It's Official - The Trip is Complete

I have been home for a week now. I went to pick up my mail yesterday at the UPS Store and a package was waiting for me. The owner of the store is the gentleman that I bought the motorcycle from and we were talking about the trip. When they brought me the packages and saw who it was from so I opened the package and showed them.

I have put away all of the gear but the bike is still pretty dirty and I haven't ridden it since I parked it last Friday. I am going to have a service come in to detail it since the paint got a couple of scratches during the trip.

Celebrating 25 days on the Road

This trip spanned a total of 25 days, 40 states, over 11,500 miles, 2 oil changes, a new front tire, nearly 240 hours of riding time, and three half-days of light rain. Most days were sunny skies and the temperatures were warm with no serious weather.

I learned a great deal about myself. I was able to adapt when obstacles occurred and when the schedule slipped two days in the second half of the trip I was able to gain one of those days back in the final segment.

I want to offer my sincere appreciation for all of the support and encouragement that I received as a result of my blog postings during the course of this trip. This came from family, friends, coworkers, my wife and most importantly my God.

 Trip Highlights:

• Driving through the California Redwood forest
• Driving a mountain road at night
• Spending a short period of time in Sturgis
• Having two quality days with our daughter in Madison and dinner with my granddaughter
• Attending my 45th high school class reunion and visiting with my Junior High 87-year old mentor
• Spending time with my brothers, nieces, nephews and celebrating some birthdays
• Watching the full moon setting and the sun rising while driving to Key West
• Taking three weeks off work and really taking a vacation. Special thanks to my Teradata co-workers who finished the project in my absence.
• Traveling through 40 states and seeing so much of the United States
• My wife is great for letting me take this trip without her
• Getting home safely

Lessons Learned: 

• The hardest lesson that I learned was that if you have spare gas tanks you need to fill them before you need them
• Plan travel better through major cities in order to avoid rush hour and make those days shorter
• Plan for a very short day going through New York City or find a way around it
• Cracker Barrel Restaurant's have rocking chairs that can be used for a quick nap
• Putting the rain suit on is a guarantee that you will barely need it
• Gold Bond Medicated Powder is your best friend
• Develop a better method for trip directions on days when not traveling on the Interstate highways
• Blue painters tape has many uses: temporary sun visor, fixing my helmet visor, protecting my rear speakers, and holding shirt sleeves down.
• Use sun screen that doesn't stain your clothes
• When you open something make sure it is secured when finished
• Empty pockets before doing laundry (lost a gold chain)
• It takes 30-45 minutes to check out bike and get ready to roll every morning

Special Gear I bought for Trip:

• Saddlemen Dresser Back Seat Bag
• Indoor/Outdoor Motorcycle Cover
• Reda 1-Gallon Gas Cans
• Wallet and Key Chain (so I won't loose it!!!)
• Slime T-Handle Tire Plug Kit (not needed)
• Slime Rechargeable 12-Volt Tire Inflator
• Accutire MS-4021B Digital Tire Pressure Gauge
• Locking Glove Box w/Cup Holder

The Trip's Statistics:

One of the things that I did throughout the trip was to track the travel costs and times. So most of the pictures that I took were of the odometer and the gas pump displays. I also found out the the metadata on the pictures that the phone captures contains the Longitude, Latitude and Altitude. This was helpful since I misplaced or didn't get a number of receipts so I was able to pinpoint my purchases.

Category	Value
Trip Start	July 22nd	7:45AM PDT	Odometer 28,743
First Corner:     San Ysidro, CA	July 24th	11:30AM PDT	Odometer 29,200
Second Corner:     Blaine, WA	July 26th	8:30PM PDT	Odometer 30,876
Third Corner:     Madawaska, ME	August 5th	6:30PM EDT	Odometer 35,125
Fourth Corner:     Key West, FL	August 10th	7:30AM EDT	Odometer 37,351
Trip Finish	August 15th	10:00AM PDT	Odometer 40,332
Total Miles	11,589 miles
Gas Stops	74 times
Gas Mileage	34.9 miles/gallon
Gas Consumption	332 gallons	Average: $4.019	Total: $1,333.74
Hotels	19 (22 nights)
Daily Mileage	2 days	800+ miles
	1 day	700-799 miles
	2 days	600-699 miles
	9 days	500-599 miles
	2 days	400-499 miles
	3 days	300-399 miles
	1 day	200-299 miles
	3 days	of REST ! ! !
	Average: 530	Minimum: 286	Maximum: 845

Maps:

These were the Google Maps I used and updated as the trip progressed. I broke the trip into six segments and have modified these many times before the trip and several times during the course of the trip. I have captured this for historical reference for your review.

Trip Segment
Henderson, NV to San Ysidro, CA
San Ysidro, CA to Blaine, WA
Blaine, WA to Madison, WI
Madison, WI to Madawaska, ME
Madawaska, ME to Key West, FL
Key West, FL to Henderson, NV

Days 21, 22 and 23 - The Mad Rush Home

I have not posted for the past few days because I have spent more time on the road and less time in the hotel. I covered 558 miles on Wednesday, 846 on Thursday and 312 on Friday for a total of 1,715 miles in three days.

August 13th - Alexandria, LA to Oklahoma City, OK

Day 21

One of the alternative objectives of the trip was to hit as many states as possible. So this day's journey started around 8:00AM heading north on I-49 but would divert to Texarkana, Arkansas and then on to Oklahoma. So today was the most complex route that I had since the Northeastern US.

Since I don't have a way to keep my cell phone charged as I use it I try only to use the GPS feature sparingly since it eats up the battery. I tried writing out the instructions and putting them on the windshield using the blue painters tape. However, reading ball point in bright sunlight is not easy when you are far-sighted. So I had to stop when I hit a major intersection so I could stop and check out the map. It is a pain to stop and get my reading glasses out but it is necessary.

I am finding that stretching out on a shady picnic table helps get out the kinks in the back, shoulders and legs. The quick nap doesn't hurt either. I  found a small little park in Clarksville Texas.

The other major pain was the toll booths on the Indian Nation Turnpike in Southeastern Oklahoma. They are not associated with the EZ-Pass program so I had to stop and pay manually. This means shutting the engine off pulling out the wallet and trying to hand over the bills without taking my gloves in order to keep the stop under a minutes. I learned the difficulty when I was crossing Indiana and Ohio on their tollways so I bought one of the electronic toll tags since I was going to run into a number of them throughout the East Coast.

I stopped for gas and ran into a couple on a three-wheeler (trike) who were from Tennessee and heading home from Sturgis on a three week trip. It is interesting the stories and the shared experiences we have, so it is nice to sit and talk to complete strangers.

I arrived in OKC around sunset so I cleaned up and had dinner before calling it a day.

Thursday, August 14th - A possible IBA???

I left the hotel around sunrise hoping an early start would make good time. My goal was to get to Gallup, New Mexico which was roughly 700 miles away. I stopped and had breakfast around 9AM and ran into another biker at McDonald's. We sat and chatted for a few minutes and I found out that he was a retired USAF veteran. He was headed to Colorado to visit his grandchildren. We talked about the weather that was over Arizona and New Mexico that we were headed towards.

Day 22

Since I was headed towards the storms, I ran into significant headwinds which dropped my gas mileage mid 20's. This meant that I was stopping every 120-150 miles to refuel which is 50-80 miles sooner than normal. I took a break just before entering into New Mexico. Once I passed the leading edge of the storm system the headwinds decreased so my gas mileage improved to the mid 30's

Less than an hour after entering New Mexico the clouds became darker and the temperatures started to drop so I stopped for gas and got out the rain suit. I hit moderate rain off and on for the remainder of the day. I was lucky since I either outran the big storms or just caught the edges. It was cool enough so that the suit was comfortable

Since I was making good time, I decided to press on and started to think about getting an Iron Butt Award (IBA) which is covering 1,000 miles in less than 24 hours. I stopped for dinner in Winslow Arizona after it was dark. There was a storm up ahead with lots of lightning. I called home to let Trish know what I was thinking so that she could unlock the garage door for when I got home. I called back after dinner when I decided that I was tired and didn't want to risk going any further that evening.

Friday, August 15th - The Final Segment

Day 23

I woke up early and though about maybe trying to get that IBA award but just couldn't get motivated to get moving. So I tried to go back to sleep but after an hour I decided that I was just wasting time. I only brought in the stuff I needed to get ready (shaving kit and a change of clothes). I was out loading up my bike and got talking to another biker as we ran through our TCLOCK pre-ride checks. He was heading up into the mountains around Flagstaff. I put on my leather jacket, balaclava and winter gloves since the temperatures were around 60. I was really glad for this when I rode through Williams Arizona where the thermometer dropped into the low 50's. There was not one cloud in the sky so it was a beautiful day with the sunrise over my shoulder.

I stopped in Seligman Arizona.This is the town that Disney/Pixar loosely based the town of Radiator Springs off of in the movie "Cars". It is located on the Historic Route 66, so I gave some thought on taking the old road. Since I had been on a motorcycle for over three weeks the thought of a hot shower and sleeping in my own bed quickly erased that thought. I switched to my summer gloves since my hands had started to sweat in my heavier ones.

About an hour later when I hit Kingman I pulled over and took off the remainder of the cold weather gear since the temperature had reached 90. I stopped for a final gas stop a few miles short of home.

I pulled into the driveway at 10AM. As I paused to use the garage door opener I chatted with my neighbor Don. He told me to watch out since he was seeing a lot of stories about motorcycle accidents. I told him that I was returning home after 25 days on the road to assure him that I knew what I was doing.

I decided to not unpack the bike until later. I was really glad to be home. I spent some time talking with my wife but I headed to the shower and then went to bed and slept for a few hours. I took it easy the rest of the day but spent most of it paying bills and reading a couple of days of emails.

Finally...

Tomorrow I will post what I learned from this incredible experience. I will take a further look at that IBA to see if I qualified or not. I will keep you posted.

Day 20 - Six Hundred miles ahead of Schedule

Tuesday, August 12th - Tallahassee to Alexandria, Louisiana

The day was different than usual. I got to sleep in an extra hour and left for the Harley dealer at 7:30AM. I was able to get checked in before they opened so I was the first job of the day. I sat in the lounge and caught up on the blog, emails, bills, etc. They were able to change the oil, fix the heel shifter and replaced the front tire by 10AM. I had originally planned to spend the day getting the bike serviced and since it got done early I took off for home. This means that I will get home on Friday which was my original schedule.

One of the emails that I received was a confirmation from the sanctioning body that my paperwork was approved and they will send the award in 6-8 weeks.

I had lunch at one of the Waffle House restaurants in Pensacola. I have driven past one of these at least a million times but this is the first time I ever stopped. I drove through Mobile and could see the WWII Battleship USS Alabama. I also noticed that they had a submarine as well as a B-52D bomber. I toured the ship back in 1981 so it brought back some fond memories. A little further down the road I came across and exit for Bayou La Batre. This is the fishing port that was featured in the movie "Forrest Gump" where his friend Bubba was from.

I saw a storm coming up so I pulled over and changed into the rain suit again. It rained for 5 minutes and I drove past the storm. Later in the day I just decided to ride through the rain without the suit since it was just a scattered shower. Tomorrows weather looks about the same.

The visor on my helmet came apart so I used the blue painters tape I have been using as a sun visor to tape the one side that came loose. I am hoping that this will work until I get home. By the way, I did this repair at 75 MPH

I unfortunately hit Baton Rouge around rush hour. Other than an accident I got through relatively quick and crossed the Mississippi River around 5:00 PM. I had dinner in Lafayette to wait out sunset and then drove another 90 miles before calling it a night. I covered 600 miles today so this put me back on schedule. I took some time and re-planned the remainder of the trip so I will be stopping in Oklahoma City and Gallup, New Mexico before returning home.

Day 19 - Starting the Trip Home

Monday, August 11th - Homestead to Tallahassee, Florida

On Sunday evening, the power went out at the hotel so I decided to splurge and have a nice steak for dinner. I headed down the stairs and realized that I left the helmet in the room. Not wanting to chance getting stuck in the elevator so I decided to walk to the restaurant instead since it was only 10-15 minutes away. There were no sidewalks so I put life and limb at risk and headed out for that steak. It was worth the walk as it used muscles that haven't bee used for awhile.

Monday started early and saw the full moon setting and the sun rising. I took the Florida Turnpike its entire length and got past Miami before traffic got bad it slowed at points but did not come to a stop. The morning went quickly and I passed through Orlando around 11AM. I decided to stop in Ocala for lunch. The have the the Don "Big Daddy" Garlits' Drag Racing Museum next to where I had lunch. I thought that I might stop in but it started pouring rain and before I could get across the street to a gas station I got totally soaked.

Rain of Biblical Proportions

I suited up in my rain suit which was made more difficult because I was soaked. I decided to not change clothes and pressed on. I drove another 100 miles or so and turned off of I-75 onto I-10 and pulled over at the rest area since the sun was shining and it was getting warm. I should have looked at the NOAA Weather application on my smart phone and  I would have seen that I was headed into some more storms. But No! I removed the rain gear and resumed my trip. Five miles later as I rounded a corner the sky turned dark so I stopped under an overpass and put the gear back on. It was timely since just as I stopped the bike my wife called about having dinner this weekend with friends.

I go to the motel around 5:30PM and took a quick nap before heading out for dinner at a restaurant that was next door. Just a 5 minute walk this time. Tomorrow, I take the bike into the shop for an oil change and a new front tire. They are also going to fix the heel shifter that had its set screw come loose. I will sit and wait for the service to be completed.

I had originally planned to get to Texarkana on Tuesday but will need to play that by ear depending on what time I actually get started.

Day 17 & 18 - Finally made it to the FOURTH CORNER

Saturday, August 9th - Savanna to Homestead

When I looked at the long-term weather forecast a couple of days ago, it looked like this is where I would hit steady rain. This was the first morning since Day #2 that I didn't have to put a jacket on. It was in the mid-70's and the sun was shining. I left about 8AM and started knocking off miles until I arrived in Homestead, Florida some 555 miles and 10 hours away.

For the second day in a row, I decided to stop at Cracker Barrel again for lunch. I ate quickly and sat on the front porch and took a short nap on one of their rocking chairs. That break makes it less likely that I will get tired in the afternoon. The heat in the afternoon was difficult and I used the DuraCool towels to try and stay cool. I got a mild sunburn on my upper wrists since my shirt sleeves had drifted higher than normal. I was able to beat a few rainclouds and missed a couple of others.

I arrived at the hotel around 5:30PM and was delighted when I walked into the lobby where the air conditioning felt great. I took a shower immediately after getting into the room and then did a load of laundry. I met a woman in the laundry room who had just come in from Key West. She mentioned that this weekend was Lobster Fest and that traffic was stop-and-go most of the way. So based on that information I decided to get an extra early start and return as soon as possible.

Sunday, August 10th - THE FOURTH CORNER

The fourth and final corner

I left the hotel at 5AM for the 130 mile run to Key West. Traffic was very minimal so I made the trip in about 2.5 hours. I took a picture of the sunrise over my shoulder while doing 70 MPH (can you say: "hey mom, look, no hands").

Sunrise at 70 MPH

I arrived at the final corner at 7:30AM so the monument was not crowded. A nice couple helped take some pictures for me. It was quiet with people coming and going to have their picture taken next to the monument. After about 15 minutes, I turned and drove the complete length of Duvall Street. It was quiet and all of the businesses were closed. The city was cleaning up the streets using leaf blowers, street sweeping machines, and power washers to deal with the mess from Saturday night. I had breakfast and got gas before leaving town at 9AM. Traffic was pretty good until I got to Key Largo. I took the advice of the woman last night that said that the motorcycles used the shoulder to keep moving. It turns out that there was a group of people that had set up a small tent in the ocean next to the highway and had chairs and jet skis. This caused a 2-3 mile "gapper's block" heading north as drivers slowed to a crawl to see the scene. I feel bad for those heading southbound since their backup was close to 10 miles. Today like yesterday I missed all of the rain showers so I stayed dry.

I really think that the heat got to me today. I made it back to the hotel, got out of my sweaty clothes, took a shower, and went back to bed. I got up and completed the documentation package and emailed it off to the Southern California Motorcycle Association (SC-MA) which is the sanctioning body for this run. I completed the trip in 18 days with three days to spare. I had three days of downtime in what seems like a lifetime ago.

I need to adjust the "heel shifter" since it is not positioned correctly. I had to shift the transmission in a different manner and occasionally I shifted to a lower gear instead of a lower one or the other way. Hopefully, this is a simple item to fix.

It is nice to have the run completed and be off-the-clock. Tomorrow starts the 2,800 mile trip back home

The final leg of the trip

Day 16 - "I've got Georgia on my Mind"

Friday, August 8th
I got an earlier start than normal. I decided to stop and get some pictures since I was going through Washington, DC. I put a pin on the map on where I thought I could get a good picture of the Capitol Building. I placed it one block from the front steps, however that is in the "secure zone" that surrounds it. So the directions had switched into walking mode so I got lost. Every time I am in DC I end up getting lost. Today was no different. I got a nice picture of the sun rising behind the building. I then immediately got the hell out of town before traffic got bad.

Sunrise over the Capitol

I drove past the Pentagon. My good friend Drew Grigson is stationed there. I gave him a quick salute as I rode by. I was able to get through Richmond without any real issues. I was able to run on cruise control most of the day so I went about 100 miles further today than I planned. Somewhere near Fort Bragg, NC there was an accident on I-95 and traffic was backed up for 6-7 miles. I used the tricks from the "Chicago School of Offensive Driving" to get around most of the traffic.

Looking down the Mall towards the Washington Monument

I rode for a short way in the rain but when it got heavier I stopped and put on the rain gear on. It looks like I will be wearing it for the next 3-5 days. I checked into a hotel near the Savanna, Georgia airport. I ended up ordering a Domino's pizza for dinner and will call it a day.

If everything goes well, I intend to get to the southern end of Miami on Saturday. I would like to reach the Homestead area if I can. That will leave me about a 4 hour run to the final marker.

Day 14 & 15 - Travelling Down the East Coast

Wednesday, August 6th

Today I left Madawaska, Maine around 7AM. It must have rained overnight because the bike cover was totally covered with water. I returned to the main highway using a different route suggested by the Maps App on my iPhone. About an hour into the ride it started raining so I pulled off at a rest stop. It is vented so at the next stop I pulled over and put a sweatshirt on. I found that I stayed warm and dry. It was actually comfortable.

While on the trip back to the Interstate I encountered a section of road that was under construction. There was five miles of dirt road. One section of the road they were drilling holes for blasting. The bike is covered with dirt so it looks a mess. Around noon the sun came out and the temperature warmed up so it took the suit off and rode the rest of the day.

The traffic in Boston was a mess and it took 90 minutes or more to get through town. So I covered the entire length of Maine, a short portion of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  I got to New London, Connecticut and called it a day. I covered 600 miles in about 14 hours.

Thursday, August 7th

I decided to leave later than normal in order to miss rush hour in New York City. I should have waited a little longer since I hit stop-and-go traffic in New Haven, Norwalk and Stamford. When I hit the New York state line is was clear sailing. Then I got to 3 miles from the George Washington Bridge and it was like I was sitting in a parking lot. A series of Interstate highways all come together. The problem is that the lower deck of the bridge is being repaired and two lanes were closed and there was a massive accident on the upper deck which reduced four lanes down to two.

After 4 hours, I was a whopping 100 miles from where I started. I now know what people deal with that have Carpel Tunnel. I took a long break at one of the rest areas on the New Jersey Turnpike. I caught up on email, Facebook and my blog. After grabbing a bite to eat I continued on the trip.

I hit Baltimore around 3:30PM and sailed right through. I got to 30 miles from DC and hit another deadlock. I got to a rest area and decided to take a nap hoping the problem would go away. Nope, traffic is still there. I looked at the maps and saw RED everywhere so after calling home I decided to call it a day.

Today I traveled through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. I only covered 340 miles so today so it was a disaster so this has added an extra day to the trip. Tomorrow I will leave extra early and head to Saint George, South Carolina which is just over 500 miles. I hope to be out of the DC area shortly after sunrise.

Day 13 - I made it to the THIRD CORNER!!!

Monday, August 5th - Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine

First let me wish my youngest brother a Happy 60th Birthday on Monday. When I uncovered the motorcycle this morning it was covered with water so I had to shake the cover to get as much of it off before I rolled it up and packed it away for the day. I thought that I was reasonably successful at it until I unrolled it on Monday evening. It was still very wet.

Some of you have asked how the weather has been and up until now I have refused to discuss the "W" word, so as to not change the string of incredible cloud free weather, up until yesterday. On Sunday, I hit a five minute patch where I put on the rain suit and perspired more on the inside of it than rain hit the outside. Well today I though the same thing. The weather started out foggy which cleared up around 8-8:30AM and the morning was cloudless. After lunch it started to cloud up and occasionally drove over roads where it had just rained. A few miles past Bangor, Maine I hit a stretch where is was not only wet but steaming. The air turned cold so I pulled over at the first exit that I could. I had stopped at the prior exit for gas but the weather was perfect there. As soon as I got the suit half on, the sun came out and it got warm but I completed the ten minute task of getting the suit on anyways.

I rode with it on for the remaining 2-3 hours. Again I passed through many areas where it had just rained but I stayed dry but my helmet and glasses got blurrier the more I drove because of the mist kicked up by other vehicles. Finally when I was on the final 25 mile stretch of road to Madawaska I finally hit light rain. I have to figure a better way to keep my visor clean so I will keep a towel handy tomorrow.

Matawaska, Maine - The Third Corner

The Third Corner

4 Corners Monument Park

I pulled into the small border town of Madawaska which is very close to the end of highway US-1 and is on the Saint John River that separates the US from Canada. The other side of the bridge is Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada. The town has been around for 145 years and is getting ready to celebrate Arcadian Festival this upcoming weekend. The town speaks both French and English. In fact when I stopped to get gas, it is the only place I have hit so far where you pump first and pay later. When you select your grade of gas, you then need to select if you are paying in US or Canadian dollars. They asked if I was part of the Four Corners run and placed a stamp on the receipt with their name and address on it which identifies it to the town.

I came to the Post Office as I was pulling into town. I stopped in front of it getting setup to take the official picture. A former US Marine and Post Office worker had pulled up to get his mail and offered to take the picture of the bike, the Post Office and myself. We chatted for a few minutes and he told me about the town and made special note of a small park a few blocks down that was built with private funds that honors the Four Corner run. The major granite monument was donated by the local Harley-Davidson distributor in the area. There is a nice fountain and the pavement blocks are engraved with the donors names. This is the only corner to have any monument or park dedicated for this purpose. The gentleman followed me to the park and took pictures of me there as well.

I went to the Chinese place (he recommended) which was primarily a buffet. I ordered from the menu thinking I would get something smaller off the menu but I was wrong. It was huge so I just picked at it. Today the trip was physically hard (465 miles) as 75% of it was on two lane highway. So my hands are sore. I think I will have Popeye wrists when I finally get home in ten days or so. From a distance perspective, I am now more than halfway through.

Finding a place to stay in this town is a challenge. There might be 3-4 motels which cannot be found with Expedia.com, Hotels.com, etc. I had to use Google and call them directly. The one that the organizing group recommends had pretty poor reviews so I selected the "Martin's Motel". I have not been able to connect to the wireless network so I will have to send this later Wednesday when I get connected at one of my stops. You know that a hotel is low-tech when you have to fill out the registration card and the give you a physical key.

I had a 12-13 hour trip planned for Wednesday but since it takes me through the Boston and New York City area, I may decide to cut it short and not try to make it all of the way to Fort Lee, NJ tonight. Obviously, traffic and fatigue will dictate what is reasonable. I will trek down US-1 again paralleling the northernmost and eastern edge of Maine until I hit I-95 near its northern-most origin and it will be my friend for the next four days for its entire length before I complete the trip to the next corner on the other end of US-1. On Monday I bought a Toll Tag, so I will not have to mess with cash for the remainder of the trip to Florida. I could have used it in IL, IN, OH and NY states the last several days.

Day 12 - Moving onto Vermont

Monday, August 4th

Today was mostly spent driving across the state of New York. The day started out cool and foggy but cleared up around 9AM. It remained comfortable most of the morning. Shortly before I reached Albany the weather changed while I was having lunch. It was sprinkling today, so I tried on my rain suit for the first time. Since I was prepared, I fully expected to survive a good storm. However as many things have gone for me on this trip when I stopped 30 minutes later there was more perspiration inside the suit than the rain that hit the outside of it. I will most likely need the suit tomorrow since the chance of rain is 60%.

My snazzy Rain Suit

The Vermont scenery is very pretty. Below are a couple of pictures of the Connecticut River valley south of where I am staying in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont. I missed the turnoff for my hotel because the address from Hotels.com took me to a farm outside of town. The town is very quaint but the have some major project that has caused most of the streets to be torn up. I guess they have been installing sewers or something like that.

Connecticut River Valley

Tomorrow I will reach the Third Corner in Madawaska, Maine. It should take about 10 hours if the weather cooperates. Until today, I have had clear skies and no sign of rain but my luck is running out.

Day 11 - "On the Road Again" or "Shuffle off to Buffalo"

Saturday, August 2nd (Continued)

Coach Paul Throne

I spent the morning catching up on email, the blog and paid some bills. I then rode over to my 45th Class Reunion and was able to visit with some friends some of which I had not chatted with since graduation. I had the opportunity to chat with one of my mentors in Junior High who still lives in town and stays in touch with many of classes and reunions. At 87, his memory is sharp as he remembered me, my brothers, our mother and even the fact that my nephew Casey works for his nephew Michael. He still stays in touch with students and is a treasured resource for the city of Hobart, Indiana.

The party was held in one of the classmate's backyards and was only a couple of blocks from the High School building we attended. It is now the Middle School. As I was leaving I started to head out past the old City Ballpark where we played our High School baseball games at. It stuck me that the Hobart Garden Club had planted a small memorial to my mother Sadie McCallum Aldrin nearby. I stopped and immediately found it. She joined the club in 1955 when we moved to Hobart from Cedar Lake and was an active member for over fifty years serving and President on numerous occasions.

I went to my niece Raven's home in for a birthday party for my brother Bill (his 60th) and my sister-in-law Kathy. When I arrived, their dog "Reggae" was barking up a storm at me, then he wouldn't leave me alone. It took a few minutes for him to warmup to me. We had the traditional "ice cream" cake and played a bean bag game similar to horseshoes. This game must be popular since they had one at my reunion as well. I got Kathy's brother to snap this photo of the family together. It was a beautiful summer day, low humidity, no clouds and not an enormous number of mosquitoes.

From Left to Right, Rear: Kathy, Brother Dave, Me, Nephew Casey and Brother Bill. Middle row: Maxine (Casey's Bride), Niece Raven (host) and then her two boys Caleb and Rory.

Sunday, August 3rd - The trip resumes

After three days of rest and relaxation, fellowship and friendship, it was time to continue the trip. I realized that it takes over an hour to get ready, then load the bike and get rolling. I took a little side trip of 10 miles or so to buy gas in Michigan so that I could count another state. I added a total number of four to the list which if I can count correctly is 17 now. I spent the night on the east side of Buffalo, NY and will try to get an early start. I hit really bad traffic coming out of Cleveland where six lanes of traffic had to merge into one for construction. I had to revert to some "Chicago School of Offensive Driving Skills" tactics to get around some of the traffic and prevent destroying my engine. I got to my motel by the airport around 7:30 that evening. I have some friends (Mark and Tracy) that moved back into the Niagara Falls area but I wasn't able to hook up with them. It had been a long day and I was really tired. I am sorry we couldn't visit.

Tomorrow I head to Albany, head north through Vermont and spend the night in Western New Hampshire.

Michigan - 11:00AM

Ohio - 11:30AM

Pennsylvania - 4:45PM

New York - 6:00PM

Day 8 and 9 - Taking it easy

Friday, August 1st

This was another low activity day that was planned into the schedule. Spent most of the day taking it easy with our daughter Kristie. We watched the movie "The Other Women" and even though it was a chick-flick I could seriously laugh at many scenes. We picked up the bike at the Harley dealer and had the Service Manager snap a picture of us with a "clean" motorcycle. My gas mileage should improve since they removed 100 pounds of bugs from the front of the bike.

I drove to the Milwaukee area and took some side roads to where we used to live in Muskego. I wanted to avoid all of the construction going on by the zoo which is also compounded by the State Fair going on in the same vicinity.

Had dinner with my granddaughter Angela and her husband Trevor at a restaurant near their apartment. It was a nice visit and the Chicken Dumpling soup was a meal in itself. I had the build your own pasta dinner. I decided as we were leaving to put on the leather jacket since the sky was looking ominous.

I took the bypass around Chicago and ended up in Merrillville, Indiana for the rest of the weekend. I met my brother at Denny's which was between where he lives and a short distance from the hotel where I am staying.

Saturday, August 2nd

Today is the day that drove the entire schedule for this trip. The central point of the trip is the Hobart High School Class of 1969 Class Reunion. It is hard to believe that 45 years have passed since I didn't have to work for a living. I am looking forward to catching up with some of my oldest longest friends including one that I met on the first day after we moved to Hobart.

Later this afternoon I will travel to my niece's house to celebrate birthdays for my brother Bill and sister-in-law Kathy. My nephew Casey and his bride Maxine will be there as well as well along with my grand-nephews Caleb and Rory.

This has been a pleasure to spend time with my family and friends these past few days. Later today, I need to map out the details for the next segment of the trip which takes me through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and finally to Madawaska, Maine. I hope to make the third corner by Tuesday evening.

Day 7 - Arrived in Madison Wisconsin

Wednesday, August 30th

I left Sioux Falls around 8:30AM with every intent of getting to the Badger Harley-Davidson in Madison. I need to get the bike serviced since I have covered over 4,500 miles and it is time for service. The morning started out cool at 57 and got up to the mid-80's in the afternoon. Overall the trip was pleasant.

I crossed over the Minnesota border a short time later but the picture of the welcome sign did not turn out. I continued on to the center of the state and had lunch in Albert Lea, MN. As I was parking the bike a couple parked their motorcycles next to me. They were from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and had been on the road since July 11th. They were headed to Sturgis before finally heading back home. We sat together at the table and swapped stories. Outside the fast food place there was a really cool Hudson Hawk that was restored as a Hot Rod.

I headed to Austin and turned south. My secondary goal on this trip was to hit as many states as possible without going out of the way too much. My GPS is on my phone, so I typically use it only on the very last segment of the day in order to preserve the battery. I primarily use it to listed to music or podcast which helps pass the time as I drive. This side trip into Iowa was a shorter distance to Madison but would take more time since it was not Interstate highways. Since I was not using the GPS, I missed a turn on US-18 and instead continued to head south until I hit the Waterloo area. I was getting tired so I found a park a stretched out in the shade and took a nap. I then proceeded to check the map to see if I was on the right track and discovered that I had seriously gone off track which added a hundred miles or so to the days journey.

I got my bearings, and proceeded to our daughters place in Madison. I ended stopping for gas in the town of Dyersville which is where the "Field of Dreams" baseball field is located. Since I was running late, I didn't do the tourist side trip. I hit some traffic in Dubuque before crossing the Mississippi (yes, I sang the Jiminy Cricket song) and finally into my 12 of 40 states I intend to hit.

I finally got to Kristie's home around 6:45PM which was three hours later that I had expected. We had a nice conversation and Mike grilled some Bratwurst and Italian Sausages for dinner. I then proceeded to unload the bike and discovered that I had left the headlights on for over two hours. Even thought the battery was not completely dead it did not have enough juice to start the bike. I called it an early night.

Thursday, July 31st - A day of rest

I got up and had breakfast with Kris and Mike at their clubhouse. I came back and checked the bike to see if it would start and it did not. I had to call the dealer and they came out and picked up the bike to the shop for service.I got a call around 5PM that they had finished the work on the bike but would not be able to get it washed until morning. I refuse to take pictures of the front of the bike since every bug in 5 states were embedded.

Kris went to get her driver's license renewed while I got my haircut. They did a nice massage on my shoulders and neck. I also caught up on laundry doing a couple of loads. It was nice to be able to go back to bed after lunch and catch a 3-4 more hours of sleep. Kris and I spent a fair amount of time just talking. Normally, she and Trish are off shopping or planning the next family event so I seldom have the one-on-one quality time with her like this.

Tomorrow morning is spa day. They are going to have to take an industrial grinder to my feet to get the calluses off my feet. A lesson I learned in the service is "if you don't take care of your feet, they won't take care of you".