Gettysburg the 1st Day
Nicole with her arms full of CD's did half the ride with Ralph & half the ride with Jaime.
I made the 250 mile trip on a Yamaha 650 which I can still feel as I am writing this letter.
Allow me to detail our excursion for those members who were unable to attend. We arrived in Gettysburg on Friday evening about 7:30pm and checked in at the hotel. The check-in attendant was a male homosapein with the personality of Freddy Kruger and intelligence of Rocky Balboa, he for some reason thought that because there where three rooms reserved under the name of Jaime C that all 6 of us were named Jaime C. This was the topic of some comical discussion after check-in.
OK now we get to the part where we went for dinner. A small place off the beaten path I can't remember the name of it but there was reserved parking for Motorcycles. (Ralph took a picture of the sign) The cuisine was early American (VERY EARLY) where to our surprise they had all-u-can eat crabs legs. While Rich & John, enjoyed a well-rounded meal Nicole, Jaime, Ralph, and Myself enjoyed the all-u-can eat Crabs legs which included corn on the cob, Soup, & Something called Broasted Chicken (which I still think was a diversion). As Rich& John enjoyed dessert and coffee we where still having the all-u-can eat Crabs legs, and as Rich & John enjoyed more coffee, we continued to have the all-u-can eat crabs legs. As Rich & John enjoyed some pleasant conversation after desert & coffee, we were still having the all-u-can eat crabs legs. The waitress at this point appeared to be somewhat stressed, God only knows what the chef was thinking and the crabs where probably pretty pissed off too at this point.
John was becoming pretty concerned weather crabs legs affected my gastrointestinal system in anyway and the aroma, which could possibly Permeate the hotel room during the course of the night since he and I were sharing a room, (under the name Jaime C of course). Nicole rode back to the hotel with Rich.
Gettysburg The 2nd Day.
Nicole I believe rode with John but there was no sign of the CD's.
We awoke in the wee hours of the morning and started out for breakfast, we found a Friendlys where all but Ralph had an artery clogging breakfast, from there it was on to Gettysburg. Upon arrival we booked our bus tour aboard the upper deck of the General George Pickett double decker bus. This was a two hour tour of the battle field, which we basically used to decide what portions of the field we wanted to return too after the tour and how well we where able to duck the branches and street signs and helicopters that the bus came into contact with. During this tour. We learned a great deal about the history of the battle of Gettysburg. The most interesting information was that of General Daniel Sickles of the Army of the Potomac. As a result of his inability to follow orders he lost his leg during the battle, He packed his leg in a vat of Whiskey and Shipped it off to the Congress of the United States in Washington DC where he visited his leg every year until his death. The leg itself is still on display until this Day.
(Now there’s an idea for a trip).
We also learned of the only civilian to die in the battle of Gettysburg. A 21 year old woman by the name of Jenny Wade, who was baking bread in the kitchen of her aunts home when a snipers bullet went through two doors and hit her in the back. The legend has it that if you stick your finger in the bullet hole in the door and your finger fits and you are over the age of 21 that you will be married within one year.
You may all be pleased to know that our lovely Vice Presidents finger fits perfectly.
I of course walked by the hole with my hands placed firmly in my back pockets.We had a great lunch at the Dobbin Restaurant which we discovered was once a classical school for girls where the founder Reverend Dobbin had 22 of his daughters, which where the product of two marriages, enrolled in the school,
Way to go Rev.
After lunch we decided to return to the battlefield to look at some items of interest. One in particular was the monument of General George Mead, Commander of the Union Army. The statue sat high upon a pedestal with General Mead sitting on his horse. Jaime and I where looking up at the statue only to discover that the horse was anatomically correct. As our egos diminished and our significance became less and less we decided that we had seen enough of General Mead.
After looking at some other items of interest we decided to return to the hotel to meet Ron & Susan & Harlin & Jackie. After meeting up with the second wave we were off to dinner. Nicole rode with me on this one.
We had to stop at several traffic lights on our way to dinner at which time Harlin pulled up next to me a few times and stated that he was hungry. It was at this point that Nicole and Myself decided that Harlin was spending far too much time with Ron. We went to a restaurant called Anthony's, I think it was supposed to be an Italian restaurant. We all had dinner, I had Pasta and ketchup. During dinner we discussed Ron & Susan & Harlin & Jackie's ride to Gettysburg and Harlins inability to stop shaking and the hard time he was having putting his head down. Ron believes it had something to do with the wind. We also discussed the membership of Jackie and the associate membership of Harlin or is it the other way around.
I'll let you all ask Jaime about the poor guy in the bathroom because I'M NOT GONNA GO THERE, I think it had something to do with Meads horse.
From there it was onto a local bar where when we arrived Ron was in absolute AWWWW at the state of the art dart board, and although there was no pay-per-view and the Trinidad Delahoya fight was not on, Pool was only 25 cents per game. Susan played an excellent game of pool with Ron as best supporting actor. We ordered several large glasses of beer which some of us where unable to finish except for Ralph he finished one large glass all by himself. Nicole rode back to the hotel with Jaime.
GETTYSBURG The 3rd DAY
Nicole Rode with Jaime.
We awoke in the wee hours of the morning and set out for home. About 40 Miles into the ride we decided to stop for breakfast at a TA (Truck Stops of America) where all but Nicole and Jaime decided to have the buffet breakfast. While we enjoyed our buffet breakfast Nicole and Jaime waited patiently for their orders. While we enjoyed coffee after our buffet breakfast, Nicole and Jaime waited patiently for their orders. When the orders finally arrived it was discovered that what Jaime had ordered could have easily been taken from the buffet as Rich so eloquently displayed. Of course Richs Muffins where not as soft as Jaimes cause they had not been sitting on the service counter as long.After breakfast it was a few gas stops and home. As I did those last few miles of the Southern State Parkway after the group had split up, I thought to Myself, What a great trip, what a great group of people, and boy does my tailbone hurt. Ralph is right the camaraderie was great, the company was great and I had a great time, I can't wait to do a trip like this again.
The Cheech