U. S. Air Force Museum

Day 12 Wednesday, April 28, 2010

I set my alarm last night for 6:30 AM. I was up until after 1 AM and I thought that I would give myself a treat by sleeping for an extra half an hour. I got up when it sounded, washed up and started to get dressed when Ken got up. We both got dress and he looked out the window at our covered Motors. There was frost on the covers! I put the TV on the Weather Channel and saw that it was 30 degrees outside. We're not going out there until it warms up! We finished dressing and packing. We headed for the breakfast room to see that C.E. and Jan were already there having breakfast. We joined them. Chuck and Bruce soon joined us also. We all had breakfast and really didn't want to go outside. The fog had cleared up and we went out one at a time to uncover our Motors and get them ready for travel. We packed up our Motors and checked out of the hotel. We left at 9:06 AM and I was in the lead.

I led the Group north on US 35 towards Dayton, Ohio. We were all bundled up for the ride. It was 44 degrees when we left. We arrived at the U.S. Air Force Museum at 10:22 AM after riding 80.4 miles. This place is HUGE! We parked our Motors and entered the building. Bruce was the first to enter and quickly went to the restroom. By the time we got to the building, Bruce had finished and was waiting for us. He stood by the front door and was pointing to the restroom. We all went in as we walked inside. After we took care of important business, we found out that there was no charge to tour the facility. There were three huge hangers and a missile silo. One can stay there for a week and really see everything. There was the WWII section, the Korea section, Viet Nam section, the Cold War section, the Training section, the Middle East section and the missile silo with about six missiles. There were also the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Capsules. This was very impressive. With each plane, there was a story. There were over 400 planes displayed. There were also German, Japanese, Russian and British planes. There was also a blimp! It was very overwhelming. I went through all of the sections and lost Jan and Ken. Chuck and Bruce were touring the hangers. C.E. toured solo at his own pace. We had seen enough and at this point, some of our stomachs were growling. It was time for lunch. We left at 1:15 PM.

I had found a close Subway on my navigation system and led the Group to it. We arrived at 1:22 PM. It was only 3.3 miles away. After lunch, we rode to the end of the parking lot to the gas station. While we were having lunch, Jan finished his and had to go and do some minor repairs on his shifter of his Harley. He was back real soon. We all filled up. Chuck was on fumes. We left at 2:25 PM with Bruce in the lead.

We were headed south to Cincinnati and then west into Indiana. We went south on I-675 and before we connected with I-75, we had to stop by the side of the road. Guess what? Bruce's right saddlebag opened. We pulled over and he closed it, and we continued on. Chuck and I were talking on the CB and a suggestion was made that one of us is assigned on a daily basis to make sure that Bruce closes his saddlebag properly before we start riding.

We rode onto I-75 and were southbound when we saw an Ohio State Trooper Motor Officer by the side of the road. He was working radar. As we passed him, he quickly put his radar away and hopped on his Harley and gave chase. I pulled into our lane just ahead of us and pulled over a car two cars ahead of Bruce. We turned onto I-275 westbound to avoid having to go through Cincinnati. We went around to I-275 south and the exit was coming up quick. We needed to get on the exit for US 50. Bruce was leading with C.E. and Ken behind. Chuck, Jan and I were bringing up the rear. The exit came up and Chuck, Jan and I changed lanes for the exit. Bruce, C.E. and Ken stayed in the straight through lane. The finally crossed over the gore point and joined us. We got off and onto US 50. At this point, we were in Indiana. We stopped in Lawrenceburg, IN after riding 74.6 miles and it was 3:36 PM. We stopped at a truck stop and took a little break. We left at 4:04 PM.

Bruce led us further into Indiana. We rode into Versailles, IN and stopped at a red light. When the light turned green, Chuck couldn't move because he couldn't shift his Harley. We quickly pulled into a CVS parking lot on the corner. Chuck checked his shifter and saw that a part of his vent on his left crash bar had broken off and was stuck under the front shifter. He took it out and saw that the plastic thing that held it in place had broken. Chuck put the broken piece in his right saddlebag and told us that he was ready to go. He would try to fix it later or check to see if it was still on warranty. Just as we were about to leave, Jan asked Bruce if his saddlebag was closed. Bruce said that it was and that it was locked. I told Bruce that if he needed, I have some duct tape, in my Harley repair kit, to make sure it doesn't pop open again. We left at 4:52 PM.

We rode for another 35.4 miles and at 5:34 PM we stopped at a gas station in Seymour. We were trying to decide if we wanted to go further or stop here in Seymour. There was a Holiday Inn Express not too far from where we stopped. We all agreed to stay here and make it an early night. We left at 5:40 PM.

Bruce led us 1 mile away and we rode into the Holiday Inn Express at 5:43 PM. Everyone but me entered to either "make the deal" or go to the restroom. I eventually entered and sat on the sofa. The deal was made and we were staying. There were cookies on the counter and most of us sampled them. We went out and got our bags from our Motors and put them in our rooms. Chuck, Bruce and I secured our Motors and tucked them in for the night. We were offered two free drinks, peanuts, chips and salsa for happy hour. We enjoyed them and when we were done, Jan, C.E. and Ken rode nearby to a laundromat. While they were gone, Jan worked on his Harley and had a portion of his Harley taken apart. His horn didn't work. After he got the piece apart, he noticed that a wire was disconnected. Ken told me later that he got a picture of it. Back at the hotel, Chuck and I worked on our blogs. We wanted to get a head start on it. When the three returned from the laundromat, Jan had purchased a bulb for Chuck's Harley. Jan helped Chuck fix the left tail light. Chuck was doing laundry here at the hotel and we couldn't leave just yet. While we were waiting, Jan worked a little more on his Harley. After he was done, he tucked his Motor in for the night, along with C.E. and Ken. Chuck put his laundry into the dryer and Chuck, Jan, C.E., Ken and I walked over to the Cracker Barrel for dinner. Bruce stayed at the hotel. He told us that he wasn't hungry and wanted to watch American Idol and go into the fitness room.

Today, because we stopped at the U.S. Air Force Museum, we didn't ride for very long. We only rode 222 miles. We still enjoyed the day. We all agree that we wished that we had just a little more time to explore the Museum. Tomorrow, we will get out of Indiana and into Illinois. Maybe we will get into Missouri, we'll see. So, until tomorrow...