‘n trinket store for some trash ‘n trinkets and headed back toward the hotel.

We made a swing by the submariner monument.

I think the sail (conning tower? I dunno…) is part of a real submarine, but the body itself is all made of big bricks.

 

[BikerGeek99]

After a warm walk back to the hotel, we relaxed for a bit in the air conditioning, then called a cab to take us to a spot for dinner.

Sooze and I are geeks. No two ways about it. One of the things we are geeks about is food. We go to food shows, for cryin’ out loud. We have seen Emeril Lagasse, Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, Michael Symon (we got to meet chef Symon in one of his restaurants in Cleveland right after he won the Next Iron Chef competition, and saw him and Bobby Fly in the same restaurant during another visit), Robert Irvine (he was a dud, to say the least), Alton Brown, Giada De Lorentis, and maybe others all do live cooking demonstrations. One TV show we are fans of is Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” On one of our first extended motorcycle trips (riding Route 66 from Tulsa, OK, to Chicago), we happened on a café in Vinita, OK, called Clanton’s Café that had been visited by Triple D. We were, of course, geeked about it. Now, thanks to the miracles of the internet and smart(?) phones, we can locate where he’s been on the show very easily.

Turns out he’s been to a place in Charleston, so that’s where we went! Specifically, we went to the Tattoed Moose. Why did we take a cab, you ask? Well, they do have a pretty good beer selection, and sometimes it just isn’t worth the risk…

The Tattoed Moose is … um … “eclectic.” Yeah – it’s eclectic.

This has to be the most evil form of fries ever ‘cause holy **** were they INCREDIBLE! French fries, fried in duck fat, with blue cheese and garlic con fit (a roasted head of garlic). Mmmmmm……. If you are ever in the area, I swear these things are worth the trip (if you like blue cheese and roasted garlic, that is, which you should, just because).

After riding 400-some-odd miles, and walking 2 or 3 miles in the heat to, from and in the Yorktown, we were a couple of hungry geeks. The Tattoed Moose is a sammich shop, but they’re some damn good sammiches.

Sooze had their smoked chicken salad BLT with slaw, and they house-smoke their chicken. Plus, I mean, c’mon, man – it’s got bacon on it fer cryinoutloud!

I had the lowcountry Cuban and baked beans.

If we woulda had a Sharpie we coulda written something witty on the table, like: “BikerGeek and Sooze were here!” or something like that. Oh, well.

We rewarded our awsomenesses with some awesome beverages.

Geek like beer.

This made me laugh because one of my co-workers, who I’ll call Ben because, well, that’s his name, has just learned to ride a motorcycle and has just purchased his first bike, an ’84 Honda Magna. He doesn’t need more bike than that yet.

 

[PhilJet09]

Awesome ride report! Chock full of a lot of my favorite things and places. :good:

 

[BikerGeek99]

They are not without a somewhat whimsical sense of humor here.

As we were sitting there relaxing and just enjoying the moment, enjoying some yummy beers, enjoying each other’s company, enjoying the (pretty entertaining) people-watching, some musicians came and started setting up their equipment. Now, note in this picture where the dude in the middle is facing – there is a table in his line of sight, pretty much in front of the gal with the acoustic guitar. There is a table there. We were sitting there. We asked, “Hey – we’re not going to be in your way, are we? We can move – it’s no problem at all.” The response: “Nah. You’re fine there.” Dude. Just say, “Yes, we’d appreciate it if you move.” Glad we moved anyway.

2 years ago when we were in Newport, OR, we happened into one of Rogue Brewing’s places on a Tuesday, when it was Tiki Tuesday – if you’re a member of Rogue Nation and come in wearing a Hawaiian shirt, you first pint is free. No free pints, but it was a dollar off craft beers here this Tuesday.

We sauntered outside and called for a return ride. It was still kinda warm, but very pleasant.

Our cab picked us up, took us back to our hotel, and we slept like logs.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Wednesday, June 20, 2012.

After sleeping off our evenings libations, we awoke at a reasonable time (for us) and hit the road, greeted by a warm and sunny morning.

Going back across the bridge.

We know about what time we wanted to get to our destination, and had gauged how long it’d take us to get there, so we weren’t in any hurry which meant we headed out after morning rush hour had subsided and traffic was manageable.

Gotta love the weird stuff you see in gas station bathrooms, and this was in the ladies room!

Not too long after our first gas stop, the bike hit a milestone.

20,000 miles since August 15, 2009. And nearly all of ‘em were 2-up, loaded for bear, headed somewhere or other.

This stretch of road is a cure for insomnia, but we knew this wouldn’t last all day.

I didn’t know Charles has a town named after him!

Then it was back into North Carolina.

Hmm… What’s that hilly-looking thing there?

 

[BikerGeek99]

More of them hilly-looking things out there.

About the time we got off the slab, we stopped to fill up with fuel and to check in with my mom who was taking care of our 4-legged feline critters. And it was a bit warm, so some cool fluids were quite refreshing.

Remember when I said that that one road that is the cure for insomnia wouldn’t last long? ‘Cause I knew this was in our future. It just sucked that we had a line of cagers in front of us, over-cooking their dang brakes.

A new definal? Perhaps, but I have a strong feeling that it is one.

We would be treated to roads like this for the next several days.

Ah, good-old Cherokee, North Carolina.

A Santa store and a casino just seem very, Very out of place to me in this area, but I guess folks come there and spend their money which is good for the Indian Reservation.

Almost sad, really.

But if people are willing to pay…

 

[BikerGeek99]

If I were to guess, I’d say that this is more of a t-shirt shop than an actual dealer. Like I said, if people are willing to pay…

It was very nice to be off the slab and on some more scenic roads.

At home, our barns say, “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco.”

This building just seems kind of out of place in the heart of Appalachia.

In order to get this shot, Sooze had to hold the camera up towards my right temple. I was so focused on the road that I didn’t even notice until I saw this picture. But, that’s where we’re heading.

Fontana Village Resort. When we got there, the guy who booked our cabin hadn’t arrived yet, so we had some time to kill. This is the lodge.

While we were waiting, we met up with one of our folks – Dan, aka BombDog. He fed us some beers and let us change out of our riding gear in his cabin, which was MUCH more comfortable for us.

He’s a new rider and I helped him safely get his scoot off the trailer.

Chilling.

 

[beemerdons]

Incredibly Cool Ride Report Andy and Sooze, Thank You Very Much. Somewhat surprising you call RadioHowie and Bustanut joker your Friends, you seem so Intelligent!

 

[RayW]

F4 Phantom. Another aircraft that me likey!

I used to work on the bombing navigation gyro box for those when I was in the Air Force Reserves in....Newark, Ohio.

Bet you know where that is.

I couldn't begin to tell you WHERE on the plane that box went though. They would pull it in the field and ship it to Newark to be repaired. We would get the black box and open it up and work on the innards. Once it was fixed and passed all the tests it got sent back out to be put in the place of a different bad unit.

You might be surprised at what they had there in Newark. I think they closed it down a while back. Was a REALLY cool place though for a tech geek. I could tell you stuff but I think I might get shot if I did. LOL

Ray