Little PA jaunt

[Hello Kitty]

Definitely not your usual 'ride report' - I'm just so happy, I felt like sharing. :yahoo:

So, I feel well enough to throw a leg over, have very little apprehension, so decided to take advantage of a very nice day in the Baltimore area and go for a little ride. Walt (hubby) and I were supposed to take my grandfather to Gettysburg for the movie and Cyclorama display today and we already had tickets. Pop took a turn for the worse so his visit with us was postponed. (he's doing better already ) I'm going to visit Pop tomorrow, and for another ride, but for today...

I bought my FJR about a year and a half ago and only have about 6K on the odo. For me, that's nothing. I'm one of those girls. The past several years have been 30K plus on bikes for me. Not bragging at all, just demonstrating that I wasn't riding the FJR. Honestly, I was a little afraid of it - very powerful bike. Had a couple little 'incidents' with her - most of which weren't really the bike's fault, but left me nervous on her nonetheless. So this ride was also another 'get aquainted' ride for me and the old girl.

Our tickets for the movie at Gettysburg were for 11AM. I figured that I needed to be to the Gettysburg Military Park absolutely no later than 10:30 to pick up the tickets and fight through the crowds. Walt and his friend were going to meet me there (we had an extra ticket for Pop, so his friend was gonna use it).

So I left the house around 5:30 this morning and just headed up into PA, turned here, turned there. Hopped on the freeway, hopped off the freeway, enjoyed the sights. I finally stopped in the Sheepskin store that has billboards for miles and miles around right off on I-78 )exit 19 I think?) Store was far more than I expected, but I'm not one to put sheepskin on my mc seat, I was just curious. The slippers looked real nice, but it was hard to remember the cold of winter in the heat of summer :lol: They had tons of jackets and vests too. Oh and hats. I liked the hats

I also wanted to see if the GPS that got launched off the bike in my crash (I'm the one who crashed on the freeway 6.5 miles from the finish of the IBR a couple weeks ago) worked. It seemed to when I left the house. But then it started doing goofy stuff. I thought for sure it was fried and was going to stop and buy a map, or at least get good directions to Gettysburg, when it started working flawlessly again. Huh. Maybe I need to update the software or something? Or just take Walt's :lol:

I made it to Gettysburg around 10:15 or so, parked in a spot for an RV, and went up to get the tickets. I tried to call Walt and to my surprise, he answered. "Where are you?" "On Route 15" "How are you talking to me?" "I'm in the car." So, Aaron blew us off (irritating, I would have invited someone else) and Walt's GS had a dead battery. He was going to take my FZ6, but didn't feel like dealing with putting his stuff on it (whatever that means) so he just took the car. And he was running late... He got there in the nick of time, and we really enjoyed the program. I've done a few things at Gettysburg recently and would be happy to share that info, if you're interested, send me a note and I'll ramble away!

After the program, we went to have lunch and parted ways. I wanted to check out a couple areas in the park again - Little Round Top, Devils Den/Slaughter Pen and the Wheat Field. Very sobering place.

Had a very pleasant ride home as well.

Total miles around 300 for the day. total Smiles for the day - countless!

Tomorrow, I'll take the freeway up to Philly, do some business there for a friend, and then amble across New Jersey to the shore. Maybe do a little business before visiting Pop, maybe not. Will depend on how crowded it is. I imagine it will be quite crowded with the gorgeous forecast for tomorrow!

Thanks for listening!

 

[lonerider]

Sharpsburg is nice, also, not as commercialized as Gettysburg. Good tour roads through the battlefield, observation tower at Bloody Lane, visitor center, some pretty good rides in the area.

 

[Good2Go]

Thanks for the report Nancy. Glad you're back on the horse.

Someday I'd like to go back and explore that part of the country - at a more leisurely pace. On the way to Harrisburg I remember seeing a sign for Gettysburg, 30-something miles away, thought about making the side trip, but was running short on time to get to Buffalo .

 

[Hello Kitty]

Thanks lonerider. Yeah, I've been through Anteitam several times, it's similar, but quite different in the volume of tourists. I've not been to the observation tower you mention though, and will make a point of it in the near future. There's something really special about Gettysburg, which I suppose, is why it's so developed and crowded.

There was a group of Army 'people' (I don't know, students of some sort) with two other Army people who were clearly their instructors. They were next to me in the Visitor's Center when I was waiting for Walt so I listened in on what the instructor was saying. Nothing I hadn't heard already from guides (and some of it conflicting, but I suppose that's par for the course) but it was cool somehow - these young people were studying the place in a different way than my curiosity. He was also talking a lot about how it was a turning point and if not for certain decisions that were made, could have easily had a very different ending. And what would have happened then? Historically I mean. War over, won by the south soon after? Drag on for years and years and years? Still two separate countries today?

I am not a history buff by any stretch, but some things catch me and the Civil War has recently. My Pop (grandfather) wanted to go see that Cyclorama, so we were going to take him. It was really frigging cool, BTW. He had seen it 50 years ago (or something) and I am simply amazed at some of the details that he remembered. But then again, my Pop is an amazing man - so I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised!

Greg - come on out! You've got friends (with guest room and garage space) in the area. Baltimore would be a good base for you to check out the area sometime if you're interested. The guestroom in the basement has it's own bathroom and no animals are allowed in the room (so unlike the rest of the house, it isn't a giant furball) You can come and go as you please - just let me know if you want to come out. Though this weekend is delivering quite pleasant weather. I suppose if I had to pick one time that might be the best time to come out, I'd say mid-Sept/mid-Oct. You can do the leaf peeping thing if you wanted to, but the weather tends to be the best for riding. And I would definitely suggest hitting Gettysburg during the week while the kiddies are in school to keep the crowds down!

Wow, I'm long winded! And I'm going out again today!

 

[Hello Kitty]

So, part 2 yesterday, a fair bit of time in PA - also into NJ.

So I was riding down Beaver St and chuckling to myself thinking it would be great if I found a cross street with a name that was funny with Beaver. Just when I was about to give up...

I banged a u-turn and went back, laughing hysterically the whole way. When I saw it at first, I didn't realize it was 'altered' so when I came back around and saw "Canal" I was confused. Awesome sign though!

 

[ricks.06]

So, part 2 yesterday, a fair bit of time in PA - also into NJ.

So I was riding down Beaver St and chuckling to myself thinking it would be great if I found a cross street with a name that was funny with Beaver. Just when I was about to give up...

I banged a u-turn and went back, laughing hysterically the whole way. When I saw it at first, I didn't realize it was 'altered' so when I came back around and saw "Canal" I was confused. Awesome sign though!

One is conveniently located below the other. What a SHOCKER

 

[SPORT]

Yeah...What's with the street names here in PA? I mean, The Lancaster Amish have 'Blue Balls' and 'Bird In Hand' as cross roads too. Makes you wonder about the men leading the town. ;-)

Cool write-up!

Sport

 

[Peter Murray]

Kitty, good to here you are on the FJR. You should hit the bmw moa meet on the FJR. I plan to hit it Thursday.

Enjoy !

 

[El Toro Joe]

Glad you enjoyed your ride. Next time out, try the Zig-Zag Bar, 69 Beaver St. Lickingville, PA

 

[Hello Kitty]

I'll tell my husband about Zig zag, sounds like a fun place!

Peter - I'm going up Saturday. I'm meeting a friend in Centralia to check that weird place out and then up to the rally. I'm just gonna stay a couple hours and go home. Walt is going away for the weekend, so I gotta get back for the mutt. And I'm afraid of all those BMW people. Yeah, I know I used to ride one, but those people in large numbers are scary. :lol:

 

[Peter Murray]

Nancy , go check out Bills custom cycle (Bills Bike Barn ). Very cool antique bikes and period stuff. I will hit the moa deal Thursday quick in and out.

First time at moa function , will check out the farkel peeps.

 

[Ari Rankum]

I'll tell my husband about Zig zag, sounds like a fun place!

Peter - I'm going up Saturday. I'm meeting a friend in Centralia to check that weird place out and then up to the rally. I'm just gonna stay a couple hours and go home. Walt is going away for the weekend, so I gotta get back for the mutt. And I'm afraid of all those BMW people. Yeah, I know I used to ride one, but those people in large numbers are scary. :lol:

Centralia is DEF worth the trip. Just be careful up there.

Feejer in Centralia

 

[Hello Kitty]

Peter - it's something to see. Go to the LD Comfort booth and say hi to Mario. Tom Loudermilk of Side Stand Up will be at Mario's booth as well. Also, Tina Hollander with Motolights will be there. Make sure you say hi to her as well. Both are big supporters of our little community (in case you didn't already know that) and deserve at least a hello from us! You can give them one for me as well. Unfortunately, my grandfather took another downhill turn and I'll be going back up the weekend. Last visit, I was on the FJR, so didn't have the dog and he asked me repeatedly to bring the dog next time, so I'll have to do that. Doggie loves to go anywhere with me and looooooooves Pop almost as much as I do, so it's all good.

Ari, awesome shot! I was hoping to get a similar one - also at the place where the old 61 is closed cause of the huge crack in the middle of it. I found a really neat web site with some decent info https://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/Visiting-Centralia.htm (I don't know how to make it just the little word you can click...)

I'll get back there another day, Pop may not have another chance to visit with my wondermutt, so that comes first

Best dog ever

 

[Peter Murray]

Will Do !

All the best to you and your granddad, sure is a great dog you have. He will help Pop