Scootabout- Day 4

I left my parent's house early yesterday morning and headed towards Waynesboro, VA via Rt.15 to Rt.20 to Rt.250 to Skyline Drive. I rode Skyline drive (to date, the best scooter riding I've done in my life) and made camp @ Matthews Arm campground in Shenandoah National Park. I hiked about five miles of the Appalachian Trail and then built a fire made myself some food and went to sleep. So far this morning, I have broken camp, ridden the remainder of Skyline(about 25 miles), and headed into Front Royal, Virginia, where I currently sit, charging my phone, telling people who care that I'm not dead and updating this blog. Despite the fact that I will be hitting the road again in just a short while, I have not yet decided my next destination. Pittsburg? Steelton? NJ? Something else....hmmm, not sure. Here's some pics.

Scootabout Days 1-3

I have embarked on a trip around the States on my 1979 Vespa P200e. Many things have lead me to this journey, some of which I will touch on from time to time here on this blog. I also post to Facebook and Instagram regularly. I have quit my job(s) as a chef and "moved out" of my "house". Fact is, I have been living in a barn with no plumbing for the past year. I'll touch more on that later.... Right now it is 2:45 AM early Tuesday morning. I am in Culpeper, VA at my parents house. I have been here since Saturday evening. I plan on leaving in the morning to tackle Skyline drive in Shenandoah National Park. Since I've been here, I have been able to visit with my Grandma, Mom and Dad and I stopped by and saw a couple of other old friends while in town. I have also gotten my scooter legal (tagged, titled. registered and insured). I have done some riding in and around Culpeper (the town where I lived from age five to about age seventeen, I've done yardwork for my Father, visited a dentist in hopes of fixing my teeth (too expensive)and done some cooking for my family. Following this are some photos...stay tuned for more blog posts! Keep in mind, there will be facts about myself and my life that I have never publicly admitted...do me a favor and dont ask me questions about them. Here is my scooter all loaded for the trip. (I had already loaded and attempted to leave before this but the weight distribution was off. I had to repack, cut weight and reload). First gas/rest stop (rt 522, just past Lake Anna) Baby Jim's Snack Bar...a Culpeper icon. This place has been here as long as I can remember...I've never been inside. Stopped in a quaint little coffee shop on Davis St. The coffee was mediocre at best but the place was nice. (things like this did not exist when I lived here) This is a photo of the first "real" job I ever had. At the time it was called The Rochester Corporation. (I ran machines that taped or extruded plastic around fiber optic cable.. it was around 1988 or so) I once led the police on a high speed chase down this road as a teen...Route 666! This is the church I attended (or was forced to attend) as a kid. Turns out a member of the church and friend of the family went on to molest me for over a year. That fucker still goes to the church. Makes me sick thinking about it. Despite his serving time for molesting other boys... he has never come forward about what he did to me. He ruined my life and it haunts me to this day. I hate him. My first apartment ever was above this seafood restaurant. A lot of insane shit went down here. I also used to make extra money on the side my cutting high top fades and "gumby" haircuts on the people who lived in the "motorcourt" a seedy motel behind there. That's all for now...gotta pack up my gear, get a bit of rest atc. Tomorrow will be my first "real" day of the journey. Stay tuned.

Gonna get back to the blog a bit. It's been a while.

Here's a little diddy about my upcoming gig.

South of the James Market Introduces Celebrity Chef Demonstrations

Chain of Fools S/C weekly meetup

It's been a long time since I posted here. Perhaps with scooter weather coming back I'll take more photos of my adventures and post them up. Trying to get a regular Wednesday ride together. We'll see if it pans out.

Pumpkin Carving at the Hermitage Grill.

Fred Perry Vespa Special Edition

Well, I wouldn't ride this scooter, but I thought some of you would be interested.


Vespa

is collaborating with the Fred Perry fashion brand to make a limited edition of Fred Perry Vespa scooters to celebrate the fashion brand′s 100th anniversary. The Vespa Fred Perry Special Edition will feature the famous laurel leaf logo and Fred Perry detailing. The other feature includes a beautiful seat. The Fred Perry Special Edition will be produced only 100 for Perry's centennial anniversary. It will be sold starting from August in the a few markets such as UK, France, Japan, and the US. Unfortunately Piaggio (the parent of Vespa) has not confirmed the price of its special edition scooter.

Hermitage Grill rises like a fabled phoenix

-click-"Hermitage Grill rises like a fabled phoenix" -click-
And don't forget the slide show!

The Blood: Megalomania

I previously owned some of these books, now I own none and would like to have all again...

Yes, I am doing a post about books that I want. Not the usual sort of thing I post here, but you'll get it. Here's a link to a blog that profiles the famous "Skinhead" author, Richard Allen, nicely. So I don't have to go to the trouble myself!

Those We Left Behind

I think I will systematically find and purchase one book at a time since buying them all at once, though cheaper, is out of the question at the moment. I will include a nice picture of one of the covers which, of course, I'll rip directly from the other guy's blog without permission.

Perhaps even the Youtube vid as well...Fuck it.



Anyway...It's a beautiful day and I am off all night as well as tomorrow. So I off to ride the scoot!