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[guitarhack]

Thursday, June 14th
Mileage: ~ 450




After a wonderful breakfast, I bid Debbie and Sarah so long, and hit the road. My plan was to be in Memphis Friday night, so I needed to make tracks.

Debbie had been been suffering from asthma symptoms since I had been there, because of the wildfire smoke. This morning it was REALLY smokey - and windy. I was glad to get out of the area and get to clean air.

Those of you that have ridden this area of the country can attest to this: there isn't much to see between Colorado Springs and northern Texas. If you would like to experience the ride for yourself, and not have to invest the travel time, do this:

1. Borrow a jet dryer from your local NASCAR track
2. Borrow a commercial oven from you local Pizza Hut
3. Point the dryer at the mouth of the oven (while the oven is set on nuclear)
4. Get down-wind of the oven, making sure the jet-dryer is blasting you from the side with intermittent 40-60 mph gusts
5. While in that position, stare at the below picture for 6 or 7 hours.



All kidding aside, I took few pictures that day. The wind and the heat kicked my butt.



Crossed into OK briefly



One notable distraction, my iPod, while randomly streaming music as I rode, finished playing "All My Ex's Live In Texas" just moments prior to seeing this sign.



I had several music coincidences like that during the trip - most of which I have forgotten. One I remember was when I was riding in a huge storm in eastern Colorado before making it to Denver at the beginning of the trip - the iPod played The Who's, Love, Reign O'er Me.




I saw several fields with these yellow flowers. For all I know they are weeds - but they looked nice.





Anyway... needless to say, I didn't take many pics that day. Frankly I was just trying to put miles behind me. It was tough, hot, windy, riding. In addition to the above, about all I missed showing you were oil wells, oil refineries, (and their distinctive smells).

Two more days to post, and this RR in done.

[Rodsbike]

Really enjoying this RR. Utah looks a gret place to do a bike trip. I am really amazed at the cleanliness of the roads an environs on the photos. Congrats to Miss SATS smartipants. Hope she goes on with her studies. Must do a "family reunion" trip here. Look forward to the rest of the RR if possible lets have some stats of the Wee attained on the trip.

[guitarhack]

Friday, June 15
Mileage: ~ 650

Today was the longest riding day of the trip.


...It was all super-slab, and photo opportunities were few and far between

As I mentioned in the last post, I fought heavy winds the day before. After getting settled in at the hotel, and after a quick dinner, the day crescendoed with an incredible thunder storm. It was good timing. Had the storm hit an hour earlier, I would have been out in the middle of nowhere with no opportunity for cover. I was glad to have a covered parking spot outside the lobby, and was actually concerned the bike would get blown over.

Thankfully, the only effect of the bike was a few less bugs were on it in the morning.

My plan was to make it to RedBud's in the late afternoon. So I needed to get on the road early. I set the alarm and went to bed early. The alarm never went off, but I only woke up about an hour later than I had wished. So I packed up and left in a rush - and apparently left my camera lanyard in the room somewhere. Oh well. After a quick breakfast I hit the slab and headed west.


I guess mother nature didn't think my shower at the hotel was adequate, and she gave me another.

The shower I just drove through


Thankfully I didn't get too wet. As it tended to work out, I finally gave in and put on my rain gear - past that point it didn't rain again.


I passed into Oklahoma one more time. (Yesterday I passed through the panhandle)


Impressions of Oklahoma: it was much more wooded and green than I expected. I liked it.



And then I passed into Arkansas....



...and headed towards Memphis.




The wind picked up again for the second day in a row. The trees helped a lot, but when I rode near a wide-open field, it was like fighting a non-stop blast from passing a semi





Nearing Memphis








Old man river....






Remember, I had left my lanyard at the hotel in Texas. I wasn't real excited about taking these pics - with no drop-protection..


Is the Egypt or Tennessee?



I wasn't expecting a pyramid



Tonight's accommodations were at the Red Bud Inn (pics from my phone are small for some reason)



I wish I had taken more pictures, but RedBud was an awesome host.
No sooner had I unpacked, and gotten cleaned up, he treated me to a steak dinner.




Not only was RB in pain, recovering from surgery resulting from a broken collar bone, he had worked in the Memphis heat all day at his construction project. None the less, he asked me if I had ever been to Memphis. I hadn't, so he insisted that we take a quick tour and then enjoy Beale Street.

We had a blast!















These guys were REALLY good




My wife saw the below pick in real-time on Facebook (via mobile upload) and thought we were in a Cops episode.



We were at Beale Street for several hours...

(another goof photo that ended up kinda cool)

...but after a while we figured we had better head back to Red Bud's place before the we really ended up in a Cops episode.

Not until after we were back at his apartment (1:00AM-ish)...

...and after Red Bud showed off his new vintage project bike...



...did he fess up that he had to go to work early in the morning.

Mark, if you are reading this: I owe you one buddy. You went WAY above and beyond.

[red bud]

talk about goofed pictures, i walk of the apt to get something out of my truck and i see the hack go by looking for the right


apartment. I whip out my camera, thinking i'll get a cool picture of him coming in when he comes back around the garage

looks like my camera may have been on pain meds too



i was off my game i only took one picture of brad & me..........thats us ya can't see in the mirror behind the flash





ok i got a couple of ok pictures

[m5guy]

Guitarhack, thanks for posting your ride photos and daily reports. What a great idea to have your chase crew (aka family) making the trip with you. Sounds like the best kind of vacation -- you get to ride as much as you want, and your family gets to travel in comfort and enjoy the sights with you. I looked over at my wife who is watching me read your thread out of the corner of her eye and said, "Honey, when the girls get a little older we should do a road trip like this one!"

[capeklr]

Great ride report Brad, thanks for taking the time to post all your pics.
Jörg.

[guitarhack]

Originally Posted by Rodsbike

Really enjoying this RR. Utah looks a gret place to do a bike trip. I am really amazed at the cleanliness of the roads an environs on the photos. Congrats to Miss SATS smartipants. Hope she goes on with her studies. Must do a "family reunion" trip here. Look forward to the rest of the RR if possible lets have some stats of the Wee attained on the trip.

Thanks Rod.

Come to think of it, you're right. It hadn't occurred to me, but the roads were very tidy. Other than a few exceptions, people do seem to finally be catching on and not pitching their trash on the road. Also, thanks for the kind words regarding Christina. We are very proud of her ...in case you hadn't noticed

Also, I will post of end of trip stats when I get a chance

Originally Posted by m5guy

Guitarhack, thanks for posting your ride photos and daily reports. What a great idea to have your chase crew (aka family) making the trip with you. Sounds like the best kind of vacation -- you get to ride as much as you want, and your family gets to travel in comfort and enjoy the sights with you. I looked over at my wife who is watching me read your thread out of the corner of her eye and said, "Honey, when the girls get a little older we should do a road trip like this one!"

The "Support Crew" thing kinda worked out. At times it seemed ridiculous to be filling two gas tanks (and driving two vehicles) but all in all it worked. My wife might possibly disagree, but I thought it was a nice balance. ...although there were times my wife grew tired of driving. At the risk of stating the obvious, I am really lucky to have married such a good sport.

Originally Posted by capeklr

Great ride report Brad, thanks for taking the time to post all your pics.
Jörg.

Thanks Jorg.

Doing this RR ended up being a lot of fun. Thanks for following along.

[guitarhack]

Saturday, June 16th
Mileage: ~ 450

The Last Leg.

I woke up early, but Red Bud had already left for work. He had to have been exhausted.

The night before he had given me a quick tour of Memphis, but it was at dusk - so I wasn't able to get pics. So I just had to run by Graceland and take a pic or two.





I didn't notice it at the time I took these pics, as I didn't stay long (I was trying not to get fussed at for blocking the road), but virtually every square inch had some sort of note scribbled on it. Notes to Elvis?




I never got off the bike. This is the best pic I could get of the home...


Graceland was out of my way, and I was anxious to get home, so I didn't stay long.

Today's route





The Mississippi state line sign caught me by surprise, and I missed it. But I did capture the Alabama sign.



...and getting ever-closer to home, I got the Georgia sign too.




Finally, in the afternoon, I made it home, unpacked, and tucked the Wee back into her spot in the workshop.




Some final statistics:
Total Mileage: 5034

Total States Visited: 15



Number of National Parks Visited: 8




Total Cost: Hard to say...
We had frequent flyer miles and $1000.00 of free hotel rooms. ...but we stayed in expensive hotels. All in all it was probably $1500 - $2000. It could be done for a lot less if you stay in cheaper hotels.

Whatever it cost, it was worth it.

... we collected a lot of stickers...
(not all of these were new from this trip)




...and no doubt the rain will eventually cause them to peel off...




...but the memories will stay with me for the rest of my life.


Thanks for following along.


Brad

[steve3b3]

Brad,

I'm glad I found your trip report.
You took excellent pictures, and they make me want to visit.
I don't know how you found the time for the trip, but I know I've got to carve it out of my life for a trip such as this.

Steve

[GSequoia]

I dunno man, looks like you should have pushed on to Vegas as well so you could be roughly as far away from the Pacific Ocean as you were from the Atlantic Ocean.

[Gart]

Like many others have said, your trip report (and associated pictures) are an inspiration to get out and see America for what she truly is.

Thanks for your time to post this.

[waterboybueche]

What a great read.

I am envious and happy to see a Wee RR. I am looking into one this winter...

Thanks again and glad you and the support crew are safe and sound

[guitarhack]

Originally Posted by waterboybueche

What a great read.

I am envious and happy to see a Wee RR. I am looking into one this winter...

Thanks again and glad you and the support crew are safe and sound

Thanks for the kind words. I have really enjoyed my Wee. It has been a great bike,

[dave6253]

Originally Posted by guitarhack

Anybody know the story of this little building?

...Look at that rock behind it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_..._Behunin_Cabin


Hey! I missed this great report this summer since I was out riding. Very enjoyable. You know how to pick a route guitarhack.

BTW, You would've been able to ride the switchbacks here, no problem and probably beaten your support crew back to town.

[guitarhack]

Originally Posted by dave6253

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_..._Behunin_Cabin


Hey! I missed this great report this summer since I was out riding. Very enjoyable. You know how to pick a route guitarhack.

BTW, You would've been able to ride the switchbacks here, no problem and probably beaten your support crew back to town.

Hey cool! Thanks

I figured one of you FFs would know the significance of that little house.