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| Cynthia with baby Becks |
30 Jun: Another lovely day! 5.25 miles walking from Milford to Holliston to Braggville to Holliston and back to Milford on the Upper Charles Trail. Tomorrow we ride to Killington, VT. Cynthia is enjoying an online philosophy class. This hotel was a LaQuinta with horrible reviews in 2019 and earlier. Apparentlly Choice Hotels bought it about then, and it now seems clean and not moke-filled, but the elevator is terribly slow, breakfast is poor, and wifi is also slow. And Yaay, we leave tomorrow.
29 Jun: We greatly enjoyed a lazy Saturday morning and made plans to stay here in Milford two more nights. Our walk on the Upper Charles Trail totaled 5.60 miles in two parts, morning (i.e. noon) and evening. Yay.
28 Jun: Ron rode on MA 16 to Watertown to visit Richard G. then to see Bob and Rachel. Cynthia went to Urgent Care to check out ribs. Nothing was broken, evidently just bruised. Ron continues to be pleased with the new GPS; the displayed route often is labeled with the route number, reassuring him that he made his turns correctly (or incorrectly). Bob had warned Ron of the terrible streets in Brighton, but Ron still hit a couple of bone rattling chuckholes there. We had another good evening walk on the Upper Charles Trail (click here).
27 Jun: Cynthia stayed in the hotel while Ron rode down MA 109 to Dedham to have lunch with and spend the afternoon talking with Dave E. We walked a bit of the Upper Charles Trail nearby.
26 Jun: Ouch! The ride to Hingham, MA over roads badly in need of repair was tough for painful ribs to endure. But, we did get to visit with 97-year-old Maggie; how marvelous that she was able to take five steps recently (her first steps in 20 years), and we enjoyed lunch with her in the cafeteria. The ride home on freeways was smooth without the extreme traffic we anticipated. Chosen Route: I-495 S to exit 33A, I-95 N to exit 17, S Main through Sharon 5.5 mi continuing on Sharon St., Central St. (MA 27) 4.2 mi, Dykeman Way briefly, Harrison Blvd 0.8 mi to L on Pond 0.8 mi, L on W Main 0.3 mi, L on E Main (MA 28) 0.9 mi, R on Centre 1 mi, R on Union (MA 59) 1 mi -> Plymouth St. 0.5 mi to L on Weymouth St 1.6 mi -> Randolph 0.7 mi slight L on Randolph 0.5 mi to L on Pond St .1 mi -> Pleasant St 2.3 mi to R on Washington St (MA 53) 0.5 mi to Linden Ponds Way. Central Street was blocked off for construction, causing us to wander around a bit until the GPS directed us back to Weymouth Street. On return we took Pleasant Street south and were confounded that it did NOT have a ramp onto route 3, so we rode to next major intersection for a left and another left to get onto MA 3 N to join I-93 S/ W to I-95 S to I-495 N back to Milford.
25 Jun: We could arrive in Killington today, except we didn’t - because they don't have a room available for us to rent. Instead, we re-directed from Williamstown to Milford, Massachusetts via MA 2 just south of the Vermont border. The ride was pleasant, the view was lovely, and it included a surprise billboard that read Welcome to Florida. Yes, Florida, Massachusetts (click here)! After riding on the wonderfully green and scenic twisty mountain highway for the first 40 miles, the ride continued pleasantly for another 50 miles before running into more and faster traffic as we neared "civilization." Even I-495 S traffic wasn't that heavy except near the I-90 interchange and we arrived in Milford stress-free. Route: MA 2 E to Leominister, R on I-290 S to L on MA 117 E to R on I-495 S to exit 38 at MA 109, Milford, MA.
24 Jun: The ride north in New York was lovely until rain ushered us into Williamstown, Massachusetts, about 5:45 PM. Cynthia has an ongoing headache, likely from hitting her head when she fell two days ago. Her symptoms do not really indicate a concussion. Route: NJ 17 N (somehow transitioned to US 202 through Mahwah) -> NY 17 N 13 miles to R on US 6 E 10 mi across Hudson to L on NY 9D N 22 mi to Hughsonville and Wappinger Falls where we ate lunch at an Outback Steakhouse that actually served baked sweet potatoes, then E on Old Hopewell Road (NY 52) 8 mi to L on the Taconic State Parkway (click here) N 60 miles to R on NY 295 N 10 miles to L on NY 22 N 10 mi to Stephenstown where rain began falling. After waiting for half hour for it to clear and become sunny, we turned R on NY 43 E 12 mi into rain and Massachusetts to L on MA 7 N 4 mi into Williamstown, MA, R on MA route 2 E 4 mi to Howard Johnson motel and arrived soaking wet. This was a very nice route, pleasant, scenic, smooth, and not busy.
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| Superhero Noah fireman and friend |
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| Hudson and Holden |
Today is great grandson Holden’s second birthday!
20 Jun: No word yet at noon about the missing GPS part. We continued having fun. Ron has finished all of the appendices for the book. Now he needs to remove all of his notes cluttering the manuscript. Cynthia is squealing with joy. We had another good salmon dinner at the Outback Restaurant.
19 Jun: The part for the GPS mount did not arrive, despite being expedited. We did manage a thirty-five minute walk this AM, plus a short walk to ALDI (for frozen mango, blueberries, raspberries and bananas) despite high temperatures, and a third walk in the evening when it was much cooler. Ron is making great gains on the Lea book, almost finished with the appendices and nearly ready to add the page number references. We might get it to the publisher this year. Our total walking for the day was 5.12 miles. Yaay!
18 Jun: Ron arose at 5 AM to make the trip to Bob's BMW to get the GPS installed. Indeed, when Cynthia arose at seven AM, she discovered that Ron successfully made it out of the hotel room without awakening her. By eleven AM, she had eaten, and walked for fifty minutes. Atta girl. Today, she is much better, and she decided she has bruised, not broken, ribs. The folks at Bob's had ordered the necessary mount, but neglected to get the other auxiliary pieces to attach the GPS, so after spending most of the day there, the GPS is still not attached. Ron will have to return after yet one more part arrives. The problem is that these mounts are not sold for a customer bike, but are only provided for police bikes; hence the shop has never installed one before, although they see them on all the police bikes.
17 Jun: We were up a little earlier today to get in our first walk about before excessive heat grew about us. We got frozen mango and yogurt at ALDI for our respective lunches and walked a second time to get more oatmeal. Motorcycle shops are closed Mondays, so we will get the GPS installed tomorrow. Ron spent his time fussing with the JPGs to go into the appendices; some of them are just too contrary.
16 Jun, Sunday: Cynthia slept well last night, but her rib still hurts a lot this morning. We rejoice in the fact that she is still alive and kicking, plus she wants to go on another hike. What a girl.!! We decided against the hike to avoid jiggling the sore rib on a motorcycle ride, but we did walk around the shopping center a couple of times, including to Outback Steakhouse for dinner of salmon, asparagus and a baked potato. Ron was able to work on the James Lea appendices, but using Gimp (click here) for image processing is a bit much for him just now.
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| Photo from Fox Hollow Trail |
15 Jun: Just like yesterday, Cynthia slept in her favorite spot, her head cradled in Ron's arm while he laid on his back for two hours occasionally dozing. Since her hamstring ligament needs to heal, sleep is vitally necessary. The late start and a few queries led us to departing for the National Park at 2:30 PM, but the heat was not so bad as we feared, and by the time we reached the park, temperatures were pleasant in the low 70s. We stopped at the visitor center and were recommended the Fox Hollow Trail (click here) across the road for 1.2 miles with 300 feet elevation gain. The hike was pleasant and fun until Cynthia tripped on a rock and fell, bloodying her arm and scaring the bejesus out of her. We finished the hike and asked for first aid at the Visitor Center. Now that we are returned to the Comfort Inn, Cynthia is nervous that her rib hurts too. Ron is remembering that Cynthia usually falls soon after we begin hiking every year. He should have reminded her. All that walking on the flat lands of Houston allowed her to forget to lift her feet with every step, and those low flying feet get caught by a rock and down she goes.
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| The Blue Ridge Mounains |
13 Jun: We slept well again and are beginning to feel somewhat caught up on sleep. Ian, from Bob's BMW, called to say that the replacement top case arrived, so we added that into our decision making to follow lunch at Ruby Tuesday in Charles Town and relocation to the Comfort Inn in South Winchester, Virginia to enable a get together with cousin Kami and hubby Chris, who now live in Lake Frederick. The motorcycle ride went smoothly with beautiful scenery while the temperature climbed to 90 degrees at 2:30 PM. Ian agreed that Ron should get the top case replaced tomorrow in cooler temperatures. Kami and Chris picked us up and whisked us off to dinner at the good restaurant, Region's 117 (click here) that is part of their Lake Frederick community. Afterwards they gave us a grand tour of their new house and property on a cul-de-sac overlooking the lake. They made numerous modifications to the house and intend to live there at least until they die and maybe beyond.
Route: West Virginia route 480 S 2 miles to a left on Ridge Road (no signage) 4 miles to R on Luther Jones Road 1 mi to a L on WV 9 E 7 miles to Charles Town and Ruby Tuesday on US 50. Then S on US 340 S 24 miles to a R on US 522 for 1 mi to L on Tasker (again no signage) 4 mi to L on VA 37 W across i-81 but be aware that US 11 S is a right turn off VA 37.
12 Jun: After a good night's sleep, we luxuriated a quiet morning before venturing to the restaurant for breakfast. Our expectations of a delightful breakfast were replaced by the reality of small omelets (with cheese first time despite our reiterating three times NO CHEESE), cold English muffin, and half the order at first. Fortified with so little, we walked across the bridge into Maryland again and walked too far on the C & O Canal path, looking for a third bench. Cynthia's Apple Watch has increased the effort required to close her rings beyond our abilities now that we are injured, so despite all that distance with our injuries her watch wasn't satisfied. Our injuries were both complaining when we got back to our room. Ron napped after finishing a sudoku, and we gave the restaurant a second chance at dinner, which was really fabulous. Halibut, huge portions of brussels sprouts and asparagus, fingerling potatoes and toasted rye bread. Now we are ready to go to sleep, preparing for a transition tomorrow to South Winchester, VA to visit with cousin Kami.
11 Jun: We spent the morning packing liesurely, filling saddlebags full to overflowing with all Cynthia's things. In the end, everything fit, and we left about 1:30 anticipating the Ruby Tuesday in Charles Town. Then we rode to the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown for a romantic "honeymoon" overlooking the Potomac River. The view is quite enchanting. After the heat of the day dissipated, we walked a mile or so over the bridge into Washington County, Maryland (where my McSweeneys lived for a while) and down the C& O Canal path to the two nearest benches. We were happy to be able to walk so far, given Cynthia's torn hamstring and Ron's irritated knee. Route: MD 27 S to I-70 W to US 340 S to Charles Town and Ruby Tuesday; reverse to West Virginia 230 N to Shepherdstown which was larger than expected, nor was the Bavarian Inn at all obvious, so we wandered around before using our GPS to direct us to WV 480 N.
10 Jun: Cynthia returns via air to Baltimore, MD arrival 4:03, and Ron waited in the cell phone lot for only about 10 minuts before the Smooches were happily reunited. We went to dinner with Jim & Joni again at the Mt. Airy Inn and said our goodbyes since Jim leaves for work before we expect to be up in the morning. Whle looking for places to stay, Ron found a secluded, romantic, small house on the river. It doesn’t have running water, but what’s that! We didn't stay there or even look at it. Cynthia went on a tear to add every possible family photo yesterday.
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| Cynthia and Charlotte |
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| Mom and Jon |
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| I recognize Blaire. |
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| Hudson and Holden |
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| Lauren & Cynthia |
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| Becks and Julie |
9 Jun, Sunday: Cynthia thoroughly enjoyed another family birthday brunch with Lauren, Tyler, Charlotte, Steven, Karen, Mark and Jon. Ron wonders if any others will show up to surprise her. Indeed, Terry Foyt joined the party. Interesting that Terry’s dad, AJ Foyt, knew Cynthia’s sister’s neighbor Carroll Shelby in California and Lee Iacocca. It is indeed a small world. Cynthia ate no-sugar, low-fat ice cream with a banana. And it is time to pack her bag.
8 Jun: Ron had an enjoyable day in Mount Airy, Maryland, including eating breakfast and dinner with Jim & Joni at the Mount Airy Inn and an after-dinner walk in town for a couple of miles, culminating with a visit to Jimmy Cone. Cynthia enjoyed getting a haircut. So no big news. Likely, we will hike near Maryland, perhaps along a canal path, waiting for the new top case to arrive.
7 Jun: Ron left at 7:30 AM for Bob’s BMW in Jessup. MD to have the top case hinges replaced and the GPS mounted on the bike. (Thank God)! However, the new hinges didn't fix the problem so a new top case is ordered from Pennsylvania, and the GPS mount ordered three weeks ago has not arrived. In Texas, Cynthia is packing a box of hiking stuff to ship to Killington, VT that includes old short sleeved shirts that she will wear or put into the hiker box. The shipping box is packed and ready to mail tomorrow. Driving in the bright Texas sunlight is a challenge. Ron was able to ride an extra 15 miles south on US Highway 29 to visit friends in Silver Spring, MD, but only Dale was at home. Nick is out kayaking as usual, and John is recuperating in an occupational therapy setting. Dale is also suffering from heart distress, unable to do much without exhausting his breath. I didn't visit Harry because he said not to visit him a couple of days ago. Cynthia attended an anniversary party for some of Jon’s friends. The piano player was entirely too loud.
6 Jun: Ron had fun on the Blue Ridge Parkway, did you notice? But now he is back at rest (and in need of a rest). Jim cooked a sumptuous meal of baked potato, corn on the cob, broccoli, and tuna steak. THANK YOU Jim. Cynthia has an appointment for a gluteus medius tendonitis question and answer session. PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) is injection of choice. We will search for a Dr who will do this in Nov. This will heal naturally given time. All is well, Cynthia can walk and hike moving at her own pace. She completed organizing the storage unit. And she remembered she has cheap hearing aid insurance that will pay $200.00 for each ear. And now we are exhausted.
5 Jun: In the morning, Cynthia saw her new ortho doctor about her torn hamstring tendon. At 3:45 she saw a new ENT to update her hearing aids and test a demo pair. However, the technician did not have Oticon software to update Cynthia's hearing aids, so Cynthia is demo testing a pair of ReSound hearing aids. She is halfway through organizing the storage unit. Ron left Christiansburg around 10:30 to ride I-81 to Lexington, because at the first exit off I-64 west, there is a Ruby Tuesday for breakfast/ lunch. The color radar forecast showed afternoon showers popping up north of there after about 2 PM, so Ron continued on I-81 until exiting onto US 33 south 18 miles to resume riding Skyline Drive. Unfortunately, Skyline Drive was again damp, so Ron rode much more cautiously than he had intended. (It is so embarrassing to be passed by Harley riders.) The road was nearly empty of traffic, very peaceful and pleasant all the way (60 miles) to Front Royal, where Ron exited onto US 340 N to I-70 E to MD 27 N to the Weis grocery store for frozen mango, frozen blueberries, and oatmeal. He was congratulating himself for having arrived dry until he started to load his groceries onto the motorcycle and noticed the first few (of many) raindrops falling. It was simply too peculiar that Ron rode under grey, overcast and threatening skies all day, only to encounter rain a mere 5 miles from Jim and Joni's. Needless to say, by the time he arrived, after riding five miles in light rain, he was soaked. However, the big news of the day on TV was that tornados were touching down in several nearby towns. The tension was palpable since Jim's brother & mom live close to one of those nearby towns.
4 Jun: Cynthia had an appointment with Dr Sharpless this AM. Bruce left early, and Jane arrived about 9 AM to take Ron to visit the Morganton Museum (click here), which is full of artifacts and articles about her ancestors. After a full and interesting three hours I had been given a thorough tour of very impressive displays showing many aspects of life over the years since the founding of Morganton in 1777. Jane had finished her docent duties by then, so we returned to visit Art again for a couple of hours, but he was still under the weather with his cold, so I left to ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway again, following US 64 N with a L on US 321 N for 36 miles through Blowing Rock to the Parkway. After 20 miles, I was just getting into the mood and enjoying the Parkway when it was cut short by a detour onto US 221 north. There were several detour signs every five miles until I passed a forest of orange highway construction signs. Then I continued on 221 until it was joined by US 21 and followed that north into Virginia, approaching Wythesville. Now had my bearings and stopped for a huge salad at Ruby Tuesday before continuing on I-81 to Christianburg, VA and the same cheap Econolodge for the night. That Parkway detour extended for 50 miles.
3 Jun: Ron may have been bitten by mosquitos, or a spider, or a bed bug. His toes itch and his leg began itching enough to keep him from sleeping. After breakfast, he started riding, towards Morganton, NC to see Art and Jane. Cynthia had an appointment with an audiologist and a new ENT; we are saddened to learn that her hearing has declined significantly. She will have her Oticon hearing aids adjusted and do a demo test on Wednesday at 3:45 to see if the newer Resound technology will improve clarity of sound. And she is catching cold. Ron's ride was started wonderfully on south on US 441 thirty miles until he could catch the Blue Ridge Parkway north for 85 miles until exiting onto US 74 west and I-40 east to exit onto US 64 south and look for Settles Road. Unfortunately, the Parkway was damp, and Ron isn't yet gutsy enough to ride fast on damp roads. This was again a very enjoyable ride with very little traffic. Even I-40 traffic wasn't very heavy. It was great to see Art again and to meet Jane, "blondie," a very fast talker and dynamic woman. They arranged for me to sleep in a spare bedroom at Bruce's house so that I could easily see them again on Tuesday. Bruce was also very interesting, but since we were introduced at 11 PM, our conversation didn't last terribly long. Ron's itching leg and bad knee again interfered with his sleep, but he woke up feeling OK despite taking a long time to fall asleep.
2 Jun, Sunday: Ron was hugely surprised to discover a brief, early morning rain before breakfast. Reasoning that the parkway roads would be wet and the forecast called for more intermittent rain, he opted to continue south on I-81 to a Ruby Tuesday in Wytheville, VA for lunch and phoned Cynthia, telling her that he has hours more to ride before reaching Cade’s Cove, TN. Cynthia is hosting a family brunch on both Sundays that she is in Texas. This Sunday only one photo turned out good, but it is a beauty. It is a joy to know the grandchildren are excelling, and the babies are sooooo cute. Ron called at 4:28 PM from the Cade’s Cove Museum (click here), which is closed until Tuesday. After he hung up, he texted Gloria and Jim, and they arrived, unannounced, mere minutes later. We had a lovely 30-minute conversation and a personal tour of the Cades Cove Museum, but they really had to leave ASAP, being already nine hours delayed in their departure for Jim’s brother’s funeral in Florida. Other friends from Cades Cove had insisted upon their music at a memorial service for another departed Cades Cove "resident." Cynthia told Ron that there were hotels in Cades Cove, so he rode there although he was certain that there were no such commercial activities in the National Park. Since darkness was approaching, this was risky and led to riding 30 miles after dark on narrow mountain roads. On the other hand, it was a delight to ride the 11 miles to the Cove and part of the single lane circuit including a water ford wherein the water was a foot and a half deep. (BIG splash.) This wild goose chase was based on Cynthia’s misreading the hotel data for Cades Cove. The hotels are located NEAR Cades Cove in Gatlinburg. At 30 MPH, on a very dark night, he didn’t go over the side of the twisty mountain roads, nor did he hit a bear, and he found his way into downtown Gatlinburg to those very hotels near Cades Cove. So far, the trip has exceeded Ron's expectations for fun although he has spent way too much time on I-81. Route: I-81 S 210 miles to L on TN 66 S into Sevierville (a busy tourist road), R on US 441 N to L on US 411 S into Maryville, L on Cherokee to R on US 321 and Museum. Ron rode the wrong way fifteen times trying to find the Ruby Tuesday for dinner using his GPS and finally called the restaurant for directions, which were simple. Leaving Ruby Tuesday on US 129 S (which goes to The Tail of The Dragon, click here), he turned R on US 321 and followed that into the National Park, following signs for Cades Cove (click here) all the way to the Cove, obviously a magical retreat into an earlier time and place. It was dark by the time he returned to the sign showing the way to Gatlinburg and he crept along that road cautiously too. The roads in the park were all damp from earlier rain.
1 Jun: While Cynthia is in Texas for ten days, Ron is left without adult supervision and is traveling to Tennessee and North Carolina to have fun visiting friends. He is excited to ride the twisties on the Blue Ridge Parkway for miles and miles. Hiking will follow after 10 June when Cynthia returns to her beloved, although we don’t yet know where we will hike. Ron phoned at 8:45 PM Eastern time from Christiansburg, VA having a whole lotta fun; he found a Ruby Tuesday restaurant near an Econolodge to overnight. His plan was to ride lots of miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but he left late, turned too early in Front Royal and rode US Highway 522 south for many quiet, pleasant miles until he saw a sign for New Market and turned to follow a very twisty US 211 up to the Skyline Drive entrance. After 75 miles, at the southern exit of Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park, he turned around and greeted familiar Park Rangers manning the entrance station for a very pleasant and surprising five-minute conversation. (In a former life the guy was an executive chef for the Canyon Ranch wellness center in Malibu. Then he supervised installation of a Canyon Ranch in Massachusetts (click here).) Instead of continuing on the Blue Ridge Parkway into potentially rainy weather, Ron opted instead to ride over to Waynesboro to see Charlotte at the Comfort Inn, but she has retired, and her son Daniel is no longer GM either. Ron had eaten such a huge bowl of oatmeal & fruit for breakfast that he wasn't hungry, but knew that a Ruby Tuesday was available about 100 miles south, so he rode that on I-81, which was enjoyable with relatively light Saturday evening traffic. Route: MD 27 S to R on I-70 W 30 miles to L on US 340 to Front Royal and a L on US 522 S to a R on US 211 W to a L on Skyline Drive for 73 miles to a L on US 250 W, L & R onto I-64 W to L on I-81 S, 100 mi to Christiansburg.
