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Day 1 - May 24, 2011 - Bangor, ME Okay, the scheduled maintenance on the bike will be done tomorrow morning. So I decided to start the tour today and head to Bangor, ME where the Harley dealership is. Below is the obligatory picture of my check-in point. As you can see the weather was not the best. Three hours of rain, sleet, and wind, followed by periods of heavy misting, followed by the sun desperately trying to shine by the time I got to Bangor. The bike work will take 2 to 3 hours so I am going play my end-of-day stop by ear. I’ll know it when I see it. Tonight the internet connection is spotty at best. |
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As I was about to take the obligatory picture of my bike at the Post Office a car pulled up and parked in front of me. A man got out and came over to talk. I asked him if he would take the picture so that I could be in it. He most graciously agreed. He then got back into his car and drove away without so much as a hardy "Hi Ho Silver!." Whoever you are masked man a hardy Thank-You again. I apologize for not getting your name. |
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209 miles today. |
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Day 2 - May 25, 2011- Shrewsbury, MA Short day today due to the bike work. Great weather! Nothing much to say as I am busy thinking about revising my route (again!) Depending on the weather in the midsection of the country I may go direct to San Ysidro from Key West and then onto Blaine. This would save two days off the tour time but add it to the back-end for the trip home. All depends on the weather. I guess I won’t decide until I leave Key West. |
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276 miles today. |
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Day 3 - May 26, 2011 - Hazleton, PA Not as long a day as I would have wanted but it is what it is. Stopped at OCC (Orange County Choppers) and Paul Jr. Designs as I was passing right by them. For the uninitiated they are the dysfunctional family in the “reality” TV show American Chopper. Photos have been posted. At a rest area after lunch I noticed that I lost my primary set of bike keys. Glad I pack a spare. At another rest stop it started raining and storms were forecasted for tonight; hence the short day. I am now a day behind my schedule. :-( |
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313 miles today. |
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Day 4 - May 27, 2011- Pulaski, VA Pretty good day today, both physically and mentally. The alarm went off at 6 AM but I slept in until 7. Kick stand up at 9 AM. I guess I needed that extra hour of sleep. Between the later start and the way I-81 winds through Virginia I managed to stay between storm cells all day. Only a few sprinkles late in the day. Sorry about the lack of scenic pictures but you all have seen fog and rain before. When there was a great view such as going across the Hudson River there was no place to pull over. Even with some of the “Welcome to” signs I couldn’t stop. |
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423 miles today. |
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Day 5 - May 28, 2011- Yemassee, SC Everything was going along just fine until I thought I could beat out the storm coming from the west. But that wasn’t to be. It moved much faster than I expected,. Of course, I had just taken off my rain gear about a hour before. Oh well, such is life. So a shorter day then I had planned but all in all not too bad. I’m only 100 miles or so off plan. Still looking at a turn and burn in Key West on Monday. SC is like Chicago in August. I’m looking forward to the “dry heat” of Florida. :-) |
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359 miles today. |
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