Santa Fe to Sedona Az.

Ok, so now we are on day 5.. We are excited about getting off the super slab and getting to Sedona but today will still be a long day of riding. Jeff and I were ready to go by 7 as usual. Dave is still moving slow... Have I mentioned that we have to wait on Dave everywhere we go? 

Vic showed up at the hotel to get us, we were going to ride over to another local motel to meet Wayne and Mary a very nice couple from Missouri that are on a Goldwing Trike and Victors wife Lydia who will be following us in a truck. Kinda nice having a chase vehicle. So, now there were 5 bikes and a chase truck.. Vic was leading so we headed south towards Madrid NM. The road was a twisty, curvy two lane for most of it and as our luck would have there was 100 mile bicycle race happening along the route we took. So, after several miles of creeping along and dodging bicycles that wouldn't ride single file.. We finally made it to Madrid. This is where they filmed a lot of the movie "Wild Hogs".. We stopped at Maggie's Diner which was a focal point of the movie. It's not a diner anymore but a nice little biker tourist trap so we got pics and bought some Wild Hogs stuff.. It was a fun stop! 

After our stop in Madrid we hit the road for a long windy ride.. Got off the super slab for a bit and road down a pretty long section of old Route 66. Rode through a little rain shower and then gassed up before heading to Gallup NM for lunch. Did I mention it was windy... 40mph head wind makes it tough to enjoy the ride but we did anyway. Pulled into an Applebee's in Gallup just ahead of a dust storm. 

Had a nice lunch and got to know our new friends a little better. Then it was time to hit the road again. The bike were covered with dust and Jeff didn't even offer to clean Elsie up!  What the hell??? 

We cruised out of NM and saw the start of some amazing desert landscape! We stopped for pictures at the Arizona state line sign. 

In the pic below you see our buddy Victor. He's the one that organized this gathering. He lives in Santa Fe And knows the area pretty well. 

After crossing into Az we headed to Winslow. A little dried up town on Route 66 made famous buy the Eagles back in the 70's with the song "Take it easy" there is a lyric that says "Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see. there's a girl my Lord in a flat bed Ford slowin down to take a look at me" So, from the popularity of that song they made a mural and parked a flat bed ford on one of the corners. It's a tourist destination that we had to stop at and take pics! 

As luck would have it, our friend Dave  had been riding so far behind us that he didn't see us turn at Winslow... Oh well, he's a big boy and has a GPS.. He can make it to Sedona on his own!  LOL. 

From Winslow we headed south into the mountains towards Sedona. We were climbing steadily and already above 5000 feet fighting a headwind. Elsie is jetted and tuned for 2000 feet or less. She was sucking the gas just to keep up.. I could see my gas gauge dropping fast. I motioned to Vic that I needed gas and we rolled on to the nearest station. My tank was empty, my light had been on for about 20 miles and I was getting nervous. We pulled into a gas station at Strawberry Az. Their pumps didn't work.. DAMMMNITTTT!!!!  So it was 19 miles to the next station and the majority of that trip is down hill.. So, with no other choice, we took off. Once I got to the down hill grade I shut the bike off and coasted.. Did that for about 12 more miles. All down hill coasting.. LOL.. Rolled into the gas station and put 3.9 gallons in my 4.1 gallon tank.. LOL just barely made it. 

Needless to say this put us about an hour behind, but we cruised on through the mountains and watched a really nice sunset over the desert as we finished the ride into Sedona..  Whoooo hoooo!!! We made it! 

Wichita Falls to Santa Fe

I am posting this a couple of days after the fact because I have been too tired to post when we finished each days ride. 

We decided to get moving a little earlier this morning. The "free" breakfast hadn't even been served yet, but we did manage a cinnamon roll and some fruit. Jeff and I were packed and ready to roll by 7am... But not Dave. Dave only moves at two speeds: slow and stop, needless to say we were waiting on Dave! So, Jeff took the advantage of the extra time for a photo opportunity. By the big water tower

Dave finally got on his bike and we headed N.W. on Hwy 287 towards Amarillo. 287 is a nice ride with some fun sweeping curves. Had fun with the train engineers as we passed the trains, they gave us a honk on the horn as we passed. Rolled into Amarillo about 10:30 and stopped by the Harley shop to feed Jeff's addiction. Jeff paid $60 bucks for a blue poker chip and they gave him two tshirts for free. 

We headed west for just a few short miles and stopped at the Cadillac Ranch. Many years ago some guy burried a bunch of old Cadillacs front first out in a dirt field. Since then people have been spray painting graffiti on the cars for years. Just a part of history we had to see! 

From the Cadillac ranch we headed west on I-40.. Only about 40 miles to the Midpoint Cafe. It is the exact geographic middle of Route 66, half way between Chicago and Los Angeles. 

Good food, nice people and a nice bit of nostalgia!  Jeff even made a new friend while we were there.

We bought some Route 66 trinkets and hit the road towards Santa Fe..  

We were fighting a head wind the whole way, but wanted to find a more scenic route into Santa Fe other than I-40. So, I turned north on Hwy 84 towards the NM mountains and I-25. Hwy 84 is has a few long stretches and a few nice sweeper curves as it climbs up into the mountians. Jeff said he wanted a pic of him and the bike on a lonely open stretch of highway. So, we stopped along the road for a few pics. 

You can see the mountains in the background. 

We got to I-25 and gassed up for the last stretch in to Santa Fe. I-25 is a beautiful road through the mountains and down into a valley where Santa Fe sits. We checked into the hotel and then Victor met us there and took us to dinner at a New Mexican Resturant. It was a great day!! 

Baton Rouge to Wichita Falls Tx

Dave does not have the same routine as Jeff and I. As you know from past experience, We like to ride at least 40 miles before breakfast, sometimes that ends up being around a 100 miles or so. But Dave suggested we eat the "Free" breakfast at the hotel.. Not a bad idea because Jeff and I are both cheap asses.. However, this did cause us to get a later start than usual. We headed out about 8am. Riding in downtown Baton Rouge at 8am on a Friday is not a good idea! Bad traffic compounded buy a stalled vehicle in the center lane just before the Mississippi bridge.. Not a good start to a 600 mile ride. After we crossed the mighty Mississippi, traffic cleared out and we resumed highway speed.. Nice morning ride West on I-10 towards Lafayette LA. 

For those of you that think love bugs are only in Florida.. WRONG!! The spring flight of the Lousianna love bugs was in full swing. They are just as thick and just as nasty! As we turned north on I-49 toward Shereveport they were thick as ever.. We stopped for gas and a drink in Alexandria and to scrub off the bugs. 

Pics do not do them justice.

Running a little behind, and the speed limit being 75.. I put the spurs to Elsie and got on down the road towards Shreveport. Got there about 1:30 and we were hot, tired, hungry and still had 6hrs of riding to do. Had a lousy lunch at a truck stop, then headed west on I-20. God heated up the earth and made the wind start to blow as we crossed into Texas. 

The plan is to avoid Dallas by riding up Hwy 69 to Dennison and then shoot across 82 to Wichita Falls. It was a great plan, a nice ride and Jeff got to see some HUGE wheat fields (he's never seen a wheat field). He also got to see some mesquite bushes, and the wide open plains of north central Texas. Hwy 82 is a very nice ride, we avoided a thunderstorm and enjoyed the cool evening air as we roared into Wichita Falls.. Had a steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse then back to the Hotel for a much needed rest.. 

Jeff said we did 618 miles and we are feeling it tonight!

Lake city to Baton Rouge

So, my eyes slammed open at about 10min to 5am... Jeff was asleep but didn't take long for him to wake up and get the coffee brewing. He was even nice enough to put a cup for me and hand it to me. Sometimes he can be so sweet..  LOL

We headed out about 7am, after Jeff had to get a new key to the room because he left his jacket hanging in the closet. So, after he finally got ready we were off. It was a cool morning ride and I wished I had my big leather jacket on. But didn't want to stop to put it on so we kept going. Very nice smooth easy ride. Pulled into Tallahassee at about 8:30 and found a little hole in the wall cafe.. Food was good and coffee was hot, Jeff was happy. 

The rest of the ride West on I-10 was pretty uneventfull, kept a steady pace at about 72-74 mph. Both Elsie and Alberta were running great! 

Got into Pasgagoula MS about 2:00..  And had a late lunch at a Mexican place, Jeff didn't like it but I thought it was pretty good.. Only 164 miles to our destination for the night in Baton Rouge MS. 

Traffic picked up significantly as we rolled past the casinos at Biloxi and on into Baton Rouge, there was a lot of construction. The road sucked, the traffic was bad and the setting sun was in our eyes.. Needless to say this was not a fun part of the trip. However, we made it unscathed! Pulled into the hotel about 5:30 and our new friend Dave was there to meet us. We have been talking to Dave via the Suzuki 1500 forum for a few weeks and planned to meet there. Dave is going to ride the rest of the way to Sedona with us.. 

As Jeff and I were getting settled into the hotel, Dave took off saying he needed some new boots. So he left on his bike. A few min later I get a text from him saying he found a place for us to hang out tonight called Twin Peaks!!  Whooll hoooo.. A chain "Breasturant" that of course is right up our alley. So, when Dave got back to the hotel we all took off on our bikes headed for Twin Peaks! 

Just so happens that tonight is their monthly Bike Night... LOL.. We all know how Jeff feels about Bike Nights... LOL...  But he rose to the occasion and we had a good time. Food was good, scenery was better!! Anyway, I like the way Dave thinks!  Pics are below... We are currently tucked in at the hotel. Tomorrow we head for Wichita Falls Tx!!  

This is Dave... 

Florida to Sedona Arizona

Yes, that's right folks my buddy Jeff and I are riding from Florida to Arizona!!!   Yeah Baby!!  It's an epic trip that Jeff and I have been dreaming about for months!  Started as a joke, I sent him the information about a Gathering of bikers from the Suzuki 1500 forum and he was like..  OK, lets go! 

So, today we left Vero Beach at 5:30pm after Jeff got off work. Stopped for gas in Turkey Creek and then for dinner in Ocala. We ate at the Big Rascal BBQ..  it was not exciting, because as you know from previous blog posts Jeff and I have had the best BBQ in the world!  This was not it!   I suppose it will make a turd in the morning...  Mission accomplished!

We stopped for the night in Lake City.. By coming up here tonight we basically cut about 100 miles off each day to get to Sedona.  Tomorrow we are meeting a guy named Dave from the forum in Baton Rouge LA. More to come from the road!

Ride over to WV.

The Train ride wasn't bad, had two seats to myself and a 110v plug so I was good to go! Funny thing about this train, it's time for the snowbirds to go back north. So, all of them are on this train!! The Geezer Express! I had my iPad and some Benadryl, so after Django Unchained I drank some Baileys and took two Benadryl.... I was out like a light..

The next morning we pulled into Lorton VA about 8:30... An hour early! Whoo Hoooo!

The Amtrak guys unloaded the 5 bikes off the train with a little John Deer tractor... Pictured below. It's just pretty cool how they do it..

A little chilly here in VA.. I put my leathers on!!! Forecast is 80% rain for later, better enjoy the ride while I can.

I took off about 9:30, headed for Wheeling WV. It's about 288 miles, with stops for gas and one stop for lunch it was a 5 hour ride. Nice and cool. The traffic wasn't bad for a Sunday morning. Was an easy ride on the beltway around Washington D.C.

Headed west on I-70 up to Hagarstown MD. Needed gas and the sky's were getting dark. Had breakfast for lunch then decided I would gear up for the cold and rain... Good thing too. I hit rain just outside Hagarstown just as I merged onto I-68. Not bad though, just light stuff. Being the good Eagle Scout that I am, I had my full face helmet, leather and rain gear so all was well. If you look at I-68 on the map below you can tell that it is pretty twisty and curvy. Very fun to ride and sme beautiful mountain views..... Even in the rain!

Rode out of the rain just north of Morganstown WV... Traffic was too heavy and rain prevented me from getting the Welcome to WV sign, so I had to wait for another opportunity to get that. I did however make a turn north on Hwy 43 (whole nother story for that) and headed up to take a small slice do SW Pennsylvania. Although, there is no indication that Hwy 43 is a TOLL ROAD!!! Until you are on it... Sneaky bastards!! Anyway, I got the Pennsylvania sign and I can color in WV and PA on my map patch!

I rolled into Wheeling WV about 5:00.. And went up to the Oglebay Resort where I saw to stay for a week of Management Training... Will head home on Friday.. More to come after Friday's ride..

Auto train FL to Va

Auto Train? What the hell is that?.. And what does it have to do with Life On Two Wheelz? Well sit back and lemme tell ya.

Today, Jeff, Sherry, and my lovely bride Karyn rode with me up to Sanford Florida to see me off on my trip. It was a beautiful cool spring morning ride of about 120 miles up to the train station. We met Chris at the Osteen Diner for a nice lunch with a very cute 19 y/o waitress (Karissa) that Jeff was sure had "Daddy" issues. But that's another story.

After lunch, following the GPS, we were led through Da Hood in Sanford Fl, it was pretty scary! Would not want to do that again.. But we arrived at the train station about 1:30. The rest of the group parked their bikes and I immediately got my bike secured on the train carrier. It's really pretty awesome! I have done this one time back in 2010 when a couple of friends and I took the train up to DC for rolling thunder. They have you ride your bike up on the carrier into some wheel chocks. Then they secure the front wheel/fork assembly with ratchet straps.. See pic below:

That's Jeff standing behind my bike.

The train will take me as far as Lorton Virginia. It is a 17 hour ride, they serve dinner and breakfast tomorrow morning. They have a lounge car with drinks and snacks.. Because of the time of year, I am one of the youngest of 466 people on this train. All the snowbirds are going back north. The waiting room at the station was like a sea of blue/gray hair... Talk about the Geezer Express!!

I am typing this as we are moving.. The clickty clack of the rails and the motion is making me sleepy.. More to come later.