The journey back to Cincinnati from Rhode Island before I took a brief break in my travels went well overall in spite of being cooked for a while on I-76 trying to get out of Philadelphia in "stop and creep" traffic. The thermometer on the BMW read 111 degrees F. Granted, it usually reads about 5 degrees warmer than bank signs and the like, but even 106 is plenty in full gear with a full-face helmet. It took 5 large glasses of iced Pepsi that evening before I felt that I was even close to hydrated and my body temperature was back to something resembling normal.
One think about riding in New England is that unless you are in truly rural areas, the scenery is mostly residential - nice residential, to be sure, but residential - or on interstates. I avoided the latter aside from the brief journey out of Philadelphia mentioned above. I rode from the great visit with Peace Corps friends in Rhode Island previously described to my friend Mark Hardy's cabin in the woods in eastern Pennsylvania for the 4th of July weekend. The cabin is not without neighbors close by, but has the advantages of a lovely setting and streams running through the property. Also, it is close to New York City so a number of Mark's friends (including our friends Kenny and Guy) who have their primary residences in the city also have places close by, which made for a great Independence Day picnic.
After some great and relaxing times in eastern PA I headed south for Broomall, PA (near Philly) to visit with Dave and Diane Arnold. Dave and I had become friends when they lived in Cincinnati and he was the GM at WNKU. They moved to PA around 10 years ago and we haven't seen much of each other in the interim, so it was great to catch up. I also went into Philly proper to do the tourist thing as I had never been there. Some great places/things to see - the liberty bell, Independence Hall, et al. On this "historical" stop as others on this trip, I was reminded of many things that I had once known and was glad to learn again about the history of our country ... pretty amazing all of that.
From Philadelphia it was a hot ride to Lancaster, PA for a much-needed air conditioned motel and then on to Howard, OH to visit with Penny and Bob Rauzi, good friends from college days at Oberlin. The ride was OK, but since leaving the Boston area basically the travel has been to get places, not for its own sake. There have been occasional very scenic segments, but they've been relatively few - nothing like the start of the trip. However, Penny and Bob live on a lake so not only did we have a great visit, but it was in a very nice setting. There were also some lovely and interesting places nearby.
The last stop on the "east wing" of my travels was the American Motorcyclist Association's Vintage Motorcycle Days at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course northwest of Columbus. Ron and Marie rejoined me there for one day as they had come to see the vintage cycles and to visit Ron's sister, who lives in the area. I was also joined by three friends from Cincinnati. It was fun to camp out, hang around, see bikes that I haven't seen in many a year and watch the vintage motorcycle races, which were more for show than for serious competition, or at least so it seemed. The swap meet was not to be believed - from parts that looked like they'd been out in the rain for the last 50 years to some very nice restorations.
