Kitty's Journal: Thunder on the Strip 2014
Friday 5 September 2014
Drove up to Geneva on Friday morning/afternoon. Took a different route than we normally go, and Hudson/Twinsburg was a nightmare. Who knew so many people got out of work before 3pm on a Friday? eesh. Stopped at Applebee's in Willoughby and made it to the campsite around 3:30-4pm.The final count between home and the State Park was 58 bikes, 7 people caught staring at Thumper, and one frightened child because Thumper was too loud xD
Ditched our stuff and flew up to the strip -- by then we were dying for lunch. They've put up a new sign so there's no doubt you're in Geneva-on-the-Lake and it's pretty :) Corndogs and lemonade for lunch, as per usual. We also found an awesome ratted-out bike, customized with some really cool adornments -- rake claws over the headlight, a Molotov cocktail, wrenches and goggles, and Kokopellis on the pegs. Thumper is now the 2nd ugliest bike on the strip, according to Doc.
Afterward we cruised down to the lake and then back to the park to set up camp. It was crazy-muggy and hot. I'd packed for rain and brought my yoga pants, which helped, but wound up with a few new mosquito bites. Had to pitch the blower for the air mattress, it decided it didn't want to work -- so I spent the better part of several hours blowing it up by hand. Or face. Whatever. So that was fun. Doc fiddled around with the old Coleman lamp Dad gave us and got it working, which was cool. We decided to order Zeppe's for dinner because we didn't much feel like braving the strip again, and they delivered to the campsite!
Eric showed up around 8:30-9pm by which time it was dark; thankfully his tent was small and the guys set it up by lamplight. I think we turned in around 10:30, and good thing too -- no sooner had we all bedded down than the storm rolled in, nasty wind and pouring rain and thunder and one hell of a light show. We could only imagine what the strip looked like while we were snuggled up in the tent :) only one overhead leak, too, but more from condensation and lack of runoff than a hole. We wound up scooting the air mattress over to one side and things were better after that. Think I fell asleep after an hour (the lightning was bright!).
Saturday 6 September 2014
Up not-so-bright and early. Overcast skies became sprinkles and became a steady drizzle by the time we got up to the strip for breakfast. Survivor's didn't have breakfast anymore (damn it) so we wandered off in search of something else after Eric finished a bloody Mary. It seemed like everywhere we went was packed, so we settled for doughnuts and milk (standing, because while the rain had let off, everything was still wet and we didn't want soggy pants). Walked back down the strip and found one of the most kickass bikes I've ever seen. A 1968 Mercedes with ammo boxes for saddlebags, giant wrenches for handlebars, a wide open control panel, and a horse's saddle for its seat, with the fenders covered in rust. Nasty beast.
Goggled at the bike for a few minutes, then headed back to the High Tide and were able to get a table -- we were all craving bacon by then, and the French toast was mainly a bonus. After second breakfast we went back to camp and had a coma-nap :) woke up around 2ish or so and went back up for round 2. Stopped at the Lollipop Shop and got our picture taken old-school style. We make a good saloon girl & cowboy pair :)
Afterward we started the bar hop a bit more earnestly, although we didn't mind if we didn't get our cards filled in; we'd already picked up our patches on Friday afternoon. We tended to stick to jello shots, as they were cheapest and we were all on a budget. I still think the Firehouse had the best ones, but we couldn't taste alcohol in any of them (is that good or not?). We had dinner at the Triangle, best burgers on the strip (if not everywhere else in the state). Swung by the Pickled Pepper and had a round of shot cakes (since they don't serve jello shots) YUM. Got out before things managed to get extremely crazy -- although it was hella crowded and stupid people certainly abounded. We finished the night needing 4 more stamps to get our shirts, so not too bad all things considered. Went back to camp and started a fire before bed. No rain!
Sunday, 7 September 2014
Up by 7 and had the car packed by 9. We stopped by Breakwater Beach on our way out of the park (we'd decided to forgo the shirts since we didn't feel like hanging around for another four hours, and we were basically out of money). The lake was all kinds of muddy, but we saw a sailboat head out and there were a handful of boats out on the horizon line. We took a bit of a scenic route home; there were a bunch of detours and construction going on. Had lunch at the DQ in Garrettsville -- amazing Pumpkin Pie blizzards! By the time we made it home, the final return count was 69 bikes, 4 people who did double takes at Thumper, and 3 horses with buggies. Overall a good trip!
