No Age Limit - Piaggio MP3

Bob and Buddy meet Ground Control (and Lauren the waitress) at the mouth of the Holland Tunnel — Jersey City, NJ

July 13th - Having commuted to and from Philly yesterday on the Lincoln Highway, we allowed ourselves to circumvent the city and grab a detour to New Hope, PA for brunch — another last-day indulgence. We found pleasant, uncrowded, country roads and fewer people in the streets of New Hope than would be typical for this time of year. Our waitress told us there were indeed fewer "shopping bags" walking the streets. We‘ve found the economic pinch to be pervasive across the Lincoln Highway.

After brunch in New Hope — a boutique kind of town that’s a bit too precious for me, and a very long way from Medicine Bow, WY — we headed northeast to Kingston to reconnect with the Lincoln Highway. Without a GPS, it’d be a challenging task. With the electronic co-pilot, it’s a pleasant ride. In New Jersey, there is virtually no recognition that there is such a thing as the Lincoln Highway; the best you can do is head to towns listed on old maps. Route 1 passes the towns so it’s a fairly tedious job to work your way through the downtown areas of New Brunswick, Rahway, Elizabeth, Newark and Jersey City. The fact is, in 92-degree weather, it felt more like a job than fun and the inability to tell whether you were really on target generated more frustration. To do the Garden State right takes more time than we had allocated.

We arrived at our overnight in Jersey City in time for a terrific dinner at The Ale House and were briefly visited by Ground Control on their way into NYC. So this is really it, our last night on the Lincoln Highway. I have a sense that this calls for some lengthy summing-up, but like Bob, I feel the need to allow these four-plus weeks to be digested, processed and reflected upon before attempting a summation.

I do know I feel deeply thankful to many:

The entire Piaggio team who provided us with their support and time so we could pursue our wanderlust; especially Paolo Timoni, president of Piaggio USA, who entrusted the wonderful MP3 500 to two senior citizens who were inspired by his confidence. Of course, we are deeply in love with Marchello and Sophia, and we congratulate the Piaggio manufacturing team for producing bikes that’ll keep Bob and me on the road for many years to come. And yes, our next tour is already in the early planning stages. We’re not done yet!

We’re grateful that there still is a Lincoln Highway. It helped us discover America and its people in new and profound ways. It’s disappearing and in some states almost non-existent. We hope that in some small way our journey has helped to raise consciousness about this national treasure. This historic road should be protected.

Of course, nightly phone calls to a supportive family adds comfort to the journey. Special thanks to Linda for putting up with this restless guy for so many years and for sending me this poem, “Ithaka,” by the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy: One of the verses:

Have Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is what you are destined for.
But don’t in the least hurry the journey.
Better it last for years,
so that when you reach the island you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way
not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.
Ithaka gave you a splendid journey.
Without her you could not have set out.
She hasn’t anything else to give you.

And finally, from Nuala O’Faolain’s, "Are You Somebody?"

Perhaps, places are for me what books were for my mother.
They are altogether full of promise.
They assuage some of the regret for all of the lives I never had.

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