Did a bunch of fun stuff with the scooter today. Just getting ready to put the new engine in the Stella. It’s pretty exciting, I admit.

Tomorrow I buy a few things for it and then Thursday or Friday I install it and, if all goes well, start it up. There’s a bunch of stuff that could go wrong with it so that it won’t start – but we’ll see.

I would show you, but I don’t have a camera at the moment. And, as you know, this isn’t all that interesting, is it?

Today was the last day – yesterday, actually. Yesterday was the last day of the Civil War trip. As usual, it rained. It has rained four out of the seven days that I’ve been riding. Actually, I only rode six days, so four out of six (the non-riding day was in Lexington, remember?).

Today I hit the Chancellorsville Battlefield, the house where Stonewall Jackson died… and the grave site for his arm. I also hit Brandy Station and a few other sites, ending with a buzz through Gettysburg.

This trip has been amazing. Tons of history, tons of rain and a perfect example of how plans can be altered, smashed and washed away by the weather. Even so, I still had a blast and would do it again in a heartbeat (after a couple days of rest).

I hope you enjoyed my trip.

Here are the pics from Day Seven.

Miles today: 322
Miles total: 1205

It’s Sunday morning and while it’s not raining, everything is saturated. From the streets to the ground to my clothes that somehow were unable to dry in the 98% humidity (go figure). The blister on my left foot has been taped up and my boots laced tightly.

My pants, if it stops raining long enough to allow it, will dry out while riding. The same goes for my coat. My rain gear is close at hand and my route home is memorized (since my map has more of a soup-like than map-like quality to it.

The plans for today are simple. See Chancellorsville Battlefield then follow the route to Guinea Station, where Stonewall Jackson died. And of course, no trip to this area would be complete without a stop at the final resting place of Stonewall Jackson’s left arm. Seriously. You’ll see.

By nightfall, I should be in central Pennsylvania, a little worse for wear and tear. Here I go!

Today was almost perfect. I visited three larger battlefields and a bunch of smaller ones. The weather was sunny, mostly, and not too humid.

I hit the battlefields of Malvern Hill, Gains Mills and Cold Harbor. Took a ton of pictures too!

But by the end of the day, I was tired. Civil Worn out (hehe). Definitely not tired of walking the battlefields. And I’m definitely not tired of Virginia. But oh my am I tired of being rained upon!

Days four and five were complete wash outs. Today, was sunny and beautiful. I was looking forward to camping. But then, while leaving the Richmond area, it poured. I got caught in it and couldn’t get my rain gear on in time.

It rained so heavy that visibility was near zero. I was on I-95 and saw four different accidents (a couple pretty bad ones). I was a bit nervous to say the least. And soaked. I was completely saturated. So I pulled off near Fredericksburg and got a motel.

Honestly, I’m tired of this. I’ll be visiting Chancellorsville tomorrow and then riding home a day early. I’m sure it’ll be a beautiful day with no rain, but the past three days have done me in. Maybe I’m a wimp or just can’t handle getting a little soaked – but I was really hoping for three nights with friends and three nights camping. Turns out it’s three nights with friends and three nights in crappy motels, paying way too much for just a bed and a TV.

I’ll be heading down to Manassas Battlefield sometime in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned….

Here are the pics from today.

Miles today: 134
Miles total: 883

It rained all day. Again. But I saw a bunch of really fun things. If you like Civil War earthworks, forts, mining (seriously) and big artillery pieces, you will LOVE my pics today. Holy crap, you’ll love it.

This was mostly in Petersburg, VA, but some, towards the end, fall under the Richmond defenses.

The rain wasn’t nearly as bad as yesterday. But today’s rain was of the all-day assortment. Looks like tomorrow will be too! Awesome!

Since there are nearly 200 pictures, I’ll let them speak for themselves, ok? Ok!

Here we go! Check out the pics!

Miles today: 108
Miles total: 749

Today was pretty miserable. Rain. A lot of rain. Sure the morning was sunny, but by the time I got to Appomattox, it was a lot of dreary crappy rain. While this wasn’t as bad as that miserable day in Missouri, it was only not as bad because I learned a bit more about dealing with craptastic weather because of Missouri. Does that make any sense?

I don’t know – don’t really care.

I saw a bunch of cool things, most of which, I had to breeze through because of the rain. However, Appomattox Courthouse, where Lee surrendered his army to Grant, was one of the more amazing things I’ve ever seen.

The village is pretty well unchanged since the battle. The houses seem nearly untouched. Even the room where the surrender took place looks exactly as it did. I would love to live in a place like this.

You’ll see the slave quarters – and at the risk of sounding insensitive, I would love to live in such a place… under different circumstances, of course.

However, after Appomattox, things went down hill fast. The rain and weather fogged up the face shield and then I got lost and the map that I was using got wet and basically disintegrated. That was no fun.

But eventually, I figured out where I was and where I wanted to go and finally found my way to McKenney and the Economy Lodge.

It’s looking like it’ll rain for quite some time, so more than likely, I’ll be in another motel Friday night. I don’t want to be – I’ve much rather camp. But what can I do? If it’s raining all day, I don’t really want to be camping.

We shall see.

Here are the pics! Finally!

You’ll have to wait for the pictures. I’m at a Panera Bread and their internet connection is somehow even slower than dial up and keeps disconnecting.

Miles today: 136
Miles total: 641

Just a Few Seats Left for the Prajalpa Retreat in Youngstown, Ohio

YOUNGSTOWN – There are only a few spots open for the Prajalpa Retreat that will be taking place at the Econolodge Convention Room #2 in Youngstown,Ohio, October 20-26.

This retreat center is nestled deep within the city limits of Youngstown, far from the spiritual trivialities of a more natural surrounding.

The week-long seminar will focus upon living a true “fringie” lifestyle without the guilt commonly associated with leading a double-life.

Click here to read on…