Blue Grey report from a newbie.

[ThreeAces97]

As this was my first sanctioned ride with the club,  I have much to learn.   The 320 mile ride was awesome in that we avoided the superhighway for the entire trip.   Made a five hour trip into an 8 hour trip which was fine by our group.  First and foremost, if you are looking to meet Club members you have to stay at the same Hotel.   I chose the Campground due to having stayed there 14 years ago and having a blast.
Pulled into Sleep Inn with my Harley riding buddies and made a point to introduce myself to members that I could put a face and name to.   And a few others that went out of there way to introduce themselves to me.  Second point,  living in Ohio, I should have known about PA's state controlled alcohol laws and come somewhat prepared so we could have stayed around a little longer.   But we were in dire need of a cold one or two so we headed to our campgound and the downtown G-burg beverage store.

Spent 7+ hours at the Battlefield on Saturday.   I have been to the Battlefield 3 previous times and two of them were part of Military excursions.   Having two buddies who new very little, but wanting to learn more was fun.   We ended our tour in the Soldiers National Cemetary and received a marvelous lesson from a Park Volunteer.   I listened to this gentleman for 45 minutes and you could tell he loved what he was doing by the enthusiasm in his voice.   I learned more new facts in his 45 minutes than I did in the previous six hours.   He concluded his tour with a beautiful reciting of the Gettysburg Address.   Awesome.    Stopped at the G-burg beverage store and because of the PA laws you can't buy beer in quanities smaller than a case.   We agreed that the one case we bought and drankfrom the night before was not enough so we had to get a second.  Thankfully there were some kind souls in the park who helped us with it.   Got to meet Stude and his lovely wife at the campground.
Left out for the ride home at 8am and on the west side of Chambersburg ran into a 30 mile slow down due to what appeared to be the longest Flag Day Parade route in America.    We stopped at the Temporary Flight 93 Memorial in Shankstown Pa.   It was great to get to see that.

Anyways, thanks to those who put in the work in setting this up.   Gave me a great excuse to go to a place I love to visit.   Next time I stop by a hotel with other Valkyrie riders I will be sure to tape over my odometer.  Enough said.

[Wizzard]

I left right ahead of you with Fudgie and Kit and we just were right in front of that parade. Could not belive that for the next 40 miles people were sitting in their front lawn waiting and some of them had to been waiting for 2 hours.
We discussed that this must have been the longest parade in history.

[Mary (Ontario)]

Could not belive that for the next 40 miles people were sitting in their front lawn waiting and some of them had to been waiting for 2 hours.
We discussed that this must have been the longest parade in history.

I thought that maybe the owner of the Sleep Inn had let folks know we were leaving and we were being watched to make sure that we really went away!  
(We were ahead of the parade and didn't know what was happening).

[ThreeAces97]

We had ridden for nearly an hour in slow mode before we could see what was causing the delay.   We joined up with some BMW' riders to the front and  a Goldwing pulling a trailer to the rear.    We got excited when we saw all the Nostalgic Military vehicles and police bikes turn right on a fork in the road.   We climbed one of the many ridges to the left, came back around to the right, and low and behold, the police have the road temporarily closed to allow the Military vehicles (now double the number) back onto Rt. 30.   We followed this group for another 10 minutes and the road opened to two lanes going up another range.   One of the Motorcycle Cops was preventing traffic from passing the slow moving gaggle on the left.   When we finally started going down the mountain to the right, the police were sending the parade vehicles off to the left.   We finally stopped and fueled up and grab a bite to eat in Breezewood, and all's we could wonder about were the people sitting in chairs for over thirty miles on Rt. 30.  Must be some really exciting things happening in their neck of the woods.   My God, I wonder what they do for the 4th of July?  I mean I know it was Flag day and also the 234th Birthday of the US Army, but to get those people out there waving to me on my 47th Birthday was pretty special.

[Lyn-Del]

That military parade goes all the way to San Francisco, we were told.   They also said it would take about a month to get there.

I'd go crazy if I had to drive that slow for that long!!

[Wizzard]

Lol,, I thought we had people just waiting to wave to us for 40 miles. Made us feel special. 

[fudgie]

Could not belive that for the next 40 miles people were sitting in their front lawn waiting and some of them had to been waiting for 2 hours.
We discussed that this must have been the longest parade in history.

I thought that maybe the owner of the Sleep Inn had let folks know we were leaving and we were being watched to make sure that we really went away!  
(We were ahead of the parade and didn't know what was happening).

Thats funny cause when I checked out I asked the shorter guy if he was glad we were leaving. He said yes.  Maybe he didn't understand what I asked.  We we really all that bad? 

[Mary (Ontario)]

Could not belive that for the next 40 miles people were sitting in their front lawn waiting and some of them had to been waiting for 2 hours.
We discussed that this must have been the longest parade in history.

I thought that maybe the owner of the Sleep Inn had let folks know we were leaving and we were being watched to make sure that we really went away!  
(We were ahead of the parade and didn't know what was happening).

Thats funny cause when I checked out I asked the shorter guy if he was glad we were leaving. He said yes.  Maybe he didn't understand what I asked.  We we really all that bad? 

Must have been you  because when Ron checked out the fella said "see you next year".