GAR 2012 Day 8 to Walterboro

We had a chance to sleep in this morning (which I failed to take advantage of) since we didn’t go kick stands up until almost nine. Steve needed a new rear tire, particularly given the likelihood of rain tomorrow on the final day of the ride, and the HD dealership didn’t open until nine. He opted to wait for the new rubber at the dealer while the rest of rode to the USS North Carolina to start the self-guided tour.

It had been more than 30 years since I last visited the USS North Carolina memorial with daughter Heather when I was in grad school at UNC. Wandering the ship’s spaces, climbing up and down the ladders and seeing sick bay brought back memories (neither good nor bad) of my brief stint as a tar aboard the USS Columbus CG-12 more than 40 years ago.

Steve rejoined us at the battleship about 11 and we stayed another hour. We saw much of the ship, but not all.

I had originally planned to skirt the coast on US 17 through Myrtle Beach and Charleston before heading inland to Walterboro, but the noon departure from the ship was a couple hours past my original schedule, so we set off on a shorter, quicker route. When we stopped for fuel an hour after leaving the ship, Steve’s bike was making a most unpleasant noise, emanating from the front rocker box. Not good. Steve called HD road side service and set up a tow but the truck never showed so he cancelled it. We called John in Walterboro and he hooked up a trailer and drove to rescue a stranded Steve. The remaining five of us waved at John as he passed by on the north-bound side of the Interstate.

My single throttle failure today pales in comparison to Steve’s epic engine fail.

Tomorrow, with Steve riding John’s bike and John riding back with Sue in the car, we head home and hope to avoid the rain.

“I can’t wait to get on the road again.”