Excellent day, odd finish...
Last night, Terry facebook-chatted with an old friend who grew up in Portsmouth.
You have to see the murals, she said. Everyone goes to Portsmouth to see the murals. This morning we spent an hour admiring the murals.
A muralist from Lafayette, LA spent 10 years, ending in 2002, painting the city's history in a series of about 50 panels. They adorn the city's floodwaters that fronts the Ohio River... a third of a mile long, 20-is feet high. (He has actually finished the flood wall and is working back into downtown, muralizing the sides of buildings.)
The work is astonishing, as is the city's history. The city once had a steel mill, a number of shoe factories, the world's largest manufacturer of shoe laces and a uranium enrichment plant and a number of other significant industries.)
Roy Rogers grew up there as did major league baseball figures, Branch Ricky, Gene Renae and a number of others.
In the 1950s, Portsmouth was everything a small city should be. Most of the manufacturing is gone now and a once-bustling downtown now bustles a lot less. It is a microcosm, in that sense, of US cities -- especially those across the upper midwest.
-- Crossing the Ohio (great bridge, huge river), we became aware of light rain and lowering clouds. After a brief conversation, we agreed to abandon the twisty route we had mapped. Instead, we headed for Lexington.
After a brief stop at the Rupp Arena (UK basketball icon), we headed out toward Versailles. Following the miles of plank fences through thoroughbred horse country, we were dumbstruck by the barns, houses, horses, pastures and paddocks. Most notable on our brief tour was Keeneland Farms.
We made our way to the Woodbridge Reserve distillery, declined the hour-long tour and contented ourselves with -- oh, I don't know... maybe a hundred pix.
-- Back on our two-wheeled steeds, we headed south through downtown Versailles. You guessed it, another picture-perfect town.
-- We followed the Kentucky Bourbon Trail the length of the Blue Grass Parkway, resolved to come back for a Kentucky -only vacation.
--Our original goal for the day had been Gadsden, AL but the amended route found us ending the day in Memphis.
Jessica (She Who Generally Knows Best) volunteered to call around and find us a room while we ate dinner. And so she did.
However, my GPS maps are sketchy-at-best in the Eastern Time Zone. It's a Garmin thing. Terry's maps were fine, which meant he had some idea where he was going to exit Memphis freeways in the dark; I did not.
He made the turn; I did not.
He stayed in one of the rooms Jessica reserved. I'm in a Super 8 in lovely downtown West Memphis.
Jeff made it safely home today. Terry will finish the trip in Plano tomorrow. I'll be home in Kilgore, drafting some end-of-trip observations.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Monday, June 1, 2015
Monday night in Portsmouth, OH. Tomorrow, Kentucky and Tennessee, if the doggone rain will give us a break.
If we get more rain, we'll turn east and look for a faster, straighter way home.
In between rains, today was a terrific day.
We went over to a Titusville park to photogtaph an oil well replica to prove we were really here.
We didn't go to the Drake museum.
On the way, we stumbled across a plaque noting that (John?) Heisman was from Titusville. Grat coach, apparently has a little award named after him.
Then we found a plaque noting that (Someone) Tarbell, Abraham Lincoln's biographer, was from Titusville.
Motoring through Franklin, just down the road, we found a plaque saying the real Johnny Appleseed (Chapman, I think ) once lived there.
Then we discovered we were less than 20 miles from THE NFL HALL OF FAME. Yeah, we detoured over to Canton.
What a fascinating place. The memorabilia alone is worth the price of admission. But, wow, the hall with busts of all the inductees is much more than I expected.
Heading south from there, we passed through Lancaster, OH -- a beautiful town.
Seems like we stumble across one of those every day since we left northern Ontario.
Observations
--At dinner. we found our waiter has family in Texas... a sister in Tyler. Then we found he grew up on Silver Falls Rd in Longview, very near Terry's former residence.
Cody works at a locally-owned pizza place, PaulsPizza, that offers calzone with buttery, flaky crust. Good stuff.
-- My riding suit was stronger than today's rain. You can't believe how happy I am to say that.
--There are many places to go barefoot. A $58 motel room is not one of them.
If we get more rain, we'll turn east and look for a faster, straighter way home.
In between rains, today was a terrific day.
We went over to a Titusville park to photogtaph an oil well replica to prove we were really here.
We didn't go to the Drake museum.
On the way, we stumbled across a plaque noting that (John?) Heisman was from Titusville. Grat coach, apparently has a little award named after him.
Then we found a plaque noting that (Someone) Tarbell, Abraham Lincoln's biographer, was from Titusville.
Motoring through Franklin, just down the road, we found a plaque saying the real Johnny Appleseed (Chapman, I think ) once lived there.
Then we discovered we were less than 20 miles from THE NFL HALL OF FAME. Yeah, we detoured over to Canton.
What a fascinating place. The memorabilia alone is worth the price of admission. But, wow, the hall with busts of all the inductees is much more than I expected.
Heading south from there, we passed through Lancaster, OH -- a beautiful town.
Seems like we stumble across one of those every day since we left northern Ontario.
Observations
--At dinner. we found our waiter has family in Texas... a sister in Tyler. Then we found he grew up on Silver Falls Rd in Longview, very near Terry's former residence.
Cody works at a locally-owned pizza place, PaulsPizza, that offers calzone with buttery, flaky crust. Good stuff.
-- My riding suit was stronger than today's rain. You can't believe how happy I am to say that.
--There are many places to go barefoot. A $58 motel room is not one of them.
Despite the persistent rain, yesterday -- Sunday -- turned out interesting.
The rain. We've had rain 6 of the 9 days so far and today -- Monday -- offers at least some showers.
We're in Titusville, PA, the birthplace of the oil industry. The Drake discovery well completely changed the American industrial landscape. Coming from Kulgore, I'll consider this a pilgrimage. Maybe. Sort of.
-- We blew by the Erie Canal yesterday, the remnant from America's westward expansion. The canal linked the coast to the Great Lakes and made agriculture in the Northwest territories, now the upper midwest, practical.
It was on my to-do list since childhood but a deluge is not good for sightseeing.
-- I've seen thousands of US and Canadian communities from the back of a bIke and I maintain a list of places I'd like to come back to.
Corning NY is now on that list . Downtown is an assemblage of preserved buildings from the 19th century. There's the Rockwell art museum, Corning Glass and graceful lawns shaded by elms and locusts.
-- Google it: 1000 Islands. Awesome.
-- Today, Jeff heads home by way if US 6 and Terry and I start working our way south. In the rain.
The rain. We've had rain 6 of the 9 days so far and today -- Monday -- offers at least some showers.
We're in Titusville, PA, the birthplace of the oil industry. The Drake discovery well completely changed the American industrial landscape. Coming from Kulgore, I'll consider this a pilgrimage. Maybe. Sort of.
-- We blew by the Erie Canal yesterday, the remnant from America's westward expansion. The canal linked the coast to the Great Lakes and made agriculture in the Northwest territories, now the upper midwest, practical.
It was on my to-do list since childhood but a deluge is not good for sightseeing.
-- I've seen thousands of US and Canadian communities from the back of a bIke and I maintain a list of places I'd like to come back to.
Corning NY is now on that list . Downtown is an assemblage of preserved buildings from the 19th century. There's the Rockwell art museum, Corning Glass and graceful lawns shaded by elms and locusts.
-- Google it: 1000 Islands. Awesome.
-- Today, Jeff heads home by way if US 6 and Terry and I start working our way south. In the rain.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
parliamentary procedure
At breakfast, we realized our pre-planned route would get us to Ottawa, so we threw out the plan. Get us to Ottawa, we told Lady Garmin. And she did.
The city is named for the Odawa of the First Nation. Somewhere along the line, the spelling was messed up.
Garmin took us Right Downtown in Toronto. Downtown.
I hate riding through major cities. I really hate riding through Downtown in major cities.
We squeezed into a spot on the curb (the parking lot guy wanted $15 minimum from each of us -- $45 total) and got photos in front of the CN Tower/Space Needle.
We mounted up and headed east.
At a lunch stop, an elderly woman welcomed us to Canada and celebrated our ride. She was in town for her high school reunion. She hadn't "seen some of these people for 45 years." I realized she finished school a year after I. Not so elderly, after all.
-- Rain? Mais certainement (close?) we would say in French Canada.
-- The farms in southern and eastern Ontario are truly beautiful -- to ward off touristy photographers, some even have No Trespassing signs at their drive.
-- Parliament plaza -- that's what I'm calling it because of the number of government buildings -- has a European feel. Massive buildings that look as if they were moved over from 17th century France.
--Tim Horton's restaurants are in every city and hamlet. And except for the apple fritters, the food is pretty ordinary, in my opinion.
-- I'm continually surprised by the amount of rust on the cars up here.
-- We've not heard from Clark since he started for home three days ago... which can only mean he's either asleep at home or still riding.
-- Tomorrow, we turn the corner. We head south. We'll take pics at the Erie Canal, somewhere in the Finger Lakes and, mais certainment, in Titusville, PA.
The city is named for the Odawa of the First Nation. Somewhere along the line, the spelling was messed up.
Garmin took us Right Downtown in Toronto. Downtown.
I hate riding through major cities. I really hate riding through Downtown in major cities.
We squeezed into a spot on the curb (the parking lot guy wanted $15 minimum from each of us -- $45 total) and got photos in front of the CN Tower/Space Needle.
We mounted up and headed east.
At a lunch stop, an elderly woman welcomed us to Canada and celebrated our ride. She was in town for her high school reunion. She hadn't "seen some of these people for 45 years." I realized she finished school a year after I. Not so elderly, after all.
-- Rain? Mais certainement (close?) we would say in French Canada.
-- The farms in southern and eastern Ontario are truly beautiful -- to ward off touristy photographers, some even have No Trespassing signs at their drive.
-- Parliament plaza -- that's what I'm calling it because of the number of government buildings -- has a European feel. Massive buildings that look as if they were moved over from 17th century France.
--Tim Horton's restaurants are in every city and hamlet. And except for the apple fritters, the food is pretty ordinary, in my opinion.
-- I'm continually surprised by the amount of rust on the cars up here.
-- We've not heard from Clark since he started for home three days ago... which can only mean he's either asleep at home or still riding.
-- Tomorrow, we turn the corner. We head south. We'll take pics at the Erie Canal, somewhere in the Finger Lakes and, mais certainment, in Titusville, PA.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Sashaying through Michigan
I'm reluctant to step on any toes, but: northern Michigan is waaay more scenic than central Michigan.
Bay City, though, is quite an attractive city -- at least, the part we saw is attractive.
Center Street reminds me of Swiss Avenue in Dallas: old, gracious homes with gargoyles and concrete lions and tidy lawns. Yes, we actually wandered around town admiring the architecture.
Perhaps it's no longer so, but Bay City in the past attracted some real money.
-- Delhi, Ontario is the center of Canada's tobacco-growing industry. (if we saw any tobacco in the fields, we didn't know what we were seeing.)
-- Across southern Ontario the trees are finally, mostly leafed out. The oats and wheat are getting close to knee high, strawberries are coming along nicely and the corn has shouldered its way through the top soil. This is a region of rolling hills and beautiful fields.
-- A first for me, we slowed our pace to ease around a young couple in a horse-drawn buggy.
-- Aimee Simple McPherson, the famous 20th century evangelist, was born just down the road from our lodgings in Simcoe, ON.
-- We are three now. Clark Langley started home yesterday.
-- Tomorrow, Ottawa.
Bay City, though, is quite an attractive city -- at least, the part we saw is attractive.
Center Street reminds me of Swiss Avenue in Dallas: old, gracious homes with gargoyles and concrete lions and tidy lawns. Yes, we actually wandered around town admiring the architecture.
Perhaps it's no longer so, but Bay City in the past attracted some real money.
-- Delhi, Ontario is the center of Canada's tobacco-growing industry. (if we saw any tobacco in the fields, we didn't know what we were seeing.)
-- Across southern Ontario the trees are finally, mostly leafed out. The oats and wheat are getting close to knee high, strawberries are coming along nicely and the corn has shouldered its way through the top soil. This is a region of rolling hills and beautiful fields.
-- A first for me, we slowed our pace to ease around a young couple in a horse-drawn buggy.
-- Aimee Simple McPherson, the famous 20th century evangelist, was born just down the road from our lodgings in Simcoe, ON.
-- We are three now. Clark Langley started home yesterday.
-- Tomorrow, Ottawa.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
I thought happiness was Ontario in my rear view mirror
In fairness, but for inches of rain, temps in the 40s and a certain HoJo motel in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario was nice.
-'Forget circadian rhythms. From Thunder Bay to the Soo, life along the Trans-Canada highway is driven by the rhythms of Lake Superior.
Out of smoked fish? There's still ice on the lake and our supplier can't get his boat in the water.
Water sports? Well sure I know how to swim, but probably not this summer; there's still ice.
I ran ore must be shipped off-shore, where converting it to steel is less expensive; that means shipping and thar means storms and winter affect work.
-- The drive from Nipigon to Sault Ste Marie us stunning. Sharply-colored rock strata. wildlife, towering cliffs, rivers, bogs, creeks, salt-free surf, spruce, birch, fog, sun.
-- In Wawa,ON a giant canada goose sculpture was erected decades ago. The thinking was the towering goose (30 feet tall) would draw tourists and the government would decide the new Trans Canada route should go through Wawa. It worked. The Tc runs within 50 yards of the goose.
-- Entered from the north, Sault Ste Marie is new, modern, bustling. Near the border, not so much. Think rust belt, dilapidated, dingy.
-- Avoid the Howard Johnson motel in the Soo. Bad understates it by many degrees.
So long, Ontario. Hello, Michigan.
-- The Mackinac bridge, in the rain and warnings in place (20 mph for trucks and buses) is 5 miles of tense adventure on a motorcycle. Finished in 1957, the Big Mac is an engineering marvel, 200 feet above the water.
--Whitefish Point, as far north as you can go inMichigan, is home to a working lighthouse and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The Bell recovered from the Edmund Fitzgerald is on display here. Fascinating, time-consuming stuff. It's a shame it's so darned far out there.
-- Harbor Springs, MI --north of the flashier Charlevoix --was built by rich industrialists when they sought and could afford to seek, relief from un-air conditioned summers in Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, even Oklahoma City. What a beautiful enclave. Even the marina is spotless.
--We can't say enough nice things about Mark and Connie Rosen. Friends from Kilgore, they own a cottage in Gaylord (first knuckle, second finger of the Michigan Mitt). The Rosens gave us dinner, a bed for two nights and a place to do our laundry.
Tomorrow, eastward for a return to Ontario, headed to Ottowa.
--Glad you're feeling better, Jerry Myers.
-'Forget circadian rhythms. From Thunder Bay to the Soo, life along the Trans-Canada highway is driven by the rhythms of Lake Superior.
Out of smoked fish? There's still ice on the lake and our supplier can't get his boat in the water.
Water sports? Well sure I know how to swim, but probably not this summer; there's still ice.
I ran ore must be shipped off-shore, where converting it to steel is less expensive; that means shipping and thar means storms and winter affect work.
-- The drive from Nipigon to Sault Ste Marie us stunning. Sharply-colored rock strata. wildlife, towering cliffs, rivers, bogs, creeks, salt-free surf, spruce, birch, fog, sun.
-- In Wawa,ON a giant canada goose sculpture was erected decades ago. The thinking was the towering goose (30 feet tall) would draw tourists and the government would decide the new Trans Canada route should go through Wawa. It worked. The Tc runs within 50 yards of the goose.
-- Entered from the north, Sault Ste Marie is new, modern, bustling. Near the border, not so much. Think rust belt, dilapidated, dingy.
-- Avoid the Howard Johnson motel in the Soo. Bad understates it by many degrees.
So long, Ontario. Hello, Michigan.
-- The Mackinac bridge, in the rain and warnings in place (20 mph for trucks and buses) is 5 miles of tense adventure on a motorcycle. Finished in 1957, the Big Mac is an engineering marvel, 200 feet above the water.
--Whitefish Point, as far north as you can go inMichigan, is home to a working lighthouse and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The Bell recovered from the Edmund Fitzgerald is on display here. Fascinating, time-consuming stuff. It's a shame it's so darned far out there.
-- Harbor Springs, MI --north of the flashier Charlevoix --was built by rich industrialists when they sought and could afford to seek, relief from un-air conditioned summers in Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, even Oklahoma City. What a beautiful enclave. Even the marina is spotless.
--We can't say enough nice things about Mark and Connie Rosen. Friends from Kilgore, they own a cottage in Gaylord (first knuckle, second finger of the Michigan Mitt). The Rosens gave us dinner, a bed for two nights and a place to do our laundry.
Tomorrow, eastward for a return to Ontario, headed to Ottowa.
--Glad you're feeling better, Jerry Myers.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Wet say to Nipigon
We passed through Dorion, Ontario today.... Should have been Dorian, given the color of the sky; we had no sun today. It wasn't as wet as Texas, but we left Duluth in the rain and arrived at Nipigon in the rain, 350 miles in the rain.
Leaving Duluth, a town unfamiliar to all of us, was quite a puckery experience.
I'm sure we passed some great scenery, we just didn't see it.
Christmas the year I was 10, I wanted a .22 rifle. Badly.
In those days, Rural Free Delivery meant the mailman left your packages down at the mailbox. One day on December he left a rifle-shaped box. When I opened the box Christmas morning, it was a Daisy air rifle. Obviously, I was disappointed. Today was sort of like that -- the box was the right shape, but doggone it, it turned out to be a BB gun.
Tomorrow's ride to Sault Ste Marie promises to be a rifle.
-- My First Gear riding boots kept my feet dry today, alone on our foursome.
-- Much of Minnesota apparently travels to Lake Superior for Memorial Day weekend. As we were headed to the north shore, the holidayers were coming toward us, many with canoes strapped on top of their cars. Grand Marais appears to be a popular resort; once past that touristy community, southbound traffic slowed to a trickle.
-- Canadian customs officials are apparently trained not to be friendly.
-- Dinner tonight at Sunnyside (!) Restaurant. Proprietor Brian Bannion was once Northern Ontario Junior Curling Champion. Brian explained to us the intricacies and the difference between good ice and bad ice.
Al Hockner, once a World Champion curler, is also from Nipogon and several other curling luminaries are from the Nipigon/Red Rock area. We are at the center of the curling world.
--Trip statistician Jeff says our overall average today was a puny 35.6 miles per hour. But we're at the motel in time to watch the first installment of Texas Rising on the History Channel.
Leaving Duluth, a town unfamiliar to all of us, was quite a puckery experience.
I'm sure we passed some great scenery, we just didn't see it.
Christmas the year I was 10, I wanted a .22 rifle. Badly.
In those days, Rural Free Delivery meant the mailman left your packages down at the mailbox. One day on December he left a rifle-shaped box. When I opened the box Christmas morning, it was a Daisy air rifle. Obviously, I was disappointed. Today was sort of like that -- the box was the right shape, but doggone it, it turned out to be a BB gun.
Tomorrow's ride to Sault Ste Marie promises to be a rifle.
-- My First Gear riding boots kept my feet dry today, alone on our foursome.
-- Much of Minnesota apparently travels to Lake Superior for Memorial Day weekend. As we were headed to the north shore, the holidayers were coming toward us, many with canoes strapped on top of their cars. Grand Marais appears to be a popular resort; once past that touristy community, southbound traffic slowed to a trickle.
-- Canadian customs officials are apparently trained not to be friendly.
-- Dinner tonight at Sunnyside (!) Restaurant. Proprietor Brian Bannion was once Northern Ontario Junior Curling Champion. Brian explained to us the intricacies and the difference between good ice and bad ice.
Al Hockner, once a World Champion curler, is also from Nipogon and several other curling luminaries are from the Nipigon/Red Rock area. We are at the center of the curling world.
--Trip statistician Jeff says our overall average today was a puny 35.6 miles per hour. But we're at the motel in time to watch the first installment of Texas Rising on the History Channel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)