May adventure, the south east states
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 538
Likes: 24
From: Texas
Well, we made this very ambitious trip!
Left Ft Worth Friday May 22nd at 4pm. My buddys wife had called earlier in the day and said she had the flu. We told her to get on over as we were heading out and they arrived, packed and ready to travel. She had her medicine and a big blanket for the road trip in the truck to Paducah and the rest of us she grinned and went with the flow.
We drove through the terrible metroplex traffic across I 20 and up the east side on 635 to I 30 then across Lake Ray Hubbard which was full! Finally getting out past Greenville and letting my 6.7 diesel roll pulling the enclosed trailer with His 09 ultra and my 13 road king classic nesting inside. We had decided on Paducah so my brother could meet us and do the southeast tour. We made it to Little Rock and settled in a hotel for the evening. The next morning we were on the road again after a quick workout.
We we planning on running up the KY Purchase highway but my gps guided us up 55 before we hit Memphis so we rolled into Missouri with the intention of taking 62 into Cairo Ill then down into Paducah. A great route except the bridge over the Mississippi was closed!! We did a re route up highway 57 then back down through southern Ill and into Ky. We arrived, unloaded ate some Pizza with the family, geared up met my brother who rides an 13 Street Glide and headed out. We routed around the southern Edge of Paducah and over to the land between the lakes on the TRACE highway. This road was very nice going into Dover Tn. We traveled further south into Dickson on Highway 46 and continued on past I 40 to highway 100 which we took to Centerville for the evening. We stayed at the Not so Quality Inn and it was the only hotel on our trip that we were disappointed with. But, at 40 bucks per room for the night, we sucked it up. We had dinner in town at Minnie Pearls favorite restaurant which was a cafe in town. It was fair and decently priced and I have the name written down. I was keeping tabs on things but my phone later left us somewhere on I 65 around Montgomery and all my records with it!
The Next morning, Sunday, we loaded up, and took 50 off 100 to the Natchez Trace. We ambled down the trace at 50 mph, stopping to visit the Meriwether Lewis tomb, a few scenic turns outs and just enjoyed the ride through Tn, into Alabama. Stopping to see the Mounds where the Indians used to bring there dead and moving on Southeast, watching the skys grow darker and darker. We stopped in Tupelo for lunch and visited the visitors center where we picked up some patches for our vests and asked a million questions to the park ranger behind the desk. We had seen so many turkeys on the route and we itching to find out which species they were. Heading on southeast, we had the girls watching the weather on the phones and communicating to us via our scala radios keeping us apprised of an advancing storm cell. we opted to pull into one of the restroom stops at witches dance near Houston, MS. I must ay that the park does an extraordinary job of keeping those facilities clean. We pulled in, suited up for the rain and waited out the eventual monsoon that caught us and finally passed us. This storm left a lot of leaves and branches blown out on the road but we picked our way through and eventually got onto some dry pavement. WE stopped at the Cypress swamp and took a good look into the swamp and got some good pictures but the weather was coming in again so we headed on in to Jackson where we stayed at the Hyatt. My wife was doing much better with hotels on the various cheap room sites and this place was fantastic and let us park under the canopy out of the weather and had a great breakfast.
The next morning, we opted out of the rest of the Trace and hit 55 south to 27 then it turned into 25 when we got into Louisiana. We were going to head out into the Lake(Pontchartrain) but the weather had come in again and we huddled under the bank canopy in Covington for an hour in attempts to wait it out. But then the causeway was closed so we decided to suit up and head out via I 12 east to Slidell then back around I 10 back into New Orleans. The rain was terrible and it was very difficult to see for about 15 minutes heading east then we rode right out into the sun. I was so happy to see the big bal of orange and very sorry to see it disappear when we turned west and rode back into the storm just as we crossed over the Lake. We took the back way in through Chalmette ending up at the French Quarter. We drove down Decatur street looking for parking and ended u turning up by the river for paid parking which specified NO MOTORCYCLES!! WTF, we head down the on ramp going the wrong way back onto Decatur and headed back into the Quarter where we finally found a spot on the street to park. We did the obligatory stop at the HD retail store although I was still pissed about the parking and did not want to support that store at all. The girls found another NICE Hotel on Canal and Bourbon so we decided to grab some lunch before riding the bikes over. Listneing to some jazz, eating lunch at the Market, we got to enjoy some of the local fare even though it was still damp. After lunch, we headed over to the hotel where we found that we had to pay to park in a garage behind the hotel. No big deal but they charged us 25 each although we all parked in 1 spot...parking in New Orleans sucks anyway and I am less than impressed the way the treat motorcyclist. After a brief nap, we head out on the town, walking down Bourbon street and PM was odd...i am glad it wasn't later. We found a nice cajon seafood joint back over in the quarter we we stuff ourselves. we then walked over to St Louis cathedral where the marine corp marching band was finishing up inside. we enjoyed listening to the last song inside the church! we also caught a street magician doing a show and he was pretty impressive and worth the few dollars we placed in his hat as we moved on.
On our way back, we spotted a blood trail on the street which we followed down Decatur and onto Canal. Whoever was bleeding was losing a lot of blood. Soon, the cops were on it and we went on in to our hotel.
The next morning started out Sunny and we headed down Bourbon street. I did have my gopro on at this point and got some good shots but haven't down loaded all of the pictures yet. we meandered over to I 10 and out to Northshore HD where we made a pit stop. My brother and his wife were over the Mustang seat coolness and broke down and and purchased a Hammock seat and Harley back rest. My wife and I packed our dirty clothes into a flat rate box and for 12 bucks, shipped some of our items back home while my brother was packing his mustang seat up for shipping. A very hospitable shop!
Heading on out,our objective was to make it to Dauphin Island, cross over to Ft Morgan on the Ferry and stay in Pensacola. And this is exactly what we did after grabbing some Applebees in Biloxi, we followed the signs to the ferry following the back roads of Ms and Al. As we got closer to Dauphin Island, we enjoyed the coastl view and the final bridge going across and up and over into the Island. we got to the Ferry about 15 minutes early. We were going to make the first boat back so the girls jumped off and did their business while we relaxed and enjoyed visiting with the dock worker who was very enthusiastic about her job, Drivng onto the ferry and parking the bikes on the edge was a little sketchy but simple. No tie downs so we were nervous about waves but were able to relax, take a lot of picutres of the gulls and storks gliding along with the boat as we passed over the bay into Ft Morgan. We rode the 5 oclock ferry and once we got to the other side, Ft Morgan was closed. we took a break at the ferry stop where we met a very docile racoon who wanted us to feed him. we snapped a great picture of him standing up for food while my brother had his hand out. Moving on, e head across the coastal road into west pensacola where we stayed at an extended stay room hotel. We headed over to the shrimp basket for dinner of oysters, shrimp and fish.
Getting up We had a long day planned going all the way up to Birmingham. I wanted to see the Barbor motorsports museum badly. The sun was out and this was the hottest and the humidity was the highest it had been on the entire trip so we followed 29 all the way to I 65 where we made some tracks. Arriving in Birmingham late after noon and out to Leeds where the Museum is located, we were once again seeing looming low clouds. we arrived at the museum in sprinkles late in the day. as we were unloading, on of the guards( they were armed!) came out and told us there was good news and bad news..the bad news was there was no power but the good news was it was a free visit if we wanted to stay. There were 4 other motorcycles in the parking lot and no one else! The tour was great and there was a driving school going on with 3 sets of cars. It was enjoyable to watch the race cars as well as looking at all of the cars and the amount of motorcycles in there was incredible.
My story continues but i need to try to get some pictures up and I need to mw my yards...more to follow
Left Ft Worth Friday May 22nd at 4pm. My buddys wife had called earlier in the day and said she had the flu. We told her to get on over as we were heading out and they arrived, packed and ready to travel. She had her medicine and a big blanket for the road trip in the truck to Paducah and the rest of us she grinned and went with the flow.
We drove through the terrible metroplex traffic across I 20 and up the east side on 635 to I 30 then across Lake Ray Hubbard which was full! Finally getting out past Greenville and letting my 6.7 diesel roll pulling the enclosed trailer with His 09 ultra and my 13 road king classic nesting inside. We had decided on Paducah so my brother could meet us and do the southeast tour. We made it to Little Rock and settled in a hotel for the evening. The next morning we were on the road again after a quick workout.
We we planning on running up the KY Purchase highway but my gps guided us up 55 before we hit Memphis so we rolled into Missouri with the intention of taking 62 into Cairo Ill then down into Paducah. A great route except the bridge over the Mississippi was closed!! We did a re route up highway 57 then back down through southern Ill and into Ky. We arrived, unloaded ate some Pizza with the family, geared up met my brother who rides an 13 Street Glide and headed out. We routed around the southern Edge of Paducah and over to the land between the lakes on the TRACE highway. This road was very nice going into Dover Tn. We traveled further south into Dickson on Highway 46 and continued on past I 40 to highway 100 which we took to Centerville for the evening. We stayed at the Not so Quality Inn and it was the only hotel on our trip that we were disappointed with. But, at 40 bucks per room for the night, we sucked it up. We had dinner in town at Minnie Pearls favorite restaurant which was a cafe in town. It was fair and decently priced and I have the name written down. I was keeping tabs on things but my phone later left us somewhere on I 65 around Montgomery and all my records with it!
The Next morning, Sunday, we loaded up, and took 50 off 100 to the Natchez Trace. We ambled down the trace at 50 mph, stopping to visit the Meriwether Lewis tomb, a few scenic turns outs and just enjoyed the ride through Tn, into Alabama. Stopping to see the Mounds where the Indians used to bring there dead and moving on Southeast, watching the skys grow darker and darker. We stopped in Tupelo for lunch and visited the visitors center where we picked up some patches for our vests and asked a million questions to the park ranger behind the desk. We had seen so many turkeys on the route and we itching to find out which species they were. Heading on southeast, we had the girls watching the weather on the phones and communicating to us via our scala radios keeping us apprised of an advancing storm cell. we opted to pull into one of the restroom stops at witches dance near Houston, MS. I must ay that the park does an extraordinary job of keeping those facilities clean. We pulled in, suited up for the rain and waited out the eventual monsoon that caught us and finally passed us. This storm left a lot of leaves and branches blown out on the road but we picked our way through and eventually got onto some dry pavement. WE stopped at the Cypress swamp and took a good look into the swamp and got some good pictures but the weather was coming in again so we headed on in to Jackson where we stayed at the Hyatt. My wife was doing much better with hotels on the various cheap room sites and this place was fantastic and let us park under the canopy out of the weather and had a great breakfast.
The next morning, we opted out of the rest of the Trace and hit 55 south to 27 then it turned into 25 when we got into Louisiana. We were going to head out into the Lake(Pontchartrain) but the weather had come in again and we huddled under the bank canopy in Covington for an hour in attempts to wait it out. But then the causeway was closed so we decided to suit up and head out via I 12 east to Slidell then back around I 10 back into New Orleans. The rain was terrible and it was very difficult to see for about 15 minutes heading east then we rode right out into the sun. I was so happy to see the big bal of orange and very sorry to see it disappear when we turned west and rode back into the storm just as we crossed over the Lake. We took the back way in through Chalmette ending up at the French Quarter. We drove down Decatur street looking for parking and ended u turning up by the river for paid parking which specified NO MOTORCYCLES!! WTF, we head down the on ramp going the wrong way back onto Decatur and headed back into the Quarter where we finally found a spot on the street to park. We did the obligatory stop at the HD retail store although I was still pissed about the parking and did not want to support that store at all. The girls found another NICE Hotel on Canal and Bourbon so we decided to grab some lunch before riding the bikes over. Listneing to some jazz, eating lunch at the Market, we got to enjoy some of the local fare even though it was still damp. After lunch, we headed over to the hotel where we found that we had to pay to park in a garage behind the hotel. No big deal but they charged us 25 each although we all parked in 1 spot...parking in New Orleans sucks anyway and I am less than impressed the way the treat motorcyclist. After a brief nap, we head out on the town, walking down Bourbon street and PM was odd...i am glad it wasn't later. We found a nice cajon seafood joint back over in the quarter we we stuff ourselves. we then walked over to St Louis cathedral where the marine corp marching band was finishing up inside. we enjoyed listening to the last song inside the church! we also caught a street magician doing a show and he was pretty impressive and worth the few dollars we placed in his hat as we moved on.
On our way back, we spotted a blood trail on the street which we followed down Decatur and onto Canal. Whoever was bleeding was losing a lot of blood. Soon, the cops were on it and we went on in to our hotel.
The next morning started out Sunny and we headed down Bourbon street. I did have my gopro on at this point and got some good shots but haven't down loaded all of the pictures yet. we meandered over to I 10 and out to Northshore HD where we made a pit stop. My brother and his wife were over the Mustang seat coolness and broke down and and purchased a Hammock seat and Harley back rest. My wife and I packed our dirty clothes into a flat rate box and for 12 bucks, shipped some of our items back home while my brother was packing his mustang seat up for shipping. A very hospitable shop!
Heading on out,our objective was to make it to Dauphin Island, cross over to Ft Morgan on the Ferry and stay in Pensacola. And this is exactly what we did after grabbing some Applebees in Biloxi, we followed the signs to the ferry following the back roads of Ms and Al. As we got closer to Dauphin Island, we enjoyed the coastl view and the final bridge going across and up and over into the Island. we got to the Ferry about 15 minutes early. We were going to make the first boat back so the girls jumped off and did their business while we relaxed and enjoyed visiting with the dock worker who was very enthusiastic about her job, Drivng onto the ferry and parking the bikes on the edge was a little sketchy but simple. No tie downs so we were nervous about waves but were able to relax, take a lot of picutres of the gulls and storks gliding along with the boat as we passed over the bay into Ft Morgan. We rode the 5 oclock ferry and once we got to the other side, Ft Morgan was closed. we took a break at the ferry stop where we met a very docile racoon who wanted us to feed him. we snapped a great picture of him standing up for food while my brother had his hand out. Moving on, e head across the coastal road into west pensacola where we stayed at an extended stay room hotel. We headed over to the shrimp basket for dinner of oysters, shrimp and fish.
Getting up We had a long day planned going all the way up to Birmingham. I wanted to see the Barbor motorsports museum badly. The sun was out and this was the hottest and the humidity was the highest it had been on the entire trip so we followed 29 all the way to I 65 where we made some tracks. Arriving in Birmingham late after noon and out to Leeds where the Museum is located, we were once again seeing looming low clouds. we arrived at the museum in sprinkles late in the day. as we were unloading, on of the guards( they were armed!) came out and told us there was good news and bad news..the bad news was there was no power but the good news was it was a free visit if we wanted to stay. There were 4 other motorcycles in the parking lot and no one else! The tour was great and there was a driving school going on with 3 sets of cars. It was enjoyable to watch the race cars as well as looking at all of the cars and the amount of motorcycles in there was incredible.
My story continues but i need to try to get some pictures up and I need to mw my yards...more to follow
Thread Starter
|
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 538
Likes: 24
From: Texas
Just a single shot from the ToD that my story hasn't reached yet. Definitely more to follow when i have a few minutes to upload some of our pics. This is my wife and me enjoying the day
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 538
Likes: 24
From: Texas
Rain, took i 12 to I 10 back into new Orleans. wife was tired of rain
Rain clouds over the Interstate
Bourbon Street
Dinner time
Jim and Rena
Lunch in Nola
On the Ferry
Hope they are not stopping at my house
Cool gps shot while crossing on the ferry
On the Dauphin Island bridge with Jean
Making sure my RKC stays upright
The raccoon whisperer
My wife and I cheesing it up on the boat
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 538
Likes: 24
From: Texas
Barber Motorsports
Jean messing around
Tracey getting a shot
Bikes on shelves
Happy guys!
Race car class
St Louis cathedral
More bikes
some more boat people
Yep, we did it
Crossing out of Tn back into NC on the dragon
Love these signs
Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 538
Likes: 24
From: Texas
So, we pulled out of the barber Museum and headed up to Leeds for our stay for the night. Of course, another thunderstorm hits us with 10 minutes to go. We pulled into a busy gas stop, filled up and suited up and made the wet ride into the hotel at Pell City for the night. The folks at the hotel helped us move the smoking area around so we could parl our bikes under cover. We still manage to keep an area for smokers if needed.
Getting up the next morning, we headed up near gasten and then over into Rome Georgia where we avoided the storms and headed north into Murphy NC for the evening. we managed breaks in Al, lunch in Ga and dinner in NC!
The next morning, Friday, we made our run for deals gap. we made some of the moonshiner run while getting to the ToD. We ran it both ways, got the obligatory patches and shirts and peeled out to Maggie valley.
The Wheels thru Time museum was my favorite stop of the trip. we pulled into the parking lot late afternoon Friday wondering if we had time to enjoy the museum. Dale Walksler holds the door open and calls me by my nickname( K Ruck) which is on my patch on my vest. He asks how many and gives us a group rate while asking why we had such names. The visit was long and the museum incredible. I have a long story for this place but I will hold it to it awesome!
Leaving Maggie valley, we took I40 up to a ways then a back road over to 32 into Gatlinburg where we stayed for the evening. Dining on trout in the Tout house and playing mini golf on the hill was a blast. Saturday, we headed up through Pigeon Forge and back to i$0 for the run to Nashville. we visited Antique Archeology and the marathon auto site. AA was ho hum but the site was busy and looks to be growing. At this point, Jim and Rena headed back to Paducah while we opted to hotel it one more time in Nashville before making the run up to Paducah Sunday morning and the truck ride back to Ft Worth Sunday afternoon and evening. Many more stories and pictures to go with what I have posted but that was it in a nutshell. Losing my camera phone sucked but the cloud save a bunch of my pics which i hope to post!
Getting up the next morning, we headed up near gasten and then over into Rome Georgia where we avoided the storms and headed north into Murphy NC for the evening. we managed breaks in Al, lunch in Ga and dinner in NC!
The next morning, Friday, we made our run for deals gap. we made some of the moonshiner run while getting to the ToD. We ran it both ways, got the obligatory patches and shirts and peeled out to Maggie valley.
The Wheels thru Time museum was my favorite stop of the trip. we pulled into the parking lot late afternoon Friday wondering if we had time to enjoy the museum. Dale Walksler holds the door open and calls me by my nickname( K Ruck) which is on my patch on my vest. He asks how many and gives us a group rate while asking why we had such names. The visit was long and the museum incredible. I have a long story for this place but I will hold it to it awesome!
Leaving Maggie valley, we took I40 up to a ways then a back road over to 32 into Gatlinburg where we stayed for the evening. Dining on trout in the Tout house and playing mini golf on the hill was a blast. Saturday, we headed up through Pigeon Forge and back to i$0 for the run to Nashville. we visited Antique Archeology and the marathon auto site. AA was ho hum but the site was busy and looks to be growing. At this point, Jim and Rena headed back to Paducah while we opted to hotel it one more time in Nashville before making the run up to Paducah Sunday morning and the truck ride back to Ft Worth Sunday afternoon and evening. Many more stories and pictures to go with what I have posted but that was it in a nutshell. Losing my camera phone sucked but the cloud save a bunch of my pics which i hope to post!
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Thread Starter
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 538
Likes: 24
From: Texas
I had changed oil in my bike( 10,000 mile) and used royal purple. We noticed a peculiar smell for the first full day of riding through Tennessee and again in the tail of the dragon. this smell was from the crank case vent of my bike and very noticeable when on and off the throttle. I have used the syn 3 and amsoil over the years and have noticed such a strong smell from the vent. The royal purple people state that i should expect this oder as it is from the propriety additives that is supposed to make that oil special...This was a test of oil for me and I dont think i am going to use it anymore!
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