Former 'easy rider' recalls trip of lifetime
Fountain Inn man relives cross-country motorcycle trek he took 50 years ago
January 24, 2007
GREENEVILLE, SC -- Harold Loew of Fountain Inn held up his brown leather jacket, a little small for him now, a little faded too, but the same one he wore when he rode his 1957 Harley-Davidson motorcycle across the country 50 years ago this month.
"The leather must have shrunk," Loew said.
He'd saved coins in a jar for years to buy his new Harley for $1,594 from a friend's shop in his home state of New Jersey.
He was young and single, and he wanted to take a ride across the country. So he and two friends mapped out a trip that would take them down to the Southern coast and across the country to the Pacific Ocean.
Loew can't find the journal he kept every night of his ride, but he still has the memories locked up in his mind and scrawled on dozens of postcards he sent to his parents, Everett and Mary Loew, and to his girlfriend and future wife, Anita Brown.
Loew left with a full tank of gas and $300 in his pocket on the afternoon of Jan. 4, 1957. He'd return Jan. 20.
The trio bit off 500-mile chunks of highway each day and stopped for the night in Camden, S.C., on their way south.
"Mr. Everett Loew: We rode in snow for two hours Sat. morning, getting warmer all the time."
In Camden, they stayed at a boarding house and ate fried chicken and all the fixings. They wanted to leave early the next morning and asked to pay the night before. They paid $2.50 each.
"We thought they meant that was for the meal and asked how much the room would be, but found they meant the price included the room," Loew said.
The men paid $10 for the most expensive room on the trip, and that was for all three of them.
When they reached Florida, they turned west and drove toward Texas, where they spent almost three days driving from one end to the other.
"Miss Anita Brown: Hi, Well it is Monday night and we are in Texas. I really miss you and the gang. I will be home in less than two weeks from now. Keep Emma under control. Harold"
Loew married Brown at the end of that year. After she died of cancer in 1991, he met and married Nancy Loew five years later.
His children constantly heard stories about his trip as they grew up, like the one where almost didn't make it to California.
"Mr. And Mrs. Everett Loew: Got in San Diego 10 a.m. Fri. Then we rode to L.A. Had a flat tire 65 miles from the Cal. border out in the desert. Harold"
It was a back tire that blew out on the interstate in the middle of the desert. Traveling companion Chick Volkmar used a hand pump to blow the air tube back up and sealed it. Loew bought a new tire once the group arrived in San Diego.
"Miss Anita Brown: Well we made it. Pasadena is really a pretty town. This is where they have the big Rose Bowl parade. Harold"
"That's about the closest I ever got to the Rose Bowl was riding up the road there about 10 days late," Loew said.
They spent two days in California then turned the cycles around and headed home.
"You don't see a whole lot going that fast, that many days," Loew said. "We were only gone 16 days."
One stop they made was Carlsbad Caverns, N.M.
They ate lunch and explored the caves then headed for the Harleys and hit the road again.
They went through cold and ice on the way back up the East Coast, but arrived safely in Bridgeton, N.J., on Jan. 20, running low on gas and money.
Loew had less than $1 left in his pocket.
"He saved enough to get across the new Delaware Memorial Bridge, had change to get to the toll to get back," daughter Vicki Godfrey said.
One last postcard he sent from Crestview, Fla., to his soon-to-be wife.
"Miss Anita Brown: This is the place we stayed Thur. night. I will be home when you get this card. I hope. Harold"
The three did make it back. Loew's fellow travelers, Volkmar and Marvin Cobb, have since died, and Loew has given up his Harley rides for a quieter life.
Now, retired and living on a country road outside Fountain Inn, Loew still tells the story of his 7,000-mile ride
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Originally Posted by Meanie
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