(as always, click on any image to blow it up)
Travel Dates: June 17, 2001 - June 23, 2001
After a great weekend at the 2001 New Jersey Beach Party, on Sunday the 17th, Deb and I rode back early that morning to Mount Holly. Yes, got caught in lots of rain but we made it home safely. Why did we leave so early?
I had to catch a 12:40 pm flight to Tampa, Florida, where I met with the seller of a Pearl Black '97 Gold Wing SE (yes, purchased it sight unseen, over the Internet, all because of a good open dialog with the seller, proving this can safely be done!).
From there, I headed North on I75. After having dodged the usual Florida late afternoon thunderstorms and more inclement weather in Georgia, I stopped for the night about 3 hours out of Atlanta, then headed downtown the next day to meet up with some buds for brunch.
Shot of me at the Atlanta, Georgia World Conference
Center
(check out the complete Joe Rocket Suit, yeah, baby!)
After a short rendezvous with my friends and coworkers, I headed back up north to Knoxville, TN, as part of a business trip. I arrived on late Monday afternoon and worked that evening and all of Tuesday. I then flew to Chicago for more business Wed & Thu. On Friday morning, I flew back to Knoxville where I cleaned off the bike and headed for the Honda Hoot. What a blast, many bikes, many activities, and many things to buy! (yes, it was my first one, so I'm no longer a virgin!).
Shot of me at Honda Hoot
(yes, I'm wearing shorts and sneakers, but it was only to ride bike in position
for the shot! But can you also make out the shirt?)
Shots of the main parking lot, inside vendors (just a few, eh?), and the parking lot for demo rides.
We got rained on pretty good that day, but it finally cleared out and I left at the end of the day, heading East on I40. Made it to just outside of Roanoke, Virginia Friday night, then headed out early Saturday morning, hoping to make it to I95 before running into all that bad weather (didn't have time to ride the Skyline but I now know where it is!). I did, however, detour a little on the Blue Ridge Parkway, providing the Wing (and myself) a little more of a challenge through some windy roads. As it turned out, I was able to dodge most of the nasty stuff and made it all the way home, hitting only scattered showers.
Shots of the ride through the mountains (Ain't cruise control great? Oh, and yes, that's me behind the Valkyrie helmet - tricky shot, eh?)
In retrospect, if I had to do this all again I would without hesitation, but I would want much more time to enjoy the ride more rather than having to hurry to my destinations (nothing like cruisin' the Appalachians in the early morning; it's like riding through the clouds).
Deb's favorite (yeah, actually turned around to stop and pose the bike for this one, just for her!)
Of course, I had a small problem for a short time upon my return: where to park two Gold Wings?! My one-car garage barely fits one Wing, so I had to stagger them in one behind the other for a couple of weeks until the '85 was sold. Below is a shot of the both of them out in the driveway
(what a good looking pair of Wings, huh?)
Check out my Gold Wing Home Page