A few months ago, one of the posts was about naming your Harley. I don't have a name for mine, but if I did I'd probably call her "Lil' Red" or simply "Gurl". (BTW, GURL stands for Gorgeous, Unique, Red-haired Lady). Bike names are usually unique and special to the rider. One name caught my eye, "Scarlet" because she's a 2013 Softail Deluxe, red and white. Her license plate is "O'Harley". Put it together and you get "Scarlet O'Harley" -- clever!
Scarlet O'Harley's owner is Marian McConnell and she posts often on the LOH site and always great comments and suggestions. Not only is Scarlet, red and white, Marian wears red leather jacket and chaps as well. Striking and memorable.
When Randy and I started planning our road trip, I reached out to all my female facebook motorcycle pages asking for advice and got lots of great tips. One unusual surprise came from Marian who invited us to visit her near Roanoke, Virginia. I was pretty surprised that she invited total strangers into her home. I posted that we just might take her up on her offer. Roanoke was pretty close to where we'd be so Marian and I connected and planned a couple of nights at her home with her husband Dan McConnell and her mom, Tillie Millen.
What??? Staying with total strangers??? Yup, that's what we did. Remember, we're total strangers to Marian and her family as well.
Marian lives on 34 acres in rural Troutville, Virginia in a wonderful home with a view of McAfee Knob, in Catawba Valley. What is unique about her property is that it's also home to Murder Hole Cave! When I learned that, I did hesitate a little about staying with her. I wondered why anyone would live near such a scarily named place and I started thinking about horror and slasher movies, nearly freaking myself out!
Meeting Marian was a treat! We both were excited to meet, and hugged each other like old friends. She's funny, charming, kind and we instantly hit it off. We're close in age, love Harley's, our hubby's and life itself. Through facebook, I felt like I'd already known Marian a long time.
Marian is a musician, singer songwriter, artist, caver and author. Her husband calls her a "Renaissance Woman", an excellent description. What I found was a wonderful woman who was easy to talk with. We knew lots about each other through facebook and we easily fell into conversation as if we had known each other for a long time. Over beers on her beautiful deck, in the wonderful Virginia sunshine we chatted about Harley's, trips, and life.
We both don't ride with women, not because we don't want to, but in our circles, there are few women riders. We both ride Softails and if we lived closer I'm sure we'd spend time riding together - just the girls.
Marian and Dan are riding through Utah this August and we're hoping they'll visit us or we'll hook up and ride with them through Utah. It will be great to see them again!
Our journey is pushing me out of my comfort zone in many ways. Accepting Marian's invitation was a risk but that risk was a good one to take. A lot of people really hate facebook, but if you look past the silly status updates, and focus on the people in the photos, you may find more than an online friend, you might just find real friendship.
AWESOME!!! I live near Marion and am hoping to meet her one of these days. Enjoying your photos and writings about your journey. Be well ... enjoy each day. Remember, strangers are only friends we haven't yet met!
ReplyDeleteMelissa - I still can't believe I met Marian through Facebook, but I'm grateful I did! We had such a good time and we are still emailing each other. If you can hook up with her - you should. She's amazing!
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