Day 23 on the road and we are home. 100 miles today 7,054 total

The trip is over.
Didn't get to see everything we wanted to because of snow, rain and tornadoes but we got through it safe and sound. That is more than we can say for our bikes.
7,054 miles total for a trip that we thought would be closer to 10,000.
Now I have maintainance to be done on my bike to get through this season and be ready for next season.

Day 22 7th day coming home 435 miles today. 6,954 so far

Still cant post photos but will do a dialog.
Left Front Royal Virginia,
Went through a piece of West VA,
Went through a piece of Maryland,
Went through a piece of Pennsylvania,
Went through a piece of New Jersey,
Crossed the Hudson river into New York,
Ended up in Connecticut.
A few more hours tomorrow and we are home.

Day 21. 6th day coming home. 438 miles today

The blog site STILL wont let me post photos. @%^^%$#^&%$&^%$&

I will get yesterdays and today's up as soon as I can.

Day 19 4th day coming home 588 miles 5,747 miles so far

Things started out a bit cool but warmed as we went along.
Here are some photos I took along the way.
This fella was taking last weeks beer cans to the redemption center.
He should be able to retire on this haul.

 Do you recognize this thing on the flat bed?

 It's an Abrams tank!!!

 I was going along. Minding my own business. Passing a truck and.................
LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HE IS IN MY LANE!!!!!!!!!!!!

That truck was being towed.
:-)

Not much more on the road across Arkansas until we got close to the Mississippi river.
This field was about a mile from the river.
Gonna be a while before that can be planted.

The mighty Mississippi. Starting up onto the bridge from Arkansas to Tennessee

Our first view of Memphis.

We made it to Tennessee

Al and i got off the highway and headed into Memphis to go to the tourist welcome center to get a map and flyers.
We found a "special" spot to park.
JUST for firefighters.
Can you see why it is so??

We did the obligatory tourist photo thing.

Do you know who this mas is?? (was)

Did you guess correctly??

How about this guy???

Contrary to popular opinion he did NOT leave the building.

Here is a photo taken in Tennessee.
Do you know her name?????

Elsie.......... Been a while since I have seen her!!!
Here is the current map.

Headed to Twisty roads in Tennessee and North Carolina tomorrow.

Day 18 2nd day coming home 486 miles

The day did not start well.
When we walked out of the hotel this is what we saw.

Someone had pushed Al's onto its side smashing a mirror and the front cowl.
Mine was pushed into a wall. That didn't do enough damage so they bent both my antennas over.

Here are photos showing before and after.
We waited an hour for the police but they didnt show so we left.
The security camera didn't work. FIGURES
And......... Just to add to my aggravation.... My GPS crapped out... I feel naked without it.

Antifreeze from Al's bike

We took off in not such a happy mood and made our way out of Texas to Oklahoma

Oklahoma City

The fella must have a big Johnson to get his own road

 Oil rig

 Another oil rig

 This guy was doing 70+ and the dog was not tied in any way. The dog did look calm.

 Oklahoma looks different than Texas

 This "thing" (art) was over the highway in Oklahoma City. I have no idea what it represents

 A B-52 road side.

 Trees and grass instead of desert

 I have no idea what crop this is

 Following route 40 is easy

 Truck stop

Made it to Arkansas for the night.
Checked in at 6:20 PM. LONG DAY

I hope someone is looking. I would rather be laying down right now.
Amarillo TX to Fort Smith AK

Day 17 Second day coming home 280 miles

Holey-Moley what a day.
We left Albuquerque New Mexico this morning about 8:30 and it wasn't bad weather-wise.

 

It looked nice and I didn't wear all my cold weather cloths.
However..... Things changed just a few minutes down the road.

Those clouds didn't look good and it was getting colder by the minute.
When I checked the temperature on the bike dash I knew why I was cold.

I checked that temp on a wind chill chart. We were doing 75 MPH (legally) and the wind chill figures out to about 12 degrees.
We stopped and I put on my turtle neck shirt, tall poly sox and cold weather gloves.
With my heated jacket turned up all the way I was STILL cold as we went down the road.
The wind was so strong from the north (from our left) that the bike was leaning left for over 250 miles.
This sign shows what will happen if the winds get to strong.
We are paralleling route 66 and that is the road we would have to get on if they close route 40. 

Driving along in New Mexico can be boring.
The road goes on and on and on and on and on and on...........

There was something that caught my attention on the road.
I saw this ahead and wondered... WHAT is that???
Can you guess???

If life gives you lemons.... Make lemonade.

I did find out how they make trucks in New Mexico.
In a factory you say???
NOT..........
They breed them!!!!!

Al and I stopped at a McDonald's for some hot chocolate.
This mural was painted on a wall.
It depicts the old route 66 which goes east and west and is a lot like route 1 that runs north and south on the east coast. When route 40 was built route 66 died like route 1 did after route 95 was done.

We FINALLY got to the end of New Mexico.

And entered Texas

I was looking forward to different scenery
NOT..........
North Texas looks just like south Texas just COLDER!!!!!!!!!!!
How far can you see when sitting on the bike? 15 miles??? There is NOTHING all the way to the horizon!!!!

After freezing, when with our heated clothing turned up to max, we pulled the plug on the day at 2:30 and checked into this hotel.
WOW.......... Fancy digs for tonight with an Outback Steak House right next door!!!
That is Al outside our room.

 From the door looking in on Al resting while he watches the weather channel

 Looking toward the door with the pool in view

I have a bathing suit but not Al

This is a TV shot I took showing where we are.
See the snow / rain line???

Here is the map for our trip so far.