The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 5 - Gettysburg, PA to Middletown, NY

Friday, September 13th, 2019

Drive Report:  234 Miles, 3:45 Drive Time

Other than I-81 & I-84 being in pretty bad condition, the trip to Middletown, NY was uneventful.  Dreary, at least for the first half or better, but uneventful.  It was misting when we got up this morning and this continued off and on after we left Gettysburg.  It never rained hard, but got just wet enough that everything on the trailer will, no doubt, be dirty and in need of washing once we get to Portsmouth, RI tomorrow.  Traffic was relatively light for most of the trip, only picking up when we went past two or three larger towns.  We had a nice stop for lunch and to change drivers at a truck stop (where else?), hit the road again, made one more driver change later and like magic we arrived at our destination.  The Wal-Mart in Middletown, NY.  But we shan't be spending the evening here, for reasons that will be made clear later.  Which is what the day did - got clear later.  Here it is...

See?  Dreary, like I told ya.  We were on Interstate highways for most of the day today.  Makes for easier travel, but it seems less interesting than the small roads.  That said, it also makes for quicker travel.  I don't know that I'd want to do half of 234 miles on the roads we were on when I was riding.  I'm sure Susan would object were she here.  But alas, she has abandoned me.  Now, before those of you directly related to her say something like, "I knew she'd come to her senses eventually." or "About time!", calm down and stow your glee.  I'm in The Rig working on this post and she's visiting the local Kohl's.

There are a series of ridges generally running North and South in this part of the country.  Since we have to move East, we eventually have to cross over some of them.  It's really interesting to consider how these might have developed.  Pull the area up on Google Maps and check it out.

Still lotsa trees.  This is pretty much what our highway looked like.  If you're from more open areas of the country, forget being able to see the opposing lanes of the Interstate Highway upon which you're traveling.

When we came down one of the ridges we entered the valley in this pic.  At this point I-81 ran next to Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, PA.  However, at the North end of Scranton, we hooked up with I-84 which runs mostly East.  We eventually ended up in Middletown, NY which is North and little West of New York City.  Hard to believe we're this far North.  We've noticed that it is considerably cooler here already.

In this pic, we're passing between two of the previously mentioned ridges and are in Pennsylvania.  The state was kind enough to put up one of those signs warning trucks of the steep grade ahead - 4%.  Ha!  4% runs off Susan's back like water off a duck at this point.  She didn't even turn the cruise control off.  She was all honkin the horn and shouting at some lady in  Kia Sportage, "Outta my way lady.  Get your foot off the brake."

This is the lunch truck stop.  Lest anyone reading my posts think I am anything less than truthful, I snapped a shot of The Rig with the other rigs.  It's kinda like taking your dog to doggie day care to "socialize" the dog.

And as I said earlier, it didn't remain dreary all day.  The rolling hills seem to go on and on in this shot.  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC)

This is the Delaware River.  The same Delaware River, I believe, that George Washington crossed to beat up on the British and their Hessian buddies.  We're further North and it's considerably warmer than when George crossed it.

This is a screen shot taken as we crossed the bridge over the Delaware River.  The text in the river to the left says, "Pennsylvania New Jersey" while to the right it says, "Pennsylvania New York".  If I understand this correctly, since I was driving at the time I passed thru Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Susan, in the passenger seat would have passed thru Pennsylvania and New York.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Quite the geographic quirk, eh? 

And right after crossing the river and entering New York, we chanced upon this.  Seems a bit presumptuous to me, but then this is New York.

As evidenced by the official "Welcome to" sign.

Upon reaching Middletown, we left the Interstate and headed for Wally World.  But on the way we ran across this guy at an intersection.  I did a double take.  For those technologically deficient readers as well as those too lazy to enlarge the pic for their own examination, the tailgate says, "ENCON POLICE".  I wondered to myself, "What the heck are Encon Police?"  I was just about to call the handy 1-844 number on the side of the truck to inquire, when I chanced to read the door of the truck.  Oh - well that explains it all.  It's the Environmental Conservation Police.  That's a mouthful.  Imagine shouting that at someone who placed their recyclables into the "real" trash... "Halt!  Environmental Conservation Police.  Stop or I'll write you a citation on recycled paper!"

This brings me to my point.  After having worked in the profession for 36 years, we have given police powers to too many agencies and have criminalized too may actions best handled thru administrative, rather than criminal, courts.  Unless I miss my guess, the Econ Police have Law Enforcement authority, which comes with the authority to detain, arrest, and use deadly force when appropriate.  This is just a bad idea.  Google "Eric Garner death".  He died after a struggle with NYPD because he was selling untaxed cigarettes.  We've criminalized too many things.  Sorry - I'll get off my high horse now. 

This is The Rig at the world's most unfriendly Wal-Mart.  We went in and bought the groceries we couldn't find at Wally World yesterday and were in The Rig putting them away when their parking lot monitor stopped by.  Seriously.  She was there to tell us we couldn't stay since they didn't permit overnight camping in their lot.  We already knew this since we'd called ahead and were told it was OK for us to go to the Kentucky Fried Chicken lot because it was across the "street" that divided the parking lot.  So, after putting things away, off to the KFC about a hundred yards away we went.  When Susan went inside to verify that it would be OK to be in their lot, the manager told her he couldn't give us permission since the lot was managed by Wal-Mart.  Classic.  So we figure since the lady at Wal-Mart sent us here when we called, we're OK.  This is a first - spending the night with The Colonel.  I hope he doesn't snore as much as somebody else I know...

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 4 - Yorktown, VA to Gettysburg, PA

Thursday, September 12th, 2019

Let’s try this:

Drive Report: 257 Miles, 4:50 Drive Time

We mostly followed highway 15 from Yorktown to Gettysburg today, with a couple of notable exceptions.  For a time it joined I-64 and later, US-29.  It was a more circuitous route than going past the edge of DC on I-495, but having driven in the DC area 30ish years ago, I can’t imagine that the traffic has gotten better in the intervening years.  Susan was in the same boat - anything to avoid DC is good.  That said, the traffic on 15 was very heavy when we passed directly West of DC - and we were probably 30 miles distant.  Yuk.  I don’t see why anyone would want to live here.  Have to live here is a different story, but want to?  Never in a million years.  So - we added about an hour to the trip, but are much happier as a result.  This too, is good.

Having mentioned Gettysburg, this isn’t a sight seeing destination for us.  We did all the Gettysburg battlefield stuff last time we were out here.  As far as I know, the Union still won the war, so we’re just overnighting at Wal-Mart to pick up some things and then we’ll hit the road again in the morning.

And speaking of the road...

There we were, driving down the road, minding our own business when what do we see but the pilot car for the wide load in this pic.  I pick it up first, in my rear view mirror.  It passes us - the pilot car.  A couple of minutes later I see the wide load in this pic - in my rear view mirror.  I realize what this means.  Sure enough, the wide load closes rapidly and passes The Rig going about 70 mph in a 65 zone.  Now take a close look at that load.  See how it hangs about 4-5 feet to the right of the trailer.  The idiot driving that truck passed The Rig with that load hanging out toward The Rig.  This is quite possibly the most irresponsible act of driving I've witnessed yet on this trip.  While it is true that I've been riding my bike cross country while Susan drove the route, let us not forget that Susan and I first drove to Oregon.  Susan was, naturally, aghast.  She was on the phone with the Teamster's complaint line in seconds making a formal complaint.  According to her, the driver of the offending rig could be forced to turn in his Brodie knob.  (For you newbs, that's the knob that attaches to the steering wheel to help turn the wheel.  They were in widespread use in the days before power steering.  Only the Teamsters still use 'em - and only on ceremonial occasions.  Teamsters handbook; chapter 4, page 43, para. 3c.)  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)

In order to get her calmed back down, I had her take this picture of me with flowers.  Don't ya just love nature?  I do - as long as it stays outside.  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)

We had a lot of this look even today driving US highways.  I expected it on the bike since I was on narrow county roads, or worse.  This is a stretch of highway 15 where it was just a two lane.

But as you can see by this pic, it wasn't always a two lane.  As I said in the intro. - the closer we were to DC, the worse was the traffic.  But again - nothing compared to I-95 and its affiliates.  When I was out here for the National Academy, I referred to anything ending in "95" as a giant four lane parking lot.  I wasn't far off.

This, readers, is the bridge over the Potomac River.  In design and construction it markedly resembles the bridge over the Mississippi from one of my earlier posts.  The reader may recall that the bridge over the Mississippi was basically falling apart.  This one was at least in good repair, if old.  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)

This is the Potomac.  Not quite as wide as where it connects with the Chesapeake Bay, but then again, we're trying to stay away from DC.  I can live with that.  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)

And right across the river was the sign designating our entry into Maryland.  I know Maryland is a small state, but I even at that I think we went across the skinny arm that sticks out to the West.  It certainly didn't take us long to cross it. (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.) 

Susan wanted me to include this pic.  The reader may note that we could have chosen to take I-70.  It wouldn't have taken us to Gettysburg, but we coulda done it.  It's been a long time since we saw an I-70 sign.  You can see all the cars ahead of us.  Almost all of them who exited took I-70 East, toward DC.  When the I-70 West exit came up, not a single car went toward Kansas.  The folks around here may not know it, but most Kansans are just fine with that arrangement.  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)

When we got this close to these hills, I could smell Appalachia.  I started sweating and breathing hard - that's all I know how to do in Appalachia.  Note the old building to the right - it looks cool against that backdrop.  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)

And then there was this - Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania knows how to do up a "Welcome" sign.  At this point we only had 15ish miles to go.  Tomorrow we continue our trek up to Rhode Island, and I believe we pass thru New York on the way.  You'll know tomorrow.  (Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 3 - Yorktown, VA

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

A moment of silence, if you will, for those who lost their lives on this day in 2001...

.......................

Thank you, they deserve more, but we offer what we can.

Now on with today.  In a bit of an unusual move here at The Thin Blue Ride, there were no touristy activities today.  Instead, the day was spent preparing to pick up and move (once again) in the morning.  It consisted of the usual activities: laundry (tho this is the last time ALL my cycling gear will need to be washed in any given week), haircut, some cleaning, loading the scooter back on the trailer, etc.

We also took time for a walk about the RV Park this evening.  We’ve done this before, but I always find it interesting to scope out everybody else’s rigs.  It’s kinda like when a lady shops for a blue shirt at the Mall.  They might see a blue shirt they like, but they keep looking.  After they eventually buy the shirt of their choice, they still just like to look at shirts.  (Blouses maybe?  I dunno.)  Now, I’ve no idea what Susan does on our walkabouts.  So far as I know she’s happy with The Rig.  Maybe she walks with me for exercise?  Maybe she thinks I need the exercise?  But me?  I’m checking out the other rigs.

Like this...

This, readers, would be a Tiffin Phaeton.  A bit unusual for two reasons.  First, they're produced in Red Bay, AL, whereas the vast majority of RVs are produced in Indiana.  Second, this is the Cadillac Escalade of RVs - except it's worth about 4.5 Escalades.  A quick on-line search says new models run in the mid to upper 350s and I found a 2012 model for 160.  That would be 190k of depreciation in 8 years - or just a shade under 24k a year - or 2k per month, if ya care to think of it that way.  Ouch.  Apparently they're almost as expensive to own as horses.

Thought I'd show you all this pic just to give you an idea how busy this RV park is - which is to say that it isn't.  We talked to a lady doing laundry today whose husband is working at the naval yards as an inspector - they've been here since November.  She told us this was as empty as she'd ever seen the Park and that most people left before Dorian arrived last week.  Apparently not to return since it was the end of the RVing season anyway hereabouts.  Guess we arrived at the right time.  She also told us that the same people who own this park own one in Hatteras, NC.  At Hatteras they evacuated the Park and closed it for the Labor Day Holiday, which is supposedly their biggest weekend of the year.  That had to hurt.  Some of the slots here have brick fire pits/grilling areas (we're talking 8' tall), pergolas, landscaping, night lights and masonry fire pits.  We're livin' above our pay grade about now, me thinks.

Some day The Rig hopes to grow up and be a Tiffin Phaeton.  Note the absence of pergolas, landscaping, brick fire pit/BBQ areas and the like in our slot.  They must have fouled up our reservation...

But while we were out oogling the other rigs, we stumbled across this - that's right - a nature trail.  This was made clear to us by the sign between us in the pic that says in big, bold, red letters, "Nature Trail".  The blue banner with three stars above emphasized precisely how naturey this trail was.  And as an added bonus it had a nice wide paved path on which to walk.  Well then.  No one loves nature more than me, except maybe everybody else I know, so off we went.

We made it about 40 yards and it turned in to this!  This was nothing like it was advertised to be at the trail head.  (A little hiker lingo there for the uninitiated.)  Plus, a mosquito buzzed past my ear.  I told Susan I loved nature, but not this much.  She agreed and we did a 180 before departing the area.

I've been meaning to do this for a couple of days but keep forgetting.  We're the blue dot.  I can't believe how much work it took to move that blue dot, what, maybe three inches?

But it brings up this point.  We've finalized our itinerary for the trip home.  From here we're going up to Newport, RI for a couple of days.  They have some mansion tours and a car museum in the area we want to check out.  Then on to Cape Cod, MA where we just today reserved a spot in an RV park across the street from the beach.  We'll spend several days there acting like landed gentry.  After that, it's up to coastal Maine where we found an RV Park between Kennebunkport and Ogunquit.  We plan to travel between the two.  Susan wanted to stay in the former Bush compound, but it was booked.  Then, it's off to the Champlain Adult Campground on Grand Isle, VT.  The plan here is - not much.  After doing the tourist thing at all the other destinations, we decided that this would be our "unwind" time.  I believe we spend four full days there.  Finally, we head home from Lake Champlain with a weekend layover in Glen Carbon, IL to visit Tim and Glynda Gasser.  If all goes according to plan, this has us back in Manhattan, KS on October 7th - the 8th at the latest. We were talking the other day about how odd it will feel to have so much space again when we get back to our first home.  And so much stuff.  I think I'll make the adjustment quickly.

I know what some of you are thinking.  How did Susan talk Brad into going to an Adult Campground?  Well, untwist your knickers and get your mind outta the gutter.  It wasn't easy.  But Susan says it just means there's no kids allowed.  I agree, I agree - they could have chosen a better name.  I'm holding my breath hoping she's right.  But it is what it is, and Susan made the reservation already.

And finally, I tasked the Accounting Department here at The Thin Blue Ride with working up some statistics from the ride.  I've no idea what she will come up with, but earlier today she threatened me with a report of her activities.  Sure enough, this evening she still remembers.  Accounting Departments are like elephants, they never forget.  As I type this the Accounting Department is otherwise engaged, but should she free up enough time, I'll draft an addition to tonight's post before publishing.

.................

This just in from the bean counters at the Accounting Department...

Fuel:           $2,415
Propane:          $99
RV Sites:     $1,861
RV Repair:  $2,710

Laundry:        $158
Food:          $2,798  (Susan must have been eating while I was out riding.)
TOTAL:      $10,102

$10,102 / 91 Days = $111/day*

*If one deletes the RV repairs, per day expenses drop $30 to $81/day.  A more reasonable figure.

The Accounting Department is confident in these numbers but wishes to make clear that they are unaudited.  I figure the Calculating Section in the Accounting Department must have been burning the midnight adding machines to come up with this on such short notice.  There is rumor of grumbling - something about wearing her fingers to the nubbins.  When I suggested the Calculating Section use pencils instead of adding machines because pencils worn to nubbins are better than fingers worn to nubbins, she looked at me like I was an idiot.  Whatever... 

The trip days break down like this:

71 riding days
14 rest days - includes all goofing off days: i.e. Yellowstone, The Tetons, Breckenridge, etc.
6 miscellaneous days:  RV breakdowns and the return to Manhattan for medical appointments.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 2 - Yorktown, VA

Tuesday, September 10th, 2019

This is the only mention I’ll make of it, but today marks three calendar months since The
Thin Blue Ride commenced in Astoria, OR of June 10th.  Still hard to believe...

Today was spent doing more tourist stuff, mostly centered around Yorktown since we wanted to tour the battlefield.  Of course, the Park Service also had a small museum that we went thru and there was a 30 minute film we watched that gave us the broader perspective before we commenced the battlefield tour.  We also walked the historic Main Street of Yorktown which is on the hill above the beach, and while doing so ran across a local museum in the old County Courthouse.  The museum was in the basement and the volunteer on-duty docent du jour recruited me to go downstairs for the guided tour.  The upstairs was a collection of local art by 300 area artists.  Guess where Susan went?  Probably for the best - for both of us.  I saw a lot of quilts hanging in there...

Here’s the day in pics...

This is our bobblehead shot of the day.  The stone house behind us is surrounded on three sides by Civil War graves.  Interesting since we went looking for Revolutionary War stuff.  However, directly opposite the house behind us lie earthworks from the 1st siege line to surround Yorktown during the Revolutionary War and from which French artillery reduced the English earthworks near Yorktown.

This is a better shot of the Civil War graveyard.  The reader can make out the tombstones atop each grave.  Interestingly, most of the unknown dead were buried two to a grave.  And in an odd tradition, there were coins on many of the grave markers, unknown and named alike.  They indicate that someone stopped by to visit the deceased soldier.  In modern military tradition the coin left indicates in what manner you served with the deceased.  Penny - just paying your respects.  Nickel - you went thru boot camp with the deceased.  Dime - your served with the deceased.  Since there were modern nickels, dimes and even quarters; I'm guessing that not everyone who leaves a coin understands the tradition.

Hey Sig - check this out.  (I know he reads the blog)  Which one do I choose?  Answer: neither.  Just stand between the two, look bewildered and wait for Susan to take the pic.  These were actual French cannons on replica carriages behind a rebuilt section of the original French section of the first siege line around Yorktown.  Cool factor: 7.5.

This is the last remaining section of a portion of the English fortifications surrounding Yorktown.  It was known at the time as redoubt 10 and was the last in a chain of redoubts connecting English earthworks around the town.  It was also right next to the James River.  That being the case, a good portion of the redoubt had subsequently washed away when the river bank eroded over the years.  This remaining piece was re-discovered in the 50s.  It was the taking of redoubts 9 and 10 by French and American forces that forced Cornwalis' surrender to the allied French and American forces. 

Speaking of said surrender, the Moore house in this photo is where surrender negotiations took place between Cornwalis' representatives and those of the allied French and American forces.  The house had been thru 50 owners and the Civil War (hence the nearby graveyard) and is lucky to have survived at all.  During the Civil War, Union soldiers razed all the outbuildings and had even started stripping the siding from the house for campfires.  It was eventually bought by the Park Service and renovated. 

This is the very room in the Moore house in which the terms of surrender were negotiated - for 13 hours.  As it happened, only one person in the room spoke both French and English - one of the American representatives.

At this point (after noon) we were ready for some lunch and took a break to head back into Yorktown for same.  And when we got there...

Who do I find standing on the street corner discussing tactics but Washington, de Grasse and Lafayette!  I stepped in to provide some input.  In this pic I was telling 'em "They're gonna shoot at ya from over there." 

Once they all found out who I was, we came to terms and shook hands all around.  Everybody seemed OK with me except for de Grasse.  He seemed a bit out of sorts.

So - I figured what the heck - these French are always kissing each other on both cheeks anyway.  Apparently de Grasse doesn't subscribe to that particular French custom.  C'est la vie!

After lunch and that whole awkward thing with de Grasse (Washington told me not to worry about it) it was time for our walking tour of Yorktown's historic Main Street.

There were a lot of historic homes there.  Some still privately owned and some owned by the Park Service.  Since there was no placard out front, we think this one was privately owned.

Same with this one.  Note the classic architecture.

This one was a former colonial custom house in which duties and tariffs were collected when ships arrived in port.  Business went downhill with the commencement of hostilities.  It is now owned by the DAR and used as their local chapter's meeting hall.

This one belongs to the Park Service and was formerly the home of one of Virginia's early Governors by the last name of Nelson, Jr.  He was also a big player in the Revolutionary War, becoming a general in the Colonial Army.  

At the end of our walk we came out next to the Victory Monument.  Today's perspective on it was entirely different than when I pulled in to town on Sunday.  So it warrants another appearance.  The docent at the local museum told me that this was actually the second such monument.  Recall that for 100 years after being authorized, the US Government did nothing to erect this monument.  During those intervening years, an industrious and patriotic local endeavoured to erect a monument at his own expense at the location where Cornwalis had surrendered.  When the Park Service took the area over, the monument he had erected was declared to be in the wrong place and demolished with the rubble thrown into the trees behind whence it had formerly stood.  As a local stir developed concerning this issue a few years ago, the park service retrieved the rubble and had it ground up, then gave it to the DAR who used the material in their garden.  At least that's how the local docent told the tale.

At the conclusion of our walking tour we ended up back down by the beach and parched.  So we stopped in at a local watering hole for something to drink.  As we sat there, this sailing ship returned to the dock.  The sails are all down in this pic so it must be under motor power, but when I first saw it there were three still flying.  We think it's a tour thing.  You know: just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip - that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship.  The mate was a mighty sailin' man, the Skipper brave and sure, five passengers set sail that day, for a three hour tour, a three hour tour.  C'mon!  If ya don't get it, you weren't paying attention in history class.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 3 Day 1 - Jamestown & Yorktown, VA

Monday, September 9th, 2019

Ride Report:  Oops - sorry.  I’m a creature of habit.  No ride report today.  Although I reserve the right to insert ride reports as appropriate.  For example, I want to be able to say I rode my bike on Cape Cod - so ya may see one then.  But  - NOT TODAY!

Lots'a cheesy tourist stuff today.  But then that was the plan all along.  There’s tons of history here dating from the first English settlement in the area (Jamestown) in the 1600s to the Revolutionary War nearly 200 years later.  Since today was supposed to have a 50% chance of rain pretty much all morning and most of the afternoon, we thought today should be museum day and hoped that in between showers we could dash between the museums or The Rig, as appropriate.  So - we left at about 0930 this morning and didn’t get back till about 1930.  It was a long day.  Museums are just like shopping, except ya don’t take anything home with you unless you go to the gift shop.  Both (museums and shopping) make my back and feet hurt owing to being on hard surfaces for so long. Regardless, it was good - and interesting.  Oh - and it never rained - not all day.  "AcccuWeather" strikes again.

Oh yeah - the day - it went like this...

Susan snagged this pic of me on the scooter after we pulled in to the parking lot at the Jamestown Settlement.  Other than not being able to get my hands to adapt to the scooter controls yet, I'm pretty comfortable on it what with it having two wheels and all.  I did notice, however, that hills aren't such a big deal any more.

This water sculpture was just outside the entrance to the Jamestown Settlement.  Kinda cool since they arrived on three sailing ships.

There was a replica of a Powhatan village on the Jamestown Settlement site.  They had a bunch of actors dressed as Powhatan natives who gave lectures on how the Powhatan lived - it was pretty interesting.  This is Susan standing outside a Powhatan yehakin.  I thought this pic was interesting because it's the first time I've seen Susan have to duck to pass thru a doorway. 

They also have actual sailing replicas of the three ships (Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery) that brought the original settlers to Jamestown.  All of them are still functional.  The largest of the three, the Susan Constant, is the backdrop for this pic.  We went aboard the mid sized one, the Godspeed.  It sails about 12 days a year, mostly in the summer.

Susan took this one just to make Sig jealous what his penchant for militaria pics.  Not wanting to scare any babies, I waited till an old lady walked by, peered down the cannon and shouted "BOOM".  She didn't cry, but she scowled a lot.  I can see what Sig gets out of it now.

They had some strange ball caps in the 1600s.  But as with most things, the design probably improved over time.  Note the short bill, all metal construction and sloped sides of this one.  Not very comfortable either.  I'm glad I wasn't around in the 1600s to wear this thing, it does nothing to keep the sun outta your eyes.  One benefit - little kids avoided me while I had it on.

A replica of the Governor's mansion in the Jamestown settlement.  The Governor's furnishings were the most lavish.  He had three actual beds in his home.  Everyone else slept on what were essentially wooden cots.  But even the Governor didn't have Air Conditioning. 

There were a bunch of these running around the settlement.  This chicken's great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, (etc.) grand chicken was probably an original settler chicken.

After the Jamestown Settlement we headed over to Yorktown.  We first wanted to hit the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor's Center because they have a log book there for Trans-Amers who have completed the ride.  I wanted my name preserved for posterity.  Where better than with the National Park Service? 

But when I got there, I got a little distracted.  They still let me fill out the log, but the Ranger guy behind the counter made up an excuse to leave - something about a tour or something.  They had to call in a back-up Ranger guy to help me.  He stood away from me a good distance.  I dunno what the first guy told him.

By this time it was about 1700 so we decided to have dinner in Yorktown.  We'd received a recommendation and decided to follow that advice by going to the Riverwalk Restaurant.  It was a pretty fancy place, but they had both seafood and stuff Susan would like.  We had intended to do something like this yesterday to celebrate the end of the ride, but were both tired and didn't feel like getting out. 

This was dinner.  Susan opted for the chicken parmesan.  The plate in front is mine.  My choice was - get this - Scallops wrapped in duck bacon with beef brisket on a bed of sunflower risotto with creamed leeks.  HA!  Tell me ya saw that coming and I'll call ya a liar!

Then Susan decided that we needed dessert.  She had the chocolate chip cheesecake while I had the blueberry/peach cobbler with ice cream.  Susan made me eat it all.

This is our waitress Rachael.  When we chatted her up we found out that she was 19, recently married, and a life long resident of Yorktown.  Her hubby of these now past two months is in the Navy but has no ship duty in his schedule for at least three years.  Here's a quick Thin Blue Ride quiz for the reader.  Two of the people in this picture were married when they were 19.  Which one wasn't?

When we went to the parking lot to leave we found this.  Here's a second Thin Blue Ride quiz for the day.  Which one was ours?  The Suzuki or the Porsche?  Oh sure, you all know.  Susan had to stop me from getting in to the Porsche.

And in closing, I leave you all with this 1788 quote from James Madison.  I found it in the Revolutionary War Museum in Yorktown.  No truer sentiment concerning governance has since been uttered.

Till next time...