Sat. Nov. 15 The traffic was real heavy and we missed the turn at San Jose is the reason we wound up spending the night in Morgan Hill last night. So we head north back to San Jose to see the Winchester Mystery House. When we arrive, we find out there will be over an hour wait till they open. We decide to skip the house tour and get on hwy 17 to Santa Cruz. There we take hwy 1 to Carmel where we take a look around town and make our way down to the beach. Lot of people walking the beach, swimming and surfing. We talk to several of the people in town and at the beach. Of course they couldn't believe we had ridden all the way from Ms. and a few said they wish they could do something like that themselves. Our next stop after leaving Carmel is Big Sur where we stop for fuel. Next door is the River Inn, a motel - restaurant started in 1934 that advertised country dining. A lot of motorcycles and cars parked there so we go in for a bite of lunch. Their definition of country dining is not the same as I'm use to around here. Everything is organic. Not wanting tofu, I decide on a salad, $16, with romaine lettuce, they don't have iceburg. Waitress ask if I want free-range chicken breast on it, only $6 more. The thing comes and the piece of chicken was the size of 4 dominos. Don't know if their free-range chickens are what we call roadrunners back here. The tea looked like they scraped rust off some irrigation pipe and mixed water with it, why can't there be a national standard to go by on how to made good tea. We continue south on hwy 1. Along the way you can see the beauty of the ocean waves crashing on the rocks and beach. We cross the Rocky Creek Bridge built in 1932, it is one of 2 we cross on our way south. You can be riding along looking at the ocean and then the road pulls away from the ocean edge and then there would be cattle grazing in pastures or there would be fields of vegatables growing. Just before reaching San Simeon, we see a lot of cattle and the a herd of elk. We figure out later they were on the Hearst Ranch, which at one time contained 250,000 acres. We pull over just at dusk where they have a walk way to look at the Elephant seals that sleep on the beach at night. A few more miles down the road we reach San Simeon where we spend the night. After checking in, we walk next door for supper, better choice of food here. The motel we stay in has 3 fire pits along the beach. People are sitting out by the fires, really nice. The room has no A/C, you leave the window open a little for. I listened to the waves crashing on the beach that night as I fell asleep.

Sun. Nov. 16 It's a nice 58 degrees this morning when we get up. While killing time waiting for the Hearst Castle to open, we walk down to the beach to look around. Out about 400 yards we see a school of those orca whales swimming down the coast. Went to the visitor center to take the Hearst Castle tour. If you are ever in the vicinity of this place, you must go see what a man with too much money and power can spend in excess. It is unbelievable with all the art, statues and woodwork inside this place. Some of the things date back 3000 years. Leaving the castle we go south to hwy 46 that takes up into the mountains , see more vineyards before reaching hwy 101. As we approach Santa Barbara, we are back along the ocean. Seeing oil rigs out in the Pacific. Made it to Ventura at dark where we get a room. Find a sports bar a few blocks away for food. There are a lot of Mexicans there watching the football game. We learn from their actions and jerseys that their team was Dallas and it became our's as well. After the meal we returned to the motel for the night.

From Yosemite to San Francisco

Thru. Nov. 13 It's 48 degrees and very foggy this morning in Exeter, Ca so we sit at the tables in lobby of the motel while munching on doughnuts and drinking orange juice. We talk to an equipment rep. from Santa Maria while waiting for the fog to lift. He tells us about some of the different crops grown in the areas. He said the highest rent paid per acre runs around $2500 for the land you see strawberries growing on. There has been a lot of the ag. land lost to development especially close to cities like where he lives. The fog has lift around 9:00 so we head to the drug store to pick up some medicine Joe had phoned in from Dr. Flautt for his sinus crud. Leaving Exeter at 10:00 we hit hwy 99 to Fresno and then get on hwy 41 thru town on our way to Yosemite Nat. Park. Hwy 41 took us by the Wanona Hotel. It's an old wooden hotel, the first building built in 1876 as part of a stage stop. The main building was built in 1879. There are six different buildings to the hotel. There is no tv nor telephone at the hotel, but the rooms are furnished in victorian period pieces and antiques. If you ever decide to vacation in the area check out this place as one of your night stops. On past the hotel and golf course we travel the scenic curvy road thru the redwoods and several tunnels to the waterfall on the Merced River. I was disipointed we didn't see any large animals as we rode thru the park, maybe if we had gone hwy 140 instead which was along the river valley we would have seen some. We ride along the river for aways until we get to hwy 120, there is a sign for hwy 140, which runs along the river saying road is flooded, so we take hwy 120. This take us to Chinese Camp and on to Oakdale for the night.

Fri Nov. 14 We leave Oakdale, it's 53 degrees, and take hwy 99 up to Lodi where we get on hwy 12 west. We cross a couple of waterways, one of them Potato Slough, before getting to Rio Vista where we cross the Sacramento River. It is between those rivers we go thru what they call The Delta. There was a lot of flooded corn fields with a lot of geese and ducks. East of Fairfield we see more wind turbines. The wind around Fairfield and the Travis Air Force Base was really strong. The C5 planes flying in and out of the base looked like the were sitting still in the air. Hwy 12 takes us thru Napa and on to Sonoma with all their vineyards and wineries. Up town Sonoma, we stop for a drink, has the look as being pricey. We reach Santa Rosa and with the temp at 94, we pull our long sleeve shirts off. We get on hwy 101 heading south to San Fransico. Before we know it we are crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, looking to our right at the Pacific Ocean and to our left, San Francisco and the Bay. Boy, is this cool or what, on my Harley, all the way from Mississippi and riding it across this beautiful bridge and way too soon , we are stopping at the south end to pay our $6 for the privilege of crossing it. As we start into town I notice how pretty and pristine all the building are along the highway. We turn left to the wharf where we park to take the views of the Golden Gate on our left, Alcatraz out in front, and Fisherman's Wharf on our right. There is so much to see it's hard to soah it all in. After leaving the wharf we were parked on, we ride down Fisherman's Wharf and then onto hwy 101 heading out of San Francisco. We stop in Morgan Hill for the night.

Looking for the Big Trees

Wed. Nov 12 It's a nice 55 degrees this morning when we leave Ridgecrest. We fuel-up before leaving town and there a few naval jets taking off, climbing fast and high out of the valley which is surrounded by high mountains. We take Hwy 178 towards Lake Issabella where we turn north to Kernville to enter the southern part of the Sequioa Forest. At Kernville we talk to the locals about our route. One, a retired deputy sheriff from that area, said we need to stop by the Ranger Station up town to check the road conditions because they had snow a few days earlier up there. The girls manning the station said they had to close the road 2 days ago. They gave us an alternate route that would be iffy on ice conditions or we could take hwy 178 to Bakersfield and try to enter the Sequioa Forest on the west side of the mountains. We choose Bakersfield. We ride along scienic, curvy Kern River from Lake Isabella till we make our way onto flat-to-rolling farm land. We stop for lunch when we turn on hwy 65. Next door is the Harley store, so we hit it before heading north to the big trees. As we leave Bakersfield we see oil wells running and they are drilling more. It's at least 1 well per acre of ground for miles along hwy 65. Soon we start seeing lots of grape vineyards. When we reach Exeter we turn onto hwy 198 which takes us into the Giant Sequioa Nat. Forest. You can't ride thru here very fast because it's a very curvy road going up the mountain and of all the animals you can encounter. One car stops us to warn that a mother bear and her cubs were just around the next curve at the picnic area. Lucky for us they had moved on. I kept seeing these balls hanging from some trees that had no leaves and along the road there were big brown round looking balls lying there. I had to stop a get a few and I told joe they were buckeyes, but they were larger than any I had seen. Later on I learn they are called California Buckeyes. Two miles from the Sequioa Museum where the tall trees are, we run into wet spots on the road, along with snow on the sides. I put my feet down on the pavement to check for ice because we had been warned of black ice. I didn't find any ice but we were extra careful when we got into the shady areas where the wet road hadn't dried off. It was slow going but we finally reached the giant trees and checked out the museum there. It was well worth the trip to see these giant trees and of how they have survived for all these years. It's 4:17pm and I tell Joe that I don't want to be going down this wet stretch of road when it freezes in a little while. On our trip down we have to stop at one point to wait for a black bear to get out of the road so we can continue. Unlike a car, there's nothing between him and my leg for dinner. As he leaves the road, he flushes 4 muledeer, one a nice buck, from the trees. When we get to the otherside of the curve in the road, we stop to look at him emerging from the trees on that side. We stop a couple more times as we decend down the mountain to take the beauty in. The mountain peeks at one point were sticking out of the clouds below us as the sun was going down. It takes us a good hour to reach Three Rivers where we eat supper. It's around 8:00pm when we made our way back to Exeter to spend the night.

The Trip Continues

Tue. Nov 11 This morning we pack our bags on the motorcycles and head down to Hwy 160. This takes us by Red Rock Canyon, up over the Spring Mountains and down to Pahrump where we turn towards Shoshone, Ca. We stop at Shoshone to fuel-up and get a soda pop. I go across the road to the Shoshone Chamber of Commerce. It's an old gas station with all kinds of memorabilia of the history of the area. They even have a display of some mastodons that college archaeology students uncovered there in the late 1800s. The rule for filling up for gas in this area is if you see a gas pump, you get gas even if you don't need gas. Coming out of Shoshone we turn onto Hwy 178 which will take us into the southern part of Death Valley. At one point we had to stop for a few minutes because they were resurfacing a section of the hwy. We reach Badwater Basin, the lowest point in U.S. (282 ft below sea level) where we stop for a few minutes. people walk out across the salt flat and then they try to get the damp salt off their shoes before getting back in their cars. We continue north to Furnance Creek where we eat lunch. We met a couple of guys and a girl from Germany that had rented a couple of Harleys in Las Vegas. They had made a loop out to the Grand Canyon, down to Phoenix and over thru California to where they were now. They want to know the quickest route to Las Vegas because they had to turn the motorcycles in that evening. Leaving Furnace Creek we travel Hwy 190 on thru the rugged landscape to the sand dunes just outside Stovepipe Wells. Just past Stovepipe, we start to head up into the mountains. We keep going higher out of Death Valley and at the top we stop to take a look back down into the Valley below us. Continuing down the mountain for 8 miles we reach the bottom where we take a hard left turn at Owens Lake, which is a Dry Lake. But we can see water out there. There are large ponds built all over it. I don't know how many acres are in the lake, but the road we turned on starts about halfway and we travel close to 10 miles to the bottom end of the lake. I see a pickup coming out to the Hwy from I guess there headquarters, so I stophim to ask about the ponds and their function. He told us the dry lake has contanimated soil on the surface, what pollutants he didn't say, and they keep a thin layer of water on the surface to keep the winds from blowing the dirt around. He said the wind coming down thru the valley can occasionally reach 70-80 mph. We continue on our way to Olancha where we plan to fuel-up. No luck. The gas station is closed. I figure we have a comfortable 80 -90 miles left of riding in our fuel tanks, I don't want to go too much futher because we have been climbing mountains and running 70+ mph on this stretch since the last fuel stop. So it's south on Hwy 395 we go, hoping we see fuel. Luck is with us, about 18 miles later at Coso Junction we pull in for fuel, pops and info. The guy running the quick-stop tells us we can find a room at Ridgecrest for tonight. We turn off hwy 395 and head east to the town which is at the southern end of China Lake Naval Weapons Center. After walking down the street to a restaurant for supper we turn in for the night.

Nov. 9-10

Sun. Nov. 9 We left Tuba city at 7:00 this morning headed to the Grand Canyon. It's 37 degrees, but we have plenty of warm clothes on. We turnat Cameron onto hwy 64. We stop before we reach Desert View to look at the Little Grand Canyon. On the ride thru grand Canyon Park we see 2 elk with nice sets of horns. We drive up to see El Tarvor Lodge and the beautiful view of the Canyon. Heading south on hwy 64 we stop at Valle to fuel-up and rest. Talk there was a front was coming in later that evening or tonight with snow. We turn on hwy 180 and go thru the San Francisco Mountains on our way to Flagstaff. Elevation signs say we're at 8046 ft at ane point. Lot of aspen trees. Get in to Flagstaff at 1:00 and stop for lunch at Sizzler. Stop at Grand Canyon H-D before heading west on I40 to Seligman where we will get on Route 66. We see rain coming so it's time to put the rainsuits on. Starts to rain some then it turns to sleet and then snow for about 6-8 miles before we run out of it just east of Seligman, where we fuel-up. Then it's on to Kingman on Route 66. Coming out of the hills we can see Kingman down in the valley 27 miles ahead of us. And just coming over the mountains on the other side we see another rain headed towards Kingman. We pull under the awning at the motel just as the heavier rain starts. The lady at the desk said we could leave the biker under there and she would keep a check on them. As we were checking in a family of 4 pulls in headed to )regon pulling a u-haul, they're moving their military daughter back home from Al., said they came thru white-out conditions west of Flagstaff. Lucky us for we kept on moving to stay ahead of the storm.

Mon. Nov. 10 As we left Kingman we continued west on Route 66. A few miles outside of town we miss a left turn and drive about 5 miles to the end of the paved road. A guy pulls up to the stop sign and I ask him for directions. He said we were suppose to turn left at the cattlegape. We were concentrating on the cattlecrossing we didn't see the small sign pointing out the turn. Back on the right track we we head thru the desert to the Black Mountains ahead of us. There are rough rocky roads that criss cross the desert with road names signs at each one. Houses and trailer homes dot the landscape. As we start up the mountain the road seems to get narrower. It is the original Route 66 carved out of the side of the mountain, no more than 14 feet wide at some points. That's why no vehicle longer than 30 feet are allowed along this streach of the road. In places it's pretty crooked as it zig-zags up to the top. But when you reach the top & pull over at a wide place for viewing, the ride is well worth it looking down on the desert below. We go by the Goldmine before reaching Oatman. When Theresa and I were out here a few years ago you could take a tour down in the mine, but now they have put new razor wire and gates up and no more public tours. Locals say they are going to resume mining opperations soon. We pull into Oatman where we meet more bikers that we share our travel tale with. After eating lunch we check out the town before heading to Bullhead City which is on the Colorado River. The motel that Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their honeymoon at is still here. The wild donkeys still roam the streets. Just north of Bullhead City we cross the Colorado River at Laughlin, Nevada on hwy 163 which Ts into hwy 95 leading us to the Hoover Dam. I guess with the holiday weekend is the reason there was so much traffic headed to the dam. After looking at the dam and the new construction of the new bridge that will allow them to stop the flow of traffic across the dam, we head to Las Vegas. We drive down Las Vegas Blvd. from the south end to the north end looking at all the sights. We work our way back to Tropicana Drive where we check into the Hooters Hotel ($39.00 a night) for the night. That night we walk down the strip to the Harley-davidson Cafe for supper and afterwards took in the water show at the Bellagio. The next morning we ate breakfast in Hooters where we talked to the waitress and she was telling us of all the layoffs at the big casinos. She said here they just cut everyones hours so nobody was laidoff.

It all started as a July dream

This trip out to California started as a dream I woke up from in July. A few days later I told Joe that I had this dream that I was on my motorcycle headed west. He said when do you want to go. We decided on leaving the 5th of Nov. He finished harvesting his soybeans 2 days before we left.

Wed. Nov. 5 We leave home at 7:00 this morning headed west towards Arkansas. Our plans to go to Oklahoma have changed because of stormy weather headed that way. Instead we travel hwy 82 thru Arkansas into Texas where we pass thru the towns of New Boston, New Chicago, and Detroit where they have a sign up at the local school saying you can see the Detroit Lions play there. We make to Paris, Tx where we spend the night.

Thur. Nov. 6 When we awoke this morning it had rained a little. Got back onhwy 82 to Henrietta where we turned on hwy 287 which passes thru Wichita Falls and Childress where they were just starting to harvest cotton. When we got to Memphis, which had a lot of peanuts at a large warehouse, we turned on hwy 256 to take the back way into Amarillo. Before reaching Caprock Canyon we saw a lot of cotton and milo being harvested. I also saw a Roadrunner( the bird type) sitting on a fence post. We turned north on hwy 207. Before we get to Claude where we turn to head into Amarillo we see 30 something head of muledeer grazing on wheat in someone's pasture. We check into our motel and ride back to the Big Texan for supper. We had only eaten salad for dinner that day and saving room to feast on a big steak, it was no dieting on this trip. Before leaving the resturant there were 3 guys, I think they had been drinking a little and bet each other they could eat the Grandad of all steaks, had started on the 72 oz. Big Texan, boy those were big hunks of meat. It was a good thing we took hwy 82 route because the Oklahoma route had heavy rain and hail that evening & that night.

Fri. Nov. 7 We get up this morning it's 29 and clear so we take our time to let it warm up a bit before heading out. West of Amarillo we start to see the wind turbines. It's pretty cool riding. My fingers get cold but we have thermal underwear and our insulated bib overalls on which otherwise keep us warm enough. We see muledeer & antelope while traveling west on I40. Passing thru Albuquerque, NM was a slow go because of highway work. West of Albuquerque we cross the Continental Divide at elevation 7525 ft. and when we stop for the night in Gallup, NM the temp is 45. That night we went down the road (route 66) to Earl's to eat. Joe ask the waitress about all the Lava Rock we had seen west of Grant. She told us something about the legend of 2 giant sons of a chief. When the lava flow was headed to the village, one of the sons shot a giant arrow into the air and it came down at the tip of the flow, stopping it from coming any closer to the village. She said scientist said the perfect arrow shaped rock is 50 ft in the ground with 50 ft sticking up out of the ground. She also said they can only speak of the legend in the winter.

Sat. Nov 8 Well when we get up this morning it is 15 degrees. We get a bite to eat before heading north on hwy 491. Originally this road was hwy 666 or the Devil's Hwy. The states of New Mexico and Arizona changed it to 491. By the time we get to Newcomb, which is in Navajo territory, the temp has warmed up. An old Indian we talked to said we were at a lot lower altitude now than at Gallup. We were looking at some snow covered mountains to our north east and he said they were west of Durango, Co. While driving to the 4 corners we see a lot of octogen shaped buildings, some with dirt on to and others with thatched roofs. We later learned they are called Hogans. The dirt roof ones are used mainly in the winter and the thatched roof ones are for summer use. And they also have male and female versions. We stop at Shiprock to fuel up and take a break. A dog comes up to me that reminded me a lot of Ug, Robert's new ugly dog. Shiprock gets it's name from the sailing ship rock formation outside of town that protudes up out of the rolling terrain. This is where we turn on hwy 64 & then hwy 160 to the 4 corners. When we reach the 4 corners( Utah, Colorado, New Mexico & Arizona) we meet a couple of farmers from Kansas and talk to them for awhile. We leave there for hwy 163 thru Monunent Valley. The ride thru the Valley was a good decission, the different rock formation and colors as we approached Mexican Hat( there is a formation with a balanced wide flat rock on top that looks like a hat, thus the town name) from the North was well worth the time. We crossed the San Juan river at Mexican Hat as we we headed thru more of the Valley on our way to Kayenta, Az. We stop at a Buger King in Kayenta to get late lunch. They have a large display inside about the Navajo Code Talkers with uniforms and equipment of U.S. and Japan soldiers. Also next to Burger King there Hogans built and info on each one's funtion. We continued on hwy 160 to Tuba City, AZ where we spent the night.

I try to post some more later.

till then

There's no place like home

Well Joe and I got back from our motorcycle adventure out to California today, pulling in at home at 12:30 to the welcome of Patty, Mary Rose and Mama. It was a great trip, covering 6000 miles thru 9 states in 19 days. Doing my washing and cleaning now. Lodi was acting glad to see me. After I get everything sorted out, I will write and post a few pictures of our ride later.

Till then.

New Trip

As Peter, Paul, & Mary sang -- "Well my bags are packed and I'm ready to leave", I'm good for go. Except we're not leaving on a fast train and we know when we'll be back again. We're pulling out around 7:30 wed. morning on our harleys heading west. Plans are to be back a few days before Thanksgiving.
I've gone over my check list and think everything is in order.

Till later

Neil Diamond Concert Trip

I left home Sat. Oct. 25th headed to Silver City to meet up with Theresa for the first leg of our trip to Orlando , Fl for my much anticipated Neil Diamond concert. I have wanted to see him preform in a live concert for years and back in May for my birthday( Oct. 27th) present to myself I purchased tickets, center stage, 8th row seats 1 & 2, couldn't have been any better for me. But first let me tell a little about our trip there.

We headed down to Jackson to get on I-20 to Meridan. We stopped next door to the Harley dealership and ate lunch before heading out on Hwy 80 to Demopolis. Just north of Demopolis is the town of Forkland and if you are a motorcycle rider I'm sure you have heard of the Bama Bike Fest held there. This was my first time there and it was a real eye-opener for me. Now that's all I'm saying about the rally. We left around 4:00 headed to Montgomery to stay at Linda McIntyre's for the night. The trip there took about 2 hours. After resting a little she treated us by taking us out for supper.

The next morning( Sunday) after loading the bikes and saying our goodbyes we east on hwy 82 towards Tifton, Ga. This was my first trip this far east on 82 and was pleasantly surprised at the Old Towns we went through with all of their beautiful old homes and building either restored or being worked on. We drove through Union Springs, with their Red Door Theater, which use to be the Trinty Episcopal Church ( hence the name of the theater from the color of the Church doors). We traveled on to Eufaula, crossing the Chattahoochee River into Georgetown, Ga., and stopped in Cuthbert for early lunch.

After reaching Tifton, we turned south on I-75 to make a quick run down to Ocala, Fl for the night. The next morning, Monday, we went to Ocklawaha. I wanted to find Ma Barkers Hideway. I didn't know anything about the place, just that I liked the name. We arrive around 10:00am. They are a biker friendly bar with a burnout pit out front, large BBQ grill and cover aera for partying. Inside we find 3 older men and a lady drinking beer at the bar. Theresa and I ask them about a little history on this place. One of the guys at the end of the bar was more than willing to give us the lowdown. Turns out this is the oldest bar in town. Was a watering hole for the Ma Barker Gang while laying low in Jan. 1935 when a gun battle erupted, killing a couple of the gang. He said they wouldn't have been found if it weren't for one of them shooting an alligator in Lake Weir, which was a few feet from the front of the house they were staying in, with a Thompson Machine Gun. He told me where the house is and I took some pictures of it.

We continued our trip with a stop at the Kickstands Saloon in Eustis. Now this guy has it figured out. The front part of the building is a bar with a long plate glass window looking into a full service motorcycle shop in the back. We reach Orlando that evening and check into our motel. We ride around town to check out the sites before eating supper and calling it a night.

Since I had picked our tickets up Monday evening at the will call, Tuesday morning we head to Universal to see the sites. We came back around 4 to get ready for the concert.

We catch a cab to the Marriot which is across the street from Amway Arena for a bite to eat. We enter the arena and were escorted to our seats, which like I said earlier, couldn't have been any better. Neil came out on stage about 8:15 and performed for 2 hours. He sang the songs I grew up on, taking me back to the fond memories linked to those songs I have of those days, and he sang a couple of his new ones from his new cd. You couldn't have ask for a better performance. He had an eleven piece band and three girl backup singers. The platforms on stage would move from side to side and back and forth giving not only us but the audience on each side a remarkable show.

Wednesday we head out on hwy 50 to Weeki Wachee where we travel hwy 19 to Perry. Hwy 98 takes us to Medart for the night. We check in and ask for a place to eat seafood. They recommend Poseys down the road a few miles. Had some pretty good food. Met some guy who lived in Itta Bena for awhile when he was a kid.

Next morning (Thursday) we travel 98 along the coast, going through Mexico Beach which has some pretty scenery along their white beach, on to Panama City, Fort Walton Beach, Orange Beach, Pensacola and stopping in Foley, Al for the night. That night we went to the Ya Ya which is a biker friendly bar with a deli which we had seen on our way to our motel. That night people were coming for the pool tournament. We stayed for a little while before calling it a night.

Friday morning the temp is a little warmer as we head out for home. I stop at the Harley dealer to get an oil filter & oil, need to change before heading to California next week. We get to Hattiesburg at dinner time so we eat at the Farmers Market. They had good smoked brisket and ribs. I stopped before I ate too much.

We made good time coming home, arrived around 4:00. Betty Jane and Mary Rose were mowing the grass when I pulled in. Went over to see Mama and visit a little. Got everything unpacked and started washing machine. Will rest up and get things organized before embarking on my next adventure with Joe and hopefully Mike Y.will go with us.

Well till later

Back From the Dragon

Well we got back from our motorcycle trip safe and sound Tuesday August 5th after eating dinner at the Ramada in Greenwood.

It all started out as a planned trip to Mena Arkansas but after looking at the extended forcast temperatures for that region as being close to 0r over 100 degrees I told everyone that the temps around Gatlinburg TN were going to be mid to upper 80s, more to my liking. So on Friday, August 1st we left home traveling Hwy 8 to the Natchez Trace, north of Tupelo we turned on Hwy 72 traveling thru Huntsville, AL and on past Chattanooga to Cleveland, Tn where we spent the night.

The next morning, Saturaday, we wanted to work our way to Maryville, TN so we took the scenic route on Hwy 64 east to Hwy 68 north which brought us to Tellico Plains. There we got fuel, took a break and then hit Hwy 360 to Vonore where we at lunch. All of these roads we were picking out to ride are scenic, sweeping curved rides. After lunch we left Vonore on Hwy 411 toward Maryville. On the way we detoured onto Hwy 336, passing by a big dirt track in the middle of nowhere, I shouldn't say that because those people who live out there would probably say the same about where I live. After arriving in Maryville we headed to the Harley Davidson store. I got the usual T-shirt , which I collect, I'm going to get Mama and Mary Rose to make me a quilt out of them, and a pair of goggles to go over my glasses to keep to road dirt out of my eyes, which I was having problems with.

Theresa had almost 600 miles on her new Roadstar so she called the Yamaha dealer, a 15 minute ride from the H-D store, to see if they could do the mandatory 600 mile maintance ( oil change and overall checkup) for warranty purposes. They told her if she came right then they could do it. I was still trying to get the googles and not thinking, I told her to head out and we would come as soon as we got our merchandice. There she was by herself trying to follow the directions to the dealership they had given her and all of a sudden she runs into a big rain storm and misses the turn. She sees some more bikers pulled under a gas station awning and ask them for directions.

We finish our shopping and head to where Theresa is suppose to be, running through a little shower, but she's not there. Betty Jane gets a call from Theresa explaining her predicament, she showes up a few minutes later. After the servicing of her bike we decided to find a room for the night in Alcoa and call it a day.

Sunday morning is cool and foggy. We take our time this morning, wanting the fog to lift a little before heading out towards Townsend to ride thru Cades Cove. I guess it was around 8:30 when we entered Cades Cove ,well ahead of all the heavy traffic they get later in the day. We did the 1 lane road around the loop, seeing deer and turkey but no bears. Stopped at the ranger station got a drink and snack before heading back to Townsend for gas. It was then that Joe and I talked Theresa and Betty Jane into riding the Tail of the Dragon, a 11 mile strech of Hwy 129 that has 318 up and down sharp curves. We had been riding a lot of curved sweeping road up to this point getting them use to leaning of the bikes. I told them that it couldn't that bad because they couldn't have paved the road if it had been too steep of a grade. Theresa said if it was too bad she would turn around and meet us somewhere else along the road.

So off we go the get on the Foothills Parkway that takes us to The Dragon's Tail. The Foothills Parkway has some pretty scenery along it's sweeping curves. It deadends at Hwy 129 and the Little Tennessee River where we took a left turn. The road starts out gentle curves but climbing higher it get aggressive pretty quick. Quite a few bikes and cars traveling the road , it's around 11:00 , but they're scattered out pretty good. We stop a few times at safe level places to check on each other, rest a little and talk. The road is not a hard, bad ride, it helped that I had my GPS mounted to my windshield where I could see the curves as we were approaching them. It can be something hard and dangerous only by how aggressive you want to ride or a danger from other riders meeting you who aren't in control.

We safely reach Deals Gap where we do the photo-op, buy shirts and I get me a reflective silver dragon sticker and put it on the back of my helmet, that night everyone was talking how bright it was when their headlights hit it. After eating lunch at Deals Gap we take Hwy 28 towards Fontana Village. We stop at a service station for a soda and look at the map. decide to turn on Hwy 143, go to Robbinsville, NC to ride the Cherohala Skyway, which has some sharp curves early on but levels out with good sweeping scenic curves. At Robbinsville, NC the road number is Hwy 143, when you cross the state line headed to Tellico Plains, Tn it turns into Hwy 168.

At the west end of the Cherohala Skyway is Tellico Plains,Tn, which we stopped at the previous day. We fuel up and map out our next leg of the ride. We decide to take Hwy68 south, then turn onto Hwy 294 which will take us towards Murphy, NC where we'll spend the night. We call home that evening and ask about the weather, Mary Rose said a bad storm warning was out and it was raining pretty good. She told us it wasn't any need to come home early since it was raining ( I ended up with .3 ), so we extended our ride one more day.

Monday morning, August 4th, we take Hwy 19 north where we turn at Andrews on the back road thru Nantahala Forest. It's a good road with over hanging trees and river along side the road. We run by the turn to Franklin, our destination, before we realize it. We stop about 1/2 mile past the turn at a pull off spot and talk about the turn. Betty Jane and Theresa walk down to the river to take pictures. A few minutes later the noise from the river gets louder, they have opened the dam up stream for the rafters and the river rises fast. We leave and continue on which brings us back to Hwy 19 near Nantahala. A little futher up we turn south on Hwy 28.

It turns out it was a treat that we missed the turn, Hwy 28 had all the curves and elevation changes you would want. We ended up in Franklin where ate a lunch, fueled up and planned our next move. A local guy told us about the Tullulah Gorge south of there on Hwy 441 in Georgia. He said they called the "Little Grand Canyon of the East", so we decided to take a look.

They had a trail out to a look-out where you could take pictures of the swinging bridge crossing to the other side, steps down to the bottom, and places where you could rappel down the side. We only went to the out-look where there was a 30 foot tower laying on it's side. A sign said that in 1970 Carl Wallendas walked a cable across to the other side.

Leaving Tullulah Gorge we head south, turn east at Hollywood, Ga, go to Clarkeville, Cleveland and work our way to Dahlonega where they have the Dahlonega Gold Museum. I like taking the back roads, get the GPS, just punch in a town, go to it, then punch in another, you'll be surprised at what you'll come upon.

We had decided to go as far west towards home as we could that day so we kept working our way to I-575 which would take us north of Atlanta, got on I-285 down to I-20 west to Tuscaloosa, Al where we spent the night. I didn't figure the miles that day but we were pretty tired that night when we pulled in at the Best Western on Hwy 82. After a salad at O'Charleys everyone was ready to rest.

Tuesday morning after breakfast and gas tanks topped off we headed west on Hwy 82 to Greenwood. We arrived just in time to eat lunch, hashed over the ride , said goodbye to Theresaand headed home. There was so much more to see but not enough time. Well I guess that's excuse enough to head back soon.

Got my wells back running Wed. morning but got a 1.3 inch rain Thursday so the wells are off for now.

Well till later.

Before my eyes swell shut

Well I was planning on working on one of my tractors this morning while it was cool. Things change, especially for me, when a wasp stings me next to my eye. I went by Mama's, got me a few benadryl pills and went to the house. So now I'll stay cool and hope the swelling dosen't do like it usually does and close my right eye on the way to close the left.

So I decided to write a little before my eyes swell shut.

Theresa traded in her beloved Honda Shadow yesterday. I thought she going to cry. She had ridden it over 48,000 miles and had fond memories of places and things she had seen while riding the black chromed out bike, her very first one.

She had bought the Shadow about the same time I bought my Harley in May of 2004. She is a friend of my cousin Janet. Janet told her to call me if she wanted to have someone to ride motorcycles with. So at the end of Dec. that year she called and we went riding. I would surmise that I have ridden at least half of those 48,000 miles with her. We have been over most of MS and parts of AR, LA, AL, TN, NC, VA, KY,WV, GA, FL, she on her Honda and I on my Harley.

But now a New Odometer will be clicking off the miles for her. She bought a new Yamaha Roadstar Silverado 1700. It is a good looking bike. Silver and Blue color with a 102hp engine and saddlebags. I guess Joe and I will have to watch what we say to her about this bike since it has a bigger engine than our Harleys.

I rode over to Greenville to meet her at the dealership and go with her on the inaugural first ride. We rode over to Killbourne, La to get powerball numbers and back. When we were at Killbourne I ask Theresa if she had gotten her bells off her old bike, she had not, so we stopped by the dealership to retreive them. You have to have those bells on the bike to keep the Road Gremlins from causing trouble to your motorcycle while riding the highways.

I think if it rains Thursday we'll make a trip to Mena, Ar and ride the Taimena Scenic Drive over into Oklahoma. That would be a good 3-days-away-from-everything-trip and give Theresa a good feel of the bike in the mountains.

Well I guess thats all for now, I have been instructed to get an ice pack to put on the wasp sting to hold down swelling.

Till later.

About the Ticker

Suzanne put the Ticker at the top of the page for the Neil Diamond show when she set the blog up for me. I had always wanted to see one of his concerts and missed the opportunity a couple of years ago. I have been checking since that time for him to go back on tour. Well a few months ago he announced the cities and dates. I got online and ordered 2 tickets on the 15th row for Oct. 28th in Orlando, Fl. I told Robert back at the first of May to hurry up and get his beans planted so we could hopefully have everything harvested by the time of the show. I told him I wasn't going to be around these parts during that week. We're planning to ride the motorcycles down if the weather cooperates. Theresa told the school principal before they turned out for summer vacation that she wasn't going to be at school that week. I want to take a little time to see some sites while we're in the vacinity of Orlando.
We went to Tom Jones concert at Tunica last year. Boy he can put a show on. Sang a lot of the good oldies along with a few new songs. At the end of the show the women were going down front of the stage throwing their bras on stage. There were a lot of women there from 20 something on up to some who looked to be in their 70s. I saw 1 old lady coming up to the stage pulling one of those oxygen bottles on wheels with the nasal breathing tube up her nose and in the other hand had a bra to throw to Tom. Even though he just turned 68, he is still in great shape and can move and sing like he's 25 years younger. We had a great time.
Well hope everyone had a good 4th this year. I know I did. We took it easy, cooking everything here at my house and then carrying it over to Mama's. We cooked burgers and smoked sausage on the grill. Theresa made some baked beans adding ground beef and some pulled pork I had to the mixture, which I truly like. Fresh corn from Theresa's garden ,Betty Jane came over and made the cole slaw and we finished with cake and ice cream.
We were hoping to get some rain this week so we could make a trip up into north Arkansas before Theresa had her knee surgery on the 14th. I don't know, we have that trip on hold. She figures she will be back on her bike in about 3 or 4 days after surgery, like the last operation on her other knee 2 years ago. She is the optimistic when it comes to being ready to make a trip.
Well, till later

Lynchburg, Tn

I've come in from checking my irrigation wells to get some tea and cool for a spell. So I decided to say a little about our short Lynchburg ride.

I met up with Theresa, Fred and Eva Champion, and Todd and Laurie Champion at the Double Quick in Greenwood at 8:00am Friday June 20th. We fueled our bikes up and headed east on hwy 82 to the Natchez Trace. Taking the Trace you usually see a variety of wild game along the road. As usual we had the buzzards on each side of the road close to Tupelo, I think they roost there. Saw several turkeys, one hen with her young.

Up north of Tupelo we cross the Tenn-Tom Waterway and you can look to your left to see one of the locks on the river. Then a little further over in Alabama we cross the Tenn. River before entering Tennessee and where we turn on hwy 64 east to Fayetteville to check into our motel.

We make to the motel without any trouble, check in and decide to eat the buffet they have there. As always, I eat way too much when there's a buffet and I wasn't alone in that category. We decided to meet up at the pool to relax, drink a cold one, and plan for the next day. It was quiet enjoyable out there, cool and no mosquitos.

Morning comes and we leave out at 9:00 am to make the short 15 mile trek over to Lynchburg. Not many bikes out at this time of morning, There was some partying at the rally last night. We pull into town and park across the street from the Courthouse on the square. Walk down to the park where all the vendors are and I get me a t-shirt. More and more bikes are starting to pull into town. We mill around looking at the many different bikes and people there. All the walking finally wore the effects of the big buffet from last night off and we had worked up an appetite so we went into the Iron Kettle for a light lunch.

After the meal we went to the Jack Daniel's Distillery for the tour, Todd and Laurie had never been. Oh, I haven't mention that this was Laurie's first long road trip. I think she did real well and seemed to have a good time. When we came out from the tour the skies were looking like they could break loose raining at anytime, it had showered a little while we were touring the facilities. I had planned on taking hwy 129 out of Lynchburg to go to Lynnville. They have a lot of old stuff there I was hoping to see. I told Fred we would have to scratch that trip for another ride, I didn't want to ride those crooked roads in the rain.

Instead we went back to the motel, freshened up, and went to the steakhouse. We had a good time there, even if they put us in the bar, which worked out pretty good. Our waitress/ bartender was a good sport to have put up with us. She had a Harley Davidson shirt on and someone ask her if she had Harley Davidson bike. She said she didn't but she liked to ride Harley's Fatboy and I said, and it was just one of those times where you speak before you think of what your saying, well if it's a Fatboy you want to ride then here I am. Well it did seem to be the right thing to say at the time.

After leaving the steakhouse we sat around the pool and talked well past my bedtime. We made our plans for the next day and said goodnight.

Took hwy 64 back west passing under the Trace and going just past Savannah, Tn to hwy 22. We turned south and entered Shiloh National Military Park. We went to the visitor's center to get info and a map to tour the grounds. It is a beautiful park, this being the first time to visit. Fred said when he was in the boy scouts they came up on a school bus and camped out. The Battle of Shiloh was fought on April 6 & 7, 1862. The casualties for both sides combined was 23,746 men killed, wounded, or missing. It was at this point that the people from both the north and south realized that this was going to be a long and costly war. I would like to go back when I have more time to really see everything.

Leaving Shiloh we entered Corinth, going uptown following Theresa at dinner time. I didn't know where we were but figured we should run into hwy 72 somewhere if we kept going south. Well we stopped at a 4-way stop at Tate street and Eva and Fred spied a small out of the way cafe with a lot of people going in, the church crowd. It was a family run restaurant and boy did they have some good home style food. The patriarch of the family said she got up at 4:00 that morning to bake the pies for the day. It seems to be the norn where ever we go, ride for awhile, stop and eat, then ride some more.

Leaving Corinth with full stomachs we head west on hwy 72 to hwy 7 south to Oxford, hwy 6 to Batesville, I-55 to Grenada, hwy 8 to Holcomb where I parted ways with the group, they taking hwy 7 and I taking hwy 8 on home. I think it was around 5:00 when I parked my bike and was greeted as I open the door by Lodi who seemed to be very happy I had finally come home.

It was a trip you take when you get caught up with everything on the farm, nothing pressing at the time to do, and you can take a few days off to enjoy the other things in life that are out there.

Well, till later

Florida, Dec. 2007

Theresa and I had been talking about making a ride through Florida during her Christmas time off from school. I started to planning things in Oct., making reservations for a place to stay in the Keys. I wasn't worried about a place to stay anywhere else. Told Joe and Betty Jane to go with us but they couldn't plan on having the time to go. So it was just the 2 of us.

As time grew near, Joe said he wanted to go, Betty Jane couldn't go, and he said Mike Youngblood, Mike Sudduth, and Carolyn Gore wanted to join in . I said the more the merrier, come on.

We met up in Greenwood on Dec. 27, 2007 and struck out east on hwy 82 going to Montgomery, Al, stopping to see Linda McIntyre and get refreshments before heading down to Dothan for the night. It was 7:30 when we arrived there and we were happy to be there because the misty fog was getting thicked on us the last 15 miles or so.

Next morning we took hwy 84 east going through Bainbridge, Ga. where our first metal cutting bandsaw was made, on to Valdosta, Ga. We turned south on I-75 going to Lake City, Fl. There we ask a local about where we needed to go to get on hwy 100 because we wanted to take the back roads int St. Augustine. Hwy 100 took use through some pretty country sides leading into Starke where we got on hwy 16, saw some old 30 something cars on the side of the road, also a dodge charger. Hwy 16 crosses the St. Johns River and comes out at the motel we would stay at.

That night we rode up town to see all the lights that were up for the Christmas holiday and ate supper. The next morning Dec. 29th we went on a tour of the old city. The best way to do that is take the trolley ride and the guide will point out places of interest, then you can get off the ride to tour and catch the next trolley to the next destination. We went to the Lighthouse and Mike S. and Carolyn climbed the steps to the top and Theresa took their picture waving down to us.

We left there headed south on hwy A1A towards Daytona. Mike S. and Carolyn couldn't stay gone from work too long so they left the group and got on I-95 headed to Key West on their own. We bid farewell and took hwy 1 to Merrit Island turned west on hwy 520, south 419 to 532 that took us to St. Cloud for the night. It was some good riding, not much traffic, saw a bear someone ran over, some alligators too.

We got us rooms and decided to eat pizzas for supper. Called an order in, they delivered, took the money and left. We opened the box up and it was the wrong kind. Theresa called the guy, told him the problem, they brought us the correct order, no charge, and we ended up having 2 pizzas.

Dec. 30th, Mike Y. and Joe left us this morning headed home. Theresa and I headed south on hwy 27 . This is a good road to see a lot of the different crops grown through the area. We got down close to Lake Okeechobee and started to see vast acres of sugar cane. They were cultivating young plants and in adjoining fields were burning the foliage off the cane and harvesting. I didn't realize they had that kind of acreage, and it was irrigated with water from the Okeechobee. We pulled off at one of the gates and took a gander at the lake. It's was a good ways out to the main body of water, showing the effects of the drought.

We stopped in Clewiston to get a bite of lunch and planning our route. We decided to turn at Belle Glade onto hwy 441 & hwy 98 and go to West Palm Beach to see how the rich people live. We got back on hwy A1A and rode it all the way down to Pompano Beach for the night. The next morning we rode on to Miami on A1A, stopping across the street from Donald Trump's new motel to get a bite to eat for breakfast. Got on hwy 1 up town and headed to Homestead and on to the Keys.

The ride down through the Keys was pretty good, traffic wasn't too bad and the road construction wasn't as bad this year, must have been off for the holidays.

I snap a few pictures as we were crossing some of the bridges, Theresa on left and a section of the old railway bridge that Mr. Flagler built. After the hurricane destroyed the railroad, the government used it to build a 2 lane highway on. Now they are used to fish off of.

I had booked us a bed & breakfast on the Atlantic side of Big Pine Key, 30 miles from Key West for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. We checked in to our room, unload our bikes and headed to Key West to ring in 2008 that night. We road to the bouy and back to Duval Street, where all the action was to take place. We parked our bikes, went to eat supper and prepare to wait out count down for the New Year. As the night went on the crowds grew bigger. At around 10:30 I told Theresa I could see the New Year a lot clearer in daylight and I had all of this crowd I wanted. So we headed back to our room on Big Pine.

The next morning, Jan. 1, 2008, we ate breakfast with a couple from Germany and a couple from Canada that were on vacation, saying with the dollar weak they could come here for a little of nothing. We went back down to Key West to take the sights in. We did the picture taking, souvenir shopping thing and got lunch. We made it back to the B&B that evening and sat out on the beach sipping a cool drink talking to a guy from Washington State that was also staying there. Theresa ask if there was a place close by that we could eat at and he recomended The No Name Pub. Told us he and his wife found it the day before, said a lot of bikes were there and the food was good. He gave us directions to it.

It was starting to get dark when we went in search of the pub. We didn't get turned around going the wrong way but twice. As it got darked the deer started to cross the roads out of the trees and people's yards, which slowed us down a bit. Then all of a sudden there it was.

This is where they have all the money hangin on the walls and ceiling. They also have a great meal. We should have got one order and split it. Neither of us could get close to finishing all they put on the plate. Seafood plater was $17.00, and I can eat a lot but it was too much for me.

Jan. 2nd is one I will not forget soon. A cold front had moved in from the north, bring in the wind and cold. I was following Theresa and as we crossed the bridges back to the mainland the water spray was getting on us and the wind was blowing us sideways. We stopped in Homestead and ate a bite and rested for awhile. Then it was on up hwy 997 that runs into hwy 27. This was a change to our planned route, because of the weather. We were planning to go up the Gulf Coast on our way home.

As I said the temp was dropping and the farmers were gathering everything they could, fruits, tomatoes, and etc. We made it to Belleview, just south of Ocala for the night. It was getting colder as the sun was getting lower. We Heard on TV that night the Governor of Florida lifted the weight limit on trucks hauling farmer's products just to try to get the crop out.

Jan. 3rd, temperture 27 degrees this morning. We put all the clothes on we can and head out. I thought this was sunny, warm Florida?? We would go around 50 miles, stop, warm up and go again. We did this until we reached Crestview and Theresa said she wasn't going any futher, I didn't want to either. Boy a hot bath and warm room felt great that night.

The next morning wasn't as bad cold, temp when we got to Mobile was mid 40s. No problems on the way home, got to Minter City around 4:00, helped Theresa load her bike on her trailer and she headed back to Silver City. We had a great time, excluding the cold temp. Wish all of us coulkd have done all the trip together. Maybe next time.

Well , till later.

On Father's Day.....

mary peyton got to actually ride - not just sit on - the motorcycle with big daddy. every time he made a loop around the yard and it was time to stop, she started crying and said she wanted to ride more.

guess he's got a future rider!!!!

a note from the daughter....

daddy~

look down to the right. i've added 3 pictures - and i think i've got them in the right order! sorry it's taken me over a week to get them on here......

i love you!

suzanne

Trail of Tears

On Sat. Sept. 16, o7 we had caught up with what beans that were ready to cut, so I went to Memphis to a Hog meeting at Southern Thunder Harley. Afterwards I rode to Florence, Al to see the riders coming in to town from Chattanooga, Tn, the starting point of the Trail of Tears ride. I would have ridden that stretch of the ride but Suzanne and family came in that Friday and I wanted to visit with them.

I stopped in Corinth to eat dinner and saw 2 old friends I had known from my Farm Bureau days, Dudley & Fay Kelso from around Mantachie. We had a nice visit and then I headed to Florence.

The Trail of Tears was a forced movement in 1836-37 of 14,000 mostly Creek Indians from Alabama and Georgia to Okmulgee, Ok.

There were so many bikers you couldn't get into the park so I pulled into a Walgreens where some more bikers were, 2 were from Columbus, In. and the other 4 were from Nashville. I ask them about how to enter the park and they said they were going to head out to Waterloo, the original end of the ride. I told them I was going to tag along with them. Waterloo is a small town on the Tn. River and that is where the Indians were loaded on steamers. After catching all the action , there were Indians dancing, lots to eat, and vendors selling, I told my new friends I was heading back to Florence to find a place to stay. They were staying in Corinth and would join the ride when the bikers stopped there for a break.

I went back to the park in Florence, there was still quite a few bikers there. Robert said Pridgen and Mark Taylor were there somewhere. I called Pridgen,s cell. They were camping that night a a camp site I had passed on the way back to Florence. So I missed hanging out with them because they were heading home the next day. That night Theresa gave me Rip Nance's cell number. He is a cousin to the McIntyres and lives in Franklin, Tn. I had met him the previous year at Dr. Flautt's house where he is the Official Fried Turkey Guru for Thanksgiving Dinner. He also carries the Mississippi Flag at the front of the ride. He told me what time and where to meet for the Sunday morning departure. It was still dark when I left the motel, had my light on bright and all of a sudden, no bright light. It had blown, so it was low beam from then on.

We had an Al.HP escort to the Ms. state line where we were joined by 6 MHP on motorcycles, boy they could handle those bikes. We stopped in Corinth, for a break and for other riders to join the ride. Saw and talked to my new friends. And then we were off again.

We took hwy 72 over to hwy 7 and headed to Holly Springs. There were by count 150 bikes that left Florence and another 30 joined up at Corinth. Going down hwy 7 there were people lining the road waving as we passed by. You could see people talking on their cell phones undoubtedly calling ahead to other people that we were on our way.

Hwy 4 took us to our gas stop in Senatobia, then over to hwy 61 and hwy 49 into Helena where our MHP escort stopped at the bridge a bid us farewell. We really made some good time with them stopping traffic for us along the route.

At Helena we were able to eat dinner up town where the Musicfest is held each year. For a small fee that supported Abate we had a good meal, everyone went to fuel up and headed out for the next leg of our trip. Rip had to head back home because of the death of a relative so I was riding off on an adventure with a lot of people I didn't know anything about other than they were like me, enjoying the ride, scenery, and comradery of being together on the open road to commemorate the memory of the Trail of Tears.

The road took us through Pine Bluff where we fueled up, on to hwy 270 into Hot Springs where we spent the night. Found a place within walking distance to eat, I was tired of sitting, had a good meal, went back to the room. I was planning on leaving for home the next morning but got to thinking that this may be my only chance to ever make the ride so I called the Days Inn in Okmulgee and booked me a room. And then I got me a goodnight's sleep.

The next morning, Monday, we fueled up , premium gas was $3.09 a gallon, met up at the horse track parking lot. They gave all the riders on this leg of the ride a 2007 sew on patch before we headed out. We took hwy 270 through some beautiful mountain scenery into Ok. Stopped at Heavener, Ok. for gas and lunch, then we were on to Okmulgee, 120 miles away.

We were escorted to the Creek Capital for refreshments and a ceremony where the Assistant Chief of the tribe thanked us for coming and for the money we raised for the college fund. Afterwards we were treated to a meal prepared by the tribe. They also had pulled pork and the fixings to go along with the authentic Indian food, which I tried a couple of. I didn't know what some of the stuff was.

I left Okmulgee at 6:30 the next morning on I-40. I made a detour to the Harley dealer in Fort Smith and replaced my headlight, ate breakfast, fueled up, and on to Little Rock. I stopped in Little Rock for dinner. Robert called, said he may cut beans. I said I'd be there in a little while. I don't think he knew where I'd been. I-40 to Brinkley, south to Helena, Clarksdale and then home at 2:30 that evening. 462 miles since 6:30 that morning.

Went to Robert's, didn't cut beans, combine broke, so we worked on fixing the problem.

I would have liked to have ridden the first leg of the ride, maybe another time, but the park I did ride was great.

Till later

A few rides in 2007

I'll start off with the ride in June. Theresa, Eva & Fred Champion and I made a trip to Lynchburg, Tn to a motorcycle rally. We met up in Greenwood at 7:00 the morning of June, 15th , headed east to the Natchez Trace, on to Tupelo for dinner, on to Florence, Al, east to Huntsville, then north to Fayetteville, Tn where we had rooms booked. The ride was pretty good going, kind of on the warm side as the day grew longer. You have to remember that northern Ms, Al., and Tn were at that time extremely dry and still below nornal rainfall . All the crops we saw at that time were pitiful.
We went over to Lynchburg the next morning to the rally. It was a little cool that morning going but it quickly warmed up. We took in everything at the rally, lots of vendors, cool drinks, but no alcohol in Moore County, and food. We toured the Jack Daniel's distillery in the dry county. You can now buy a commorative bottle in the visitor's building, we didn't to costly.
When we left there that evening we took hwy129 to see the country side. The roads were a delight to travel, just enough curves and shade to make enjoyable. We made it back to Fayetteville that evening and found a place up town to eat. It was called The Cahoot, it use to bee the old jail house and if you wanted to you could get a table in the cell. We declined that eating area. I can't remember what we ate but everyone was full when we left.
The next morning, Sunday, we headed back home vie the Trace. It was really hot coming home, we stopped several times to drink liquids. We made it to hwy82 and headed to Greenwood looking at some bad looking clouds. We made it to Stewart and the bottom fellout. We pulled over at one point and there were some bikers there that were heading to Dallas. They had been to ride the Dragon. The only lady in the group said she took her time going the I think 318 curves in 11 miles, I'm not sure about that but I saw a girl at the distillery wearing a t-shirt saying 318 in 11 miles, and said she would never do that again. Theresa and I had to stop several times on the way home because of heavy rain but when we got to within 1 mile of the house, the rain stop and we got dust on our bikes coming down the driveway.

The next trip was the 3rd week of July. We had 2 weeks of rain and I told Theresa pack your bags and get your motorcycle ready for a road trip.
We left out on July 21 and headed to Bryson City, N.C. We got there at dark, 562 miles, and was lucky to find a room because the Indians were having a Powwow and had all of Cherokee and the surrounding towns booked up. When we left home the temp was hot so we only packed light clothing, But I did put a couple long sleeveshirts in my saddlebags, lucky me. The next morning we ate breakfast, The temp was a little cool but not unbearable so we headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The higher we got the more shirts we put on because it's July and we didn't bring any coats. It was pertty cold at 6,000 feet up the mountain.
We got off the Parkway at Ashville, got on I-40, went to Statesville, turn north to Mount Airy, home of the Andy Griffin museum. Took the back roads into Virgina, going by the race track at Martinsville, spent the night at Danville and the next day hit hwy29 north.
Our first stop was the town of Appomattox. This town, which was formed after the War of Northern Aggression because the town folks didn't want the stigma of being the site of the surrender of Lea to Grant, is about 3 miles from Appomattox Court House. The house that the signing of the surrender was after the war taken apart and was to be shipped to Washington to be reassembled as an attraction but the cost of the war was so great they couldn't get the money to do it. Later on they put it back together at the original site with some of the bricks missing , people were needing them to rebuild other buildings. I think there are 8,000 of the original bricks in the house today. There are 2 vases and a couch original to the room on display. The chairs and table Lea and Grant used are at the Smithsonian.
We left there and headed to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. We toured the gardens, cemetery, which is still a burial place for Jefferson's decendants, and the house. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house because of security reasons. They don't lock the doors at night and no guard on duty.
Up the road is James Madison's home, Montpelier. The Duponts had bought the house years ago and added wings and upper stories to some of the home. When The old lady died the house was left to a preservation group. Then some old guy, who was an admire of Madison, died and left $250,000 for a study of how to put the home back to the conditio it was when Madison was President. The study was done and the his estate gave the $25,000,000 toget to work with, and another $25,000,000 was added to that. We were able to see how the house was built, as the plaster was removed and the hand cut latice was expose as was all the wood work. The nails used in the house were made at Jefferson's Plantation, which is about 30 miles south of Madison's.
When Madison built the house it had 2 front doors and a wall down the middle, making it 2 houses under one roof. On on side he and his wife lived and the other side his mother lived. When additions were added to on side of the house , additions were added to the other . That was to keep both women happy.
After spending the night in Charlottesville, the next day we crossed the Skyline Drive ,which is the upper part of the Blue Ridge, and drove the Shenandoah Valley down to Lexington, turned west toward Beckley, West Virgina.
The next day we took the road north to Charleston. It was a beautiful ride, mountains on both sides, a river running the length along side the 4 lane highway. Sometimes it was enough room there would be a few house now and then. The sun was at our back when we entered Charleston and the dome of the Capital Building was shining like a polished gold bar. Ther was a lot of barges and railcars loading with coal.
We made it into Kentucky, scenery was pertty good to Lexington, but from there to Eddyville traveling the Blue Grass Parkway , it's nothing but road. Spent the night at Eddyville, next morning turned south and went through the Land Between the Lakes. It was nice scenery from there down through Tennessee on hwy79 to Memphis.
We got to Memphis, run in a light rain shower, I got home early evening, Theresa got to her house about a hour later. I called her the next morning and told her I checked my biker and the back tire was flat. I guess that little bell that I have on my bike that Theresa gave me to keep the gremlins away really worked this time.

I guess that's all for now. I'll tell you about my Trail of Tears ride and our New Year's day Key West trip later.

Nevada Trip

I wanted to mention our trip to Las Vegas in Nov. 2006. Theresa checked with the Harley dealer in Vegas about renting a couple of bikes. No problem all you need is a credit card, motorcycle endorsement on your driver's license and know how to ride proficently.
We caught a flight out of Jackson, which was late on leaving, flew into Dallas, and on to Las Vegas. It was night when we finally arrived, but the lights of the town lite up the otherwise barren country side as we approached the airport.
We got a rental car to use on the trip to the Grand Canyon, that is something I think we shouldn't have done. We should have got the bikes instead for that trip too. Live and learn. We drove down to Needles Ca., stopped for gas, bought a map and went to planning a little detour. I saw that Route 66 was just north of there so we struck out. The Colorado River runs along the west side of the same road. Each side of the river had lush green crops growing, but you could see on the east side of the road nothing but desert.
The road took us to Oatman, Az.. Signs along the hwy were warning drivers of wild burros crossing. The town of Oatman consist of hwy 66 and some old buildings on each side of the road. You could have stuck the whole town in between the driveways to my house. The road was blocked of with people everywhere. We couldn't go anywhere, it's the only road ,at first I was thinking accident. We parked and ask for some info. A lady told us it would be opened back up after the gunfight. Sure enough, after the smoke cleared, we saw tour buses on the other end of town. You had to watch out for the burros, they would sniff at your pockets for something to eat, and they were in the middle of the road and on the front porches of the buildings. The burros were let loose by the miners after they had given up prospecting. It was a really neat little town.
When we had an open road we headed up the crooked and narrow hwy 66 pass old gold mining places. There was one functioning gold mine you could go down into but we were running low for time so we forged on up in the mountains toward Kingman. The road had a few places you could pull off to view the terrain and it was pretty.
Hit I-40 at Kingman to speed up where we could see the sunset at the Grand Canyon. Almost ran over some kind of goat with horns as we drove into the park. He was blending in with the terrain and the fool though he had the rite-a-way. After watching the colors of the canyon in the fading light, we went to check in at the lodge. No parking space so I let Theresa out to check in ,circled the area. I saw what I thought was a full mounted mule deer standing in a fenced yard because it wasn't moving. Another loop around the area and the son-of a-gun was standing on the side of the road. I could have tapped him on the nose. Later on there were deer all over the place. I guess because it was the only green grass around.
Our room was about 30 steps from the rim of the canyon. That night at 2:00 I heard a noise out side the window, it was 2 elk clattering their horns together. Pretty neat.
Next morning we saw the sunrise colors of the canyon. It was pretty cool that morning. Ate breakfast with a couple from Virgina who worked in Washington,D.C. Took in some of the sites, too many for us in that short of time, and head to Boulder Dam on our way back to Vegas.
We picked up the motorcycles the next morning bright and early, we were headed to Death Valley. Theresa was riding a Heritage and I a Fatboy. The dealer has 600 bikes that they rent out.
Left Vegas, went through Red Rock Canyon, on to Pahrump which was having a big powwow. Met and talked to a couple of Indians on motorcycles that going to it and told us about it. It was a lot of people there, big rodeo, and carnival rides.
We road into the valley at Death Valley Junction . There was an info building, restroom and telephone. Theresa wanted to find a place for the night but the phone didn't work. Neither does your cell phone anywhere in the valley. I told don't worry, she could stand guard while I slept and I would do the same for her. We did make it to Stovepipe Wells where they have a kind of motel. Can't drink the water in the room, you have a water jug to take out side to a faucet.
It was a desolate place out there, but at the same time had a beauty to it. Where we went into the valley, rocks, boulders were everywhere. At Stovepipe Wells you had the sand dunes . And at the south end there was the salt lake.
The next day we went to Scotty's Castle, went to a hydraulic volcanic eruption site, and came back through the Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America. It was getting late when we made our way out of Death Valley by way of Shoshone. The lights were shining bright in Vegas and the air was cold as we came down the mountain. We took the bikes back to the dealer around 10:00, called a cab and headed back to our room at the casino.
Next day we flew out heading home. I still want to go back, It's so much more to see. We didn't spend much time in Vegas because I wanted to see what was in the country. And it's still a lot of country to see.
There's so much you can write about on a trip like this, but I'm not a good enough writer or typist to do justice to it.
Till later.

A little about our Arkansas trip

We had caught up with things on the farm and decided to take a short trip up to Eureka Springs. It was July 19th 2006 and the temperature was pushing 90. We could go up in the mountians and cool off. On the 20th, Joe, Betty Jane, Theresa and I left home, headed to Indianola to meet up with Mike and Carolyn, and continued to Greenville to cross the river into Arkansas looking for that cool air.



Everything went as planned. To Pine Bluff, temperature rising, across to Malvern, still rising, on into Hot Springs. Ah, surely the temp would drop at any minute. Boy were we wrong. The thermometer had been rising ever since we left home and now at 3:30 it was showing 104. What made it worse was fresh black asphalt. Where was all that cool air we were headed for?



We stopped in Russellville to spend the night. Everybody got off to find cool air in the motel. Everybody except Carolyn, she had got so hot she couldn't get off the bike. After supper and a good nights sleep in a cool room we were good to go on the next leg of our trip.



Next morning we looked at the map I had planned for the trip. We would go hwy 7 north to Harrison with detours east and west of 7 to see the country. We took 164 over to Hagarville then up 123 which is a scenic winding road. Hwy 123 runs into hwy 7 at Pelsor and get back off at Lurton. This stretch of road has a lot of curves. We had stopped to rest , also Joe "had to go", and we could hear a log truck coming. You could hear the truck shifting gears and using his jake-brake as he was coming through the mountains. I said we need to kennel-up to stay ahead of the truck. We came down one side of a mountain that looked like straight down. The road had, I think, 6 different 360 turns and I couldn't figure out how that log truck was going to make it.

We made it to Mount Judea a little community with a school and an old grocery- gas-eating all rolled into one place. As we talked to the lady who own the store the log truck came by. She said it was a common thing for the trucks to wreck coming down the mountain and advised us not to be in the way. She was a transplant from central Florida, having come up here for vacation for several years, she saw this place for sale, soldout in Florida, bought this and was happy as a lark.



After leaving Mount Judea we stopped at Marble Falls, took the tour went through Harrison and hit 62. Before we got to Eureka Springs we saw rain. Pulled into a monument engraving place and waited out the rain. The folks there were nice and let us park our bikes in their shop.



At Eureka Springs we took in as many of the sites we could. The following morning we went to Beaver Lake Dam which had some scenic roads. We left Eureka Springs down hwy23. We ended up in Ozark where Carolyn had to have her a watermelon. Mike strapped it on the back and off we went. We stopped at some scenic out-look on the mountain looking at the valley below. While parked we heard motorcycles coming. All of a sudden we heard someone yell out to the others in their group,"Look , they got a damn watermelon on that bike". Well we went across to Russellville to spend the night, with watermelon in tow, went up in the lounge area , ask for some plates and ate that damn good watermelon. We did share it with the other people in the lounge.



Next morning we decided to cut our trip short and head home to check on the crops. Stopped in at Lakeshore Cafe at Lake Village to eat lunch. Saw some fellow riders there from Cleveland we knew. Got home early afternoon.



There were a lot of places we would have like to gone to but that's for another road trip.



Till later.

Starting Out

Well I guess since Suzanne set this thing up, I need to write something down.
It all started out in May 2004 as a trip to Memphis. I called Robert Lea to see if he wanted to go. He ask if I was going to go buy a bike, I had helped him build his Chopper, I said maybe. I really wasn't, I was just going "window shopping".
I went by Mama's and told her where we were going. She said, "Well for goodness sakes ya'll don't go buying lottery tickets while up there." OK Mama no lottery.
Went to Bumpus, saw the Lava Red Harley Fatboy, got the paper work done, and looked for a trailer to buy, but to no avail. It had been a long time since I had ridden, so I got Robert to ride it home for me.
Pulled into the yard at home, Mama and 3 of my sisters were sitting outside. They were trying to figure out what was going on. I walked over and told them of my purchase, Mama was speechless and I think a little disturbed. I said "Mama you said no lottery tickets so I spent my money on a motorcycle".
And that was over 41,000 miles ago.
As I got more proficent with my riding, I started planning a trip after the crops were harvested. At that time of the year the only place to go is Florida. I saw there was a rally in Fort Lauderdale starting Dec. 1,2004. Robert couldn't go so, going it alone, I decided to trailer my bike down.
The rally was at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. It was good. Steven Tyler was there for the ride, boy I'm glad his daughter Liv didn't get her looks from him. The casino had the women's professional billard champions playing, I bought tickets to see that.
I rode down A1A along the beach, went through Miami by the arena the Miami Heat play at. That was the year Shaq was acquired. They had a 60 foot picture of him on the side of the arena.
I spent one day in Key West seeing the sites and boy you can see some strange sites there. I got someone to take a picture of me and my bike at the Southern Most Point in the U.S. bouy.
After spending 8 days traveling, I was hooked and when I got home, I started planning another trip.

At Christmas, my cousin Janet called to say she knows a girl I need to meet who also had a motorcycle. I told her I wasn't interested in going out yet. But a couple of weeks later I get a call from a Theresa??? saying call her and let's ride. Few days later I call her back and ride to Silver City. It's a cool 40 degrees. To cold to ride. We go to Jackson, freeze our tails off all day, but neither wants to be the first to holler calf rope. I figured if she was that gritty, then we could travel some miles together, and have.

The next big trip was at the end of Feb. 2005 to Daytona for bike week. The group of 6 was composed of Jim Tackett, Eddie Fancher, Robert Lea, Skipper Grantham, Mark "Pug" Bowie, and me. I'm not going into details about this ride, only to say we did have a great time. Even if Eddie got in trouble with the Law. Also, Mark became known as Pug. We even ended up with the group picture of us on the beach hanging on the wall of Flatlands .

Next trip was to Lafayette, La to the State Hog Rally. Robert, Jim and I were making the trip. We stopped in Vicksburg to eat lunch, making it to Baton Rouge at rush hour time for the bypass around town. Also it was falling a flood, all you could see was red taillights in front of you. Traffic was running 70-75 mph and we were too just to keep from getting run over. I was not a very happy motorcycle rider at that point. We had about 15 miles of that before breaking into the clear weather.
We saw Tony, Trike Mike, Dan, and Walter from Greenwood at the Harley dealer in Scott. They were camping out just down the road. So far the closest I've been to camping is the Holiday Inn but I have bought me a tent.

When we left headed home, I left the group at McComb and went to meet Theresa at Hattiesburg for a rally there. The temperature plunged that night. We were south of town at the fair grounds, Theresa had us a place to stay in Collins, 12 miles away she said. I got so cold I was putting my hands on the exhaust pipes for warmth. I was counting the miles off on my odometer. At 12 miles we were coming into Seminary, it was still another 7 miles to go. She didn't take in account we were on the south side of Hattiesburg and the 12 miles started on the north side. Trike Mike and rest of their group were there camping. The next day anything that was wet was frozen.
We made it home without any of us catching the flu.

For the Dec. ride I got another rider, Joe Fennell, my brother-in-law to go with me to Key West. We rode our bikes all the way this trip. We took 75 to Tampa, crossed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at St. Peterburg, boy it's a beautiful bridge. Joe and I were nervous at the height and wind while crossing it. Went across Alligator Alley. into Fort Lauderdale, on to Key West. On the way back home up 95 we took the tour of Kennedy Space Center.
Bad weather was headed to us and when we left St Augustine the next day I told Joe we need to get as close to home as we could. We ended up in Hattiesburg at 8:00 that night, the temperature was falling and we couldn't find a room. Betty Jane and Theresa went to calling around and found one in Magee, bummer, another 20 something miles to ride in the cold. The next morning we scraped ice off the seats before heading home.

Well I guess I'll leave it here for now on the posting. It has been rewarding experience so far for me to see so much.

And remember "Money can't buy happiness, but it can substantially upgrade the quality of your misery".

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

so for father's day, i have set you up your own blog. now we can keep up with you, too! thank you for being such an incredibly important part of my life. God has blessed me beyond measure by giving me you for a daddy. not only are you my daddy, but you are one of my best friends. thank you for always being there for me.

i love you.