The Loooonnnng Trip

Whew! It was about 6,000 miles and covered 15 states. Another 350 miles and it would have been coast to coast, but California was not in the itinerary.

Vicki and I left June 27th at 5:00 in the morning and ended it July 21st at 12:30 pm. There was so much sandwiched between those dates that it seems like several vacations. Each locale was so varied. The first day was spent in the mountains of Arizona, the VLA (Very Large Array) in New Mexico, Lincoln County made infamous by Billy the Kid and others who participated in the Lincoln County War , and finally Roswell of alien spacecraft fame. And that was just day one (571 miles).

While crossing Texas we got soaked in Wichita Falls and spent the night in a little town just down the road. That was the second day, and it was good (404 miles).

Finally escaping the huge state of Texas we crossed over to Arkansas at Texarkana, crossed the Mississippi River and spent the night in Greenville, Mississippi, home of rust colored tap water, and a cute little waitress from New Orleans who thought we had unusual accents (being from Arizona and all). (454 miles)

And on the fourth day we met J on the Natchez Trace just north of Tupelo, Mississippi. By this time I was in a state of confusion because the states were beginning to look alike. Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and finally Tennessee are all green, full of rolling hills, streams, farms, little towns with cows, and roadkill.

We got into Nashville (362 miles) on a Saturday just as J's wife Sheila was leaving (town). It was great getting a few days to just sit and relax. 1800 miles riding double was the longest I had ever done ..... but it was only the beginning.

J and I rushed around getting our bikes ready to trailer to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I needed a new rear tire (it was showing the cords) and J needed both (his cords were also showing but he hadn't worn through the steel belt yet, a real plus). After changing his tires the repairman said, "Oh, by the way, don't use your rear break, you don't have one." They didn't happen to have any disk pads so we had to find a shop that did since we were leaving that night. For all the details about that portion of the trip visit J's blog. (782 miles back only)

Nine of us stayed in a three story beach house we rented in Southern Shores, North Carolina. (Ric, Vicki, Alana, J, Peggy, Jackie, Sheila, Wally and Brad) It was a great week and again I defer to J's blog for pictures of most of what we did. He was kind enough to not show how well I handle being on the ocean.

After a day of rest in Nashville it was time to start wearing out that new rear tire. Our next stop was a visit to Vicki's brother, Dick, and his wife, Jan, in Omaha, Nebraska. We consulted the map and found that it was a trip too far (745 miles) so we broke it into 2 days staying the first night in a little town 50 miles shy of Kansas City. The next day we only had to put in 200 miles so that we had more time to visit in Omaha. It was great to see them, their new grandchild and in laws. The parents were all working and, consequently, unavailable, as it should be. Jan fixed an amazing dinner and Dick got up early in the morning to prepare breakfast. It was like dieing and going to heaven, assuming we still eat there. Thanks again!

We opted to do the marathon thing again (565 miles) and get to the Black Hills of South Dakota to stay in a retro place called the Rocket Motel in Custer, SD. All went well until we got to Highway 385. The dark clouds ahead looked ominous and for good reason, it was going to be a bad one! As we were suiting up in our rain gear a guy at the station said, "Gee, I hope you don't run into hail." As it turned out, not only did we run into hail, it ran into us. The rain came down so hard that for about a minute or two I nearly lost sight of the lines on the road while only moving at 30 mph. And it was daytime! And, oh, the hail and wind. A helmet is a very good thing judging by the sound of the hail smashing into it. We did get to feel the actual sting and later gaze at the resultant bruises. Luckily, because it was more a matter of laziness and not expert planning, we only experienced the pain in our hands and legs because we put the rain suits over our padded jackets and hadn't gone to the trouble of taking them off. I spoke to another rider at the Rocket who had experienced the same storm without a helmet (he and his wife are Harley riders). Hey look, I'm not implying anything! Fortunately they crowded into an outhouse at a rest stop before getting smacked in the head, but his gas cover sustained a dent ... but that was all.

The next day was absolutely great. The weather was cool while we were in the Black Hills and only slightly warmer at the Devil's Tower in Wyoming. We hopped off at Mt. Rushmore, waved at the crews setting up for Bike Week in Sturgis, cruised through Spearfish Canyon, dodged deer in Custer National Park, gazed upon Crazy Horse, tried to figure out the attraction of Deadwood, and slept in the most comfortable beds in South Dakota at the Rocket.

We left Custer slowly because of the deer all along and on the road at 5:15 in the morning. Our destination was Moab, Utah to spend the night. During cooler times of the year bicyclists crowd Arches National Park but in July it is less frequented although just as beautiful. (717 miles)







After that very long day in saddle it was time for some Mexican food at a local restaurant, a Corona for me and a Heineken for Vicki, followed by a good night's sleep.

We arose before light knowing that it would not be cooler in Phoenix the more we dallied. As it was our ETA was 2:00, certainly not an exciting prospect. So we flew believing it possible to go fast enough that we could arrive before the hour hand. Inside Arizona the majestic rock formations outside Tuba City left us in awe. Just 200 miles from Phoenix we realized the time had changed again. The Nomad was winning the race. We arrived at home at 12:30, in reality erasing 30 minutes from the ETA. (468 miles)

It was a trip we will never forget.