The last day. I got the bike packed back up, and headed down the last few hundred miles of highway towards home. The heat was really building by the time I pulled in to the garage, but it was good to finally get back home. Back to back road trips really wear you down. I’ll save the unpacking for later, it’s time to cool down and rehydrate.
Super Secret Party Ride – Day 4
It’s never long enough, and it was time to head home. I got the bike packed up and pointed it towards Texas. I wasn’t planning on getting home today, just trying to get about half way there, taking my time and enjoying the ride. And true to form, from somewhere around Rolla, MO through to somewhere around Lebanon, MO, I got monsooned on. The streak is intact for another year. After getting back into the sun, I slowly dried out as the temperatures rose. I’d initially planned to stop in Joplin, MO, but I was making good enough time that I pushed on to Miami (pronounced my-am-uh), OK and grabbed a room at a hotel that was a few steps up from scuzz. After getting the bike unpacked, I popped over to Kick Off Bar and Grill, a local sports bar for some dinner and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had local beers on tap. The Atlas IPA by Marshall Brewing Company went really well with the patty melt. After that, back to the room and off to bed. Home tomorrow…
Super Secret Party Ride – Day 3
As has been my tradition, since I’m only a few hours away, I rode up to Peoria to see Reese. I’d texted with Joi and she knew I was coming, but we decided not to tell Reese so that it would be a surprise. Needless to say, he was definitely surprised. We spent a few hours together, hanging out, running errands, and grabbing some lunch before I had to head back to the farm. Reese has gotten taller than I thought he would. Soon enough he’s going to be looking down on me.
I got back to the farm just in time for dinner, and then settled in around the fire for an evening of more good booze and time with good friends. I think I finally turned in around 11:30 PM.
Me and Reese, June 2013
Super Secret Party Ride – Day 2
Today was a short day, which was exactly as I had planned, because I had a special stop intended for lunch. There’s a great barbecue restaurant in St. Louis called Pappy’s Smokehouse. I’ve wrote about it before, and it’s still as good as ever. The line to get in was also as long as ever, but trust me, the wait is worth it. It took me about 45 minutes to get up to the counter to put my order in, a pulled pork sandwich and sweet potato fries. It was delicious, and filled me up nicely for the last bit of the ride in to the party.
I crossed into Mordor On The Mississippi north of St. Louis and headed in to the farm where the super secret party is happening. There were lots of familiar faces, and a few I haven’t seen in years. I got my tent pitched and spent some time catching up with everyone before heading in to town for dinner. After that we spent the evening hanging out around the fire, drinking good booze and telling better stories.
Super Secret Party Ride – Day 1
Yeah, it’s on the blog, but it’s not the ride that’s the secret, it’s the party. Today was just me beating feet for Springfield, MO. I left around 9:00 this morning, heading up TX-121 to US-75, then up US-69 to I-44 and in to Springfield. I’m happy to announce that my 20 year long streak of getting rained on, serious rain, not little sprinkles, is intact. I rode in an out of showers between Sherman, TX and Durant, OK before emerging in to simply overcast skies for the rest of the ride. Tomorrow will be a short day, with a stop in St. Louis for some great BBQ…
Tennessee Ride – Day 9
Last day of the ride, and the longest. Not much to report, other than it being a long day. I left at around 8:30 in the morning, and rode all the way back to the house, a total of 683 miles, arriving at about 8:45 PM. The total distance ridden was around 2144 miles. I’m pretty beat, so I’m heading to bed. Photo downloads, Spot Adventures creation, and video editing will be done later.
Tennessee Ride – Day 8
I finished packing the bike, said goodbye to Heather, and headed for Birmingham, stopping for donuts and coffee at Dunkin Donuts. The ride was pretty uneventful, except for the downpour about 30 miles from tonight’s stopping point. That has kept my 20 year streak of getting rained on on every long ride I’ve ever taken intact. Slightly damper than when I started, I pulled in to the hotel and unloaded the bike.
After that, I hopped back on and rode over to Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum to ogle lots of motorcycles that I’ll never be able to afford. It’s a really nice museum, with five stories of motorcycles and cars. Each one has a card listing its specs and a small paragraph discussing its significance. There were a number of Harley-Davidsons and BMWs, as well as Japanese, British, and European motorcycles dating all the way back to the late 1800s. And to make it even more fun, the back of the museum looks out over the track, where we could see riders ripping through the turns. I really can’t say there was one favorite bike, there was just too much there to simply pick one. So if you get a chance, please pay them a visit, it’s well worth the time.
The severe weather that hit Oklahoma City yesterday is heading this way, so I decided to grab an early dinner instead of getting caught in even more rain. After a little googling, I chose Rusty’s Bar-B-Q and wasn’t disappointed. The ribs were fall off the bone tender, the sauces were tasty, and I left there stuffed. It was only a couple miles down from the hotel, and I made it back before any more rain hit.
Tennessee Ride – Day 7
Today was another down day, running errands and finishing off some more family stuff. After that we headed over to Gatlinburg to visit the Ole Smoky Moonshine distillery. They’re the first legal moonshine distillery in Tennessee. They’ve got a walk-by tour of the distillery, where you can see everything from the mashing to the stills. After that, we popped in to the gift store to look around. I snagged a shirt and a glass before heading over to the tasting room. We tried just about everything they offered, some of them were great, others not so much. I ended up buying a mason jar of the original white lightning as well as one of the apple pie flavored ones. From there, we went to dinner and then back to the hotel to pack for the ride home.
Tennessee Ride – Day 6
Not much to report today, it was a down day, doing laundry and taking care of some family stuff. I didn’t even start the bike once today. But you know what? I’m on vacation so it’s all good…
Tennessee Ride – Day 5
I got a little earlier of a start today, thanks to not having any more work to do on the bike. I headed down 411, topped the tank off, hydrated, and then continued on to the Cherohala Skyway visitors center. They’ve really improved things since the last time I was here, and this visitors center complex is nice. There are a couple museums and some gift shops to hopefully encourage you to leave some of your cash behind. I picked up some free maps of the area and a not free t-shirt before putting the GoPro on and heading up the skyway.
The ride was great, with really nice views and light traffic. The slower vehicles got out of the way when needed, so that the rest of us could cruise along at whatever speed we wanted. If’s a long-ish ride, a little over 40 miles long, dropping you off in Robbinsville, NC. From there, I continued up US-129 back to the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort where I downloaded the raw video from the camera and recharged it while I had some lunch. After finishing that and a little more shopping, I got back on the bike for a run up The Dragon.
This run was better than my last ones, moving a little faster, and turning a little sharper. I got passed a few times, pulled off once to let much faster traffic by, and continued on at my own pace. At the northern end, I pulled off and shut down and removed the camera before heading back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. While working on the videos, I came to the realization that the MacBook Air just doesn’t have enough storage to do the job. I’m going to have to wait until I get home to do the editing and posting, so just hang tight…