Day 10

I awoke to a very loud clap of thunder and heavy rain. This is never the way I like to start my day, but I was prepared. When I looked, daylight was just seeping through the clouds and the rain was coming down in buckets so I put on my Gore Tex rain suit, Gore Tex gloves, Gore Tex lined boots and rode out into no rain. After all of that work the rain stopped minutes before I left the hotel and I didn’t run into rain until after I stopped to take all of the rain gear off. I guess Murphy was also a motorcyclist.

As a kids growing up in southern Indiana in the 1950s all of our sports heroes were baseball players. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were legends. I once spent my entire life savings, three dollars and fifty seven cents, to purchase a Ted Kluszewski baseball card that I carried and showed to all of my friends until it literally fell apart. We knew about Cooperstown before we ever knew there was a national park system or ever heard of Disneyland. As I was riding down I-81 I noticed a sign that said Cooperstown and I had to think a minute before I realized it was the same place we revered as kids and the home of the baseball hall of fame. Needless to say, I had to go. I was able to obtain a prime parking spot and I was able to fulfill a childhood dream. It may not be a national park, but it is a national shrine. I may have been the only person there without some article of clothing supporting my team.

Much of my ride today was through central Pennsylvania. The scenery was quite enjoyable with rolling, tree covered hills dotted by farms. Traffic was much less congested and the roads in good condition. One thing I have noticed is the amount of tolls collected by the northeastern states. I figure I have spent almost $100 in tolls. More annoying than the money is having to stop and pay these tolls while on a motorcycle. I pretty much have the system down, but it still takes me three times as long as someone in a car.