Five days On the Road - Part Last

The next morning, we got up and ate breakfast at a Bob Evans restaurant.  Then, once again, we followed the giant green pin on the map to Starbucks.

We got on the road, and discussed our plan.  I was to drop Brad at his dad's house, and then go to Petey and Jen's house to spend the night.  They are friends of mine, from back in the time I lived in Columbus, and I had not seen them for 20 years.  I was pretty excited at the prospect of seeing them, again.

We got to Ohio, mid-morning, and rolled up to the senior Click's abode at the stroke of noon.  After a little bit of visiting, I called Petey and got directions to his house, and made my goodbyes to Brad and Harold.  We planned on meeting at the AMA museum at 10:00, the next morning.  So, I headed to Pickerington.

Hanging with the Robertsons was a hoot.  Their two-year-old daughter is 22, now. When she answered the door, it was a bit odd. I had seen pictures of her, but seeing her in real life was something else.

We cooked out, went to the 4th of July parade, where their two boys marched with their Cub Scout Troops, shot fireworks and then watched the Pickerington City fireworks from the driveway.  Petey and I stayed up late, watching a movie and just gabbing, then I collapsed into bed.  Another 18-hour day down...

Petey, Jen and I went to Panera for breakfast, the next morning, and then they headed for work. I drove about a mile down the road to the motorcycle museum, and waited for Brad and Harold.

Once they were there, we all went in and started the tour.

 A recreation of the original Benz cykle...

 I love this logo.

 Rod brakes, on the Triumph.  Motorcycles are, after all, related to bicycles.

 Leather plate chain/belt.

 The Click boys contemplate an Excelsior.

 Factory production drawing.

 BSA, or British Small Arms, logo.

 I am a big fan of drum brakes on old racers.

 This tank has been modified to hold more gas, for Enduro competition.

 This is the bike that has the enlarged tank.

 Scrambler...for real!

 I hope to break my new boots in like this, eventually.

 Streamliner.

I wonder if I can use this in my airplane...?

After the museum, the three of us had a nice lunch at Cracker Barrel.  Our waitress was apparently related to the girl from Seinfeld, who had the bad laugh.  Once or twice, I though Harold might stick a fork in her eye, as she brayed out her extra-loud ha-ha-ha's.

Brad and I took leave of his dad, then drove over to Pataskala, in order to look at my old house.  All of the trees are gone, and there is a garden shed sitting on the spot where the raspberry patch was.  I was a bit sad to see the changes.  I guess, though, if I didn't want someone to change those things, I shouldn't have moved out.

From there, it was back onto the Interstate (I-76), heading north.  At one point, we passed a completely burned-out (new) VW Beetle on the other side of the highway.  The fire trucks were still there, and there was about a 5-mile backup on the highway.  I was glad we were heading north, instead of south.

Other than passing a car parked on top of a motorcycle, in Mansfield, the rest of the drive was relatively uneventful.  We rolled into Mercer, and my sister's driveway, at about 6:00 PM.  Five days on the road, 1750 miles of driving, and we were finally there.

x