Damp and cold start to Friday morning. Hope it’s not like last year (rain and low 40's)! Thankfully, the slight drizzle went away quickly, and while it remained overcast for much of the ride, the temps didn’t stay too low for too long. Sunshine greeted us as we rolled into Baltimore, and from there on; the weekend weather was clear, sunny and warm. The ride down did have some nice parts to it, like when rolling through areas with fresh cut grass, or fields of wildflowers. There was one point in CT where we came up behind and then slowly passed a flatbed stacked with pallets of cedar shingles. That was nice!!
The surprisingly welcome thing that happened was my back felt better and better as the miles ticked by. Same thing on the ride home. While it had started to tighten up a bit over the weekend, once on the road home, it settled in again as the hours slid by.
The bike did act up from time to time (more often than not - it seemed to act up while crossing a bridge, where there was no shoulder or breakdown lane!). But, each time it acted up, the next time we pulled over, I'd pull/clean the plugs and things would settle down again for a while.
The Merritt Parkway was pretty jammed with traffic, but it's still a very scenic route and well worth the time.
Jersey traffic sucked as usual. And no matter which side I pick (cars only, or all-traffic), it always seems to be the side that gets backed up. I took us onto the all-traffic side and before we'd gone very far, we were at a standstill, feet on the ground. Bleah! When we finally approached the next "emergency vehicles only" cutthrough, we all slid through to the cars-only side, and were soon hammering along again...for not very long before things got all backed up on this side. Oh, and the all-traffic side? Yep; it was now flowing smoothly and quickly. Drat! It would have been great to cut back over, but we'd just passed a state Trooper right before the traffic started to back up. He'd just finished writing someone up and was about to pull out into traffic. We couldn't see how far back he was, but we knew he was back there somewhere so we didn't dare try cutting back through.
I do think I've figured things out though. The reason traffic backs up is due to the reduction of the number of lanes. Both sides start out as three lanes each. The all-traffic side drops to two lanes early, though, and this causes problems for that side while the cars-only side flows free. But then when the cars-only side starts to back up, the all-traffic side is moving freely. So I think next year, I'll start out on the cars-only side and then once I see the all-traffic side moving well, I'll cut over...and hope there's no Statie around to see...
After making our way through that gridlock, things seemed to flow very nicely. There were several spots that I recognized as having had stopped traffic & feet down before, but which we sailed right by this year. Sweet!
Oh yeah - at one of our gas stops, as I slid off the seat, I felt it slide with me. What the...? Checking the locking bolt on the back...nope, no locking bolt. I'll have to have a word with the mechanic who put my seat back on for me. :-) (It's tough to make out in the pic, but I'm holding the back of the seat up and there's a gap between the seat's mounting tab and where it bolts to the fender.)
Anyway, there we were; enjoying our ride and making not-bad time (we were enjoying the day and not trying to kill ourselves). Things were going great, we were getting close...just one more leg. Just before we hit the 695/395 area in DC, I called over to Greg (on the right side of the lane) that our exit was the next one up and to try and grab that lane. He moves us over, we exit off cleanly...and I don't recognize where we are. I take us left, I have us u-turn back over the highway, I take us down to the waterfront (whoops), I have us u-turn again...where the hell are we?? Ok, I know we're in downtown DC, but where?? We're all running on fumes at this point because if I hadn't gotten us lost, we'd have had plenty of gas to make it to K's house. (D'oh!)
We're now heading back down into the belly of DC and I'm not recognizing much of anything. Where the hell are the landmarks?? Hey - over there! There's the Washington Monument! Awesome, ok, now I can get my bearings! I just need to figure out which side of it I'm on...wait a minute...crap! All 4 sides are the same!!
I spotted a street sign just as we crossed over...Independence Ave...ok, I know where that is...next up should be...yep! Constitution Ave! Sweet, ok we just need to take a left at this next set of lights. What the...? No left turn? Too f'n bad, we're tourists and we're taking a left! The traffic behind us (and I think the guys, too) were a little aggravated, but dammit - we needed to take this left!
We finally we able to poke through and were soon cruising along Constitution, then onto 50, then onto Carlin Springs Road and into K's driveway. We'd made it! Yay, time to celebrate!!
K brought out some cold frosties for us and Greg broke out a surprise for us Boston Boys; Patti had hand-selected a duck for each of us to be our own personal mascots for the weekend. Cool!
Here's mine; he's wearing a hat much like the one I wear to keep the sun off of me.
And here he is again, at the outdoor bar we headed off to after we got settled at K's house.
Apparently this place is very strict about your pee speed...
From there we headed over to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial for a candlelight vigil that was to take place @ 9. We parked in the field just off of Indepencance Ave...
This may look like a lot of bikes, but those that have been to Rolling Thunder before know that this is nothing.
Some pics of flowers and other memorobilia lined up below the names.
The sun was beginning to set, so we headed off to the treeline to get a good view of the coming vigil.
The Washington Monument looked great in the dusk. It took a couple of tries to time the picture just right so that the lights in the top windows were illuminated, but I managed to capture them. They look like mini eyes.
It was getting dark, but I still tried to snap a couple of pics. Here; the Vietnam Women's Memorial...
The Three Soldiers Memorial...
Ok, time for the vigil. We saw some folks waking around holding candles so we asked them where they'd gotten them. (Their reply should have been our first hint that something was fishy.) They said; "Over on that path under the trees, look for a little kid wearing a fedora."
(shrug) Ok, off we went - sure enough, there was a kid in a fedora, with his mother, lugging a box of candles and selling them to the folks gathered around them. They were $1 apiece so I grabbed one for each of us and we headed back to the treeline for the ceremony, eagerly awaitin the sight of hundreds of candles being lit.
9pm arrived and we saw a torch being borne down the far side of The Wall. It paused in the middle as some folks gathered around it. Nice! At any moment, the signal will surely happen and folks will know to light their candles!
But a few moments later, the torch began moving agin, continuing up the path, getting closer to us. There was a procession of people behind the torch bearer...but no candles. What gives? As the torch neared our spot, there was a guy walking in front, asking us to clear a path, as there were Gold Star Mothers coming through. Sure enough; a whole stream of them, moving slowly and silently. They were draped in sadness, but also in pride, and we bowed our heads in respect as they passed us by.
And that was it for the vigil. No candles, no speeches...huh. Well, ok, not a big deal. We began to head over to the Korean War Veteran's Memorial but it was getting pretty dark so we decided to table that plan until another time when it was lighter out.
From there we headed back into DC and caught up with a couple of K's coworkers from before and had a few nightcaps with them. James' and his brother Shannon also met up with us here, and we all shared some good stories and laughter while watching the city's nightlife walk by.
From there, it was back to K's, where she suddenly remembered she had a Pflaumie which she pulled out and we all sampled - and toook a picture of to send to E, over in Switzerland. Ahhh, what fun!
And speaking of fun - James then found (buried in the freezer, apparently) these bandolero's of shots! So we broke those out, the ducks moved in to check things out, and we stayed up much later than we should have.
The next moring it was off to breakfast for a good base to start the day with. Here's the bikes lined up at our favorite diner while in DC.
That damn duck of mine is now trying to muscle in on my food!
Back to K's to pick her up (she likes to sleep in whle we go do the breakfast thing), I happened to notice this in K's livingroom. I snapped a pic and sent it to Rob up in Maine. Victrola, Russell!
K brought is to Great Falls Park - a very scenice spot on the Potomoc River.
But it's dangerous, too!
Check out how high the river has been at different points in the past...
Ta-da! The white water section. This water was SCREAMING past! Very loud and exciting!
A bit further on, we saw some ropes and cables leading over the edge of the rocks and saw a kid pop up, all decked out in rock climbing gear. Nice!
I decided this would be a good spot to get closer to the river, so I followed something that kind of looked like a path and soon I was at the river's edge. Here; looking up the river, back toward the whitewater section...
Here; looking down river. It was amazing how fast this water was moving!
Back up to safe ground, we could see all around us, evidence of the water's effect on the rock. This piece of rock was easlily 40' above the river, yet it bore clear evidence of having had water sluice through it for eons at some point.
Another pic of the rough section. As we learned from another Park Ranger (a very cute one, by the way); folks actually kayak this section. That sounds awesome! I hate wearing a helmet, but I'm pretty sure I'd wear at least one if I tried going over these rocks. Maybe two.
A hand-built stone wall lined one of the tributaries leading to the river.
From there, it was off to the Fairfax (VA) American Legion! This place was awesome - huge parking lot, huge fields outside, very neat downstairs, a full kitchen/dining area upstairs and a deck outside which you could eat/hang out on. They had vendors there, and a band was setting up for later in the day.
We stuck around for a few hours (and enjoyed amazing BBQ!), and all the time there were bikes coming and going...
We had reservations at Murphy's later that evening so we headed back to K's to shower and rest up a bit.
Ed (I mean; Eric) broke out the moonshine cherries. I think we're the only ones that eat these, and we only break them out once a year. They've been soaking for so many years that there's not much cherry flavor to them anymore, but man - they are still delightful!
Mr Ugly was attacked and posed in a prevocative position. K immediately accused me of doing it but I assured her it hadn't been moi. She then thought Billy had done it, but once again; she'd picked an innocent person. Ed and Greg were outside at their bikes so she walked out and asked "Ed, did you do that??". He gave her a blank stare for a minute before answering Yes. Only later in the night did we find out that he'd simply said yes because he didn't know what K was talking about and thought it would be funny to say yes. Greg had apparently been the one! In K's words; "I never would have assumed innocent Greg would ever do anything like that!".
MURPHY'S!!!
Our table had been reserved! We were front row for the festivities! Alas, it was a different singer than the one from last year. *Sigh* Oh well, the guy playing there that night was pretty decent. We settled in and had a good time. Even the ducks were in on it.
I don't know what Billy was trying to say, but K wasn't having any of it.
At one point, the guy on the stage announces that there's a bride-to-be in the audience and that she's accepting tips for kisses! The guy then puts the invite out to the entire pub - nobody gets up! Well, we can't have that, can we? So I stand up and head over to get a kiss. I plop a $20 down and the crowd is hoopin' and hollerin'. I smile and tell the bride-to-be not to worry, I'm not looking for a real kiss, that she can kiss me on the cheek. She laughs and gives me a peck and that's that. The singer guy tries to get more guys up, but apparently no one else had had enough to drink yet, as there were no takers. So, the singer belts out another tune.
Now then, when I'd gone up to kiss the BTB, I'd noticed that she had a very, VERY cute friend. So when the singer finished the song, I stood up and headed over to the ladies again. "WHOAAA - He's going back for more!!!" crows the singer. I smile at the BTB and say that I wish her a lifetime of love and happiness, but that the reason I came back over is because...(and here's where I turned to the hot friend) and said "I'd like to know how much it costs to get a kiss from YOU!" They all started giggling and the hot friend got all flustered, saying that this night wasn't about her, and that she wasn't doing kisses that night, but thanked me anyway. I smiled, shrugged and headed back to our table.
And 3 minutes later, the ladies made a bee-line for the exit. Yep; I've still got it! LOL
A little later on, there was this big (and I mean HUGE!) service member sitting at the bar with his friends and I guess he saw our vests and approached Greg to ask some bike questions. We all got to chatting and the guy (his name was Nick) was very nice. After a bit, he returned to his friends at the bar, but when they all left (about an hour later), he made a point to come over and shake our hands. Did I mention that Nick was huge? When he clapped Ed on the back, Ed said he thought the guys hand was going to go through his back. :-D
Later in the evening, we got to talking about challenge coins. I forget who it was (Greg? Billy?) decided to make the challenge. Four of us had our coins, but one person (James? Again; I forget) didn't have theirs. Yay, beer time!
Alas, all great nights must end. And while this one wasn't entirely over (there was still revelry to be had back at K's!), it was time to bid adieu to Murphy's for 2014.
Here; we're saddling up and getting ready to make for home.
The next morning, we met up with James' brother Shannon and his friend Brendan for breakfast. They brought along a couple of very fun Navy girls. These girls are crazy! (In a good way.)
From breakfast it was down to DC, proper, for Rolling Thunder. SSgt Tim Chambers was at his post as usual. The guy is a machine!
Here's the very start of the run, as the motorcycle cops lead the procession...
Bikes, bikes, bikes! The roars of the throttles, the cheers and applause from the spectators - it's an amazing sight to behold!
At one point, I looked back over at SSgt Chambers and there was a crowd around him and he was bent over, greeting someone. There were too many people surrounding him to tell what was going on, but when they dispersed, this is what I saw;
He'd been joined by Marine veteran Cpl. Sean Adams, who had come out to shake hands with Tim and thank him. Tim brought him up onto the island with him, instead. Very moving!!
After a couple of hours, we decided to hit Thunder Alley for the obligatory Rolling Thunder pins and such. There was a bike fab guy there and while I thought most of his bikes were over the top, this one was pretty cool.
I found a number of patches that I really liked and picked them up. After we'd gone up and down the Alley, we decided to head to a place downtown to relax out of the sun for a bit and cool off. And what better way to cool off than with...
After a bite to eat, the decision was made to hit this Irish bar that the DC crew knew of, so first it was a quick gas stop...which happened to be right next to the staircase from THE EXORCIST!!!
Here; lined up outside the Irish pub. It was a quiet, but enjoyable spot, located in the middle of the outskirts of the city, and on a very scenic route.
When in Rome...
From there, we headed off to the Fleet Reserve Post. I forget what town this was in, but it was very much like a Newburyport, here in Mass. Very upscale. Lili had an access pass so we headed in, then out to the deck to enjoy food and refreshment while watching the boats cruise back and forth.
Ta-da! Lili and Shannon (I assure you that despite Shannon apparently hiding her face...Shannon is not shy, LOL.)
The view of the 'harbor'...
When it got dark, we saddled up and headed out. The Boston Boys needed to gas up because we hadn't done so at the last gas stop, as we didn't realize we were going to be riding for so long in between spots.
We certainly didn't mind the riding! Hell, you know us - the more miles, the better. But K was pretty aggravated. Hell, she kicked a hole in a brick wall!
It was getting pretty late so we all said our goodbyes to each other. The DC crew headed off in their direction, while K and James brought the Boston Boys back to the household. We stayed up a little while just relaxing from the day, but with a long day trip on the docket for the following morning, we soon turned in.
The next morning, we got up at a decent hour, showered and headed off for a liesurely snack at DD's. In years past, I've always been a proponent of "GET UP, GET ON, GET MOVING!". But last year, since I'd been in NC, the boys had decided to do things a little more laid back. And you know what? It was absolutely the right way to go. None of this "jumping on the bike and riding 100 miles before waking up" stuff. Just easing into the day was a welcome change of pace. Good job, guys!
Here we are at a gas stop in Philly. We had some welcome shade to kick back in for a few as we rehydrated, checked messages and enjoyed a protein bar or two.
Ed was all too happy to soak up a bit more sunshine, though...
The rest of the ride home wasn't too bad. Traffic in NYC blew goats as usual, and poor Billy lost his EZ Pass due to a major pothole - also in NYC.
One last gas/food stop in CT and we were good to go. As we roared up 95 north and into Mass, we began reaching our respective exits. Ed was the first to depart, sliding up 495 and leaving the three of us to continue on. Two more exits up, and it was Greg's turn to peel off, leaving just Billy and I. One more exit up, and it was my turn. Slicing up the off-ramp, I watched Billy disappear around the corner to my left. With a twist of the throttle, I shot onto Rte 1 and opened things up. Coming to the bridge over 95 North, I looked over and down to my right; there below me on the highway was Billy, the last of the Boston Boys, bopping along towards home.
I cut the thottle and eased things down, turning onto 1 south, then Common, then Washington and finally; South St and my driveway. Looping around and then backing up to my garage, I killed the engine and was greeted with the roaring ringing sound in my ears which comes from high miles and a high volume on the radio.
We'd made it safely once again. It had been another fantastic year and we'd met more amazing and hilarious people. But it was time to unpack and start preparing to enter the daily grind again.
And that's when the touch of melancholy sets in. I live for road trips and always feel a touch of sadness when one ends. But it's summertime and there are more runs to come!
I set the luggage aside, grabbed a handful of quarters and headed off to the outdoor car wash. The bike was dirty and needed a good solid scrubbing. Alas, some soap, some water, and a towel-dry was all she was getting today. But she dresses up nicely, don't you think?
All set and ready to go again!
And there you have it; Rolling Thunder 2014. A big thanks to the Boston Boys for once again coming along! A HUGE thanks to K for "Putting us up, and putting up with us!"
And an immense measure of thanks and gratitude for all the current and past service members who have sacrificed their time, their sweat, their tears, and their blood so that we can live in the best country in the world.
Thank You!!
