Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Golf, airplanes, turkey

During our vacation on Jekyll, there were various activities undertaken.  Some as a group, some not.



Many many years ago, dad gave me a packet of high tech paper airplanes called "Whitewings" based on patented designs from award winning actual competitive paper airplanes.  After he retired, he returned to model airplane building starting with paper and glider based flights before advancing to full electric flight.    Finally, these airplanes were assembled and flown under non-test flight conditions at the end of the cul de sac.




There are lizards living in between the screens and the windows; must be good bug hunting.

Golf was also on the menu.  Jekyll is home to 63 holes of golf on four different courses.  Catherine and I played Pine Lakes and the Ocean Dunes course [the original course on the island] later in the week.
Catherine's second time ever playing golf
Conditions were almost perfect
The company was even better

Golf course security- no swimming allowed

Then there is the beach.  And dogs on the beach.



 


Wednesday, November 25, 2020

SpaceX and the sea

 There was a SpaceX launch tonight- third time was the charm as the original launch window was Sunday night just before 10pm.



Clouds made the Falcon 9 rocket hard to pickup as it gained altitude, but we could see it as it went down range over the Atlantic.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Jekyll 2020




Despite all the curve balls that 2020 threw at us, our long planned respite on Jekyll Island is upon us.  Jean's parents have been coming here since the 1960's, make the annual trek in March for nearly 50 straight years.  We tend to visit every couple of years, last being 2014.  It is a lovely place, just outside of Brunswick, with 6 miles of beaches, shops, 63 holes of golf, restaurants, pubs and other touristy things as well. It's far enough from I-95 and costs $8 to enter, so the average day tripper tends to go to the free access on St Simons.

Part of our retirement plans, like most other couples, is to travel.  Most folks have lists of exotic places located around the globe, but our list is more esoteric; giant coffee pots, old bridges, diners that are now plumbing supply stores, and places well off the beaten path.  Interstates are great from getting you from point A to B, but rarely are interesting drives.  The trip down was mostly uneventful other than the handful of lunatics who think the 70mph speed limit is a loose suggestion with our goal of trying to keep it under 80.    

Bailing the early Saturday building insanity of I-95 near Santee, SC, we opted for US-301.  301 is one of the three main US north-south routes that I-95 replaced in the interstate system, with US-1 [301's parent road] and US-17 being the other two.  US-1 end to end is on our travel list.  301 turns out to be a lovely option; little to no traffic apart from the small towns you pass through, lots of funky things to look at, great local non-chain restaurants, and mostly 4 lane county highway with good pavement it rolls through the western low country of South Carolina before crossing into the equally rolly hills of southeast Georgia.  There is a very cool old swinging bridge over the Savannah River along the old 301 highway alignment; swinging bridges aren't that common for roadways in the Baltimore area as they are mostly used for railbeds to maintain the proper grade alignments.

The operative phrase is 'little to no traffic'.  We had our lunch take out from a BBQ joint in Jessup where only the staff seemed to be wearing masks, mostly just covering their chins, despite the "Mask Up Georgia" sign in the front door.  Taking our lunch to the nearby park, we enjoyed eating outdoors, with the doggies under feet adjacent to a play area and ballfield.  It was truly relaxing and delightful accompanied by a good lunch without any of the typical fast food trappings although they were easily available.

Arriving on Jekyll roughly an hour later than we would have coming straight down 95, we concluded the inland routing was well worth the diversion.

Now, it's a solid week on the Island of beach walking, board games, food, family and some golf.


Monday, October 26, 2020

2020 MS 5000- wrap up

UPDATE
https://www.longhaulpaul.com/2020-ms5000-results/
thanks every one who help support my ride

Well, the 2020 5000 mile challenge to raise funds and awareness of Multiple Sclerosis, the MS5000. is complete.  Unlike prior years, getting the 5,000 mile part was work; when I signed up for it, I naively thought, well the postponed ButtLite X should be more than enough to cover that [I had roughly 9000 miles out, rally and back figured] plus the annual VOID rally for another 2 grand.

Yea, I was that stupid I guess.   I had to work this year- a lot.  Too hard.  But I did get it in, 5,031 miles in total.

Oddly, and for a first for me, the fund raising part was way smoother than in prior years.  As promised, Jean and I matched the first $1,000 donated [the ButtLite entry fee- it was already considered "spent" anyway let's put it to the best use possible].

 

To everyone who backed my ride, thank you.  This was a record year in more than one way for us.

Until next year, "enjoy the ride"




Monday, October 19, 2020

Loco Lobo: Titanic Mini-rally

 Time for the once a year ride with Wolfe and his demented twists on self guided rallies- this time, The RMS Titanic.   Several years ago, the GLMC had a Titanic themed Grand Tour but this was different- compass roses, ship wrecks, Irish pubs, tour boats, Port named towns, ferries and a whole bunch of one offs.  There were several pre-rally bonuses, including your paperwork and intended start time.  The biggie was the "I'm King of the World pose" from the movie, which I have never seen.  Why would I, we know what happens- the boat sinks, people die from hypothermia and James Cameron couldnt be bothered to get the night sky correct after spending several hundred million on recreating the RMS Titanic's glory.   Here's my I'm King of the World.

I knew there were a bunch of free ferries on the Eastern Shore of Maryland as well as the northern neck of Virginia.  I also knew the RMS Titanic Memorial was in downtown DC along the waterfront, so the northern neck ferries were just too far distant to pull of the DC stop.  I did a lot of research trying to locate all of the items on the list as we had a 20 bonus maximum.  In the process, I developed a cheatsheet spreadsheet and a color coded map to help in planning:


Yea, it got complicated..  Bottom line, the yellow highlighted scores were the most desirable, the blue were next- the rest were "meh".  The 3HOURS was getting two receipts 3 hours apart and logging at least 120 miles in between them- that was also part of my plan to pick up the starting receipt for the 3HOURS doubling up with a receipt based bonus- which wont count against the 20.  
Finally, I get a decent, doable route together starting fittingly in Seaford, DE and ending with the RMS Titanic Memorial on the  DC waterfront via Ocean City, MD and Dover, DE.  Also in the back of my head, was the plug in my rear tire from my trip to Maine has started a slow leak- like 1lb every other day leak; when it was topped off Thursday night it had dropped to about a 1lb a day.  This would be something to watch; there is a repair kit and compressor on the bike, so that is not a real issue.
Still grinding miles for the MS5000 mile challenge, I was up early and on the road right around daybreak on Saturday- it was in the mid-forties but I knew the sun would be bringing those daytime temps up to a delightful level.  My route to Seaford was rather roundabout, heading out I-70 and down US-340 to Front Royal where I caught US-522 and stuck to the east side of the Shenandoah.  US-15 took me all the way to US-460 east and eventually to the tidewater area of Virginia.  North on 13 through the Chesapeake Bridge-Tunnel, back into Maryland and then onto Delaware for the night. 
The ride was overall uneventful, downright lovely actually.  I rode through a couple of small towns that were depressing as all get out; one town, I swear, the only open business was the dollar store.  The reminder of main street was whitewashed windows or boarded up.  So sad.

 Up early as the adjoining room had the kind of people who sleep with the TV on, rather loudly, over to the Food Lion to get my starting receipt and flowers for a later bonus I re-inflated the rear tire to 44lbs figuring that'll hold for the rest of the day as it was now losing about 1lb every 3 hours.  Brrrr, I didnt sign up for this 38F start- my three season riding suit shows its weakness even with electric gear underneath.  On we're off.
  
First ferry- closed, added 10 minutes to my route to bypass it.  Upper Ferry, rode it both ways.
  Whitehaven Ferry 

ferry operator took this one  

 

"It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken."  Also my start 3HOURS was JACKDS.

  



 This was at the OC inlet- some stupid bicycle event had everything clogged up.  grrrr  

The Bethany Compass Rose

Traffic was heavy but moving on Delaware 1 towards Lewes.  Lots of folks taking their campers home for the winter plus the day trippers to the shore working their way back.

HMS deBaak Memorial



The Dover compass rose, right in front of the state house
 
Here is where thing start going to shit; the place I had picked out to end the 3HOURS didnt produce a receipt for a credit card purchase- out of paper/ some kind of error.  grrrrrr....  we had a +/-5 minute window and the next closest place I stopped was 4 minutes late.  Well, there goes that 1000 points right in the shitter.
Annapolis is a trove of bonuses, but it's Sunday and the weather is perfect, so of course, it's packed.
Harbor Compass Rose [traffic cop was about to chase me away]
  
The USS Maryland Memorial   and Obrien's Pub- I had no pubs on my route but hey, it's points

  

Zachary's Jewelers for a heart shaped diamond pendant - I had to circle back through the crowd as I forgot to take a picture of the outside despite being parked right in front of it the first time- another 5 minutes wasted.
  
Points for a naked lady painting- this one is a mermaid.  fitting somehow

The United States Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Ave, NW at 8th St.  The Lone Sailor.

On this day, the USS Cole was the memorial.
"The bronze sculpture fittingly contains metal from eight historic U.S. Navy ships - USS Constitution, USS Constellation, USS Hartford, USS Maine, USS Ranger, USS Biloxi, USS Hancock, USS Seawolf - and the modern Navy's National Defense Service Medal".- US Navy Memorial interpretive sign



Two more compass roses- cut my flag off on the USN one, lost the points.

 
Finally, the Titanic Memorial.
  
Ending readings- 8 hours on the dot.

Thanks Wolfe; it was good to keep the old riding juices alive.  Until next year.


My Route, plus the trek home from DC

Friday, October 9, 2020

The Co-VOID 20-20

 This weekend, October 9-11, will be a little bittersweet for us.  It officially ends the 20 year run of the Mason Dixon 20-20 Rally that is normally over Memorial Day.  Thanks to the botched COVID19 response, we combined forces with the VOID Rally which is traditionally Columbus/ Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend.  Through a fluke of autocorrect, the Co-VOID 20-20 name was derived. 

sigh

We wish all the riders to have a fun ride; the weather looks nearly perfect.  


Sunday, September 13, 2020

ButtliteX: Among the MS5000. An update

 

Update 1.  Where the Buttlite X should have been

To Donate :  https://www.longhaulpaul.com/ms5000/ms5000-donations/
Spotwalla is active [here]:


This week and part of next should have been where the Buttlite X was.  I knew it was an easy pad to get to the 5000 miles as it was 1000 out, 1000 back and 7000 in between.  But COVID, like a lot of other events, left us hanging.    I hate this year.  One of the funniest things I've seen posted recently was "Dear 2020: First off, I'm letting you know I'm typing this with my middle fingers."

So, with the leave approved from work and no rally, I decided to go visit my sister and her husband in Maine.  They bought a winery this past winter; talk about awesome timing.  I grabbed my Buttlite X rally flag and went riding.


Where Live From Daryl's House is taped.  Apparently has some good food too.
There's Daryl
Somewhere along VT-9, I picked up this beauty.  My little compressor did the job; took 20 minutes to fill the tire, but it worked.
I stopped in Lancaster, NH home of the Eastern Snowmobile Museum and Hall of Fame
When in southwest Maine, one must stop in Lynchville
and have a lobster roll at Young's in Belfast with Paul Pelland, MS5000 ride creator.

Lobsters
Belfast Harbor
Quick visit with my Aunt Karen at the Happytown Farm

With the destination of Catherine Hill Winery near Cherryfield.


The property has a small cemetery on it where several veterans are buried.

B, being herself, trying not to bark at me.
The view from under the oak trees.
Their Cabernet Franc plus a view of their show off vines
Dinner, a Maine boil with lobstahs from Chipman's


 The ride home was uneventful, cold start, but uneventful.  Total mileage so far: