Day 16: Salisbury, MD to Home

The route and roads from Salisbury, Maryland to home are familiar and somewhat often traveled roads for T and G. It is unlikely that there is anything of significance that we could write about on the final leg that would be worthy of sharing with you. So instead, as promised, we are going to give you our listing of our top 10 highlights of the trip,  the only five low lights we could come up with, and some other miscellaneous shared thoughts from behind-the-scenes.

Highlights:

1. Toe dip, San Francisco

2. PCH

3. The elephant seals

4. Seligman on route 66

5. The Meteor Crater

6. The Painted Desert

7. The RoadRunner on route 66

8. Ouachita National Forest on Arkansas route 7

9. Toe dip in Myrtle Beach

10. The beauty of the Outer Banks

*plus special mention, getting home safely has to have its own significance!

Lowlights:

1. The road conditions on route 66 from Daggett to Newberry Springs

2. Rain

3. Heat

4. Russellville, Arkansas is a dry county

5. G's bad hands

*special mention on this side of the ledger goes to wishing we had another two weeks to further explore the small towns along our route.

Further to that point, how long can you spend with a really close friend before you need a break? A week? A couple of days? A couple of hours?  Well, we had 16 days together around the clock under a myriad of conditions that could stress most any relationship-yet we were still wishing for those extra two weeks together.  We spent some time analyzing why it worked well for us, what one or the other guy did that helped to make a difference- for us. Presented as our abstract thoughts, they were:

Trust without hesitation

Humor without reason

Adventure without expectation

Friendship without limits

Assistance without request

Dialog without couching

Good lemonade, no lemons

Keeping focus – there is good in every situation

Flexibility is often a stronger virtue than conviction-compromise is often its own reward

Acceptance for what is 

Laugh at yourself – often!

When riding with someone it is not about your ride,nor their ride- it's about THE ride 

Our past has brought us to this moment, live it fully before it is (our) past.

S2O, signing off.

Day 15: Kill Devil Hills, NC to Salisbury, MD

The morning was ...crisp. We checked out communities in the northern part of the island that G was interested in. It was a pretty ride but then we had to backtrack because there are a limited number of ways off the island.

We continued north towards Salisbury. After yesterday, our butts started to hurt after 150 miles. The last miles were painful. Some of the pain was eased however when we arrived at the hotel and saw large numbers of bikers. Upon inquiry we learned that this was bike week in that area. Another fortuitous surprise. However, after 14 days of riding under many different conditions our bodies were not quite up to keeping pace with the rest of the bikers. A nice dinner, several glasses of wine and we were done. The fatigue is more telling now. Only one more day. It will be good to get home but it is sad to have it end.

Day 14: Myrtle Beach, SC to Kill Devil Hills, NC

The morning was....Fuzzy. The weather was nice, not to hot, just a little cloudy. However, it was the first 300+ mile day we had done this trip. It used to be routine, but we had never run for two weeks straight before. Needless to say, it was a bit much. Our butts started screaming after 275 miles, and once they start fidgeting you are done for the rest of the trip. Even the eventual beauty of the Outer Banks could not ease the pain of our outer flanks.

So dinner at Awful Arthur's( an old standby) and a new Arthur's shirt(also a standby) helped to ease the pain. With a room overlooking the Kitty Hawk Pier and a bottle of wine, the evening wound down. Goodnight.

Day 13: Augusta, GA to Myrtle Beach, SC

"Motion to the Ocean"

The morning was brisk and we donned our jackets to start off. We had a fair number of miles to cover so we got a reasonably early start. As we coursed through miles of tree lined scenery on our " Motion to the Ocean", scores of golden yellow butterflies danced around our heads as though confetti streamers for a victory parade. The miles melted away quickly as we enjoyed thoughts that our labors would soon be rewarded. Who would have thought that a person with one eye and a person using mostly  one hand could traverse the country on motorcycles together. Mountains, curves, rain, cold, desert and heat for more than 3500 miles! And yet we were nearing the bounty.

We pulled into town in the early afternoon. We found parking spots for the motorcycles a block from the beach and headed to the sand at the Oceanfront Bar and Grill. Incredulously we took our pictures (dipping our right foot into the Atlantic, having dipped the left in the Pacific) and asked passersby to help us in taking some more. We decided a victory drink was in order so we went into the Oceanfront Bar and Grill. Needless to say, many had observed our efforts and many more were interested in what we were doing and the story of our trip. BST happily returned to duty and we soon realized that most of the patrons were motorcyclists, knew bikers, wished they were bikers or were just curious about bikes- which was fine by us. One victory drink became two (Fat Tire beer seemed appropriate) and then we wisely decided to gather our bikes while we could still safely ride them. 

Then, just as we had started the trip at Dudley Perkins Harley Davidson and buying shirts, we set course for the local Harley shop. T of course added shirt and hat to his Smithsonian level Harley collection and G again purchased a shirt for self and spouse.

We checked into our hotel, a bit drained from the realization that we could relax some now(though we had several more riding days to get home). Dinner and more victory  drinks definitely seemed in order. We walked to a nearby restaurant and happily pursued both. Then back to the hotel for the bike trip requisite finally, shot and a beet. We decided on a milder abuse-sambucca. The hotel didn't carry it. Back to the restaurant- they too had never heard of it. We defaulted to the tried and true Jack Daniels(honey version). And defaulted some more. Oh hell, we earned it, right? We think the night ended after that.

We deferred posting our celebratory news because we didn't want to take away from the solemnity of 911. However, our venture, our bucket list trip, was born from the realization of the uncertainty of life and nothing more poignantly evidences the frailty and uncertainty of life than the tragic events of 911. We thought it was fitting that we achieved our goal on 911 and it will help us to have something positive to associate with that date. It also happens to mark the third anniversary of T's retirement, strangely enough. 

We have three more days of travel to get home and are tremendously fortunate to have had his experience. We will continue the blog until we get home but there will be remarkably less to note during those days. To compensate, in one of the next few days we will share some behind the scene thoughts on highlights, lowlights and why we feel the trip went as well as it did.

Yippee!

Day 12: Atlanta, Ga to G work to Augusta, Ga

The day was....NOT BALMY!

We got up early for G to go to work. It was at an earlier time than we were used to getting up. We were now on a new time zone so that meant it was also an hour earlier to boot.

What does this all add up to? It means two sleepy hombres with frost on their pumpkins. Later in the day when all G's work was done it was time to head to Augusta. We rode quickly because the time was late. On the way to Augusta our trip meters passed 3000 miles. Hard to believe we've gone so far.

We checked in and walked across the street for some light fare. It was an early night for two tired riders. 

Day 11: Tuscaloosa, MS to Atlanta, GA

It is Sunday and we awoke to a clear and pleasant day it was excellent riding weather to continue the work detour to Atlanta for G. However, pre- ride inspections showed G's steed needed some oil. We replotted our course to the Harley dealer in Pelham, Alabama with the hopes of making it to Atlanta in time to see the Eagles game on TV at 1 p.m.

We rode with all due haste the 50 miles to the dealership and arrived as they opened at 10 a.m.  T added a shirt to his cavernous collection, G is holding out for when we land in Myrtle Beach.

Of course we looked at bikes and chatted with other bikers (BS T). It took longer than planned and we set out again    realizing our time was even shorter than we thought since we would have another time change- we lost an hour!

We got into Georgia, lost our hour and were finally back onto our original time zone. Priority changed then to finding a sports bar to watch the first half of the game because we were at least an hour from the hotel. I wonder why none of the Atlanta sports bars seemed to have the Eagles game on?

We decided to go directly to the hotel and catch what we could. While we were stopped, G looked at his odometer and saw that it read 11111.1 total miles life to date on the bike. It was a weird sight!

We boogied to the hotel and got there at half time. The hotel was pretty empty so the sports bar was willing to change the station to the Eagles game. We almost wished that they hadn't. An unfitting reward after a long fast ride. But it was a win nonetheless.

A quick workout, planning for the next day, a couple adult beverages and early to bed for tomorrow was a work day. On the new time zone!

Day 10: Greenville, MS to Tuscaloosa, MS

This morning we woke to the pitter patter of little tiny rain feet. Not what we wanted to hear, but what we expected from the forecast. The weather channel became our favorite program and helped us to formulate our travel plan. 

We went down to breakfast and met our new best friend, breakfast host Belvis. She didn't treat us any differently than the rest of the patrons, and yet she treated us like royalty. This took away some of the sting from the rain forecast.

We then retreated to the room and continue to watch the weather channel with hope and anticipation. The detour to Atlanta for G to work was already going to cost us 2 to 3 days and we not only had to be there by Monday but we could not afford extra days. And for G, not every day was Saturday like it is for T. Whoops, today IS Saturday – how about that! 

The weather channel was on but we were already planning the chess match of H2O versus S2O!! H2O was going toward Tuscaloosa just as we were, with a gap in the clouds and then another batch of storms. We planned our strategy to wait for the right opening and to try to go at the right pace to stay rain free. T, known for the patience of a killer bee, paced and busied himself with the extra time. G on the other hand had been up with the pain in his hands much of the night and therefore welcomed the extra time to rest.

At about 11 AM we decided it was time. Plus we were being kicked out of our hotel rooms because it was checkout time. The Rain King had used many of his pawns to keep us at bay until 11 AM. We knew that we had a very powerful adversary and had to play the game well. We took our opening and move the game forward. The rain King countered using his minions the Wind Rook and the Wind Bishop to come at us straight on, from the side and diagonally. For over 100 miles we were buffeted and pushed around the roads. We sacrificed a few pawns and we used our knight to go two spaces forward and one over, two to the left and one forward. We stopped and regrouped at Eupora, the site where we went over 2500 miles for the trip. It was there that we boldly, ambitiously took off our rain gear and  pushed forward through the opening that we perceived the rain king's strategy had left us. We passed large flocks of white egrets by local watering holes. We couldn't stop to take pictures because we were still engrossed in the match and there was no place we could safely stop in the stones in the shoulder of the road.

30 miles from Tuscaloosa we knew we had won the match. The sun came out in all it's glory. It was only matched by the wonderful, accepting dispositions of all of the Alabama football fans that were staying at our hotel. We felt like celebrities because everybody wanted to know more about and talk to the guys whose bikes were parked out front.

As a matter of fact, everyone that G spoke to had already spoken to T and knew our story. G has already coined a new name for T and it is BS Thomas. No it's not what you think. The BS stands for biker schmoozer! The Alabama fans really treated us well and gave us a wonderful feeling for this area.

Day 9: Russellville, AR to Greenville, MS

Well, last night's rain ended at 9:40 PM. The only restaurant/bar in the area was open until 10 PM. We made last call.

This morning we had some decisions to make. Fresh from the experience of the storm of last evening, and with the input of some of the locals, a change of routing was in order. To avoid storm activity, road construction and heavy traffic congestion we felt the need to reroute south if we had any hope of getting to Atlanta in time for G to work on Monday. The new routing actually had some fortuitous benefits. The first portion of the new routing would take us through the Ouachita National Forest with 70 miles of hills and curves. Bad for the hands, good for the soul.

 T seemed like he was getting his old groove back but we don't think that there's cause to believe that a Smokey and the one eyed bandit sequel is in the immediate future.

Our interim waypoint destination was Hot Springs, the site of a local biker rally for several hundred thousand bikers. How good is that for a reroute!

We spent most of the first 60 miles riding back and forth with an elderly local biker who needed a wide berth because his custom wooden cane was sideways on the seat behind him. You can see him in one of the pictures with G. The fellow is a member of the local Toad Suck Harley Owners Group chapter in Conway, Arkansas. No we are not making this up! See if you can see it on his patch in the picture.

With the help of the GPS ( not intentionally so) we skirted around the bikers rally in Hot Springs. Probably a good thing or we'd still be there.

At this point we  trained our focus on a direct shot to Greenville,Mississippi. We left the tree lined cover of the National Park and were naked to the sun, the heat and humidity for the next 150+ miles. We knew the humidity was up because the handlebars get sticky under those conditions, as do several other things.

The temperatures got hotter and we got more parched in spite of frequent stops for water. We stopped in a cotton field and couldn't help but feel empathy for those who weren't in a cotton field just for fun.

Then before we knew it(okay, maybe just before we passed out) we were crossing the Mississippi River and closing in on Greenville. It was a hard ride due to the continued exposure to the heat, day after day. But a good day.

Day 8: Oklahoma City, OK to Russellville, AR

Well, the night passed QUIETLY! ( for the record).

T had his foam earplugs in for one of the following reasons:

A. So G not feel guilty about making noise when placing his hands in the ice during the night.

B. Because there was fear of a returning stray dog in the room.

C. He was afraid that he would be bothered by G snoring.

D. He was afraid he would snore so loudly that he might wake himself up. 

We will argue the correct answer for years to come. 

G had some work to tend to ( not every day is Saturday for him) so we got a later start than planned. Not a problem since the whole trip has been planned around his work commitments.

The weather started superbly, overcast and comfortable in short sleeves. It was perfect riding weather for the first 80 miles, though we missed seeing the shadows of the birds of prey from overhead because of the clouds-but be careful what you wish for! Sure enough, the clouds dispersed and..." The day was balmy..."

The landscape was fairly flat and bucolic, though greener and less aromatic than yesterday.

The temperature rose at least 15° once the clouds dispersed. We stopped for water in Henryetta, Oklahoma.(yes , correct spelling). It was then that T confirmed his earlier suspicion that his new steel pony had a minor oil leak. Minor at the moment, but who knows what it could be or turn into with several thousand miles yet to ride. Jointly we focused on the shortest path to a Harley dealer for diagnostic work. This meant deferring lunch and side tours like Lotawatah Road that goes to Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma (we're not making this stuff up!)

We did occasionally try to make a bathroom stop but the pictures will show you that even that simple task can be challenging for the poor traveller.

A fast paced, hot 90 miles later we arrived at Old Fort Harley Davidson in Fort Smith, Arkansas-temperature 102 degrees. The guys were friendly and efficient and started work on the bike as soon as it cooled off. Two and a half hours later we were back on the hot road and heading to Russellville, Arkansas.  Showers and water served to refresh and then a short walk to a light dinner before logistical disasters struck:

1. A heavy storm was quickly rolling in with heavy wind, rain and serious lightning. We needed to stay close, very close. The thunder is so loud it is setting off all the car alarms.

2. We learned for the first time that we were in a dry County. Not that we were in any condition to drink heavily, but a couple of cold adult beverages were deserved after 102 degree temperature riding!

There were not many photo opportunities given the days distractions.

Day 7: Amarillo, TX to Oklahoma City, OK

After last night's blog, G made an aggressive decision to improve the chances of overcoming the bad hands situation-ice. The ice bucket was commandeered and filled with ice and water. For the rest of the evening G's  hands were immersed. We believe there was a stray dog hiding in the room under G's bed and whimpering much of the night but we couldn't find him in the morning. The ice routine seemed to help enough so that G might shave at least a little around the edges. T's razor, on the other hand, has seen less activity than many of the ghost towns we passed. 

Seemingly successful means the ice routine gets duplicated the rest of the trip.  It also leads us to the strong belief that we haven't seen the last of that stray and that T will likely have a new chorus to sing, "who let the dogs out"....

If you've seen the Danny Devito and Billy Crystal movie "Throw Momma From the Train" then you know the novel starts out "The night was humid/sultry."   Well, the day was balmy.  By 9 a.m. it was 77degrees, humid and degrading quickly. Short sleeves and sunscreen took us through fuel and 100 miles of low, flat agricultural land that was often occupied by grazing livestock. We enjoyed amazingly fragrant aromas particularly later in the day as the temperatures reached 100°.  Our first stop, a quick (aching) butt break, was in the town of Shamrock (population 1910) just for the "luck" of it.

Soon we departed the Interstate for the back roads. We happened across the town of Cordell, Oklahoma in Washita County and had lunch there. The people were friendly and down to earth. We stopped for photos around the county courthouse and visited several of the shops. As you will see from the photos, the town has seen better days but it is very easy to visualize that it must have really been something years ago. And with some restoration it would be a perfect movie set for an old-time movie today.

We then continued our trek toward Oklahoma city. The land was still mostly flat but parched or tilled to clay colored earth. We chose a fast pace because of the high temperatures and the desire to complete the days miles. It's interesting how a loose piece of gravel or even a piece of sand will affect your bare skin when traveling at 70+ miles per hour. And 100° at 70+ miles per hour does indeed feel like a blast furnace. We stopped and hydrated as necessary. As in California, and several other spots, we passed acres and acres of wind turbines.

We found our hotel in Oklahoma City and immediately set to work on a far more pressing task. Laundry. We are at about the halfway point of our trip and we are almost out of clean clothes. And, of course, nothing tops off domestic chores like a good dinner and several glasses of wine. And that is of course before G's whining begins.Woof woof!

Day 6: Albuquerque, NM to Amarillo, TX

The morning blessed us with sunshine and hot air balloons floating on the horizon. We hoped it was a good omen. It was another bad hands day for G and we had about 300 miles to ride.

About now we realized that the tour was pretty ambitious. It is humbling to see so much country and beauty day after day. It is a veritable smorgasbord  of opportunity and we know that to make it to the end of the meal we are going to have to nibble selectively. To be strategic we are alternating between highways and back roads to cover the miles. 

The morning was cloudy and cool but pleasant. We started with highway miles just because we have so much to cover today. The scenery has largely been low-lying with scattered brush. With our throttles/cruise control set and music playing it is easy to let the mind wander about what we are seeing– it's a neat thing. But with all that time to think we cannot help but think appreciatively about our supportive spouses who have helped us toward this bucket list dream– now that's REALLY neat!

Another neat thing,

BEEP BEEP!

T was tooling down the road at about 65 miles an hour when a critter scurried across the road in front of him from right to left. When it reached the road on the left side ( why DOES a chicken cross the road) it got confused or scared and quickly darted back in front of T's bike. How it wasn't roadkill we do not know other than the after-the-fact realization that it was a road runner! And the roadrunner never loses.

A bit shaken we continued on to Tucumcari, New Mexico for lunch. Next stop, the Cadillac Ranch ( Cadillacs half buried in perpendicular fashion) just before Amarillo,Texas.  We didn't see any Subarus buried nosedown at the ranch-they must all still be on the road. This rates up there as one of the most unique"landmarks" we have seen on this trip.

We then traversed the remaining miles to our hotel but passed a Harley dealer on the way. We made a mental note and after checking in at the hotel we circled back so that Tcould get his tail light replaced- it is been out since Kingman. And, of course, he came out of there with a shirt. We beat the rain clouds back to the hotel successfully and then a short walk for some good Tex-Mex food. 

Technical Notes:

We are now on central time.

We have now completed over 1500 miles on the trip.

Pictures are being added at the end of each day's blog but usually one day in arrears so you need to go back to that day after the fact to see the pictures.

Day 5: Winslow, AZ to Albuquerque, NM

In the morning we awoke to streaming sunlight and puddled remnants from the evening before. G was having a bad hands day so T acted as bellhop, water boy, bike detailer and patient man. Well, maybe three out of four.

The morning started pleasantly as we went about trying to acquire the Winslow, Arizona pictures we missed out on due to the rain. T got a few more choruses in on his favorite song as we got pictures on the actual site in downtown Winslow.

We had a lot of miles to cover so we departed on route 40 that morning. The weather and the scenery were perfect. We covered a lot of miles quickly. Signs for the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert caught our eyes and we took a detour. As you will see from the pictures, it was a worthwhile detour. We then jumped on interstate 40 and started to log some serious miles. We reached Gallup, New Mexico and had a quick lunch and then back on the road. Shortly thereafter we spotted an old nemesis. Yes, those devil rainclouds found us again. At first they spit on us from a distance to test our mettle. But our resolve was unbroken. T grabbed his trusty top-of-the-line Harley rainsuit and quickly put it on. G reached for his 15-year-old run-of-the-mill red white and blue and did the same. This appeared to anger the devil rain clouds and they issued another challenge. Our resolve was unbroken and we forged ahead. The devil rainclouds hit us with their best shot and it felt like piercing cold needles on the hands and face. The temperature dropped 20° and our speed dropped 20 mph. The game continued volley after volley, cat and mouse for what seemed like hours. Pictures are very few this afternoon because we were immersed in the rematch. When the clouds broke for a moment we pitched our rain gear and jerked heavily on the throttle to leave the devil rainclouds behind. Sometimes it is better to fight and run away to live to ride another day.

Spent by the days efforts we retreated to our hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico to refresh, regroup and plan our logistics for tomorrow's trek to Texas. In the meantime, we are looking for out of work meteorologist who might, for a few dollars, validate our belief that today's hail was as big as grapefruits.