This Year's Road Trip

Ready to go

You may recall the very awesome motorcycle trip I took last summer to Miami.  The destination was chosen just because the road ended there.  The trip was planned to simply follow a highway from one end to the other and do the same coming back.  That turned out to be US 27 from Fort Wayne, IN to Miami, and then US 441 from Miami to Lake City, TN.  For details see my posts from last summer.  That was a six-day ride each way, which I decided was pretty long unless I scheduled more stops along the way.  I had thought about riding to Colorado this year which would be about the same distance.  However, I just wasn't ready for that much riding yet.  Therefore, I looked to the east.

I think I've found two highways that will serve to make another great road trip by again riding their entire lengths.  Like last year, neither road terminates in Michigan, but Ohio is just next door and that's where I'll begin and end the official portions of my ride. These roads will take me through the hearts of two states that should offer spectacular riding conditions: Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  Plus I plan to do something I've always wanted to do -- attend a minor league baseball game.  In addition, this is FIFA World Cup month, so I'll schedule lunch and dinner stops appropriately whenever there's a game being played.

US 322 - 494 miles

US 322 begins in downtown Cleveland, OH and runs about 500 miles to Atlantic City, NJ.  I remember the beginning portion of this road from many visits to Cleveland when my daughter was in school at Case Western Reserve University.  In fact I'll drive right through that now familiar campus.  I expect to reach Atlantic City by the fourth night.  We have a timeshare hotel there, but it has no availability so I'll just hope to find a Red Roof or something similar in the area.

US 250 - 514 miles

After a couple of nights in AC, I'll head to Richmond, VA because my return road begins there.  This will lead me past DC where I hope to spend a day admiring some of our nation's monuments to great leaders and great ideals.  From Richmond I'll take US 250 northwest through VA, WV and OH.  I may take my time here and make a few stops to take in the scenery and flavor of the area, so it may take four, five, maybe six days to get back.

I'll try to post daily on this blog for those who may be interested in following my trip.  I expect to begin this trip July 5th, and I sure hope it doesn't rain every day.  Thanks for reading, and God bless.

  

My other career

I retired from my corporate job several years ago and have now taken up a new career as a school bus driver.  It works well for me, as I have summers, weekends and holidays off.  I enjoy the kids on my bus, I do a good service for the community, I get paid reasonably well, and I have a skill I could take elsewhere should I ever need to move.  I don't know how many years I'll want to do this, but for now it's good, steady work -- there is no threat of being laid off due to downsizing, and kids will always need to be driven to school regardless of the condition of the economy.


I have also begun another, unexpected career in my post-retirement years.  I've become an ordained Christian minister, which allows me to perform legal wedding ceremonies anywhere in the U.S.  It happened three years ago when my son asked me to officiate his wedding.  I thought he was joking, since I was not ordained at the time and had no intention of attending seminary to become so.  He said he had already looked into that and yes, I could become ordained quite easily.  I guess it's a result of our nation's first amendment concept of "separation of church and state."  The state says any ordained clergy may perform a wedding ceremony, but it's up to the many and varied religious organizations to decide whom and how they will ordain.  Most organized churches require a minister to earn advanced degrees in theology, while other organizations consider different qualifications.  While I have no intention of pastoring a church, I do take my ordination seriously. 

It's nice being a part of someone's "big day."

In addition to officiating my son's wedding ceremony on a North Carolina beach in 2011, I was honored to recently be asked to do the same for my niece on a quaint, covered bridge in Arizona.  Both ceremonies were short but, I think, meaningful.  I enjoyed incorporating the important, legal elements into the ceremonies along with a few inspiring words and interesting, personal touches.  Both events were beautiful and lots of fun.  Will I do another one?  We'll just have to see what happens.  

Perhaps my niche is performing weddings in fun settings like beaches and parks, in backyards and bridges.  Here it is then:  If anyone is interested in a short, private, Christian wedding ceremony performed by an ordained lay minister in a non-traditional setting, give me a call.  My wedding career may be over, or it may have just begun.

God bless you, and thanks for reading my posts.