Home

Yesterday was my final push toward home and a safe arrival was the perfect icing on the cake. So a final trip report for the final day.

I woke up, headed downstairs for some breakfast, back up to gather my gear and head outside to load the bike. I see a note tacked on the bike indicating that my bike's original owner was staying in the very same hotel. He was on his way home from a Colorado vacation (in his 5th wheel) and decided to stay in this hotel and saw my bike parked for the night under the awning. I went back inside, asked the front desk to call him and tell him I was loading up. He came down and was happy to see that I still had the bike. I told him about my trip and we chatted for a good half hour. What are the chances of that happening?

OK, out of town, I head north with a nice tail wind which will be nasty later in the day when I turn west. Not 5 minutes out of town, came to a construction stop where we have to follow a pilot car for 5 miles. Wait, wait, wait - for our turn. And there was absolutely nothing going on in the construction zone.

But here is the view of Kansas that occupied most of my day.

It was a long day after I turned west and those strong, southerly gales were whipping. There is no way I could have made this ride nor dealt with those winds on my old bike. I am so glad I made the decision last year to get a bigger bike. Out in the middle of eastern Colorado, there is a whole lot of nothing. I was getting desperate for a place to stop and climb off the bike for a few minutes. This is the "stunning" road side rest area I found in eastern Colorado on US 36.

It was great to finally catch a glimpse of the Rockies on the distant horizon, a  sure sign of getting close. This ride was about seeing a different part of this great land and the real people of these United States. We saw parts of this country most folks never see because they fly along the Interstates and don't venture into the back country. The adventure was awesome and the ability to spend so many days riding with your best friend is an experience most never enjoy. I was blessed!

Both of us thank you for taking the time to follow our adventure and share the experience. We had a blast, 13 consecutive days of riding, just short of 4,000 miles. Another "epic" in the books!

Keep the rubber side down, see ya down the road.

Garden City, KS

Today was that day that I least look forward to when my ride partner and I take off for home in different directions. This year, unlike the past two, is my turn for the long ride home. I discovered solo riding last year, and after today (combined with my 2 solo days to get started on this trip), am fully embraced to that form of travel. It is unique and one heck of a great way to see our nation.

The ride this morning started out plenty eventful. We loaded up the bikes, said our good byes, and mounted the bikes to head in opposite directions out of the hotel parking lot. We typically park our bikes overnight on their center stands for added stability. Getting a fully loaded bike off of its center stand while in the saddle can be a challenge. The driveway where they were parked was tilted at a slight angle that I did not compensate for and as soon as the bike was on 2 wheels, she headed down. Yup, got my first drop of the bike today. Boy, that will get your blood moving! But, quickly righted, a couple of paint scratches on the side cases, and I was ready to roll.

JB headed mostly south for some more Arkansas twisty. I headed north toward Missouri, then into Oklahoma for a short while, then into Kansas. My ride out of Bentonville, for the first 1 1/2 hours, was more of the same beautiful twisty, forested roads we used to get into town yesterday. But it soon flattened and straightened - allowing me to twist some throttle. The winds were very favorable for me most of the day and I made quick time. Southern Kansas, most of the eastern half, is really scenic. I made 480 miles on the day.

Tomorrow ought to be the final push toward home. As usual, I will avoid the big slab (Interstate 70) and wind my way through Kansas and eastern Colorado farm country. About 400 miles to go.

Bentonville AR via Ferry Boat

Left Missouri this morning for some more back road fun across the southern stretch of that state. Lots of beautiful country side, gentle rolling hills, very green. One map we had suggested a side trip to Dalt's Mill, an old wood mill, now a small resort, old and quaint. There is a small river running through the property that was very cool and inviting.

Back on the road, we stopped at a picnic table for a rest in Protem, MO - a step back in time, like so many places we have seen.

We finished our trip in Missouri with a turn onto a small road heading south into Arkansas. Imagine our surprise as we are bounding down this small highway when the GPS warns us to slow down for the ferry crossing - out in the middle of nowhere! Yes, this state highway has a ferry ride across a lake that runs every 40 minutes.

It finally becomes our turn and we load up for the ride across - a new, unique experience on my motorcycle.

Safely across, we keep motoring along some incredible twisty roads in northern Arkansas. It was soon time for lunch and we found a great diner along the way in Omaha, Arkansas. The locals were amused by us and we were totally amused by their conversations with us.

Bellies full, we headed to Eureka Springs on our way to Bentonville. Saw this really nice "house" on the side of the hill.

This is our last evening together before JB starts heading south and I turn mostly west and drift a little north. The weather has cooled a little and much less humidity. We have been blessed to miss all the crazy storms passing all around us.

West Plains MO

Today we motored across southern Missouri. We looked at our maps for the smallest backroads around and we found them! We were motoring down this one thin lane of asphalt, enjoying the farm country until we came to a road closed with a detour. But, there were no "follow up" detour signs, and our GPS units were screaming at us, so we did a little off road to get back on track.

So some pictures from the past couple of days. We are not taking a lot of pictures on this trip, mainly just enjoying riding through some incredible scenery.

As I said a couple of days ago, the exit out of Boone up to Virginia was a moto dream ride. We needed a bio break, so took one here:

And this is the switchback we had just rounded:

We headed up into Virginia and stepped back in time. As I said, some of the little roads we found turned into dirt county roads at times. Got to off road my new Adventure for the first time.

As we neared civilization, found this farm and critters.

And one more of typical Virginia back woods. We saw places like this everywhere.

Into Kentucky, at the end of the day yesterday, we went into the Land Between the Lakes and crossed this bridge over a man made channel to connect the lakes. The locals were enjoying the water on a hot day.

And then today, lots of Missouri back country, avoiding the big roads as much as we could. The hills mellowed, but we still found some really fun twisty roads and beautiful scenes.

We had been really enjoying our time together and some awesome rides. As "boys will be boys", this is a typical scene in our room as we retire for the day. All that heat, fun riding - just need some serious re-hydration and entertainment so we are relaxed and ready for another day on the horses.

Enough for today, we are ready to go eat and break out the 'gars later in the evening. We are route planning for tomorrow, some more Missouri and maybe one more slight taste of northern Arkansas. just short of 3000 miles on the trip thus far.

Paducah KY

We moved about 325 miles yesterday in a westerly direction across far southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee. The land generally got flatter as we moved west, but it was almost all trees. We also saw a large number of farms along the way - corn and tobacco plants aplenty.

We made a morning  rest stop in a park in a tiny Kentucky town. The park had a covered area, providing some much needed shade. While we were there, a quick rain shower moved across and we laughed that we had stopped and were under cover. The rain lasted 5 minutes.

The whole day was very hot and humid. The further west we rode, the stronger the afternoon winds blew from the south. When we finally arrived in Paducah, the temperature was 96.

The last few miles were through a National Park System preserve called the Land Between the Lakes. This is a long road up between two of the largest lakes in Kentucky. At the northern most point, we crossed a bridge over a man made channel connecting the lakes. Very scenic was how we described the day.

Today we will cross the Mississippi river for a brief cut through Illinois, then spend the day in southern Missouri. Thanks for checking on the guys!

Somerset KY

We arrived in Somerset KY late evening yesterday, 8 hours on the bikes. The driving out of Boone was some of the best motorcycling we have ever done. The best of little, tight, twisty mountain roads. That kept our speeds down quite a bit.

Found some really small roads in Virginia that turned into dirt roads in a couple of places, so we did a little offroading. Then into Kentucky, coal country and more and more beautiful scenery. Had trouble locating a hotel due to some car show event in town. We also discovered another dry county.

Not writing much now, we are up and trying to route for today across western KY. Hopefully, we will have time to write more tonight and get some photos up.

Blue Ridge Parkway to Boone NC

Wow! The Blue ridge Parkway is incredible! Such beauty, such scenery and a great ride. Even though the road was started in 1935, and they are celebrating its 75th birthday this Fall, it had to have been designed with motorcycles in mind. Very green, total trees and undergrowth, some incredible road engineering.

There are many tunnels along the way as well as many turnouts for observation.

The motorcycles sound so very cool going through the tunnels. One of the greatest things about riding this road is no trucks. Commercial vehicles are not allowed on the parkway. The traffic was light, the speed limits were low,  mainly because of the constant twisting turns. There is no place to pass another car on this road due to lack of straight spots.

Along the way, we took a side road up to Mt. Mitchell, the highest spot in the USA east of the Mississippi river.

Many rivers and lakes to see along the way as well. Our temps stayed in the low 70s as long as we stayed up in elevation - a huge relief to the sweltering past several days.

The parkway experienced a lot of winter damage to the trees from ice as well as rock slides. One section we tried to ride yesterday was still closed. We did, today, encounter several construction areas where we had to "wait" for a while each time.

We encountered a little rain as we were getting closer to Boone, but it wasn't bad. We rolled into Boone and massive traffic snarls - it is orientation weekend at Appalachian State University this weekend and the town is crawling with people. We had not yet had lunch, so we stopped for a late lunch before finding a place to stay for the evening.

Genuine Mexican food, even in NC. Got our room and libations, life is good. This is as far East as we will ride. Tomorrow, we start heading North and slightly West, across Virginia into Kentucky. Rubber side down!

Asheville, NC

Being that we are now in the eastern time zone, it was tough to get rolling early this morning - add that to 5 long days of riding and we needed some sleep. We finally had the steeds on the road by 9AM.

We headed into the Great Smokie Mountain National Park. Getting through Galinburg was a challenge: the tourist traffic brought us to a stand still for miles of moving slower than one could walk. It is sad to see such a historic place turned into a carnival.

But we made it through and started into a beautiful park. The traffic thinned out and I was amazed to find no fee station to gain entrance into the park.

The gain in elevation was a very welcome respite from the heat. It actually dropped into the low 70s up high and we really enjoyed the ride. The scenery was spectacular and we stopped for photos several times.

Back down the road, into the Cherokee Nation as we exited the park. We road onward toward the Blue Ridge Parkway, but first needed some lunch. We stopped in Waynesville, NC for some local grub.

This was a step back in time and the local characters, Clyde included, were worth every minute.

Ummm - 1/2 pound of North Carolina beef, cooked to perfection!

OK, back to riding. we headed out of Waynesville in search of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The road heading up was a very narrow, tight, twisty road with a complete tree canopy. This is what us motorcyclists dream of. Incredible ride to get up to the Parkway. Jump on the Parkway, immediately see a sign that is it closed 10 miles up the road.

We road to the closure, then found a gem of a ride to head back down into the valley. We thought the road up was a dream, this puppy coming down was one heck of a technical, tight ride and it was all smiles heading down.

Got to Asheville, found a nice place to stay, and are now quenching our thirst buds. Tomorrow will be all Blue Ridge and we are stoked. Short day tomorrow, heading to Boone, NC for some rest before we start heading back west. I have now ridden about 1900 miles. Thanks for reading!

Marysville, TN

Humid. Hot. Welcome to Tennessee, or so the saying goes. For a Colorado boy, this is brutal weather. I am draining a 120 ounce Camelbak daily, in addition to the copious water and iced tea consumed during our lunch stops. We got into the TN mountains some today and the temp dropped into the low 90's, which was a welcome relief from the triple digits of the past couple of days.

Started out around 9AM and rode 100 miles to a rest stop, time for lots of water and restore circulation to the hineys and find some shade.

Back on the road, we moved through some very beautiful, heavily wooded areas. Many times we found ourselves motoring through tunnels of very tall hardwood trees and enjoying the brief shade along the way. Soon enough, it was time for lunch and we decided on some local grub in Smithville, TN.

And "local" it was! To only have had a recording machine of the conversations going on. Deep, think, southern TN twang. The table next to ours ordered fried green tomatoes and okra. Umm, I miss living in the south... not!

Back on the road, full of food, ready for a warm afternoon. Lots of lakes in this part of the state. They are beautiful. Check the water color in Tellco Lake.

We road onward and our trusty steeds demanded a break. Us riders were fine to keep going, but they wanted to rest, so we obliged. Have to keep your horse happy if you want to keep riding, right?

OK, rested and ready for the final push to town and food / beer / sleep. Along the way, we crossed the bridge to the river that cools the Watt Bar nuclear power plant. We have seen several nukers in AR and TN.

We are both tired, ready for some sleep. Tomorrow takes us to the Great Smokies and the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway. See you there...

Lawrenceburg, TN

Left Arkansas with a lot of humidity and early morning heat. We got out of the mountains as we headed in a south easterly direction, hitting the farming country. Lot's of turning, lots of different roads, folks in a hurry, especially the empty truck drivers.

I was very surprised to encounter Arkansas rice fields. We drove by many of them.

We got messed up in a construction zone with our GPS gadgets and had to punt a couple of times, but we finally got straight on the road to Memphis in order to cross the "big ditch".

Safely across, wondering our way around the south edge of Memphis, we are ready for lunch. Being in TN, what does one eat? Tennessee BBQ, of course. Ask the GPS for  a reference, and it takes us to JB's secret hideout. For the BOB dudes, he has been holding out on you!

Yes, right there in Collieville, TN, he has been training all these years!

Bellies full, cooling vests recharged with more evaporative water, off we head across southern TN, heading east. We saw some of the coolest, forested mansions, right out of "Gone With the Wind". A great ride for  the next hour. But, being this far south, the temps were climbing.

We were a little bummed to find that the "scenic" route we had taken from maps was being re-done into a full blown divided 4-laner. Tomorrow, we will re-route off this thing to find better tiny lines on the map as we start getting into the Smokies.

Batesville, Arkansas

Got a late start this morning, stayed up way too late last night talking and getting caught up.

We quickly got into the hills and twisties of Arkansas. Beautiful riding, no traffic. But this is the South and it is June, so it is hot and humid. You would not believe the number of Baptist Churches we passed in the middle of nowhere. Heavy forest everywhere! We stopped at a couple of "scenic lookouts" but you could not see anything due to how high the trees and brush were.

We tossed out our "plan" yesterday and are just riding along the general route, getting as far as we feel. We stopped at about 4:30 this afternoon in Batesville, AR, where the outside temperature was 103. It was time for a beer, except we found ourselves in a dry county. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

We head into TN tomorrow. See you there!

Does the wind ever stop in Kansas? (Or, welcome to Day 1)

Took off this morning with partly cloudy skies, a blessing since I was headed East and really didn't want to stare at the rising sun. Nice and cool, fun riding with little traffic on I70, heading to Salina, KS for the day.

I had a faulty fuel gauge replaced last week and the new one is as bad as the old one. It shows me basically out of gas, yet when I stop to fill up, I am only putting about 4 gallons into a 9 gallon tank. When I hook with with JB late tomorrow, I am going to run it to the gauge's empty to see what happens. Very frustrating.

I made good time today until I got a little way into Kansas and the steep, South winds started howling. The grass on the highway was laying over horizontal. I bought this big bike after suffering last year in Montana. Bigger and better, but still a fierce battle of the winds.

Finally made it to Salina, KS after 8 hours on the road, 455 miles. It was fun to see the same road in warm (hot?) weather. This is the route I traveled last October on solid ice to go fetch the new bike. Was 95 degrees when I landed a little while ago.

Enough for today. I am heading out to get some dinner, can hardly wait to hook up with my buddy tomorrow evening!

Link to Spot Tracker

Use this link to track our progress, via my Spot Tracker.

Click here

Departing June 19.

Getting Closer

Planning is moving along, getting ready for this summer's adventure. We start on June 19, heading East. Picked up a Spot device, will add a tracking link so you can watch the progress.

Preparation on the new bike is almost complete. I need to change the shock spring, it is on order, should be here in a few days. Everything else seems to be tuned and ready to go. The "men of my house" are plenty ready for me to get out of here so party central can begin.

I am so amped to go!

Time to Wake Up

OK, Blog Central, it has been months of no activity here. But warm-up time is getting near.

For those non-locals, this has been one hell of a winter. We are now at 120" for the season and still have 6 weeks to go of potential snow fall. The real issue this winter was the long, consistent cold that prevented complete melt out. I could not get my motos out of my subdivision for a couple of months due to a long ice slick at the bottom of my street that would not go away. I have ridden the bikes about once every 2 or 3 weeks since mid-January when the ice flow finally went away. Again, the issue being non-stop snow and consistent cold. The average high temp here in December was 26 degrees (F).

But things are improving. I have purchased all the necessary toys for the new GSA and need some garage warmth to get everything hooked up and installed. And I need saddle time to get more comfortable on the GSA. That is one really nice bike!

On the very few days I could get the bikes out this winter, the first couple of times I would take the 650 out first, then jump on the 1200GSA. Big mistake - I nearly threw myself off the big bike every time. So lesson learned was to take the GSA for a ride first!

Trip planning for another epic this summer is well under way. Been working maps, checking web sites, talking to friends that live or lived in the areas I want to go to and a plan is coming together. Heading East this year, AR, TN, NC, KY, and MI, and some close encounters to neighboring states (state bagging). Stay tuned, the fun starts in mid-June.

I picked up a SPOT tracker and will put it in tracking mode this summer. The link will be here.

Happy Trails, my friends.