OK... The adrenaline rush from the ride has begun to subside (thanks to a dose of classic cinema watching the original Planet of the Apes) so I can now begin to put my thoughts into words.
First of all, THANK YOU Dr. Jay for the great ride!
Being as much of it was in my old backyard from growing up I enjoyed the journey down many of the roads I travelled many years ago.
In fact, we passed two of my old sites of employment, the abandoned Ziebart rustproofing business on Route 14 just outside of Salem and the all-but-abandoned Canfield Industrial Park on Western Reserve where I worked for almost a month at the refractory (courtesy of the Ohio Bureau Of Employment Services) in the hot summer sun without ever receiving a penny and losing my unemployment benefits at the same time! --OK, maybe they weren't all great memories!
We also almost passed my first job in high school, the now defunct Salem IGA, which was a stone's throw from the turn onto the 45 Bypass off of Route 45 heading towards Andrews.
Enough memory lane, on to the blacktop for the ride report from The Lost RAT's perspective:
Starting Poiint - Leonard Truck and Trailer, North Jackson, Ohio
Lots of nice looking bikes ready to eat up the asphalt!
First Stop - Andrew's Cycle, Salem, Ohio
Looks like someone's got a Tiger by the tail!
This British Silver Tiger was captured just a day before we found it in captivity at Andrew's Cycle.
Second Stop - Craig Beach, Lake Milton State Park
The beach was alive with activity
The picnic tables were empty on this side of the walkway from people playing in the water and on the sand.
What you can't see or smell in this picture is the barbeque cooking right behind us, making us glad our next stop was the Lordstown Dairy Queen for lunch.
The Changing Of The Guard - Dr. Jay's brother takes over command after lunch at his home near the entrance of Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, Ohio. Do you think there's a reason for that NO RIGHT TURN sign on that hairpin turn partway through the park?
Tracy and Chris were only one pair of a dozen or more sets of newlyweds enjoying the Fellows Riverside Gardens. I wonder how may sets of wedding photos have RATS in the background?
It would be an Excursion from the back seat of this Ford to the driver's seat! I bet they switch over to reserve well before 125 miles... maybe they should think about rejetting!
*******
The Lost RAT's Tail...
Somehow when we pulled over to regroup after leaving Mill Creek Park I managed to get stuck in third or fourth gear instead of first when pulling back out onto the street.
Bonnie didn't like this much and she let me know right away that if I was going to treat her like this that she was going to have no part of it. The howls that she made sounded like every drop of AMSOil in the crankcase went on strike and the engine was going to seize the day.
Mark stayed back with me until we figured out the problem (4 or 5 attempts at going in the wrong gear), but alas, we looked up to find that the Packless RATS had made several quick turns and disappeared.
Even the Lost RAT's mate... who later felt worried, or just plain wanted to razz the fallen RAT about his stupidity, so she fell back in the Pack to allow us to catch up. Luckily Dr. Jay came to the rescue and returned her to the Pack.
But the Lost RAT, Lost RAT, Jr. and their new best friend Mark got a case of vertigo and forgot that the Sun rises in Youngstown and sets in Lake Milton.
So after touring Austintown and seeing the Isley Building and the Home Savings & Loan Building in Downtown Youngstown, they got their bearings and headed West once again.
Mark-THANK YOU!!!!
*******
End of an almost perfect day...
Fellow Packless RATS might have seen the sign at Craig Beach at the beach store that there was going to be a meteor shower viewing at the beach tonight at 9PM...
Well, we found our way back to Lake Milton in the Blazer (I really don't get lost EVERYWHERE I go!) We stuck around until almost 10PM, but I only think I saw 2 or 3 possible meteorites, and that might have been figments of my imagination.
We decided that although it was a beautiful night at the lake, we would go home and try to see some more there. On the way between Craig Beach and El Carlos Restaurant we saw something that I doubt anyone else saw or we would have made it a photo opportunity... It's just North of the IGA for the locals who want to get a picture with it...
THANK YOU AGAIN DR. JAY! LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT GATHERING OF THE EAST OHIO PACKLESS RATS!
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