DAY 11 & 12

DAY 11  MAY 29

It is nice staying a real hotel, so Big Red and I were a little slow leaving the luxury of the Hampton Inn this morning. When we did, we cheated and got on the interstate for about 10 miles to keep from back tracking through town and joined WV 2. We traveled along the Ohio River and we alternated riding in Ohio and West Virginia. The Ohio side was nicer up to Wheeling and then both were about the same with old and new large industries lining the river.

 duct tape to the rescue

crossing the Mason-Dixon line

In Ohio we stopped at Betsy’s Fly Spot in Fly, Ohio to get a new bottle of water and visit. Betsy’s was originally opened around 1950 and she and her husband bought it in the 80's and changed the name. Fly was originally know as Stringtown but somebody said it was too long a name. So, in 1894, when the men were sitting around the livery stable one of them swatted a fly and said “we’ll call it fly”. Or so the story goes.

Betsy Revere

Just before Wheeling we took a right and climbed up the ridge line to Marshall County Airport. Just a small two-hanger airport and it was deserted. It was a tranquil setting so I decided to take a break here. After a while, Susan and Shiloh came down from the house above the airport to see if there was anything that they could do for me. She was greatly interested in the Vespa and said she and her old college friends had been talking recently about buying Vespas and riding across  America. Well, she had come to the right place. We talked about that for a while and then switched the subject to her. She and her British-born husband had started managing the airport in 1980 and had done mechanical work and flight instruction. Her husband was born in poverty in England and could never believe that a person from his background could come to America and manage an airport. He once bought a balloon because he thought he could make money with it, but he could not find anyone to teach him to fly it. So, one day he decided he would just try it out. It did not end well as he crashed in the trees not far from the airport. They divorced but continued to run the business until he decided to sail around the world. That worked about as well as ballooning, as that came to a end when he sank the boat in the Bahamas.

She stayed in WV and runs the airport for the county now. She was very happy as the county had just bought her a new tractor and she could cut grass again, a job she really enjoys. I shared with her that cutting grass for the Lemur Foundation is one of the most enjoyable things I do. Just put on some music and drive and you can always look back and see that you have accomplished something.

The ride on into my good friend Steve and Emile’s was pretty uneventful. The roads near their house were great with lots of twists and turns and we arrived around 3 pm.

DAY 12 MAY 30

After following my adventures Steve got excited and bought an MP3, a 3 wheel version of the Vespa.

I usually travel alone, but Steve and I went to college together and worked in SouthEast Asia together and have been friends for almost 40 years and I was glad when he asked to join for a day or two.

Unfortunately, he had a freak accident on his scooter.  It was almost stopped and he pulled off on the shoulder of the road and, for some unknown reason, the scooter fell over.  There was one little scratch on the scooter. Steve did not fair as well.  He evidently fell just wrong and broke four ribs, a collarbone and punctured a lung.  He was just getting over those injuries when he felt pressure in his head and numbness in his leg. He went to the hospital and they did immediate surgery to remove a blood clot in the brain. They are pretty sure the wreck had nothing to do with the blood clot but the blood clot could have had something to with the wreck. He is recovering well and should be home in a day or two, but no scooter riding for awhile. We are hoping he has used up all his bad luck. I will surely miss him on the ride.

get up dude, we got to ride!!

After visiting in the hospital for awhile I was off to see Bill, who Steve and I went to college with and have flown together with in the past.  Big Red needed some maintenance, replacing the infamous exhaust gasket, and working in Bill's carpeted hanger with that big tool chest sure made it a comfortable and easy repair.  Bill has rebuilt everything from old motorcycles to big airplanes and is very good at it. After the maintenance was done we adjourned to his air conditioned hanger office to tell lies and drink beer.

Day 10

DAY 10 MAY 27


After a semi-restless night we were up and gone early. There was activity outside the room all night. Not loud, but there just the same.  One conversation at 3:30 went like this.  "Somebody has to go to the police station and get him." "I can't drive I'm too drunk." "I can drive but I ain't driven to the police station this drunk." And so it went most of the night.  All the signs were there when I checked in, but I chose to ignore them. The big tip off was when the maintenance man insisted I put Big Red in the maintenance room, "just to be sure no one mess's with our bike."

We stopped in downtown Bradstown for a "Gucci" coffee.  They have not quite got that steamed milk thing down yet, but it was better than hotel coffee.

It was a misty day with low clouds and chilly at 60 degrees.

Out of Lawrenceburg, I came across the Wild Turkey distillery and headed in for a tour.  I just missed the 9 tour and the next one was not for an hour and a half and the lady suggested I go back into town to Betsy's Bakery and have some coffee and come back for the 10:30.  I was a little apprehensive about this idea as I can get delayed in coffee joints, but I headed out anyway.

Betsy's is on main street and has been there about 2 years.  I had a regular coffee and resisted all the fine looking goods to eat. But, things went as I expected.  With Big Red parked out front the conversation came to me and "what in heck are you doing riding that thing". Kimberly Wallace understood the allure of back roads travel and asked to join me.  I never say no to a beautiful lady. She works for the state government and they have to take one day a month off with no pay for budget reasons. Today was her day and she was out for coffee and  to get her toes done. We had a great long conversation about traveling and the local area.

Some people would say her father is a "gentleman" farmer but she says her father is a "piddling" farm.
They have 15 horses, lots of pasture and a garden. What she really likes about the farm is that her college age son is out of her house and renting a house on the farm, but more importantly she can take all the animals she rescues there until she can find them a home. Her latest find is a beautiful 6 month old yellow lab, that she found some children abusing.  The children's mother said her stupid brother gave them pure bred dog and they did not want it.  She showed me pictures and it is a beautiful pup and now living happily on the farm and will probably stay there. Betsy and staff were joining the conversation as they could while they put together a large catering event for the day.

We said our goodbyes and I headed back to Wild Turkey just in time to pass the bus carrying the tour to the distillery.  Maybe next time.

I arrived at the Quality Inn in NW Lexington about 11 AM.  What a relief from last night. It is an older property but well maintained with a wonderful staff.

I called Sue at 3 Chimneys Farm to see if I could come visit.  She said that she was doing a tour at 1 and if I   hurried I could make.  Me and Big Red took off for Old Frankfort Rd and made it in plenty of time.  The Clay family, the owners of the farm, are open to people coming to see their operation.  They, better than others, realize that getting the public involved in the horses, their breeding and care is a must to promote a dying sport.

 Big Brown

Dynaformer

The farm is home of some the greatest horses, Big Brown, Dynaformer, Point Given and was the home for Seattle Slew for most of it's breeding life.  For those who don't know, Seattle Slew was the last triple crown winner in 1977. It was bought by the Taylor's of Seattle, she a flight attendant and he in the logging business, for $17,500 and went on to be one of the greatest horses of all time.  At his peak, he got a $500,000 breeding fee.

We walked the out to the paddocks to visit the horses and then went to the breeding barn to watch Exchange Rate, one of the few grays in the racing business, get paid $25,000 for about 3 minutes of pleasure.

Meanwhile, out in the field Big Brown could hear and sense what was going on.  He was standing tall and proud and would take off running around the field and come back to the closest point to the breeding house.  What a magnificent animal he is.  He won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness races and probably would have won the Belmount but he threw a shoe.  They had recently shot a documentary about Big Brown and it took 3 takes before the jockey could do the take without crying. He blames himself for the horse not winning the triple crown.  Sue said the pressure on the jockey and the handlers is tremendous in those races, but she cannot image the emotions of the fairer when Big Brown threw the shoe.

I rode some of the back roads, stopped in downtown at Ramsey's for dinner and called it a day.

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238 miles  8 houtd

DAY 11 May 28
Big Red and I were up early and headed to the barn.  The horse barns at Keenland.

 Norma was pretty sure I was not a jockey by the breakfast she served me

Years ago, I hauled a bunch of National Geographic photographers around.  They took about 14,000 pictures and might use 7. Ron, a professional photographer, took over 3,000 pictures last week and could only use 3 for what he was after.

 More horse pictures click here: horses

 Back to the hotel to load up and headed for Parkersburg, WV.  The amazing thing is that there was basically no traffic. None on the country roads, state roads, or the limited access 4 lanes.  Turned into a great ride with great weather.

168 miles 7 hours