Labor Day Lead-Up

The workload is building (budget season is looming) but my mind isn’t paying attention - Labor Day is right around the corner! There are a couple of parties going on this weekend to get out of the way, then one more day of banging the keyboard, then I’m off for a week! Wa-Hoo!! Road Trip Time!

Zig and I are making our break on Tuesday morning but we’re not going to take the usual route. We’ve done that plenty of times – we’re due for a change of scenery. We mapped out a route that will put us in Pennsylvania for over half of the trip’s mileage. Why is that nice? Well, there are two..no, three reasons. The first is we’ll be on somewhat different interstates for this trip, offering slightly different roadside scenery to look at, and that’s always welcome. Second, the last leg of the trip will be non-interstate, passing through the Susquehannock State Forest – very scenic and very beautiful! (The Olean crew has taken us on parts of that road before and it’s absolutely amazing.) And thirdly; no helmets in PA! We don’t need no stinkin’ helmets!

The forecast shows sunny and mild for today, all through the weekend, and straight through Monday, too. Showers move in on Tuesday (naturally), but no matter; our skins may be dampened but our spirits will never be. We’ll be riding!

Mark and Jerry (and maybe even King) are going to be intercepting…er…meeting us along Route 44 and then showing us some of the side roads that we tourists don’t know about. It’ll be a grand late-afternoon of riding with great friends, followed by some grub at some point I’m sure, and then the obligatory visit to the Olean VFW for more hugs, handshakes and hello’s.

Departure for Maine will most-likely be on Thursday morning, meaning we’ll have all day Wednesday to kick around. I’m sure there will be some riding, some visiting, and plenty of laughs to be had during the daylight hours, and Jerry and Barb have invited us out to some place called The Beef ‘n Barrel restaurant that night. How can we possibly not have a good time at a place with a name like that?? It sounds tailor made for us! (Not to mention I can probably find a few more caps while I’m there.)

As mentioned, Thursday morning will dawn bright and early - probably too early for a couple of late-night out-of-state revelers, but the good news is that Mark, ever the voice of reason, is making the trip with us this year! (And Mary!) So instead of staying up late and cooking breakfast at all hours of the night (like last year), he may wind up prevailing upon us to get a decent night’s sleep. (Although…he did outlast us a few nights, a few years ago – something he enjoyed pointing out to us, so who can tell how things will turn out this time around.) As King likes to say; “It doesn’t matter – we’re on vacation.”

The ride to Maine goes through Vermont and New Hampshire, but I believe we’ll be cruising easily and enjoying the road. We’ll probably pull up the reigns in Vermont at our usual place, then cross over into New Hampshire on Friday morning and ramp things up a bit to arrive at the Clearing by mid- to late-afternoon. There will be others already in attendance at that point, the food will be cooking, the beer will be cold, and we’ll be settling in for a long weekend of celebration. It’s a grand culmination of a fantastic week .

Of course, I’ll be doing the usual phone-updates from time to time, so that all you folks at home can see what you’re missing, and can realize that you need to make plans to come along on this ride next year.

Let’s get these next few days out of the way so the miles can start being rolled up. There’s packing and planning to do. It’s almost time to…

Ride Hard, Take Chances