This is where I found out the
nearest Honda shop was 240 miles back the way we came. I asked “Billy” where we were. I
only half expected his response. “You’re about two banjos away
from Deliverance,” he said, “without all the passionate sex scenes.” Oh, God. June 12, 2013. After having spent
the night in General Butler State Park in Carrollton, KY and having had the tow truck driver drop my bike off at a small motorcycle repair shop called Midwest Motorcycles the night before, this is where Southern hospitality started to come into play. I drove my cousin Tyler’s Harley
over to the shop and met Ronald “Jonesy” Jones. He stood about 6’3 with long gray hair in a perfectly braided ponytail. He looked like the quintessential product of 1970s biker folklore. But, believe it or not, I was met with a biker handshake and hug. “You’re pretty far from home,
man,” Jonesy said. Those words started a pretty
amazing friendship – 829 miles from home, to be exact. My part had to be ordered, but in true biker class, he said, “I’ll charge you for the part, and consider my labour free.” That was incredible in and of
itself, but it was Wednesday and the part wouldn’t be in until Friday. CJ, Tyler and I were going to Manchester, TN to Bonnarroo Music Festival where ZZ Top, Billy Idol, Paul McCartney and many others would be rocking the weekend. If we didn’t get in line, we’d never get a camp site. CJ and Tyler went on ahead to
the little town 45 minutes east of Nashville. I, on the other hand, was informed by Jonesy that I wouldn’t be staying in the campground. There was a spare room at his girlfriend’s place. Her name was Muskie. Well, it was Pat, but everyone called her Muskie. I’ve yet to discover if that was on account of her being 5’3 from the Bayous of Louisiana or the fact her personality and heart were so much
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Ireland and not playing at least one round of golf.) On our final day we travelled
through some wonderful scenery, and then we went back to Dublin for more historic tours and, of course, some pubs. I can’t express how important it was to have a tour like Insight with guide Katie Vaughn and driver Jimmy Power to make the best stress-free vacation we have ever had. From Dublin we flew to
Heathrow airport in London and
started a three- day stay in that busy, picturesque city. Getting around London is not very
easy if you’re driving on your own, but the underground tube and hop-on hop-off buses allow easy access to almost anywhere. We saw Trafalgar square, the
background of so many movies. We visited Westminster Abbey and the tower of Big Ben (sounds like a song). We saw the famed Tower of London and saw many churches and sites of history .We also had a chance to see the world famous Madame Tussauds wax museum. (If you’re going to London, this is a must, with all the newest characters struck in wax.) The people we met and the places
we saw will be in our thoughts forever. What a fantastic way to spend two weeks immediately after retirement. And would you look at that! I have one item ticked off my
bucket list.
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