Day Twenty Four, St. Clairsville, OH to Terre Haute, IN - 397 miles

Monday, August 30, 2010

Greetings from the Hosier State, Indiana.

Not much to report today my friends, we're just headed west on Interstate 70, and that pretty much ensures that you don't see anything of interest. We departed St. Clairsville, OH, at 7:00 AM headed for Columbus, OH, in a damp low fog with cool temperatures. However, it didn't take long for the rising sun to burn off the fog and raise the temperature to the mid-nineties for the remainder of the day.

I find the mornings the best time to ride; and, if I may wax poetic for a moment, and I may because it is my blog. I find that my companions like to listen to music while riding either via XM radio, MP3 players, the radio or even CD's. I on the other hand prefer to listen to the sound of the open road, the low rumble of the exhaust note, the wind rustling my shirt sleeves and past my helmet, the Harley V-twin motor making 2,800 turns (RPM) and effortlessly propelling us down the highway chasing, but never catching, our shadow laid out before us by rising sun at our back. My I-Pod player has been stowed in my saddle bag since I left California. It's just an experience that you have to live, and as Harley riders are prone to say, "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand."

We did make one interesting observation today, nearing Pinkeringville, OH, Lane saw a sign for the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Motorcycle Hall of Fame. Hey, if we stopped to see the Spam Museum and the Corn Palace we certainly were not going to miss the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. And, we're glad we did. It's small, but very well done with several interesting displays and early motorcycles. Furthermore, I found an interesting quote from John Wayne displayed on the wall of the men's room stating, "There's a difference between female menopause and male menopause. Females get heavy and have hot flashes, while men date younger women and get to drive motorcycles." I don't make these things up folks, I'm just your faithful reporter.

We also managed to find two Harley dealers that were open on Monday, so of course we had to stop and shop. Honestly, I don't know where were putting these new purchases, and at the rate Steve is buying T shirts I suspect that he's wearing them in multiple layers. We also managed to fulfill one of Lane's wishes today, we ate lunch at a White Castle hamburger stand. White Castle claims responsibility for creating the slider hamburger that all the trendy restaurants are now serving. I was not impressed by the tiny $.62 hamburger!

After nearly 400 miles today we decided to quit early for a change and sought refuge in Terere Haute, IN, for the night. Lane sought out a massage while Bill and Steve and I went across the street to the Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon for supper. Not many photos today, sorry. We're starting to get like stable horses headed for the barn at the end of the day. I think everyone is ready to go home.