Route 66 - the start

We made our final preparations for Rt 66 on Saturday morning. First we had to load the bikes with all our gear.

Stu made a final dump run, finished other outside chores while I cleaned inside and brought in the slides. We moved the bikes (and trailer) to the front of the driveway and pulled Scooby under the pavilion. Perfect fit!

 

Snausage tried to help....we talked to the neighbors yesterday and they are going to keep working with him in hopes of eventually getting him comfortable with people.

So the bikes were loaded and we were ready to go!

We headed out around 12:30 and had a wonderful afternoon of riding the back roads. The weather wasn't too hot for the most part. We even stopped for a nice peanut butter sandwich lunch break at a park.

We spent the night in a VERY nice Best Western in eastern Louisville. After a decent hot breakfast buffet, we loaded up the bikes - conveniently in the shade.

Sunday was brutal...hot, Hot, HOt and HOTTER! We ended up with too many miles planned, already paid for our hotel and just kept going. Many stops to cool down, get ice and gas before we finally pulled into the Red Roof on the edge of Chicago. No frills (no pool, no breakfast) but VERY nicely refurbished. King bed - we both slept well, so well we decided to stay a second night to rest our sore muscles and tired bodies.

We both slept in before heading over to a local recommended restaurant, Honey-Jam Cafe (almost walking distance from the hotel). We had a great breakfast with superb coffee. (My bike stayed put along with the trailer.)

Filled, we headed out to see what we could find locally on Rt 66 before we "officially" start tomorrow. Here are a few shots...

We came back to the room to cool down, take a nap (Stu) and catch up online (me). LOL! Then we plan to take in a movie and dinner. Tomorrow we plan to set the alarm and get an early start so we can have an early stop. Another day in the upper 90's and Wednesday looks to be the same. We'll take a couple of days, looking forward to cooler weather moving in on Thursday.

Rolling right along...

Not much going on here on the home front but Stu has been having fun on his motorcycle trip. He won't meet up with his buddies until Monday night. Here are a few photos he's taken along the way...

National Corvette Museum

Wrangler Campground, Golden, KY

Metropoilis, IL

Tonight he is in a hotel while he visits our good friends Dave & Renee, around St Louis area. They are going to the drag races tonight.

Another dreary day....

It's been cloudy and drizzly since Friday with temps hovering in the 50's for highs. Sadie is tired of it and so are we....LOL! It looks like we have one more day of this and then the sun will appear (at least part time) on Wednesday and by Saturday we'll be back into the low to mid 80's. Not complaining....at least we are in the middle of wildfires or flooding!

Things are moving slowly on the property...just updated the Fire Lily Base Camp blog.

Forgot to mention in the previous blogs about the cute little town names we passed through, as well as cute little towns. We were really impressed with Geneseo, NY, Franklin, PA and Columbiana, OH. Pretty towns with active, thriving downtown areas that incorporated the historic look with viable stores and shops of today.

As to interesting town names...we were thrilled to be in Bliss [NY], played in Arcade [NY], wondered what Sadie would have thought about Barkeyville [PA], felt slick as we rode through Oil City [PA], thought we might be in the movies as we passed through Pleasantville, [PA], dodged Torpedo [PA], held our chests high in Busti [NY], wondered if we were really in FL as we passed Silver Springs and Gainesville [NY], tried not to feel Funk [OH], wondered if we were wearing the right color in Olive Green [OH].

We also saw signs for the Orient [PA] and Route 666 [OH], Cranberry [PA], Sadieville [KY], Yosemite [KY] and Wyoming [NY]. Hope you'll stop in and read my other blog, What State are YOU in?

We've extended our stay for another month here at Maple Hill RV Campground. We plan to attend some local cruise-in nights (bikes and cars) both locally and an hour or so away. We still haven't made firm plans to visit Dollywood, but plan to visit at least two days in the next month. 

We're three weeks from heading Louisiana to meet up with 50-60 of our motorcycling friends for a long weekend. Hope to do a little more of New Orleans but that depends on how well Sadie gets along with our host's dog. We'll be camping (yes, tent and air mattress) in their yard along with several others. Should be interesting...

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

So what's up?

I know, it's been a while since we posted. First we were busy with family in New York at my stepson's memorial service. While wonderful to see family and friends, we all wished it was under different circumstances.

The highlight was the letting go of balloons for him...anyone that wanted to could write their thoughts/wishes on one.

I grabbed shots of Stu, my youngest daughter and my son as well as my two grandsons - Mike and Jamie.

Some family left on Saturday, others on Sunday. We were in the Sunday group. We didn't rush off since we planned on a short day, ending in Jamestown, NY. That is the home of Jamestown Harley-Davidson, the dealership where my late husband and I bought our first bikes.

Since we have property in Jamestown, TN and I bought my last bike in Jamestown, ND it was very appropriate to stop in Jamestown, NY and get a t-shirt (no new bikes...LOL!). So we hit the road about noon and took all back roads. Gorgeous ride, perfect weather....

Monday after visiting the dealership we hit the road...another good day although cloudy at times, the temps were in the 70's. Again, we took all back roads and still managed about 330 miles, stopping just outside Columbus, OH.

Tuesday the weather turned HOT...with the day ending at close to 90 degrees. At one point we had to put on rain gear but the rain disappeared and we were sweltering in our gear which was soon taken off and stored.

We arrived home around 6 pm on Tuesday, unloaded our filthy bikes and rested. Wednesday i started working on the eight loads of laundry and in the afternoon we picked up Miss Sadie. She was glad to see us (she already blogged).

Side note...we rode through or past signs for Jamestown PA, Jamestown OH and Jamestown KY. Phew!!

Thursday I headed to the Harley dealer in Cookeville to get my 5k service done (with 5900 miles on the bike...LOL!). While there I decided to upgrade my bike a bit....changed to new slip-ons (little more sound) and had the stage one upgrade done for performance. Had a GREAT ride home where we relaxed the rest of the day.

Today Stu had an ortho appointment to get a local doctor to take a look at his left knee. The doctor injected cortisone and we'll be back in another month (although in the Nashville office) to get x-rays and hopefully get the Synvisc-One injection (if approved by our insurance).

Afterwards we decided to take in a movie. We were early so Stu walked Sadie around the parking lot for a bit, letting her stretch her legs.

We saw Thor and both enjoyed it. Next week it's my turn to choose...hoping to catch Bridesmaids.

Tomorrow morning we meet up with our contractor to get an estimate on getting our water and electric installed. That's it...think we got you caught up on everything important!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Day Two of riding to Rochester, NY

All in all, not a bad day. We slept in (that means any time after 7 am), had a good 'free' breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express (scrambled eggs, paper thin crisp bacon, bagels, yogurt, pastries, muffins and more were available) and managed to get on the road by 9:30. All our gear was dry, thanks to our spreading it all over the hotel room and in front of the heater.

It was chilly and cloudy as we headed out. We donned our heated gear only to discover that Stu forgot his jacket liner and I forgot my adapter....on my Nightster when I traded it in. LOL! Multi-layered, we took off. The temps seemed to drop for the first couple of hours. I saw one bank sign with 47 showing as the current temp....brrrrrr.

The rain held off until sometime between 11-12 when we stopped at a Bob Evans for a snack and hot coffee. I remembered that I had the direct-connect battery cable for my gear so Stu took the time to put it on my bike.

Thank you, Stu....unfortunately, it didn't work. We're still not sure why, he's done some troubleshooting and will check it again in the morning. We waited out the heaviest rain and then got back on the road with full bellies and warm bodies.

We hit a few more spits of rain but not enough to slow us down. Getting on the Interstate system meant making good time....it also meant it felt a lot cooler, no COLDER because we were traveling faster. Several stops to warm up with a final dinner stop about an hour south of Cleveland where we are spending the night.

We made 330 miles today...even enjoyed some sun late in the day. The highlight of the day was seeing flags displayed along the entire length of the fencing on an overpass above I-71.

We hope to get an early start tomorrow, pushing through the final leg of our trip, 280 miles. While cool to start, it should warm up more than today....we look forward to that.

For those that asked why we didn't take the truck...it gets 9 mpg/diesel. The bikes get 40-50 mpg/gas. Also, originally it was just me traveling...it was a last minute change for Stu to join me (a welcome change). Yes, we may be dumb but as one commenter said, any day on a bike is a good day (just some are 'gooder' than others....LOL!).

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Day One to Rochester, NY

Just a short post to let everyone know we're okay. It was a rough day from the start. For whatever reason I couldn't sleep and finally managed to get 3 1/2 hours before getting up at 7 am....to rain, lots of rain.

We ate, got the bikes loaded under the awning and geared up best as we could. We hit the road at 9:15 (CT) after stopping for gas. We had no idea that it was going downhill from there. Our route today was all back roads, twisty mountain roads with little room for error. We made two stops. The first was at a McDonald's around noon (ET). It was pouring, we were dripping and getting cold.

My jacket that I had carefully waterproofed twice, was soaked and that meant my two layers underneath were also soaked...at least the sleeves. I always carry a spare long-sleeved shirt in my saddlebags so I changed into that. My fleece and neck buff dried fairly well under the bathroom hand drier. Stu did the same with some of his gear.

Since my jacket wasn't keeping me dry, I layered my Harley rain jacket underneath, not wanting to trap in the wet from the outer jacket. I got a pair of disposable gloves that I layered underneath my not working so well rain gloves.

The rain lessened, we were warmer and we headed off again. We stopped around two at The Bread of Life Cafe in Liberty, KY. We were both chilled to the bone, Stu's boots had soaked through, I was shivering and couldn't feel my hands. We needed to dry out, warm up and eat...not necessarily in that order.

The waitress brought us a bath towel to dry off a bit and then I put it on the floor under my jacket to catch the water pooling there. The coffee was hot and plentiful, the food was good and the service excellent. Stu got two plastic shopping bags and put them over dry socks inside his wet boots. We both dug out dry gloves and I added my denim jacket under my other layers.

Let's see...camisole top, long sleeved tee, lightweight denim jacket, fleece windbreaker topped with my rain jacket. The original textile jacket was now rolled up and fastened with a cargo net to my luggage. Since the temperature was dropping and the jacket was soaked through, it was acting like a refrigeration layer. Brrrr.....

The rain was almost gone but the temperatures continued to drop. By the time we found a hotel in Nicholasville (Holiday Inn Express), it was down to 49 degrees and we were done for the night.

Gear is now spread all over the room, drying out. We're warmed up, full of hot coffee and resting. Aleve....take me away! Tomorrow is another day, less rain but cooler temperatures. We both dug our electric gear out of our saddlebags...hopefully we'll have a LOT less rain.

We had hoped to make 300 miles today and tomorrow, making Thursday an easy 150 miles. Didn't happen...made 135 miles today. Weather will determine if we can make it up tomorrow. Once we hit the interstate system we can make better time.

Oh, funny moment of the day....Stu and I standing in the foyer of the restaurant with him balancing on one leg, changing into dry socks and a guy stops to talk about the trike and how his wife wants one. Had to smile....

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Bits and pieces....

Nothing major going on....we had planned to take a centerline photo today but the weather had other plans for us. So we're spending the day doing chores, getting ready to leave on our road trip to Rochester, NY early Tuesday morning.

Wanted to pass along a great buy to my blogging friends...recently Amazon dropped the price on Microsoft Streets and Trips 2011 to $24.99. Needless to say I snagged a copy...there might not be many changes from 2010 but we were still on 2009.

The biggest advantage to the 2010/2011 versions is the ability to easily hide/show groups of POI (points of interests). That combined with the mega-file that you can download, you have an easy way to show locations for places ranging from Wal-Marts, Cabela's, various truck stops, rest areas, COE and much, much, much more. In older versions of S&T you had to download and install umpteen individual files to accomplish this...and you either saw them all (if loaded into one base map) or you had to load them each into individual map files. I love the new version!

We did an update to our Route 66 travel plans as well as prompted everyone about keeping fleas/ticks/heartworms away from your pets. Yup, we found several ticks on Sadie, not unexpected after having her run the property several days in a row.

We got in an amazing ride yesterday....about 135 miles, four hours through Pickett State Park and Daniel Boone National Forest. Up into Kentucky and back around home via mostly back roads with mountains and lots of twisties. All this and very little traffic. Perfect afternoon!



Tomorrow Stu meets with the electric company to see about getting power installed, then he'll need to set up an appointment with an electrician for the post/receptacle. Tomorrow afternoon we'll take Sadie to her doggie camp, Copyright Pet Resort, in Cookeville, I'll try to get a haircut and hopefully we'll squeeze in a movie (probably the new Fast and Furious - Fast Five). Oh yeah, and we need to pack...LOL!

Here's a friend who came to visit yesterday....



Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Family, Motorcycles & Northern Kentucky

We arrived at Oak Creek Campground via the scenic route....let me back up a step. We left the service plaza on the Ohio Turnpike and headed towards Cincinnati where my son lives. As we got closer I sent him a text message with our estimated arrival time (for some reason I had next to no voice thanks to whatever was blooming in eastern OH...LOL!). He suggested we meet at the Harley Dealer that happened to be close to his house.

Introductions & shopping done (had to get Stu a Firefighter Edition t-shirt), from there we headed to the campground. A straight shot, my son told us. Traffic wasn't bad in the city and before we knew it we were in Kentucky. As we approached a major split in the highway we noticed that BIBs (our GPS) was silent. Closer and closer we came to the intersection...still not a peep out of her. So Stu made an executive decision and took the right hand split. Needless to say, BIBs then decided to speak.....we heard the dreaded words....."Recalculating".

While we inspected the new directions I noticed a sign for our campground. Hmmm, why turn around and go back xx number of miles when we can just take this road. So we took the next exit and followed the campground signs......and discovered why maybe we should have turned around and gone back those xx number of miles. LOL! Narrow, twisting roads...tight turns, lots of trees and even a guardrail laid almost on its side. Hmmm....was this the campground that mentioned big rigs coming in from the highway side? We made it, including the turn into the campground which had us about turning inside our selves to make it.

We got settled in and then headed into town for dinner with my son & his wife. Nice place, topped off a good dinner with some good ice cream at the 100 year old Aglamesis Brothers. Yum! We made plans to meet around 10 on Sunday morning for a nice ride around the Kentucky countryside.

Our first stop was at Jane's Saddlebags, a local biker spot. Turns out they had closed for the season but had opened up due to a large ride coming through....what luck. It's a unique little stop, acres of land, little outbuildings of all types, fun for kids, food service, little store and so much more. Here are a few shots. More in the SmugMug album.



After that stop we headed out on some nice back roads with the next destination being the quirky little town of Rabbit Hash, KY. There were not only bikes galore but several nice Corvettes parked on the street. We found a parking spot and wandered the stores, checked out the old buildings and flood markers, watched the riverboat across the way, grabbed a bite to eat and just generally had a good time. More photos are in the SmugMug album.



From there we wandered all over the countryside....great riding! Eventually we stopped in the little town of Augusta, KY where we would take the ferry across to Ohio. First we wandered the little shops where I got a HUGE surprise. I had been on the lookout for a small basket for the kitchen counter. I saw one in the general store in Rabbit Hash but it wasn't for sale.



While in the Rosehill Marketplace I saw a basket holding a bunch of old silverware and I asked if it was for sale. The lady said I was the second person to ask that and I laughed and told her it matched two other baskets we had in the RV. She said if she could find a basket in the back that would work to hold the silverware then I could have it. She came back with one and I helped her transfer the contents. She told me it was mine...I wandered a little more and then stood at the register to pay. She came up and told me to take it, it was mine. No charge!! I was amazed and pleased. So, if you are ever in Augusta, KY please stop into this little shop:

Rosehill Marketplace
Antiques, Accessories & Gifts
131 Main Street
Augusta, KY 41002
606-756-2598

The ferry ride was fun, small boat where the engine/captain portion actually pivots to head in the opposite direction.



Once back in Ohio we headed towards Cincinnati again...time for pizza. Along the way we stopped for a break at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Park. While resting a couple rode in on a Can Am Spyder. Having now seen both this and the Piaggio MP3, I like the looks of the Piaggio best.



What a wonderful day....riding was perfect, the quirky little stops were right up my alley, I got my first ferry ride and then had dinner with family. Doesn't get much better...



Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu