6/30 - Welcome to Summer in the Midwest

158 miles. Thunderstorms, wind, more thunderstorms, and new ADV friends, Dave and Kasey, in Itasca, IL!

6/29 - Midwest Providence Reunion

107 miles. My mind wasn't in the ride when I pulled away from the Motor Drome, but it was so good to see former Providence-ites, Steve and Amy, in their new home. We poked around Lafayette, Purdue, and West Lafayette for a bit, and just had a low key evening in with Roku. It's good to see good people.

6/28 - Goodnight, Motor Drome

46 mile jaunt to Beanblossom, IN, to see the Wall of Death folks again. Great to be able to find them again in Indy, and meet new people at the event, too. Yep, camped out in the Drome itself. Yep, there's a scooter at a bike rally.

6/27 - A Familiar Face!

161 miles, and into a city again. It just so happened Nick was in town from Providence, RI, visiting family in Indiana. It was great to spend time with him, catch up, and get a local tour of his old stomping grounds.

6/26 - Camping Isn't So Bad...

79 miles to Bardstown, the bourbon capital. Admittedly, the appeal of camping is mostly lost on me, unless it involves scooters, motorcycles, and/or booze.

6/25 - Playing Catch Up

Overcast and a bit rainy today, so I toured around locally, ran errands, and caught up on work stuff. I stopped by Vespa Lexington for some supplies, and ended up chatting for a while! Mike and Jason are great guys, it was cool to hang out on a low key day. I forgot to take photos for reference though, d'oh. Also not sure why I drew that sign at such a surreal angle. Just have to deal with it now.

Florida Part 1, To The Keys! May 31-June 3

I forgot to screencap my map at Key West, it was so rainy.

After recouping in the safety and comfort of friends, new and old, in Atlanta, it was time to continue adventuring again. My sights were set on a big state, Florida, and admittedly I wasn't sure I was amped up enough. I seemed doomed to bad weather the closer I got to Key West, and I found myself wondering, "Why did I leave Atlanta? It wasn't that hot there, and I could spend the summer drawing in Korean coffee shops with Wai, getting to know the Terminal scooterists better, and taking day trips to NC and TN to ride around the mountains, or go to the coast..."

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

6/24 - Buffalo Trace Distillery Buddy

One of my favorite distillery tours here, and not just because it's free - I squeezed into the hard hat tour. Also, met another bourbon fan, Stefon, who has been on the road 9 months!

 

6/23 - Triple Nickel

272 miles. The Triple Nickel is no Tail of the Dragon, but it's a plenty fun road. Had a great time following Matt on his shiny sea-colored Vespa along this route, much thanks for his local insight. Lots of nice roads today that I wouldn't expect to find in Ohio. Also, entering Kentucky - another state for scoot!

 

6/22 - The Great Conical Mound

134 miles, and getting thinky up here. I was happy to follow Matt and Ali to Parkersburg, WV for a night - it lessened the rally withdrawal, to get to hang out in his garage talking scoots.

 

6/21 - Fail Ramp

Today's lesson: Everyone around me needs to wear a helmet, and I need my own rally bike. Also, the Law of Gravity: Obey it.

 

6/20 - I think the rally is that way

344 miles, riding through rain, fog, night, and fireflies. Hello, Ohio, and Bandcamp!

 

6/19 - Slow Train

380 miles, this drawing is dated wrong. Also, today saw the completion of riding the entire Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

6/18 - Old Rt 129

218 miles, lost a couple hours to rain. We found a cozy cabin in Robbinsville though, at Simple Life, and shared conversation and a campfire with motorcycling neighbors.

6/17 - Screen time outside hostel

271 miles. Beautiful ride through Lookout Mountain, thanks to Win from Bamarides for the suggestion. Goodbye, southern swampiness, hello mountain air! When we rolled in they were shooting a commercial outside the hostel, Crashpad, and gave us $30 to park the bikes in the shot - yay, dinner!

 

6/16 - Dog wants that feather boa

347 miles today. I've been out too late in New Orleans having fun.

Riding with Davide this week! He showed up with a feather boa around his handlebars, and I knew it would be ok.

It's nice to know I can cover this kind of mileage in a day, though I'd rather not. Pulling into a campsite after dark leaves me no time for drawing, editing posts, or working, not to mention if I'm traveling solo there isn't anyone to share campsite chores with. However, it was refreshing to ride with Davide to Montgomery, AL, today.

And yes, I've turned north for Ohio. Band Camp is the rally destination this weekend. Then, I'll be crossing to the west via northern states - sorry, Texas will have to wait!

6/15 - Not feeling like scooter service

I might have been feeling a bit worn out from festivities. Autozone guy was patient with me at least.

6/14 - Bourbon St was inevitable

Also had a grand time tearing around the city with John on his Chetak and Michael on his 469, following them to pick up artwork from the Frenchman Art Market. I loved scooting down those tree lined boulevards.

6/13 - Rocket and Sock-it

An unreal day, thank you to Hank for showing me around the set!

6/12 - Two-Hundred Scooters on the Spillway

Kicking off Amerivespa this weekend with an all day, 150 mile ride to Abita Springs and back to Transportation Revoltuion!

6/11 - Powdered Sugarsplosion

I haven't figured it out, and I may die trying.

Thanks for lunch, company, and kindness at Coop's Place, Anthony!