Day 6 - Washington DC

Today was the last day in town and the last day of my trip...seems like I've been gone for about a month. I'm really ready to be home.

It was a beautiful day...clear, sunny and a little chilly...about 42 degrees to start off. I grabbed breakfast at the hotel...pretty good too...with along with a bunch of other tourists and then headed for the subway station. Unfortunately for me, the Metro system was having some track repairs today so they were operating on only one track on certain routes...yep, you guess it, mine was one of them.

After waiting about 20 minutes, my train finally came and I rode downtown to the Smithsonian area. I started walking toward the Washington Monument, intending to go to the top and then head down to the Vietnam Wall and Lincoln Memorial...since I would be so close. As I approached the monument's base I noticed signs telling visitors that they must have a timed ticket for admission. Not really knowing what that meant, I continued up to where everyone was standing so I could ask a Park Ranger about tickets. Then, I noticed metal signs stuck to the doors saying all the tickets for today had been distributed...no trip to the top of the Washington Monument today.

I took some pictures and headed down the hill towards the Lincoln Memorial. As I started that way, I noticed a huge group of people walking along the sidewalk to my right. I thought it must be some sort of demonstration...and the way my luck was running this morning I figured they were headed to the Lincoln Memorial. I decided to continue on my way and deal with the crowd when, and if, it became necessary. I merged with the crowd...which included several midshipmen from the Naval Academy...and as I walked along started to read the signs and t-shirts the folks were wearing. To my relief, it wasn't a demonstration...at least not a political one...it was a march for autism, and they turned off at the next street and circled back around towards the capital.

On the way to the Lincoln Memorial, I stopped at the WWII Memorial...I had never been there before. It is really nice memorial, set at the end of the Reflecting Pond between the Washington Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Today, there was a group of WWII veterans being escorted to the memorial. There aren't many of them left and they're dying at an alarming rate so it was nice to see some of them get to visit the memorial.

I walked along the Reflecting Pond to the Lincoln Memorial, took a few pictures, and then headed to the Vietnam Memorial where I got a rubbing done by the people there. I have a rubbing from one of the traveling 3/4 scale walls but I wanted one of the real thing. By the time I finished at the wall it was about noon so I started back towards the subway station with the intentions of going to the Library of Congress.

I walked along Constitution Avenue, past the White House, past the Washington Memorial, past the Museums of Natural History and American History. I bought a coke along the way and sat down to check my map. As I read the map, I noticed that the International Spy Museum wasn't far from where I was, if I took another subway that the one headed toward the Library. I finished my coke and headed to the station.

Thirty minutes later I was walking into the Spy Museum...which is a great museum to go see. There are pictures, bios, history of espionage through the years and many actual spy gadgets to see. I spent about an hour walking through reading and looking...sorry no photography in the museum.

At the end of the tour, I decided I was hungry...it was now 2:00pm...so I decided to eat at the Spy Cafe...I had a very good Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. As I sat eating my sandwich and watching all the activity outside, I noticed one of those double-decker buses with the open top drive by. The signage on the side of the bus said it was a "Get Off-Get On" affairs and that you could buy the ticket from the driver. I decided to give it a try. I finished my lunch and headed across the street. Five minutes later, I was sitting on top ready for the tour.

Well, I rode on top for the next 1 1/2 hours, seeing parts of Washington...and Georgetown...that I had never seen before...at least from this vantage point. However, it was very cold. The weather had gotten very cloudy and the sun no longer gave us any warmth. The wind from the bus moving down the street didn't help either. I zipped my jacket all the way up, put on my gloves and tried to ignore my cold face.

We saw Georgetown, Dupont Circle, almost all the important federal buildings, the Vice President's residence, the Naval Observatory, the Mayflower Hotel and many other interesting sites. It would have taken me at least a week to see everything...and that's if I would last a week. When the tour bus pulled up to the front of Union Station, the driver said he was taking a break but we could move to the bus in front of us...I declined the offer and went inside the station to find a little boy's room. Besides, I was too cold to continue. Turns out that I didn't miss too much and there were only 4-5 more stops...oh, yes, the bus has about 30 stops along the route where you can get off and look around and then get back on in about 30 minutes...before I got back to the place I started. I walked around the station a while and then headed for the subway station on a lower level.

I checked the route I needed to return to Crystal City and the hotel and thought I had a good idea of which train to get on...only one out of Union Station...and where to change trains. I got on the right train headed the right direction but I missed the stop where I was supposed to change trains. No big deal...I got off at the next stop, went over the other side and got on the next train headed back to my stop. I got off the train once again, got on another, but this time I went the wrong direction. It took me a couple of stops before it sunk in. I got off once again, crossed over to the other side and once again traveled to the station where I had to change trains one more time. Finally, I arrived at the Crystal City station and made my way to the hotel. I may have added one too many train changes in this description but I lost count.

Anyway, I got back to the hotel safe and sound and that's all that counts...isn't it? I'm sitting here watching Arkansas kick the crud out of poor South Carolina. In a few minutes, I'll pack my bags for tomorrow and get in bed to take advantage of the extra hour of sleep I'm going to get tonight. Of course, a 0500 wake up call will negate any feeling of an extra hour of sleep. The first airport shuttle from the hotel leaves at 0600. I'll eat breakfast at the airport, once I check in.

I hope everyone has enjoyed hearing about my trip and seeing the pictures. Unless the trip home tomorrow has a lot more interest/adventure than I anticipate, this will be the last blog for my trip to New York City and Washington D.C. Wish everyone had been able to come with me...but when you do I'll do a better job navigating. :)

Until next time, I'm Papa Jax, signing off.

Day 5 - Washington DC

Today started very early...on the street at 0600...that's 6:00am for you non-military types. Actually, I was up before 0500 but I took some time to finish yesterday's blog. I set two alarms...one my phone and the other the hotel's clock radio. The radio went off at 0445 and I got up because I was afraid I would sleep through my phone's alarm and then be late for my train.

I walked 1/2 block and caught a taxi to the station, arriving $6.00 and 5 minutes later. I told the driver to drop me off at the entrance I had come out of last night, but as it turns out, it would probably have been easier on me if I had just told the driver I was catching a train and he would have dropped me off right at the door.

As it was, I entered the subway system, then had to exit the system, walked up a set of stairs or two and do a lot of walking to the Amtrak area. I was following the signs, but it was still confusing so I finally stopped a guy with a uniform on and a pouch on his belt, much like you see train conductors wear in the movies. He wasn't an Amtrak employee but he was able to direct me to the right place...about 100 feet down the hall and up the escalator. Once I rose to the top of the escalator, there was the Amtrak ticket booths and self-service ticketing machines. Next time, I'll definitely let the driver take me to the right place.

Once I had my ticket, then it was a hurry up and wait situation. I had been told that the track number for my train would not be posted until about 30 minutes prior to departure...that turned out to be more like 10 minutes. Everyone just stands around watching this big status board and then when their track number comes up, they run off to the track and board the train. Gambling that my track would be on the lower level, I went down the escalator and waited by a smaller status board. A young woman waiting there as well ended up on my train...or should I say I ended up on her train. By the time I got downstairs...pulling my bag down the stairs...bump, bump, bump...I got on the train and there she was. I asked her if I was on the right train for Washington and she said I was, so I took a seat.

The inside of the train was very nice. There wasn't too many folks on at that point so I had both seats to my self. There was ample overhead space for my bag and and even an electrical outlet so you could charge your computer and/or phone while you rode. It allowed me to organize my pictures and write a draft for today's blog...however, blogger.com won't let me cut and paste from a Word document so now I'm re-writing it.

The scenery from the train's windows wasn't too thrilling. Mostly all I saw was the area's slums, industrial areas and a lot of trees. As the train got close to a town or city, the trees thinned out and housing could be seen. There were a few nice areas...mostly rural...in Maryland but I probably should have taken a nap and foregone the scenery.

As we neared Baltimore, the train's engineer came on the PA system and announced that there was a "service interruption" at Union Station in DC. I think it probably took us an extra 30 minutes. We crawled into Baltimore but as we got closer to DC, the train sped back up. I'll have to watch the news tonight to see if there's anything about the "service interruption".

I was the last one off the train...had to put everything back in my bag...in the dark. It was really strange. Once the train was in the station, the power went off and the entire crew disappeared into the terminal. By the time I made it into the terminal, it was almost 12:00 so I decided to grab a bite to eat before heading out to Reagan National and the hotel. My plan was to ask the hotel to hold my bag until I came back this evening to check in. As it turned out, they let me check in almost 2 hours early so I did not have to worry about the bags. I thought about using the baggage storage facility at the terminal until I discovered it would be at least $30 for 5 hours...and that was just for 1 large bag. I thanked the lady and headed off to find the right subway train.

Washington's subway system is much simpler than New York's, plus the signage is more clear. I purchased two 1-day passes and headed down to the tracks. I stopped by the information booth to get a map of the entire system and then got on the train to National. It didn't take too long to get there but it wasn't much fun wrestling my bag on and off the train...as well as hauling it up and down stairs.

After about an hour, I finally found a taxi and headed for the hotel. I thought the NYC taxis were going to be expensive but they weren't anything compared to the airport taxis...the tack on $2.50 to the actual fare. Oh well, $10 was better than walking, especially since I didn't know where I was going.

When I got ready to head downtown, I asked the front desk for directions to the nearest metro station...1 1/2 blocks down the street...piece of cake. I headed for the Smithsonian and walked through the Museum of Natural History and Museum of American History. I wasn't sure I was going to make it all the way through the second one. My legs were aching, as well as my back, and I was very sleepy. I finally sat down on a bench to rest...had a real problem with falling asleep.

After about 15 minutes, I got up, finished my whirlwind tour and went back to the subway for the short ride down the line to the Library of Congress. I walked a couple of blocks to what I saw on the map but it turned out that not only does the library close at 4:30pm...which is what time it was...I was in the wrong building. The police officer working the inside was very helpful with good information for tomorrow and in addition looked up the address for the Old Ebbitt Grill. Actually, he called someone in the control room and they looked it up, but he asked them to.

I got back on the subway and headed the opposite direction over to the station near the White House. As it turns out, the Old Ebbitt Grill is directly across the street from the Treasury Building, which is next door to the White House. I had a nice meal before heading back to the hotel to veg for the remainder of the night...and probably fall asleep early once I finish typing.

I'm going to sleep in a little in the morning, perhaps workout in the fitness room, have a good breakfast and then head downtown. My plan is to see if I can go to the top of the Washington Monument, check out the Vietnam and WWII Memorials and then go to the Library of Congress. I'm guessing that will take up the bulk of the day...we'll see.

Day 4 - NYC

Today was the worst day of my visit...weather wise that is. It might not have been as cold and windy as the past couple of days, but it was definitely wetter. However, the rain was not hard or steady so an umbrella was more than sufficient to keep me dry, especially for the 1 block walk to the conference. I guess there are advantages to being so close...the quality of the hotel is not one of them!

Breakfast this morning was good...same food as the first day but buffet style so I could get bacon that looked like it had actually been cooked. The morning session's speaker was excellent. A consultant, which is not unusual for these types of events, she makes a living teaching law enforcement, military, homeland security, etc. how to be more observant. The title of her presentation...The Art of Perception. It was very good and had some good information for security, risk management, emergency management and business continuity folks in the room.

The two morning break out sessions were very good as well...one on workplace violence and the other crisis decision-making. Following lunch...during which I had a good talk with a guy from the University of Florida...there was yet another good session on human behavior during a crisis situation. All of the sessions today could have been expanded to a much longer format...even a semester-long class. In fact, most of them only gave the audience a taste of what they were talking about and then offered suggestions for further research and/or reading on the subject.

I'm in the room right now...just bought a ticket for the Broadway production of Chicago. Shortly, I will make my way to Penn Station to catch the subway "uptown" but more importantly I will try to find out how to catch the train in the morning. I have already purchased my ticket for the train leaving at 7:17am so I won't have much time to mess around in the morning. I'm looking at a 3-hour ride down to Washington DC then I'll probably catch the subway out to Reagan International and a shuttle or taxi to the hotel nearby.

The day/night isn't very good for picture taking but I'll see what I can do for those who would like to see bits and pieces of NYC...perhaps a few shots at the theater tonight. Wish me luck....

Good morning, I'm back. It's 0520...yep, that's right, really early. I decided to try to finish this update so I can be downstairs checking out by 0530 or so. That should give me plenty of time to catch a cab and get to the station. Then, I have to find the machine to scan my printout...which very clearly says it isn't a ticket...then find the correct track.

The performance of Chicago last night was pretty good. Of course, it would have been better had Katie Holmes been in it. However, when I walked up to the Upper Mezzanine, the usher asked me if I was by myself and when I replied yes, she took me to the back row of the Front Mezzanine and let me sit on the end. This was good for a couple of reasons: First, the seat was much closer to the stage...probably not more than 30 feet...and second, I was on the end and could stretch my legs a little bit. As I discovered at the last theater, there's not much room between rows and it can get cramped really fast.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so could not take pictures...my phone camera uses the flash and I didn't want to get kicked out of the theater. The key characters in the play/musical were very good. Looking at the program, they had performed in several plays over the years, some of which I even recognized.

Actually, I don't even mind the singing and dancing in these things...although as a guy I'm not really supposed to like it. I'm always in amazement that people can actually dance and sing like that...especially the men. The performance was over about 10:20pm and I quickly left the theater and headed for the subway station...only a block away. I actually went the correct direction this time and found the right track quickly. I was in my room at the hotel...even after searching for the Amtrak area at Penn Station...before 11:00pm.

Well, it's 5:30 so I better get going. I took some pictures using my cell phone...for what they're worth. The weather was a bit rainy last night but not terrible so they're not the worst pictures I've ever taken. I think the one of the giant M&M is probably the best. It's from the huge electronic billboard on the front of the M&M Store in Times Square. As you can probably tell, on this trip I kept returning to the Times Square area. It's definitely where the action was in the Manhattan area.

Oh, by the way, I decided to eat at one of the smaller, local restaurants last night and it wasn't too bad. It sort of reminded me of the old Sizzlin Sirloin type place back when I was younger where you order at the counter and everything is taken to the table on a tray. The baked potato was tiny, but at least fully cooked. The steak was the strangest Filet Mignon I've ever seen. I would have had a hard time picking it out of a line up of meats. It looked more like skirt steak or a thicker version of steak-ums...if you know what I mean. Luckily, it tasted alright...not like an expensive Filet Mignon but alright.

After dinner I still had an hour to blow before the show began so I visited a couple of the local NY souvenir shops and then dropped in to a TGI Fridays to have dessert. I didn't need the extra calories and I wasn't particularly hungry, but it did take 30 minutes or so and after all that was the purpose. The only problem I had with that experience was that the number of calories in each entry on the menu had the calorie content next to the description of the item. In this case...1450! Oh well, back to the gym when I get home for some serious cardio. I used my hurt ribs as an excuse for the last couple of months but I think I've milked that one for all it's worth.

Well, off to Penn Station and Washington D.C.

Day 3 - NYC

Today was technically the first day of the conference...since yesterday was a pre-conference training session. Unfortunately, I overslept by an hour and only had about 45 minutes to shower, dress, grab some breakfast downstairs and get over to the conference center...but I made it. I walked in and discovered that the morning's general session included breakfast. Good thing all I had time for in the hotel was a class of apple juice and a small donut.

The session's speaker was the Commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management for the city of New York...very interesting. He is over the police department, fire department, EMS and several other agencies. Any emergency situation that involves more than one responding agency comes under his purview...pretty heavy responsibility if you ask me.

During breakfast, I lined up the breakout sessions I wanted to attend...two in the morning and two in the afternoon. The morning sessions were pretty good...one on educating civilians on an active shooter situation and the other on writing a business continuity plan for an urban campus. Lunch consisted of box lunches...pretty good however...and then walking around the vendor area. This conference is being held in conjunction with another one for security experts so there were some interesting vendors present. Mostly I just walked around and picked up a few things and a lot of business cards...Bubba.

After lunch, I went to my 2:15 session, along with about 30 other folks. We waited and waited and no speaker. Finally, about 2:30, one of the conference coordinators came in and said our speaker had been called away for an emergency so the session was canceled. I had already decided to skip the 3:45 session...wasn't as interesting as I thought it might be...so all of a sudden I had the rest of the day to wander the city.

I rushed back to the hotel, changed clothes...putting on tennis shoes this time...and headed down toward the USS Intrepid museum not too far away. Traffic on 12th Avenue...which runs parallel with the Hudson River...was packed with cars and buses. The entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel under the Hudson is also nearby so that probably added to the number of vehicles on the street.

When I got to the ticket booth at the USS Intrepid, I discovered that admission for veterans was free so I toured the USS Growler...Cold War vintage missile submarine...and the USS Intrepid. I had been aboard back in 2005 when in the city for another conference but since then the ship was towed to a ship yard somewhere and given a new paint job. Everything was bright and shiny. Some of the ship was closed for restoration but it was still an enjoyable tour.

Following the Intrepid tour, I headed up the street to find a subway station. My intentions were to head "uptown" to Central Park and take some pictures while it was still light outside. I found the station without any problem and got on a train headed in my direction, however I didn't notice it was an express so instead of being able to get off somewhere near Central Park...59th Street - 110th Street...I ended up riding all the way to 125th Street...near Harlem! No problem...I got off, went over to the other side and caught a corresponding "local" train back to 59th Street and Columbus Circle. I entered the park at the most southwestern corner. Daylight was fading and so was I so I only stayed there a few minutes before getting back on the subway and heading to Times Square.

I got there right before it started getting dark so I walked around a little, taking my time as opposed to last night, and finally stopping at Hard Rock Cafe to eat. After dinner I walked along 7th Avenue from 42nd Street to 50th Street to catch the subway home. As you can tell from the pictures, the area was full of people going somewhere and a ton of tourists like me taking pictures of all the lights. Right out front of HRC, the street was closed off and there were girls dancing in the street. It turned out to be publicity for a new product for a video game or something of Wii...not really sure.

I originally couldn't even tell there was anything going on in the street due to the crowd watching them. I thought it was just people walking in the street like everywhere else, but then I saw one of the many huge video screens showing the action and I figured it out. I took a short video of the action. The sights and sounds of the place are quite amazing...a completely different world than I'm used to.

After walking around about as much as I could stand, I headed for the subway station where I caught the correct train to Penn Station. By now, I know the way to the hotel from the subway station pretty well...still a good walk.

If I get out of the conference early enough tomorrow, I may take a night bus tour around the city...might get some good pictures. However, there is a slight chance of rain tomorrow so my plans may change. I may just stay in the room as I have an early start to the day on Friday.

Day 2 - NYC

Today was my first day...half day actually...at the conference. The pre-conference session was on how to facilitate a table top exercise. There were only a dozen attendees but the conversation was very helpful. The session was presented by a consultant who puts on exercises for a living.

Just before heading to the session, I asked the front desk about the dress code for going to the theater to which they responded, nothing formal. I got on line and found a ticket for the evening's performance of RAIN, a tribute to the Beatles, scheduled for 7pm.

As soon as I got back to the room, I grabbed my camera, put on a sweater and headed to Penn Station...about 3 blocks over and 2 blocks up. Sounds like it's just around the corner doesn't it? Well, going one way the blocks are only about 100 yards apart, but going the other they're more like 1/2 mile. However, I found the subway station without a problem, bought a multiple-ride ticket and jumped on the first train headed to Times Square...at least I thought so. Turns out I was headed downtown and not uptown. I got off at the next station, crossed over to the other side and caught the same train headed the right direction.

I got off at 42nd street and walked a block up to 7th Avenue. The whole area looks like Times Square, although technically I think it's at 42nd at Broadway. Anyway, the lights were already turning bright as the day began to fade. By the time I got there it was already after 5:30 so I had a maximum of 1 hour to find a place to eat and get going to the theater.

I found the place I was looking for...Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. I ate there 5 years ago and liked it so I decided to give it another try. I walked in about 5:45 so I opted to sit at the bar and order an appetizer. I had what they called "popcorn shrimp" but as I told Sharon, they weren't like you get at Red Lobster. There were 12-13 shrimp in the basket and they were good sized. There was three dips to pick from. I ate as fast as I could and walked out of the restaurant about 6:20.

I quickly walked back to the station at 42nd and 8th to catch the train...uptown this time for sure...to get off at 50th Street. At that point I wasted some time, turning the wrong direction twice, walking back to 49th Street and then over to 7th Avenue. I needed to go the other direction in both cases. The Neal Simon Theater is on 53rd Street between Broadway and 8th. I finally arrived at the front door at 6:45, picked up my ticket and was seated by 6:50.

I had the whole row to my self. The usher told me I could sit anywhere I wanted and since the row behind me...the row my seat was on...was almost full, I chose the row in front. I sat in the exact center of the theater, only quite a ways away from the stage. In fact, I think there were only 8-10 rows behind me. However, the theater is a small one and the seat was fine. Listening to the music was more important that seeing the performers in this case, besides not being able to see them clearly added to the illusion that they were really the Beatles.

The show was over a little after 9pm and I found the subway pretty quickly, got on the right train the first time and arrived at the hotel a little before 10. Tomorrow night, I think I'll try looking around...maybe in the same area again...but more slowly.

The sights and sounds of NYC at night are pretty amazing. You can see things much better walking that you could driving a car, for sure. Sessions start at 8am tomorrow and run pretty much all day...assuming I go to all of them that is. I'd like to take in the USS Intrepid and the museum again if I have time...it's not too far away. We'll see how it goes. I might try a bus tour in one of the double-decker buses if I can figure out where to get one.

See you tomorrow.

Off to the Big Apple

Hey everyone. I'm not on my motorcycle this time but I thought some of you might be interested in my trip to New York City and Washington D.C...part business, part pleasure.

My trip started on Monday morning about 6:00am when the airport shuttle picked me up at home for a ride to Bush Intercontinental in Houston. The trip was fairly uneventful...thankfully. The driver this time was very patient and took his time getting to the airport. It helped me stay calm, especially since I had plenty of time before my departure time. Actually, I had about 3 hours to blow. This was the only shuttle that would work with my takeoff, thus the wait.

I landed in NYC about 5:30pm and by 6:00pm I was in the shuttle headed for the hotel. The drivers in New York are much as I remembered from a few years back. Our driver...perhaps Hispanic...was very casual as he weaved in and out of traffic...honking here and there...but never getting mad. He dropped off 4 other passengers before finally pulling up in front of the Best Western about 7:00pm...see picture. I was not impressed by the hotel...still not. However, the staff working the desk were very helpful with information.

I dropped my bags in the room and walked about 2 blocks to a small deli where I bought a sandwich, chips and a drink and went back to the room to eat and watch Monday Night Football...boring game however.

The Jacob Javitts Conference Center is only a block away...it's huge...so that's good. However, the street...37th Avenue...isn't one of the city's nicest. Check out the carriage house next door to the hotel. They even keep the horses on the second floor of the place. Early in the morning the smell of you know what being washed into the gutter is really nice. Every morning they get the carriages and horses out and every evening they put them back in...all through one narrow door. Across the street...a yellow cab maintenance facility. Late in the afternoon and early evening the street is filled with yellow cabs waiting to enter the garage.

Although my room is on the 10th floor, I can hear almost everything down on the street...especially the fire trucks as they zoom down the street, sirens blaring. It turns out there's a station only two blocks away. I set the alarm for 8:00am...don't need to be at my class until 1:30pm tomorrow...and went to bed.

Painted Church Ride

I thought you might be interested in a ride I had on Saturday with a new group of riders...Brazos de Dios. My friend Carl Shafer sent me an email on Friday about the ride and I thought it sounded interesting so I canceled the tailgate party invite I had received earlier and met the group at the local Harley dealership about 9:10am on Saturday morning.

When I arrived, I parked beside several other motorcycles...in fact, there were tons of them. I was amazed that there were that many folks making the ride but at the same time I knew the group might have that many members and I had no idea how many folks participated on any given Saturday. This particular one was going to be beautiful so perhaps this many people were going to ride.

However, as I walked across the parking lot to the building, I quickly realized that I had parked next to the dealership's display bikes...new and used. The normal parking spot for these bikes was being used by their "Harleyween" festivities. I quickly moved over to the other side of the parking lot where the "real" morning participants were parked. As it turned out, there were only 8 people on the ride that morning...9 people total.

We left the dealership at 9:30am...after signing a release as a "newbie" and visitor and getting a quick safety briefing from the day's road captain. The leader took us out Hwy 30 to Carlos where we turned onto FM 3090/FM 149 headed toward Anderson. The road is very curvy and very popular with area riders...all the way down to Houston actually. In Anderson, we got on another farm-to-market road...1774 I think...which would take us down to Plantersville and the first church on the tour.

About 2-3 miles north of Plantersville...site of the famous Renaissance Fair...we turned into a dirt road and then into a parking lot. We got off our motorcycles and the leader began to tell us about the "painted" church just a few yards away, behind the trees. The church had been built back in the 1800's by immigrant Ukrainian German-speaking Catholic farmers. The tall steeple was struck by lightning in 1917 and the church burned to the ground...notice there isn't another tall steeple today. The church was rebuilt in a hurry due to threats of moving the congregation to another church.

As we began towards the church, we were joined by the priest who ended up giving us a tour...along with his trusty Beagle guard dog...see sign. One of the interesting things he said was that only 4 pieces were saved from the fire and were restored and put back in the church...one being the statue of the virgin Mary which had only her hair singed a bit.

Another interesting fact was that back in the 1950's, the Catholic church was going through some reform and the members were afraid that the Church would not like the way it was painted, so they painted over everything with beige paint. Only in 2000, a year after this priest came to the area, did he begin to investigate the rumors by scraping away some of the beige paint. What he found underneath was amazing.

They ended up hiring a restoration artist from Houston who, along with the membership, carefully scraped away most of the covering paint and repainted the stencils. They left a couple of areas unpainted after they scraped to show the visitors what it looked like before...see pictures. Today, the church is quite a sight to see...much like I would imagine a Hungarian Gypsy's wagon painted.

Well, the tour of this church took so long that we didn't make it to any others on Saturday. Besides, they say this was the best example around anyway. We were led over to Montgomery where we ate lunch at Phil's Roadhouse. If you have never been there, you should go. The food was excellent and the portions were huge. At least two people could be fed off each order.

We arrived back at the Harley dealership about 2:30pm, safe and sound. The ride was very successful and I met some new friends. I'm already on their mailing list and have received the latest version of their newsletter...7-8 pages long! Not sure I'm going to join another group/club so soon after getting out of one, but it's a possibility. For those of you who do not know, I recently tendered my resignation from Rolling Thunder....for various reasons.

Hope you enjoy the pictures...although they don't do justice to the real thing...go see it for yourself. The church is open 24/7.

Next, I'm off to NYC and Washington DC...not on a motorcycle this time.

Day 4 - End of the Road

Day 4, the final day of this ride, started at 7:15am in Baton Rouge. I slept like a baby most of the night, due primarily to the long day riding from Lake City, but partly due to the great meal I had. I forgot to mention in last night's blog that I was referred to a great little seafood restaurant by the woman working the front desk at the hotel.

She told me to go back toward town to the next exit and then go south through four lights then make two lefts heading back down the access road to the north. The name of the restaurant was the Bayou Bistro. Sounded like a fancy place, but as it turned out it was anything but.

I followed the instructions, including going to the 4th traffic light, which turned out to be about 4 miles too. I turned left at the 4th light and left again on the access road and there it was...a small, unattractive white building with a very small out in front that said Bayou Bistro. Since I hadn't see any other suitable places to eat, I decided to give it a try. I ordered a pan sauteed tilapia with pecans and a shrimp butter covering it...man was that good. I totally cleaned my plate, waddle out to my bike and made my way back to the hotel.

Now, back to Day 4. I was on the road an hour later today, plus I had on long underwear, so I wasn't near as cold as on Day 3...in fact, I was very toasty. By the end of the day, I was burning up...just never had the opportunity to take the thermals off.

Almost immediately after I got on I-10, I entered an area called the Atchafalaya Basin. The highway went sloped up slightly until the roadway was elevated about 30 feet above the ground...or should I say swamp. This "bridge" went on and on for about 25 miles and ended in a real bridge...a steep, high draw bridge over the Atchafalaya River. Very interesting. The elevated roadway/bridge also went over an area called the Henderson Swamp...which actually looked like a swamp. The speed limit on the bridge was 55mph so by the time I got off, I was ready for breakfast. I exited in the little town of Henderson to eat at a Waffle House, where several of the Cajun speaking locals entertained me while I ate.

Back on the road, I continued to pass bodies of water and drive over bridges...just not 25 miles long. Louisiana has some interesting names for its waterways, such as Cow Bayou, Turtle Bayou, Lost River and Old River. They've been a lot less creative for some of their city's names, like Bridge City...at the base of one of the bridges I went over...and Rose City...don't know where that name came from since I didn't see any roses along the side of the road.

At some point along the road today I saw a couple of interesting signs. The first was alerting the traveler of the next exit for Ponce de Leon...wasn't he looking for the Fountain of Youth? Wonder if I would have found it if I had taken that exit? However, if I remember right, de Leon was looking for the Fountain of Youth somewhere in Florida...not Louisiana. Another sign mentioned the exit for Evangeline...now wasn't that a book or poem we all had to read back in high school? I think that was about someplace in Louisiana. Well, please excuse me if I remember all these things from high school wrong. I wasn't the best student in the school back then.

The last big city in Louisiana I went through was Lake Charles. For the last 20-25 miles coming into the city all I saw were billboards advertising the many casinos and resorts in and around the city. Not having a lot of extra money to blow in a casino, I passed on by and crossed the Sabine River...the river that divides Louisiana from Texas. The bridge was huge...so huge that I had to stop and take a picture of the approach. Good thing Sharon wasn't with me because she would not have liked it one little bit.

After crossing the river, I decided to pull off at the Texas Visitors Center. I spent a few minutes taking pictures and walking around the center before getting back on the road headed toward Beaumont. I stopped in Beaumont for gas and then got back on the road. A few minutes later I saw something fly up behind me and realized my right saddlebag was open. I quickly made my way over to the right shoulder from the far inside lane and came to a stop. Upon inspection, I my hat and my notebook were gone. What I had seen flying around was the notebook...I guess. I turned the bike off and started walking back up the shoulder to see if I could find one or both of the items.

I figured I'd have more success finding the notebook than the hat but after walking about 100 yards or so back up the highway...with cars and trucks whizzing by at 70+...I didn't see anything. I decided to get off the highway and go up the other side to get to the on ramp I had just used. Once I entered the highway from the same on ramp, I made my way over to the left shoulder and drove very slowly...with my turn signal on...looking for my hat and notebook.

It's amazing how much trash can be found on shoulders of a major interstate...I had a hard time weaving around everything. Just when I thought I'd have to give up, there right in front of me, on the shoulder, was my hat. I stopped and put the hat in the saddlebags and continued to look for the notebook. By the time I made it back to the point where I had exited the highway to make the u-turn, I had not seen the notebook. I had already wasted at least 30 minutes so I decided that the notebook was gone forever and I got back on the road headed for home.

Other than having to endure horrible road conditions in and around Houston, I had no other problems to speak of. I pulled up in front of Sharon's office 15 minutes short of 8 hours since hitting the road this morning...not bad considering how many times I stopped today. My mileage total at the end of the day from West Palm Beach to College Station...1,265 miles!

Before I complete the blog for this trip, I wanted to mention the various smells I experience along the way...as I invited you to do in the introduction but had not mentioned it any. It's interesting riding a motorcycle because you can easily smell everything around you...things you just don't notice riding in a car with the windows rolled up and the A/C on high. During this trip, the smells that stood out were both good and bad, such as the smell of freshly mowed grass, the smell of rain, the smell of someone cooking BBQ, the smell of welding, the smell of new tar on the roadway, the smell of fiberglass, the smell of a dead animal along the side of the road, and then there's the ever popular smell of a pulp mill.

It was another interesting trip for me...lots of new and interesting things to see...and smell. I was ready to get home...as usual. One of these days I want to make a trip where I don't feel obligated to cover so much ground in such a short time. I'd love to make a trip with no particular place to go and no particular time to get there...now that might be interesting. Until next time, this is Papa Jax signing off.

Day 3

Today was a long one... right at 12 hours from start to finish. I woke up at 5:00am, packed the bike and got on the road around 6:00am. Man, was it chilly! I had two shirts on and a leather jacket...plus the full face helmet...and I was still cold. By the time I had ridden about an hour, I was beginning to shake from the cold. I pulled into a convenient rest stop...Florida has really nice ones about every 30 miles on the interstate...and tried to warm up. Unfortunately, the hand warmers there didn't do too much to help.

I got back on the road and rode another hour until I got to Midway, FL...just west of Tallahassee I. I ate breakfast at a Waffle House and tried to get warm...it helped a little. Back on the road by 9:30am and by now the sun was getting warm, and so was I.

My next stop was Pensacola, FL, where I made a little Walmart stop. I needed a few things, including better tie downs and some all purpose cleaner for the bugs. I found what I was looking for so I spent a few minutes eating some peanut butter crackers and drinking a coke while re-securing my bag to the bag of my bike. I was back on the road by 12:30pm or so.

Deciding to skip lunch today, I tried to make better time, with the goal of getting to Baton Rouge for the night. My original plan had been to stay the night in Lake Charles but that was when I was going to spend the second night in Tallahassee...plans have to be flexible.

Shortly after passing leaving Pensacola, I hit the Alabama State Line and shortly after that I came to Mobile. Seeing signs for the Battleship Alabama park, I exited the interstate to check it out. It was only a couple of blocks off the interstate and was pretty interesting...although it cost me $2 to drive through and take some pictures. In the interest of time, I opted not to tour the battleship.

Once back on the highway, I quickly left Alabama for Mississippi, then Louisiana. This whole day I passed places I recognized from days past...Panama City, Eglin AFB, Gulfport, Biloxi, Keesler AFB, Crestview to name a few. I passed over several bridges spanning rivers with interesting names, such as Suwanee River, Blackwater River, Chatahoochee River, Pearl River and last, but not least, the mighty Mississippi River. There were other bodies of water, too numerous to mention here. Oh, and there was another grass fire today...no car in the middle of it this time...thankfully.

After Mobile, the only stops I made were to take pictures of the various "Welcome to ______" signs and to get gas one more time. I arrived in Baton Rouge about 5:30pm and decided to go through town to the west side so I wouldn't have to fight the morning rush hour going into town. I pulled into the hotel parking lot at 6:00pm, almost exactly 12 hours from the time I first got on the highway.

I took a few more pictures today than yesterday...including one or two of me. Enjoy Sharon. Tomorrow, I'll be hitting the road headed to College Station...just not as early. Today my travel took me 583 miles...tomorrow only 360 miles or so...still about 8 hours counting stops. I'm betting I'll make better time...always do when I'm headed home. If all goes well, tomorrow's blog update will be the last for a while. My rear end needs a rest. :)