The Beauty Around Us

Kentucky Vacation – Day 10 of ELEVEN DAYS

By Linda G. on June 19, 2009

Our Kentucky vacation is drawing to a close, but there is still much to tell.

In my last blog post I wrote about our unexpected layover in Dry Ridge, KY. The oil cap fell off Bob’s motorcycle. The oil blowing out the fill hole contaminated the rear brakes. We successfully plugged the fill hole with a compression plug; however, we need to replace the rear brake pads before we can complete our trip back home. There is a Kawasaki dealer near Dry Ridge; however, it was closed on Sunday but will open on Monday at 9:00AM.

Early in the morning on the 10th day of our vacation — Monday, June 15th — Bob got to wondering if spraying the whole rear brake assembly with brake cleaner to degrease the pads might help. He posed the question to the Vulcan Riders and Owners Club (VROC) web forum. The replies that he received essentially said that the brake cleaner was worth a try. After breakfast Bob drove to the local Wal-Mart and purchased brake cleaner.

When Bob returned to the hotel, he sprayed the rear brake assembly with the brake cleaner. He was careful to keep the brake cleaner off of stuff that it might adversely affect. The brake cleaner had no effect on the rear brakes.

The plan on Sunday was to telephone the Kawasaki dealer on Monday morning to find out if they had an oil cap and rear brake pads in stock. We decided to drive/ride there instead. The compression plug will hold, and Bob felt confident enough that he would have some rear braking power during the 20 or so miles to the Kawasaki dealer. We left the hotel around 8:30AM and arrived at the Kawasaki dealer in Florence, KY, soon after it had opened. We lucked out. The Kawasaki dealer had brake pads in stock. Bob contemplated replacing the brake pads himself in the parking lot; however, when he asked they said they could squeeze him in and get the pads on for about $20.00. They replaced the brake pads and had us on our way in less than half an hour! They located an oil cap, too, which they gave to Bob. The oil cap was off a Kawasaki MeanStreak, but it fit Bob’s motorcycle.

We could have made it home from Richmond, KY, in one day. We wanted to take our time, though, and do the ride home in two days. We never planned on taking three days to come back home! But that is what happened. When we left the Kawasaki dealer, we stuck mainly to rural roadways rest of the day. By the time we reached Mount Vernon, OH, I was tired of driving. We had driven approximately 226 miles from our hotel in Dry Ridge, KY, according to the route that we mapped out at Google maps. We decided to spend the night in Mount Vernon and complete our trip on Tuesday. We checked into Comfort Inn at 4:30PM.

We relaxed in our room for about an hour, then we went for a walk. We walked up three blocks and found the Knox County Courthouse. We certainly have seen a lot of courthouses during this vacation! A block from the courthouse was Public Square, which is a picturesque park. A traffic circle surrounds the park. In the center of the park is a tall civil war era monument. We ate dinner at a 50s-style cafe called High Restaurant, which was at the intersection of High Street and Public Square. Downtown Mount Vernon was a delightful place with its brick streets, varied architecture, historic buildings and quaint shops … small town America at its best! I didn’t take my camera with me during our walk (DUH!). But I did take a couple photographs with my camera phone.