Superlatives

Well ... it was an epic trip! Great roads, great scenery, great friends ... Thanks Joe and Paul.

Here's some of my memories ...

Longest day: 1026 miles, Winston-Salem, NC to Henryetta, OK

Most unique road: Moki Dugway, Utah

Best high speed run: Joe leading into Thermopolis, WY and Dick and Paul on I-40 through the mountains (passing the BMW riders ...)

Best roads: The Beartooth, Hell's Canyon Road, Rattlesnake Pass, Gunnison Canyon, Million Dollar Highway, Pike's Peak

Best Trooper Lights: Somewhere outside Walden, CO

Best Crash: Muley Point Road, Utah

Best motorcycle dealer: Suzuki of Winston-Salem ... thanks guys!!!

Best dealer on the road: Apex Powersports, Colorado Springs

Best repair: Paul's tire in Thermopolis and Dick's turn signal in Montrose, CO

Best refuge in a storm: Melbourne, AR

Best cookies: Anne's !!!

Best Pass: Joe passing the sportbike in Idaho

Most wind: tie ... on top of the Beartooth and Rawlins, WY (wow, that was some wind!!!)

Best pass in road construction: Million Dollar Highway

Best "Zen ... City" Red Lodge, MT

Best overnight accomodations: Leadville, CO with Ken and Pat

Best Mojito: Cortez, CO

Best Band: Delta Highway, Beale Street

Best friends: "I'm passin ... Joe" and "Memphis Paul"

Doesn't get any better that that ... "let's do it again!"

Home Alone

The last day from Memphis to Winston-Salem was a long day on the superslab ... much like the trip began 3 weeks ago. Woke up early, packed and left Memphis around 7am. We made great time with endless gas stops and breaks at McDonald's (my new favorite place). McDonald's is great because we can fill up our water bottles with ice from their drink machines.

Highlights of the trip home included the high speed run through the TN/NC mountains on I-40. We were bookin' ... those BMW riders just couldn't keep up (although they tried ...)

We encountered road work on I-40 around Morganton. That's never a good thing on a motorcycle. The left lane was closed, but we stayed in it as long as possible and passed an endless stream of cars and trucks. My sincere apologies to the cars, but it's really tough trying to go that slow on a motorcycle with all that gear ... I noticed that the motorcycle was surging at the low speeds and I suspected the chain was going bad. Suspicions were confirmed at the next exit ... wow was it loose!!! Paul and I tightened the chain as much as possible in a convenience store parking lot ... Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance triumphs once again!!! A great way to end the trip. Thankfully we were able to get home safely.

Well, I'm finally home after 7,756 wonderful miles on a motorcyle trip for three weeks with 2 great friends. It's wierd waking up and having to get your own breakfast and make your own bed after 3 weeks of motels. Hope to post a postscript after I've had a chance to make sense of it all. Right now, I just know that it was a wonderful trip!!!

Thanks everyone for following along with us!!!

WWED

Thunder and major rain woke me up to start the day (never a good sign ...). However I was encouraged when it looked like it was clearing. We packed the bikes to leave Mountain View and head for the last world class motorcycle road on our list--Push Mountain Road.

The 25 mile road was a series of high speed sweepers that would have been much more fun without the thunder, lightening, rain, and fog. The White River was very unusual with the fog hanging above the river. Paul led through the high speed stuff and all in all it was a great road.

When we headed for home, the rain increased in intensity and my GPS stopped working. In addition I was getting increasingly soaked, since I neglected to put on all my rain gear. And my glasses and visor were so fogged up that I couldn't read the map ... not a good way to start the trip home! Since I could not see, I stopped to look at the map ... we should have figured out that that was not a good idea, because the rain quickly turned the map into pulp. What to do ... ?

Than it came to me!!! WWED ... (What would Elvis Do?) Let's go to Memphis!!! What a great idea. We went to the next town Melbourne and found a Community Center. It was unlocked with a sign that they had gone to lunch. I gave us the opportunity to change into dry clothes and and when they returnned they gave us an official Arkansas map and directions to Memphis! Talk about devine intervention ... wow, they saved the day!!!

So now we're on Beale Street (what a great place!!!). Went to a Blues Bar, heard a great band (Delta Highway) and had a great dinner. What a wonderful day it was ... doesn't get any better than that!

So how far is it from Memphis to Winston-Salem? Guess we better go to bed ... tomorrow could be a long day!

Delta Highway

Mountain View

We left Joplin, MO in the rain. The night was filled with thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. We left unsure of the weather for the day. Went to the George Washington Carver National Monument. Saw the movie and bought stamps for Ben, Evie, Alex, and Katie.

We stopped for lunch in Eureka Springs, AR. Wow, what a tourist town!!!

After lunch we hit some great backroads in the Ozarks. Excellent curves with little traffic. Spent the night in Mountain View.

Tomorrow we will do the Push Mountain Road and head towards home. Hope to make it to Nashville.

Staight Roads and Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

Here we are in Dodge City, KS. Paul and I were ready for a gunfight but Paul didn't bring the six shooters! We shot some pictures instead ...

Mostly just put in the miles across Kansas in record heat. McDonald's and the Sonic Drive In saved us. It was interesting to go though the back roads and small towns of southern Kansas. Saw the terrain change from the grasslands and feed lots of the west to the rolling hills and trees of the east.

Finally got to Joplin, MO!

Straight Roads and Hot, Hot, Hot, and Hotter

Started the day in Colorado Springs. At the dealer by 8:30 to make sure we were first in line to get tires. Great dealer--Apex Motorsports.

Left the dealer around 10:30 and headed east. Gets pretty desolate the farther you go, just us and the cows!







This is a feed lot ... a lot of cows just sitting around and feeding. 150,000 head!!!

Stopped in Garden City, KS. Tomorrow it's on to the George Washington Carver National Histotic site in Diamond, MO.

Leadville and Pike's Peak

Had a great time in Leadville--a great town with a lot of personality! It was wonderful to stay with Ken an Pat ... they are doing a great job planning the outdoor adventure program for the new development planned by Steve Smith.

After a wonderful breakfast we toured the town. I had to call several dealers to locate the tires I needed. The bad news is that there were no tires in Pueblo so we changed our plans and went to Colorado Springs. The good news is that we had to go by Pike's Peak. What an awesome experience!!! Paul is becoming quite the dirt bike rider.

Joe has left us to return home ... so it was a sad day. But many good memories!!! Joe is on his way to Salina, KS. Ride safe Joe!

Spending the night in Colorado Springs around the corner from the mortorcycle shop that is changing my tires. No Wi-Fi ... unfortunately.