Had a week off from work due to a shutdown, so decided to ride to York Pa. and tour the plant. Asked brother Mike if he was interested, and after very little thought said "Hell Yea!"
Told him we'd have to hit the road 0500 Tues. morning and he still said YES!
Hit the road and rode hard to the last Service Plaza in Ohio on 80. Stopped there to warm up, get breakfast and gas up. Never got warm, headed out and stopped somewhere in Pa. for 2nd fill-up, and finally got warm. That was about 1000 hrs. Rode hard some more and arrived at York Pa. at 1 pm sharp just in time for the 1:15 Tour.
The tour this time of year is abbreviated, as they are making the 2010 models and won't let you near them, but we toured the stamping, chroming, painting and lots of misc. areas and did manage to catch a glimps of a New Electra Glide from a distance. Then of course each spent the obligatory $$$ in the visitor center gift shop!
Time to hit the road at 3 pm, headed down Rt. 30 west toward Gettysburg, hungry and thirsty. Rode almost all the way when we saw a German Tavern/Restaurant and wheeled in ready for some good German Grub! ALAS! Don't serve betweet 3 and 5 pm! What's up with THAT? (A word about Pennsylvania Hospitality here. There IS NONE! Not once on this trip did anyone act interested in talking, being nice, or just plain courteous!)
Ok, now on down the road to Battlefield H.D. where once again we were snubbed. The Parts counter guy was very nice I will say that, and I only spent $3 there! On down the road to the first Motel, forget which one, but got a room, checked in, unloaded the bikes, splashed water on the faces and headed out (About 5 pm) for Food! Mike is great to take along on trips like this, as he can find the coolest things to do (Although he flew right by Hooters in York!) and we wound up having dinner at the Dobbin's House Tavern. It was built in 1776, used as a school, and is now a very nice albeit EXPENSIVE restaurant!
Where, we were again mostly snubbed because we were in our jeans and H.D. T's and the rest of the people were all gussied up like sissy tourist's! I KNOWWWW! Anyway, I was sure the waitress was just staying in Character (It's funny how when your on the road, a woman in a long paisley dress can still look HOT!) Anyhow, we splurged here, I ordered a Smoked Salmon appetizer with Capers, cream cheese and crackers. Then ordered Lamb Chops done medium. All of it was awesome! Mike on the other hand may have found this fine restaurant, and I thank him for that BUT...He lacked imagination on his selection and went with the Prime Rib. Awesome that it was!
We then took a little walk and just across the street was the National Cemetery, so we strolled in just a little before we saddled up and I led us back the the well chilled room! It was about 8:30 by now, and both of us running on about 3 hours sleep the night before, so we CRASHED hard!
Got up early the next morning, packed up, had a quick breakfast at the motel and headed out for the Cemetery again to tour it on foot!
This place is an awesome place to learn about history! And it is a very sobering place to visit! This sign sets the tone as you enter:
Long story short, we went to the Visitor Center, hit the book store and resource center. Then rode out to take more pictures of where the 55th Ohio Infantry took their stand.
Then off to downtown to eat at Lincoln's Diner. I had Grilled Salmon on a Greek Salad and, I think Mike had Gruel. Anyway, hit the road about 1 PM. took a slightly different route back so we could experience some good Philadelphia Rush Hour traffic and made it home threatened with rain but unscathed, about 9:30 PM with a total of 902.5 miles on the trip odometer!
As much as I hate being Repetitive:
Screw It, Lets Ride!
