The Last Miles

My sleep has been restless with anticipation of finally getting back home and my own bed.

On top of that I know it was 114 yesterday so I decide to get going and out before the sun rises and turns me into toast.

I repacked the gear last night so all I need to do was get dressed and load the bike
this morning.

By 4:30am I'm on the road and heading home.

The temps this morning are about 70 but rolling along the highway it feels pretty cool and glad I didn't opt for the long sleeve shirt under my jacket.

First stop for gas is Ludlow, CA where I've stopped many times.

Now the sun is starting to rise but the temps are still nice.

My next stop for gas is Hesperia, CA and I've been noticing that the temps have actually been dropping instead of rising.

As I pull into the gas station the wind is blowing pretty good and it's only 56
according to the gas station clerk.

My fingers are tingling as I'm not wearing heavy gloves.

I pull out my thermal jacket liner and put it on and roll on.

Heading south towards home I see the mountains I have to cross are cloud
covered pretty far down.

The Cajon pass is tricky with traffic under clear days but this could get nasty if the visibility is bad.

Turned out visibility wasn't that bad and traffic was better than expected......maybe due to
it being so early in the morning.

As I got farther south heading for the I-210 the visibility didn't improve as I expected it to.....in fact it stayed the same.

Once on the I-210 heading west I started to get mist on my windshield and the farther west I went the heavier it got until it was actually raining lightly and continued all 50 miles of the way home.

So I went from 114 last night and 70 at 4:30 this morning to about 60 degrees when I got home.

It was a great three weeks of traveling the country and seeing the relatives and meeting some friends along the way.

The next ride on the agenda is to Las Vegas Bike Fest in October.

It's less than 300 miles from home....

I hope you all enjoyed the adventure!

RW

Tucumcari, NM to Needles, CA

Like the title this day was another long ride day covering 707 miles.

I've been across I-40 several times and it hasn't changed much over the years.

I did do the obligatory stops at a couple of the "Native" shops looking for things.

One such stop was for gas and I decided to see what this place had.

As I looked around I saw some knives that looked nice and thought maybe get
one for Jake.

As I'm checking it out I see on the blade that it's not "Native" made unless the
natives are Chinese.....

I ask the old Indian fellow working the counter and he tells me that he used to
carry knives made in the USA but that people thought he was trying to rip
them off with the prices he was selling them for.

He then started selling the imported ones and they sell like hot cakes.

Another reason this country is in trouble!

Riding west now the temps are rising higher and higher.

My little thermometer on my bike is showing over 100 now.

Kingman is reporting 114 that day.

So by 8 pm I've reached Needles CA and stop into Denny's for some food next
to a motel I expect to stay in.

As I'm sitting there enjoying the air conditioning and my food, a fellow walks
over and asks if it was my bike outside.

When I say yes he introduces himself as one of my fellow Stratoliner, Roadliner Forum members from Mesa AZ.

Seems he works in Laughlin NV on the weekends.

We had a nice chat while I ate dinner.

I finish dinner and he leaves and I head to the motel and a nice long shower
and some sleep.

It's my last night on the road and I have trouble sleeping thinking about the
last few weeks on the road.

Eventually I fall asleep.....

RW

Long Road Home

 The morning I left my cousins place it was nice and cool which was a refreshing change from the days down south with the record setting heat and high humidity. I expected it to warm up though as I headed towards the southwest. 

 I had about 1600 miles to ride to La Crescenta, CA and today's route was to run down the Kansas turnpike to Wichita, KS to Liberal, KS for about 368 miles. 

 Well in Wichita I missed the turn for SR-400 and stayed on the turnpike heading south which took me down to Oklahoma City and then to I-40.

  Once I got to I-40 I just decided to head west as far as I could until I got too tired or my butt hurt too much which ever came first. 

As it turned out neither was problem.

It was heading into the sun and holding my hand in front of my face to see better. 

That setting sun is tough on the eyes. 

 I made it to Tucumcari, New Mexico for a ride distance that day of 707 miles and another free Quality Inn stay. 

 This place had it's own restaurant and some good food. 

It was a long day today but I felt great. 

RW

 

Relatives and Revelations

Left out of Springfield and headed for my cousins place in Baldwin City KS. The route took me towards Joplin MO which you know was hit by those tornadoes a few weeks back and caused a lot of devastation and loss of life. 

I thought I might see some of it but my route bypassed it in a northerly direction. I had seen some tornado damage riding through the northern corner of MS. 

As I ride north I was keeping my eye on the sky as it's tornado season and the weather reports said there were unstable conditions in some areas that could spawn tornadoes. 

I did run into some rain that didn't last long and some really dark skies twice but the little rain I got was the extent of things and I made it to my  cousins in short order.

  

 My cousin and I hadn't seen each other since high school so there were a lot of stories to swap. 

 We both spent time at Ft. McClellan down in Anniston AL but she was there about eight months after I was when she went through officers candidate school. 

 My cousin can cook like crazy and as the picture shows I really enjoyed every bite of it. I spent two night there before heading out again. 

 My next stop was to be Colorado but a change of plans caused me to head home and cut the trip short by a day. 

RW

Strange day....

 Due to the construction work on the highway in front of the motel I had to back track about two miles to get gas and head in the right direction.

 Stopped at the gas station to top off for the days starting run and forgot to pick up the receipt for my gas purchase .......no big deal but I've been trying to keep track of things.

 Then I went in to buy a map since the AAA forgot to add the Arkansas map to my pack......and almost forgot to get my change......not a good start....

 Head out and about 20 miles up the road the first direction change happens and I miss it and
had to run 10 miles out and 10 miles back to get going the right way.

 A group of bikes rolled by about this time and I see they are the Buffalo Soldiers out of St.Louis riding a variety of bikes including what appears to be a Cobalt Blue Stratoliner .

They wave and roll on by.......

Eventually I roll into Hardy, AR, the antique capital of Arkansas and pass The Garlic Rose Cafe.

 And the Ozark Classic Crafts Mall.

These buildings date back to the early 1900's and earlier.

The two story brick one is dated 1920.









Continuing on I finally crossed into Missouri.













Not far up the road I found myself in Branson so I stopped and walked around the Old Town area and picked up a few items.







As I head out of Branson it starts to sprinkle but was fairly light and only lasts for a few miles.

Eventually I reach Springfield, MO and again I missed the exit for the motel and had to do the old "U" turn trick.

Tomorrow up to Baldwin City to see my cousin.....

Rich

The past is best left where it lies....

So this morning I leave the motel in Oxford, AL to ride over to Anniston and check out the Ft. McClellan military installation where I was stationed in '68-'69.

What a change 43 years make.

The post itself was closed back in '99 then partially reopened for National Guard training.

Many road names have been changed to non military names I noticed.

The buildings that I was billeted in are completely gone and the ground is over grown with a small forest.

From what I saw it almost looks like things were deliberately covered up to look like they never existed.

They're building an interstate highway right through part of the post so you'd never be able to find any evidence of the previous use.

I did take some pics and recreated the one from the beginning of this blog but updated.....


You can see how the trees which were either not even planted then or small, have grown to full maturity.

After looking around some more I headed out towards Birmingham.




Along the way I passed the Talladega Speedway.......












Several miles farther along I spotted a sign for a great place for motorcycle enthusiasts......








I'd seen this on TV and decided to check it out......

So inside it's wall to wall and floor to ceiling motorcycles!

There are five floors of motorcycles covering every brand from the first Indians to the latest models.

 

 

Outside there is a race track that the public is allowed to ride on at certain a times.

 

  While I was there a local bike chapter had use of the track....it was pretty cool to watch.

  After an hour or so walking around, it's onward to West Memphis, AR and another Quality Inn.

 The roads have been pretty good until I got into Tennessee where I almost got bucked off the bike by a major defect in the road and got a bit sideways after getting caught in a rut in the road when changing lanes.

  Made it to West Memphis and checked in the motel. About an hour after I checked in, the skies unloaded with a tremendous storm with high winds and lightning and sideways rain......I'm sure glad I wasn't on the road.

 

Pardon the video quality but it's an older camera.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Springfield, MO and another Quality Inn.

Sweet Home Alabama's Back Roads

Got a bit of a late start this morning leaving Lake Park, GA around 9:30.

I-75 north is a good road and traffic moves along at a good clip.....mostly over the 70 mph speed limit.....I stick to 70 and cruise along.

Passed a group of bikes sporting U.S. Marines on their vests heading north also.

There have been some pretty big wild fires burning in Florida and evidently in Georgia also as I have been smelling smoke in several areas along the interstate.

My bike had ashes on it when I went out to load it up this morning.

Rolling past Columbus, GA gets you into Alabama and the roads become a little more rural but the pavement is new on some stretches and the traffic just keeps on rolling.

Every so often there are passing lanes so you can get past some of the slower vehicles......trucks not part of that bunch as most of them are flying over the limit.

I got to Oxford AL around 2:30 local time and found Bama Power Sports and stopped in.

Nice multi brand dealership and they gave me a nice T-shirt.

That makes three dealers I've stopped at on this trip and picked up T-shirts.

Tomorrow I plan to ride up the road to Ft. McClellan where I was stationed in 1969 and ride around and see what's left of the installation since it was partially closed in 1976.

After that I'll be heading towards Memphis, TN. and then Kansas.

I'll miss my cousin in Huntsville as he is out of town until the 12th so it's off to Kansas....

Until my next update.......

Rich

Bye bye Florida...Hello Georgia

Left out of Key West on Tuesday morning and headed back to my aunts place in Jupiter to spend an extra couple days there.



The ride back was uneventful except for having to stop for some construction on Hwy 1 which let me see this little endangered deer.

There is a stretch a couple miles long with fences on both sides of the road to keep these guys from getting run over and the speed limit is 35 mph.....

I was told if you hit one your at fault and the fine is outrageous.





Tuesday evening, my cousin Kim made a real good dinner at her place for all of us.

Home cooked food on the road is great.

On Wednesday I shipped off some extra stuff back home and took my aunt to the store and just chit chatted the afternoon away.

Thursday morning I left my aunts place around 8:30 and headed up the Florida Turnpike towards Georgia.

About 40 miles north of my aunts place in Jupiter it started to rain so I pulled off and fixed my gear and took off......... ten minutes later it was over.

Farther up the highway it was smoky as Florida has been having some wildfires and it continued for a long way before the smell was gone.

I had originally planned to go as far as Lake City, FL but it was too early to stop so I just stopped at McDonald's and whipped out the laptop to see what was available then called the 800 number to change the reservation and off I went earning free nights along the way to Lake Park, GA.

Technology is great on the road......

When I arrived in Lake Park at the Quality Inn, I find the pool is closed, the Internet service sucks and most of the business's around it are all boarded up including Shoney's which is the southern version of Bob's Big Boy back home.

Next door there is the remains of a Burger King that has been closed for years I found out.
Found a Subway sandwich shop and got some food.

At least the AC works well and the bed feels OK.

Tomorrow I head to Anniston, Alabama where I spent a year in the Army and bought the bike in the picture at the beginning of this story.

Rich

Key West

So today I rode around Key West and took in some sights and did some souvenir hunting in Old Town. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some really great old buildings around Duval Street.

  

 

 Shipwreck museum and watch tower.

 

 

 

Tourist trap central.....

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atlantic Ocean along A1A highway.

Made it back to the southern marker and had my picture taken.

 

Gulf of Mexico on the West side across from my motel. Tomorrow I head back north to my aunts again. Hopefully the heat and humidity will lessen......... Rich  

 

Friends and Key West

 From Tallahassee I headed down to Lecanto Florida and detoured over to Cedar Keys for a look around:  Cedar Key

Neat old place surrounded by the waters of the Gulf.

Tried to take some pictures and my camera started acting up but I did get a couple.





This is the old main street of Cedar Keys.










These are some relatively new condos.

Notice that they are built on stilts.

This is because of the storm surges.

When the people evacuate the buildings
will be OK standing over the water.





After checking out Cedar Key I headed south to visit my friends in Lecanto which is near Homosassa Springs which is on the west side of Florida.

 My friends have 3.5 acres on a semi paved
road with two dogs and two cats of their own.


The neighborhood also has it's own alarm system in the form of Percy the peacock.
He must have been asleep as I never saw him despite the sound of my motorcycle rumbling up the driveway.





The adjacent properties have horses and cows and a Brahma bull that has a habit of roaming around.









From Lecanto I headed south to Tequesta, Florida
to see my aunt and and cousins who I haven't
seen in years.

We did the usual visiting relative stuff, eat drink and hang out.

My cousin Jeff works for the Florida Lottery.
Great seeing them after all these years.

After two days with my aunt and cousins I headed south to Key West.

So after covering 3166 + miles I arrived here at the southern most point of the USA:


Technically this maker isn't the real point, it's actually located on Navy property farther south from this location but it makes a good picture opportunity for tourists.

Rich

5 Days on the Road

From SoCal to Texas was about the same as other trips I've made in the past, long expanses of wide open spaces.

In Arizona I stayed in Winslow a little town made famous by the Eagles song "Take it Easy" because of the second verse:

Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin' down to take a look at me

So I had to go see the famous corner........

I went through Winslow when I was a kid in the '50's and of course things have changed a lot.

Ended the day in Amarillo, TX.

When I was heading into Texas I saw those electronic freeway signs with messages about high wildfire dangers and turns out that after I left Amarillo I heard they were having some fires.

Really a bad thing as the wind had been blowing pretty bad since I was in Arizona and didn't stop until I got to Louisiana.

I rolled through Texas heading to Joaquin, Texas to meet a fellow from the Roadliner & Stratoliner motorcycle forums named Larry.

Joaquin is real small blip on the map way out there but drive a few miles from the original main street and it looks like most of the USA. So where did we meet....at a Whataburger for a bite to eat.

  I did find the local Yamaha shop that's probably been here since the '50's.
  Later that day I made it to Tillman's Corner, Alabama and another Quality Inn for the night.

Weather was still hot in the evening and the pool was not that refreshing, there was a Hooters next door and I'd never been to one so that's where I ate, food was so so, girls were friendly.

 Well it's been five days of riding now with over 2100 miles under the tires, I'm in Tallahassee, FL at another Quality Inn, and it's 105° and 100% humidity, hottest on record they said on the news....yuk!

 Traffic hasn't been bad at all, in fact in some places I felt like I was the only person on the road for long periods of time.