Sunday, Day 8:
Woke up early.. Again.. Sighh.. got all day to ride to get home so after a quick lousy breakfast at the Key West Inn.. we hit the road just before sun rise. We are headed east down Hwy 280 through the Appalachian Mountains of central AL.. beautiful ride, great road and gorgeous scenery.. except for the sun burning our retinas off as we top each rise.. Did I mention that the sun rises in the East?... well it does! was a beautiful ride though and not a lot of traffic. We stopped in Columbus GA for gas and a little break. Long stretches now between stops. Elsie is getting great gas mileage and running very smooth, getting about 120+ miles out of a tank. Jeff is hanging in there.. We stopped at Tifton GA for lunch right on I-75.. we can smell Florida from here!
After lunch Jeff suggested we take more frequent breaks between gas stops to make it a little easier on us, and that was a great Idea. So, I stopped every 40-60 miles and gassed up every other stop.. This seemed to be working well as we weren't so worn out from 120 mile non-stop stretches. Putting miles behind us steadily inching every closer to home on the map.. Warm and sunny just like FL is supposed to be. It was a beautiful day to ride.. The last stop was at YeeHaw Junction just before dusk to say our goodbys and talk about the trip.. we agreed it was an incredible adventure one that we will never forget.. we are tired, road weary and the bikes are dirtier than they have EVER been.. but it's all worth it.45 more minutes to ride and we'll be home. We took off one more time and cruised down Hwy 60 toward Vero Beach.. Jeff peeled off at I-95 and rode down to Ft. Pierce and I continued on home. I pulled into my drive way at 8:00pm.. I sent a text Becky to let her know Jeff would be home soon.. WOW!! what a great trip!
SUMMARY:
8 days on the road..traveling through FL, AL, MS, LA, TX, OK, AR, TN and back through AL, GA and FL. That's 9 states in 8 days. Elsie said 3,214 miles total.
Damage to the bikes: Both our horns quit working after we rode 300 miles in the rain.. LOL, Elsie's right front driving light went out somewhere in Arkansas and Jeff's pipes were fouled down where his rain suit made contact and melted..
Near Death Experiences: only a couple, but we were lucky and no one was injured. Although one cage driver did receive the universal sign of disapproval from me as they ducked back into their lane..
What would we do different:
1) Invest in better rain gear
2) Heated gloves
3) Don't ride in the dark, on unfamiliar roads while it's raining.
4) Clean the windshields more often
5) Don't let Jeff pack all the crap he brought
What we want to go back and do again:
1) The Natchez Trace Parkway.... ALL of it
2) The Vicksburg Battleground
3) Hwy 10 in Eastern OK.
4) The Pig Trail in AR.
5) Corky's BBQ in Memphis! A definite!
We had a great trip!! Jeff is a great riding partner.. give us a couple days to catch up and we'll be ready to go again! LETS RIDE!!!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Best BBQ we've ever had
Saturday: Woke up early!! too damn early.. this routine is starting to wear on me.. NO! it's not the 400-500 miles of riding everyday that's wearing me down.. it's Jeff getting up too damn early.. He says "Can't ride all day if you don't get up early".. Did he bring me a cup of coffee? no, of course not.. we got packed up and headed downstairs for the FREE breakfast. 46 degrees outside, and Dawn hasn't bared her crack yet.
Elsie's crankcase was getting a little thirsty and needed a 1/2 a quart of oil.. so we rode down the street a little and got her a drink. Gassed up, and we left Mountain Home AR just before the sun peeked over the mountain. We were headed East.. Last time I looked the sun rose in the East.. it was a beautiful mountain morning all be it a little chilly but the road was twisty, curvy and hilly only draw back was as we would come over the high parts we'd get blinded by the sun in our eyes. One time I looked back to check on Jeff and he was gone!!! "OH NO" I said.. "Did he go down on that last curve?" So, I whipped Elsie around and roared back down the road only to find him in a abandoned gas station parking lot cleaning his windshield.. Whew! he's not dead.. or injured.. he just can't see through his windshield when the sun hits him (damn thing is too tall anyway, or he's too short!).. Back on the road, we enjoyed the ride! a beautiful run in the crisp mountain air on a great road. Stopped for gas about 100 miles later in Jonesboro Arkansas..
One of the guys we had lunch with in Eureka Springs yesterday is on a online forum called "The Slackers" that we both frequent and post on.(To Slack is to ride your motorcycle regardless of work or family responsibilities. Jeff and I have been Slacking for the past 6 days!) There is another guy on there that also rides a red & white Suzuki Intruder just like Elsie.. His name is BBQ Steve.. I knew he was a manager at a BBQ place in Memphis but wasn't sure which one. Last night I posted up on the Slacker forum if anyone knew what the name of it was and how to get ahold of Steve.. While stopped in Jonesboro I checked my messages and sure enough someone had answered. Larry from Nashville (whom I had met last year in TN) had given me the info. I told Jeff we were going to Corky's BBQ in Memphis for lunch. Tears came to his eyes and he said: "Corky's!! Are you Serious?".. Well, hell I didn't know that Corky's was WORLD famous for being the Best BBQ in Memphis.. but apparently Jeff did. So, I called Steve and he was excited to know we were headed that way and told me to ask for him when we got there.. So off we went to Memphis.. This just proves the "Bubba Network" is alive and flourishing in the biker community!
About an hour and a 1/2 later we were crossing the Majestic Mississippi river out of Arkansas and into Memphis Tennessee, I had been there several times but this was Jeff's first time.. We rolled slowly across the bridge so Jeff could take a good look and about 20 min later we pulled into the parking lot at Corky's.. it was about 11:30 and the place was already packed. Went in and asked for Steve, the lady at the front kinda dropped her gaze to the floor and took a big sigh and said "you guys are Steve's buddies?" She walked off and another guy was standing there so I asked "Should we follow her?" and he said, "If you wanna eat, you'll follow me" so we did.. He led us to a table and Steve met us there. Greeting us like long lost friends he pulled up a chair and we started talking about our ride.. The waitress came over and looked a little surprised that Steve was giving us such personal attention.. Then Steve told her to get our drink order and bring us some Pork nachos and that he would go back in the kitchen and "Put together something for us".. Jeff just sat there grinning like the Cheshire Cat.. Steve sat with us for a few more minutes while we devoured the nachos, telling us all about Corky's and the amazing amounts of food they cook everyday.. Then he got up to go back and fix us "A Little Something".. OMG!! it took four servers to bring us the massive amount of food he got for us. People in the restaurant we looking at us funny.. Steve was just happy as a clam to see the looks on our faces.. Jeff was surrounded in a bright glowing white light with the sound of angels singing "Hallelujah... Hallelujah.... Halle.. lujah!!!"
We had dry rub ribs, brisket, turkey, pork, sausage, catfish, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad and bread..and truly was "The BEST BBQ we ever had" Just a couple of hogs in Hog Heaven! we ate until we couldn't breath.. LOL.. Steve sat with us and we talked about rides, bikes, BBQ and Corky's.. we had a great time!! it could not have been better. Then as we were about to leave Steve handed us a sack with our leftover rack of dry ribs, four bottles of rub, and two Corky's T-shirts.. and all this on the house!! Jeff asked to see the BBQ pit and without hesitation Steve took him back to the kitchen.. Can't beat that kind of hospitality and personal attention.. What a great experience!!
Steve is the guy to the right of Jeff in the pic to the left. the one below is Steve sitting with us at the table. What a great guy!! a definite highlight of the trip.
Stuffed to the gills we decided that since we were in Memphis we MUST ride by Graceland and pay our respects to "The King".. so off we went to visit Elvis.. it was only about 12 minutes away, but the traffic was a nightmare, and you know how Jeff gets in traffic..but we made it unscathed and got our pictures next to Graceland!
It was about 2:00 now and we needed to get as far south as we could.. I wanted to get through Birmingham Alabama before we stopped for the night. from there we could make it home on Sunday. So, we headed down Hwy 78 toward Birmingham.. 78 is not the best road in the world, but it has it's scenic moments and is 4 lane divided highway. Birmingham was about 4 hrs away.. Just before Tupelo MS we pulled off to take a break.. All that heavy BBQ and shear amounts of food was making us tired and sleepy, so we had to shake it off before we could finish the ride. Rolled into Birmingham about 6:30pm and worked our way over to Hwy 280.. Birmingham sits in the Heart of the Appalachian Mountains and is VERY hilly and has some very steep roads.. Beautiful but you have to be careful. Talladega Speed way is only about 30 min from there but I think most of the residents of Birmingham think the city streets are mini NASCAR race tracks.. it was a little hairy getting through the traffic on 280.. as you can imagine Jeff was whining like a girl with her vagina full of sand.. We only had 30 miles to go.. but you'd think I was making him plow a 10 acre field with a kitchen knife.. OH!! the DRAMA!!
We pulled in to Childersburg AL.. just as the sun sank below the horizon. I wanted to go about 10 miles further to Sylacauga AL but there was a rain storm sitting right over it. We stopped at a Key West Inn to see if they had rooms and they had one for $65... SOLD!! we were done for the day.. bellies full of The BEST BBQ we ever had.. and we didn't get rained on... it was a great day!
Elsie's crankcase was getting a little thirsty and needed a 1/2 a quart of oil.. so we rode down the street a little and got her a drink. Gassed up, and we left Mountain Home AR just before the sun peeked over the mountain. We were headed East.. Last time I looked the sun rose in the East.. it was a beautiful mountain morning all be it a little chilly but the road was twisty, curvy and hilly only draw back was as we would come over the high parts we'd get blinded by the sun in our eyes. One time I looked back to check on Jeff and he was gone!!! "OH NO" I said.. "Did he go down on that last curve?" So, I whipped Elsie around and roared back down the road only to find him in a abandoned gas station parking lot cleaning his windshield.. Whew! he's not dead.. or injured.. he just can't see through his windshield when the sun hits him (damn thing is too tall anyway, or he's too short!).. Back on the road, we enjoyed the ride! a beautiful run in the crisp mountain air on a great road. Stopped for gas about 100 miles later in Jonesboro Arkansas..
One of the guys we had lunch with in Eureka Springs yesterday is on a online forum called "The Slackers" that we both frequent and post on.(To Slack is to ride your motorcycle regardless of work or family responsibilities. Jeff and I have been Slacking for the past 6 days!) There is another guy on there that also rides a red & white Suzuki Intruder just like Elsie.. His name is BBQ Steve.. I knew he was a manager at a BBQ place in Memphis but wasn't sure which one. Last night I posted up on the Slacker forum if anyone knew what the name of it was and how to get ahold of Steve.. While stopped in Jonesboro I checked my messages and sure enough someone had answered. Larry from Nashville (whom I had met last year in TN) had given me the info. I told Jeff we were going to Corky's BBQ in Memphis for lunch. Tears came to his eyes and he said: "Corky's!! Are you Serious?".. Well, hell I didn't know that Corky's was WORLD famous for being the Best BBQ in Memphis.. but apparently Jeff did. So, I called Steve and he was excited to know we were headed that way and told me to ask for him when we got there.. So off we went to Memphis.. This just proves the "Bubba Network" is alive and flourishing in the biker community!
About an hour and a 1/2 later we were crossing the Majestic Mississippi river out of Arkansas and into Memphis Tennessee, I had been there several times but this was Jeff's first time.. We rolled slowly across the bridge so Jeff could take a good look and about 20 min later we pulled into the parking lot at Corky's.. it was about 11:30 and the place was already packed. Went in and asked for Steve, the lady at the front kinda dropped her gaze to the floor and took a big sigh and said "you guys are Steve's buddies?" She walked off and another guy was standing there so I asked "Should we follow her?" and he said, "If you wanna eat, you'll follow me" so we did.. He led us to a table and Steve met us there. Greeting us like long lost friends he pulled up a chair and we started talking about our ride.. The waitress came over and looked a little surprised that Steve was giving us such personal attention.. Then Steve told her to get our drink order and bring us some Pork nachos and that he would go back in the kitchen and "Put together something for us".. Jeff just sat there grinning like the Cheshire Cat.. Steve sat with us for a few more minutes while we devoured the nachos, telling us all about Corky's and the amazing amounts of food they cook everyday.. Then he got up to go back and fix us "A Little Something".. OMG!! it took four servers to bring us the massive amount of food he got for us. People in the restaurant we looking at us funny.. Steve was just happy as a clam to see the looks on our faces.. Jeff was surrounded in a bright glowing white light with the sound of angels singing "Hallelujah... Hallelujah.... Halle.. lujah!!!"
Stuffed to the gills we decided that since we were in Memphis we MUST ride by Graceland and pay our respects to "The King".. so off we went to visit Elvis.. it was only about 12 minutes away, but the traffic was a nightmare, and you know how Jeff gets in traffic..but we made it unscathed and got our pictures next to Graceland!
We pulled in to Childersburg AL.. just as the sun sank below the horizon. I wanted to go about 10 miles further to Sylacauga AL but there was a rain storm sitting right over it. We stopped at a Key West Inn to see if they had rooms and they had one for $65... SOLD!! we were done for the day.. bellies full of The BEST BBQ we ever had.. and we didn't get rained on... it was a great day!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Pig Trail
Friday... Woke up early at my friend Jeff's house ( no not the one I'm riding with my long time friend from Oklahoma). Biscuts and Gravy were waiting for us before we left. Jeff and his wife Monica are great friends and treated us like family.. We said our goodby's and headed east toward Talequah OK. When most people think of Oklahoma they think of dusty farm land with oil derricks and savage Indians... And there are parts that are like that, however the part of OK that we rode through today not many people know exists. We were entering the Ozark mountain foothills and turned north on hwy 10.. This little twisty, windy road follows the Illinois river up toward hwy 412 which will take us into NW Arkansas.. Along hwy 10 you could see the river in several places and it was swollen and rolling along quickly due to all the rain in the last few days. There were also sheer rock bluffs hanging over the road and wide open vistas between the valleys. It is a gorgeous ride. Even though it was sprinkling rain and a little too chilly for our taste, we still loved the Ride! Jeff was like a kid at Disney World, I kept having to slow down and let him catch up. He was too busy looking at stuff and not paying attention to the distance between us. Hwy 10 led us up to 412 and we turned east and headed for Arkansas.
I stopped at the "Welcome to Arkansas" sign but Jeff didn't see it and couldn't understand why I was stopping... Goofy ass old man.. I have stopped at every state line we crossed so Jeff can get a picture, except for TX only because I didn't see a sign and Tennessee because the sign was in the middle of the bridge over the Mississippi. So we got the picture at the AR sign and off we went. Just a short ride down 412 untill we got to Hwy 23 known as "The Pig Trail" this rode winds up to Eureka Springs for about 20 miles and was Super curvy, hilly with twistys and a great road surface... VERY fun ride!
While in Eureka Springs we met three guys from an online forum that both Jeff and I frequent. They all lived within 60 miles of Eureka and rode over to have lunch us at the Roadhouse. It is a great little biker friendly place right off the main tourist trap spots in Eureka. We spent too much time there just BSing Witt those guys talking about bikes, clubs, forums and rides, but it was great to hang out with those guys for a while. They took off back home and Jeff and I headed back into town. The pic below is of Wayne and I at the Roadhouse in Eureka Springs.
Stopped at Pig Trail Harley so Jeff could once again feed his addiction to the marketing beast that is Harley Davidson.. I think he only bought one T-shirt this time.. He is running out of space on his bike to carry all his shit.. And I'm not carrying his shit on my bike, so he's going to have to quit buying stuff. He's rivaled Karyn's spending habits this whole trip! Left Eureka about 2 hours later than I planned but who cares we are just out here to ride. We cruised down hwy 62 from Eureka to Mountain Home Ar and pulled into a Holiday Inn express just at dusk. We were cold and tired.. Time to stop. Got in the room and ordered a pizza... To tired to go looking for local flair.. Good night!
I stopped at the "Welcome to Arkansas" sign but Jeff didn't see it and couldn't understand why I was stopping... Goofy ass old man.. I have stopped at every state line we crossed so Jeff can get a picture, except for TX only because I didn't see a sign and Tennessee because the sign was in the middle of the bridge over the Mississippi. So we got the picture at the AR sign and off we went. Just a short ride down 412 untill we got to Hwy 23 known as "The Pig Trail" this rode winds up to Eureka Springs for about 20 miles and was Super curvy, hilly with twistys and a great road surface... VERY fun ride!
While in Eureka Springs we met three guys from an online forum that both Jeff and I frequent. They all lived within 60 miles of Eureka and rode over to have lunch us at the Roadhouse. It is a great little biker friendly place right off the main tourist trap spots in Eureka. We spent too much time there just BSing Witt those guys talking about bikes, clubs, forums and rides, but it was great to hang out with those guys for a while. They took off back home and Jeff and I headed back into town. The pic below is of Wayne and I at the Roadhouse in Eureka Springs.
Stopped at Pig Trail Harley so Jeff could once again feed his addiction to the marketing beast that is Harley Davidson.. I think he only bought one T-shirt this time.. He is running out of space on his bike to carry all his shit.. And I'm not carrying his shit on my bike, so he's going to have to quit buying stuff. He's rivaled Karyn's spending habits this whole trip! Left Eureka about 2 hours later than I planned but who cares we are just out here to ride. We cruised down hwy 62 from Eureka to Mountain Home Ar and pulled into a Holiday Inn express just at dusk. We were cold and tired.. Time to stop. Got in the room and ordered a pizza... To tired to go looking for local flair.. Good night!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Get Your Kicks on Route 66
Day Five! Oklahoma City..
We slept a little later than we wanted, but it was ok, we planned on spending most of the day in OKC anyway. We rode across the street to a Wafflehouse (second time this trip I got Jeff to eat there) for breakfast, then a quick hop over to OKC Harley to hand off the HD flag Jeff has been dragging around with us for 1500 miles. We met Jeff's buddy from the Harley forum and made the hand off. Jeff had $55 burning a hole in his pocket so he bought a Harley T-shirt with it... ALL of it.. $55 for one T-shirt! Jesus!!!
After watching Jeff get raped by Harley, we headed over to my Moms to visit with her for a little while. She was in good spirits and we had a really nice visit. The Red Bud trees in OKC were blooming and Jeff was impressed and even took some pictures. We took a eye witness view of the weather and it looked like there was a big storm between us and Tulsa right along Route 66 where we want to go. So, we decided to go visit the National Western Heritage museum,used to be the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. I had been there several times but it had been about 20 years. Jeff is a big Western fanatic so he was in heaven.. It gave us plenty of time to for the storm to clear..The pics below are from statues inside the museum.
The Sun peeked out just long enough for us to get out and ride towards Tulsa. We headed NE up Historic Route 66. Most of the original concrete road is gone but there are a few spots you can still see the historic road. We past by the big red barn at Arcadia and through several small towns that time forgot. Ever since they put in I-44 along the same route as 66.. All those little towns have all but dried up. But it made for some very scenic riding and a couple good pics for Jeff. We had a great ride!
Made it to my friends house in Bixby Oklahoma just at dusk.. Had a great day and stayed dry for the most part. Day 6 we'll be in Arkansas!!
We slept a little later than we wanted, but it was ok, we planned on spending most of the day in OKC anyway. We rode across the street to a Wafflehouse (second time this trip I got Jeff to eat there) for breakfast, then a quick hop over to OKC Harley to hand off the HD flag Jeff has been dragging around with us for 1500 miles. We met Jeff's buddy from the Harley forum and made the hand off. Jeff had $55 burning a hole in his pocket so he bought a Harley T-shirt with it... ALL of it.. $55 for one T-shirt! Jesus!!!
After watching Jeff get raped by Harley, we headed over to my Moms to visit with her for a little while. She was in good spirits and we had a really nice visit. The Red Bud trees in OKC were blooming and Jeff was impressed and even took some pictures. We took a eye witness view of the weather and it looked like there was a big storm between us and Tulsa right along Route 66 where we want to go. So, we decided to go visit the National Western Heritage museum,used to be the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. I had been there several times but it had been about 20 years. Jeff is a big Western fanatic so he was in heaven.. It gave us plenty of time to for the storm to clear..The pics below are from statues inside the museum.
The Sun peeked out just long enough for us to get out and ride towards Tulsa. We headed NE up Historic Route 66. Most of the original concrete road is gone but there are a few spots you can still see the historic road. We past by the big red barn at Arcadia and through several small towns that time forgot. Ever since they put in I-44 along the same route as 66.. All those little towns have all but dried up. But it made for some very scenic riding and a couple good pics for Jeff. We had a great ride!
Made it to my friends house in Bixby Oklahoma just at dusk.. Had a great day and stayed dry for the most part. Day 6 we'll be in Arkansas!!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Stupid is as Stupid does..
Day Four, Thurdsay in Vicksburg Mississippi
Jeff got up about 03:30am... Guess he had to pee from that 5 gallon bucket of ice water he drank at supper last night. So, now we are both up! We decided to attempt to outsmart mother nature by leaving ASAP and ride through what was left of the storms and make it over to Oklahoma on the back side of it. That was our first mistake..
We packed up, well... Wait, I was packed up and ready to go by 4:30. Jeff on the other hand was taking his own sweet time trying to find all his stuff and then re-pack it... And I'll say it again "I wish Becky was here". So, I had time to run up the street to get some trash bags and some duct tape. Needed to engineer something to keep my boots dry.. And I did! It worked (for the most part). So, Jeff finally gets all his "Stuff" packed on his bike and we are ready to hit the road.. 05:00 or so now. It was DARK!! Raining, and windy... "Stupid is as Stupid does" Leaving in this was our second mistake.
We headed out on to I20 at Vicksburg which sits right on the eastern edge of the Mississippi river, which Jeff had never been across. We crossed it in the dark, so he didn't get the full experience...Oh well, we have to cross it again to get home. As we cruised down I20 the rain is getting harder every mile we head west. We have about 70 miles to go to get to Monroe LA where we turn north off the "Big Road".. About 50 miles into the ride today we hit a single lane construction.. I look back, to keep an eye on Jeff and I really can't see him.. He has slowed WAY down. I slowed down so, he could catch me.. At the very next exit I pull off into a truck stop to see if he's ok. He really couldnt see through his windshield, and needed to clean it off. We decided that we should just wait till it got light before we continued on.... The only "smart" decision we had made so far.
Dawn showed us her crack about 7:30... And we felt it was bright enough for us to continue west/NW... So off we go. Still raining, windy and cold, but we are determined! Got past Monroe LA and turned north onto hwy 15.. Going to take that up to El Dorado Ark.. This was a Gorgeous little road, full of curves and hills, old buildings and quaint little towns very fun to ride! Did I mention it was still raining? Well, it was... Still... Kinda put a damper on the ride, but we were gonna have a good time no matter what. Oh and by the way my trash sack/duct tape engineering is working great on my boots! As we crossed into Arkansas I didn't stop to get a picture by the sign. It was pouring.. Seriously! so we kept riding. We pulled into a gas stop at El Dorada AR after two solid hours of riding in the cold, windy rain storm.. "Stupid is as Stupid does". The people in this little town were nice, out going and all thought we were insane riding motorcycles in this weather(they were right).. So, after a short warm up/dry out we decided to change direction to attempt to get out of this BULL SHIT weather.. So, we headed west down hwy 82 towards Texarkana Texas. As you might have guessed Jeff ain't never been to Texas, so why not!
The theory was that the farther west we ride the lighter the rain would get.. Yeah, that was the theory. The sky was getting lighter, but the rain was getting harder, and just it looked like it was letting up, it would pour again. . I had my rain suit on, but it couldn't keep up. I had water going down my back, my front, my crotch...down my legs.. I was soaked. But we kept on riding, only had 90 miles to go to get out of this.. As we pulled into Texarkana the sky's parted and we could see blue sky!! We had been delivered! Pulled into a gas stop to get fuel, dry off and check in with family and emails. Went to get my phone out of the "sealed" pocket of my rain suit and my phone was dripping with water. It was dead!! DAMNIT!!! So much for the sealed part.. Oh well, Jeff's phone still works so we let everyone know to just use his phone till I get mine replaced. The sun is out now... So, we took off for Oklahoma. We turned north at Paris Texas and would cross the Red River into God's Country soon.
The sun was out, it was beautiful!! A nice change to the previous 300 miles we had rode in the Rain!! Crossed the Res River and stopped at the OKLAHOMA sign for pictures.. WE MADE IT!! going to be in Oklahoma city tonight!
We pulled into a casino convenience store just outside Hugo OK to get gas and give everyone updates. About 30 min later the sky's darkened once again and we had a huge storm bearing down on us.. We mounted up and roared out of there racing ahead of the storm. Instead of taking back roads into the storm, I took us up the Indian Nations Turnpike towards I40. About 100 miles due north. We skirted along the edge of that storm for the full 100 miles. Got off the turnpike to get gas right at I40.. Time to head west into Oklahoma City, we are so close now.. Only 90 miles to go!! But that storm was in our way. We rode 20 miles west to Okemah OK then pulled off to put our rain get on yet again..
We were tired of riding in the rain! Took a look at the weather while stopped in Okemah, looked at the radar to see what we were in for. As luck would have it there was a gap between the storm cells so we decided to stay there and wait. Just happened to be a Mexican food place across the street, and an abandoned gas station with an awning that we could park the bikes under.. Things are looking up!
After supper we went back to the bikes and in just a few min the rain stopped.. We had an option to stay put as there was a Days Inn right there but I wanted to get to Oklahoma City! It was only 70 miles... We decided to shoot the gap and pray that we made it! We headed west down 1-40.... In the Dark, but it wasn't raining! We cruised into the hotel just north of the Will Rogers Airport at 9:30pm.. 5 States, 600 miles and 14 hours of riding.. and we made it!!
Going to go visit my Mom today... And Jeff is going to pass off his HD flag..,we head up Route 66 towards Tulsa later today.
Jeff got up about 03:30am... Guess he had to pee from that 5 gallon bucket of ice water he drank at supper last night. So, now we are both up! We decided to attempt to outsmart mother nature by leaving ASAP and ride through what was left of the storms and make it over to Oklahoma on the back side of it. That was our first mistake..
We packed up, well... Wait, I was packed up and ready to go by 4:30. Jeff on the other hand was taking his own sweet time trying to find all his stuff and then re-pack it... And I'll say it again "I wish Becky was here". So, I had time to run up the street to get some trash bags and some duct tape. Needed to engineer something to keep my boots dry.. And I did! It worked (for the most part). So, Jeff finally gets all his "Stuff" packed on his bike and we are ready to hit the road.. 05:00 or so now. It was DARK!! Raining, and windy... "Stupid is as Stupid does" Leaving in this was our second mistake.
We headed out on to I20 at Vicksburg which sits right on the eastern edge of the Mississippi river, which Jeff had never been across. We crossed it in the dark, so he didn't get the full experience...Oh well, we have to cross it again to get home. As we cruised down I20 the rain is getting harder every mile we head west. We have about 70 miles to go to get to Monroe LA where we turn north off the "Big Road".. About 50 miles into the ride today we hit a single lane construction.. I look back, to keep an eye on Jeff and I really can't see him.. He has slowed WAY down. I slowed down so, he could catch me.. At the very next exit I pull off into a truck stop to see if he's ok. He really couldnt see through his windshield, and needed to clean it off. We decided that we should just wait till it got light before we continued on.... The only "smart" decision we had made so far.
Dawn showed us her crack about 7:30... And we felt it was bright enough for us to continue west/NW... So off we go. Still raining, windy and cold, but we are determined! Got past Monroe LA and turned north onto hwy 15.. Going to take that up to El Dorado Ark.. This was a Gorgeous little road, full of curves and hills, old buildings and quaint little towns very fun to ride! Did I mention it was still raining? Well, it was... Still... Kinda put a damper on the ride, but we were gonna have a good time no matter what. Oh and by the way my trash sack/duct tape engineering is working great on my boots! As we crossed into Arkansas I didn't stop to get a picture by the sign. It was pouring.. Seriously! so we kept riding. We pulled into a gas stop at El Dorada AR after two solid hours of riding in the cold, windy rain storm.. "Stupid is as Stupid does". The people in this little town were nice, out going and all thought we were insane riding motorcycles in this weather(they were right).. So, after a short warm up/dry out we decided to change direction to attempt to get out of this BULL SHIT weather.. So, we headed west down hwy 82 towards Texarkana Texas. As you might have guessed Jeff ain't never been to Texas, so why not!
The theory was that the farther west we ride the lighter the rain would get.. Yeah, that was the theory. The sky was getting lighter, but the rain was getting harder, and just it looked like it was letting up, it would pour again. . I had my rain suit on, but it couldn't keep up. I had water going down my back, my front, my crotch...down my legs.. I was soaked. But we kept on riding, only had 90 miles to go to get out of this.. As we pulled into Texarkana the sky's parted and we could see blue sky!! We had been delivered! Pulled into a gas stop to get fuel, dry off and check in with family and emails. Went to get my phone out of the "sealed" pocket of my rain suit and my phone was dripping with water. It was dead!! DAMNIT!!! So much for the sealed part.. Oh well, Jeff's phone still works so we let everyone know to just use his phone till I get mine replaced. The sun is out now... So, we took off for Oklahoma. We turned north at Paris Texas and would cross the Red River into God's Country soon.
The sun was out, it was beautiful!! A nice change to the previous 300 miles we had rode in the Rain!! Crossed the Res River and stopped at the OKLAHOMA sign for pictures.. WE MADE IT!! going to be in Oklahoma city tonight!
We were tired of riding in the rain! Took a look at the weather while stopped in Okemah, looked at the radar to see what we were in for. As luck would have it there was a gap between the storm cells so we decided to stay there and wait. Just happened to be a Mexican food place across the street, and an abandoned gas station with an awning that we could park the bikes under.. Things are looking up!
After supper we went back to the bikes and in just a few min the rain stopped.. We had an option to stay put as there was a Days Inn right there but I wanted to get to Oklahoma City! It was only 70 miles... We decided to shoot the gap and pray that we made it! We headed west down 1-40.... In the Dark, but it wasn't raining! We cruised into the hotel just north of the Will Rogers Airport at 9:30pm.. 5 States, 600 miles and 14 hours of riding.. and we made it!!
Going to go visit my Mom today... And Jeff is going to pass off his HD flag..,we head up Route 66 towards Tulsa later today.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Mississippi
Day three... Stared out in Hammond LA.. Scooted up I-55 to hwy 98... Stopped at a Waffle House and dragged Jeff in kicking and screaming. Truth be known he had a "fiesta" omelet that was so good he ate it like he hadn't eaten in a week.
Back on the road, cool and moist morning air but no rain, yet.. Hwy 98 towards Natchez MS was GORGEOUS!! Great surface , twisty and long sweeping curves.. This is what riding is all about.. Stopped in Natchez for gas and headed over to the Natchez Trace Parkway.
The Parkway is as equally Gorgeous if not more so than 98... Only draw back is that the speed limit is only 50mph. But the scenery was incredible. We stopped about 40 miles down the Trace to consider donning our rain gear but the rain passed quickly. However, we were delayed about 10 extra minutes because my helmet jumped off Elsie and tried to commit suicide! Some quick battlefield surgery and got it back in working condition. Not happy with the delicateness of this high dollar helmet.. Thought it would hold up better.
Got off the Natchez Trace at I-20 just west of Jackson MS. Had hide under a bridge to put our rain gear on.. Soon as we got back on I-20 the rain stopped. Typical!.. We cruised down the interstate over to Vicksburg and we stopped there because I needed gas and I wanted Jeff to see the Civil War battleground. I had been there as a kid but didn't remember a lot of it. Jeff loved it.. Below are some pictures one is of the statue of General Grant, and also a couple of the USS Cairo, an iron clad ship that was discovered sunk in the near by river.
The time spent there allowed time for the Storm of Biblical proportions to creep ever closer. Hopefully tonight the storm will loose some intensity and move over us as we sleep. We are about 6hrs behind schedule.. Planning on getting to OKC tomorrow evening instead of tomorrow at noon. Going to have dinner with my Brother Mike.. And visit my Mom while we are there.
Jeff is already asleep... Poor little guy is tired. He just thought he was ready for this kind of riding... LOL.
The Blog is not letting me post pics... Will try again tomorrow.. Good night!
Back on the road, cool and moist morning air but no rain, yet.. Hwy 98 towards Natchez MS was GORGEOUS!! Great surface , twisty and long sweeping curves.. This is what riding is all about.. Stopped in Natchez for gas and headed over to the Natchez Trace Parkway.
The Parkway is as equally Gorgeous if not more so than 98... Only draw back is that the speed limit is only 50mph. But the scenery was incredible. We stopped about 40 miles down the Trace to consider donning our rain gear but the rain passed quickly. However, we were delayed about 10 extra minutes because my helmet jumped off Elsie and tried to commit suicide! Some quick battlefield surgery and got it back in working condition. Not happy with the delicateness of this high dollar helmet.. Thought it would hold up better.
Got off the Natchez Trace at I-20 just west of Jackson MS. Had hide under a bridge to put our rain gear on.. Soon as we got back on I-20 the rain stopped. Typical!.. We cruised down the interstate over to Vicksburg and we stopped there because I needed gas and I wanted Jeff to see the Civil War battleground. I had been there as a kid but didn't remember a lot of it. Jeff loved it.. Below are some pictures one is of the statue of General Grant, and also a couple of the USS Cairo, an iron clad ship that was discovered sunk in the near by river.
The time spent there allowed time for the Storm of Biblical proportions to creep ever closer. Hopefully tonight the storm will loose some intensity and move over us as we sleep. We are about 6hrs behind schedule.. Planning on getting to OKC tomorrow evening instead of tomorrow at noon. Going to have dinner with my Brother Mike.. And visit my Mom while we are there.
Jeff is already asleep... Poor little guy is tired. He just thought he was ready for this kind of riding... LOL.
The Blog is not letting me post pics... Will try again tomorrow.. Good night!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Farthest west Jeff has ever been
Day two!
Jeff slept as late as he wanted and I had been up for about 45 min. I put the coffee on at 4:30 and set his cup on the counter (cuz I'm not serving him,if he wants coffee he knows where it is). Checked the weather and started packing up the bikes. We also needed to make sure we left the condo in better shape than we found it... So, by 6am we woke the neighbors with the sweet sound of Two V-Twin's roaring to life. It was pretty foggy and the bikes were wet.. But we didn't let that slow us down. We headed out west toward Panama City.
Now, Jeff is pushing 60 y/o and never been west of Apalchiacola FL. so, at this point in the trip... Every millimeter we travel farther west just happens to the "The farthest west Jeff has ever been". Our plan is to ride up to I-10 and bypass Pensacola and Mobile, stop at the USS Alabama for the pics.. Then push on to New Orleans for lunch. The ride is planned to end at Natchez Ms, tonight.
The early ride this morning was slow going. Roads were wet and fog was THICK.. So week took it easy.. Wound our was up to Defuniack Springs for breakfast.. The "Corner Cafe" is pretty good eating. After that we decided to make up some lost time and hop up on I-10 and head west. Sun is up now and all the fog is burned off... Beautiful sunshine and light wind... Perfect weather to ride.
We made a few stops along the way... Pictures that follow this post will explain. One unplanned stop was at the rest area just outside Pensacola where a Blue Angel f4 is on display.. It's very cool! The USS Alabama was a quick stop.. Then we pushed on to Nawlins... We rolled in to New Orleans about 3pm and the wind had kicked up and the atmosphere seemed unstable. But didn't get rained on..
I had been to Nawlins a few times but Jeff obviously has not... He was like a Kid at the Carnival, he was rubber necking everything!. Had a nice "early supper" at The House of Blues.. Then wandered around the French Quarter and Street for a couple hours. No way we were making it to Natchez tonight.. Oh well, not a problem for us.
About 6:30 we left New Orleans and decided to make a short run up to Hammond LA, for the night. I mentioned to Jeff that I needed gas, I had about 75 miles on my current tank and had 55 miles to go... Not sure I'd make it. I assumed there would be a gas stop between where we were and our hotel... I was wrong.. It was 54 miles of bridges across the river deltas... So, about 25 miles away from our hotel, in the middle of a bridge over a swamp, my gas light came on. Wasn't sure I could make it but didn't have much choice. So, we pushed on.. Made it to civilization and a gas station on fumes... We are stopped for the night.. Just over 400 miles for the day.. We are tired, two long days of hard riding... But we are lovin it!
Tomorrow, Day 3 should be interesting... Lots of nasty, destructive weather out there right smack dab in the middle of where we are riding... Write more tomorrow... Good night!
Jeff slept as late as he wanted and I had been up for about 45 min. I put the coffee on at 4:30 and set his cup on the counter (cuz I'm not serving him,if he wants coffee he knows where it is). Checked the weather and started packing up the bikes. We also needed to make sure we left the condo in better shape than we found it... So, by 6am we woke the neighbors with the sweet sound of Two V-Twin's roaring to life. It was pretty foggy and the bikes were wet.. But we didn't let that slow us down. We headed out west toward Panama City.
Now, Jeff is pushing 60 y/o and never been west of Apalchiacola FL. so, at this point in the trip... Every millimeter we travel farther west just happens to the "The farthest west Jeff has ever been". Our plan is to ride up to I-10 and bypass Pensacola and Mobile, stop at the USS Alabama for the pics.. Then push on to New Orleans for lunch. The ride is planned to end at Natchez Ms, tonight.
The early ride this morning was slow going. Roads were wet and fog was THICK.. So week took it easy.. Wound our was up to Defuniack Springs for breakfast.. The "Corner Cafe" is pretty good eating. After that we decided to make up some lost time and hop up on I-10 and head west. Sun is up now and all the fog is burned off... Beautiful sunshine and light wind... Perfect weather to ride.
We made a few stops along the way... Pictures that follow this post will explain. One unplanned stop was at the rest area just outside Pensacola where a Blue Angel f4 is on display.. It's very cool! The USS Alabama was a quick stop.. Then we pushed on to Nawlins... We rolled in to New Orleans about 3pm and the wind had kicked up and the atmosphere seemed unstable. But didn't get rained on..
I had been to Nawlins a few times but Jeff obviously has not... He was like a Kid at the Carnival, he was rubber necking everything!. Had a nice "early supper" at The House of Blues.. Then wandered around the French Quarter and Street for a couple hours. No way we were making it to Natchez tonight.. Oh well, not a problem for us.
About 6:30 we left New Orleans and decided to make a short run up to Hammond LA, for the night. I mentioned to Jeff that I needed gas, I had about 75 miles on my current tank and had 55 miles to go... Not sure I'd make it. I assumed there would be a gas stop between where we were and our hotel... I was wrong.. It was 54 miles of bridges across the river deltas... So, about 25 miles away from our hotel, in the middle of a bridge over a swamp, my gas light came on. Wasn't sure I could make it but didn't have much choice. So, we pushed on.. Made it to civilization and a gas station on fumes... We are stopped for the night.. Just over 400 miles for the day.. We are tired, two long days of hard riding... But we are lovin it!
Tomorrow, Day 3 should be interesting... Lots of nasty, destructive weather out there right smack dab in the middle of where we are riding... Write more tomorrow... Good night!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
More pics from day one
Ok. Using an I pad to post and it's not easy... Bear with me..
This is my good friend Ralph's beach condo.. Two bedroom with a loft.. One bath about two blocks from the beach.
450 miles today.. Great day!
This is my good friend Ralph's beach condo.. Two bedroom with a loft.. One bath about two blocks from the beach.
450 miles today.. Great day!
DAY ONE...
Left my house at 5:15am, meeting BigGator(Jeff)at the Truck Stop out by I-95. I get there at 5:25 and see him standing beside his Harley looking like a spanked puppy. I knew something was wrong so I asked.. To make a long story short after some investigation, the Harley dealership where he has his bike serviced put too much oil in his bike and the excess was dripping out of the air cleaner. This is not the first time this has happened, but that's another story. We cleaned out the air filter housing then started putting the bike back together. I reached in my left front pocket and realized I had my wife's car keys... DAMNIT!!! So I high tailed it back to my house to drop off the keys while BigGator puts his bike back together. Anyway... I told you all that to explain why we were delayed 45 min. Not a good start, but Jeff said " Now that we got all that BUll SHIT out of the way.. Let's Ride!
Was a Chilly ride out to the turnpike with some patchy fog.. No issues with the ride. It was a beautiful sun rise as we did a speed run across the Central Florida Plains up toward Orlando. Because I have a 4.1 gallon tank I have to stop about every 100 miles for gas. One stop for gas in Orlando, now the sun is up and it looked to be a gorgeous day. We turned off the turnpike at Ocala on to hwy 27. We met 6 members from "The Florida Crew" at the Driftwood grill in Williston FL for breakfast, 181 miles before breakfast and I was freakin hungry!
Great people, good conversation and pretty good food.. We left the Driftwood about 10:30 or so and rode with the Crew for a few miles on our way towards the gulf coast. We split off from the Crew because I had to get gas AGAIN.. The sun is high and sky is clear... A beautiful day to ride.
Tail gunning for the Crew headed west toward the gulf
Stopped along Hwy 98 along the Gulf
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Spring Break Southern Run
This trip all started with one of my riding buddies (Jeff aka BigGator) asking me: "Hey BigDawg, what's the weather like in Oklahoma in March?" Having been raised in Oklahoma and living there for 38 years I suppose he thought I might have a clue. I replied: "It's a crap shoot, could be 2 degrees and snowing, or it could be in the 80's and sunny, or there could be Tornado's tearing the hell out of the place." He in turn said... "Cool, I've got 9 days off for Spring Break starting the week of the 18th, lets ride out there" So, who am I to say no? All my family, my wife's family and some life long friends still live there and there are some great places to ride in Okieland so why not.. BOOMER SOONER!! lets go!
A little background on us and our riding style.. BigGator has been riding much longer than I have.. He drank the Harley Davidson punch a while ago and has been a slave to their marketing hype ever since.. All that to say, BG rides a Harley.. it's a gorgeous 2010 Ultra Limited.. blue with black and all the bells & whistles that Milwaukee can hang on it. She is set up like a big ole couch rolling down the road.. I'm a little more of a budget concious rider.. yeah ok, Im cheap.. I ride a Jap bike.. HOWEVER, it is one of the unsung heroes of the Japanese HD clones.. My bike is a 1999 Suzuki Intruder 1500 LC.. the LC officially stands for "Legendary Classic" those of us that ride them call it the "Lounge Chair"... I don't sit on this bike, I sit in it.. with the set up I have now I can easily ride 600-700 miles a day.. maybe more (my current record for one day is 678 miles). Now a little about how we ride.. BigGator constantly has arguments with his motorcycle about which way to go, every intersection presents an opportunity to change directions. On a given weekend, or even week day if we happen to be off work we'll ride 300-400 miles without a second thought.. I bought my bike 2 years ago this April.. an I have put over 46,000 miles on her. This trip out to Oklahoma will push me over the 50,000 mile mark for 2 years..
We have other riders join us.. our good friend Sherry rides a Honda 750 Spirit. My wife Karyn Rides a Vulcan 900 Classic. Jeff's wife Becky rides a Yamaha 650.. and another good friend Telisa rides a Yamaha Stratoliner. on rare occasions we all get together and ride to breakfast, then after that who knows.. The long riders in this group are Me, Jeff, Sherry and Telisa.. Becky and Karyn pretty much stay local.. We also ride on occasion with "The Florida Crew".. not going into that right now.. it's a whole other ball of wax.. just gonna say that their motto is "No Rules, Just Ride".... and that's what we are about.. Riding! and a lot of it..
Jeff and I are leaving at the ASS crack of dawn tomorrow Sunday March 18th at 05:30am from Vero Beach Florida.. we will take 7 days to make it out and back. Our plan is to ride out through FL, AL, MS, AR, OK then back through those states to get home by next Saturday, or Sunday. We'll travel mostly scenic backroads and roads less traveled.. we are out to enjoy what's out there.. not just ride a hole in the air trying to get somewhere.. Below is the "planned" route.. LOL.. yeah.. we'll see how close we stick to the plan.. ha ha ha. .this will be interesting. .
Below are a couple of pics of Jeff and I from Daytona Bike Week 2012.. on "The Loop" north of Daytona Beach..
We leave tomorrow at 05:30... I'll post more as we progress along the trip..
Be safe,
BigDawg!
A little background on us and our riding style.. BigGator has been riding much longer than I have.. He drank the Harley Davidson punch a while ago and has been a slave to their marketing hype ever since.. All that to say, BG rides a Harley.. it's a gorgeous 2010 Ultra Limited.. blue with black and all the bells & whistles that Milwaukee can hang on it. She is set up like a big ole couch rolling down the road.. I'm a little more of a budget concious rider.. yeah ok, Im cheap.. I ride a Jap bike.. HOWEVER, it is one of the unsung heroes of the Japanese HD clones.. My bike is a 1999 Suzuki Intruder 1500 LC.. the LC officially stands for "Legendary Classic" those of us that ride them call it the "Lounge Chair"... I don't sit on this bike, I sit in it.. with the set up I have now I can easily ride 600-700 miles a day.. maybe more (my current record for one day is 678 miles). Now a little about how we ride.. BigGator constantly has arguments with his motorcycle about which way to go, every intersection presents an opportunity to change directions. On a given weekend, or even week day if we happen to be off work we'll ride 300-400 miles without a second thought.. I bought my bike 2 years ago this April.. an I have put over 46,000 miles on her. This trip out to Oklahoma will push me over the 50,000 mile mark for 2 years..
We have other riders join us.. our good friend Sherry rides a Honda 750 Spirit. My wife Karyn Rides a Vulcan 900 Classic. Jeff's wife Becky rides a Yamaha 650.. and another good friend Telisa rides a Yamaha Stratoliner. on rare occasions we all get together and ride to breakfast, then after that who knows.. The long riders in this group are Me, Jeff, Sherry and Telisa.. Becky and Karyn pretty much stay local.. We also ride on occasion with "The Florida Crew".. not going into that right now.. it's a whole other ball of wax.. just gonna say that their motto is "No Rules, Just Ride".... and that's what we are about.. Riding! and a lot of it..
Jeff and I are leaving at the ASS crack of dawn tomorrow Sunday March 18th at 05:30am from Vero Beach Florida.. we will take 7 days to make it out and back. Our plan is to ride out through FL, AL, MS, AR, OK then back through those states to get home by next Saturday, or Sunday. We'll travel mostly scenic backroads and roads less traveled.. we are out to enjoy what's out there.. not just ride a hole in the air trying to get somewhere.. Below is the "planned" route.. LOL.. yeah.. we'll see how close we stick to the plan.. ha ha ha. .this will be interesting. .
Below are a couple of pics of Jeff and I from Daytona Bike Week 2012.. on "The Loop" north of Daytona Beach..
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| This is Me.. on my Red & White 99' Intruder |
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| This is Jeff on his HD Ultra Limited. |
We leave tomorrow at 05:30... I'll post more as we progress along the trip..
Be safe,
BigDawg!
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