RTJohn Beck & Tom
"Yogi" Maiden’s
U.S. 4 Corners Ride
From Yogi’s Perspective
You can see a
slide show of the pic's at http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=8qhm4cm.3gw9j63i&x=0&y=eoofi7
Prequel
The 4 Corners Ride
is sponsored and certified by the Southern California
Motorcycling Association
for those that don't know is a ride that
takes you to the following locations;
1.
San Ysidro, California
2.
Blaine, Washington
3.
Madawaska, Maine
4.
Key West, Florida
You can do these in any order you wish and you do not have to
return to your starting location and you have 3 weeks to accomplish this from
your 1st stop to your 4th stop. We will be running the route in the order
above.
John is the instigator in this and he is the one paying the fees for him and
getting certified. I am just along for the ride as I believe the charge is too
great but that’s just me. I will be mailing pics back to myself in two separate
envelopes so I can open one for the pic and have one enclosed in an envelope
with the cancelled stamp from that Post office so I will have proof I did it
just not the OFFICIAL Certification.
One of the things we are planning on is riding the Skyline Parkway down to the Blue Ridge Parkway
running it the entire length then Heading over to the
Tail of the Dragon on the route from Madawaska to Key West time permitting.
All in all our trip should be in the 10,000 mile mark and we have the 3 weeks
cleared from the time we leave home.
That means we have a little over two weeks to do the actual 4 corners
ride.
Friday May 25th,
2007
I got to play
hooky from work so John rode over to Chandler
after Rush Hour and we headed out to San
Ysidro, California
for the Start of our journey. We took Maricopa road to 238 to I-8 then
just as you head into the Mountains we get off to get on old US80 then 94 to
Stopping in Barrett's Junction for a quick break then on to Otay Lake Road then
Telegraph Canyon Road to take the back way in to Chula Vista and on to I-5
which we took South to the Motel 6 down on the border. We had to get a
pic with San Ysidro in the Background and we decided to use the Post Office so
we went down after they closed got the pics needed then got the rest of the
information John needed for his certification and headed back to a lil Mom and
Pop Mexican food Restaurant close to the hotel for our evening meal.. All
in all around 400 miles for the day some great riding on the back way into Chula Vista. We
arranged for a 4 am wake up call and hit the sack early. Temps coming
across the desert hit a high of 97 and as we were riding around San Ysidro
Friday Evening I saw a temp of 61.
Saturday May
26th, 2007 The Official Start of the 4
Corners Ride.
0400 came early,
as it seems it always does, but we got up and going and Mailed
off Johns packets for his certification so the Ride actually starts
today! We were slabbing it today taking the 5 North
basically. By the time we got to Redding
around 700 miles later we decided to stop for the evening since we had no reservations
anywhere we figured an early stop would get us a room easier..
As it turns out Redding is the ½ way point
between San Ysidro and Blaine,
WA. I have arranged for a
room in Blaine
tomorrow night so we at least have a place to sleep. The temps ranged
today between 54 and 87 degrees We stayed at the Vagabond Inn which
happened to have free wifi so I was able to get on the Internet and post some
updates.
Sunday May 27th,
2007
Once again we
opted to get up at 0400 to be on the road by 0500, our mission was to make Blaine, Washington today
approximately 705 miles from Redding,
California. I am happy to
say Mission Accomplished but we did run through some on again off again rain
showers from the time we hit the Oregon Border to Everett, Washington.
The Frog Togg’s worked great, both against the rain and the cold! The highest
temp we saw today was 62 and that was the one sunny spot as we came into Olympia, Washington.
Not much to say about the route as we took I-5 all the way, but it is a very
pretty interstate from the Shasta Lake Dam
turnoff just north of Redding all the way into Washington. I will
say that the 60-65 mph speed limits in Oregon
and the 60-70 mph speed limits in Washington
were very annoying! So two days into the official ride we have already
gotten two of the 4 corners. Since we had Mexican food on the Mexican
Border we went to a seafood restaurant here and I had the Halibut. John
had the Spaghetti as he is just not a seafood person. Now comes the fun stuff!
Monday May 28,
2007 Memorial Day
The day started
early once again at 0400 wakeup and 0500 on the road. Day started good
temps in the high 40’s going into the 50’s as we approached Seattle from Blaine
but when we got on 90 and had to transverse the summit heading east temps fell
into the high 30’s plus we were getting spritzed on
and riding thru low clouds. The day didn’t get any better until we were
almost to Butte Montana. The majority of the day was
spent in either sprinkles, rain or low cloud cover most of the time we were in
the mid to low 40’s temperature wise with the occasional dip into the high 30’s
and one spot we actually got up to 60 for a couple of miles.
Tuesday May 29th,
2007
Well Sunny didn’t
happen! We left Butte
Montana around 0645 local time in
36-degree weather. It wasn’t long before we were climbing in elevation
and the temp dropped to 34 degrees and we saw a light dusting of snow on the
ground beside the road. A little while later it started to drizzle again
no big thing but definitely not sunny! Just about 30 miles west of Bozeman it really started
to rain with temps in the low 30’s then the snow started to fall and the
windshields were icing up along with the face shields. I have always read
that discretion is the better part of valor so I pulled off at the first ramp
coming into
Bozeman to get
a room for the day/night only 81 miles after we started.
Definitely wasn’t
the plan. We are taking the opportunity to do laundry and repack gear but
we would much rather be on the road. The good news is we came across this
really nice new hotel the C’mon Inn at exit 305 in Bozeman., and while a little
pricier then what we normally do it is very nice and since we will be here all
day and night well worth the money. Something I could recommend to anyone
passing thru this part of the country. Since we had time to kill John got
some various pics of the place so check out the pic’s
place.
We will have to
see if we can make up these 550 missed miles today on subsequent days.
We are already
thinking of ways to make up the time if necessary like forgoing the Skyline and
Blue Ridge Parkways but its too early in the ride to
make any hasty decisions. We will just have to wait and see how we make
out in the next few days as this storm seems to be stalled over this part of
the country.
Wednesday May
30th, 2007
We got up
early and were on the road by 0450 temp in Bozeman was 35 degrees shortly
out of Bozeman it dropped to 34 but didn’t get any lower. Going thru the
pass on the way out of Bozeman
there was some pretty good fog so I just followed an 18 wheeler till we got
clear of the fog. I thought we were doing good as it wasn’t
raining, Mother Nature was just teasing us it didn’t take too long before
we were getting rained on but after awhile it cleared up a little to where it
was just overcast for about 100 miles. Once again Mother Nature was
teasing because after that 100 miles we spent the rest
of the day in rain with the high temp being 52 degrees. This continued
till we were about 20 miles out of Fargo North Dakota where the sky turned blue
the temp shot up into the 70’s and I thought cool we will get into our hotel
with no more rain… WRONG! We got dumped on again at about the 10-mile
mark then it just spritzed on us the rest of the way
in. Needless to say we have a dryer full of wet gear as I am writing
this. We did a lil over 750 miles today in about 11 hours with I would
say over 500 of those miles in Rain and cold. DAMN whose idea was this
anyway? Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings
Thursday May
31st, 2007
Last night after
my update John tried replacing the right side bulb in his headlamp assy as he had been running with a burnt out one for a few
days. When he tried to pull the connector it just came apart in his
hands. Using the Internet I found the closest BMW Dealer (Moon Motorsports) in Monticello,
MN and found they opened at 0830. So another early morning start for us
as we needed to run the 200 miles there and be there when they opened. We
did accomplish that getting there as they were rolling bikes out of the Service
Dept in preparation for the day. They got John right in and while they
didn’t have a connector they did replace the bulb and used the separate
connections to get him back on the road. While on the lift he also got an
oil change so he should be good till he gets home as far as Service. We
got out of there a lil after 10am only losing a hour
and a half there plus the extra 70 or so miles it took us out of the way.
The good news was there was no rain till we were in Wisconsin and it only
lasted for around 20 miles then again in Michigan again not lasting all that
long. PLUS while I was waiting on John I found a pair of Waterproof gloves
by First Gear at Moon Motorsports so my hands
actually stayed dry and warm today YIPPEE. Since we had the maintenance
stop and we have also been on 2 lane roads for around the last 200 miles we
only got in a lil over 600 miles for the day when we stopped. This
evening we are in Marquette, Michigan
in the Upper Peninsula about ½ ways across
right on the water.
Summary of the first week on the road.
We have covered
3,910 miles. We have been to the West Coast two corners of San Ysidro, California
and Blaine, Washington. We are well over ½ ways to
our 3rd stop in Madawaska Maine and
still have two weeks and 3 weekends to complete the ride back to Phoenix. We have
ridden in well over of a 1000 miles in the rain with most of the temps in the
mid 30’s to low 50’s. We have also ridden in snow for a short
period. We have met some very accommodating people from the Hotel people
allowing us early entry on the day we got waylaid to the ones that let us dry
out our gear in their entry way as it was super warm there. I am sure we
got some looks from those in cars and trucks as there we were passing them on
Motorcycles in 30-degree weather.
Friday June 1st 2007
We got in around 560
miles today on two lane roads for the most part with only about 5 miles of it
in the rain.. Though as I sit and write this in
my motel room in Pembroke Canada
it is Lightening and thundering and pouring outside. At least it is
outside and I am inside. It started to rain just as we got the bikes
unloaded. The day started in Marquette
Michigan about ½ ways across the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We are now around 88 miles west of Ottawa Canada
and only a lil over 500 miles from Madawaska Maine our next corner. It was a good
day and we are positioned very well to possibly make Madawaska tomorrow or the
next day at the latest barring bad weather. The going is slow as the
speed limits are lower and traveling two lane roads is pretty it is a lot more
time consuming due to all the towns along the way. But this has
been a great ride, very scenic. We only got a couple pics today I will
load them the next time I have more computer time. We are both still good
and raring to go.
Saturday June
2nd 2007
Once again we
were in the 560 range in miles and made it to the 3rd stop of our
tour Madawaska Maine.
One thing I noticed as we traveled thru Canada,
when we entered thru Sault Ste Marie in the Ontario Province
there were bilingual signs in both English and French or multiple signs even
temporary warning signs were in both languages..
We then entered the Quebec
province where the only signage is in French. I thought this very
odd. The trip thru Canada
was beautiful and well worth the extra time but I doubt I would personally ever
go back to the Quebec
Province if I could avoid
it. Once we arrived in Madawaska we were taking the mandatory pictures in
front of the post office when Barb Deschaine, (the self proclaimed 4 corners
stalker) who is the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, stopped by
and chatted with us. She is the one in the pictures as well as a local
Rob.
Barb gave us her
phone number and told us to call her Sunday Morning and she would come down to
the office to give us some kind of paperwork they do for the 4-corner
ride. It was another great day in all, the precipitation we today got
were just a couple sprinkles all day long. Well it’s been just a
week and a day and we have made 3 of the stops of the 4 corners and are now laying
in a course for Key West.
Barb also told us of a monument they were establishing along with a small park
to honor their place to the 4 corners ride. We got a couple pics there
Saturday evening.
Sunday June 3rd
2007
Morning we went
down to Dolly’s Diner in Frenchville for a very good breakfast then gave Barb a
call and met her at the Chamber of Commerce. There she presented both
John and me a lil certificate acknowledging our presence in Madawaska with
signatures from the Town Manager and the Governor. The park they are
planning is going to have those pavers where you have your name carved into
them so John and I went together on one to help with the park and to put our
mark on the area. We thought that a better option then peeing on the
monument. ;^)
You can go to www.madawaskafourcorners.org
to see pics of the envisioned park and to order your own paver if you want.
John’s and mine
should read as follows;
RTJohn Beck and Tom “Yogi” Maiden
Phoenix, AZ
6/3/2007
4 Corners Ride
After saying our
good-byes to Barb we headed on 1 to Fort
Kent then connected with
11 south. A little ways down the road we ended up behind a truck with a bucket
that was hitting the overhead wires as it went down the road. We
were keeping our distance when he finally knocked down a telephone line.
John and I stopped and directed traffic for close to two hours, at one point I climbed up the trailer of a semi to
get the line over his trailer so he could continue on. The police had
been called at least twice and had not responded so we did what was necessary
to make the road safe for people to travel. I won’t say any more about
that on a public venue, but no one was going to hit the wire when we left.
Well the down
telephone line killed around 2 hours of our day along with our late start we
only ended up with just shy of 300 miles for the day. We are currently at the
Super 8 in Augusta Maine on I-95. This is like the 4th
Super 8 we have stayed at on this trip and they all had wifi capability for
those of you interested in that. Plus they have all been fairly nice
places to stay. I would definitely say a couple notches up from a Motel
6.
We have had fairly
good weather for the last few days, ever since May 31st. Temps
have been much better and we have only been sprinkled on other than the one
5mile stretch in Canada
that we suited up for we haven’t had to wear our rain gear. Funny we had
to go to Canada
to get clear skies and great temps.
On a side note
let’s have a moment of silence for the passing of my Garmin Street Pilot
3. I have been holding out hope but all seems
lost. You see I have been running with out it ever since May 31st
when it got drowned on our trip from Bozeman to Fargo. I kept
hoping it would dry out and start working again but I don’t believe that is
going to happen. So keep a kind thought for a loyal farkle that gave its
life in my pursuit of whatever it is I am pursuing. ;^)
Monday June 4th
2007
Well the good
news was no more bugs sticking to the face shield or windshield. The bad
news was it was because they were hiding from the rain. We only made it a
lil over 320 miles today down to Danbury
Conn. We stopped early and
did laundry and some route planning. Not much to say other then we
started in the Rain it got worse and we ended in the rain. Temps in the
high 40’s to high 50’s fluctuating up and down. Visibility just finally
got real bad around here so we looked for a place to stop. I guess the good
news is the weather report says it’s clearing up tonight. We will
see. Oh by the way in Hartford Conn. traffic started to back up fast and
we had to come to a stop in the freeway during a downpour and John saw a couple
cars spin out behind him and into the median. Luckily they went into the
median and not into us or other traffic.
Tuesday June 5th
2007
We got in a lil
over 500 miles with only a few sprinkles today, Hooray!!! The first 400
were slabbing it from Danbury Conn. Thru New York, PA, MD, WV and part of Virginia down to Front
Royal at the North end of the Shenandoah Natl. Park and the Northern Start of
the Skyline Drive.
We ran the entire length of the skyline in about 3 ½ hours. We are
stopping for the night in Waynesboro
Virginia. If the weather
holds we are planning on the Blue
Ridge Parkway tomorrow.
Wednesday June
6th 2007
400 miles of
heaven, what is there to say about the Blue Ridge Parkway that hasn’t been said before. This has been part of the plan since the
beginning to run the Skyline Drive
in Virginia
then continue on to the Blue Ridge
Parkway. We started at the Northern Most
point of the Parkway and rode to Asheville,
NC today..
Tomorrow we will finish up the last 80 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway then
mosey on over to the Tail of the Dragon. After all we have been wearing
out the middle of our tires all these preceding days its only fair we take some
rubber off the sides. Our only freeway this morning was from our motel to
the Blue Ridge Parkway
so today was one of the best days of the ride. Boo Boo and I rode a small
section of the Blue Ridge a couple of years
ago but the views were a little hazy that day. Today the views were great
and the weather was fantastic, Cool but not cold. Slightly cloudy but not
overcast. All in all a great day.
Thursday June
7th 2007
The last couple
of days have been great but today lived right up there with them. We got
up and on the road around 8am to run the last 88 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Temps were in the High 50’s so it was quite comfortable. The road was
great though the view this early was a lil hazy. There were plenty of
sweepers to get them juices going then some tight
stuff to get the adrenaline going. Alas it was over all to soon as we came to the end in Cherokee NC.
From there we
made our way over to the Famous/Infamous Tail of the Dragon on US129 at Deals
Gap right on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. 318
turns in 11 miles but first we had to raid the store http://www.dealsgap.com/ where John
and I both got shirts, I picked up a couple stickers and some Hyperlites for me
to install when I get home. It was a very fun ride though very intense,
some of the curves were deceptively tight but both John and I managed to Slay
the Dragon. From there we were on our way to I-75 to start making our way
south when we ran across the Motorcycle Pit Stop where we stopped and had a
Dragon Burger with Chili and Jalapenos. I think that Dragon Slayed
us! From there we did go Jump on I-75 and we now sit in a Super 8 at exit
218 on I-75 just south of Atlanta a lil over 400 miles for the day.
Let me take this opportunity
to just say if you have never ridden the Skyline Drive or Blue Ridge Parkway or
the Tail of the Dragon you need to find the time to go do them that was just a
great 3 days of riding!!
Friday June 8th 2007
We just needed to
run a lil over 350 miles down to John’s Sister in Law’s place in Lady Lake
Florida. This should have been easy but we ran into a problem on I-75
Some where around mm 406 a semi overturned in the median causing traffic both
north and south to come to a standstill. Now normally other then being an
annoyance this wouldn’t have been that big a deal as we only had to crawl for
about 4 – 5 miles before we cleared (took about an hour). This was not a normal
time though as I had previously called a Honda Dealership in Leesburg and set
up for them to squeeze me in for an oil/filter and final drive gear lube
change. So I was sweating being able to get that done. We did make it and
they did squeeze me in so I feel better for the bikes sake. After my
service we made it up to Sue’s (John’s Sister in Law) place and met up with her
and then went to a local watering hole to celebrate then a fine dinner then
some Karaoke. All in all a great evening.
Saturday June
9th 2007
John and I got up
early and made our way to BMW Orlando as he had setup for a 6k service first
thing. His bike had to be cold for them to work on it so we made the 60 mile
journey at around 5:30 am and the weather was great just cool enough to be
really comfortable wearing a jacket. John got his service done and we got
out of there around 11:30 back on the road to Lady Lake
when we stopped for a quick lunch then we went over to Don Garlits Museum of
Drag Racing. http://www.garlits.com/
We took a lot of pics but the pics don’t do the place justice. If you are
ever in the area make sure to stop and check it out if you are a fan of Drag
Racing.. Now we are getting ready for the last
push down to Key West
tomorrow around 500 miles the way we are routed. We plan on spending
Sunday and Monday nights down there before coming back to Sue’s then heading
for home on Wed.
Sunday June 10th 2007
We have made the
4th Corner KEY WEST, FLA,
in 16 days. We started the actual 4 Corners ride on May 26th
and had 3 weeks to complete which would have been Friday June 15th
the entire trip so far has covered just short of 8,000 miles and we still have
around 2,500 to make it home.
We both
woke up around 4:30am this morning, when the alarm was set for 5, so we got up
anyway and were actually on the road a little after 5am. It was right at
500 miles from where we were to the Hotel we are staying in at Key West. I was quite surprised on the
trip down here. For the most part you are on the land on the various keys
with just a few bridges and I for some reason, thought it would be mostly
bridges. The going is slow for the trip down the Key’s though so if you
are planning a trip don’t be in a big hurry for the
last bit down there. We took I-75 down the West Side of the Island then hooked up with Route 41, which took us
through the everglades. We actually saw a real Gator on the road and no
not one of them tire Gators but an Alligator that had
lost a fight with a moving vehicle. This adds to the other varmints we
have seen on the road this trip, From Deer to Bobcats and wild Turkey, (NO NOT
THE WHISKEY) on the Blue Ridge
Parkway to a turtle crossing a major road over by
John’s SIL home. To seeing this alligator.
We have made it
down to the Southernmost Point in the United States and have taken the
Pics necessary for John’s Certification. We went back down on Duvall Street later
in the evening and had a nice celebratory dinner at Red Fish/Blue Fish.
We then walked around a street marketplace, finally making our way over to the
Hogsbreath Saloon, Sloppy Joe’s Bar (where Ernest Hemmingway use to hang out)
then on down to Margaritaville. I had a Hogsbreath Lager at the
Hogsbreath, and a Land Shark Lager at Margaritaville. John had a Margarita in
Margaritaville. We both had a Draft at Sloppy Joe’s. All in all a great
ending to a great day and an exceptional trip
Monday June 11th 2007 The Official End of the 4 Corners Trip
Since the Bell at the Southernmost point
was crowded when we were getting our pics last evening John and I went down
early this morning to have some more pics opportunity with the bell. We
also ran over to the beginning of Highway 1 and got a couple pics at Milepost
0. Then back up to the motel for breakfast and to wait for the Post
Office to open.
After doing some
work on this log and some pics I am getting ready to upload John and I headed
for the Post Office. On the way there I noticed a car pulling out in
front of me from my right so I stopped to let them in. They hemmed and
hawed and I noticed a Titanium colored Goldwing stopped coming towards
me. I remember Bob Vail, from the Motorcycle Touring Forum, had posted he
would possibly be down here around this time starting his 4 Corners Tour.
So as he rode by I yelled asking if he was indeed Bob I let him know I was Yogi
and I would turn around. After we caught up with him we found a place to
park and talked for the better part of a ½ hour before we both continued on our
way. It was just too weird running into him like that, but I am glad we
did.
John and I
finally made it to the Post Office and we went inside to get hand cancellation
done on our stamps and insure we had enough stamps for the weight. I got
a pic inside the Post Office though I guess you are not suppose
to do that as the Attendants yelled No Pictures! After that we went and
found a parking space close to Margaritaville, (the hardest part of visiting
Key West is finding parking you don’t have to pay for) we then walked down and
got tickets to ride the Conch Train for a tour of the Island. It was a
very good tour and well worth the time. After the tour we headed back up
to Margaritaville and we both had a Cheeseburger in Paradise
and I topped off my meal with a slice of Key Lime Pie! Not a bad
day. Tomorrow we head back up to Lady Lake Fla. and on Wed Start the
journey back to Phoenix, with a lil side trip to Bourbon Street in New Orleans
on the way. Right now I have walked next door to the Holiday Inn so I could
use their wifi as the Days Inn we are in doesn’t have it. So I am getting
my pics uploaded and updating the logs as I am having a brew in the bar at
Holiday Inn.
Tuesday June
12th 2007
We started early (on
the road at 0430) for the trip back up the Keys as traffic is just stifling
later. We made it back up to the mainland by 0700 not too bad considering the
speed limits and there were a lot of LEO's out this
morning for some reason.
John had noticed
that another headlamp bulb had burned out so we planned on stopping in on the
same BMW dealership that he had his service done at last Saturday. We ran the
Florida Turnpike, which was a mistake probably over $20.00 total in tolls and
we were in stop n go traffic around Miami.
Anyway we get his
new headlamp installed, stopped for a short lunch then headed back up the
Turnpike. Then our old friend showed up, but this time he came with force,
that's right I am talking about RAIN, but this was no normal Rain This was a very Heavy Rain with the wind blowing hard enough
to move me around. Cars were almost coming to a standstill in the middle of the
Turnpike so I did what anyone in my position would do. Hit the passing lane! We
at least cleared the idiots stopping in the middle of the road.
I was looking for
an overpass to stop under but the rain was so hard I didn't see the first one
till I was under it. But I did manage to catch the next one but we were already
pretty much drowned by that point. We did wait out the majority of the storm
before heading out again and I rode the last 10 miles to our exit standing on
the footpegs trying to air dry.
We are now back
at John's sister in laws place and have a load in the washer going getting
ready to start our run back to Arizona
tomorrow. Other then a stop in New
Orleans to go down to Bourbon Street there probably won't be
much to write about as we will just be putting in long days on the slab. We
hope to be home Friday.
Wednesday June
13th 2007
We had another
early morning start on the road out of Lady Lake Fla. at 0430. After riding a little over
600 miles we arrived at the Days Inn on Canal Street just off of I-10 and right
off the trolley line. Here is a BIG
THANKS to SUE, for letting us stay at her place for 3 nights on this trip. It is greatly appreciated!
After settling in
we went to catch the trolley down to Bourbon
Street when a Local at the trolley stop suggested
we ride to the end and take the free Ferry ride across and back over the Mississippi which we
did. We got to see some tugs working the barges on the River and one in Dry
Dock being worked on and a paddleboat moving up the river. Well worth the time.
We then walked from there up to the French Quarter walking up and down streets
till we eventually worked our way up to Bourbon Street where we walked up and
down the street. We stopped in a lil Mom and Pop restaurant and I had a bowl of
Seafood Gumbo with 1/2 a smoked sausage Po Boy that both were just delicious
and John had a Roast Beef Gumbo. We then walked some more checking out all the
sights and sounds before stopping in a lil bar and I had a shot of Jack Daniels
(Bourbon) on Bourbon Street.
This is another
place I want to come back to someday when I have more time.
Thursday June
14th 2007
First let me say
this is Boo Boo’s Birthday and I would like to take this opportunity to thank
her for being so understanding and allowing me this madness of mine. Now
I did send flowers while I was on the road and did get a present shipped to her
in time for her Birthday but I don’t know many wives that would put up with a 3
week road trip especially when their birthday falls within that time
frame. So Thanks Boo Boo! I do indeed appreciate it!
John and I took
off around 0530 from New Orleans and just
slabbed it west to Fort
Stockton a lil over 860
miles and 14 hours later. I finally rode straight (or as straight as you
can) thru San Antonio.
I always took the bypasses before. San
Antonio is a very interesting looking city. This
is another place I want to come back to someday. The 80mph speed limit
was nice when we got past Kerrville
as well. The higher speed limit really helped us cover some ground.
Though we are both starting to get concerned with our tires and will probably
slow it down a little tomorrow in an attempt to save them.
Friday June 15th
2007
We got a later
start our at Fort Stockton then we had been used to since we knew we would be
gaining 2 hours in time zones along the way, but we still were on the
road by 0630. As our tires were wearing thin we decided to keep the
speeds down for the return home so we tried to stay at about 75mph all the way
home. We ran thru two tanks of gas basically and that got us to Willcox, AZ where we stopped for lunch. We then
stopped off at the STAR Intl offices in Tucson
for a lil break before we headed up to Phoenix.
It was great seeing Deb, and Carol.
We then took off
for Phoenix.
Just a lil bit out of Tucson
traffic was coming to a stop as there had been a bad accident and a car had
gone off of the elevated section of road and thru a guard rail. This
caused some loss of time and we had to run thru the debris field to get
thru. Now the reason I mention that is that I believe the thin tires and
debris field led to me getting a flat rear tire. I was doing about 75 in
the passing lane when I noticed my bike develop a shimmy. Suspecting a
flat I moved over to the shoulder and brought her down to a complete stop
slowly down around mile marker 207 in Eloy. Sure enough my rear had a
slice in the tread area.
I didn’t think my
plugs would work on the slice so I called AAA (I have the plus RV coverage
which covers motorcycles) while John went up to the next exit and got us
something cold to drink. John got back and we waited in the shade, what
little there was, of a scrawny mesquite tree, did I mention the temp was about
110. The wrecker was there in about 40 minutes and we got it loaded up
and home safe and sound in my garage. So the trip is over though it would
have been nice to ride into the garage and have a flat tire.
I have a lil over
10,000 miles for the trip Doorway to Eloy ;^) John can add about 100
extra miles over me for riding over to my place to start and actually getting
home on two wheels
Failures on the trip
For Yogi
- Street Pilot III died
p.s. they are not waterproof
- Zipper on liner for
heavy leather jacket failed
- Zipper on First gear
jacket needs to be replaced
- Torn set of Frogg
Togg pants
- 1 rear flat tire
For John
- Both low beam
headlights needed to get replaced
- One of the low beam
connectors fell apart when he tried to change the first bulb.
- The controller for
his Gerbing’s malfunctioned first time out and he didn’t have use of his
heated clothing.
- His digital camera
had to be held together with rubber bands
- Frogg Togg’s not as
waterproof as he would have liked
- Broken CB Antenna
when we caught it on that downed telephone line.
Things that I found out on this journey
·
I like riding in
the rain when I am in the desert and the temp is around 110 to 115
·
Riding in the
rain over a mountain pass in 39 degree weather is not as much fun
·
Riding in these
conditions also made me appreciate my full face helmet especially after we were
riding along with some Harley riders and it started to rain and they slowed way
down due to the cold rain hitting their faces due to the ½ helmets they were
wearing. Whereas we could continue on at
the same pace.
·
Speaking of
Helmets I found that if I run the windshield at a certain height it causes the
wind to hit my helmet in such a way that it clears it of the rain. Pretty sweet
·
A combination of
Frogg Togg’s /Sweatshirt/Chaps and heavy leather jacket worked fairly well at
holding off the cold but I felt like the Michelin Man. Gerbing’s electric wear
would work better.
·
Even in the Rain
and cold we still covered a lil over 700 miles in around 11 and ½ hours.
·
I want grip
heaters and a real set of waterproof gloves
·
We found that
most Super 8’s and Days Inns have wifi for those that need it
·
If you need wifi
you can always go to the hotel next doors bar and try there (at least you can
get a beer)
·
Be careful riding
thru debris fields at accidents with thin tires ;^)
·
I packed way too
many clothes as I didn’t wear ½ of them.
It’s better to pack liter and stop and do laundry occasionally.
This was a very
great memorable trip that I am glad we made. We covered over 10,400 miles
in 22 days, got to see the 4 corners of the U.S. as well as many points in
between. It was well worth the money and
time invested and I would recommend the trip or any portion of it to
anyone.
Here is some
advice if you should decide to do this trip.
·
Try
and build up some time at the beginning of the trip as weather or mechanical
problems can shut you down for a day or two.
·
Also
if you have the time, stop and smell the roses at the end of the trip. In
our case that would be the Skyline
Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway as well as the Garlits Museum,
Key West and then our side trip to New Orleans on the way
home.
·
Figure
on around $100-$150 per person per day if you keep it on the cheap side at
motels and restaurants. Obviously it can
be much more than that.
·
Have
a good Tow Service. I tried using my
Honda Road Assistance and seemed to be on permanent hold. Called my AAA plus RV and was talking to a real
person in a minute or two and had the wrecker on site in 40 minutes.
Now
quit reading and go hit the Road!
