This is from the 28th when we were in Charlottesville.


Here at the JAG school billets in Charlottesville. Nice and cheap, a good thing.  Long day, but a good one.  Great visit to both the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, and to the courthouse at Appomattox.  Followed the interstate for a good bit, but then decided to let the GPS have its way with us when we left Appomattox.  Interesting roads and great scenery all the way here.  Did run into a county traffic stop in the absolute middle of no where?Go figure.  Dinner at a local pizza place.  Sticker shock on the beer prices.  $6 per glass.  I took grief because I picked the place.  However; our server announced it was $1.95 night on beer, and suddenly my stock shot up.  Had a wonderful pear slice and gargonzola pizza.  Life is good.
Off to NYC tomorrow.  Very long day in the saddle.  Departure time is still "ish" though not sure what number to attach to it.
Thanks to Courtney for sending the proof of life photo of Jasper and Jill, though Jasper looked like he hadn't moved in awhile....

Chuck

Back "home" again.  Another beautiful day in the BA.  Boones went to Empire State building, we went to Grammercy Park Gardens and Teddy Roosevelt's birth place.  Gardens were surrounded by a tall fence and entry was by key only.  Seems only the residents of GP can get into the garden.  How hoity toity.  Then, Flat Iron building and back to meet the Boones for the 911 Memorial visit.  Very somber place, as it should be.  Dramatic monument to the victims of that day (political comment, we should have turned the desert into glass for that attack).  Shake Shack for lunch.  Excellent. And then to a bar in the building where George Washington said farewell to his officers after the war.  Then back here.  Early day as we are leaving at 0530ish to try and beat the weather and traffic. Should start getting wet about 30 minutes before we arrive at the B&B.  Martha will post pictures soon.

A great day in the Big Apple.  Beautiful ferry ride to Manhattan, and the price was right----free.  We were the typical tourists,walked and gawked.  Gardens in Battery Park and TriBeCa.  Street vendors for cookies.  Monument to the Irish.  Subway and Times Square.  Diamond District.  Lunch in Grand Central Terminal.  We bought discount tickets to "Anything Goes" which we had planned on seeing.   Center Orchestra, row 6.  Best seats in the house.  $74 each.  Face value $257 each.  Great play.  Then another adventure on the subway to the oldest restaurant in NYC.  Bridge Cafe est. 1794.  Wonderful meal, and cheap by NY standards.  Then walked the Brooklyn Bridge to see the skyline and back on the ferry to our current "home".
Today, the tourist thing again.  Early night as we plan on leaving early tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes, since it is a plan.....  70% chance of rain on our trip to Gettysburg.

Ft. Wadsworth, finally.  Long day in the saddle.  Fine start to the day with coffee and bagels while sitting outside on the terrace of the 5th floor of the TJAG building.  And as an added treat, there were a group of soldiers doing PT in the parking lot below.
Oh for the days of the voice saying "at double arm intervals, move" "one step to the left, uncover", "ground your canteens".  Music to my ears.  And now I am on "ish" speak.
Beautiful start to the ride.  Sunny, cool, and great roads and scenery. Then it goes sour.  Miles of interstate, heavy truck traffic, and heat.
Finally the toll bridge to Staten Island.  Pay the toll, nice four lane road, GPS is doing its thing, and then wham. Roads turn to crap, all the cars in NY surround us and the GPS decides to have us turn every fifty feet in one direction or another.  So I look at the GPS, make sure there are 3 headlights behind me, watch for street signs, and try not to get run over or hit someone or thing.   And lo and behold after 30 exciting minutes and 5 miles I see the Verrazano Bridge in the distance.  We arrive at the Navy Lodge, and high fives all round. 
We decide to order in.  Kim and Martha call the Chinese place and Lou and I head for the local store to get beer.
We grab two six packs, and I ask the lady "do you take credit cards'?  "Cash arooney only" she says.  $25 for two six packs.  Welcome to NYC.  I would have paid twice that....
In bed by 9.
Off we go this morning to the big city.  At what time and where is TBD.


Apparently there are two blogs. This one, and another which has one posting describing our Charlottesville day.  I'll try to put them on this one only.

Chuck

Well, alive and unscathed in Marion, VA, though it was an interesting start to the day.  Yesterday Adam Shoe mentioned Starbucks at the Avenue had one of only 10 of its kind in the SB universe coffee maker.  So, I said let's meet for coffee before we start off.  Told Martha and Lou and they liked the idea.  Piet said he would be there  too and we agreed to meet at 0630.  At 0625 Adam, Kim, Gary Meyer, who put aside his busy fire fighting career for a bit, and me met at the Avenue SB.  Since this was an "ish" time schedule we didn't think anything about Lou/Martha/Dave not being there.  However; at 0700 we were a bit concerned.  This same process was playing out at the SB by Publix on 54.  Eventually all met at the Avenue SB and after some finger pointing we were off on the trip.
Great day for  ride, even if you're going 425 miles.  Traffic not too bad, lots of other motorcycles, and an easy ride for the most part.  Did have one challenge, trying to cross a busy road after getting gas.  But, gassing at the same station was a group of riders called the "Defiant Crew" according to their leathers.  One of them just pulled out into the middle of the road and blocked traffic so the rest could leave the station, we tagged along.  Neat trick, maybe I can talk Kim into trying that should we get stuck again. 
Had a great dinner at a Mexican restaurant near the motel.  Only a 5 minute walk.
Off again tomorrow at a time tied closely to "ish" and sometime after breakfast, whenever that is.  Heading to Charlottesville via Bedford and Appomatox.
Thanks to Adam for the picture on FB.  And thanks to all for the well wishes.

Chuck

As we used to say in the Army, "4 days and a wake up".

Leaving here Sunday morning around 7ish.  I would rather leave at 7, but it is a "vacation".  We have changed the route a bit.  Now going thru Asheville to Bristol to 81 rather than Charlotte to 81.  More scenic.  Still trying to get tickets to the 911 memorial.  Maybe we'll get lucky tomorrow.  I plan on posting each day and will have pictures when there is something to photograph.

Until Sunday and the end of the first day....


Chuck