Day 1 May 12
Ok, time to get on the road. Spring is in the air and I need to be in the wind. As previously reported, Fred is parked on Hogan Farms in North Carolina with brother Scott's stable of two and four wheel rides. Plane, Train, Automobile?? I chose the train and booked a roomette on the overnight Silver Meteor from Tampa Union station to Cary, N.C. Vicki and Deb, my future divorce attorney, where to drop me at the Union station around five to catch the five thirty train north. It is so nice to get out of the car and walk straight to the train. Nobody feeling you up, no one checking all your paperwork and you can leave your tray table down on takeoff. However, the train was late. First guess was thirty minutes but in fact it was an hour. Vicki and Deb hung out with me at the station. I think they wanted to absolutely sure I was on the train before they left.
This is a small but great old station that the city and people are trying to save. It was built in 1912 and has been in use almost continuously since then accept for a fourteen year period when it was not safe to use and tickets where bought in a booth outside from '84 to '98. It was built before the early development in the Tampa Bay Area that did not boom until the mid '20's. I hope it lasts. The sad part is it is not a easy place to get to, hidden under the overpasses of several intersecting expressways.
This is a small but great old station that the city and people are trying to save. It was built in 1912 and has been in use almost continuously since then accept for a fourteen year period when it was not safe to use and tickets where bought in a booth outside from '84 to '98. It was built before the early development in the Tampa Bay Area that did not boom until the mid '20's. I hope it lasts. The sad part is it is not a easy place to get to, hidden under the overpasses of several intersecting expressways.
Leo is my attendant. A very nice younger gentleman. At my age, that statement covers a big range, He has been working for Amtrak for 12 years. Loves his job, hates his company. Cuts are going deep to pay for the wall and Amtrak is feeling it. Short people and equipment. The lounge car is closed for the first four hours due to lack of staff. Hopefully when we get to Orlando we will pick up an attendant. Otherwise, it is a long ride to New York with no food or drink. I brought my own.
As we head along the I-4 corridor towards Orlando the skies are a gentle orange with the sun setting behind us. There is a lot of light industry and warehouses along the track. Houses and trailers are scattered about on the route. The thing that stands out on this trip is all the bus yards. There are lots of truck yards and salvage yards but I have never noticed all the buses before.
By the time we leave Orlando and the sun has set. We motor through a downtown of high rises and neon signs and are quickly into rural Florida and the view out the window goes dark with the occasional red lights of a road crossing.
Leo stops in about 9:30 and offers to make my bed. I tell him thank you, but I will do it myself later, There is a thin pad on the upper bunk that already has thread bear, but clean sheets on it and you just lay it out on the two seats for a bed. I sleep on an off through the night. When awake, I just lay and listen to the sounds of the train. There is not much of the old "clickety clack" as the rails are one solid piece now without the old joints that caused the sound. So, mostly I lay and listen to the creaks and cracks from the train rocking along and the sound of that old lonesome whistle from the front of the train as we pass the flashing right lights at crossings in the middle of the night.
I was in Green Turtle in the Bahamas walking from Ms Emily's Blue Bee Bar back to the Green Turtle Club when a old jeep pulls up and ask if I want a ride. I jump in to find Tiger Woods driving. We road around the island for awhile and then the train shifted and I woke up. I rolled over and in a short time I was back to sleep. Tiger asked "where you been?" I said the train have shifted and I woke up. Interesting as I rarely remember my name much less my dreams now days.
I am up around 6, make up my bedding, walk down to the end of the car and get a cup of pretty good coffee and watch the sun rise over rural South Carolina as we role through the occasional small towns. This is the sand hills region of North and South Carolina so there are a lot scrub pines and peaches. Don't tell them but the best peaches I have ever had where in New Jersey.
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| They are going to make damn sure I get on that train |
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The other half of the roomette looks just like this |
Scott and Jake picked me up at the Cary station and we went
off in search of a late breakfast. Not Angies but the place was ok. He ordered
eggs over medium and I ordered eggs scrambled soft. He got eggs over easy and I
got eggs over soft. We took them as they were.
From there we headed to Hogan Farm with a few stops in
enroute. Heavy rain and large hail slowed us down. Fortunately, the hail did
not last long. By the time we got to the farm skies were clear and blue.
The rest of the day was spent changing Fred’s oil and dinner
with family and friends.
Day 3
There was a slow casual start to today. Scott had a doctors
appointment and he left to town. I told Peggy goodbye and left a little while
later. Scott and I were going to meet up later in the day at their place in Sea
Level down east. The weather perfect for a ride. Clear and dry air. I rode the
back road paralleling US 70. I went through my old home town of Garner, Clayton,
Smithfield, Goldsboro and Kinston. Bypass’s have been built around these towns
but I went through town.
Outside of Garner is a 2800' TV tower. My parents neighbor was the chief engineer for the station. He stopped by one day and asked if my dad and I would like to go up to the top of the tower. Dad jumped right on it, but just him asking scared the hell out of me. I am afraid of heights. The neighbor said don't worry we have an elevator. I would only go to the top if I am flying a helicopter. I declined but my father did take the ride
Outside of Garner is a 2800' TV tower. My parents neighbor was the chief engineer for the station. He stopped by one day and asked if my dad and I would like to go up to the top of the tower. Dad jumped right on it, but just him asking scared the hell out of me. I am afraid of heights. The neighbor said don't worry we have an elevator. I would only go to the top if I am flying a helicopter. I declined but my father did take the ride
After WWII lots of NC soldiers came home to no jobs so they
started BBQ restaurants. The major ones from around 1946 are the Parker
brothers, Wilbur’s, and Kings. I chose Kings in Kinston against the advice of
my brother. Kings has been in business since 1946. Though the Neuse River is
miles away, the restaurant has flooded the restaurant many times. Last year there was three
feet of water in the restaurant just like in 2016.
I looked in on the $10.95 all you can eat buffet and then
walked over to the other side of the restaurant where you order of the menu. I
was standing in contemplation when the cashier walked up and offered to help.
We discussed the buffet or the menu and she asked how hungry I was. I said not
much. She said “then eat off the menu. You will be hurting if you go to the
buffet.” I was thankful I followed her advice, because later my brother’s
advice came to prove true.
The ride on to Sea Level was very enjoyable. We spent the
evening watching the sunset over the Nelson
Bay and drinking poor wine.
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| Peggy seeing me off |
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| Hogan Farm Rd |
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| The 2800' tower |
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| I had this.... |
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| ...instead of this |
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| Vicki always hides a little treat in the bag when I go on a trip |
Day 4
Slept well and late for me this morning. Over coffee, I repacked my gear and took the excess and put in a box to mail home. I walked down the road to the post office only to find it did not open until 9 but the one in Atlantic just down the road opened at 8:30. So after walking back to the home, Scott and I got in his truck and drove to Atlantic. We stopped at the ferry that would take him across to Portsmoth Island for the fishing tournament Friday and he picked up a breakfast sandwich from the little restaurant there. We arrived at the Atlantic post office at almost 9 to find it closed. No problem, by the time we get back to Sea Level the post office there would be open. We were wrong. They have hours posted but I guess they were left over from the Civil War as there is a large confederate flag flying across the street.
Back at the home we visited with Mike and his friend. They are all die hard fisherman and go out everyday, if the weather is right. This morning was to windy to get out the inlet so they were waiting for afternoon.
I loaded up and headed out. I took the Minnesotte ferry across the Neusse River and on the other side my second pair of glasses fell apart. Glad I have a third!
I was headed for Hertford, NC to meet up with Tim a fellow Vespa owner and retiree. The ride was great, especially the fields of purple flowers that I passed. I rendezvoused with Tim at McDonalds.
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| Scott, friend and MIke |
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| the 5 year bridge |
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| The SS Neuse |
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| Lunch was in Washington NC birthplace of Cecil D Demill |
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| There were large fields of these flowers. Peggy the bee keeper was able to tell me that they are sage. |
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| Tim the former owner of my new scooter. |
Day 5
On the road by 7:30 I was headed for the Air and Space Museum at Dulles airport outside Washington. First I had to visit Bob White owner of Bob's Cycle Barn and much, much more.
The ride up was meandering back roads through eastern North Carolina and central Virginia.
Bob's Cycle Barn is on a large plantation propriety just south of Richmond. He was a very successful business man and retired. He created a huge motocross paradise with seven miles of trails, race tracks and more. He and Scott have ridden a lot together. He is a very nice man.
It is great riding in the spring with all the great smells, but nothing is greater than riding by the Nabisco plant in Richmond. Makes you want to stop at the next Oreo fill up station.
As I neared DC I had to jump in to the traffic madness. The good news is I was going against rush hours traffic and I was able arrive in Chantilly safely.
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| rush hour traffic |
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| Love's truck stop. Who knew it was a great place to shop for disposal clothes. I will model in the future, |
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| Bob's motorcycle mail box |
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| Yes Bob is a little tired. He is preparing bikes for a weekend of adventure and was behind schedule. |
Day 6, May 17 Friday
My reason for being here is to visit the Air and Space Museum at Dulles that I have never seen. Since it does not open until 10 and I am 10 minutes away I went for a walk through the business parks around the hotel with a stop at Chik-Fil-A for breakfast.
I hopped on the four lane and was in the parking lot of the museum in less than ten minutes. My time in the museum did not take long. One thing that comes with age is you have seen a lot and I had seen all of this before. Several hundred teenage students did not add to the enjoyment either. On the way out I had a little discussion of why I had to pay $15 to park but any bus or van parked for free. An argument I did not win but did enjoy the exchange.
Next stop Shepardstown, West Virginia. It is a short two hours away and traveling some of the back roads was wonderful. There is money in these hills with lots of "look at me" houses as my friend Jim calls them and a lot more vineards than I remember. Still have never had a good bottle of Virginia wine.
I rolled into Scott and Alans about four o'clock. It is great to see these long time friends again. I did not get to see Scott long as he was off to DC to perform a concert at the Egyptian Embassy.
I will be here until Monday. Hope you miss me while I am gone.
The Weekend
A great weekend visiting in Shepardstown with Scott and
Alan. It is fun walking around the small town with them as they know everyone
and everyone knows them.
Scott was gone most of the time playing a concert at the
Egyptian Embassy Friday and a show at Arena Stage in DC on Saturday and Sunday
he was in Baltimore judging a piano competition. All of this on top of his
full-time job of Provost at Sherpardstown University.
Alan is busy but not like Scott. Alan is a writer, producer,
tech startup and marketing guy. We did the little downtown both days in morning
and basically chilled in the afternoon. On Sunday we went to do the clean up a recording
for Audible of his latest book. In his youth he was a scooter guy. He caught
the ferry from Dover to Cali during a college summer. He was told if he had a
American flag and were hitch hiking across Europe, he would be picked up in a
minute. They lied. After standing on the road for what was remembered as a
couple hours, he walked into the scooter shop on the street next to him and
bought a scooter. The owner took him in as a son and feed him and gave him a
place to sleep. The next day he took off on his little scooter for a great
adventure.
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| From this..... |
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| .......In the flash of a eye. |
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| Donn Miller the reader, Alan the author, and Alex the digital artist. Donn left the next day for a 4 month visit to Afghanistan. |
Day 9, May 20
Everybody was up early as usual and getting ready to set off
on a road trip. Scott left first headed for Morgantown to a conference at 7. I
left shortly after him as I knew Alan would be leaving for Fredrick shortly.
I crossed the Potomac River into Maryland and in a short
distance was in Sharpsburg home of the civil war battlefield of Antihem. I road
around the battlefield, alone at this hour, thinking of what it would look like
if I stacked the 23,000 humans that died here in my back yard, trying to bring
into to focus the massive slaughter that took place here. It is never ceases to
amaze me of what we do to ourselves.
From there I rode through Bonosboro, home of Nora Roberts
the author. Supposedly she owns the B&B and the book store. Since the
B&B starts at $265 a night in this tiny village I do not doubt it.
I
headed north through several State Forest but getting to them, the single-lane
roads were pretty busy with morning commuter traffic. Fortunately going the
opposite direction of my travel. in the forests are quite a few trees that have
been blown down and the road is flooded in places from the major front that had
come through last night bringing lots of lightning. The trees had already been
cut up and removed and none of the water impeded our travel.
Next
stop was in the Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania to see Roland Henry. Rowland is a
scooterist extraordinaire owning more than thirty-five mostly antique
collectible scooters. After the founder of the Vespa Club Meditrano Al passed
away, Roland was kind enough to step in and take over the reins. He is also the
one who organized the African adventure. I got a tour of his warehouse where
the scooters were stored and then off we went to a Thai restaurant for lunch. He
kindly treated me to an excellent pad thai that was spiced correctly. The
restaurant has a 1 to 10 rating for heat and I chose a five, as recommended by
Roland, which was perfect. We said our goodbyes but will be seeing each other
again in the fall Portugal for a scooter ride.
I
wondered through the hills of Pennsylvania headed for the Grimes air museum
which I knew probably would not be open but would be a nice ride through the
country on a pretty day to get there. It's a grass strip and mainly has world
war one type airplanes but it was closed up tighter than a tick and I moved on
to the next air museum, the mid Atlantic aviation museum in Reading
Pennsylvania. This located on the Reading PA airfield. It is modest size museum
with so good airplanes. I got a one on one tour the facility with someone who
had excellent knowledge of all the airplanes on display.
Time
to call it a day. I had booked a Holiday inn Express around the corner from the
museum on the airport property using my Chase credit card points through
Expedia. Chase wanted 8,000 points where the Holiday Inn wanted 10,000 points
and $60 for $115 room. There was only one problem, I booked it for the 21st and
the day was 20th. Sitting in the lobby of the hotel after long holds and
callbacks from Expedia trying to resolve the problem, I finally said to hell
with it and just checked in. The front desk clerk tried as hard as she could to
help me resolve my problem but with no luck. After dropping my bags, I walked
over to the terminal no longer in use for commercial traffic just offices and a
restaurant and had two great martinis of which I'm supposed to send Walt Driggers
the bill for.
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| A present of Alan, the book that was recorded |
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| Way to pretty. you have to imagine 23000 bodies stacked here! |
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| the steady stream of traffic |
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| Breakfast |
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| Prepared by Chloe and Hope. Chloe is off to study for 4 years in Scotland to be an English teacher in Scotland. Who knew they have a shortage teachers also. |
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| The Forest |
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| Some more fine instructions from Mr. Garmin |
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| Roland who always has a smile and looks daper |
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| A small view of his collection |
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| Pulled to a stop sign and talked to this individual. Needless to say he is a friend of Roland. |
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| Grimes/Golden Age Museum |
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| Stopped for a little spiritual uplifting. Very interesting. |
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| Nick, one of the several people holding up traffic today. |
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| A nice museum |
Day 10
I
must say the staff in this Holiday Inn Express hotel is by far the best group
as a whole that I have encounted anywhere. From afternoon staff, to overnight
staff, to the morning staff are the friendliest and happiest I've ever met. I
don't say that just because Mary and Emily morning shift we're genuinely
thrilled at seeing Fred parked out front. Often, I get “you wrote that from
where, are you crazy?”. Mary and Emily had a different attitude. They
absolutely loved it and decided they needed ones for themselves. Their
enthusiasm set me off on a great day.
Donn marshall
I
need a usb cable. The one I have is not long enough for the task. At home I
have a dozen in the draw, but not in my bag, so off I go. Walmart, that store that
I boycotted all those years, is a few miles from here. I have to go left or right
about a mile and circle to it. I let Mr. Garmin decide and as usual, that was a
mistake. He took me over the river into Reading and back out of Reading on the
next bridge back over the river. Road construction had several areas down to
one lane with morning traffic backed up. I used my scooter exemption and went
to the front of the line. There were several of these backups. Once back over
the river I had it made, I thought. I did not. So, I through in the towel and
hit the programed route on Mr. Garmin to take me to Allentown, PA. He decided I
liked the backed up traffic, no ten times worse since I was heading into
Reading, that he through me back into the same route with the construction. I
devied him and turned right on US422 and got the heck out of town.
Once
clear of the town I got off back on the route through rural PA that I had
planned. A pleasant ride
Stop
it a nice little gas station and met Molly in New Berlin. I quickly learned
that Molly lives in the town down the road and had separated from her husband and
moved to New Berlin. She got a job at circle k and quite quickly became the
assistant manager, probably because she just came to work which many people
don't do. I continued on my trek to Allentown. Entering Allentown, I found it
much nicer than Reading. I rode through some pretty areas and parks. I was here
to visit the American Transportation museum. It's a small but very well done
transportation museum covering from the very beginning cars to present day. It
covered all means of wheeled transportation from motorcycle, to cars, to race
cars, to battery and steam cars and truck. I had a short visit but I highly
recommend it.
Done
with that I pointed east headed for Princeton New Jersey. Then things sort of
backed up. Two lane roads in Pennsylvania are not very well maintained so they
decided to maintain them today. We encountered long backups where they were
repairing potholes. I kept thinking to myself I certainly am glad this is a
cool day, ’cause in the heat it would have been not very much fun. I crossed
over into the New Jersey and the road immediately got better and I was on my
way with very little traffic. Until I came to the next town called Hopewell.
There was a detour on the route because they were rebuilding a bridge. The only
problem was somebody ran over the detour sign and so when I got to the bridge I
had to turn around come back and had figure out where to go and how to get
there. Eventually I sorted it all out enrolled into Princeton about 1:30. The
greatest meal in Princeton is any hoagie from Hoagie Haven which is been in
business for nobody knows how long. During my working days I spent many a night
with Stan and Betsy, Vicki cousin. Whenever I arrived Stan had hoagies waiting
for me as he did today to carry on the tradition. I've not seen him in several
years it was great to be back visiting in their home.
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| Fred's admires Emily and Mary |
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| Tesla's are not that modern. Electric cars have been around since the beginning |
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| She said she loved me but I think she was a little artificial. |
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| Ms. Molly |
Day 13 May 24
Back on the road after three nights in Princeton. Spent an extra night to help Stan pick out a new cat for Betsy.
It was great to spend time with them again.
I pulled out about 9:30 and headed to Liberty, NY. Moderate traffic for the first couple of hours and then I was able to get off the main road and travel down the back roads. One, Gold Mine Rd., seems as though it was all but abandoned.
As I climbed into the hills the sun disappeared and the temperature dropped in to the low 60's.
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| Dr. Stan seeing me off. |
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| A beautiful Temple. Down the road I saw an abandoned Benedictine Monastery. The had moved across the street to a small home. Due to traffic and narrow road I was unable to pull of to investigate. |
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| My home for the evening |
Day 14
I woke this morning to 49 degree temperatures and sunny
skies. Catskill motel is on its last leg before becoming a transit hideout.
Reviews for it were mixed on line when I booked it but the part about it not
being totally clean was correct. The owner had what I thought was a German
accent, actually I came to find it was an Austrian accent, and that led me to
believe that it would at least be clean. But it's nice enough for one night.
Have not had a real egg breakfast in quite a while now. So, I'm waiting for it
to warm up to go have an egg breakfast and let it warm up some more before I
head for Troy New York.
Egged up and wrapped up, (I had sent my cold weather stuff
home yesterday), we hit the road. It would be one of the best rides on this
trip. Yesterday I had gotten a whiff of popcorn while riding around and figured
it most be coming from the car dealership I was riding near, but it did not add
up. Today I found out that the smell was coming from a snack manufacturing
plant on the way out of town.
The first part of the day was riding almost alone
through the Catskills, through tall pines and along a babbling brook. I came
upon a stretch that had lots of no parking signs and you will be towed signs in
the Peekamouse forest on a very narrow road in the middle of nowhere. I soon
found out why. I came upon a bunch of cars parked on the side of the road in a
parking area and tents in the woods. Also, there were two NY Conservation
officers. Melanie explained that in a few hours this place would be crawling
with day trippers from the city to hike in the woods. She was very kind and we
visited for a while. Down the road, just as she said, there was a crowd at the trail
head. She had said that two years ago this place was put on the internet and
has now taken off worldwide. It has made her job busier, but not harder, she
said.
I came down out of the mountains and rode through the rolling hills and
farms. The coolest place was Fabulous Furniture. The furniture was great but
all the sculptured pieces where amazing!
I stopped to pay the $1.50 toll to cross the Hudson River. The
two lanes had toll booths and even if you had an EZpass you had to stop. I stopped
to pay the toll and had a short visit with Mary. I said I had better go because
there were a few cars in the line. She said to let them wait. She was glad to
have someone to talk to. I read once that one of the most boring jobs is toll
taker.
From there I went to Rhinebeck Air Field. It has a
collection of very early planes, but today they had a rubber band airplane
competition.
The rest of the day was riding along the Hudson until I
arrived in Troy, NY.
Bill arrived a little after I did. After resting up and
figuring out to do next we walked downtown to the Plump Oyster bar thus making
thus making this an official Oyster Tour!
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| Not very busy for a holiday weekend is a clue about the Catskill Motel |
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| Sadly we are north of the "grits" line |
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| The narrow roads |
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| She wouldn't put me in handcuffs |
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| the babalying brook |
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| the Fabulous Furniture collection. |
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| there were lots of yards sales through the hills |
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| Mr. Woodstock and his dog on a little weekend walk of about 100 miles |
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| one of the few competitors. more may have arrived later in the day |
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| the real airplanes at the field |
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| a lot of large buildings are now showing up. sadly many abandoned |
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| lunch waiting on Bill to arrive |
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| we walked by the statue of my Uncle Sam Wilson |
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| first the martini |
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| Bill and I making it a official oyster tour |
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| an Italian ragu, but like most american dishes way to much ragu |
Day 15
This morning we rode around Troy where we came across a meet
up of about 100 car enthusiasts showing off their vehicles. From there we
crossed the Hudson into Albany to visit Mike and Ellen whom we met last night
on our rounds. They have bought a huge beautiful 1891 mansion and have in the
early stages of refurbishment. It has long been used as a law office, but is
pretty much intact. The detail is amazing. I could set in any of the rooms for
a long period of time looking at the detail. It is close to impossible to create
this today and if you did a fortune would not be enough. Mike and Ellen were
very gracious giving us an extended tour. Bill, as an architect, was able to
given some valuable input on what to do and why somethings where designed they
way they were. BillF and I hope our paths and theirs cross again. They are
interesting people. Mike is a wandering spirit just like us, he spent three
years in a temple in India in his youth and Ellen is a professional theater
dancer around the world.
We rode around Albany looking at architecture and Bill
explaining a lot. Noting the thoughts behind designing cities and buildings in
the various times of the past. It was very informative.
Back at the hotel we watched some the Indy 500 but friends from
our European scooter adventures were picking us up at 4 for a tour of Saratoga
Springs and dinner. They red flagged the race due to a multi-car accident and
then Bill was very upset that they would not restart the race right away. He
was explaining to the TV what they were doing wrong and should get on with.
There were only 16 laps to go and the started the race just as we had to leave.
He was not a happy puppy. Odd for such a normally gentle person.
Ken and Diane picked us up in Ken’s perfect 1999 Mercedes. It
is as good as new and they have driven across America. It is a nice ride. A
short walk around downtown and we headed off to their favorite Italian
restaurant. The food was excellent and comradery was better. We look forward to
meeting up with them in Portugal for fall scooter adventure.
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| the cars. it was nice to see car people out and about |
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| Ellen and Mike in front of their small project |
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| this just one example of the ornate finishing in the house. Look at the inlaid floors also. |
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| something none of us had seen before. a food warmer in the dinning room. |
OK Frank, time to eat. Take your choice.
day
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| Or fine friends Ken and Diane |
Damn computers. The back ground decided to turn from gray, as selected to white.
Day 16, May 27, Memorial Day
This my pet peeve holiday. It is not the day to thank your neighbor for being a veteran. It is not a day to use to say how great your offspring is because they are in the military or were in the military. At is a solemn day of sadness to remember those soldier that gave the extreme sacrifice for our country and the families they left behind. Because our society has become more and more separated, most people do not even know some one who served, much less a family that had someone KILLED for some politicians bullshit ego inspired war. In my opinion we have not had war worth fighting since WW II and that great generation of a whole country that sacrificed is just about gone.
Now, back to more pleasant adventures.
Today we are off to Ithaca NY to tour the wine country. I have plotted out a rural route that will take us over hill and over dell and through Cooperstown, NY and the baseball hall of fame. The weather is beautiful and the traffic is light.
Some of the highlights.
Three memorial day events in towns I don't remember, except Cooperstown, and a religious moment.
First the parades.
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| We asked David about the parade in this unknown town. "You missed it. It started at 10 and was over at 10:07. They are at the cemetery now". We visited awhile and moved on. |
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| Cooperstown had some old soldiers, a band, a couple of convertibles and about 7 or 8 fire trucks. In the middle of it, a real ambulance came running down main street with lights and horns. |
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| Wish I could still fit in my uniform |
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| This was a strange one. Four guys in the back there with flags and about 10 people setting or standing and radio playing patriotic music. |
The religious part........
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| We came across these structures outside Amsterdam. They appeared abandoned. |
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| just beyond the signs there was a driveway up a very manicured lawn with a sign about about "martyrs temple" of some christian sounding. At the top was this very large round Jesuit Temple. |
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| Bill thinks it will set several thousand people |
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| While standing at the Martyrs Temple there is a glimpse of this building up the hill. There is no indication on how to get there so we set off in search of a road that did find. |
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Once there we parked and started to walk around when a monk came up and asked us to wait for someone to guide us. Besides the large building there was construction was going on buildings and temples behind the big house. Almost all the monks we saw where women. Everyone coming by where bowing and we were bowing back. Shorly a monk arrived to who spoke english. She led us around the building to the small entrance area and gave us the story of the temple. Originally, it was part of the Jesuit facility next door and housed the priest. It was abandoned and about 10 years ago the Guang Huan Mi Zong purchased it and created their temple. They believe in religious harmony and have even left the statue of Jesus in the front of the building. The priest at the Martyrs temple had exchange service with the Buddhist and coexisted with them. Unfortunately the next priest did not do the same and even constructed the large white fence between the properties and closed the road. There is not a priest next door any more and just occasional use of the facility of the Jesuits. The Buddhist had grand plans for the area but it has not worked out as well as they had hopped. There is finger pointing on but sides but both sides also admit that cultural differences and prejudgeses of locals have been a factor of lack of the success they had originally hoped for. We were not allowed past the front door nor access to any of the building. They also asked we not take pictures of the people.
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| they kept the Jesus |
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| The white fence built by the Jesuits at the tune of 10K. But they can not afford a full time priest. |
The ride.......
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| If you do not know the story of Chobani, it is a great one. Watch it here https://www.cbsnews.com/video/chief-of-chobani/ |
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| Cassidy another front desk fan! |
Day 17
The northern part of the US has been flooded this spring, Fortunately all the rain has been at night for me or when I was visiting someone and did not have to ride. No such luck today. So we decided to take a rain day. It cleared up some in the afternoon but we had no interest in seeing if it was for real.Ithaca is a challenge to ride in. Bad stop light timing.
For dinner we went to Maxies Supper Club and Oyster Bar. Bruce had ridden 80 miles under the threat of rain to be initiated into the Oyster Tours. A super nice guy. He is preparing. for the 2020 Scooter Cannonball. He picked our brains a little about what to expect. He is retired and is trying to convince his wife to move to FLA. We told him that was a real bad idea. (We think there are too many people in FLA already)
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| Free Ice Cream.....just not right now. I got bored in the room and between showers went on about 4 mile walk before being run back inside |
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| Ramen lunch. Buya Ramen in St. Pete is better. |
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| Mr Leuthold and my names up in lights at the hotel |
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| Bruce joining the Oyster tour. |