Day Twelve by Dave Schultheis
Friday, August 8, 2003 - The Lair in the Woods of Northeastern Ohio
I slept well, had enjoyed some vivid dreams (do you suppose it was the strawberry shortcake?), was awake early and got up at 7:20 a.m. I dressed and combed, and was out to the garage to start the Road King before 8:30 a.m. It was sprinkly, so I put on my rain gear.
On the way to Cortland OH, I stopped at a Rite Aid (drug store) on Mahoning Avenue in Champion OH to leave two LPCs for processing. Clerk David was kind enough to write the address and phone number to the store on the claim check so that I could find the place again on the way back.
I got to Warren Harley-Davidson at 9:20 a.m. Pam (service manager) said she'd assign someone to fix the squeak right away.
Meanwhile, I browsed the MotorClothes department. I had suffered a "blow out" on my favorite pair of Wrangler jeans, and was looking for another pair of black pants, but they were out of my size, so I settled for a pair in Indigo for $34.
The advertising flyer for H-D jeans has five good reasons why the Motor Company's jeans are better than others. I don't remember all of the reasons, but I have been happy with the quality.
At 10:15 a.m. Pam found me and said that the Road King was ready to go. A spring had been out of place and they had fixed it. So I thanked her and got back on the road. It was 73 degrees and sprinkly again.
I returned west on OH 5 to Champion, stopped for fuel at a Shell Station and then returned to the Rite Aid to pick up my pictures. I got back to the Lair at 11:15 a.m., 72 degrees.
We had lunch, watched CNN and looked at my pictures. They looked good. There was an extra shot included, from someone else's roll, but I called Rite Aid and they said they'd reprint his picture for him, so I tossed it.
T.L. wanted to leave for the campground about 3 p.m., so I put on the new pants and packed everything else, loaded the bike and was ready to go at 2:10 p.m.
We left at 2:50 p.m., 78 degrees and no rain. T.L. and Sue went ahead on the Ultrabarge, because I wanted to go a different route. I took a couple of Mesopotamia pictures, including a couple of buggy pictures. Near the Mesopotamia General Store, I talked to one of the local men who was putting a block of ice onto his buggy, and it sure sounded like he would have liked to have a refrigerator, but was sticking with the "old" way.
I continued north on OH Highway 534, past where they were paving (!) and then past where it was raining (!), then turned east on OH Highway 307, through Austinburg, past Buccaneer Canpsites, and into Jefferson, where I stopped at another Rite Aid and dropped off another LPC for processing.
While checking to see how late the Subway Sandwich place would be open (2 a.m.), I saw Bear and Roger _the other one_ across the street at a liquor store. Imagine that!
So we returned to the campground, where it was bright and sunny and 92 degrees, and it was either 3:40 p.m. or 4:40 p.m.
Also at campsite 300 by now were Ed on his 1949, Len B., The Poser, Putt and family, Steve and his friends Bill and Roy from Ontario (and some family members), Taz from GA, Bill from Michigan and Roger the chrome whore from just down the road in Ohio.
I picked a reasonably flat spot, put down my plastic sheeting and erected the tent, then put the T-Bag and other things inside. Len B. reminded me to trim back the ground cloth (not let it stick out so far from under the tent) to prevent water from creeping under there. Good suggestion, as it sprinkled a few times over the weekend.
Somewhere during this time, a large mud bog was identified (by my front wheel), so after T.L. pushed me out, I deployed an orange traffic flag (which I had found miles back) to mark the spot so that nobody else would get stuck.
Meanwhile, others were putting up a tarp as a canopy over some tables, which came in handy later.
About 6:40 p.m. I granted SunShine's son R.J.'s request to go for a ride on the Road King, and we went into Jefferson to pick up photos. He followed her instructions to put on his jacket and helmet, and was a very good passenger and nice to have along for the ride. We got the pictures and returned to the campground at 7:15 p.m.
Tom Barrett & Cheryl (from Maryland) arrived, along with Ann & Eddie in the old red van (rusty 1988 Ford Econoline), and they brought pizza and salad to share, so I had some pizza and caffeine-free Coke for dinner.
At 8:25, I granted SunShine's other son Alex's request to go for a ride on the Road King, and we went into Jefferson, looked around a little, then returned at 9:00 p.m. He was also an excellent passenger and a pleasure to have along.
New arrivals were John & Bridget Ross (from Indiana) on four wheels (the bike was still undergoing reconstructive surgery), and Scott McQ. ("El Gato") and Nancy-Marie from Canuckia. Later, Ghost arrived on the Cruiser with a thin coat of oil on his right leg, but he fixed the problem later. Bob Blanchard & Beccy arrived in their Jeep Grand Cherokee, which I renamed the "FLJ," but Bob corrected me to "FXJ."
I can't recall for sure if it was Friday or Saturday night, but I recall sitting near the campfire with Eddie and Taz, and I got to tell Eddie the best joke I'd heard in a while. I asked Taz if he'd heard that Bill Clinton was seeing a sex therapist. Taz went right along with me and said, "No, I haven't." I said "Yes, also a lounge singer, two flight attendants and a Hooters waittress!" I know Taz laughed and I'm pretty sure I could see a laugh in Eddie's eyes.
While trying to fix something, my mini-mag flashlight failed, and it was the bulb. Taz gave me a replacement bulb and I was able to continue. This isn't really part of the ride report, but sometime later I made a donation to Eddie's fund in honor of Taz saving the day, and got replacement bulbs for the next time I see him.
Eddie and Ann left around 10:30 p.m. I went to my tent around 11:00 p.m., tried to arrange things, clean up and sleep. It was noisy and I was sticky. Oh, well.
Thanks to Roger _the other one_ Peterson for permission to link to his photos. For more pics of the event, go to Roger's EKR page.
Miles for the day = 104. Miles for the trip = 3472.
Tomorrow: a visit to Broadfield and a birthday party at Geneva-on-the-Lake.