The day-by-day play-by-play

Day 1 - Block Party
Day 2 - Kennewick, Man
Day 3 - Loafing
Day 4 - Watering the Dogs
Day 5 - In Flight
Day 6 - Epcot
Day 7 - Get in Line
Day 8 - MGM Disney
Day 9 - At Rest
Day 10 - Not George, Anheuser
Day 11 - In Flight (reprise)
Day 12 - In Sanity
Day 12.5 - In Sickness
Day 15 - On the Road
Day 16 - Oregon Caves
Day 17 - Sam Clam's Disco
Day 18 - Dead Man Walking
Day 19 - Will He Hurl?
Day 20 - Traveling
Day 21 - Six Flags, Long Lines
Day 22 - Tied Up in Knott's
Day 23 - Something Goofy
Day 24 - Sacra-Mentos
Day 25 - Ashland
Day 26 - 10,000 Smiles
Day 27 - At the Movies
Day 28 - Dream Homes

Sabbatical 1998 - Day 3

I woke up this morning. <duh dunna nuh>
Got outta bed. <duh dunna nuh>
Saw the complementary continental breakfast <duh dunna nuh>
And had Raisin Bran instead.
'cause I got dem empty calorie bluuuues...

Bridge of the GodsOkay, this isn't going to be much of a trip report at all. I'm just not into it at the moment.  Sometimes I think I suffer from Bipolar Syndrome, you know, the disease where you're all happy one day and then all sappy the next?  Well, I don't actually think I have the syndrome, I just think I suffer from it.  It's kind of like not being afraid of death but instead being frightened by it?  Like the wise man said: "What's the difference between a duck?  One foot is both not the same."  Amen.  Can I get a witness?!?

My motorcycle and I discovered something new today.  We discovered (or perhaps came to a solid realization of something already suspected) that the Honda Nighthawk 750 needs a sixth gear.   My Nighthawk is sorry that she doesn't have a sixth gear and I told her that it was okay and that she would always be my favorite bike until I buy another one.  (My boss is probably trying to figure out how to sell me his CBR 1000 right now.)

See, if you're cruising along the highways (and byways) at about 60 MPH in fifth gear, the motor will be turning at about 4,000 RPM.  Increasing speed to, say, 90 puts the tachometer at 6,000+.  Redline is at 8,600.  It's really time to shift at this point but there no gear into which to shift.  Adding to the problem is that the engine is designed to give most of its power in the mid-range so at 6K it starts sucking gas, in the words of my mom, "like it's going out of style."  I got a whopping 28 MPG on one leg of my trip today.  But, I made good time.

When I got home I was out of gas as well.  Sat on my butt for a while.   Because I can.  I'm on sabbatical.

TT and I watched what has to be the most rewarding cinematic creation to play on our home theater screen.  If you had told me that someone put Don Knotts and Mel Gibson together in a screen play, I would have said you were crazy.  And, honestly, I had always thought that "Old Yeller" was the story of a retired square dance instructor.  Amazing.  See?  I'm learning all kinds of things on this sabbatical.

Day 4 >>