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I retired May 1st of 2017. On April 30th a friend of mine and I departed California for a five day trip to Nashville TN via Hwy 40. After a week in Tennessee we made the five day trip back to CA.
a trip total of over 4,800 miles. I so enjoyed this trip that I decided I wanted to continue.
Later in 2017 (In July to be precise) my wife and I Flew from CA to Nashville TN. We arrived in Nashville Thursday afternoon. We had rented an Indian Roadmaster for the trip to West Virginia from the Indian dealership in Brentwood TN for early Friday morning. Upon arrival we found that the battery on the bike was dead and had to be replaced which took about 2 hours, We finally departed the Indian dealership on Friday morning about 11:00 am for our first VTX get together at the Pocahontas Motel in Welsh WV. After hitting heavy rain most of the trip we arrived at the Pocahontas Motel about 12:30 am on Saturday morning to find that the party was still in full swing. All things considered (specifically, riding in the rain (A first for us), Riding road 16 just above the back of the Dragon in a pouring rain (also a first for us), I still enjoyed the experience even with having been told by folks at the Pokey that I was Bat Sh!t crazy (NOT a first for me!!!!) Between the ride to the Pokey, the Saturday West Virginia ride and the Sunday trip back to Brentwood TN we ended up putting about 1,200 miles on that bike.
In 2018 I left for a mostly solo trip from CA to Ohio via Hwy 80 to Denver then Hwy 70 to OH. I spent several days with Ironmk in Ohio then we traveled to West Virginia for my second VTX get together at the Pocahontas Motel in Welsh WV where we spent a long weekend then back to OH where I spent another couple of days with Ironmk, his wife and his father in law (Great people!!!!!). From there through upper Illinois, up through Iowa and into Minnesota then West through South Dakota to Sturgis SD, (mostly on Hwy 90), and arrived just in time for the start of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I spent a couple of days the week of Sturgis with my friend from the first 2017 ride then met up with Ironmk, Spider woman and Renegade Rick at the KOA campground near Mt, Rushmore SD and spent about 4 more days seeing the sights around there. From there is was back to the Denver area for another overnight with my Daughter and son in law then back up to HWY 80 and home. A trip of 28 days and I was in the saddle every day except the first overnight at my daughters where I was not in the saddle for a full 24 hours. Trip total mileage was over 7,800 miles including an oil change at Ironmk's along the way.
In 2019 I decided to make another cross country trip. This time a trip less traveled!! I departed from CA taking Hwy 88 from Stockton CA over the Sierra Nevada mountains in early fall. Coming out of the mountains you end up South of Lake Tahoe Nevada. Hwy 88 turns into hwy 395 at Gardnerville NV and near Carson City NV you end up on US Route 50 (The Lincoln Highway also known as The Loneliest road in America). I stopped and gassed up at Gardnerville since I figured you don't want to start out on The Loneliest Highway with anything less than a full tank (besides those birds circling overhead looked a lot like Vultures and I'm pretty sure they were smiling at me!!!) My first stop for fuel after Gardnerville was was Fallon NV (by this point in time I had decided I would gas up every time I saw a gas pump, damned Vultures!!!) My next stop was Austin NV a leisurely 110+ miles with no assurances that there would be gas when I got there and if there was no gas the next town would be Eureka NV which is 180 miles from Fallon ( not too bad for a car, but white knuckle time with a bike although my X generally goes 160 miles to reserve if you don't push it so I kept it down to about 60 from Fallon to Austin, no since being foolish, especially with them damn birds stalking me!!! ). Fortunately, there was a one pump convenience store in Austin and believe it or not one motel (The Pony Canyon Motel) reasonably priced, very decent rooms and even a bar/cafe across the street so that's where I spent the night (The Motel......NOT the bar/cafe...geeeeeze!!!!). The trip from Fallon to Austin is some of the most desolate real estate, I did not see a single habitable building in that entire distance (just a few rock foundations that might at some time have supported some kind of a building and in that entire trip from Fallon to Austin I did not see another vehicle either going in my direction or counter to my direction (No wonder they call it the Loneliest Road In America!!!!). I crossed over the NV Utah border about 50 miles East of Ely NV and spent the night at the little town of Delta UT and made Colorado the next day for a total mileage of 1,184 miles. I returned to CA via I-80 total round trip mileage was 2,414 miles. Now I just have to figure where my next trip is going to take me!!!!!!!
a trip total of over 4,800 miles. I so enjoyed this trip that I decided I wanted to continue.
Later in 2017 (In July to be precise) my wife and I Flew from CA to Nashville TN. We arrived in Nashville Thursday afternoon. We had rented an Indian Roadmaster for the trip to West Virginia from the Indian dealership in Brentwood TN for early Friday morning. Upon arrival we found that the battery on the bike was dead and had to be replaced which took about 2 hours, We finally departed the Indian dealership on Friday morning about 11:00 am for our first VTX get together at the Pocahontas Motel in Welsh WV. After hitting heavy rain most of the trip we arrived at the Pocahontas Motel about 12:30 am on Saturday morning to find that the party was still in full swing. All things considered (specifically, riding in the rain (A first for us), Riding road 16 just above the back of the Dragon in a pouring rain (also a first for us), I still enjoyed the experience even with having been told by folks at the Pokey that I was Bat Sh!t crazy (NOT a first for me!!!!) Between the ride to the Pokey, the Saturday West Virginia ride and the Sunday trip back to Brentwood TN we ended up putting about 1,200 miles on that bike.
In 2018 I left for a mostly solo trip from CA to Ohio via Hwy 80 to Denver then Hwy 70 to OH. I spent several days with Ironmk in Ohio then we traveled to West Virginia for my second VTX get together at the Pocahontas Motel in Welsh WV where we spent a long weekend then back to OH where I spent another couple of days with Ironmk, his wife and his father in law (Great people!!!!!). From there through upper Illinois, up through Iowa and into Minnesota then West through South Dakota to Sturgis SD, (mostly on Hwy 90), and arrived just in time for the start of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I spent a couple of days the week of Sturgis with my friend from the first 2017 ride then met up with Ironmk, Spider woman and Renegade Rick at the KOA campground near Mt, Rushmore SD and spent about 4 more days seeing the sights around there. From there is was back to the Denver area for another overnight with my Daughter and son in law then back up to HWY 80 and home. A trip of 28 days and I was in the saddle every day except the first overnight at my daughters where I was not in the saddle for a full 24 hours. Trip total mileage was over 7,800 miles including an oil change at Ironmk's along the way.
In 2019 I decided to make another cross country trip. This time a trip less traveled!! I departed from CA taking Hwy 88 from Stockton CA over the Sierra Nevada mountains in early fall. Coming out of the mountains you end up South of Lake Tahoe Nevada. Hwy 88 turns into hwy 395 at Gardnerville NV and near Carson City NV you end up on US Route 50 (The Lincoln Highway also known as The Loneliest road in America). I stopped and gassed up at Gardnerville since I figured you don't want to start out on The Loneliest Highway with anything less than a full tank (besides those birds circling overhead looked a lot like Vultures and I'm pretty sure they were smiling at me!!!) My first stop for fuel after Gardnerville was was Fallon NV (by this point in time I had decided I would gas up every time I saw a gas pump, damned Vultures!!!) My next stop was Austin NV a leisurely 110+ miles with no assurances that there would be gas when I got there and if there was no gas the next town would be Eureka NV which is 180 miles from Fallon ( not too bad for a car, but white knuckle time with a bike although my X generally goes 160 miles to reserve if you don't push it so I kept it down to about 60 from Fallon to Austin, no since being foolish, especially with them damn birds stalking me!!! ). Fortunately, there was a one pump convenience store in Austin and believe it or not one motel (The Pony Canyon Motel) reasonably priced, very decent rooms and even a bar/cafe across the street so that's where I spent the night (The Motel......NOT the bar/cafe...geeeeeze!!!!). The trip from Fallon to Austin is some of the most desolate real estate, I did not see a single habitable building in that entire distance (just a few rock foundations that might at some time have supported some kind of a building and in that entire trip from Fallon to Austin I did not see another vehicle either going in my direction or counter to my direction (No wonder they call it the Loneliest Road In America!!!!). I crossed over the NV Utah border about 50 miles East of Ely NV and spent the night at the little town of Delta UT and made Colorado the next day for a total mileage of 1,184 miles. I returned to CA via I-80 total round trip mileage was 2,414 miles. Now I just have to figure where my next trip is going to take me!!!!!!!
