Spring Fling 2026 - Days 28-29: Riding Scooterinthesticks' Rides

Thursday , May 27

A multiple moto experience day!

I spent several hours today riding with Steve W. of Scooterinthesticks fame and one of my inspirations for riding year-round.

Yagi, my TW200, had been giving me trouble lately and I had once again fixated on the starter circuit.  It turned out to be ( I hope) a bad battery.  Steve W. Guided me to a local battery outlet where I got a replacement for only $60!

Steve W. led the morning riding.  I was on his Honda Trail 125 with its unusual gear pattern and clutch-lever-less shifting operation.  I got the hang of it pretty quickly though and enjoyed the beautifully bucolic scenery of central Pennsylvania!

We stopped for a break and snack at the Meandering Mallard, a favorite of Steves's :

In the second half of the morning ride, Steve had me switch over to the Himalayan motorcycle. Made by Royal Enfield, it's quite larger than the Honda Trail 125 and my TW200 as well.  I liked it a lot, it had good ergonomics, good power but it would not allow me to slide back on the seat to ease my knees. Steve told me that he usually just stands up on the pegs. 

I return to the campsite after the morning rides and installed the new battery which had been charged up in Steve's garage while we were riding. Yagi is now consistently starting with no problems, I am really hoping it was just a simple matter of a failing battery and a bad diagnosis on my part.   Yagi, will be going out riding tomorrow with Steve and his friend Paul R.  Stay tuned.

I drove the CRV back to Steve's house and we went out to dinner at a place called Otto's. We rode Steve's two scooters, the silver Vespa and they cream and brown colored scooter. 

2005 Vespa GT4 149cc

The silver Vespa which has been Steve's longest companion in his scooterinthesticks blog:

2006 Vespa GTS 250

249cc

After dinner, I met Steve's lovely wife Kim at their home and had a nice chat.  I also met their two Belgian Sheepdogs:  Lillehamer (Lilly) and Aiden.  Both are beautiful and friendly dogs.

Here's a couple of Aiden:

Here's Lilly:

Photo courtesy of Steve W.

Friday, May 29

20 year Anniversary of when I first swung a leg over a motorcycle, as I started Day 1 of the MSF Basic Rider Course.  How'd I spend it?  Riding and meeting new friends.

Steve W. And his riding/photographer buddy Paul R. Showed up on their Honda trail 125s at my camp at 9AM as planned.

Steve W. led us at an easy pace to and through the Penn-Roosevelt State Park . It was about 4 miles from my campsite!   No RV camping though as I found out later.

We stopped near a picnic shelter by a creek for pics and chatting.

Photo courtesy of Paul R.

Photo courtesy of Steve W.

Paul R. And I

Photo courtesy of Steve W.

No, I haven't gained more weight, just wearing layers under the riding jacket.

More riding ensued through thickly forested roads along with some highways.  A planned destination was precluded due to a road closure so we instead rode to a late breakfast at a diner called the Naked Egg.

Good food and conversation was had.  Steve and I parted company with Paul after the meal.  We then headed to Steve's place to get his dogs fed.

Steve had noticed that the zipper had broken on the front of my riding jacket and he offered me his old riding jacket as a gift. It's in very good condition and it is the very first jacket he ever had years ago when he started riding himself!  He said he'd been trying to find a good home for it for a while now.

How could I refuse?  The old jacket lasted about 18 years, not bad.

Snazzy, right?

A short ride, this time with me on Steve's Kawasaki W650, a nice motorcycle to a introduce me to a Vietnam veteran friend of his and his wife.  Steve would take me via a brief Moto Tour of the Penn State campus.

Howard and his lovely wife Claudine happily greeted us and we sat to chat about several subjects.  The main purpose had been to answer questions from Howard about boondocking.

We finished the visit and left again for Steve's place.  Here's another pic of me with my new to me riding jacket with working zipper.

I returned to my campsite around 2:30 PM and relaxed the afternoon away.  A good day!

20 Years ago....

20 years ago to the day ( where did the time go?) I first swung a leg over the seat of a motorcycle on day one of the MSF basic rider course. 

I never ridden a motorcycle before that day, and inspired partially by the fact that a couple of my then co-workers rode motorcycles to work, and a false rationalization on my part that it would save me on gas money I decided to try it. 

Little did I know the places, the motorcycles, the people and the adventures that I would end up having over the next 20 years! 

My first posting on this blog was on August 12th of 2006 so it won't hit the 20-year mark till then. 

Since my first motorcycle, a Honda Aero which I quickly outgrew, to a BMW r1150 RT, to 4 Ural sidecars, a Suzuki DL1000 with a sidecar, a BMW R80 classic and finally my Yamaha TW200.  You might say there's been a few motorcycles along the way. 

From my December 31, 2023 post:  I had ridden (roughly) a total of 238,563 miles ridden. That works out to be a bit over 9 times the circumference of the Earth in 17 years and on nine motorcycles.  I've only ridden an additional 5424 miles since the end of 2025 and 2026 is not looking that good in terms of a lot more miles on a motorcycle.

Though my riding has tapered off quite sharply in the last few years since 2023, I hope I have another decade of riding in front of me at least.

Thanks for riding along with me.  It truly has been the people I have met along the way that I have met and become friends with in the last 20 years that made these years so much better.

Courtesy of Google Gemini and ezgif.com

I will be spending today riding with Steve of scooterinthesticks and his friend Paul R.

This is cool and slighty troubling at the same time, I asked Gemini to generate a short story after searching the blog for reported travel destinations and got this:

The open road has a way of turning a simple journey into a life-long story, and for the author of A Redleg’s Rides, that story spans an impressive map of North America.

It began in the high, thin air of Colorado, where the mountains served as a constant backdrop for two-wheeled exploration, before the tires inevitably wandered toward the rugged landscapes of Utah and the vast, sun-drenched expanses of Arizona. From there, the adventures stretched across the plains and borders of the American West—through New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, all the way to the rugged terrains of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

The journey didn't stop at the mountain passes. The rider navigated the heartland—Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—finding unique routes and hidden gems along the way. Even the far edges of the continent felt the hum of the engine, with travels extending to Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada, and dipping down into the southern heat of Texas and Oklahoma.

Whether it was navigating a Ural through a desert wash, testing mechanical limits, or simply chasing a sunset,  A Redleg’s Rides serves as a journal of a life spent in the saddle, proving that for those who choose to ride, the destination is never just a dot on a map—it’s the miles that come between them.

Note: very little editing was needed.

Spring Fling 2026 - Days 26-27: Now in Pennsylvania

 Tuesday, May 26

Ending a very enjoyable visit with Larry and Jane H., Martha and I drove the CRV to the Richmond International Airport.

Martha flew home for a few days to take care of medical appointments and some chores.  She'll be rejoining me on the night of June 01 here in Pennsylvania.

I drove on back to FOB Lee&Lyn and spent the night after prepping the RV for departure in the morning.  I was fed dinner and we watched TV.

Wednesday, May 27

I left the FOB around 0715  and by 10 AM had dumped tanks at the Artillery Ridge RV Campground near the Gettysburg Battlefield Park.

I parked the RV with CRV in tow and checked out the visitor center and museum.

The museum was a bit disappointing, colored negatively by lots of middle grade age kids running amuck within the museum.  It was also raining most of the way to Gettysburg so touring the battlefield was not in the cards.

The museum is managed by a private foundation, not the Park Service.  It cost me $14.75 for just the museum, and truth be told, not worth it.

I left and of course soon after the sun came out.  Oh well.

I continued  for the 2 hours it would take me to get to the Rothrock State Forest campsite that I had reserved last week.  It's dry camping with a picnic table and a site for a tent for $10 a night. 

Had a bit of a moment, when positioning the RV for a level spot when I got stuck in mud on the wet grass area that apparently had been saturated over the last few days with rain. 

Luckily I managed to get out back on to the gravel path but I did leave some ruts in the grass, hopefully the rangers won't fuss about it. 

I'll be here, solo dispersed camping until Sunday.  Plans are to meet with Steve of Scooterinthesticks for some riding and some visiting.

Spring Fling 2026 - Day 25 - 27: A Quiet Memorial Day Weekend.

Saturday, May 23

Rainy day today, light rain but all day with brief periods of overcast skies.  It's supposed to be like this the whole weekend.

Didn't do much of anything, which was nice.  Just relaxing with our friends and their Black Labrador: Boomer.

Boomer and Larry H.

Sunday, May 24

Larry H. drove us down to the Yorktown Battlefield Park where we checked out the visitor center.  

Yorktown marked basically the end of the American Revolutionary War.  It's where British General Cornwallis surrendered to forces under General Washington after a siege of the town of Yorktown.

The usual artifacts of course at the visitor center, but quite minimalist I thought.  The focus is on an auto tour to view the defensive line and earthworks used by the British.  We chose not to do the tour.

A couple of things that caught my eye:

A 1/4 replica of the British 44 gun Frigate Charon.  Apparently, the largest warship during the siege/battle.  Hit by French warship cannon balls which had been superheated prior to firing, she collided with another ship then drifted onto shore where she burned to the waterline.

Gun deck:

The Captain's cabin:

The "head",  located near the bow of a ship.  

The Lafayette Cannon was the other thing of interest to me.

This particular British 12 Pounder had a bit of history involving French Major General the Marquis de Lafayette, a famous military leader and ally of the American army

Note the "divot" on the side of the cannon. 

It was part of the defenses of Redoubt #10, one of two remaining redoubts preventing the American besieging forces from completing a second and closer siege line as part of the Yorktown siege.

Heres the official story: LINK

Out side of the visitor center and a short walk towards Yorktown, is the Yorktown Victory Memorial.  Built to commemorate the American victory in 1781.  More on this monument here:  Link 

Back at the visitor center:

Then it was time for lunch....and an afternoon of resting at Larry & Janes home 

Monday, May 25

Another rainy day today, almost 3 inches just today according to the nearby weather station.

We stayed indoors and watched movies and the rain.