Scratchin' the Itch

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  Posted by RexTheRoadDog September 15, 2010 - Filed in Personal Journal - 1,053 views
  

  Something I have been long dreaming of is about to come true.

   

  Scratchin' the Itch

  As many of you know, in the summer of '09 I was fortunate enough to be able to take a 48-state-in-one-run ride. In all, I spent 38 days traversing 13,000 miles and 48 states.
  
  Although the motivation for the ride was a family tragedy, it still was a dream that came true. When I finished the ride, I had a serious case of after-the-trip blues. I decided it was time to take the next logical step (logical for me, at least).
  
  I have one more road trip seed that has been growing steadily in my “things to do garden.” See, the one thing that frustrated me on the cycle ride was that I couldn't spend nearly enough time in the places I would have liked to.
  
  Beginning in mid-October, my roomie Riley and I will head out on a USA tour. Traveling by motor home, we will visit and spend as much time as we wish in some of this country’s most beautiful spots.
  
  At times Rex will be in tow and at other times Mack (my Jeep CJ-7) will be in tow. I will take short trips back to Pennsylvania for grandkids’ birthdays and for visits with family and friends; this is a unanimous requirement from my children.
  
  My passion is photography and there will be plenty of that. Part of my dream for this trip is to create a coffee table book chronicling my travels. I also dabble in writing and, with the help of my fantastic editor daughter, Jen Darr Sweeney, I hope to put a lot of words in a coherent order. I hope you will follow Riley and me as we discover our America. John Steinbeck, Charles Kuralt and my “little sister” Buffy all helped me make the decision to finally Scratch this Itch.
  
  What has me particularly excited about this trip is the opportunity to have face-to-face time with many of my CycleFish friends while out and about. For this future joy I have to thank Lucky and Hdbeech for having put together this fabulous CycleFish site. There will be an interactive “Scratchin’ the Itch” website, where I hope to keep in touch with many of you. I still will be a regular on CF too although somewhat less than now.

  Rocinante

  Rocinante is the name I have chosen for our transporter, protector, and shelter from the elements. There were many candidates interviewed for this important member of the crew. Some were outright disasters that I would not let a rabid dog sleep in, some were way too prissy and expensive, some were behemoths far too big for me to handle. The one chosen was just about perfect considering price and condition. We got a great value for the money. She was won at an Ebay auction which was exciting right up to the last 10 seconds. I pulled out some old Ebay bidding skills of mine and was victorious. Hooray!! Fortunately she was close to me so I had the opportunity to inspect her before bidding. I will add that I met a very interesting couple. John and Stephanie were the former owners. After my preliminary inspection and listening to John describe his travels with her I knew she was the one to take us on this odyssey. I felt very comfortable and genuinely knew that John was totally honest and probably really wanted to keep her. The first full day of inspecting her systems and such proved to be both fun and rewarding. She is in even better shape than expected. We will be spending many memorable hours together and hopefully none of them along the side of the road. There will be a few modifications and some minor repairs and then the first real "Road Test Overnighter". Now  some of my apprehension is subsiding and my excitement is growing.