Riding down Main Street in East Petersburg, a bright yellow banner announces the upcoming East Pete Days carnival. Granted, East Pete is a bit of a small town, but we do seem to have more than our fair share of car dealerships. this is probably due mostly to the Manheim Auto Auction a few miles up the road.
Out of town and down the road a bit, the dichotomy continues. On one side of the road, a cornfield...
On the other side sits a modern Church building.
Riding down the road further, the modern built up areas decline, replaced by more farms. Even so, modernity creeps in. Around the edge of a barn peeks the hindquarters of a sporty red coupe.
Hidden in another barn, a dual sport motorbike sits, awaiting a rider. Another touch of modernity in a barn owned by folks I know to be conservative Mennonites.
Further on, the rural nature of the surroundings becomes more deeply evident, almost to the point of being surreal. With the encroaching sunset, an Amish farm hoves itself into view with horses in the paddock and a wagon sitting empty in the dooryard. The scoot seems to intrude on these surroundings with the putt-putt sounding across the fields, so it seems time to move on.
More fields and farms pass by, with the occasional shop or factory. Modern churches, one room school houses, modern homes, Amish homes, shops and more farms buzz past. In the rear mirrors, a pair of Harley baggers close in. A twist of throttle and they disappear as the PCX carves its way around corners out of farmland and into suburbia, then back into farmland. A short stop is made to take in the scenery and the Harleys rumble past in a cacophony of exhaust noise.
After the brief rest, it was time to head back toward home. There are roads in this area that wind and bend like a snake with gastritis. Many of these are close to home, and follow creeks and rivers. It didn't take long before the scoot was humming along around bends and the PCX started to really make sense. The short wheel base and maxi-scoot wheels make it carve corners like a bigger sport bike. It's heavier than the Kymco and at first seemed a bit daunting, but after over two weeks getting used to it, it seems very balanced and nimble. Back into town, the PCX seemed to want to go further, but a long day was coming to an end and it was getting toward time to retire.
Lancaster County is a beautiful place to live, work, drive and ride. The dichotomy rural and populous areas makes it a little slice of heaven made just a little better on the back of a scooter.
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1 comment:
Here is Delaware County, NY it can be the same. My house has old barns within a half mile on extinct farms with former fields covered in grass, a cluster of homes a mile away and empty woodlands along the highway to the nearest big town of Sidney, NY. I would have rejoiced in the twisty roadwork in this when I lived on Suburban Long Island. Now the roads following rivers and valleys are a daily route to be followed to get to work or acquire groceries. Don't get me started on Snow. That's a four letter word in this house.
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