There and Almost Back Again- A Motorcyclist's Tale

2010-02-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

During the summer of 2008, we decided to take a motorcycle trip around the country. This is the story of that trip as written by my husband from notes kept in a journal on the trip. It is FINALLY done!

I posted each day separately so you can read them in order:

The Beginning
Day 1- June 22
Day 2- June 23
Day 3- June 24
Day 4- June 25
Day 5- June 26
Day 6- June 27
Day 7- June 28
Day 8- June 29
Day 9- June 30
Day 10- July 1
Day 11- July 2
Day 12- July 3
Day 13- July 4
Day 14- July 5
Day 15- July 6
Day 16- July 7
Day 17- July 8
Day 18- July 9
Day 19- July 10
Day 20- July 11
Day 21- July 12
Day 22- July 13
Day 23- July 14
Day 24- July 15
Day 25- July 16
Day 26- July 17
Day 27- July 18
Day 28- July 19
Day 29- July 20
Day 30- July 21
Day 31- July 22
Day 32- July 23
Day 33- July 24
Day 34- July 25
Day 35- July 26
Day 36- July 27
Day 37- July 28
Day 38- July 29
Day 39- July 30
Day 40- July 31
Days 41 to 43- August 1 to 3
Days 44 to 46- August 4 to 6
Days 47 and 48- August 7 and 8
Day 49- August 9
Day 50 and Beyond

Day 50 and beyond...

2009-02-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Day 50 and beyond, mileage no longer relevant.

My dad borrows a trailer and comes all the way out to Hayti to pick us up. 300 miles added to our trip but not our odometers. We spend a week visiting my family and consider buying Ceci a new bike for the ride home. Eventually we decide instead to load the bikes into a Budget truck and we finish the next 550 miles in that.
I’ll not do that again, Budget was significantly cheaper than U-Haul but the truck is terrible. We actually took the first one back and got another. I think my Bandit was a more comfortable ride.
A few months and e-bay parts later I am able to repair the Vulcan. The Bandit would shortly thereafter require significant work to fix what Bubba did not. Instead I eventually purchase a new bike to replace it. The next summer her Vulcan would leave us stranded again when the stator goes bad. This requires pulling the engine to repair, so this time we buy her a Harley to finish that trip.
It was a sad ending to our epic trip, but still worth it. The first 10,000 + miles were a fantastic once in a lifetime trip. Unless of course, we try it again. There are still some states we haven’t hit, and Alaska is beckoning. I’ll keep you posted, but she won’t be on the Vulcan…

Day 49: August 9

2009-02-01T18:18:00.000-08:00

Day 49: August 9th 38,710 miles on the odometer.

The End. Damn the bells. We actually get a good start in the morning, unusual for us. We are tempted to visit Ruby Falls, but decide against it. There are a lot of touristy places to visit around here, but I am eager to finish the trip and loathe to spend any more money. We also skip the world’s largest yard sale, as we have no room to store any purchases anyway.
We start off on 41 north, which has a few curves and some scenery that makes it worth skipping the interstate. Then we start racking up miles on highways 64 and 412. Over 300 miles into the day, we still have plenty of daylight and the Mississippi river just ahead of us. Unfortunately, while the river and daylight is just ahead of us, a check of my mirror reveals that my wife is no longer just behind me. I am concerned. I slow down to see if she just needs to catch up, but no sign of her. I am able to exit and u-turn about a mile later. As I head back east at a rather high rate of speed I see my wife alive and well parked on the side of the interstate. It takes another 5 miles for me to find a place to u-turn back to her.
Her trip is done. The motor is running fine, but she has 5 gears of useless neutral. As we would discover later, workers at the Kawasaki factory are pretty lazy. The drive shaft is dry, not lubricated by the oil that keeps the rear gears working. The only protection for the shaft is the grease it gets on assembly at the factory. My wife’s Vulcan is one of thousands that workers neglected to grease. As a result the shaft splines no longer exist and the bike will no longer move under its own power. We discover all this later when we find an online forum with extensive documentation and remedies for the issue. Too bad we didn’t look for forums BEFORE the trip.
We are now stuck over 300 miles from our next destination, and 1000 miles short of completing our intended trip.
We get a break when Harley rider Tommy Tillman of Caruthersville, Missouri stops to help us out. He cuts his ride short to go back to his house and get a truck and trailer to haul her broken down bike to Hayti, Missouri. Thank You Tommy. A GoldWing rider with a toddler strapped pillion keeps us company for a bit while Tommy is fetching his truck. We get a room at the Econolodge in Hayti. It is not particularly scenic, but it gives us a place to figure out what to do next.
I neglect to write down the mileage as it no longer seems important. I find it sadly ironic that my abused neglected cobbled together Bandit is still going while her formerly pampered Vulcan sits useless. I never really expected both bikes to make the whole trip; I just always figured mine was the one that would let us down.

Days 47 and 48: August 7 and 8

2009-02-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

Day 47: August 7th 38,??? miles on the odometer.

Today we pick up the mounted tires. The service guys are pleasant but I’m a bit leery when I spy the old balancing weights on the rear. The guy assures me that it balanced perfectly without moving/removing the old weights. I’m skeptical, but pay my $30 (pretty reasonable) and head back to the house.
The wheels go on a lot quicker than they came off. A good thing as it was drizzling as I worked and it starts pouring just after I finish.
Ceci is antsy to get back on the road, and I start working on a route to northwest Arkansas, where my folks live. I consider going back to the Dragon, but eventually rule it out. I really love that road.

Day 48: August 8th 38,??? miles on the odometer.

On the road again. It is afternoon though before we get rolling. We start off on interstate highway before hitting state and local highways, but none are good rides. Until we get far enough north anyway. Highway 60 is fantastic. It’s not as good as the dragon, but is very good and lightly traveled. The southern end of the road has a lot of tar snakes that cause me some concern, especially since the new tires feel very quick. Like they’re balanced on a fine edge. Ceci is having no problems with them at all though. When the tar snakes finally go away the road is just excellent. I was loathe to put my aching rear on the saddle today, but the smiles are back now and I’m happy to be riding again.
The ride into Tennessee and through the Tennessee River Valley is just as good and plenty scenic. Traffic is starting to get thicker though. We stop a quite few times to take pictures.
We finish the day back on interstate and stay at an overpriced Super 8 in Chatanooga. Because I haven’t been writing the mileage numbers down, I can only guess we covered about 300 miles today. Ceci is excited that we are back to business as usual. I am enjoying the better roads, but feeling worn and weary when we drone along on the interstates and boring roads. I may be reaching my limit.
On a positive note, there were no issues with either of our bikes today. My skepticism about the rear wheel balancing proves unfounded. If anything, my bike seems to be riding smoother than it did before. Maybe my wife should have gotten me one of those gremlin bells a lot earlier.

Days 44 to 46: August 4 - 6

2009-02-01T18:11:00.001-08:00

Day 44: August 4th 38,??? on the odometer

Suitably refreshed, today we head back to Augusta. My tires should be arriving soon. First we decide to hit the sites on the island, which has a fair amount of history and historical sights. I find it interesting, and we get in a bit of hiking as well.
Ceci’s bike reverts to form, as the gremlin bell is apparently losing some of its magic. The Vulcan dies and won’t restart. Apparently we ran it out of gas, and it’s taking a bit re-fire on reserve. A little patience is all it takes to remedy the problem and we’re back on the road.
About half way back we see thunderstorms building. Tall dark clouds. Not what I wanted to see, especially with my bald tires. Bits of rubber are beginning to flake off the rear. We can’t avoid them though and eventually find ourselves in a pretty nasty storm. The wind gusts are blowing me all over the road. Ceci is trying to read the wind by what is happening to me in front of her, but it is no use. In the seconds it takes for her to get where I was the wind has shifted to blow the opposite direction. This is dangerous. What’s worse, the wind blows the paper I’ve been writing mileages on out of my map pocket. That’s why you keep seeing ??? on the mileages above.
The first place of refuge we find is the firestation for Engine 9, in the middle of what looks like nowhere. The two men on duty welcome us in, as they are more than happy to let us stay now than pick us up off the street later. We spend a couple of grateful hours drying out and waiting for the storms to pass, before heading uneventfully back to Keith’s. Have to guess the mileage again, but I figure just over 200 for the day.

Day 45: August 5th 38,??? on the odometer

We take another day for rest and recovery. The bikes don’t move as it is stinking hot outside. Instead we busy ourselves with laundry, housework, and internet surfing while visiting with family. I really should have written down my mileage at this point, but do not.

Day 46: August 6th 38,??? miles on the odometer.

The new tires have arrived, so today I busy myself pulling the wheels off the Bandit. I manage to somehow snap one of my brother in law’s sockets while trying to remove one of the front calipers. Fortunately it is a Craftsman socket so it is easily replaced. It is a good thing I am replacing both tires as I find a nail that has punctured the front tire when I get it off the bike. I figure there were only a couple hundred miles left in it anyway.
The shop, Augusta Kawasaki/Suzuki won’t be able to mount the tires until tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll be staying here at least one more day. We stop at another motorcycle shop where Ceci buys me a gremlin bell to ensure we both have good fortune for the rest of our trip. I remain skeptical but mount it anyway thinking it couldn’t hurt. Still no luck finding something comfortable to sit on though. My butt is better but still a bit sore, and I’m not looking forward to putting it back in the saddle. It is still stinking hot outside.

Days 41 to 43: August 1 - 3

2009-02-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

Day 41: August 1st 37,983 on the odometer

Back to the grind. We are only about an hour away from our destination, but it will not be the exciting ride we just left behind. We get breakfast at Hardees and gas up. The gas here is the cheapest we’ve seen on our entire trip.
The only excitement on our ride today is the trip down Keith’s deep sand driveway. We plan to spend a week visiting here so I’ll have a chance to rest up and do some maintenance. My tires are pretty worn now, at least to the wear marks everywhere. The center of the rear is bald. Still I was happy with their performance and want to order some new HKM’s to replace the ones that served me well. Unfortunately, Avon no longer makes them. I order some Roadmasters instead, but it’ll take a few days for them to get here.
In the meantime, we plan to go visit Jekyll Island for some R&R. By my odometer we only covered 52 miles today, bringing our trip total so far to 9,281 miles. By Ceci’s odometer we have covered closer to 10,000 miles. I am starting to get pretty road weary. My butt still aches.

Day 42: August 2nd 38,035 on the odometer

Ceci really wants to ride the bikes to the island, instead of hitching a ride with her brother’s family. I decide to chance the bald tire so I can ride with her. It’ll be about 400 miles round trip. We take somewhat back roads but they’re still pretty straight. The scenery isn’t particularly scenic, and we pass some areas that smell pretty bad. There is a very pretty suspension bridge as we get to the island though, and the smell of the ocean is far more pleasant than we had been experiencing. It costs $3 each to get on the island, and we head to an older Clarion resort where we have reservations. It seems overpriced to me, but is otherwise OK. The room is pretty nice and a short walk to the beach. The water itself is silty, but not so bad as to keep us out. I bring a few drops back to anoint the bikes. They have now touched the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans on this trip. There isn’t much beach glass but we do find a couple of shark’s teeth.
I fail again to record my mileage, but figure we went a bit over 200 miles today.

Day 43: August 3rd 38,??? on the odometer

Keith, Kim, and Ashley have a suite with a kitchen. I plan on cooking breakfast for us all in their room. Unfortunately, the stove has been deliberately disabled and none of the burners are functional. So much for that plan. Keith is pretty upset considering the money he shelled out for the place, and I don’t blame him.
We spend the day relaxing on the beach and swimming in the pool. I get a bit of a sunburn, but nothing too bad. I doubt it’ll lead to cancer. We find a lot of sand dollars as the tide goes out. This is the first time Ceci and I have been able to find complete sand dollars on a beach. Usually we just find pieces. Unfortunately for us most of what we find is still alive, so we only get a couple of souvenirs. We do find a couple more shark’s teeth. There are a lot of fish jumping in the surf, and there are a few near collisions as we frolic in the waves. Among the gulls and pelicans flying overhead I spy an occasional osprey. This is just what the Dr. ordered. We don’t move the bikes. It is hot outside.

Day 40: July 31

2009-02-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

Day 40: July 31st 37,695 on the odometer

We are up in time for breakfast at Hardee’s, but don’t spend any time sightseeing in Cherokee. I think our time will be better spent in the national park, and today is the day we will ride the “Dragon” we kept hearing about. I also hope to reach her brother’s house in Augusta, Georgia before nightfall.
The clouds are building as we hit the road, and it is an absolute downpour when we get into the park. It stays that way most of the way through the park, so we don’t make a lot of stops. Towards the end of the park we stop at a visitor center and I exercise my free speech rights at what is posted as the only place in the park where that is allowed. I keep my comments to a brief “Elect me president!” At least the rain has finally subsided and the sun is coming out.
Good thing too as the roads here are marvelous. We head down the Foothills Parkway which is curvy and nice enough to be entertaining and keeps me from complaining about how wet I am. The rain has played havoc with the communicators; Ceci can hear what I’m saying, but I can’t hear a thing she’s saying. No amount of drying out will fix them now, that damage is permanent. At least I can warn of things to come. And what wonderful things are to come.
We spot two cops shortly after turning onto HW129 – The Dragon. At first I am disappointed by the apparently strictly enforced low speed limit and less than challenging overhyped road. Then Nirvana. Oh My God. Up. Down. Hard Left. Hard Right. Esses. Switchbacks. Decreasing and Increasing Radius. Mostly Positive Camber. Wow. 318 turns in 11 miles. The hype is real and I’m loving every second of it. This is why I ride a motorcycle. This is better than sex. Up to now I have been on a trip, today I take a ride. My Avons stick like glue on the mostly dried out pavement. The chicken strips are gone; first time I’ve ever done that. Ceci can’t keep up but neither of us cares. As I ride I find myself ignorantly wishing I had a better bike that isn’t so overloaded to fully appreciate this. Then I wish I had better riding skills so I could really fully appreciate this. The Tail of The Dragon is by far the best motorcycle road I have ever ridden. I am smiling from ear to ear, no longer sure that the soaking wetness in my pants is entirely from this morning’s rain.
We stop at Deal’s Gap to refuel the bikes and savor the moment. Then we head out on 28. The adrenaline is still pumping, I feel like superman. The roads are still fantastic. A couple of sport bikes pass me and I instinctively grab some throttle wanting to keep up. A burning sensation on my ring finger slows me back down so my better half can catch up. Still we are moving pretty good. We drive past a lake with a nice positive camber climbing right turn in the road. I whack the throttle to enjoy it. Then I see the sand. Crap. The whole center of the turn. At this point I can’t miss it. I yell “sand” into the chatterbox. Ceci can tell from the rising pitch of my voice I’m about to have an experience. I lift myself up pushing as hard as I can on the pegs. The bike starts its sideways slide as the tires slip across the sand trap I just stupidly entered way too hot. I’m pretty sure I can ride this out until I see the Cadillac Escalade coming the other way that has decided he needs half of my lane to make the turn. Looks like I’m going to pancake into the side of him. This is gonna hurt. Damn. Wait a minute there’s some traction. A little wiggle. Get me outta here. Whew! Ceci, well warned, makes it through with no drama at all whatsoever. My adrenaline is pumping harder now, but I’m no longer Superman. Pretty good kryptonite right there. We stop and get pictures at Bridal Veil Falls; very scenic as you can get in behind the falling water.
On to Augusta. The roads are enjoyable but slow. As they straighten out, the pavement worsens. We are not making good time. There is no way we will make it to Keith’s house before dark so when the sunlight ends we stop in McCormick and stay in a very cheap dump of a motel. I don’t care, this is the best day of riding I have ever had. Only 288 miles but a high you can’t kill. I wish every day could be like today.

The Beginning

2009-01-26T17:26:00.000-08:00

I think the only reason my wife wanted to marry me is because I had a bike and was willing to ride it. When we met in 2004, my 1996 Suzuki Bandit 600 showed signs of use, and often enough got me back and forth to work. A couple of times riding bitch and my occasional hint that I’d teach her to ride had her hooked. When a bad mechanic and hurricane Rita all but ruined my bike, she was undeterred. I was her best chance to ride that included side benefits, so she dug her hooks deep. On Superbowl Sunday in 2006 she said yes and that June I was hitched forever.

We purchased a Suzuki TL 185 shortly thereafter and I made good on my promise to teach her to ride. Not that I was really the best instructor. I learned in college from a roommate with a Honda XL 185 in 1988. Greg was offended when I referred to bikes as “murdercycles.” He opened my mind, and before I’d ever slipped the Honda into 3^rd gear I found and purchased ½ interest in an abused $50 1980 YZ 80. Best $25 I’ve ever spent. Roger and I heaped more abuse on the poor Yamaha than any bike should ever have to endure. When the motor finally succumbed, I bought Greg’s Honda. This was my first street legal bike, and I rode it until 1993 when I sold it back to him. I look back on those days fondly. I was always broke, but managed to find ways to keep gas in the tank. I remember getting the guy at the local motorcycle shop to give me clutch parts for the YZ by eating a live fly I caught with my fingers. Good times, and I learned a lot. I firmly believe there is no better way to learn than pushing your limits and surviving the wrecks. The YZ was perfect for that, it has probably saved my life numerous times.

That’s the reason for the TS. At our age pushing the limits and surviving the wrecks probably isn’t prudent or advisable, but having a bike that could take some mistakes and abuse without overly punishing the rider or wallet seemed wise. I really wish Ceci had ridden the bike more and a little harder, but she isn’t the patient type. It wasn’t long before she bought a very low mileage 2001 Vulcan 750 from a friend. That was followed by a motorcycle safety foundation class with instructors more capable than I am. In no time she had her license and was riding regularly. I, on the other hand, was riding nowhere.

In 1996 my interest in riding was rekindled by Navy buddies that rode. I purchased the Bandit while on leave in Missouri and rode it back to California where I was stationed. This was my first real street bike, and I’ve yet to find its replacement. Unfortunately, the roads where I live now in Texas aren’t all that interesting and I didn’t ride like I should. Eventually it started running so poorly I had to take it to a mechanic for long overdue work. Between his ineptitude and the Hurricane that destroyed his shop, my bike was left unrideable. I couldn’t find another mechanic willing to work on it. It just didn’t seem to be worth fixing, so I had to watch my wife ride and enjoy the fact that she was happy.

She wasn’t happy enough. She kept bugging me to start riding again. After all, that was the reason she married me, wasn’t it? Things had not been going great at home. The honeymoon was over and problems were creeping in (looming large?). There was the miscarriage. I stopped working in 2007 and my retirement money was running out. Her teenage daughter was out of control and driving me nuts. We were getting by, but things weren’t exactly joyous. Summer vacation was approaching and we had no plans. The conditions were all there, and there I made quite the error in judgement.

“Honey, we could just cash in Sami’s college fund and take a motorcycle trip across the country.” It was a lark really. There was no way she’d say yes to that. It made no sense. I didn’t even have a bike to ride on. There was less than $2,000 in the college savings anyway. Ceci had never taken a real trip anywhere on the bike. She didn’t even have her own gear, she was riding with mine. It was just a dream to hope for. Like the Ferrari I keep lusting for.

There was no hesitation. No questions. Her mind instantly made up. “You need to get a bike.” I was wrong. I had greatly underestimated my wife. Her father had talked of one day riding across the country, but passed away without accomplishing it. Her older brother has talked of it also, but as yet hadn’t done so. The dream was now hers, and I had become part of it. Any problems we were having went away. We now had new problems. I needed a bike. She needed gear. We had to plan the trip. We had something to look forward to.

Tourist information and maps started coming in from every state except Hawaii. I spent hours calculating routes that would have us back in time for her to go back to work. How much can you see in two months? What do we want to see most? How can we get there without trudging along the interstate? I had to figure that out.

We don’t buy anything from China, so gear can be a problem. We found Frank Thomas brand jacket and pants made in England(most aren’t, we got lucky), and an AlpineStars back protector(Indonesia) at Cycle Gear. I found an online store with an HJC-90 communicator compatible with my own(Korea). It had been on the shelf for a decade. It seems someone above was looking out and providing for us. I spent weeks shopping the internet. Metzeler Marathon tires (Brazil, Germany), Fieldsheer summer gloves(Pakistan), Garmin GPS(Taiwan), helmet Halo(USA!), Chase Harper tank bag(USA!), new face shield for her HJC helmet(Korea). She would use the Bates boots, Alpine Design hydration backpack(Indonesia), and River Road winter gloves(Pakistan) she already had. Ditto the River Road saddle bags that came with her bike. Any other luggage she would have would be bunjee corded down.

My bike was a bigger problem. I started shopping for something used, but couldn’t find much worthwhile out there. Maybe a new Ninja 250? If only I could find a dealer anywhere that had one. Could I really justify buying myself a new bike without having any income? Wasn’t there anyone out there that could resurrect my old Bandit? As it turned out, yes there was. Bubba to the rescue. No kidding. His shop (backyard) is about an hour away, and he seems confident he can fix it for a lot less than the cost of a new (or gently used) bike. I deliver it with a long list of needed repairs. The carbs desperately need to be rebuilt and synched, the tank is rusted and gummed up inside. The fuel petcock is broken. The back brake doesn’t function, and the fluid needs to be replaced. The valves need to be adjusted. I need a new chain and front sprocket. The forks need new fluid and seals. The oil and filter need to be changed. Everything needs to be inspected, adjusted, and lubed. Bubba loses the list. He works at his own speed with his own ideas and priorities. He rebuilds the carbs, but won’t synchronize them. He cleans out the tank, which turns out to not have all the rust I thought it did. He rigs the petcock where it is somewhat functional. He just happens to have a good front sprocket lying around. The new X-ring chain comes from Parts Unlimited. A little clean up work and flushing the brakes gets them working again. The old fork seals are retained. The valves go unadjusted. The engine gets Mobil 1 15W-50 synthetic oil and a Fram filter. He paints my seat with a vinyl paint that makes it look much better. He also spray paints the front fender that had faded to an ugly pink. I do the same to the equally faded side plastic. The Avon tyres are aged, but have zero miles on them. The dryrot in the sidewall appears minimal. The bike looks a lot better. More importantly, it runs again – back from the dead. I am concerned about the work I asked for that didn’t get done, but Bubba is not. He is concerned about my 3 year old Wal-Mart battery that somehow still works after years of neglect, but I am not. For just under $1,000 I am riding again. I don’t know how long it will last. I expect I’ll probably have to use the credit card to buy a new bike somewhere in route.

Fortunately, I need no new gear. I already have matching Chase Harper saddlebags, tail trunk, and tank bag(USA!). My Joe Rocket pants, jacket, and gloves(Canada) are still serviceable, as are my Bieffe boots(Italy) and helmet Halo(USA!) . The Chatterbox (Korea) needs a new battery but still works. The helmet bag has kept my HJC helmet(Korea) clean and shiny. I do buy some new Teknic sport gloves(Pakistan) that are heavier than the perforated summer gloves I already have. I also have a hydration backpack identical to my wife’s, and enough bunjee nets to strap down most of everything we own. I just need to pack and I’m ready to go.

I change the oil and filter on Ceci’s bike, and put in a new battery. I also rebuild her fragile wooden luggage rack so we can carry an extra gas can. It seems her tank will only hold 2 gallons of gas. That might be a big problem when we’re in the middle of the western deserts. I take her bike to Bubba’s to mount the new tires and try and figure out what is wrong with the fuel tank that claims to hold over 3 gallons. He disassembles the petcock and inspects the tank but finds nothing. He gets the tires mounted and we pick up the bike one day before our trip.

At this point, the omens are not looking good. Ceci’s bike now runs terribly. It won’t idle, and sounds sick. It smells like gas whenever she stops. Bubba won’t answer his phone. Damn you Bubba! I don’t know that I have enough room on the credit card to purchase two new bikes on the trip. I only have about half of our trip planned out. I am not done packing yet. Time waits for no one. Hell or high water we will leave tomorrow.

Day 39- July 30

2008-11-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

Day 39, July 30th 37,397 on the odometer

It only takes us an hour to break camp and load up. Very good for us. We make it to the Grist Mill in plenty of time for breakfast. The food is good but not fantastic. The setting is great. We spend some time visiting the restored mill and rebuilt old buildings. Ceci is taking lots of post card quality pictures. There are quite a few other bikers here and we chat with some of them for a bit, before heading out to fuel back up.
We are back rolling on the Blue Ridge by noon. We stop at a couple of visitor centers along the way, and do some gift shop shopping. On some of the curves there is a wild caution sign showing a biker jumping off his bike surrounded by a symbol that is either meant to depict a tight turn or promote The Artist Formerly Known As Prince. I know the meaning is supposed to be serious but I find it hilarious. They sell souvenir signs in the gift shop, but I have no place on the bike to pack it. We settle for a key chain and photo. In the interest of time, we pass on the mineral museum.
The pavement is starting to get worse as we go along. It is still ok, but we are hitting some rough spots and avoiding a few potholes. The road is also getting steeper and tighter as we get further south. At one point, the road is closed so we take a detour on HWY 80. Excellent detour, as it is downright twisty. I get my heart rate up as I dive into a hairpin with a nice big oil patch on entry. The bike slides a bit wide through the corner which helps me avoid all the loose sand in the middle on exit. Fun stuff. Ceci is taking a much safer pace and benefits from my real time ride report through the Chatterbox, so no drama for her. Just a nice ride.
We get back on the Blue Ridge to finish it off. Rain is beginning to threaten, but it holds off. Dusk is rapidly approaching though, and I don’t relish sharing the road with the deer we can’t see. There are a lot of tunnels on the southern end as well. They are pitch black. My eyes can’t adjust fast enough to see anything so we go through blind and hope for the best. As dusk falls we reach the last tunnel. This time my eyes adjust so I can see a bit. Good thing as the pavement in the tunnels isn’t always great, and it is pretty terrible in this last one.
Ceci is also beginning to tire. A lot. She says she’s fine every time I ask, but she is falling behind considerably even with a slow pace. There is no place to stay until we finish the Blue Ridge. It is 9:00 when we finally pull into Cherokee and get a hotel room. She was completely unaware that her placed had slowed so significantly, and should sleep well tonight.
We saw and splattered a lot of butterflies today, but didn’t see as many critters as we had on the last two days. Today we covered 298 miles by my odometer, so in actuality it was a bit over 300. Not bad by our standards, and it was still a pretty good ride with frequent stops to enjoy the trip.

Day 38- July 29

2008-11-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

Day 38: July 29th 37,125 on the odometer

We hit the road at what amounts to a usual time for us. We make it to a McDonald’s in time for lunch. Hard to rack up the miles when you sleep away half the morning, and spend the other half gearing up and loading down. It also took a bit of time to clean all the splattered bugs off the windscreens and my face shield.
Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park is awesome. Smooth pavement with lots of elevation changes and winding roads. Beautiful scenery too. It is Monday and traffic is fairly light; a good thing. We still see quite a few other bikes though. We stop at a visitor center to get our stamp, and spend some time watching a mostly disinterested deer. Shortly after we stop briefly at a scenic pull out after spying a very large black bear. You have to remind yourself that it is a wild predator and you shouldn’t let it get too close.
The abundant wildlife in the middle of the day is also a good reminder to keep the speed down. The speed limit is ridiculously low, especially considering the excellent condition of the road, but all it takes is one good sized critter behind a blind hill or curve to ruin your whole day.
There are a few places to get gas along Skyline, but we pass them all up and have to use the gas can to refill Ceci’s Vulcan when we get to the Blue Ridge Parkway. As it turns out, there are much fewer places to get gas on the Blue Ridge. The road itself is similar to Skyline. The pavement is not quite as good, but still decent and full of curves. I am enjoying this, and slowly the tire is becoming less squared off. At over 8,000 miles tire wear is definitely noticeable, but not yet a concern. There is still plenty of grip for my needs, in fact they feel better to me now than they did at the beginning of the trip. I like these Avons.
The scenery is also similar to what we saw in Shenandoah, though we now occasionally see farms and open land. A lot of wild turkeys too, and more butterflies than you can shake a dozen sticks at. I am trying to swerve around in my lane to avoid them, but still collect a fair amount of splattered guts on my bike and gear. I also swerve to miss a bright blue colored bird I can’t quite identify. It appears to be way brighter than any bluebird I have ever seen. As daylight begins to fade to dusk we start seeing herds of deer. Fortunately for us they are staying clear of the pavement and pay us no mind.
We pull off for gas and grub in Roanoke, but get right back on to set up camp at Rocky Knob. It is a nice place to camp, once quiet time nears and the generators on the RV’s go silent. Today was a good day. We covered only 272 miles, but this is almost 100 miles more than yesterday and it is a really good ride. Even my Bandit approves, as the idle is now occasionally working. Ceci also gets some relief as I bitch and moan a little less about my sore posterior and numb hands. A good road goes a long way to make things all better. She’s really enjoying this ride too.
On the other hand, we are now a good 300 miles behind the not too realistic re-revised revised itinerary.

Day 37- July 28

2008-10-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

Day 37: July 28th 36,950 on the odometer

Our new amended amended new new itinerary has us stopping in Hershey today on our way to Gettysburg. The route will be mostly freeway.
I only get turned around a couple of times getting in and out of Chocolate World. We don’t have time for the theme park, but find the free ride and museum fairly interesting and informative if a bit cheesy. We spend an hour and a half of our time, but very little of our money here.
Then it is on to Gettysburg. The battlefield museum is pretty good and we spend hours inside. Unfortunately, there is no where near enough time to do the entire auto tour route. You need a full day or two to really cover the place. We do make a point to stop at Little Round Top and Devil’s Den, where Ceci’s great grandfather fought as a Confederate soldier. I had a few relatives that fought for the Union, but don’t know the particulars of exactly where. We discuss the possibility that it was one of my ancestors that wounded and or captured hers here. Neat. It does almost feel like sacred ground.
We’d like to stay longer, but are now considerably behind schedule and are running out of time before sundown. So it’s back to the highway and on to Virginia. My map lets me down a bit again, as I am completely surprised by the sign welcoming us to West Virginia. I hadn’t realized it was on our route. We miss the chance to get a picture of that particular state sign. We stop at Harper’s Ferry so I can check the map. The visitor center is already closed, so no stamp here either, but at least I confirm that we are on the right track. Looks like a nice place but there’s no time to visit here.
We stop for dinner at an A&W as the sun begins to set. As we try and get back on the road, Ceci’s bike keeps dying. Wonderful. Easy fix though, as it turns out the bike just doesn’t like starting from a dead stop in 5th gear. Worth a chuckle at my beloved’s expense.
It is dark and beginning to rain again as we stop at a Holiday Inn. A lot more comfortable than trying to set up camp in the dark rain, but pretty expensive and no free breakfast either. We have stopped about 10 miles short of Skyline Drive, and about 100 miles short of our intended destination for the evening. We spent so much time sightseeing today that we covered only 175 miles. Hardly Iron Butt worthy.

Day 36- July 27

2008-10-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

Day 36: July 27th 36,701 on the odometer.

As I pull the bikes out, the storm clouds are building. Not a good sign. Neither is the gas leaking out of my #2 carb and into the airbox. Makes it hard to start. We spend our usual hours loading the bikes, and it is noon before we get on the road and into the rain.
It is a drenching thunderstorm as we cross the Hudson River into Albany. I manage to somehow lose my way on Route 9 going south. We stop and wait under a gas station awning for a bit to give my badly misfiring bike a chance to dry out and my badly misfiring organic navigation device a chance to get us un-lost. It rains steadily until we get past the Catskills. We don’t get off our route again except for a detour around what appears to be a fatal bike-car accident. We are too far away too get an idea of what might have happened.
The roads would be good if not for the lousy weather. My worn gear is pretty much completely drenched through. Ceci’s is keeping her nice and dry, with the exception of her boots and gloves. The communicators aren’t working worth a damn in the wet. My Bandit isn’t doing well either. Between the rain cutting out my spark, and the gas flooding the #2 carb, I have to keep very active on the throttle to keep it running, and very careful to keep the tires from spinning on the wet pavement when it suddenly hits on all 4 cylinders. Idle is still high when it’s firing on all cylinders, I’m guessing from the extra gas in #2?
The weather is really slowing us down so we don’t stop to visit the Delaware Gap National Recreation Area as we go by. It looks really nice here though. I also like it through the Poconos and all the little coal towns. It slows us down a bit but I really like the architecture of all the old buildings.
Plan was to make it to Gettysburg tonight, but we come up short and stay at a Hampton Inn in a town where gas is about 30 cents higher than anywhere else. Just my luck. At the hotel we call my Aunt Joanne, who lives in our next intended destination of Virginia Beach. My luck continues, as she is out of town for the week. Time to amend our amended new new itinerary. At least the map pocket is keeping the things that don’t blow out pretty dry.
We manage a mere 249 very wet miles today.

Day 35- July 26

2008-10-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Day 35: July 26th 36,701 miles on the odometer.

Plan is to spend the day visiting relatives, so we drive the bikes into the barn and no further. Uncle Burt and Aunt Bonnie let us stay in their RV, and we get some brief visits with my cousins Bart and Brett. We make a stop for a few hours to visit my great Uncle Joe and Aunt Edith. I help him put fuel and a battery in his mower and they fill us up with a lot of desserts. My Uncle Lee and Aunt Jan come visit us for a bit, having just returned from a trip to Maine. I finally get to eat a real New York Pizza. It isn’t great, but it’s good enough.
I do a cursory inspection of the bikes. Tread still looks Ok on the Bandit, as does the oil. Tread on Ceci’s Metzelers hardly look worn at all. We also haven’t really had any problems at all with the Vulcan since we hung the gremlin bell on it. Hmmm. Good signs, we will head out tomorrow. I spend the evening working on a new itinerary so we’ll know where we’re going when we do.

Day 34- July 25

2008-10-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

Day 34: July 25th 36,4?? on my odometer

Finally the weather is great and we head out. The roads are good and scenic with lots of hills and turns, but nothing real twisty. First stop on today’s agenda is Fort Ticonderoga. We miss our turn for Hwy 2 and have to double back a bit. The fort itself is a pretty significant part of colonial history and we spend a while viewing the grounds and earthworks, but decide the $30 cost of admission to the fort itself probably isn’t worth it. I’ve been here three times before and have still never been inside the fort.
Next stop is the nearby ferry to take us across Lake Champlain and into Vermont. We have to wait a while for the boat, but pass the time waiting by talking to some other bikers also waiting. One is on a Triumph Trophy 900 of a similar vintage as my Bandit. His looks a bit better cared for. He lets me sit on it for a bit to see how it feels and I like it. If I could find a nice clean used one for sale it would be a significant upgrade over my butt-busting hand-numbing Suzuki. Too bad Triumph hasn’t made one like this in quite a few years.
We head south through Vermont towards our next destination, the shaker village in North Hudson, Massachusetts. We pass through miles of rolling farm country hills. A lot of less than pleasant smelling dairy farms here, but the ride isn’t as bad as our trip through Minnesota. The Bandit isn’t running right, the idle is about 1200 RPM’s high. At least it’s running though, neither it nor the Chatterboxes liked the rain very much.
We get to the shaker village just as it closes. Rats. I’ve been here before and thought Ceci would like it too, but I guess we’ll have to catch it another time. The roads are still pretty good, though a fallen tree across the road at the crest of one hill gets my heart rate up and gives the brakes a good brief workout. As we get closer to the New York state line traffic begins to pick up. Not bad, but noticeable – especially in the small towns.
Our stop for the evening is my Aunt Bonnie’s farm in West Sand Lake. Unfortunately, I usually don’t come in from this direction so I manage to get us turned around a few times. After about 20 extra miles I finally get us there. It doesn’t help that yet another map has blown out of the map pocket of my tank bag. Ceci’s bag is the same model as mine, but is much newer and better design. Nothing is blowing out of her map pocket. I should make her the navigator.
We end the day with just over 36,700 miles on the odometer. Not sure exactly how far we went but I figure probably closer to 300 miles than 200.

Day 33- July 24

2008-09-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

Day 33: July 24th 36,436 on my odometer

Originally, we had intended to stay here for a week. When we checked in though we only reserved the cabin for 2 nights. Today we reserve another night. Hopefully this will give the rain a chance to move on and we can enjoy the place more. We eat breakfast at an inn a little ways down the road. The fare is much better than we had been getting at the diner in town.
First stop for the day is Buttermilk Falls. The falls themselves aren’t too far of a hike from the road, and there is decent enough parking off the side of the road for the bikes. We keep the gear on to protect us some from the rain. The falls are flowing heavy with all the recent rain, so it is a good show. Nothing like Niagra Falls or anything, but quite scenic and a lot less crowded.
Next stop is a rock shop where we seek shelter from the steady rain. Quite a few items of interest here, and it is walking distance from our cabin. We make a few small purchases, as our choices are limited by the space available and difficulty in preserving fragile items on the bikes. Not to mention our fast dwindling funds. We are starting to go into debt on this trip, and there is still a long way to go.
Final stop for the day before returning to town is the visitor center in Newcomb. It is a pretty nice place with a few good hiking trails. There is supposed to be good wildlife viewing here, but we aren’t so lucky. It probably doesn’t help that employees are blasting up and down the trails on 4-wheelers. It is still pretty scenic though, and has the largest hemlock trees I have ever seen. We stop to rest often on the trail, and find great places to view the hills and trees across quiet lake waters. Fortunately, the rain has let up so we don’t get particularly wet. We see lots of trees, fungus, and birds; but not much else for wildlife.
The rain comes back heavy as we get back into town. We stop at Stewarts to wait things out a bit while eating some ice cream and shopping for groceries. Tonight dinner will be sandwiches at the cabin. It will be our last bit of peaceful relaxation for a while.
As we aren’t really traveling anywhere, I don’t write down the mileage on the odometer. Tomorrow’s mileage will be a little off.

Day 32- July 23

2008-08-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Day 32: July 23rd 36,434 on my odometer

We are up in time for breakfast at the same diner we had dinner at last night. The food is again mediocre. The weather has not improved; off and on rain all day. Between showers we manage to rent a canoe and spend a couple of hours paddling across the lake. We see some lakefront property for sale that I think would be a great place to live. One really nice place even has its own little island we paddle around. Actually, if I had a spare million and a quarter I could buy the place we’re staying at. The economic downturn has made places available, but not exactly affordable for us.
The rain holds off enough that we stay pretty dry. Helps that we don’t tip the canoe, though I lightheartedly threaten to deliberately spill us in. The black flies and deer flies are biting, have to remember to bring some bug repellant next time. They don’t seem to be bothering Ceci at all though.
We pull back in to shore and play fetch for a while with the shopkeepers dog. Probably missing our own dogs that we left at home just a little bit. We are getting regular good reports from our dog/housesitters though so no worries.
As the rain returns, we spend the rest of the day window shopping and checking out the town. We get pizza from a small tourist shop with no indoor seating. We end up eating it outside in the rain. I am disappointed as this is most definitely not a NewYork pizza. I am a pizza snob. Then we head back for another relaxing evening at the cabin. I put maybe 2 miles on the bike. Ceci thinks her arms are going to be sore after all the rowing.

Day 31- July 22

2008-08-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

Day 31: July 22nd 36,382 on my odometer

We covered most of today’s trip yesterday, so we won’t be riding long today. After a good night’s sleep, we awake to find dry towels on our bikes to wipe them dry. The customer service here is most excellent. It is the most biker friendly place we visit on the entire trip.
We stop for breakfast in town at the Lumberjack Inn. It is pretty good eating. Then we head south, deciding to skip the Wildcenter so we can settle in sooner. There are a lot of vacationers in the Adirondacks and I want to make sure we have a decent place to stay for the week. The roads are not disappointing; lots of gentle curves, elevation changes, and great scenery. Traffic is light.
There is one cabin available for the most of the week at Green Harbor on Long Lake. We take it and unpack the bikes hurriedly. It has been raining on and off all around us this morning. Fortunately the gear is still holding up so we can unpack dry clothes. Our cabin sits right next to a small running stream, under a shade tree, and has a nice partial view of the lake from the porch. I could live and die here a happy man.
Once settled inside we take the Bandit to Blue Mountain Lake and visit the Adirondack Museum. I love this museum and have been here a few times. Ceci only thinks it is OK. Still, we spend all afternoon and can’t see it all before it closes for the evening. In all the times I have visited I have never managed to see it all.
Rain is constantly threatening all day. Our choices for eating establishments in the area is slim; we try the local “diner” in Long Lake. The food is mediocre. The relaxation back at the cabin, however, is fantastic. We feed ducks on the beach and watch the sun set behind the mountains and rain clouds on the other side of the lake. We also benefit from the serenade of a group of musicians also staying at one of the cabins here.
I only put about 50 miles on the bike today, but miles were not our goal. What we lacked in miles today we made up for in smiles.

Day 30- July 21

2008-08-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Day 30: July 21st 36,064 on my odometer

Before hitting the road for the day we eat breakfast at the motel restaurant. Not too bad. We also have a brief conversation with a slightly insane cyclist from England that is riding his own hand built big wheel bicycle all over the world. He has covered 20,000 miles so far in 20 different countries. Makes our “epic” journey seem pitiful by comparison.
Northern Pennsylvania is beautiful and the roads are mostly nice. Not particularly twisty, but plenty of turns, sweepers and elevation changes on mostly smooth pavement. We enjoy the ride all the way into Watkins Glen. While fueling up we have a conversation with some other bikers that tell us about a great road called “The Tail of the Dragon” and ask if we plan on riding it. I’ll have to look into that as I work on our itinerary. I haven’t done much planning at all for the route from New York to Georgia yet. We also manage to piss off a local cager who doesn’t think we are filling the bikes fast enough, can’t get around us, and apparently doesn’t know how to use reverse to leave the station.
We are treated to lunch at a restaurant with a fantastic view of Seneca Lake by Brandi Holloway, one of Ceci’s coworkers who is up here because of her husband’s job. The scenery is beautiful, but still not as nice as the Adirondacks where we plan on staying a week. New York is the most beautiful state I have ever been to; I just wish it was an affordable place to live.
Today’s planned destination is Texas. It is another place we had on our list of possible relocation places. A way for Ceci to still live in Texas without me actually having to live in Texas. It starts to rain as we leave the restaurant, and we get a steady but light rain for the next hour. Fortunately it is light enough rain that our gear keeps us dry and the Bandit keeps running. Unfortunately, the town of Texas doesn’t really seem to exist. There’s a sign, a marina, and a bait store but not much else. Nothing much to visit. I had planned on setting up camp at Selkirk Shores State Park, but as there isn’t much to visit and the park isn’t worth staying in so we change plans. There is still plenty of daylight left so we spend a few minutes sightseeing on the shore of Lake Huron and get back on the road.
We are now hustling to see how far we can get before dark. As we get to Adirondack State Park there are scattered thunderstorms all around us. The scenery is great as are the roads. Smooth pavement and lots of fast easy turns. As the sunlight starts to fade we are dodging the rain and trying to find a place to stay. There is another group of motorcyclists doing the same thing so we play a form of leapfrog for a little while. Finally we pull into the first motel in Tupper – the Faust motel. I am glad we beat the other group here as it is now dark and not so safe for us to be riding. It is a terribly selfish thing for me to think that way but if there’s only one room I intend to have it. The other group of mostly Concours riders pulls in behind us. Fortunately, there is plenty of room for us all, and the pleasant old lady running the place is definitely biker friendly.
She puts down blocks of wood for our kickstands so they won’t sink into the soft wet ground. She won’t let us check in because the only place in town to eat is about to close. As we hurry to run to the restaurant, she tells us not to worry, and actually calls ahead to make sure they don’t close until we get a chance to eat. After a pretty good meal we go back and check into our cabins. The price is very reasonable. It is old but clean and comfortable. A charming place.
At the restaurant and back at the motel we get a chance to meet the Concours riders we were leapfrogging- Jerald Hampshire from the St. Louis area and friends. They also mention something about the Dragon so I will definitely look into it. We exchange e-mail addresses so we can stay in touch. I have promised to send him the photos and blog of the trip. Least I can do to atone for my selfish attitude when we pulled in. If I ever get this published he’ll get a free copy.
We cover 318 scenic if occasionally wet miles, and are very near our destination at the center of the park.

Day 29- July 20

2008-07-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

Day 29: July 20th 35,804 miles on the odometer

The rain arrives just as we head out. It is a constant soaking rain. I remember to close the vents on my jacket, but it does not matter. My riding gear is no longer up to the task and I am wet from neck to toe for the entire day. The communicators are acting up again, as is my Bandit. It dies twice when I can’t keep the revs up high enough for 2 cylinders to keep it going. Both times it is reluctant to re-start. The second time I have to pull off the road and wait for the rain to end. We waste almost an hour at a closed car dealership while waiting for my electronics to dry out enough to start.
At least the roads and scenery improve as we get to Pennsylvania and get off the interstate. On tap for today is Pennsylvania’s famed route 666, rated by many as the worst road in America. Often that is a good thing, and there were a couple of good reviews from other motorcyclists on the internet.
Damn the internet. Route 666 may be the worst road in America, so long as you’re willing to use the term road loosely. It is more accurately a contiguous stretch of patched and un-patched potholes. The scenery is supposed to be nice but I don’t notice. All my attention is focused on finding a safe place to put my tires. The going is slow and rough. The constant battering actually snaps the taillight off of the Vulcan’s rear fender. Fortunately, it doesn’t fall off the bike and I am able to put it back on with the glue I’ve been using to keep the soles on my boot, plus a bunjee cord to keep it in place. We don’t see a single bike other than our own here.
Route 62 gets much better and route 6 is actually really good. Nothing technical, but lots of smooth pavement, great scenery, and nice turns and sweepers. While shopping in Ohio I picked up some Airplus gel insoles for women’s shoes. It is the kind meant just for the balls of her feet and they fit nicely in my gloves. My hands no longer go numb when I’m riding. It doesn’t get rid of the annoying vibes and discomfort completely, but it is a big help. If only they made one that fit my seat. I may have to buy a couple more and stick them on my butt cheeks.
As much as I am enjoying the ride after 666 in Pennsylvania, Ceci is having a tougher time of it. She gets the rear tire loose on one damp turn and almost wipes out. I don’t see it in my mirror, but she assures me it got her heart pumping. Shortly after that she has a near collision. No harm so no foul, and the close calls should keep her focused on her riding.
We stop for the night at the Colton Point Motel. It is a very scenic place with a wonderful view of mountains and forest. Ceci is also enjoying the scenery, and we add this to our list of places worth relocating to. The motel is an older motel, but I like it. Especially since it gives me a place to change into dry clothes. Fortunately my luggage is still water tight.
Due to the rain and route 666, we manage only 260 miles today.

Day 28- July 19

2008-07-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

Day 28: July 19th 35,804 miles on the odometer
Maintenance day; neither of us rides the bikes at all. Yesterday we picked up oil, filters, and some tools. The tool kits that come with the bike are woefully inadequate for the job, so we have to get a ratchet and some sockets as well as a filter wrench to change the oil. 7,000 miles is a long way to go between changes, but I figure that running Mobil-1 full synthetic oil on a lot of highway miles is OK. Still, Ceci’s oil is a bit dark when I drain it. Mine isn’t as bad, as I’ve added a quart and a half of new oil as we’ve traveled.
I also give the bikes a good once over and lube my chain. Ceci’s Vulcan has shaft drive, so I don’t have to worry much about hers. (Or so I thought) Despite what Bubba thought might be a slow leak of gear oil from the rear, the fluid level is fine and doesn’t appear to have leaked a drop on our trip. The left handgrip on her bike is starting to work its way loose, and it has slid about a half inch off. It takes a little bit of doing to get it back where it belongs. One of the metal tabs on my fuel tank was bent in the hurricane damage years ago. I don’t notice it until I see the plastic fairing mounted to it has begun to rub on the frame and is wearing itself away. It is a pretty easy fix to bend the tab out and cure that problem.
The bikes are starting to look a bit grimy from the road and could use a bath, but I leave them alone in that regard. I look at the road grime as a kind of badge of honor. I limit the cleaning to wiping up the oil from the change and washing the bugs off the windscreens and headlights.
I work at a leisurely pace but still have plenty of time to finish the maintenance, work on rebuilding the itinerary yet again, and cook up a batch of my Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken. Ceci has spent most of the day visiting with her step-mom so it has been a good day. We cap it off with a visit to the ballet at an outdoor park. Ballet ain’t exactly my thing, but it is time spent with family. I figure I can at least cross it off my list so I won’t have to do it again. The highlight was when a very large limb cracked and fell off of a nearby tree.

Day 27- July 18

2008-07-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

Day 27: July 18th 35,523 on my odometer.
We do not sleep particularly well, and are up in plenty of time for the continental breakfast. It is actually a pretty good breakfast by continental standards. The sky is overcast as we pack up, but it is not raining when we leave. The bike seems to have dried out, and is back to running on all 4 cylinders most of the time. The Chatterbox communicators that had started acting up in the rain are back to working normally again as well.
We have been on interstate highway since Bay City yesterday. I-75/hwy23 has terrible pavement; rough with frequent pot holes. We don’t leave the interstate until Ohio, where we pick up highway 20 and 18 into Akron. Our entire route today is mostly straight with very little scenery. It is mostly flat farm country with an occasional small town to break up the monotony. The temperature is also starting to climb back up. We do stay dry today though.
We make it to Barbara’s apartment much earlier than I had expected. With nothing interesting to stop for, and straight highways to travel on, we made good time. About 15 minutes are added to our trip when I miss the turn we were supposed to take in to Tallmadge. The turn I do make takes us back into Tallmadge through a traffic circle. I hate traffic circles even more than rain, grooved pavement, and steel grate bridges. I don’t know how the death toll isn’t terrible on the roundabouts. We manage to survive unscathed.
We are early enough to do some grocery shopping, as well as pick up some necessities for the bikes. The bikes have gone over 7,000 miles this trip, so it is definitely time for some maintenance. I will have some work to do tomorrow. Surprisingly, the tires are holding up quite well. There is still plenty of tread left on my Avons, and Ceci’s Metzelers look almost new.
We traveled 281 miles today. Not too far, but we arrived at our destination with plenty of time to do some necessary shopping and visit with family. For the trip so far we have covered 7,050 miles by my odometer. By Ceci’s reckoning it is more like 7,500 miles.

Day 26- July 17

2008-07-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

Day 26: July 17th 35,171 miles on my odometer.

The campground is a bit noisy overnight; a few inconsiderate campers and the occasional passing freight train. Not surprisingly, we break camp late. The campground is nice, but not worth dallying for, so we just gear up and go. We stop for breakfast at a place that serves it all day.
The restaurant has a good view of Lake Michigan. The roads up here in the U.P. aren’t great but they’re pretty good. We look through some local real estate magazines while we wait for our food and find water view property to be somewhat reasonable. Now that we have eliminated the Black Hills of SD as a possible future residence, we decide that the upper peninsula might be a viable option.
Our route today spends a lot of miles following the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The temperature is nice, as is the view. We still find no beach glass for Ceci, but I do get another bit of sand for Ma. Mackinac bridge is a pretty bridge. More importantly, the right lane is paved so I don’t have to put up with an annoying ride on the steel grating. The toll costs us $3 each to pass.
Now we pick up Hwy 23 which follows the Lake Huron coast until Bay City. Again we find no weathered glass on the beach, but we do find a few nice rocks and another sample of sand. The waters of Lake Huron are a lot more calm than Lake Michigan was. There are, however, more clouds overhead.
We stop for some fast food in Bay City and have a nice view of a thunderstorm sending bolts of lightning into the lake. Pretty, but a bit ominous. We have had to contend with almost no rain for our entire trip so far, but it looks like things might be about to change. It is my hope that as we leave the shoreline we will lessen the threat of rain.
No such luck. The rain is an absolute downpour as we get to Saginaw. Idiot that I am, I left the vents open on my jacket, so I’m getting pretty wet. Ceci’s gear is doing a good job of keeping her nice and dry, except for her hands and feet. More troublesome for me than the soaking is my Bandit. It is not liking this weather at all. It spits and misfires for about an hour as we ride through the deluge. We slow down on the wet pavement, and I have to downshift to keep the revs up so it won’t die as we ride. Sounds like I need new plug wires.
As it starts to get dark we stay at an AmericInn south of Flint. We get a room with a fireplace and hot tub. The rate really isn’t much more than we’ve been spending on regular rooms anyway. I’m actually pretty disappointed with the rates we’ve been paying so far. I would have thought with the price of gas averaging well over $4 a gallon and the economy tanking, prices would be a lot more reasonable. Things look particularly bad in the lower peninsula. It seemed like every other house we passed was for sale, or had a vehicle of some sort for sale. No such luck for us though. Not much luck with the room either. The fireplace is an electric model that does nothing to dry us out. We end up staying up late drying clothes in the laundry room. My luggage is still doing a great job of keeping out the water, but Ceci’s is not. The hot tub works fine, but the AC in the room does not so we end up sleeping in a warm muggy room. The motel’s solution is to knock $10 off our bill. I am not happy.
The ride today was pretty good, at least until it started pouring. We had hours of scenic lakeside driving, and roads that weren’t always straight. By my odometer we covered 352 miles, not bad for us. Should have a fairly easy day tomorrow getting to Akron where Ceci’s stepmother lives. Doesn’t look like it will be a particularly scenic, interesting, or fun route though, and we are one day too late to catch her brother on his way west.

Day 25- July 16

2008-06-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

Day 25: July 16th 34,772 miles on my odometer

We awaken to the sound of rain outside the hotel. In an attempt to save time, I left my luggage strapped to the bike. Fortunately, even with a hole in the bottom of one saddlebag and with no raincovers at all, my Chase Harper gear is keeping all the water out. Ceci’s River Road saddlebags are still letting the water in, but we’re not keeping anything in there that can’t get wet.
We eat the continental breakfast at the hotel and hit the road. Pretty early by our usual standards. The roads continue to be rough until we get out of Minnesota. Things get a little better when we get to Wisconsin.
We stop for a while at a really good visitor center in Ashland. You can just barely see Lake Superior from here. We spend about an hour looking through the exhibits and gift shop. We then head off to get closer to the lake, and waste another hour in futile efforts. Finally we find a small city park with a beach. We stop for a bit but find no beach glass. I do take about a teaspoon of beach as a souvenir. My mother has a collection of sands from beaches I’ve been to all over the country.
We are now on Hwy 2, which we will stay on until we get to the Mackinac bridge. Makes navigation easy, and the miles start to pile up. It’s not the most scenic route, but it’s OK and we end up going further today than we have on any other day so far. At one point I very nearly kill another bird. It must be the stupidest pigeon ever. It’s just walking around aimlessly in the middle of the highway. I make my best guess and take a line that just barely misses him. My turbulence sends him rolling along though. Ceci passes harmlessly by while he tries to get his bearings, but the car behind us clobbers him anyway.
It was wet when we started in Minnesota today, but it didn’t rain too much. We pretty much stayed dry. It was dry all day in Wisconsin and Michigan, and best of all the temperature was fairly cool. A much more comfortable ride than we’ve been having. I won’t say I quit complaining about my sore butt and numb hands, but the quantity of the complaints was much lower. Notably though, Ceci has started to mention that her butt is beginning to get a bit saddle sore. 6,000 miles in the stock saddle before she starts to notice any discomfort is pretty good I think. Now we can both powder our butts in the mornings.
As the sun starts to go down we find few places to stop and eat or sleep. I pass a couple of hotels that don’t particularly appeal to me. We eat hot dogs for dinner at a gas station. Finally we stop at a county campground outside Escanabra, Michigan. Ceci sets up camp in the dark and is not too pleased. She’s pretty ticked at me for not stopping earlier at a hotel.
We cover 399 miles today by my odometer. Pretty good for us, but might be a bit too far considering how sore (in more than one way) my wife is.

Day 24- July 15

2008-06-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Day 24: July 15th 34,398 miles according to my defective instrumentation

Big Surprise! We get off to another late start. My bags are patched with duct tape and I do a much better job hanging them on today. Doing so takes time though. This would definitely be better if I had detachable hard bags.
The scenery is lacking, nothing but farmland prairie in this part of South Dakota. It is getting quite warm when we pull off to visit the Corn Palace. Just another tourist trap that I find a bit disappointing. Judging from pictures, the long gone original from 100 years ago was a more worthwhile place to see and visit. Too bad, I don’t think this was worth the trip through town.
The scenery in Minnesota isn’t any better. We are on 23 north for 100 miles before occasional trees and water interrupt the farm fields. I’m not sure where the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes is hiding them all. On our route we see one. The pavement is poor for most of this trip, with almost no curves at all. Cage drivers are not particularly courteous (or even competent) out here either. My middle finger is extended in much deserved mock salute more than once. It is a far cry from the courteous waves you usually get in a lot of the rural areas in the U.S.
With nothing much to see, we just keep plugging away. My hands were bothering me from the start today; as the day goes on my aching posterior is killing me. I welcome frequent gas stops just to rest my cheeks. It is painful getting back in the saddle though. The pain in my butt almost makes me forget about the numb aching throttle hand.
On a somber note, I am involved in a fatal collision. No damage to me or the bike, but a small bird (sparrow maybe) perished. I slowed down to miss him, but he turned back into me. He just grazed my right leg before getting clobbered by the saddlebag. Sorry little guy.
On an interesting note, there are no problems at all with Ceci’s bike today. In fact since buying the gremlin bell, Ceci’s bike has had no problems. The Bandit has not been so lucky. Maybe I should get one…. So much for not being superstitious.
We stop for the night at a Super 8. We covered at least 374 miles today, a much better day than we’d been averaging. Easier to rack up the miles when there’s nothing much to see or worth stopping for.

Day 23- July 14

2008-06-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

Day 23: July 14th 34,140 on the not quite so accurate odometer

As we spend our usual hour loading the bikes to get back on the road, I notice that oil appears to be seeping through the valve covers on my Bandit. Could be the gas leaking through the carbs is thinning the oil a bit. It doesn’t appear to be serious yet, but it is a cause for concern. I’ll be needing to change the oil soon anyway, plans are to do that on both bikes when we get to Ohio.
Before heading back on the road, we make a few stops in Custer. First stop is a rock shop. There are some items of interest, but nothing we just have to have. Next stop is the library to do a little more research on the area we once thought might be home, but mostly just to get caught up on e-mail.
Then it is off to continue the journey. We take a break at the famous Wall Drug. It is a well advertised shameless tourist trap, but a good one at that. I get my free ice water and donut. We spend a couple of enjoyable hours here, mostly just window shopping. The air conditioning is also most welcome as the desert heat has returned.
Next on the itinerary is Badlands National Park. It kind of reminds me of the Painted Desert. We arrive too late to watch the big pig dig, but the visitors center is open and it’s a pretty good one. The roads through the park are also pretty good, if a bit too warm for comfort.
We have to leave out the missile silo national site as it isn’t finished yet and is spread out over a few locations not necessarily on our way. The visitor center for that is on the way, but it was closed when we got there.
Time to stop the site seeing and rack up some miles. A little late for that I guess, and we don’t come close to my hoped for goal of making it to Minnesota. I was pretty sure we were going to end up short of that goal anyway, so I’m not terribly disappointed. We stop for the night at a hotel on the Missouri river. Unfortunately we arrive just AFTER a very picturesque sunset. Ceci is a little bit upset that we miss the picture opportunity. Most of the roads today were straight and flat, just back to the grind.
The vibrations through the bars on the Bandit feel like they’re getting worse. Ceci is loving her cramp buster, but mine doesn’t seem to be doing anything for me. I make a conscious effort to try and keep my hands more relaxed, but it doesn’t matter. My right one especially was numb for most of the ride.
I also discover that I did a poor job of securing my luggage this morning. The saddlebags settled in far enough that the rear tire wore a hole through one. Crap. Chase Harper has a lifetime warranty I think, but I doubt they’ll cover this damage that is clearly a result of my negligence. (As it turns out, they do have a lifetime warranty and it does cover owner stupidity. Just pay the postage and they’ll fix the bags. Great company and an advantage of buying American) I’ll have to make do with a duct tape repair. Like all good rednecks, duct tape and WD-40 was required gear we had to carry with us.
We have Pizza Hut deliver 2 pizzas for dinner and we gorge ourselves on that. We save the cinnastix and breadsticks for breakfast the next morning.
By my odometer, we manage to cover only 258 saddlebag shredding, nerve damaging, butt breaking miles.

Day 22- July 13

2008-06-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

Day 22: July 13th 34,057 miles on the odometer

Our first destination for the day is Mount Rushmore. We take both bikes because, at this point, we really don’t trust mine. The artist responsible for creating this monument wanted to make sure it was for all people, and that no one should ever have to pay to visit it. In a perverted way of keeping with his wishes, we can not use the park pass here. We do have to pay $10 each to enter for “parking.” It doesn’t matter that we are only using one space, or that we have the national park pass. This is not biker friendly, not really friendly to anyone at all.
The monument looks somehow unfinished, though it is as done as it will get. It is certainly more finished than Crazy Horse, but after yesterday we still find Rushmore something of a disappointment. The film and museum are good, but not as good as we enjoyed yesterday and at double the price. It probably would have been better for us to have visited Rushmore first and then Crazy Horse. This is the second time this trip we have been very disappointed with national sites that should have been highlights.
The roads are really good here, some downright twisty. We skip some of the better roads because they are located in a state park, and I don’t want to spend the money just to ride the roads. The roads we do ride are good enough for me.
Next stop is the wind cave. It is yet another park where the park pass is useless. It doesn’t cost anything to enter the park, but all the cave tours are for a fee. They are all guided as well. The tour is not particularly impressive, especially after Carlsbad. It is a good place to cool off though. The cave’s main claim to fame is the “boxwork” inside and the hole that blows cold air outside that led to its discovery. I think we would have been better off visiting Jewel Cave instead.
As we leave we spy a bison heading towards the road. We stop alongside others who also want to take his picture. He makes me uncomfortable so I tell Ceci to hurry it up. The big sucker is looking me right in the eye and slowly heading straight for me. I keep the bike running so I can make a quick escape. She gets her picture and we head back to camp.
We dine on fetuccini alfredo with chicken. I make way more than we can eat, and it is not as good as I usually make back home, but it still feels like we are eating like kings. I have also made good progress rebuilding the itinerary. We will not make it to Ohio in time to catch Roy, but at least now we have a route that takes us to New York.
We are having no luck finding a suitable place to call home, so relocation to the Black Hills of South Dakota is out of the plans. Plan “B” is to move to Texas. The town of Texas in New York state that is. This way Ceci can say she still lives in Texas. I have included it in our itinerary.
Today we traveled 83 miles. Again, traveling was not the goal for the day as we finished right where we started. By Ceci’s odometer we traveled a bit further, and that debate continues to rage.

Day 21- July 12

2008-05-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

Day 21: July 12th 33,986 miles on the odometer

We start the day driving down main street in Sturgis. They are preparing for the upcoming madness. We spend a couple of hours at the motorcycle museum, which has a nice collection of various makes and models from numerous manufacturers and time periods. It is definitely worth the price of admission. I like the vintage stuff, particularly the Flying Merkel and Vincent Black Shadow. Ceci seems more interested in the fancy/artistic custom bikes. Pretty to look at, but horribly impractical to ride. At the gift shop, I buy a “gremlin bell” for Ceci’s bike. She is a superstitious sort, so maybe it’ll work for her and the Vulcan will cease having its daily problems.
Maybe I should have bought one for myself. The Bandit is running rough; the carburation seems off. The next stop is the Crazy Horse Monument, not too far away, and on the way to Custer. The place is bike friendly; we pay $5 each to enter and park. That is half the posted price for cages. The monument itself is far from finished, but it appears they are making some progress. The museum is fantastic with lots of interesting exhibits to look at and a film about the project. We spend hours enjoying ourselves here. A little longer than originally planned, as I notice about ½ gallon of spilled gasoline that has leaked through my overflowing carbs and onto the parking lot. The engine is flooded locked. I shut off the gas from the tank with the extra valve Bubba installed as part of his fuel petcock “fix.” Nothing left to do now but wait for the fuel to leave the cylinders. We go back into the museum and eat dinner in the museum restaurant. The fare is OK but not great. About what you’d expect I guess. The view from our table was quite good at least.
We finally get my bike running, still not well, and head to Custer. The roads are pretty good; smooth, scenic, and curvy. There are a lot of bikes out here with us. Out west we saw mostly BMW’s. Here there are still a lot of those, but we are seeing a lot more cruisers.
Our final destination is the American Presidents Resort. It has cabins and campsites, a store, laundry, pool, and mini golf course. It also claims to be bike friendly, but the sloped gravel roads make things pretty tricky, especially when it is time to park. Our cabin, the Wilson, is right on a slope. Wilson is certainly not my favorite president, but at least I didn’t get the LBJ or Clinton cabin. The park looks like it is in a state of decline and as such is over-priced. I doesn’t seem like it would take much to make this a really good park, but as it is now I’d say it is on its way out. We try out the 12 hole mini-golf course. It is simple and poorly maintained, and my better half beats me by a stroke. Dadgumit. The small gameroom doesn’t have an air hockey table for me to regain my manhood either.
There are some nice views from the resort. The Black Hills in general are fairly scenic, with lots of trees and live water. Though pretty hot during the afternoon, it is comfortably cool in the morning and at night. We don’t need AC in the cabin at all, as the overnight temp drops into the high 30’s.
We travel a mere 71 miles today, but travel was not the goal. This is a destination we plan to spend some time at. Initially we planned a week, but we will be cutting a day or two off of that. There is a kitchen of sorts in the cabin, so I will get a chance to actually cook some meals for the next few days.

Day 20- July 11

2008-05-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Day 20: July 11th 33615 miles on the odometer

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant was pretty good. I am disappointed, however, to find out they didn’t give me the discount on the room. We are not on the road particularly early, but at least we’re not running late as usual.
The ride is hot and very windy. We spend most of the ride on 20 north just hanging on and trying to stay in our lane. 16 east is a better ride, and welcome relief for a little while. The bit through the Bighorn Mountains recharges our batteries so we are ready for I-90. We exit on 14 to catch 24 and Devil’s Tower monument. It isn’t all that impressive from the highway, and we almost decide to skip it.
I am glad we don’t. We enter the park and discover it is MUCH more impressive up close. Not so much for its size, but the almost perfect geometric shapes and lines. We spend a good bit of time checking out the visitor’s center. I wouldn’t want to spend a week here, but it is most definitely worth an hour or two of your time.
We then head to Sturgis. We plan on spending some time in the Black Hills, and figure that’s a great place for a couple of “bikers” like us to start. This is the first place on our trip that we are considering relocating too. I’ve never been a huge fan of Texas, and we discovered just how unlivable the place can be when Hurricane Rita took out our power for a week in August a couple of years ago. There is absolutely nothing you can do to cool off when the power is out. Ceci doesn’t want to leave the south though, so this was our compromise. It has a much cooler climate, but is still part of the south as you can tell from the name: SOUTH Dakota. We intend to find out now if indeed this is the place for us.
We pass more small herds of pronghorn and bison, and lots of prairie dog towns. The prairie dogs all look at lot smaller than the ones I used to see in the Texas panhandle. Not much else to see in the desert though. The roads are mostly uninteresting. We are still battling the heat and wind all the way to Sturgis.
It is pretty hot, not much cooler than what we’re used to seeing in Houston. I don’t care what other people say about a dry heat, hot is hot. A dry 80 degrees is much better than a sticky 80 degrees, but there isn’t any difference when the temperature bests 90. We arrive with plenty of daylight left and temps closer to 100. We check in at a Days Inn and start doing some research. First we find a cabin to rent for the rest of the week in Custer, more centrally located. Then we look through all the local real estate magazines. Hmmm, prices are not so great. Land is nearly double what it goes for in Texas. It doesn’t appear that jobs around here pay double though. We may have to look at relocation plan “B.”
We are early for the madness that will happen here in a couple of weeks, good planning on our part. It’ll be nice to ride and check out the place before all the posers and partiers crowd the place up. I’m sure the locals look forward to the economic boom, but I want no part of the mayhem. There are still quite a few bikes around, but unobtrusive and just enough to let you know you’re not alone. Ceci is quite amused with an H-D parked next to us at the hotel that is equipped with a pet taxi for the dog. Not your usual chrome and loud pipes farkling. Cool.
I note with some interest that mid-grade unleaded here is cheaper than regular 85 octane gas. Interesting. We fill up the bikes and ourselves at the gas station/restaurant next to the hotel, catch up on some laundry, and head to bed eager for tomorrow’s activities.
We covered 371 miles* today, and arrived at our destination with time to spare. Not bad.

Day 19- July 10

2008-05-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Day 19: July 10th 33356 miles on the odometer

I wake up early and often. There is quite a bit of traffic on the main road so it is a bit noisy. At one point I hear the sound of grass being torn apart, so I carefully pull back the tent flap to watch the cow elk grazing about 4 feet from the tent door. By the time I get Ceci awake and the camera out the cow has moved on. Not to worry, there is a small herd of cows and calves moving through the camping area, so we still get some good pictures. I hear a lot of bugling, but can’t find a bull elk anywhere.
We pack up and eat breakfast at the same Village Grill. It is again mediocre at best, but it gets us on our way fairly quickly so we can see the sights. We spot a couple of grizzly bears, but they are a bit small and far away. We also see some bison in the distance. Not a bad park for wildlife viewing, but we aren’t getting the show you can see on the Discovery channel.
There are a lot of hot springs in the park. The bubbling mud smells pretty foul and doesn’t look much better. The pools, however, are fantastic. The smell is still bad, but the colors are incredible. More than the wildlife, I think the pools are the highlight of the park. They are hard to describe in any way that can do them justice.
Almost forgot the other highlights of the park. Old Faithful is not the only geyser, but it is a big one. We watch a couple of smaller ones blasting steam and water into the air before we settle down and wait for Old Faithful. We just missed an eruption when we got there so we wait almost an hour for her to blow. There are a couple of false starts that lead me to believe we got gypped, then a tall blast that puts that idea to rest. It was worth the wait to see it.
Having seen most of what we wanted, we head south to the Grand Tetons. I have seen them before from the other side when I lived in Idaho, but Ceci has never seen them at all. Friends from home have been building them up since long before we left, so expectations are high. We are not disappointed, they are quite outstandingly beautiful. It would be nice to spend about a week or two engaging in outdoor recreation here, but we don’t have the time. Other than the scenery, there isn’t much to do here if you can only spend an hour or two so we take some pictures and stop at a pretty good Indian museum at the visitor center.
Our next destination is the Black Hills of South Dakota so we head east on Hwy 26. The map says it is a scenic route, but major enough that we can make good time. We are slowed down by a fair amount of road construction. It is starting to warm up and dry out again as we head back into high desert, though the transition is gradual and more scenic than the desert southwest. I know I’m starting to get road weary when I see what looks to me like a hermit crab carrying a peanut shell across the road. I tell Ceci about it, but she never saw it. I must be hallucinating. Later I see a long snake crossing the road. Big enough that by the time I recognize it, it is too late to miss it. Bull snake of some sort I think as I run over its middle. Ceci sees me hit it, so at least I’m not hallucinating. I feel a little better when she says it was still slithering away after I hit it.
It is quite hot by evening. I had hoped to reach Thermopolis, but we stop for the day at the Sundowner Motel in Riverton. Rooms are somewhat expensive around here and not always available. The Sundowner is an older but decent place, and I don’t want to take a chance on finding nothing available after sunset in Thermopolis. Besides, they are offering an ex-military discount. There is no laundry facility, but after three days the shower and bed are very welcome.
We got an unusual early start today, so we were able to do a good bit of sightseeing before putting on the miles in the late afternoon. By my odometer (now a point of contention), we covered 259 miles today.

Day 18- July 9

2008-05-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Day 18: July 9th 32,981 miles on the odometer

We get a much better start than usual this morning. I did not unpack my bike at all last night so I don’t have to spend all that time arranging and bunjiing things just right. There is no place for breakfast in the immediate area; we go about 30 miles or so to Elkhorn? and stop for an excellent breakfast there.
Hwy 89 leaving the park (Blackfoot Indian reservation) has lots of nice curves, but the pavement is a little rough. Just as the pavement smoothes out, so do the curves. We will be taking 89 all the way to Yellowstone today. My map shows it to be a scenic route, but were seeing mostly high plains farmland – not particularly scenic. We do see some Pronghorn in some of the fields. There are some stretches through small mountain areas, and it cools off nicely there. A bit more scenic as well. I see two bald eagles. One is in flight; the other is perched on some deadfall in a river. This is picturesque, big birds – very pretty.
As we get further south the road gets nicer, except for some patches of road construction. Ceci has begun to notice that our mileage totals don’t match up. Her bike seems to have gone quite a few more miles on this trip than mine has. I check the speedometer and odometer with the mileage markers on the road. My speedometer is spot on, odd. It used to be pretty optimistic. My odometer, however, IS off. I’m shorting us almost a tenth of a mile for each one we travel. Her odometer is spot on, but her speedometer is at least 5 mph high. So my mileage totals are about 6-7% off every day, making it seem like we’re not going as far as we really have. Ceci is getting a little upset about that, as if she is being robbed of our achievements. Still, I stubbornly refuse to change any of the miles I record. I started this way; I’ll keep it this way. It gives her something to complain about, to get back at me for yelling “Don’t hit me!” every time we stop. She still can’t match my constant gripes about my sore butt and numb hands though. On top of that, my crotch rot is not going away and is beginning to smell foul, and I think I’m starting to come down with that crud Ceci has been fighting all week. Even better, my new itinerary has once again blown out of the map pocket on the tank bag so it’s back to square one there again. Ceci’s newer bag (same model) has a better Velcro design that keeps this from happening on hers, but I am convinced I can make mine work so we continue to suffer the consequences of lost maps and directions.
We camp at Mammoth Hot Springs, just inside Yellowstone National Park and the Wyoming state line. There is a decent amount of daylight left when we set up camp, and we eat dinner at the park grill. It is edible, but I think McDonald’s has better food. So far I have been very disappointed with the private vendors doing business in the national parks. We check out the gift shop, which is filled with Chinese made trinkets we won’t buy. We do find a couple of things and head back to camp. Well, almost. We stop in the parking lot first to take pictures of a cow elk relaxing there. We were warned about the bad smells coming from the springs, but we find it only infrequently noticeable.
The park road is right next to the camping area, which is a drawback, but there are still nice views. I could really use a shower since we didn’t get one in Glacier, but there aren’t any here either. There is a curious robin at our campsite. I carry on quite the conversation with it for a good 5 – 10 minutes. I don’t think either of us really understood each other, but it was pleasant nonetheless. We soak in the view until it gets dark and hit the sack. We have lots of sightseeing to do tomorrow.
By my odometer, we cover 375 miles today, our longest so far. Almost a year later Ceci is still bugging me to add 5% to that total so as not to shortchange our accomplishments.

Day 17- July 8

2008-05-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Day 17: July 8th 32,737 miles on the odometer

At the risk of sounding like the proverbial broken record, we get off to yet another late start. Not really a problem, as we don’t have too far to go to reach our destination today. It is too late even to get breakfast when we leave; we settle for lunch at a burger place when we make our first stop for gas. It is one of those ‘50s themed places, not great but OK. There is a Harley on display right next to the table we sit at so that’s kind of cool.
A disaster of sorts strikes as we are leaving the restaurant. As I am cautiously waiting for traffic to clear so we can get back on the road, my bike suddenly lurches forward. I grab the brakes hard so I don’t get out into traffic, but it is becoming very hard to keep the bike from tipping over. Something is pulling it down. After a few futile seconds, and a rather loud “What the hell?” I yell into my helmet; I give up, hit the kill switch, and let the Bandit rest gently on its side. Looking behind me now I see my wife’s Vulcan also resting on its side, her front wheel wedged between my saddlebag and rear fender. It takes her a little while before she answers me with an “I’m sorry.” It seems she thought I had already pulled out and was so busy checking the cross traffic that she failed to notice that I had stopped in front of her. I guess I had been too cautious.
Fortunately, nothing is really hurt but some egos. There are plenty of concerned witnesses, so we can’t quite escape the public embarrassment. The good people are very helpful and help us pick up and separate the bikes. Ceci’s bike leaked a little gas, but had no other damage. My Bandit leaks some gas as well, making the tankbag smell bad for a little while. I also have a slightly bent clutch lever and license plate and some minor little scratches, but nothing that needs a repair. After determining that there is no significant damage, we get back on the road. For the rest of the trip I yell “Don’t hit me!” every time I stop.
The rest of the trip is quite scenic. I have to add just over a pint of oil at the next gas stop. I hadn’t been keeping too close an eye on that so I make an effort to be more thorough in my future pre-ride inspections. My butt does not want to get back in the saddle. Every stop is a temporary relief, and getting back on seems a necessary evil. I had hoped my butt would adjust after a while but no such luck. On the plus side, the crotch rot that had been bothering me is getting better. I have been powdering lately. The gold bond feels a bit strange down there for a little bit, but that temporary feeling isn’t as bad as the lingering burning itch I had been feeling.
We arrive at Glacier National Park (they call it some peace park or something) fairly early, plenty of time to get our stamp. We take Going to the Sun Road. It is torn up in spots, and a little spooky at times, but not bad. We see glimpses of bighorn sheep, and close up views of some deer and mountain goats. I’m skeptical about the goats. Mama, Papa, and little Kid like a story book or something. The gift shop has a postcard that shows what looks to be exactly the same three goats in exactly the same place. Hmmm. Robot goats? I’m betting my conspiracy theory money that they are pets that the park rangers place out there every day for the tourists to see.
There isn’t much too see of the glacier, it’s a pretty good distance from the road and just looks like mountain snow. Doesn’t look much different from Crater Lake really, which is OK, because we thought that was beautiful too. We also see quite a bit of running water and waterfalls here, reminding us a little of Yosemite. This is a worthwhile place to visit.
The campsite is a bit lower in elevation, no snow here. There are billions of mosquitoes to deal with as well, and you can hear heavy construction equipment at work. Not ideal, but not really bad either. Still worth it.
We only cover 244 miles today, but this was our destination for the day. The sightseeing was terrific. I am still a happy camper.

Day 16- July 7

2008-05-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Day 16: July 7th 32,370 on the odometer

Despite not unpacking we still get a late start. We must be getting road weary or something to make us so slow. The continental breakfast is pretty disappointing. We shower and check e-mail again before hitting the road. The owner is only a little helpful in telling us the most scenic spots to check out. He wants us to head back into Oregon.
We stay in Washington. The ride is still nice for about 60 miles. We stop once at a river side park to watch hundreds of sailboarders flying across the river. There are literally hundreds of them, and this is a weekday. There isn’t room for a car to park anywhere; we have a hard time finding a place to squeeze the bikes.
After that we hit high desert. We’re still following the river until 14 ends at 395, but it is flat and barren all the way to Spokane. The temperature is getting pretty warm again too, but not as bad as it was in the southern deserts. With nothing much to see, we start to make some good time. We take 2 north out of Spokane and head into Idaho. Here the road gets better, and we’re back into some trees and much more comfortable river valleys.
We stop at a Motel 6 in Sandpoint a decent bit before sunset. We are actually slightly ahead of the new itinerary I’m still working on, but still behind the original that blew out of the map pocket. The original had to be outrageously unrealistic for us. It still isn’t looking like we’ll make it to Ohio in time to catch Roy there.
We stop early enough to shop at Wal-Mart and eat at Burger King before spending some time in the motel’s hot tub. Hopefully the hot soak will take away some of the road weariness. Despite the early stop, it is actually a bit late when we finally turn in for the night.
We cover 367 miles today. Not too bad for us. We meet a couple of guys that just got back from Alaska that are averaging way better than we are. One is on a Triumph Tiger, and the other is on a Suzuki V-Strom. They pack better than we do, as one of them has found room to carry a spare set of tires. My tires are holding out fine for now, and Ceci’s Metzelers still look new, but I know I’m going to have to change mine somewhere on this trip. It would have been nice to have room to carry replacements with me.

Day 15: July 6

2008-04-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

Day 15: July 6th 32,048 on the odometer

The temp got down to about 30 degrees last night. A bit chilly outside, but comfortable under the covers. I do have some concerns that Ceci’s sinus problem has become a cold.
The morning is crisp and clear; the snow clouds are gone so we have an unrestricted view. We pack the bikes back up, and I replace the plastic sidecover that has fallen off the Vulcan yet again. It takes hours for us to break camp and load up. We have some microwave fare breakfast at the camp store and head back out the way we came in.
The lake is gorgeous. One of, if not the, prettiest bodies of water in the country. The color is spectacular. Ceci takes a lot of pictures. As much as we liked Yosemite, Ceci likes this more. I’m digging all the snow. I miss the snow, which very rarely occurs in east Texas. I’m also liking the roads.
The park roads were twisty enough, though the pavement wasn’t exactly smooth. U.S. 97 and 20 aren’t bad as far as major highways go. State highways 126 and 22 are scenic with lots of gentle sweepers. Just a bit of traffic. 224 has the sweepers and scenery with no traffic at all. Nice.
We go through Portland and into Washington to ride the much hyped Columbia River Gorge. It seems to be on almost everyone’s places to see list. The road is nice with some twists and turns, and some nice views of the gorge. The pavement is good too. It isn’t as impressive as the hype though. It is nothing compared to the Hudson River Valley I grew up around in New York. Not as pretty as the sights we have already seen this week. It is a lot better than the desert from the weeks before though.
We stop in Stevenson, about 20 miles into the gorge. The Econolodge is the first suitable hotel we find. The owner is eager to please, even offers to let us park the bikes in our room. We politely decline, but happily park them in front of the room, under shelter from the walkway and stairs above.
I don’t bother to unpack my bike at all. The constantly changing bunjee net arrangements and soft bag refitting is what is taking us so long to load in the mornings. Hopefully not unpacking will save us an hour tomorrow morning. Quick detaching hard luggage would be really nice.
They have a computer in the lobby of the hotel, so we both catch up on some e-mail before heading to bed. Whatever ethnic food the owner is cooking in the residence behind the lobby smells delicious and is making us hungry.
We covered 322 good miles today. Good roads, good scenery, and not too terribly short a distance covered. We have gone about 3,300 miles since leaving home.

Day 14- July 5

2008-04-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Day 14: July 5th 31,781 miles on the odometer

I spend about an hour and a half reworking the saddlebags for the second time. If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to purchase some new ones somewhere, there isn’t anything more I can do with these. River Road saddlebags are definitely made more for show than for go. While working on those, I also discover one of the Vulcan’s tank bolts is loose. I guess her bike is also meant more for show than go. Every day it seems to have some sort of minor problem.
We do manage to spend about an hour on the beach. There is still some fog, but we can see the ocean. There aren’t many shells or sea glass to pick up, but Ceci picks up an interesting piece of driftwood. It would be impolite to describe it. I pick up an ounce or two of black sand for my collection and some ocean water to anoint our motorcycles. At the end of the trip we want to say we touched both oceans. My Bandit has already done this once, but it’ll be nice to do it again.
It is after 1:00 when we get on the road, a very late start. So much for trying to make up time. We had considered skipping Crater Lake to save another day, but I’m not liking that idea. I’m sure the ride up the coast would not be near as bad as our trip on I-5, but I’m not happy skipping stuff just to try and make up time.
We ride about 85 miles along the coast before taking the exit that’ll bring us to Crater Lake. Though the road isn’t always in sight of the ocean, we stop often to take pictures of the arches and interesting rock formations. Our exit follows the Coquille River for a few miles, until we take 42 to scenic 138 which follows the North Umpqua. I like the roads that follow the rivers, as they tend to be curvy and scenic. The water looks like it would be a nice place to go rafting or canoeing, but we don’t have time for that. The local paper also has an article highlighting the dangers of rafting the rivers, as an unfortunate California girl drowned in the Rogue River when her raft tipped her out. Her unrecoverable body was trapped by the current in rocks, serving as a macabre warning for passing rafters.
The ride was quite good; lots of esses and sweepers and very picturesque. We stopped to eat dinner at Munchies in Glide. The food was OK. The sun was setting as we got to the park. Quite a climb in altitude there, as we ended up riding in a snow cloud. Visibility was terrible, so we traveled quite slow. It was a little spooky, but not as bad as the Moki Dugway back in Utah. I hope to find a room at the lodge but there’s no chance of that. They just aren’t ever available in the National Parks, especially on weekends without reservations. We do manage to get a camping spot at a somewhat lower and slightly warmer elevation, but there is still snow in our campsite. Cool. I buy a sweat shirt at the camp store to replace the one I sent back with Andrew in Vegas, and light a small campfire for some warmth before we head to bed.
Two good days of riding has improved my mood after that horrible trip up central California. We only cover 267 miles today, but I am still a happy camper. Despite all the stops and short days, we are a long ways from home. Only two weeks into a two month trip and we are already the furthest from home I have ever been on a bike. We may be behind schedule, but we are certainly accomplishing something.

Day 13- July 4

2008-04-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

Day 13: July 4th 31,547 miles on the odometer

We eat a hot breakfast at the hotel and are back on the road at 11:00. Not an early start by any means, but still better than we’ve been doing lately.
Hwy. 299 to the coast is a good road. The pavement is a little rough in spots but not terrible, and there are lots of ups, downs, and esses. Traffic is light, mostly fire crews working active wildfires in the area. The smoke isn’t thick enough to obscure the scenery though. We pull of for a snack about 80 miles in. It’s a nice little picnic area alongside the Trinity River, and we have a good view of a spotter plane and a water bomber making his runs at some of the dozens of fires burning here. We pass quite a few camps, trucks, and helicopters all here to fight the fires.
Fortunately, nothing is so close to the road that forces closure, and today’s ride is a huge improvement over yesterday. It is even a bit chilly as we get to the coast. I’m thinking it would be more comfortable if I put the riding pants back on. We can’t see much of the Pacific Ocean as the cool air coming in brings a pretty thick fog. Good for the redwood trees, not so good for sight seeing.
Redwood National Park is not so nice as Yosemite, but it is still pretty good. I don’t feel a need to camp here, but it is a great spot for a day trip. The roads are great. The trees filter the fog so you can see where you’re going, and they are curvy and scenic enough to keep your interest. We make a stop at one of the visitor centers and get our stamp and a brochure/map.
We also stop a few times to take some pictures and take some short hikes. The redwoods aren’t as massive as the sequoias we missed, but they are tall. Very tall. Ceci takes one picture of me standing at the base of one of the trees at the side of the road. You can almost see the top of the tree in the photo. I’m nothing but a blurry red dot at the base. Impressive.
As it starts to get late, we head up to the Oregon coast and get the last available campsite at Harris Beach State Park. Lucky us. We still can’t see the beach through the fog. It’s so thick we can’t even see any fireworks. We eat dinner at a restaurant in town, but I get a campfire going anyway to take a bit of the damp chill out of the air. Ceci’s sinuses are not enjoying the weather, so neither is she.
Her bike is not enjoying things either. It seems to be running a little rich and is popping off throttle. I also notice the saddle bags are starting to sag towards the exhaust pipes again. I’ll have some work to do in the morning. Hopefully we’ll be able to spend some time on the beach in the morning as well. Tonight we hit the sack early. We only manage to go 234 miles, but the sightseeing was worth it.

Day 12- July 3rd

2008-04-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

Day 12: July 3rd 31,242 miles on the odometer

Ceci sleeps well, and I slept OK. Well enough that we get up pretty late. We snack on powdered donuts and leftover chocolate from the S’Mores for breakfast. It takes us forever to break camp and load up, so we are off to yet another late start. The weather is awesome, cool and bright. We do a little more sightseeing on the way out, but not a lot. We don’t even stop to get the stamp.
Originally we had planned to ride up the mountain roads to Lassen Volcanic National Park, but in the interest of saving time, we drop that too. Instead we will head up I-5 to Redding, which should get us back one of the days we have lost.
It is a mistake. The ride is horrible. We leave the mountains and have to contend again with the summer heat. The roads are flat, straight, and uninteresting. The annoying wind blows dust from all the farmland around us. It is worse than the wildfire smoke. The traffic, especially around Sacramento is terrible. Battling the cagers and crosswinds has me remembering again how uncomfortable my bike can be when I’m not enjoying things. I constantly bitch through the Chatterbox, so Ceci is well aware of how miserable I am. I find myself wishing we had kept the U-haul; the ride is that bad. Any more days like this and I will abandon the bike and buy a plane ticket home. After such a great day yesterday, today totally sucks. I am glad when we finally pull off for the day and get a hotel near Redding. I hate California; couldn’t stand it when I lived here.
Because of the late start and slow roads early, compounded by the traffic later on, we only manage to go 305 miles.

Day 11- July 2

2008-04-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

We make a quick breakfast in the microwave and head to turn in the U-Haul at TruValue. It again takes a while to get all the paperwork done. The allowed mileage from Vegas was ridiculously low, but the folks here know it and waive any extra mileage fees. They are also very helpful in unloading the bikes. We gear up and head to a local cycle shop where we pick up a couple of Cramp Busters to fit on the throttle grips. Later we hit another shop and get Ceci a wrap for her ponytail that should keep her hair from becoming so tangled. We have no luck, however, finding anything to relieve my aching posterior. At least the rest over the last few days has been welcome.
We head to Yosemite, fortunately the wildfires haven’t closed the roads between us and our destination. The ride is mostly flat straight uninteresting desert until we hit 120. Then we start to get some turns, some altitude, and some cool clean air. Smoke from the fires had been with us most of the trip and completely obscured Mt. Whitney, so we missed some scenery there. We also miss the scenery of Sequoia National Park, which we skip to make up time. We should be able to see some big trees in Yosemite anyway.
The roads in Yosemite are great. Nice twisties, though traffic and traffic cops make it a slow ride. The scenery makes the slow trip worth it though. Better than average snowfall through the winter means there is still plenty of snowmelt and runoff to keep the waterfalls going. In my previous two trips here it was dry. We see some big trees, but not the huge old Sequoias. It would be nice to spend a week or two exploring here, this place is awesome. I’m sure we see little it has to offer, but what we see is great. We get a nice campsite and pick up some supplies from the camp store. Beef franks cooked over the campfire with the last remaining Arrogant Bastard Ale. For the first time on this trip it actually feels like we’re really camping. We even have S’Mores for dessert.
We don’t manage to get a stamp for our book, so we’ll have to pick one up tomorrow. I do finally remember to write down the mileage, so at least tomorrow I should be able to get a somewhat accurate mileage for the days ride. I estimate we rode about 270 miles today. Despite the early smoke and uninteresting desert, this may have been our most enjoyable day so far. The park is that good.

Day 10: July 1st

2008-04-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

I reserve a truck that is bigger than we need, but it has the required ramp we need to load the bikes. It takes hours to get all the paperwork in order so it is noon by the time I return to the hotel. Fortunately, Ceci has put the time to good use gambling. With ten bucks left to gamble she finds a hot 2 penny machine and is up over $200! Nice!
I get nervous riding up the narrow steep ramp into the truck, so I had help at the rental place loading the bike. At the hotel, Ceci is just as nervous so we push hers up too. I purchased 6 ratcheting tie down straps to keep the bikes snug and safe in the box while we ride in air conditioned comfort up front. The seats in the truck aren’t all that comfortable, but it is a big improvement over the Bandit’s saddle.
It is afternoon before we leave Vegas, a very late start. This is not a good way to make up time. We stop once to extinguish a small smoldering wildfire alongside the road. Probably caused by a careless smoker. Nobody else seems to notice or care. I guess Smokey the Bear was right: only I can prevent forest fires. The news is full of reports about wildfires in California right now.
We get to the Death Valley visitors center as it is closing. We have just enough time to get our stamp, a brouchure, and refill the drinking water. The thermometer shows 119 degrees in the shade. A full 20 degrees cooler than when I was here in 1996. So much for global warming. Still, I am grateful for the air conditioning and a healthy wife.
There isn’t much to see really, and no time to see it either. We just drive through and head to China Lake/Ridgecrest to drop off the U-haul. The only thing we see other than a desolate expanse of dirt is what appears to be some sort of chemical mining operation.
The sun is setting when we pull in to Ridgecrest. The chain hotels are a good bit expensive considering the total lack of anything out here. We stay at a local place called the Rose Garden Inn and Suites. I am hoping for a quaint old Mom-and-Pop place, but I get an absolute dump. Many of the residents appear to be living here. The first room we try has no AC. The second is clean enough and we stay. We get dinner and breakfast for tomorrow at a nearby grocery store to save some more time and money. We also drink down one of the Arrogant Bastard Ales that Andrew was kind enough to bring us from San Diego. It is an infrequently found great beer.
You can smell the smoke from the wildfires that are apparently heading this way. The manager of the hotel is eager to please and makes some calls to make sure we won’t get caught up in the flames or have to find a detour when we leave in the morning. I am still working on rebuilding our itinerary, trying to find a way to meet up with Roy in Ohio. We will leave out Sequioa National Park and head straight to Yosemite tomorrow. Well, once we get the U-haul turned in anyway. I also noticed a motorcycle shop in town, so we will probably stop in and see if I can find some sort of seat cushion to sooth my delicate rear.
We leave the bikes in the U-Haul, figuring they will be safer in there overnight, and it’ll probably be easier to just unload them when we turn in the truck anyway.

Day 9- June 30

2008-03-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

Day 9: June 30th
We don’t ride at all today. A welcome rest for my battered behind and nerve damaged hands. It also gives my wife some time to cool off and rehydrate. There’s a McDonald’s in the casino so we eat a cheap breakfast.
Ceci is still doing poorly at the slots, but so far I’m winning most of it back. Until the afternoon anyway. I try my luck at the roulette wheel and an hour later I’m down over $50. Fortunately my better half’s luck turns at the same time, and cuts our total losses to twenty or thirty dollars. Not too bad.
In 1996 I attempted to ride my then brand new Bandit across the country in July. I was not so well equipped as I am now, and the heat was really getting to me. I whimped out. In Kingman, Arizona I rented a Ryder truck to get me and the Bandit across the desert and through Death Valley. It was 120 degrees in Kingman then, and the dry heat was making breathing a painful experience. I knew I couldn’t take the 140 degree temps in Death Valley. This time it is about twenty degrees cooler and I’m pretty sure I can make it. I have been hoping since we left to avenge my previous failure. I tell Ceci repeatedly we’re going to make it this time. It’s not going to happen though. I still think I can do it, but I’ll lose my wife in the attempt. She was definitely into heat exhaustion yesterday, Death Valley would be guaranteed heat stroke. Together we will exercise the better part of valor and live to ride another day.
It takes two calls to housekeeping to get a copy of the yellow pages so we can look for a rental truck. Again, this isn’t the best hotel on the strip.
Andrew and I renew a long air hockey rivalry. I am a bit rusty. Ceci will play air hockey with me occasionally, but only so I can regain some of my manhood after she emasculates me at the bowling alley. I lose the first game to Andrew badly. I fear a quick sweep in our latest version of the Stanley Cup finals. I had nothing to fear. The rust comes off and I beat Andrew handily in the next four games. Victory is mine!
We let Andrew’s wife Mila pick the show for the evening. She chooses Jubilee at Bally’s. It is the same show I saw when I was here 12 years ago. We get seats at tables up front, right next to the stage. I don’t think the show has changed much over the years, only the intermission acts are noticeably different. Well, the dancers seem to have changed a bit too, as the quantity and quality of boobs on display seems to have increased dramatically. I’m not going to complain about that. The women aren’t complaining either, so apparently the show is artistic enough. Good times.
Most importantly, we are doing a good job of recovering from our hot grueling ride. We take a cab to get down the strip so as not to waste our energy . Ceci’s color is beginning to return to normal. Some rest and relaxation among friends is just what the Dr. ordered.
We also manage to lighten our load considerably, as we had both overpacked somewhat. Andrew agrees to haul a good sized bag of stuff back with him to San Diego; he’ll mail it to us when we return home. That’ll free up some more room for souvenirs and the tie down straps that will need to be purchased to secure the bike in the U-haul we will rent to get across the valley.
I am starting to rework the itinerary that blew out of my tank bag, but there is a problem. Ceci wants to try to meet up with her brother and stepmom in Ohio later on. My original had us getting there in time to catch her brother, who will only be passing through on his way west. My new itinerary is going to get us there 2 days late. I’m not sure what is different. I must have had us doing some crazy long days. Messing around with the U-Haul is also going to cost us a bit of time. I’m going to have to try and find some way to gain some time somewhere.
We don’t even look at our bikes today.

Day 1: June 22, 2008

2008-02-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

28, 754 miles show on the odometer.

We are on the road at 9:30 AM. Not a bad start really. We both had to use bunjee cords and nets liberally to secure all the gear. Ceci really needs a sissy bar bag to go with the rest of her luggage, but we make do with just a backpack. It takes about an hour to figure out just where and how to secure everything. We look like the Beverly Hillbillies on bikes.

This is Ceci’s first long trip, and my first since Daytona Bike Week 1998. Heck, I haven’t even been on the street at all in a couple of years. No time to work up to anything now though, it’s all in sink or swim.

The weather cooperates, no wind or rain. It is a bit warm, in the low 90’s, but bearable. Ceci’s jacket has small vents that aren’t working very well. It probably doesn’t help that her Vulcan has a good sized windscreen. I am a transplanted Yankee that likes it cold, and Ceci is a natural born life-long Texan, but I’m doing better in the heat than she is. The hydration backpacks are most welcome. For Ceci it is a necessity.

Ceci’s bike is still running poorly at idle and low speeds. At highway speeds it seems to be doing OK, so we press on. Hopefully, it’ll fix itself. My bike seems to be running just fine. Go figure. Mileage for both of us is just under 50 m.p.g. Disappointing, I was hoping for better than that. Fortunately, her tank seems to be using the full 3 gallons now instead of her previous two. I guess that is a good sign.

I am remembering now why I always cursed my Bandit. The vibrations were always terrible. Within a few months of buying it I had installed Pro-Grip gel grips and filled the handlebars with foam in an effort to quell the vibrations. It seems worse now than ever. I constantly have to adjust my hands and fingers to keep them from going numb. In the first 100 miles I am starting to feel saddle sore. It was annoying ten years ago when both the bike and I were much younger. Now Ceci hears my regular complaints on the Chatterbox. I hear no such complaints from her. Once upon a time I wanted to try the Iron Butt rally, but now I’m thinking not so much. Maybe find a soft foil rally.

The roads are mostly straight and flat, fairly uninteresting. We take some back roads, but mostly follow 105 out of Cleveland and then 290/71 towards Junction. An occasional bit of small town stop and go traffic exaggerates the heat and the problems with the Vulcan. Parts of the route are labeled scenic by the map, but I’m not seeing it. Day one is already the longest bike trip of Ceci’s life, and she is enjoying that. I know there are much better rides yet to come.

We stop for the day at South Llano River State Park. There are just enough trees to give a shady spot to pitch the tent. Definitely welcome. We hang the sweat dampened gear up to dry and head for a dip in the South Llano River. Unlike most of the waterways in Texas, the Llano runs clear and cool. We spend a refreshing hour swimming in a well visited but not too crowded swimming hole. It takes a lot of the road weariness away.

Before sunset we manage to do a bit of nature watching as well. Neighboring property has exotic African game, undoubtedly brought in for canned hunts. White tail deer roam freely through the park, and we spend 15 minutes watching a small herd from our campsite. By 9:30 we are ready for bed, exhausted and needing our rest for tomorrow’s trip. My allergies are starting to act up a bit, I just hope the nasal passages clear up enough for us to sleep.

By my odometer, we covered 341 miles on our first day.

Day 2- June 23

2007-02-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

Day Two: June 23. 29,095 on the odometer

It is hot today. The temp gets into the high 90’s. It doesn’t take long for it to get there either. Fortunately it was cool enough at night in the tent that we were able to grab some sleep. Ceci is suffering a bit in the heat, her face stays red. Tomorrow I think we will stop using the riding pants. The risk of her suffering heat stroke is beginning to outweigh the risk of road rash.

At the first fill-up today it starts to look like I’m getting really good mileage. It is just an illusion though, as I have to switch to reserve at only 140 miles on that tankful. By the end of the day, average consumption for both of us is still around 49 m.p.g. With gas around $4 a gallon, every last mile per drop counts.

Ceci’s Vulcan seems to be getting better. No more reeking of gas every time we stop, and it is idling a little better. Just as I think maybe I should cut Bubba a bit of slack, I notice my master cylinder is leaking brake fluid. Wonderful. Damn you Bubba! Fortunately, the leak is out the cap. I’m hoping that expansion from the heat is causing it and that it also will eventually fix itself. The brakes still seem to be working just fine.

We spend most of the day on I-10. The speed limit is a whopping 80 m.p.h. Not good for the mileage at all. We stop briefly in Ozona, home of the Davy Crocket monument. Odd, since he never made it this far west. This is also the furthest west Ceci has been in Texas. She is getting her first taste of desert.

I hate Texas. The roads today are hotter, straighter, and flatter than yesterday’s. We exit the interstate for a brief jaunt on 190 to visit Fort Lancaster State Park. At first it didn’t seem worth it, but there was one somewhat scenic spot with a curve as we came down a hill. There’s not much left of the fort, but the visitor center is air conditioned and has a water fountain.

We head back to I-10 and Balmorhea. I start to notice lots of police cars. Mostly state highway patrol cars, but some locals as well. There are more of them than anything else on the road. At one point I count 15 in a one hundred mile stretch. Considering the almost complete lack of population and the insanely high speed limit, I fail to see the point of this. Our tax dollars at work.

It’s not that we have much to fear from the law out here, we’re not speeding at all. Ceci has never been anything more than a passenger at ton up speeds, and it’s been quite some time since I’ve gone there. It’s not like the bikes can’t do it. On the Bike Week trip in 1998 I was going 115 in Florida on the Bandit when Brent blew past me on his Daytona. Ten years later it doesn’t seem so prudent. The bike isn’t the same. I’m not the same. Did I mention $4 a gallon gas? Still ,we are going fast enough for the itinerary I spent weeks working on to blow out of the map pocket of my tank bag. Oops.

It is still quite hot when we get to Balmorhea State Park. There isn’t a shade tree anywhere near the camping area. The wind is building, as are some ominous looking rain clouds. Balmorhea has one of the best pools I have ever seen. It is naturally fed by a cold spring, and its overflow is used to irrigate area farms. An oasis in the desert. The water is crystal clear and ice cold. Too cold for Ceci’s taste, she doesn’t even want to dip her toes. That despite the high temperatures of our grueling ride.

We eat dinner at a local restaurant, and enjoy a colorful sunset. We set up the tent using the picnic table as a wind break. It’s looking like we’ll have thunderstorms tonight. I hope the tent survives it.

We covered 270 miles today, but the heat made it seem like more.

Day 3- June 24

2006-02-15T15:01:00.000-08:00

Day Three: June 24 29,365 on the odometer

It is still quite hot. The tent held up fine through the winds and light rain, but we did not sleep well. It takes us about an hour to an hour and a half to break camp, pack the bikes, gear up and go. Still we are on the road in plenty of time to find breakfast.
Hwy 17 to Fort Davis is better than most of the roads we’ve traveled so far. There are at least some sweepers. We have a pretty good breakfast at The Chuckwagon restaurant, right across the street from the fort. We spend some time visiting the fort and pick up a National Park Pass and a Passport Stamp Book. We plan on visiting quite a few national parks, and it’ll be fun collecting the stamps from each one. The fort is still in decent shape, as it was still being used in some capacity or another long after the wild frontier days ended.
From there we head up 118 to the McDonald observatory. Now we’re starting to get some curves and elevation changes, but there’s still not much to look at. Not much at the observatory either. We don’t want to wait around for the next overpriced guided tour, so we explore the air conditioned gift shop for a bit, refill the water, take some pictures, and head back to the road. There is still no shortage of highway patrol cars. The buzz in the handlebars is bothering me so much I’m beginning to wonder if it will cause permanent nerve damage. I-10 and Hwy 54 are once again flat and uninteresting until we reach Guadalupe Mountains National Park. There are some curves and elevation changes here. Nice. The temperature also cools off slightly as we gain elevation. Still, the air conditioning in the visitors center is most welcome, and my butt is thankful to be out of the saddle.
There’s not much to do in the park beyond hiking, which we’re definitely not up for on this trip. We’ll have to come back here sometime when it is cooler and we have some time to explore The visitor’s center has lots to look at though, and is pretty informative. It is so nice, we accidentally leave the passport stamp book there when we get it stamped. Oops again. From now on we will have to stamp my journal instead. Every day I am putting notes about our trip in the journal, so that one day I can write this book. We cool off, refill the water, and are back on our way to Carlsbad Caverns, our destination for the day.
We find road construction as we near White City, gateway to Carlsbad Caverns and our intended destination. We find no lodging available. The “town” seems to be in a significant state of decline and mismanagement; some of the structures appear uninhabitable. The open hotels are booked full, I’m guessing with highway construction crews. We’ll have to find lodging in Carlsbad itself – thirty miles away. We still have plenty of time before nightfall, so we head into the park anyway.
The park is also under construction, so there is no real visitor center. Everything is in portable buildings. Except the cave of course. It is too late to go exploring that today, but the timing is just right to see the bats that make this place famous. The hike to the big hole is easy and somewhat scenic. Lots of local flora have been planted, and I start pointing out things to Ceci. I can still remember a lot of what I learned twenty years ago in a college class about desert flora and fauna. We take some interest watching lizards scamper here and there. In a brushy ditch I spot a nice sized grey fox, but it disappears before Ceci can see it or snap a picture. She is taking lots of pictures.
Arriving at the hole we find lots of swallows flying around. They kind of look like bats, but the show hasn’t started yet. We find a seat and wait. The bats do not disappoint. As the sun begins to set they come out in swirling waves. Millions of them. They leave as clouds of hungry flying rodents. Good hunting fellows; every bug you eat is one I don’t have to clean off my face shield.
It is dark when we get to Carlsbad and check in at the somewhat overpriced Continental Inn. Lots of stops today held us down to only 241 miles for the day.

Day 4 - June 25

2005-02-21T20:35:00.000-08:00

Day 4: June 25th 29,606 on the odometer.

We get up somewhat early by our standards and head back to the caverns to tour the cave. The park road has some turns and hills, so it is a good ride. The very low speed limit and moderate traffic keep things from getting really fun though.
There are a few different cave tours you can select. We pick a self guided tour that should keep us busy for an hour or two. It is a big complex so we won’t see all of it. What we do see is pretty impressive. This is a very big hole. The bird and bat droppings make the entrance smell bad, but that quickly fades as we get further in. It is refreshingly cool, although the sweatshirts we brought with us are entirely unnecessary. There are lots of interesting formations. We pick routes that should give us a pretty good sampling of everything the cave has to offer. The place is so large it doesn’t seem crowded even though there are a lot of visitors. I wouldn’t mind spending more time here, but we have places to go and more things to see.
Next up is Roswell, which Ceci has been dying to see. We want to eat at the famous AlieInn (sp?), not realizing at the time that it is near Area 51, not Roswell. We spend a little time at the visitor center checking e-mail and getting tourist information. After a fast food break we head out hwy 380 to San Antonio. A brief thunderstorm brought some relief from the heat as we left town. Not much rain, but the wind slowed us down quite a bit. I was leaning pretty hard just to keep the Bandit on the road. Actually, for a while I was hanging on for dear life. We are dodging tumbleweeds, something Ceci had previously only seen in movies and cartoons. Past that the roads were pretty good; some gentle sweepers with good pavement. I think I’d have been happier just skipping Roswell completely and taking 82 through the mountains and Cloudcroft , but it wasn’t bad.
Somewhere around Hondo we pass a N.Y. style pizza place, but we don’t stop there. We take a break around Valley of Fires, where Ceci sees her first lava flow. We drive past White Sands and the Trinity site without stopping, I don’t think it’s open for tourists right now anyway. As we get to San Antonio, (“Not really New and Not Really Mexico”) Ceci crosses the Rio Grande for the first time. This is a good day of firsts for her. We stop for gas and a snack at a nice little old station before heading north on the interstate.
The road is uninteresting, but the miles are just flying by. We make such good time we decide to proceed past our planned stop and go through Albuquerque to Bernalillo. We stay at a Super 8 hotel that has guest laundry and a free continental breakfast. It is much better than the hotel we stayed at in Carlsbad and is $20 cheaper. When we stop I notice that Ceci’s saddlebags are beginning to sag and are getting closer to the exhaust pipes. I’ll have some work to do in the morning. It takes us until nearly 11:00 to finish the laundry and get to bed. At 374 miles, this was our longest day so far. Especially considering the lengthy stops. I am saddle sore and tired so I fall asleep quickly.

Day 5: June 26

2004-03-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

Day 5: June 26th 29,980 on the odometer
It takes me about an hour to alter the saddlebags on Ceci’s bike. While they do a good job of looking like leather, they are quite poor at acting like leather. As the heat softens up the plastic, it sags closer to the pipes and more heat – a viscous cycle. I drill some new holes in the bags with my Leatherman and succeed in raising them up about an inch. I think that’ll be enough to end the cycle. (As it turns out, I think wrong.)
I still have the first page of the itinerary, and am working on recreating the pages that blew out. The maintenance causes us to get a late start, but we are still way ahead of schedule on our way to Mesa Verde on hwy 550. Until we stop for gas in Bloomfield. I am considering using our extra time to visit some ruins not on our original itinerary when I notice a hole in the frame of Ceci’s bike. One of the bolts holding the frame pieces together has fallen out and disappeared. This can’t be good. Aztec and Salmon Ruins will have to wait for another trip. We check the Garmin for any nearby motorcycle shops without much luck. It does give us the number to a local member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association. He sends us to Doug’s Kawasaki in Farmington, about 15 miles away. Thank You CMA!
Doug’s Kawasaki looks like it’s been around a while. There are enough vintage racing posters on the wall to let you know he has some interesting stories to tell. Unfortunately, he appears to be way too busy to find the time to tell them. Doug says that in all his years, he’s never even heard of a frame bolt just falling out of a Vulcan. It takes him some time to figure out the part number for the bolt that it turns out he does not carry in stock. Fortunately, there is a fastener company in town that carries the right size bolt, so I am sent to go get it. Ceci stays behind and sits on the new Vulcan 900’s Doug has in stock. When I return I am glad to see that she has not decided to replace her 750 just yet.
Neither of our tool kits has the right sized Allen wrench to fit the frame bolts, and no mechanic enjoys lending out his tools, so we let Doug install the bolt. He also checks the rest of them to make sure we don’t lose another. For his service he charges us the exorbitant sum of zero dollars. Thank You Doug! We do buy a couple of Bunjee nets, as some of my old ones are pretty stretched/worn out. He charges us the full (but very reasonable) price for those. In an industry where bad dealers seem to outnumber the good ones, Doug is a good one. I would enthusiastically recommend his shop to anyone around or traveling through the Four Corners area.
We stop for dinner at the 3 River Microbrewery in Farmington and sample some brews with our meal. As we are no longer ahead of or even on schedule, we put off Mesa Verde until tomorrow and head for Four Corners.
The Four Corners Monument is not part of the national park system, so our pass doesn’t work here. It is administered by the local Indian tribe(s). Admission to the monument isn’t terribly expensive, but you don’t get much for your money. There is the big stone slab for you to stand on so you can have your picture taken while you simultaneously occupy 4 different states. There are a couple of souvenir stands, but that’s about it. No visitor center or museum of any sort, nothing to really write home about.
We leave four corners and head to Cortez where we plan on spending the night before catching Mesa Verde tomorrow. The temperature was a bit cooler today and it was actually pleasant at night. Both the hotels and campgrounds were a bit expensive; we opt to sleep in a bed. We spend so much down time for maintenance that we only cover 264 mostly straight, flat, and boring miles.

Day 6- June 27

2003-03-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

Day 6: June 27th 30,244 miles on the odometer

We are greeted in the morning by yet another part falling off of Ceci’s Vulcan. Just a plastic cover that I pop back on. Seems like we have at least one problem daily with her bike. She chalks it up to the bike being unhappy with its new lot in life. It spent most of its life sitting quietly in a garage. A daily ride is apparently a tough change for it to endure.
The new cargo nets do a good job of tidying things up on my bike. The luggage seems more secure now. It still takes a good while to get everything packed and ready to go though. I’m thinking some quick detaching hard luggage would be a good thing to have.
We grab some breakfast and check e-mail on the computer in the hotel lobby. We also meet a guy and his daughter that have been traveling across country. The girl is barely more than a toddler but has already ridden her little bike across the Golden Gate and Brooklyn bridges. Maybe a future adventure tourer? In any case it is good to see youngsters not rotting their brains in front of the latest electronic gizmos.
The park road into Mesa Verde has some good turns and decent pavement. There was some traffic to deal with, as well as a very dark tunnel my headlight did almost nothing to illuminate. The ruins themselves are pretty impressive, definitely worth visiting. We take a nice self guided tour , but avoid the guided tours. Some of the ruins are visible from the roads but otherwise nearly inaccessible. Ceci takes a lot of pictures here and we spend a good bit of time checking out the easier to get to places. It is hot and we are going through water, but we’re managing alright.
Because we spend so much time at Mesa Verde, we arrive late to Natural Bridges National Monument. The office is closed so no stamp. We do get a brochure with a map so we can find our way around. We sprint from overlook to overlook, looking at large rock arches in picturesque canyons. Neat; much different from the east Texas geography my wife is used to.
We head south on 261 as the sun begins to set. We need a place to camp, but there isn’t much of anything out here. We keep a wary eye out for the free range cattle that graze along the road. The old cows aren’t usually a problem, but the calves can be excitable and unpredictable. I ignore a sign that says the pavement ends miles ahead. It’s too late to turn back and find something anyway. Besides, my map shows a solid line indicating a scenic PAVED road. The pavement we’re on is pretty good on gently rolling ground. We actually stop so I can show her the map and ease her fears. Nothing to worry about. Until the pavement ends. It stops where the large mesa we were riding on ends. We are on the top of the mesa, looking down a cliff to the floor 2,000 feet below us. It looks like a mile. Cut into the cliff is a switchback gravel path maybe wide enough for a small car to travel on. There is no rail, no shoulder, no road really; just sheer drop. The sun is gone but we have some twilight left. There is nothing for hours behind us, and no way around this. Crap. We head down. Fortunately, there is no oncoming traffic. Neither bike is suited for this; I’d be much better off on the TS with its knobby tires. We go no more than 10 m.p.h. all the way down. My little ass is stuck fast to the seat by the suction from my tightly puckered sphincter. It is the most terrifying part of the trip.

We safely make it to the bottom and are grateful to be back on paved terra firma. It is dark, but civilization is just a bit ahead. We stop to fill up on gas and meet a couple of ladies riding Honda cruisers. You meet the nicest people on a Honda. It turns out they are also from Texas. They offer to lead us down the road to the campground they are staying at in Monument Valley. I welcome the company, especially since the headlight on the Bandit has always sucked. I outrun the high beam at about 40 m.p.h. A rabbit nearly took me out on top of the Mesa. There are lots of wildlife besides the free range cattle to worry about. Not to mention the occasional drunk Indian on the reservation that won’t let the stereotype die. I figure there’s some safety in numbers here. We sandwich ourselves between our new friends and head to camp.
I see the horses first. They are on the shoulder of our lane, right on the stripe. I warn Ceci over the chatterbox to watch out for them. She never sees them, but makes it past without incident. Phyllis is not so lucky. The herd steps out right in front of her. She swerves hard and avoids the impact, but not by much. The effort carries her off the road where she and the bike part company. I’m trying to figure out how many headlights are shining in my fuzzy mirror when Ceci tells me over the chatterbox that something happened to Phyllis. Fortunately, she is not seriously injured, just some scrapes and bruises. The bike doesn’t appear totaled, but it will need a good bit of work before it can be safely ridden again. They had trailered their bikes up so at least she isn’t stranded, and it takes just a little while for her traveling partner to hook up the trailer to pick up the bike. Most of the traffic flies by us without even slowing down, but a few guys stop and help us get the bike back up where we can load it.
We make it to camp without further incident. I test Ceci to see if she can spot anything along the side of the road. She can’t. We will not be doing any more riding at night. We skip dinner completely, pitch the tent, and despite the warm temperature are soon sound asleep. Well, at least Ceci is. Her snoring is so loud the monuments in the valley are quaking. I don’t think we’ll have any wildlife visiting us tonight.
I forget to write down the mileage, so I can only guess how many miles we covered. Somewhere around 200 miles or so. Not a lot of ground covered, but we spent a ton of time sightseeing.

Day 7: June 28th

2002-03-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

Day 7: June 28th 30,??? miles on the odometer

Our gracious hosts make us some sausage and eggs on the Coleman for breakfast. Phyllis is a good bit sore from last night’s escapade, but is still able to get around. We pay for the campsite and briefly do some shopping in the gift shop before heading back out on the road. It is nicer to ride in the daylight where we can actually see where we’re going.
We stop pretty regularly to take pictures of various “monuments” and rock formations. Looks a lot like the scenery you might see in old western movies; I guess with good reason. I welcome the stops to not only top off on gas and water, but to rest my aching ass and numbed hands. My Bandit is a terrible touring bike. Everything is still working though; more than I can say for Ceci’s Vulcan. Today’s daily problem is a blinker bulb that quits working for a while. Just when I think we should find a place to buy a new bulb, it starts working again on its own.
We make it to the Grand Canyon in good time. Admission fees are pretty high, so it is a good thing we have the pass. As near as I can tell, the park service is deliberately trying to discourage people from visiting the park, especially if you’re driving. Even so, and despite the terrible price for gas, there are a lot of visitors here and the canyon is pretty hazy.
It is a bit cooler at the park, only in the 80’s. We aren’t doing much hiking, but we are stopping often and taking lots of pictures. The soles are starting to fall off of my Bieffe boots, so I ride through the park in my sneakers. They are a lot more comfortable and, with us stopping at every overlook, more practical anyway. We also visit two visitor centers. I really like the old tower, nice views. I have been here a couple of times before, but it is still a pretty impressive sight. Pictures just can’t do it justice. It is Ceci’s first visit and she’s a bit awestruck by the whole thing. One of these days I’ll have to spend some more time here and hike down to the river, but not on this trip. We keep the visit brief enough to ensure we make it to Route 66 before dark.
Mission accomplished. It is dusk when we pull into the Supai motel in Seligman. We have no desire to stay in any of the modern hotels along I-40; we want to stay in the more authentic old neon lit spots on historic route 66. Fortunately, the motel is clean and has been remodeled a time or two since its hey day a half century ago. The price is reasonable. We hike a short distance down the street to eat a decent dinner at the Copper Cart diner. The nostalgia quota is filled. Tomorrow we will eat breakfast at the hyped Road Kill Café. Tonight I take some glue to my boots and get an air conditioned good nights sleep.
Because I forgot to write the mileage down when we stopped last night, I have to guess at the mileage again. Maybe about 300 miles. Again we spent a lot of time sightseeing, so that’s a pretty good haul for the day.

Day 8: June 29th

2001-03-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

Day 8: June 29th 30,769 miles on the odometer

Today (finally) we have no problems with Ceci’s bike. Yeah! It is already hot when we get up in the morning, so it is a good thing we’re not planning on going far today. Destination Vegas! As it turns out, the Roadkill Café is not open for breakfast. Rats. We should have eaten dinner here last night and gone to the diner for breakfast. Instead we get breakfast at a restaurant across the street. The food isn’t great, just mediocre.
There is very little to see on this remaining part of the Mother Road: straight, flat, and uninteresting. It is, however, historic and the pavement is pretty good. We also don’t have to fight all the traffic and semi’s on the interstate. We pass up Grand Canyon Caverns to save time to visit Hoover Dam and make it to Las Vegas before dinner.
By the time we get to Hoover Dam the temperature is well above 100 degrees and Ceci’s hydration pack is bone dry. She is very red, probably close to heat exhaustion. We have been stopping to refill the water often, but she’s going through 3 liters every half hour. They are constructing a new bridge and have a security checkpoint now, so we have to walk the bikes for a little bit before we get to the dam. The delay does not help with the heat at all.
We park in a shaded parking space. Though we use only one spot we still have to pay for two. $7 each. A sign of things to come. I do not know about the new parking garage yet, though I believe the cost is the same. It’s construction, however, is not the same. The desert motif they are going for clashes garishly with the beautiful art deco styling of the dam. When I was here in 1996 I thought this was a great place to see. Now I am terribly disappointed. The dozen granola bars I keep in my hydration backpack have to be thrown out at the ticket counter. I’m not sure exactly how much damage a granola bar can do to a dam, but apparently they seem to think granola is a national security threat. Our National Park pass says it’s a multi-agency pass, but apparently the dam is not one of those agencies. The cost of the tour is at least double what I remember, and the tour is only about half as long. Apparently Vegas.Com is being allowed to operate the place as a for profit tourist trap. It feels like I’ve been violated somehow. I thought this would be a highlight of our trip.
At least we are able to refill our water supplies and cool off in the air conditioning for a while. It is oppressively hot. The lake behind the dam appears to be a good bit lower than the last time I was here. It looks like the desert is running out of water as fast as we are. We load back up and head for city of sin.
We get to Vegas around dinner time. It takes us about an hour to get checked in at Circus Circus. We have a room right next to Andrew, my best friend from high school, who has brought his family from San Diego to visit with us for the next few days. The hotel shows some wear and needs some repairs, but it is clean and comfortable. The elevators have very quick doors, blink and you’ll miss it – and have to wait a while to get where you want to go. There are usually more people waiting for elevators than there is space available on them. Andrew has his two children with him, so it was important to find a place somewhat family friendly. In that regard it fits the bill, but I wouldn’t recommend the place to people without children.
After a mediocre dinner at the buffet, we do a little light gambling on the slots. I’m up a little bit, but not quite enough to cover Ceci’s losses. Then we head down the strip for a long walk to see the nicer hotels. Even at night, Ceci is struggling with the heat. We stop regularly to rest, cool off, and check out the extravagant decorations and architecture of the numerous casino hotels. Still , we are worn out by the time we get back to our room.
Again I forget to write down the mileage on the bike so I have to guess at the mileage.
Maybe 200 very hot miles.