Roadside Americana

Om nom nom. What is the Ural Yamal? It is the 2012 limited edition sidecar rig, named after a formidable Russian Icebreaker. The Ural Yamal bares its teeth and well, has a boat oar. I think it's quite handsome, myself. You? ...

In the realm of giant roadside farm fruits and vegetables there are some oft-seen staples like a giant ear of corn or a strawberry. As my friend Wendy, proprietress of the fabulous Roadside Wonders, said ~ "Yep, you can barely swing a dead cat without hitting a giant apple ... but this! This was ...

The Riverhead Muffler Man Indian whose name I've just discovered is "Chief Running Fair," was downed by the winds of Superstorm Sandy. When I saw photos of the poor guy, torn in half at the waist shortly after the storm subsided he looked like he was reaching for a lifeline ...

When Kenny and I were on our way out to Quakertown, PA to meet up with the roadside bloggers at Sine's 5 & 10, I made a pit stop to snap a photo of the Mail Pouch Tobacco mural in Dover, NJ. This one is near E. Dickerson & S ...

*tee hee* 😆 I know, we're childish. So what? Hope you've got a great weekend planned. Humping optional ...

"Yea, uh... can I havvvvvve... two large hay shakes? Uhhhh...?  Gimme a couple two-tree-uh-dem cactus poppers and uhhh... a large order of oats. To go." I swear, you see the damnedest things out there on the road 🙂 Always, always have to have a camera with you. This farm is ...

One of the good things about Mail Pouch Tobacco barn hunting is that barns is that, well, barns are usually at farms. Farms are often on rambling roads. For a suburban motorcyclist - that spells good times. A few weeks ago, Kenny and I set off to ride a nice ...

This place has it all. I'd passed this house in Lee, Massachussets several times before on the Berkshire Dual Sport rides. Even though my friends know me well enough to realize that coming across such a place is like nirvana for me, we'd never stopped. A few weekends ago while ...

Sometimes you're just riding along minding your own business and a 6ft beaver shows up. Happens all the time, right? I rolled up on this guy in Lee, Massachusetts. "Is that a squirrel?" Kenny asked. "No, it's a beaver. It's at Beaver Storage.... Maybe it's a birrel?" I asked. "It's a squeaver," ...

Since I feel like I need to work on my sit-still stamina a bit, riding over 250 miles to see a refurbished Muffler Man seemed like as good a reason to get out of bed as any on Sunday. That would also guarantee me a 500 mile day. A "Tin ...

The very first time that I ever saw any reference to the Cool Springs Park store on Rt 50 in West Virginia was on Kathy's blog - Appalachian Tours. I had no conscious intention of visiting, it just happened to be on the route we were following for the day ...

Sometimes I'm not sure if I get on some sort of unconscious jag that makes me seek out groupings of things or if I just happen to be moving across a sticky thread of the universal web that keeps putting them in my path. What am I talking about? Boots ...

On Friday night how could I have possibly known that when I spotted the Cupcakemobile in Westhampton that it would be the ...wait for it... waaaait for iiiit... icing on the cake? Oh, yes. I just went there. The weather here lately has been hazy, hot and humid and the ...

At first glance -  you see this picture of my (lovely if I do say so myself) Tiger and think Okay, it another picture of her (lovely if you do say so yourself) Tiger. But look closer, my darling. Closer... Closer... That is the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope at ...

With only a single bar left on the gas gauges, Kenny and I hopped off of the Blue Ridge Parkway in search of gas. After a few stabs at the screen, we followed the GPS over hill and dale to what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We popped out ...

Though I had jotted Backbone Rock down on my list of things to see when we left home, sometimes the wind takes you elsewhere. In the days and miles that had already passed it had slipped my mind until we were headed west away from Shady Valley. That was when ...

Could there possibly be a better fast food chain facade than the one used by Pal's? Nahhh, I don't think so. Can you even handle the greatness of the big hot dog... the soda...? The FRIES, oh... the fries.  :weeps tears of joy: And to top it all off, one ...

At this point, I think Kenny is just messing with me. When I followed the GPS and turned on Ridge Rd to head into the town of Helen, right there on the corner in front of us was... "Goats on the Roof." When we pulled into a gas station, I ...

North Carolina 209 has been dubbed "The Rattler" by locals. Now, if the image of a wiggly snake doesn't get your motorcycle heart pumpin' well, I just don't know what would. I'd first read about NC 209 on Wayne's websites- Smoky Mountain Rider and America Rides Maps. Before we left home ...

Okay, I know. I know, I know, I know. Every time that I see an amazing art car I go bananas and get all, "this is the greatest car in the universe!" But,... Muffler... CAR!  ::faints:: We actually saw the muffler car when we pulled into the town of Franklin, ...

Kenny and I made a quick stop in Cherokee, NC to snap a photo of a gent we'd passed many moons ago but never stopped for. The Cherokee Muffler Man: Handsome, right? And look - he has nipples! This was the first time I was ever consciously aware of an ...

Some time around midday I pulled us off of the BRP around Roanoke, Virginia. When we finally stopped at the first traffic light we'd seen all day, Kenny looked at me quizzically and slowly said, "um,... wherrrrre are we going?" Foolish boy. After all this time, he still has to ...

During the night I’d been awakened by rain pouring down the gutter drainpipe outside. It sounded like a steam train was chugging by our bedroom window with big whooshes of wind tearing through the trees. Of COURSE there was a monsoon in the wee hours of the morning we were ...

Greetings from sunny Virginia. Apparently on the heels of their Virginia is for Lovers campaign of many years, the State of Virginia has adopted "Love is at the heart of every Virginia vacation." With that they have installed LOVE sculptures around the state. As someone who is moderately obsessed with ...

Greetings from Dinosaurland! Whitepost, Va. Saturday June 2, 2012 Hi Y'all! Having a great time moseying around below the Mason-Dixon line. We're makin' some new friends along the way. When you see a T-Rex on the road, what else is there to do but stop and say 'hello!' Wish you ...