Before time gets away and I take the chance of being discourteous want to take a moment and make my apologies to Otis and Mrs. Otis and Hubbard and whomever else I might have stood up last night.
Left my place a few days a knocked down about 1100 miles the first day; about 9 hours of it in the rain. Finished up on a shorter day in to the outskirts of Springfield, Mass the second day but still saw too much rain to be fun that day also.
Stayed the afternoon and evening at a friend's place and left early yesterday morning toward Princeton, WV and the hospitality of Mrs. Otis and Otis' home and a good dinner with friends down there. Should've been about a 12 hour day and, yeah, it was raining again.
About three hours short of the destination (and about an hour after finally having run out of the rain) I punctured a back tire. The tow back-tracked me about about an hour. It would have been way late by the time I got in Princeton at this point anyway. But truth be told I was getting pooped too.
The site of the tire change left me 2+ hours from today's destination. Going on to see everyone in WV would have had me 5 hours or so from todays destination and in the promise of more rain and much cooler weather. So I wimped out guys. I'm really sorry for not making it in to see everyone last night.
I really was looking forward to it too. Hate that I stood everyone up on such short notice when I called the last time yesterday. Had just been a drowned rat long enough I couldn't make myself backtrack, then backtrack again to go on to WV, and then cover the same ground again a third time this morning in a cold rain. If I need to change my alias here from Twolane to wuss-boy I'll certainly have earned it for not making it in to see everyone.
Anyway, got in to the destination here today without problem (if you don't count rain, fog and wind) and now taking it easy for a few days. Will hook up with Fired00d for a ride south in the direction of Myrtle Beach next week and go on from there. Rancy, Carl, Mrs. Clay; sorry again for not making it in last night. Next trip to DC that's not done in an airplane I'll try again to darken your door. And dinner will be on me [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif] .