GOE XVII – Day One: Where is the Oasis?

Saturday, June 21^st, 2014

Took a hiatus from Gathering of Eagles last year, as we were in Costa Rica, and today, I am my second time on The Black Pearl in a year. This time I am loaded down with clothes for two for the week, but I do have my favorite riding partner sitting behind me! This is only the second long trip I have ever taken with my brother, where he is leading. The last trip took us from Lafayette, Indiana to Sandusky and Cleveland, Ohio, and we had some issues. Heck, we were both rookies at this traveling by motorcycle thing.

We made our way around town to one of Kevin, my brother, and Virginia’s, his wife, place to have breakfast. It was early, near seven o’clock, and we only had about 250 miles in front of us, so we were looking forward to a leisurely day.

After breakfast, we made our way to US 52, and began heading south and east. Eventually, we would get to the site of GOE XVIII, Mineral Wells, West Virginia, but today we would only cover half the trip, and stay the night in Dry Ridge, Kentucky.

US 52 is two divided lanes of highway, and great stretch to get used to the bike being loaded for a trip. It also helped me get back to riding with someone else, and eventually the group riding I would be doing at GOE. We jumped off of US 52 to SR 39, and headed south toward Danville, Indiana. Yes, we were going very near the house that we used to live in, and will be moving back to soon.

SR 39 continued taking us south to SR 252. We headed east into Martinsville, and took our first stop here. We went ahead and gassed up and got a drink from the Power Aid we brought with us, and rested a bit. It was starting to get hot, and standing on hot concrete was not as relaxing as sitting in the saddle getting the miles behind us.

After a brief stretch on SR 252, we pulled into the town of  Morgantown. A lot of motorcyclists in this area know this town, as it is the place were a lot of us will pick up SR 135. SR 135 goes south, and takes you through the heart of Nashville, Indiana. I’m sure you have heard of its bigger brother down south, but Nashville in the Hoosier State can hold its own as a destination, especially if you like to shop!

Nearby is Brown County State Park, probably Indiana’s most visited state park, because if its location, and its beauty. The colors here in the fall rival anywhere else in the country, and people will come from miles away to see them. SR 135 goes along the northern and eastern border of the state park. I like the North Entrance to the park as it features Indiana’s Only Two Lane Covered Bridge.

We continued on SR 135, and it was a spot I had to fire up and start capturing with the GoPro. As it winds down through southern Indiana, it does it with a mix of sweeping corners with great vistas, and tight curves that I don’t know anything about the view because I am concentrating on the pavement.

We had covered some more miles, and took another break in Brownstown, Indiana. SR 135 had picked up with another road, and went east for a bit. We were sitting on bend that takes us back south. I gassed up the bike, and when I finished, my brother alerted me that Kasey was not looking well. I was finished, tipped the bike on the kickstand, and was just about in the nick of time catching her going in a seizure.

With Virginia’s help, and her standing in as a backrest, we eased Kasey to the ground in a sitting position. My brother had to go inside the service station to let them know everything was alright, and it would be over in a few minutes. It felt like longer, but in a couple of minutes, she came out of it with a “whoopsie” and we knew it would be okay.

Needless to say, we took a few minutes, and several drinks of Power Aid, and we were ready to hit the road once again. We continued south on SR 135 until it meets with SR 150. We took that east in New Albany, Indiana/Louisvile, Kentucky. Once in the city, we had to run some miles on the highway, and I mean the major highway. I followed my brother on his Kawasaki Concours off the exit ramp, made a couple u-turns, and then we ended up at the destination for lunch.

Kevin and Virginia had been here before, and guaranteed us that the food was good. It was a Saturday Afternoon, and the place was empty. It was a big place, and I could imagine that during Cardinal’s Games it was packed! The food was good, the waiter was very interested in the bikes and our trip, and Kasey and I got in a heated game of Air Hockey. I think I came from behind and won.

Only about sixty miles left to go, so we mounted up, with the waiter looking on, and made our way east through the Bluegrass State to the day’s final spot.  We made our way along SR 22, a road that Kevin and Virginia had taken in the opposite direction on their way home from last year’s GOE.

It was a great road, with lots of sweeping corner and small towns. The small town featured lots of older home that were well preserved. The sixty miles rolled by quickly, and it no time, we were pulling into the hotel parking lot.

It had been a great trip, and nothing on the hotel, but Virginia was really hoping for a pool, and her husband, my brother, really thought he had picked one with a pool. However, this Comfort Inn, which had a very nice Kentucky Gentleman at the front desk, didn’t have a pool of any sort. In fact, none of the hotels around seemed to have one. So we spent a good day riding around in heat, and the only oasis we could find was the air conditioning in the room, and beer in the nearby Mexican Restaurant.