Moonshine 2012, Leg 2

Easter Sunday was spent talking, relaxing, and having a nice dinner. When evening came it was tough to go to bed, knowing I would be gone before my friends got up the next morning.

Unfortunately the long good-byes meant it was a late night, and getting up was tough Monday morning. I got a late start, so I immediately worked on trying to adjust my route to save time, but there really wasn't much to save. I had a quick breakfast at a McDonalds in South Carolina on my way to Gatlinburg, TN, where I was going to visit "Cooter's Place". The ride into Gatlinburg was absolutely beautiful, but once into town, I found there was no convenient parking. I would have to pay $6, then leave my bike and gear unattended while I walked to Cooter's Place, just to spend a few minutes checking it out quickly. I ended up just riding by and heading straight to Deal's Gap, home of the Dragon, one of the best-known riding roads in the country.

The roads to the Dragon were fantastic as I wound through the hills of Tennessee. I headed onto the Dragon about 4:30, and I was worried I missed the photographers who hang out on the corners. Fortunately there was one still there, so I got a cool shot of my bike carving the corner. I have to say even I was impressed with how the loaded-down ST, sporting a rear car tire, and a rear tire on the front, was able to lean over through the turns. I scraped my pegs about every other corner. 11 miles and 318 corners later I was tired out and at the end of the Dragon. Initial plans were to run the Cherohala Skyway after the Dragon, but it was getting late and I was going to spend the night at my friends Mike and Janice's home. Since I didn't want to roll in late, I skipped the Cherohala and headed straight to Cleveland, TN. Once again I was spending the night with friends, this time from a Jeep forum I belong to. They were gracious enough to let me spend the night with them, and we had a good time catching up. I was able to get to bed a little earlier Monday night, and left at a more reasonable time for the long haul to Carrollton, TX.

I awoke Tuesday and headed west on I-24, happy that it dipped into Georgia for just a few miles. While a technicality, it meant I could color in Georgia on my Visited States map. I then dipped down into Alabama on Rt. 72 and followed it across Alabama, Mississippi, and to Memphis. The day was beautiful- sunny and warm. I was thoroughly enjoying the south, and hoped I could make another trip to the area and take a route further south.

From Memphis I turned onto I-40 West to Little Rock, Arkansas, then onto I-30 southwest to Texas. The sun was very warm, and temps were in the 80s. I couldn't believe how hot the sun felt this early in the year. I could really get used to this! I was excited as I passed the Texas state line. Very soon after I turned west on Rt. 82 because I had a plan to move the North Texas tag. I enjoyed a nice high speed run with a little traffic as I watched a beautiful Texas sunset in front of me. I rode to the Carpenter's Bluff Bridge in Dennison. This is a cool old single lane bridge that crosses the Red River. The sun was setting so the view was limited, but I could get an idea how beautiful it was here. I got my photo then made a quick run down I-75 to my friend Jody's house in Carrollton, just outside Dallas. We grew up together but haven't seen each other in several years. We spent an emotional evening catching up. The next day I got to meet his daughter for the first time. We spent the day relaxing around the area and seeing a bit of Dallas. Unfortunately another great visit had to come to an end as I went to bed, again with the goal of being gone before anyone woke up. I needed the sleep this time, as my next leg included a Saddlesore 1000 from Hillsboro, TX to Moonshine, IL by way of Salina, KS.

Moonshine 2012: The Trip! Day 1

Moonshine 2012 began when I got out of work at 4:30 Friday afternoon, April 6th. I was hoping for a quick departure, but questions and well wishes from a few coworkers kept me there until about 4:45. I headed straight to the home of my wife's childhood friend Kris, where my wife was to meet me for a sendoff while I showered and changed clothes. This kept me from having to make the 45 minute ride home, just to backtrack again. More well wishes and catching up with friends meant that my planned 5:30 departure from her home was delayed until 6:30. The result was that I didn't save time over riding home, but I was able to spend the time with friends rather than the same ride I did everyday. A bonus to my pitstop was that Kris gave me a few packages of her farm's beef jerky. This turned out to be delicious, and just the texture I like from jerky. If you are interested in trying some, contact Belted Beef Jerky Company.

Once departed from Otokahe Farm in Jefferson, NH, I rode into Vermont and headed south on I-91. I was planning to stop in Brattleboro for dinner, but because of my late start, and the fact that I was feeling great when I got to southern VT, I chose to keep riding. I was anxious to get to warmer temps compared to the 42 degrees I departed in. I was seeing temps between 37 and 42 degrees throughout Vermont and northern Mass., but was rewarded with 50 degrees showing on my thermometer as I rode through Springfield. I continued through Connecticut and entered New York, crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge. My original plan called for riding through the night then resting for 3 hours in Virginia, but I was feeling the effects of a hard work day and was getting drowsy. While riding through NJ I pulled off into a gas station for a rest on the bike. I was hoping for about 2 hours to refresh me, but after about 45 minutes a local police officer woke me to check on me. There was no problem, he just wanted to check if there was anything wrong. Rather than trying to go back to sleep, I got back on the road and passed into PA. For a few hours I saw temps between 26-34 degrees. I was looking forward to getting further south, and warmer temps as the sun came up.

As the sun was rising I rode through Maryland, W. Virginia, and into Virginia. I had a goal of having breakfast at the Waffle House in Staunton, VA, and I was getting close. As I took the exit for Staunton, Waffle House and a gas stop, I saw that it was only 32 degrees. I joked with my waitress that I came south for warm weather, but it was warmer in northern NH! I enjoyed my waffle & sausage, and had two hot chocolates to warm me up while checking posts on ST-Owners, facebook, and my e-mail. After a relaxed breakfast I hit the road about 9:30. By then it had warmed to above 40 degrees and the sun was shining.

A few miles after my breakfast and fuel stop I turned off onto Rt. 56, a beautiful, twisty country road that leads to the Blue Ridge Parkway. After a few miles of twists and turns up the mountain I came to the Parkway and headed south. My first view of the Parkway was of a smooth, two lane country road roughly following the ridgeline of the mountain range. A few miles further I came to a pulloff at an old narrow gauge railroad bridge with a waterfall a bit further behind it. I got a few pics of the area then headed south. I pulled off a few more times at various views for pictures but mostly just enjoyed the winding road and fresh air. It was about 45 and sunny for my ride down the Parkway.

I planned to ride about a hundred miles on the Parkway, but the short nap I had the previous night was getting to me, and I was anxious to get to Leland and see my friend Joe. I turned off onto 130 East and reprogrammed the GPS for the direct route to my next stop- moving the North Carolina tag. For those not familiar with the game of photo tag, the idea is for one person to take a photo of their bike in front of some landmark, then we have to figure out where it is and ride to it, and get a photo of our bike in front of it, then a photo of the bike in front of a new landmark. Once both pics are posted, the tag is "moved" to the new landmark. The old landmark was near Raleigh, at Lizard Lick Towing. I got the pic of the old tag, then headed headed south toward Wilmington. As I turned toward Leland I saw the Battleship North Carolina and thought it would make a great tag. I stopped for a couple photos, then rode the few miles to Joe's house.

As I rode up his street Joe was outside waiting for me. He had been watching my SPOT tracker and we had talked by phone, so he knew when I'd be pulling in. Man, it was good to see him! I think it had been around 7 years since we saw each other, far too long. We greeted each other, talked about my trip, his family, and what we have been doing for the past several years. The rest of the evening was more of the same, with a quick run to town for fixings for Easter dinner the next day and my meeting Joe and Jess's daughter Lucy.

Well so much for my blog, huh? I did a decent job of updating it when the snow was on the ground, and I was in trip-planning mode. Then the snow melted...and I was in RIDING mode! I spent more time riding than posting. I'm really not ashamed of that, however, as that IS the point of riding a motorcycle, isn't it?

Let me recap my summer, before making individual posts for the significant rides. As of this posting, I put on around 32,000 miles this season. My first trip, my Moonshine ride, included 5600 miles and 25 states. It went perfectly, and was a trip I'll always remember.

My next trip was a sad one. I took a Friday off work to ride to Wisconsin for Curt Gran's funeral. I rode a total of around 2800 miles over 3 days (2 days of actual riding).

Smaller rides this summer were a few RTEs (Ride To Eats), several Iron Butt rides including my first Bun Burner Gold (1500+ miles in 24 hours), and even a Saddlesore 1000 (1000 miles/24 hours) with my wife, which was her first Iron Butt ride.

This brings me to another major update- my wife Amelia now has her very own motorcycle, a 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 500. She managed to put 8000 miles on this year since buying her bike in June. I'm extremely proud of what she has accomplished!