Will Ride for Beer

The next day my cousin Peter decided we'd take his pick-up truck on the beer run to Punxsutawney. Pennsylvania is one of those states that has weird beer laws. You just can't go to the corner store and get a sixer. You have to go to the beer store and buy it by the case. What's up with that They're trying to make it difficult to buy beer in small towns, but worth your while to make the trip to the beer store

And so we made it to the beer store where they had drive through beer
Just drive on through, tell 'em what you want, and they load it for you! Brilliant



4 cases of Yuengling, please :slurp

Cousin Peter decided he'd take us on a tour of Punxsutawney. Do you know what this town's claim to fame is?.........it only happens one day a year......

It's, it's, it's GROUNDHOG DAY oser

Yep, his name is Punxsy Phil and he's the town celebrity
He's everywhere!

There's Pizza Phil



Liberty Phil



Ecology Phil



Celebrity Phil



What a face



I gotta say I'm a bit disappointed, there was no Road Kill Phil in front of the funeral parlor. I'm thinking belly up, tire tread cross the stomach...

We then went to Gobblers Knob to see the stage where Phil performs. Shadow or no shadow, it all happens here



Here's Biker Phil



and Conductor Phil



After all that excitement it was time to head back to the farm for a beer

lg

Thankfully, No

lg

Having beer and girl, and lobster all on the title line is just not playing fair.

I hope you know that.

Nice report and pics.


MkD

Thanks for taggin' along

lg

The next day Aunt Kathryn took us out for a ride around town. We started out in Smicksburg which is home to many Amish families. Most of the Amish either farm or create furniture.

We stopped here and checked out some of the handmade goods. The furniture was beautiful. Everything from dining sets to bedroom sets. They also had bent wood rocking chairs made from raw branches that would be perfect for a camp.


I was disappointed in the quilts though. Many of the seams didn't match and the hand stitches were too big :huh

Lots of horse and buggy's on the roads. They travel pretty slow.The folks are friendly when you pass them, they all wave. Many of the local stores have hitchin' posts to tie the horses up to.


Horse manure is slippery under motorcycle tires

Here's an Amish lawn mower



There's several vineyards in the area


Here's a cool old barn



We ended up in Indiana, home of Jimmy Stewart. Aunt Kathryn knows all the Jimmy Stewart movies, I just know one, "It's a Wonderful Life"

Here he is, life size and bronzed



By the time we got back to the farm the clouds started rolling in. Yep, that privy is still in use



The sky turned black, the winds picked up and the temperature dropped. Then it poured.

We decided to pack the bikes up later that night so we could get an early start back to Lake Placid in the morning.


As if it was written in the stars, the Happy Trails panniers hold a case of Yuengling perfectly



Chromers JC Whitney top box also holds a case



We both turned in early. Tomorrow is a 500 mile day in the saddle.

lg

What an inspiration Aunt Kathryn is to all. You are fortunate to have her as a role model and also someone you can go see.

Your choice of beers is great. Don't let anyone razz you. A friend of mine from South Africa turned me on to this beer and it has a great taste for an equally great price. Only difference... I can pick mine up at any local gas/food mart. I don't have to make a 900 mile trip to knock one back.

Nice ride report. Thanks.

MMMMmmmm that UBU looks yummy :slurp

I've seen You.....Yuen......that other beer here, but haven't tried it yet.
Nice RR

Looks like fun but, why ride that far for beer made with corn?

Jeeez, lady. Don't you know all of NY is just like Manhatten and the Bronx?




Nice ride, nice report. Thanks for sharing.

CORN!?!?!

Aw hell, I rode too far to get it, I'm not going to return it now.

Thanks!
I'm lucky to have an Aunt as wonderful as her
The furthest north Yuengling distruibutes is NY. I'm convinced now that riding 900 miles for a beer makes it taste even better

Thanks for tagging along.

lg

The UBU was phenomenal! I kept looking at those growlers wondering how I could fit a coulpe on the bike
I need to find out if they bottle that and sell it in stores. That might be next years beer run

Thanks for riding along!

lg

Corn Grits and American 6 row and imported two row barley

Ya know, grits are pretty good when prepared like this

http://www.yuengling.com/brewed.htm

lg

Is that what you locals tell the folks from away to keep the traffic down

Thanks for riding along!

lg

nice report, all kinds of good roads away from the cities....

I see your rear tire rim did have some dust.....

Thanks BK.
The bike got a bath yesterday and looked spotless until I went for a ride today Darn, I forgot to take a picture of it all shiny clean.

lg

I woke up early the next morning and went over to cousin Peters for a Cup O' Joe. The thermometer read 39*F What's up with that, 95 degrees one day and 39 the next :huh . I was glad I packed long johns, a long sleeved polypro shirt, and my jacket liner.

We had breakfast and Aunt Kathryn packed us a bag lunch with 2.5 huge ham and cheese sandwiches

We both got suited up for a long day in the saddle. I wore my long johns and mesh pants with rain pants over top to help stay warm. I layered the shirt, jacket liner and mesh coat on the top, and opted for the warmer gloves.

Amongst the missing were my pseudo-pod ipod headphones. We looked everywhere but they never turned up. Since we were headed to the gas station/convenience store 3 miles down the road, I decided I'd see if I could pick up another pair there.

We bid farewell to Aunt Kathryn and cousin Peter
I was sad to leave and they were sad to see us go.

No luck with headphones at the gas station. I consulted Garmin and found a WalMart 12 miles away. It seemed close enough so off we went. Little did I know it would take an hour to get there via Garmin's crazy routing :eek1 On a 500 mile day an hour is a lot of time. Naturally it came back to haunt me in the end, but we'll get to that soon enough.

lg

Looks like you had fun. Your post takes me back to my youth in PA, buying Yuengling from drive-thrus. The laws there are pretty ridiculous. They make Colorado look really lenient. I don't think I have seen as many drive-thrus in other states. Maybe that's because everyone is buying beer at the gas station.

I gotta say, the drive-thru beer store was fun If I was thinking I would have driven through 4 separate times

Thanks for riding along!

lg

We left WalMart and worked our way back over to route 144. The bike thermometer read 41 degrees. I had the heated hand grips on high and was wishing I had a large touring windshield. The sun was rising higher in the sky though, and soon we would have some radiant heat

On the way over to route 144 I had a close call with a guard rail :eek1 It was a left hander. I braked before the corner based on what I could see, but not quite hard enough. I'm leaning into the corner, but the corner got tighter and seemed to go on forever. The guard rail was getting closer and closer, and I could feel my heart in my throat I have ABS so I gently squeezed the brakes in an attempt to slow the bike down further. I slid my butt off the seat in my best Valentino Rossi impersonation but the guard rail was still getting closer. Finally it dawned on me....Look where you want to go! And so I did. The bike cornered beautifully just in the nick of time.

That made the hair on the back of my neck stand up :eek1 I gotta say, the Fishtail Track Day at NH International Speedway I did this May was worth every penny!!!! It's so easy to get caught up focusing on the darn guard rail when you're in that situation. I'm thankful I was able to keep my wits about me and remember to look through the turn.

We arrived at route 144 and I was ready for 60 more miles of twisties. I made it a conscious effort to practice looking through all the turns.



lg