Heather's Segway Experience

Troy's Ride on the Segway

Summer MC Trip #1 - Asheville, NC

This summer, Troy and I have 3 mini motorcycle vacations planned. The first of these outtings was to Asheville, NC, where the BMW RA (BMW Riders Association) was holding their annual rally. For the first time, the grounds of the Biltmore were open to a large group for the purposes of camping. Our entry fee of $61 got us onto the estate, 3 nights of camping and unlimited visits to the house, winery and beautiful rolling countryside.

We started our journey of approximately 500 miles one way from Indianapolis on Wednesday morning. We have decided this is really the ONLY day to travel. We headed out around 9:30 AM with the sun shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky and the open road before us. The traffic was amazingly light the entire ride out!

We only planned to cover about 300 miles the first day and we usually stop every 100 miles or so for gas, a drink of water and a chance to stretch our legs, so with Troy in the lead, we made our way through Louisville and Lexington, KY. After 200 miles, we were making great time. It was only 1:00 PM and we were nearly 2/3 of the way done with our riding for the day! We always like to be off the road and nicely tucked into our camping site or a hotel by the time dusk hits. We were definitely on track to make it!

Just outside of Lexington, we stopped for a leisurely lunch at Cracker Barrell. When we're out riding this is sometimes a frequent stop for us. They have a great selection of foods and we can eat pretty reasonably. When we arrived, the lunch crowd was just leaving. Perfect! We took our time and talked about what a beautiful ride it had been. The temperature was nice, the traffic light, gas prices dropping as we headed south. It was wonderful.

After about an hour and a brief stop in the "country store" for a sweet treat, we suited up and headed for the Corbin KOA. When we arrived around 3:30, we were greeted by Debbie, one of the proprietors and directed to the Kabins. We really like the KOA Kabins. They are always clean, provide relief from any inclement weather and we don't have to set up a tent, so that's great!

With our bikes unpacked, we decided to head to the Cumberland Falls State Park to see the sites and grab a little dinner. For what it's worth, Kentucky is quite a bit hillier and curvier than Indiana. The road (all 15 miles of it according the CONSTANT signs) up to the falls was quite windy and I think the top speed was about 35 mph. I'm sure the scenery along the drive is actually quite beautiful, but since I'm not really a huge fan of riding curvy roads, at the end of it, I was ready to be off!

Every year, Troy and a group of his friends spend 4 days or so in the cabins that are available for rent at the park, so it was really great to have him show me around up there.

After the falls and the cabins, we made our way to the lodge, which overlooks the Kentucky river, and had dinner. One of our meal companions was a raccoon that was right outside the window. He was quite happy to feast on the seed that the birds drop from their feeders. It was very cute!

By the time that we arrived back at the KOA, it was nearly 9 PM. On our way in, I had spied an inviting swimming pool that was open to the guests of the campground, but unfortunately the sign said it closed at 9 PM. It was a Wednesday night and the campground wasn't very busy (read not many kids around!), so I spoke with Debbie and she agreed to let Troy and I take a dip. It was a refreshing ending to an amazing day of riding.

The next day we finished the final leg from Corbin, KY to Asheville, NC - about 200 miles. Before we left I had heard that the ride on 40 from Knoxville, TN to Asheville, NC was beautiful. All I have to say is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. From my perspective (as a motorcyclist who has had a crash on a curve), it was a bit frightening sometimes. My perspective might be a bit skewed though since I would have sworn that scariest section of road stretched for 100 miles. On the way back, I discovered it was only 21 miles and not nearly as scary as I had thought at first blush.

When we arrived at the Biltmore in Asheville, we were flagged through the front gates and directed to the registration tent where we were provided with arm bands and a map of the estate. Let's just say it's a BIG place. Originally, when George Washington Vanderbilt, the youngest grandchild of the "Commodore", built the estate, he owned 125,000 acres. After his death, all but 8,000 acres were sold off. While it might sound like his estate was cut to almost nothing, 8,000 acres is a LOT of land!

We wound our way through the maze of little roads on the Biltmore estate until we reached the BMW RA Campground. The registration had opened at 8:30 AM, so by the time we arrived around 1:30, lots of the best tent spots were taken. As with Indiana, North Carolina was also having a bit of drought, so the area where we were to camp was filled with spotty patches of grass and sandy ground. There also wasn't much shade. Fortunately, I take my handy Troy with me and he was able to find one of the last shady spots under one of the only trees in the area. Yea, Troy! Yea, shade!!! The only problem we eventually found with our lovely shady piece of real estate was that it was next to the gravel road and by the time we left, even the book I had been reading was embedded with sand. Ick.

Although we have been to several BMW MOA (Motorcycle Owners of America) rallies, this is the first BMW RA rally that we have attended. They are a much smaller organization and I think they may have underestimated the amount of people that would show up. When a group this large is camping, there are several necessities that must NOT be overlooked. These are: food, water, and bathing facilites. For the food, the Biltmore people had set up a tent where you could buy breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, it was a monopoly situation and the prices reflected that. Never before have I seen someone have to pay over $14 for a farely standard breakfast of eggs, sausage, biscuit and juice. OUCH!

Although we were next to the French Broad River, getting potable water was also a chore. This is an especially bad situation when it's so hot and there is a minor drought going on. The only sources were a couple of pumps where lots of people gathered to satisfy their frequent thirsts.

Finally, the shower facilities, while quite ingenious, grew QUITE dirty because of the dusty surroundings and lack of upkeep. There were a serious of small trailers in a row. Each trailer contained 3 units and in each unit was a toilet, a small sink and a shower stall. On the outside of each unit was a red/green indicator light which would tell you if the unit was occupied or unoccupied. Although I was suspect that the water in the shower would actually be hot, I was pleasantly surprised the first time I used it.

At the beginning of the rally, they were nicely stocked with toilet paper and paper towel. Unfortunately, 3 days later, that was no longer the case. It was then I was glad that I had decided to pack my own roll of toilet paper.

In addition to the house, winery and gardens, Biltmore also has lots of outdoor activites. On Friday, we were scheduled to participate in a little adventure on some off-roading Segways. These are the little scooter-like machines that contain a gyroscopic device to keep them upright. They were soooo much fun! To go forward, you simply lean forward, back you lean back. To turn left you lean the handle left, right to go right. It was quite easy once you got the hang of it and you almost forgot you were riding on one. At our scheduled time, there were supposed to be three others in our group, but they never showed up, so Troy and I had our guide, Chuck, all to ourselves for over two hours! He was great at telling us all about the history of Biltmore as well as its booming tourism facilities of today. He even paused the tour so that Troy and I could film ourselves riding the Segways! It was just so much fun and I HIGHLY recommend it!

After our Segway experience, we were a bit hot and VERY hungry (seems like all we do is eat, huh? hmmmm), so we headed over to the Bistro for lunch. We enjoyed an appetizer and flatbread pizza made with lots of fresh mozzarella and each had a glass of the estate's Reisling. YUM!

With our tummies full and since we were basically in the neighborhood, we ventured over to the little farm area where the estate's livestock are kept. According to our guide, all of the animals on the estate have a job. The chickens (all female) provide the eggs that are served at the Biltmore Inn. The angora sheep provide wool that is used in various clothing items sold on the estate and the draft horses, Bert and Ernie, often pull the occasional wagon to transport goods around the estate. Draft horses like them are especially great since they eat very little. They only consume 1 measured cup of feed and 1/2 of one bundle of hay per day. The reason they can eat so little and work so much is that they are built for strength and not speed. They have very low metabolisms.

Once our eventful morning and afternoon had concluded, we were both so exhausted that we each grabbed a shower before the line formed and decided to take a nap. Our intention had been to rest for a bit and then head out for a little dinner. At about 6:30 PM, we came to the unanimously conclusion that in the race between sleep and food, sleep was the winner, hands down. We momentarily considered eating a bit of our camp food, but even getting the little stove out seemed too much effort. By 9:00 PM, we were both on our way to a good night's sleep. (We are too told for all of this adventure stuff. LOL)

When we woke up Saturday morning, I ventured to the bathroom and bumped into another member of the Indianapolis BMW club. Troy and I had thought we were the only ones there, so it was nice to see a familiar face. A little while later we met them in the breakfast tent and shared stories about our adventures at the Biltmore so far. It was nice to catch up.

Although we had originally planned to drive the entire 500 miles back on Sunday because I wanted to make sure that we had seen all that we wanted to see, we instead decided to take off on Saturday afternoon to make it part way back and have a more leisurely ride on Sunday. So, for our final day at the Biltmore, we got up early and toured the house. It's quite a place! When I visited back in 1998 with my family, we had an actual tour guide. It's so busy now that most people to take the audio tour. For $8, you get a map of the house and the corresponding numbers to press on the audio tour. It was very informative and it probably allows a lot more people to see the house.

Our final stop was the garden and they were just starting to bloom. There greenhouses full of botanical goodies and they roses were simply gorgeous. I'm sure that the original landscape designer for Biltmore, Frederick Law Olmstead, would be quite pleased.

The one thing we didn't get to do while in North Carolina was to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway. I know it was something that Troy was really looking forward to sharing with me and I was too much of a wimp to want to participate. I'm disappointed in myself about that and I hope that I can remedy that some day with another trip out to that beautiful area of our country.

#64 - Complete a knitting project that I can wear.

Some may call it cheating, but I call it making my 101 list according to my own interpretation!

I've started my knitting project that I can wear and so far it's really cute. I think I'm going to like it a lot. I found the pattern at www.lionbrand.com. My friend, Claire, has encouraged me to stay in the "Beginner" skill category since this is only my second knitting attempt and I'm still a bit slow. The project is a prayer shawl and it's made out of Lion Brand's Homespun collection of yarn. It's a great chunky verigated yarn that is really soft and fairly easy to work with after you've gotten the hang of it.

I am more than 1/2 way done in just over a week, so I'm certain that I'll be sitting under my shawl crossing this one off of my list in no time!

#90 - Pick strawberries and make strawberry shortcake.

I must say that so far, of all the items on my list that I've completed, I think this is my favorite by far. I'm not sure whether it was because it was a holiday weekend or because I got to take my time and be as anal about the execution as I wanted to or what, but it was GREAT fun!

Troy and went down to his family's farm over the Memorial Day weekend. He wanted to do some motorcycle maintenance and I had nothing much planned other than to work on my shawl (see # 64), which is coming along quite nicely.

It also occurred to me that since strawberry season is just starting (the season is basically Memorial Day through Father's Day), it might be a great opportunity to check #90 off of my list. I thought that I might do an online search to see if there were any U-pick fields within a short drive of the farm.

As luck would have it, Troy's sister Tricia, her husband Dennis and I went to town to pick up dinner for the gang on Sunday night and on our way back I noticed a hand-written sign for "Strawberries - Coming Soon" posted on the road leading back to the farm. When I asked Dennis and Tricia about it, they confirmed that the strawberry field was just down the road.

Well, that made things even easier and it wasn't an opportunity I wanted to pass up!

As Memorial Day Monday was turning from morning to afternoon, Dennis and Tricia and I drove the 1/2 mile or so down to the "neighbors'" strawberry field. They informed us the price for U-pick berries was $1.75 a quart, so we each grabbed a couple of quart containers and in no time at all had picked 5 quarts. Many hands make for light work, after all! While they were a bit on the small side, they were bright red and held the promise of a sweet summer!

We headed back to the house where Tricia and I got busy. While I took the ingredients for the shortcake (she had told me about a great recipe for shortcake that's on the back of the Bisquick box)over to her little house next door to the big house, she started washing and cutting the tops off of the berries.

The box of bisquick said that in addition to the mix, I would need sugar, milk and butter. These things are pretty standard in most of the kitchens I have visited, so I gathered them together and mixed up the batter. In less than 20 minutes total, we had piping hot shortcakes fresh from the oven. It couldn't have been any simpler!

I don't often do a lot of cooking. For the longest time, I didn't see the point in all of that work and effort since it was just me that I was cooking for. But there's something really great about mixing up a batch of ingredients (even if they do come in a box) and seeing it come out of the oven ready to enjoy. It's so much more fulfilling than heating up something in the microwave. At least it is for me right now.

With all of the prep work done, it was time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. After enjoying a delicious lunch prepared by Troy's mom, the true mettle of my culinary prowess would be tested. Armed with a can of whipped cream in a can, I built my masterpiece. The verdict? Well, the berries were sweet. The shortcake had just the right amount of flakiness. The whipped cream was sugary to perfection. Overall, picking strawberries and baking shortcake is definitely a great way to spend a few hours.

Let summer begin!

#62 - Donate my hair to charity

According to Wikipedia.org, "hair is the filamentous outgrowth of the epidermis found in mammals. It is a characteristic of all mammals, though in some species hair is absent at certain stages of life." While that may be the clinical definition of hair, for women, our hair often defines us. I was a follically-challenged child and young adult. Not that I didn't have good hair. Don't get me wrong. When my hair wasn't frizzing out, it could be nearly manageable. It's just that when my mom got tired of me not letting her brush my long hair at the age of 5, she had it cut. (This is also when I was beginning to show my stout tendencies. Ugh!) Most of it was gone....all gone....and then gave she me a perm!!!! Egad! This was the first of many poor hair decisions to come.

I was always jealous of those girls with the long flowing locks and especially the ones who would fling their ponytail around as they bounded around in their cheerleading uniforms. Long hair was a sure sign that you were a girly-girl. I was not. I despised anything lacy and/or pink.

I spent most of my childhood and adolescence with hair styles ranging from practically shaved to ALMOST chin length. There was even a brief period when I was a teenager that I decided to grow it out and I think it made it almost to my shoulders before it started to feel overwhelming, so I decided to get it cut again. I cried...a lot.

So, after college, when I had started a real job, began working out and wanted to start dating, I decided that perhaps growing my hair out might be a nice change of pace.

It's now nearly 10 years later and after many trims and a couple of times where I had actually taken quite a few inches off at one time, my hair was definitely officially "long". It had reached the middle of my back. I could curl it into these long flowing spirals and bound around with it in a ponytail like those cheerleading girls of my envious dreams. But along the journey to becoming a long-haired girl, I think a lot more than my hair grew. I think I grew as a person as well.

I realized a couple of things. 1) Hair does not define the woman. 2) I am lazy. I don't enjoy spending tons of time in front of the mirror drying and curling my hair every morning only to "give in" and put it into a boring ponytail by 10 AM anyway. 3) A summer of motorcycle camping seems like a much better prospect when I don't have to spend it brushing knots out of my hair every morning.

So, I took the plunge. I called my cousin, Lori, and made the appointment. She ponytailed (the last ponytail for a while for me), measured (a minimum of 10 inches is needed) and cut it for me. Right now my lopped off ponytail sits in a plastic bag awaiting mailing to the people at Locks of Love where they will combine it with up to 5 other ponytails donated by other formerly long-haired people. That hair will help children who can't grow hair of their own feel a bit more like the other kids. Perhaps there is eve a future cheerleader out there waiting for her very own ponytail to fling as she bounds around the school yard.

A few fun facts:

* It takes 6 - 10 ponytails to make 1 hairpiece.

* The retail cost of each hairpiece is between $3,500 and $6,000.

* About 80% of the hair donations to Locks of Love come from children.

Happy Birthday Matt!

So, despite his many protests, my brother, Matt, turned 31 on Saturday. 31! Wow. It's a good thing I'm younger than him or that would be depressing! ;-)

In order to celebrate, Troy and I actually drove....in a car....to Fort Wayne for the day. The weather had been looking less than promising and my bike is in the shop getting prepped for our next big ride in a few weeks.

Our first stop was at my parents' house where we enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch (in the comfort of Mom and Dad's kitchen, of course.) Since I had forgotten wrapping paper for Matt's gift, I took the opportunity to dig into Mom's quite substantial stash of gift wrap. I came up with some lovely black and white polka dotted paper that had stripes on the reverse. It was a great find! A simple white ribbon that I made quite complicated made the gift look very special, indeed.

After spending the afternoon with my parents, we met Matt and Tammy and the whole gang at a nice restaurant on Fort Wayne's southeast side. Actually, it's the same place we met for a surprise party for Matt last year. Perhaps we should branch out a bit.

Tammy's mom had reserved the same private room in the back of the restaurant that we had had the year before, so it was just perfect. (With the crowd of 12 - 15 that we had, it would have been difficult to get a regular table.) We enjoyed good conversation and great food (I opted for the raspberry chicken salad since I wanted to have a piece of birthday cake. YUM!)

Matt was quite blessed to receive so many cards and gifts and to be surrounded by people who care about him.

After dinner, we adjourned to a house not too far from the restaurant where Matt and Tammy had been house-sitting for the owners. We were given a tour of the sizeable home that includes a swimming pool, hottub and an underground garage that housed the owners many 1920s and 1930s roadsters. He is a big fan of the vintage cars and drives them around town or across country like we would our sedans or SUVs. As a fan of racing, he also had an extensive collection of his Indianapolis 500 ticket stubs from the last few decades.

With the tour concluded, we all headed upstairs to enjoy the cake that Mom had made for Matt. She is a great cook and has made theme cakes for the last 10 years or so. She's really great and coming up with an idea and executing it quite well. This year's cake theme was a toolbox. Matt has been setting up quite a workshop full of tools (some of my gifts to him), so it seemed an appropriate cake. She even topped it with chocolates in the shapes of various tools. Very cute.