Canada - Day 4

6/18/2011 - Day 4 started with another early rise, but it wasn't quite as bad as the day before. After a few final photos, my friends and I parted ways and I was back on my own in a foreign land. It was a beautiful morning and I was pretty upbeat so I was happy to get back on my bike for a ride. I had decided the previous day that I would head due south and re-enter the US as quickly as possible. I was not too enthusiastic about the prospect of getting lost by myself and not being able to speak the language. I'm sure that finding someone who speaks English is really easy, but I didn't want to take the chance.

I wasn't even on the road for 30 minutes before I had a run in with the law. Entering the next town East of Montebello, I didn't pay enough attention to the 50 kph speed limit sign. In my mind I wasn't going fast and was just enjoying the sights. Next thing I know, I've got red and blue lights in my rear view mirror with a black and white Dodge Charger underneath them. I pulled over and was informed by the officer that he'd clocked me at 77 kph in the 50 zone. He

definitely had a chip on his shoulder and wasn't very nice, but I complied with all of his requests. So there I stand on the side of the road as a steady stream of cars flows by as the officer wrote the ticket. It was pretty obvious that he does this every year of the Rockfest. He just sits there waiting to pick people off to generate revenue for his city. I'm sure the Ohio license plate didn't help. I've been legally driving for 25 years and 6 days and this is the first speeding ticket I've ever gotten. I'm not even really sure what I need to do to pay for it because the entire thing is written in French. All I do know is that I've got to come up with $125 Canadian to send to them.

After that little mishap I was even more ready to be out of Canada. A couple of hours later I got to the border crossing at Cornwall, ON. It was about a half hour wait in line before getting to the crossing into New York. The border patrol officer made me present my passport, dismount my bike, remove my helmet and glasses. He also grilled me about my destination who I met in Canada, if I had any weapons or narcotics with me, and why I re-entered the US in New York if I was on my way to Vermont. I simply explained how I wanted to get out of French speaking Canada as quickly as possible. He then asked what route I was taking and said "Don't tell me GPS. I want to know how you plan to get where you are going." It was pretty interesting overall, but I didn't really feel hassled. I think he was just having fun with someone using their passport to re-enter the US for the first time. He finally sent me on my merry way and I was off to see what kind of ground I could cover for the rest of the day.

I had beautiful weather and rode through New York, Vermont, and on to Concord, NH. Vermont and New Hampshire were remarkably beautiful. Something just seemed "off" about them as I was riding through. I finally figured out what it was: There were no billboards cluttering up the highway. All there was to see was the natural landscape and even from the Interstate it was breathtaking. I finally pulled into a Days Inn after about 12 total hours of riding. I was exhausted. They only had two rooms left. The desk clerk asked me if I was in town for the Laconia Bike Week. I had no idea that was even going on, but that would explain the copious amounts of American Iron that I'd seen all day and it also explained why the parking lot was so damned loud. Every Harley owner in the state must have been there and they'd all trailered their bikes there. It was pretty funny watching them roll the big twins off of the trailers, pulling them into the lot revving them then shutting them off. Then out comes the ShamWOW to polish it up, then back into the trailer it goes. I wonder if the flag adorned Harleys that had the Honda Ridgeline & a trailer as a chase vehicle appreciated the irony in that. At any rate, I had a pizza delivered and went right to sleep. It had been another fun yet long day and cat naps at rest stops don't really count as restful sleep.

Canada - Day 3

Friday 6/17/2011 - The day started bright and early at 6:00am as I hurried to pack my bike so I could be ready to leave the hotel with the "motorcade" at 7:00 am. Today would be one of my longest single stretches of motorcycle riding during this trip covered in the least amount of time. Montebello, QC is where the D-Tox Rockfest was being held and it is located about 325 miles away from Toronto.

We left the hotel right on time. I was following the van driven by Simon and was followed by Hugh. Hugh is a friend of the band that had driven from Connecticut to see the two shows. We got underway without incident and stopped at a Tim Horton's after about an hour so everyone could get some breakfast. The skies were looking pretty ominous at this point so I figured, better safe than sorry and donned my rain gear. It may look stupid but should the heavens unleash at least I wouldn't get soaked. We continued travelling for another 150 miles or so and Simon was gracious enough to pull over so I could rest my weary posterior. It was about 15 miles shy of the longest single stretch that I've ever been in a motorcycle saddle. I was REALLY happy to get a break. This photo of me with the Descendents was taken by Stacie Stevenson at the rest stop.

We'd made it to Montebello a couple of hours later. Fortunately it didn't rain very much. The little rain that was encountered was just a drizzle. First order of business after unloading my bike was getting a nap. Simon was kind enough to let me crash in his bed while he worked. I had been unsuccessful in my quest to secure a room in Montebello so if I couldn't find a floor to crash on I was just going to backtrack the 40 miles to Ottowa after the show and get a room at a chain hotel. Honestly, it was not a well formulated plan on my part.

So I woke up, grabbed some dinner a little later and got set for some rock. The hotel rooms were situated maybe 100-200 yards from the main stage and all had porches. It made it really easy to just sit at the hotel and take in the music without having to go and stand around in the field. The main stage acts that I really payed attention to were: Joey Cape, Pennywise, Lamb of God, and obviously Descendents. This was the first time I'd seen Pennywise since Zoli Teglas took over vocal duties. They did not dissapoint, his voice is still just as powerful as with Ignite. The big moment of the Descendents set was when the entire audience was coaxed into singing "Happy Birthday" to Stacie (whose birthday it was on the 17th). Lamb of God played after Descendents. I'd never heard Lamb of God beforehand and was really impressed. They put on a fantastic live show and sounded great.

There was lots of partying and merry making after the performances were over for the evening. I ended up staying up way past my bedtime and finally crashed out around 3:00am. It was yet another exhausting day. I was REALLY happy that I had gotten that nap.

Canada - Day 2

Thursday 6/16/2011 - After getting in late the previous night and going to check out the town, I decided that I'd sleep in on Thursday. I got up a little before 10 so I could enjoy the last of the breakfast bar. I ended up only having coffee and a bowl of Raisin Bran. I then packed up my room and walked to the falls again. I wanted to get some photos from the Canadian side of the falls and to see L'il Vegas during the day. A very kind French speaking lady offered to take my picture as I was struggling to snap a photo of myself with the falls in the background. I kind of felt like an asshole because I wasn't able to thank her in her language. Stupid gringo.

I also stopped at a currency exchange center and exchanged $40 US for the Canadian equivalent. The gentleman was super friendly but I couuldn't help but feel ripped off by my handful of monopoly money. No paper dollar bills either, only dollar coins. It makes sense but was kind of odd to me. Back at the hotel, I packed up my bike and got ready to set off to Toronto. The desk clerks were extremely nice the night before and let me park my motorcycle under the hotel awning by the registration desk. It was my V-Strom and a Honda Goldwing parked there. At least I didn't have to worry about anyone backing into it and knocking it over.

I finally got on the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way or Highway 420) toward Toronto. It was REALLY busy and there were some mammoth bridges to cross over. It was also the first time I had to get used to using the metric system to determine my speed. (This would come back to bite me in the ass Saturday) Once I got into the vicinity of Toronto traffic slowed to a crawl. I finally hopped off of the highway to see if I could navigate downtown with my GPS. Much to my dismay I found that my GPS wasn't working. I played with my phone for what seemed like an eternity but in reality was probably only 15 minutes. It turns out that I needed to data roam while in Canada for my GPS to operate, so I turned it on and boo'yah, it's ready to directify me. It turns out that I was only a couple of miles by way of about four turns from the Hilton Garden Inn which is where my reservations were made. I rolled up at 3:00 and my room wasn't ready yet. The valet also showed me to my garaged parking space in the basement of the building. I was relieved that I wasn't going to have to park my bike on the street. I went back to the lobby after parking my bike waited while the housekeeping staff prepared my room.

The lobby television was tuned in to the Canadian equivalent of CNN. I learned about the following: Anthony Weiner's resignation, a horrible traffic accident on the QEW which I must have just missed, and the riots in Vancouver that erupted after the Canuck's lost the Stanley Cup. I struck up a conversation with a guy that was watching the TV with me. It turns out that his name was Simon and he was the Canadian tour manager for the Descendents. What a coincidence. It turns out that everyone's flights were running late. We parted ways and then my room was ready. For my wait, they upgraded me to the king suite. It was more hotel room than I've ever needed. There was a living room with a couch, an easy chair, a computer desk/work area, a Jacuzzi tub, and then the king sized master bedroom. It actually felt kind of decadent for me to have so much room to myself. I got settled in and walked down the street to a gas station to get a couple of beverages and a snack and then went back to my room. I snacked, soaked in the tub and got a quick cat nap, then went out to walk around Toronto and check out the venue where the show would be held.

The hotel was only about 10 blocks from the venue which was a stage on a square in the middle of downtown Toronto. It resembled a miniature version of Times Square in New York. After walking around for a bit I started to head back to my room to rest again for a bit and bumped into my friends Bill and Stacie. They had just been dropped off near the venue where Bill had to do an interview and then they needed to get settled into their room. We were staying at the same place so we walked back there and dropped off the bags. After dropping off the bags, we headed down to the lobby where we bumped in to Stephen getting off of the elevator. We ended up walking back down to Yonge & Dundas Square and hanging out for a bit.

The music was had started at 6:00 and was in full swing when we got down there. The first band that I was cognizant of was Toronto's own Fucked Up. They were really well received by the crowd and put on a good show. The only other band that I went to Toronto looking to see was Keith Morris' new band OFF!. They put on a high energy no nonsense punk rock show that did not disappoint. Finally the Descendents played at about 10:00. The crowd had been steadily growing since the earlier acts and was at a fever pitch when Karl, Stephen, Milo, and Bill took the stage. They put on a great show as always. One of the highlights of the show was when Milo brought his son and daughter onto the stage to help out with the "All-O-Gistics."

It was the first time his children had gotten to see him perform live and it was fantastic that he got them into the act. It was just a really cute moment that the kids seemed to enjoy. Another highlight of the show was the Descendents playing the song "Lucky" live for the first time.

After the show was over, I went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit. I ended up shooting the breeze with some friends in the lobby until about 2:00am. I went up to my room, laid out my clothes for the next day and packed my bags. I was in bed by 2:45am. I wanted to be able to be up at 6:00, have my bike packed up and ready for the 7:00am lobby call. I figured it would be easier to follow a vehicle or two to the venue the following day than it would be to try and find it myself. This concludes day 2.

No Place Like Home

What a great trip I had! Six days gone from home and I was able to meet my goal of getting into every state in the northeast United States. It was so action packed that I didn't really have a chance to blog about it. In fact there were three days when I didn't even get out my netbook. I'll try to blog to recap each day over the next week, for now, here are some quick trip statistics:

Total Days: 6

Total Miles: 2204.0

Most Miles in a day: 612

Longest Distance w/o dismounting: 213.9

Total States: 14

Total Provinces: 2

Fuel Stops: 10

Speeding Tickets: 1

Broken Phone Charger: 1

Hotel Stays: 4

Days I ate pizza: 5

Music Festivals: 2

Times I got rained on: 1

Times I put on rain gear: 2

It was SO much fun, but it's true that there is no place like home. After Monday's 16 hour gauntlet of a ride I was really happy to get there.

Areas colored in are where I went on this trip.

Canada and East Coast Trip - Day 1

What a perfect day today was for motorcycling! I spent a lot of time on the backroads of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York today. I didn't even use my GPS until near Niagara Falls and the sun had gone down. I had 375 miles exactly on my trip odometer today. Since I got a late start (as usual) I decided to make up for lost time by hopping on I-77 and I-271 to get me up to US-20. I spent a lot of time on on that route cutting across the three states I rode in. It's nice because is close to Lake Erie. I even spent some time on the Lake Erie loop which was just magnificent; however, I paid for my lollygagging later because I ended up spending almost 2 hours riding in the dark.

McDonalds win: While taking a break around 3:00 this afternoon another dude pulled into the lot riding a 2008 BMW GSA. It was one of the most farkled out GSA's I've seen. We had a great conversation about bike trips and motorcycles in general. It was one of the nicest spur of the moment conversations I've had with a total stranger in ages.

McDonalds fail: I was very disappointed, and even Mr. Positive attitude may have overreacted a bit (I guess 10 hours on the bike at that point will do that to you). Here is my version of the patented "Chicken McNugget Freakout": I was tired and cranky and pulled into a McDonalds at about 9:30. I wanted an unsweetened iced tea "We're out of tea and aren't making any more today." is what the rude little clerk said to me with a sneer. I was like "Ok, give me a Coke then." I then went to order a McChicken sandwich to go with it. "We don't have the McChicken sandwich we only have the Spicy McChicken. You can have a McDouble." Me: "I don't WANT a spicy McChicken, I want a regular McChicken! And I don't really want the Coke, I want an unsweetened iced tea! This is McDonalds, your menu is the same EVERYWHERE. You are open 24 hours a day, why on Earth don't you have any iced tea?!?!" She's all "We aren't making any more today." Me: "Fine! I'll have a McDouble and the Coke then." It was not one of my finer moments.

Anyway, I finally made it to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada and broke in my passport for the first time. I got across the bridge and started looking for the first reasonably priced hotel I could find. Voila! The Days Inn on Center St. at the top of Clifton Hill did the job. I got settled in and then went for a walk to the falls. It's beautiful at night. Lot's of folks were all hockey crazy over the Boston Bruins Stanley Cup victory. Clifton Hill is crazy, it's like a little mini Las Vegas strip. It's WAY more interesting than the American side of the falls.

One Year Down

June 8, 2011 - So here it is, June. For me, it's the time of year for graduations, Father's Day, summer cookouts, yard work, and my birthday (40 this year if you are keeping track). This year, it also means that I'm one year removed from my lung cancer diagnosis on June 8, 2010. My big goal at the time was to make it to Miranda's graduation from Clintonville Academy. That milestone has come and gone. I guess I need to figure out another goal now.

It's been an absolutely amazing year. I've experienced kindness and generosity from people on a scale that I've never known. It hasn't mattered if it'sbeen a family member, co-worker, casual acquaintance, one of my very best friends, or a complete stranger. My support system has enabled me to cram a lot of life into a scant three hundred sixty-five days and for that, I thank each and every one of you. I'm very grateful to have been able to take my family on the Bukkit Tour down the east coast, our Chicago trip, my motorcycle trip in October, and my trip to New York City in December. I also had the opportunity to get on stage and sing for my favorite band ever, All.

There have been three amazing benefits held for my family. One at Clintonville Academy organized by Carol Cavanagh and Miriam Naples. One at By Golly's Tavern in Milford, OH organized by my sister Sarah O'Donnell and her husband Mike. And one at the Ravari Room organized by Kristi and Kevin Hittepole. I don't know where to begin to thank all of the people who donated their time, goods, and services for these events but thank you all very much. Please know that your generosity means the world to both me and my family.

There have been some down times too, but overall it hasn't been too bad of a year for having received a such a horrible diagnosis. There's been the hospital stay over Christmas, the utter fatigue of therapy, and the endless stream of needles. The chemotherapy hasn't been fun; however, it hasn't been at all what I expected going into it and all things considered I've tolerated it very well.

If there's one thing that I've learned over the last year, it's not to let your expectations get the best of you. Things are always going to be worse or better than you planned on them being so just get on with it and roll with the punches. Things are going to work out the way they are supposed to.