The Next Road Trip

Around The Lake


It's never too early to start thinking about my next trip. I'd really like to do a small trip with Kari, I know she'd enjoy it a great deal. Obviously it's a challenge with 3 young children at home, but with the help of my mom we could make it happen at some point. The first trip that we're looking at would be a trip around Lake Michigan. It's just a little under 950 miles, and I figure that it could be made into two long days or three manageable days depending on how much time we had. It would be a nice trip, I know several people (Sharon Polite, Andy Trevino) that have done the trip and they seemed to enjoy it.

I've already looked into some changes I'd like to make to my bike to make it a little more comfortable for a longer trip. This would include adding a windshield or fairing as well as some hard saddle bags that were easier to manage. If Kari comes along I'd also need some kind of rear rack to store things on behind the sissy bar. It's fun to dream about the next adventure, fun to thing of sharing it with Kari! :)

Day 4 - 320 miles home

I woke at 2am on day 4. I didn't mean to wake up that early, but I was awaken by some kind of choking fit my dad was having and realized that I couldn't fall back asleep. At 2:30am I packed my things onto the ol' Harley for the last time and began my trip home. The first couple of hours were pretty uneventful, as the roads were clear and I was by myself most of the time. I swung past Springfield, Illinois and began heading north on 55. I stopped twice along the way, once for gas and another just to get off the bike for a while.

It wasn't until I got to Joliet and onto 80/94 east that it really hit me that my trip was ending at 3.25 days rather than the 10-12 that I had planned on. It was very nice to see Kari and the kids, but I have to admit that continue to be very disappointed in how my summer vacation ended so abruptly. I'm not sure what I would have done differently if I were to do it again. I had a great time for the time that I was on the road. It was fun and challenging, just what I'd hoped for. I road in several states for the first time, visited several major cities for the first time, and was a hop, skip, and a jump away from Texas before the big surprise hit me. I'm disappointed that nothing stopped us from continuing, we stopped ourselves.

There are some positive things!

First of all, I gained some valuable experience on the road. I learned how to pack my bags on my bike effectively, and also figured out some things that I'd change about my bike before I took on another trip like this. Another great thing is that I've already got two great leads on a bike trip for next year! I have a friend that might be interested in a fun road trip next summer, and Kari and I have talked many times about she and I hitting the road either with the kids or just her and I. I am signing off, thanks to those of you that followed me on my fun yet abbreviated summer motorcycle trip.

Day Three - 571 miles - The Wrong Way!

Somehow a picture of a dead armadillo that Doug and I came across on day 2 is a fitting picture for this entry. As mentioned, day 2 was very hot and trying on our group. We finished up the evening with a trip to the Waffle House, and then relaxed with a trip to the hotel pool to relax. We decided as a group to wake up early on day 3 with hopes of getting an earlier start to avoid the hottest temperatures. When we got moving for day 3 we had a surprising decision made. Two of the group of four decided that it was too hot and too hard, and the decision was made than rather than moving on to Amarillo, Texas as planned we would instead drive up to Wichita, Kansas and effectively cutting the trip by more than half. Gone was a trip to the west coast, and instead we would travel north through Kansas before heading back into Missouri and eventually Illinois and home to Indiana. As we traveled through the flat lands of Kansas I must admit that I was in shock of what had transpired. I went from being very excited about the trip (I mean really, who blogs about a trip that they aren't excited about! :) ) to being extremely disappointed and simply wanting to go home as fast as possible. We traveled through Kansas quickly, dealing with a short rain storm along the way before heading back into Missouri. We did manage to stop in at a Harley Davidson dealership in Kansas City for some souvenirs. Once we left Kansas City we headed north for a bit then traveled east across Missouri. Once again we enjoyed the rolling hills of Missouri. Our day ended in Hannibal, Missouri, just short of the Missouri/Illinois border. I decided that I was going to travel home early on day 4.

Day Two - 288 miles

Day Two - 288 miles

I realized that I ended up averaging 48.5 miles to the gallon on day 1! Not bad! The Harley has been doing great so far, it's been a joy to ride.

Today we started in Springfield, Missouri at the hotel with a shower and a breakfast. We got on the road and soon we came across Joplin, Missouri. Some of you may remember that Joplin recently dealt with a horrible tornado and lost many lives. We didn't realize how large Joplin was until we saw that it had 5 exits on the highway we were traveling on. At one point while we were driving I looked to the right side of the road and saw several highway signs that had been mangled and destroyed in the tornado. As soon as I saw that I immediately looked to the left side of the road and there was a neighborhood that had just been drilled by the tornado. There were houses that were missing roofs, siding was ripped off of houses, backyards just in shambles. It was awful.

It wasn't long after that where we left Missouri behind and headed into Oklahoma. We stopped at a visitor's center and it was then that I realized how deeply the history of Oklahoma is intertwined with the Indian culture. It was interesting to learn that different parts of the southern states are marked as areas for different tribes. I would be driving along and would see a sign that would say, "Entering Kickapoo Tribe Territory" or something like that. There were also many casinos along the way, many ran by the different tribes that were connected to that particular area.

Missouri has a helmet law, meaning that all motorcyclists must wear helmets. Once we got into Oklahoma we took off the helmets just for a rest, I can tell you that my neck was sore for having driven so long for the two days. It was nice to feel out in the wind a little more, but later on in the day I put my helmet back on to get out of the wind for a bit. :)

If Missouri was hilly, Oklahoma started off very flat before transitioning back into a rolling hills environment. Oklahoma transitioned back and forth between hilly and flat plains that were used for cattle and crops. There was a ton of traffic between Miami and Tulsa, it was tough to drive in one lane traffic over a long distance. It wasn't much fun, and as the temperature rose it was getting worse fast! As we headed into Tulsa we got lunch and went to the Route 66 Harley Davidson dealership. Man, they have some great deals! Their prices were $2,000 - $2,500 cheaper than I'm used to seeing in Porter County! I may be flying out to Tulsa when it's time to get a new bike!

Finally we headed out of Tulsa, but the temperature had rose to over 104 degrees. Driving on the asphalt was awful, it was like you were getting hit twice, once from the sun and then again from the asphalt! We were dealing with overheating bikes and bodies, so once we got into Oklahoma City we decided it was enough for the day. We finished up with dinner and decided to call it a day. The plan is to get moving earlier tomorrow to try and drive in cooler temperatures!

Most of our miles today came along the historic Route 66 highway! It was neat to see the small towns along the way, they try to use the history of Route 66 to boost the economy along the highway.

Today I saw my first armadillo in nature! It was dead on the side of the road, but Doug pointed it out to me and it was pretty cool to see one in the real world!

Lastly, I noticed how beautiful the red clay is at construction sites in this area. I know baseball coaches kind of like that red clay on baseball fields, and here it is right next to our hotel in piles! I'll try to upload a few pictures today.

Updated Pictures

Day 1 - 532 Miles

Day 1 began as mentioned before in Portage, Indiana. We hit route 30 and took it into Illinois before heading south on 57. Driving in Illinois is very familiar; if I didn't know better I'd swear I drove down 65 in Indiana. I really thought the first day would be something to simply get through, but things changed quickly once we got into Missouri. First we drove through St. Louis, driving right past the Gateway Arch while an amazing air show was going on. Words don't do justice to seeing this live, I have no idea how many people were sitting at the base of the Arch watching the air show. It had to be in the 10,000+ range, I'll leave it at that! I have to say that driving in Missouri was a highlight that I was not counting on! Driving through the foothills of the Ozark Mountains was awesome, a slow roller coaster of a ride that gave us amazing views of miles of beautiful forests on a regular basis. We arrived at Springfield, Missouri and called it an evening. This evening an ugly cloud came in and threatened to storm, but as of now it hasn't really done anything. Hopefully tomorrow I'll blog from Texas!

I'm excited to say that I've never been this far west in my life! I know that's pretty sad, but what a way to change that in a hurry! Other than a few bumps in the road the day went smoothly and we'll be ready to move on tomorrow.

Packing it all in

So once you've been convinced or blackmailed to go on a huge adventure the next question of course is, "What do I pack?". With the plan to camp out at least once in mind, I'm now faced with the challenge of fitting my clothes, my tent, my mattress, my sleeping bag, and my clothes and other equipment on a single motorcycle. Lucky fhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifor me, I planned ahead and picked up some saddle bags and traveling bag a while back! Today, with the help of Jaecy and Kari we'll get everything packed for our trip. I made sure to pack plenty of bug spray and sun block for myself; after years of umpiring in South Haven I can say from experience that I thoroughly hate Mosquitoes and all that they are. Circle of life be darned, I'd be a happier man if mosquitoes were to suddenly decide to pack up and leave the planet. I'm still working on the best way to get my pictures uploaded onto the blog, but when I do I'll make sure to include a picture of the bike when it's fully loaded.

Pictures

There and Back Again

It started a year ago about this time of year. My brother Doug, myself, and Dad planned out a short trip down to Kentucky to enjoy the Shawneetown Rally. It didn't take long for me to get hooked. From the first days of me owning my 2009 Harley Street Bob I dreamed of going on adventures with only my motorbike and some friends. I haven't traveled much in my 35 years, and I've never been further west in the U.S. than Illinois.

With all that said, the first time I pitched the idea to Doug and Dad about a much longer trip I think they thought I'd lost it. It took some time for them to open up to the idea. Many times during the winter we'd talk about a summer trip, but mostly during tough times when we needed a moment of levity. It's only been in the last few weeks that we've really talked about it seriously, at least serious enough to sit down with an atlas to plan out some sort of route.

So now I find myself less than 24 hours away from kicking off the trip with the furthest point away from home being San Diego, California. The goal is simple; two pictures, with one being of me, my bike, and the pacific ocean and the other being of me in the pacific. The sights that we will see along the way will be amazing, the stories that result will be epic and shared for years to come. Tomorrow the trip begins at 7am, and for some reason beyond my understanding we'll be leaving from the parking lot of the Portage K-Mart.

We plan on camping out at least once during the trip, so yesterday Kari helped me pick out my tent, mattress, and odds and ends I'll need along the way.

Inspired by movies by Jesse James and Ewan Mcgregor we begin our journey. I tested my bags during my trip to Grand Rapids earlier this month, so I'm as ready as I can be I suppose. I plan on updating on a regular basis along the way both here on the blog and on Facebook. I have a 4gb memory card that I intend to fill with pictures and experiences. I hope you'll join me on my adventure,

Our day one goal will to travel from Portage, Indiana to Springfield, Misouri.