Sept. 26th, 2008 Home

We arrived back in Solon about 8pm and were greeted by a figure in the dark. We recognized the swagger and he spotted two figures carrying helments, dressed in chaps...... could it be them a day early...... could it be our nephew Jeremy???

We all were right! What a great welcome to come home to. Jeremy house sat for us during our trip! Thanks Jeremy! For everything and a picture of the two of us home at the end of our trip. We did well taking pictures of the two of us at an arms length, this was nice to have a full one of us and our traveling machine! Thank you for all your prayers, encouragement and interest in our trip. We hope you'll leave a comment so we know you checked out our blog. Check back from time to time. We hope to continue to add to our blog throughout the year!

Some fun facts from our adventure!

3,722 miles

14 days gone / four full days and two partial days in Austin

on the road /5 states in 5 days the way down (incl. 1 day lost Hurricane Ike 63-75 mph gusts)
Ohio KY Tenn AR Texas

7 states in 5 days on the way back (we stopped in all but IL )
Texas AR MO IL IN KY OH

$ 157.54 in gas got us thru the day we left Austin / 9-22-08 (gas prices $3.83 to $ 4.29 per gal)
on the way down about 38 mpg

I have to figure the way back yet. I'll fill in when I do.

It rained the day we left, the day Ike hit.
We had sunshine the other 13 days. We were truly blessed and watched over.

During our drive between Memphis, TN and Little Rock AR Margie counted semi trucks heading in the other direction. The semi trucks populated traffic heading in both directions out numbering the cars at least ten to one. In five minutes 87 semi trucks passed by. That is 1044 in one hour.

We didn't have any close calls in traffic on the way down or on the way back. We were driving in Austin, TX traffic less than 24 hours and had two close calls of cars just not seeing us. Norm is a great defensive driver. Having the intercom communication between us came in quite handy and gave us four eyes watching too!

During our full circle trip we saw damage to trees, large and small in every state we drove through. Each city had it's own tales of the damage, flooding and power outages that occured and some were still experiencing power outages well over a week later.

During our full circle trip it brought tears to my eyes as we saw over and over again caravans of utility trucks going to help restore power. One truck proudly took tape and formed the letters Michigan on his cab door. Our prayers are with one utility worker and his family, we heard of that he lost his life restoring power.

New Jersey utility workers restored power in East Liverpool Ohio.

Elyria Ohio utility workers restored power in Hot Springs AR.

Both AR and OH had a lot of their trucks helping out in other states. Don't quite agree with the logistics of it / Just thought it was interesting......

Sept 26, 2008 Home

This picture of the bike shows how Norm had the maps for the trip. Hanging off to the each side of the gas tank shows our water bottles hanging. They were in insulated covers that had a clip on them. Norm could just lift them off, hand them to me to open and have a drink. I may have mentioned it earlier but wanted a closer picture for us.

Sept. 26, 2008 Ohio Skies and hitch hiking bugs

W
We were home by the time the rain came and ended the trip on a dry good note!

Take notice of the cloud pictures here. This is why I took so many of the beautiful cloud filled skies we drove under. The skies this last day made me appreciate even more the goregous weather conditions we were able to experience on the bike.

Norm did a great job getting the bike ready for our adventure as well as us and what we needed with us.

Aside from the added weight from all the bugs that hitched a ride with us, we did well to live on what we had packed and added little to it for the trip back.

The bike cleaned up like new and is awaiting our next big trip, for now it will settle for trips within a day and all the enjoyment that goes along with it.

Sept. 26, 2008 almost home!

The first picture is of a neat old building in the city of Berlin in Ohio.

We did stop in near Sugar Creek and visited one of the cheese stores. The day was getting cold quickly and the skies darkening so we headed home. We'll be back when it is earlier in the day.

The next two pictures show how green the trees still are and close by in the next picture a few are starting to change color. We do have winding roads that are fun on the motorcycle in Ohio too, just much shorter in duration at one time.

If I ever moved south, I think I would truly miss the fall season complete with the changing of the leaves from green to a montage of yellows, oranges, reds and browns. I love the fall! I wish they would stay for more than just a few weeks. I'm going to send some fall pictures to Dusty and Kaley in Texas. Amanda and Kris enjoy the color change right outside their apartment window as well as all of Ithaca. There balcony off the second floor is level to be within the treetops, so the view is pretty cool with green or the fall colors. You can also the the distant view. Really neat. Dusty and Kaley have a neat view off their balcony but it stays green which also means no baren trees over the winter months.

Sept 26 2008 later in the day

We wanted to head to Sugar creek on the way home.

The air is cooler and the sky is getting darker so we'll give it s shot and see how it goes.

You will notice by the landscape that we are out in the country and farm land is plenty.

We thought the leaves would have changed more in Ohio than we experienced.

I bet in a couple of weeks they'll be beautiful.

Sept 26 2008 #6 Carrousel

Before the figures are painted they are sanded and sanded and painted white which shows all the inperfections, then sanded again. Next they are painted.

After painting they are coated with a clear finish.

The last picture is of the silos in Mansfield.

Time to leave and head out to our next stop. The weather is changing.

Sept 26 2008 # 6 Carrousel

We are now touring the painting room upstairs.

They are currently working on a new carrousel, I thought it was in Germany.

A carrousel can have 30 or 50 animals on it.

The customer gets to hand pick each one. They make it to the customer's specifications.

The owner said they get orders from everyday people to have one carrousel figure in their home.

One of their current orders is the carve a horse for a rocking horse a grandpa is making for his grandchild. The Grandpa will put the detail carving in and paint it too.

Today was the first time I saw a camel for a carrousel. If it is a choice next time I think I would pick him to ride.

Sept 26 2008 Carrousel #5

The pictures on the wall show the sizes of the horses to be made

Sept 26 2008 #4 Carrousel

I think these pictures are self explainatory, so just enjoy the craftsmanship in awe.

These are people's jobs...... how cool is that.

Maybe something else to keep in mind for retirement years???

Sept 26 2008 #3 Carrousel

I put the pictures in the blog in a certain order and they seem to move around when they are posted, so I describe the photos.

The picture of the horse and the picture on the wall is a seventeen year old girl that made the horse from a kit.

The picture of the blocks of wood is from the shop and how a carousel animal starts out. The blocks of wood are decided by the templet for the animal being carved.



The owner in the blue shirt shows us how some carving tools work.

Many of you know Norm loves wood working and he really enjoyed the hands on tour. I love to wood work too and know my way around the shop so I also really enjoyed the tour.

Don't worry you don't have to love wood working to truly appreciate the art of carrousel making.

And yes we were right in the official workshop.

Sept 26 2008 #2 Carrousel

Norm had an authenic tomelli (spelling?)

One of these pictures is a pile of broken carrousel horse parts.
The Carrousel Magic Company restores carrousel figures and makes new ones. We took a tour and would recommend it to everyone!

I'll tell you bits and pieces of the information we rec'd on our tour. We both want you to be surprised at some of the facts about the history when you take the tour yourself. You'll be glad you did.


The company also supplies customers with kits in different phases of the work done for them.

This one is sent to the customer just to paint. The eyese are provided by the taxidermy people.

Sept 26 2008 #2 Carrousel

The lady smiled when she took our token to ride the carrousel. There were riders of every age there to enjoy.

It was a hard decision to pick which animal to ride.... some things never change with age. Choosing a carrousel animal to ride is definately one of them.





One of the pictures shows the real drum used to make some of the sounds that brings the ride to life.

Also this Carrousel has a brass ring. I have heard the story about the brass ring at the carrousel.
This is the first time I had seen one and Norm explained the story behind it.

As you ride the Carrousel there is a brass ring to grasp as you pass it.

If you are so lucky as to grab the brass ring you are rewarded with a free ride after this one is over.

Norm told of a story when his family rode the carrousel. His family were the only ones riding the carrousel. There are five children riding the carrousel.

Each time they rode one of them would grab the brass ring and win a free ride. Norm's parents then purchased a token for the other four children. This went on for quite some time and then his Dad said this is the last ride. The free rides for the day ended but the memory is very clear in Norm's memory and he smiled the whole time he shared it with me.