Desparate times call for desparate measures. With this quest nearing an end and the chances of finding these plates diminishing as each summer day passes I get an idea. You can decide for yourself if this really was a good idea or not. I shake my head looking back now at the absurdity of it all. If you recall from a previous post we did score Idaho and Oregon on the EAA campgrounds before they had everything locked down. We were able to drive our car around freely. Once EAA started they force you to park somewhere and then walk unless you have special permits. We did however see plenty of people on scooters and pedal bikes in the campgrounds.
The campgrounds are pretty much a gigantic field mowed short for the convention. They erect street signs so you can tell where you are....yes....street signs. I know I was on streets named 53rd street and possibly higher so that gives you an idea of how massive this place is. Without these street signs it would be easy to get lost in the maze of campers.
So here's my idea:
I decide to try to bike through the campgrounds in search of our last 4 plates. I find out my parents have my sister's mountain bike (I only own a road bike) in their basement....hasn't been ridden in 13 years. I pump the tires up and all seems well although I can't get the bike seat raised. So not ideal but it's not terrible.....I can probably make it work. Did I mention the color of this bike is purple? I shrug it off....I'm on a silly quest might as well be on a purple bike.
I also load Sawyer's bike in the back of the car. I head down to EAA by myself at 7 AM. Before too long I'm parked and off biking through the campgrounds. I eventually get a comment 'nice ride' from a guy wearing a purple hat to which I respond "thank you, are you from Rhode Island?" That leads to a nice conversation, but this person is unable to help me (he is from Iowa).
After 2 hours of biking and no new plates I am starting to give up hope. Not to mention my @ss was sore from riding over bumps for 2 hours. I was thirsty and starting to think I should have put on some sun screen as well. I did find a convenience store in the middle of the grounds thankfully. Here's a picture of my ride and the water and snacks I decided to get after 2 hours of hunting.
I decide to get back on my back and hunt a little more yet before giving up. Then I see a Wyoming! Alright....finally found one. I text my wife as a way of remembering where these are....'Wyoming....48th Street'. Then one street over is West Virginia! 5 minutes later I spot a Mississippi. I'm texting my wife, and she starts heading down to Oshkosh with the kids. All we have left now is Rhode Island.....the proverbial needle in a haystack. I basically found 3 of the 4 plates in a 10 minute span.
The plan is to meet them at the side of the road, have Sawyer jump out, and we'll meet them for lunch later. I get Sawyer's bike out of the car and I'm waiting for them to arrive. Now EAA is an absolute zoo of cars, trucks, campers, planes, and people. It's about as well organized as you could expect. I'm trying to describe to my wife where I'm waiting for her. She's stuck in traffic a few blocks from me as cars continue to file into parking spaces.
I'm on the phone with her when I see it. It's Rhode Island turning away from me onto a road leading to more parking. I flip out and I start running after it (in retrospect I should have gotten on my bike).
I know at this point I have crossed the line between reality and something else entirely. To my dismay it doesn't turn into the parking lots and continues around a corner and over a hill. After sprinting for about 300 yards I'm out of breath and have lost Rhode Island. 'I lost it! I lost Rhode Island!' I frantically say to my wife who is still on the phone trying not to laugh too hard. I now sprint back to my bikes in time to meet her as she drops Sawyer off. Luckily, the bikes are still sitting there as I now realize I left my keys, money, and credit cards in the storage pack on the purple bike!
Sawyer and I get on our bikes and we are biking back to where I last saw Rhode Island. Allison tried to take a picture thru the car window because she couldn't stop laughing and got this shot of us as she drove off.
There is a parking lot over the hill. We look through it. No Rhode Island. After that is the exit to get on 41 and also an entrance to a restricted area requiring a permit.
Words cannot describe my disappointment at this point in the quest. What are the chances we'll see that one again or another Rhode Island? We might have to just cap this at 49 and be happy we got that many. At about this time Harper and Mom spot a West Virginia in the Outlet Mall parking lot (see picture below).
We are right next to a large fenced in area that houses all the small aircraft people flew in on. Their tents are set up right next to their planes. I tell Sawyer that I flew in a small plane like that one time. He asks me when and I said 'when I went to visit my girlfriend in Colorado'. He then says 'Is she still your girlfriend?' I almost fell off my bike, and I finally said 'mom is my girlfriend'. He thought that was pretty funny.
So Sawyer and I bike back to the other 3 I saw earlier to get those pictures taken. I then get an idea when I see the Security office nearby. I decide to tell them the story thinking either we'll get kicked out of there or they'll be able to help us. They were very receptive and thought it was cool but they didn't have a way to help us out. They suggested biking through the campgrounds and looking. Check that....already done. We were both biked out by this point.
I call my wife to tell her we'll meet them for lunch in 30 minutes. Sawyer and I are going to check another parking lot or two on our way out then we'll be there. To Be Continued....
Mississippi
West Virginia
Wyoming
EAA Part 2 - 2 needles in a haystack?
We head back one more time toward where Rhode Island was headed and I start checking rows of cars as we work back toward where my car is parked. These aren't campgrounds.....this is general parking.....but I'm seeing plenty of different plates here. I see people next to their car with a Massachusetts plate and I foolishly think hey maybe they know someone from Rhode Island here. I'm almost desparate enough to ask such a silly question. By this point Sawyer is now off his bike complaining about being tired and wanting to leave. I tell him let's just look through a few more rows of cars then we'll head back to the car and go get some lunch.
A few more rows turn up empty like expected. I almost decide to call it quits but decide to take on 2 more rows. We head down another row of cars like we've been doing all day. I wonder how many rows of campers and cars we've checked. Next thing you know we are both off our bikes high fiving each other and acting like fools. We did a selfie together as well. This is definitely a different Rhode Island plate and car than the other one.
We got all 50 in about one month! I kind of wish I would have left this person a note on their windshield with the name of the blog. If they only knew how happy they made an entire family just by seeing their license plate!
