Nice sunset

Its always appreciated to see this in the rearview rather than black clouds ahead.

Last leg of the journey

On the final leg home, I stopped in Nashville Indiana and got some lunch. I also walked around looking at all the cool shops full of neat things you just cant get everywhere. I found fridge magnets for the states I visited. I got home around 530 and Kat came to give me a ten minute long hug. I guess she missed me for some reason! I was able to stay up until about 10pm before having to call it quits and go to bed. Five days of 10+ hours per day of riding with a lot of that being bad weather conditions has taken its toll. Not to mention the constant level of alertness required to stay safe on two wheels. Its not just physical, but a lot of it is mental too. On the ride down 65, I was passing a string of semi trucks. I dont like to hang out in their blind spots any more than I have to so I punched it. That oil/temp light came on again! I pulled in to the rest stop and moved the tool bag to the back of the bike out from in front of the radiator. I was going to get up some speed to test it out, but thats when it dropped down to 55mph in southern Indiana. It wasnt until the Gene Snyder that I was able to make a determination. I think that's got it fixed. I'll know for sure in warmer weather... Its nice to be home, in my own bed, with family and friends. I cant wait to see the kids...

Helpful hints.

As I prepare to head home into the storm, I will pass along a couple things ive learned.

# hot coffee on the inside helps.

# vaseline can help make rain bead on leather gloves and boots

# duct tape can help waterproof

# when you stop for gas, put your gloved hands on your pipes to warm them.

# all illinois roads a built in a way that they have mini speed bumps every so many feet. Avoid illinois whenever possible.

# if you can press on through the weather, do it. It might get better and you can always pull off.

# free continental breakfast is a good perk. Take advantage of it.

# eat small meals. Eat a bit of something like jerky or fruit when you stop for gas. Drink as much as you can...constantly.

The weather wins again

after leaving Le Claire it was my intention to take advantage of the good weather and head "straight for the barn" as they say. Well I didnt get too far when those pretty nasty looking rain clouds cropped up in central illinois. I was still in good spirits...i mean it was finally warmer, and I could handle a little wet. I got drenched, but I had my jacket and chaps on so I thought we'll just blow dry them at 70mph. I rode the rest of the day like that until dark. After dark it got real cold, and I didnt care for being still wet, and cold on top of that. I started having flashbacks of the previous three days! I had switched playlists on the ipod at my last gasup, and the theme song from the Ghost Rider movie came on so I pushed on for a few more exits. Finally, once it got dark I was unable to keep ignoring the flashes of lightning in the distance I was pointed and riding at. I stopped a couple places and found a room. I admit defeat. Again. Damnit, its mainly due to deficient gear! Also my gps keeps disconnecting and reconnecting. More I have to fiddle with while going down the road at interstate speeds. If I could keep 95% dry, this week would have been amazing. Still, as a good friend told me "even a bad time on 2 wheels is still a good time." This trip is putting that to. The test...

Look what just popped up!

this should be fun...

Antique Archeology!!!

Nobody from the show here, but its a cool place!

Almost ran out of gas!

I was trying to make time so I pushed fuel up out a ways. When I got off the exit and leaned in to the curve, it started cutting out! Now a small coffee & warm up. Then back on the road. If I dont hustle, I may not make it before 5pm when Antique Archeology closes! Time to spool up the FTL and make the jump!

Add Iowa, Logan!!

Iowa!

Nebraska!

Made it. Cold as hell...

This is how we do it...

Had to dry everything out overnght. All my stuff was soaked besides my dirty clothes so I did laundry too. Plan to leave soon. Its 6am.

Doing laundry...

Would it be irresponsible of me to pull my clothes and let them hang dry? God I am tired. And TIRED OF WAITING!!!

The only new state I got today. Another day spent from 9am to 9pm cold, wet, and miserable. I need new rain pants. I think these were worn out before I started out on Monday. I swear to god if this weather doesnt let the frack up, im gonna lose my mind. I tried to repair the pants by lining them on the inside with duct tape, but that only kept a little bit of me dry. My thighs and knees were so cold and wet for so long that they were purple. Ive been in dry jeans for 30 minutes or more, and my legs are still cold. I did get a break of about an hour today when it wasnt pouring which made me giddy with happiness and lulled me into a false sense of security-enough to change out of my mostly useless rain pants. That ended up being stupid becuase there was still a lot on the ground to be sprayed up when I got stuck behind a semi.

Seneca

I got drenched again. This time not quite as bad but a little wet at 65/70mph is pretty miserable. I passed into this little town called Seneca, MO and I saw a sign....a little glimmer of comfort... The sign read "Daylight Doughnuts" and where there are doughnuts, there is usually hot coffee! One doughnut, one cup of coffee, then i'm back on the road...i swear!!!

Chicken fried steak sandwich and petrol.

U kno what sittin on top of 50 feet of duct tape feels like? Trust me...u dont wanna know. Pants fixed, but not yet tested still... Gas/lunch done. ETA for Le Claire is 11:20pm. Sweet. :c

Just for Kat

No eggs or bacon...

I have seen some places go all out for their "continental" breakfast and some that do nothing (like the last two). This is ok. Hell, its free!

Crunchy??

Toothpaste must be old....its crunchy and gross...

Deathrace 800miles 12+hrs

Time to get the hell outta dodge. Todays plan involves 800 miles of interstate running thru Kansas, Nebraska (just touching it) then a B-line to Antique Archeology in Le Claire Iowa. I hope like heck i'll be able to cope with the rain. My rain pants are shot and I'm gonna attempt repairs with duct tape on the inside seams and then something to repel water on the outside. I dont know what could do it, but msg me if u can figure something out. Right now I might use lotion or vaseline? Dunnno...need soemthiing easy to find.

I checked in to my room that Kat found for me, and the guy at the desk asked me if I was AAA, CDL, AARP...well when he asked AARP I was a little irritated so I said I have a CDL but didnt bring it because im on the bike. He said I could give you the rate, but we have to make a copy of the license. Then he proceeded to take four calls while he was waiting on me. I think he felt bad about that, so I ended up with the discounted trucker CDL rate. When I got to the room here in the great state of Oklahoma, I turned on the heat full blast and laid out all the wet clothes as best as I could. Now I am next door at a four star restaurant. Ok, its really a diner. And the NAME is "four star" not the rating... The salad is super fresh and the thousand island tastes homemade and they have cake and pie in a rotating display case!

Blue Highways...

Ouachita National Forest....

OMG! Authentic Texas Toast

chicken fried steak, pinto beans, mashed potatoes, white gravy too. AND NOTHING NEEDS SALT! I LOVE THIS STATE!!!!

Dixie Maid

I am grabbing a bite at the Dixie Maid in Atlanta Texas. The last gasup the pump didnt shut off and now I am constantly smelling gas. I took the Airhawk in and rinsed it out, used the windshield washer on the paint areas of the bike. Weather looks good. I hope my crotch dries out soon! And butt, legs, etc. *sigh*

Some sunshine!

linden tx...i will take these clouds over gray any day. Gonna go strip off the wet clothes and see about drying out while lunching somewhere.

Texas

First oil well across border into texas.

I am as wet now as I ever have been. Cold wet making very poor time. Looking like this was a bad idea.

Homer Louisiana

This motel is not worth $40, but it was either that, or find an empty house to break into. Dont think the thought didnt cross my mind. The indian dude who runs the place told me the closest restaurant was "only two miles..." but thankfully I came to a Piggly Wiggly before then. Here you see my dinner. I'm down for the night so I splurged on a little bit of Kentucky to go into my diet coke. Its currently raining inside my room. I put the heat up as high as it would go and hung all my gear and clothes out to dry. The rain is from the dripping of the clothing. Today since about 2pm has been *ahem* trying. It has not just rained, but poured down bucketfulls. Still, there might be some hope that it will pass as I continue west to tx and then north into ok, ks, etc.

Rain, rain, go away...

Its still pouring here. The motel claims to have free wifi but its down. There is rain that leaks in from the ceiling vent in the bathroom. In retrospect, I would not let my dog sleep overnight here at the Hillside Motel in Homer, Louisiana. I am going to hook up to google places and post my reviews when I get home. Least I can do.

All the clothes I wore yesterday are hung out to dry, but the cotton items are still pretty damp. I'm going to put them back on and wear them wet so I will have some dry clothes to put on tonight. This weather is not scheduled to let up today or tomorrow and that is adding to my time away from home. I have lost the better part of a day already. Next goal will be to get back sometime Saturday in order to see my friends Gary and Bobbi from Indianapolis. If I cant make that, then I at least need to be home before Monday evening. With no internet I cant even get on to check mail, make weather or hotel searches, and any picture taking/sight-seeing is completely out of the question. That bums me out because it was the whole reason for the trip...

On top of it all, this area is a cell dead zone and I cant get any updates to go out.

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Total pourdown! I love it! Changing into full rain gear. Will sleep in Homer, LA or closest cheap motel along hwy 2 but that is 65 miles from here according to Garmin...

Louisiana...

Mark the map, Logan!

Just a gas and soda stop. Ran into a little mist and a good bit of road spray from the big trucks, so got the jacket back on, colorado chaps, and boot covers. Vents are open on the jacket so im not dying. Found nowhere to buy or mail postcard from Arkansas. :c

The fries look good too !!  

Lakeside Cafe

Fried catfish sandwich is the best I have ever had! The bike is not giving me any warning lights but it is cooler and slower speeds today.

Mississippi river

I got on my rain gear in Leland, MS because I knew it was gonna rain. I thought it would be sooner rather than later, but all I succeeded in doing was burning up. I stopped in Arkansas at the welcome center to cool down and get out of the rain gear. Plan B is wait until it rains! Maybe not smart but I know how to wash and dry my clothes. The nice people at the center had hot coffee for me. This stuff was a lot better than the do-it-yourself from Ballys Hotel. Its time to get back on the road again. I plan to go westward until weather prevents it, then find a place to wait the storm out.

Arkansas

Woot!

What will they think of next?

Chicken cracklins are sort of like eating the skin only off of fried chicken.

Weather and overheating.

Weather is probably going to be pretty lousy today and maybe tomorrow. I'm getting really close towards the hellstorm that is hitting Dallas and Austin Texas. If I can get in and out without being drenched, I'll be happy. Weather channel says the warm weather will continue, which makes getting wet a little more comfortable. It looks like the pattern is moving slowly and its sliding more north than west. If I can keep up the pace, I might beat it because its moving so slow westward, but I am headed south and west today, then will turn north as soon as I hit the bare northeast corner of Texas. They are delaying flights in TX, but I dont think that's abnormal for this type of weather. I promised Kat I would be careful, so if I start seeing close lightning or get into a poor visibility situation, I will pull off and stop.

I also got an idea about the overheating on the bike. I'm going to remove the tool bag in case its blocking air that should be getting to the radiator. I've never had problems with it before, but I've never run the bike for longer than 10 minutes at interstate speeds (sadly) since I got that bag. I hope it is the culprit. It would be an easy fix. {Note: in the picture I am right at the west border of Missippi, a smidge down from the north border. The town is called Tunica}

No free continental breakfast...

Well, the room was super cheap but they have no free amenities like wifi or breakfast. Kat's theory is that they want you at the casino as much as possible. They even had a very permanent looking sign at the front desk apologizing for their satelite tv stations being out 'temporarily'. Really no big deal to me. I was just here to sleep. The bed was surprizingly comfortable, and I only woke up at 3am for about a half hour due to leg cramps. This is pretty common since i'm not used to this amount of riding. Mr. Charleyhorse will probably be my friend for a couple days. The room also came equipped with its own little coffee maker, so at least they have my bare necessities covered.

Dinner

I figured since I was in Mississippi I should try the crawfish, but I have no clue how to eat em! I ended up at the Buffet and im positive its not much different from Golden Corral or Ryans at home. Add that to the chicken sandwich from Wendys and its a total strike out on trying food different from home...

Ballys Casino

Who knew the cheapest place to stay in Mississippi would be a casino hotel??? I think I could have gotten my meal a little cheaper by joining some club or another but I couldnt understand the ladys accent! I just said "uh, thats fine." To Logan: im officially in Mississippi, so mark the map, buddy! I love you and Lexie! (and KAT OF COURSE!)

Mississippi

Behind me the big dude is doiing gangsign for "welcome to Mississippi!". Now im gonna look for a place to sleep and some grub.

Check your cooling fluids !!! 

Memphis...almost to Mississippi

Getting gas in Memphis. Mississippi in less than half hour! The warning light is for oil AND temp! I looked closely and the temp indicator (a little thermometer) is on, not the oil indicator (a little oil can!). Geeze I feel stupid!

Wildersville, TN

I had to stop for gas. I got 143 miles on this last tank. I did what the mechanic said and the last time I saw the oil light, just gritted my teeth and rode on. After less than a minute which seemed more like an hour, the light went off by itself without my slowing down. I hope it really is a faulty sensor.

I called the tech guy at Suzuki of Louisville. He told me the Boulevard has no real oil pressure guage, only a level. He said he's seen a few of them go bad. I told him I am positive that it has plenty of oil. I asked him if I should be concerned and turn around. He said "if you know its got oil and you're not hearing any noises, I would ride on...". Well, the engine sounds the same as always, so I'll continue on down the road. I got off here in Tennessee on the Minnie Pearl Memorial,Hwy. 137 miles to Memphis. I have a good friend I also asked about the oil thing. Hoping they get back with me on some googling...

Nasty weather coming

Weather channel says nasty weather coming from west. May pass thru where ill be at overnight...hopefully!

Adding oil

due to the kindness of strangers I was able to check the oil. A young lady on the way in said it was "about a quarter" so I added half a quart of oil. When I was done, this tough looking dude with a shaved head and tattoos checked it again. He said "you're good." I have decided to continue on down the road toward Memphis, keeping an eye on it as I go. I will have to ask the Suzuki shop about it when I get home. To my son Logan who is tracking my progress: the blog reads from bottom to top, so the oldest will be at the bottom and the newest at the top. Also, I am still in Kentucky. Its a town called Franklin. Since I had to stop for gas, and there is a Wendys attached, I got a chicken sandwich and a soda for lunch. My ETA says 5pm at which point I will start looking for a place to sleep for the night.

Oil light

The oil light has come on three times. Each time I was doing a little over 75-76mph. To play it safe, every time I slipped over into the breakdown lane and prepared to limp to the next exit. When I slow down, about 10-20 seconds at slower speed, the oil light goes off. Could it be that its just a little low on oil? Oil changed by Suzuki of Louisville about 900 miles ago... It has never shown signs of oil loss. No leaks. The bike IS 4 years old now. I'm concerned. Maybe I should turn around and come home, but I'm going to try adding a little oil and see if that fixes it. Very difficult to keep the bike upright level AND see the oil gauge window at the very bottom on the right side... I needed to stop for gas anyway at 116 miles on the clock.

First stop

forgot to get gas, so I stopped in Brooks KY. Gas is $3.81 in Louisville. $3.79 here...

Bad omens?

Well, I went to my sister's concert and didnt get home until late. This left me no time to pack so I have to get up earlier tomorrow. I planned to leave by 8am. We shall see... On top of this, I had a hair trimming accident. Bad omens for travel?

Working on the bike

Today is my last day before heading out. I had to figure out a way to (mostly) permenently attach the wiring for power to my Garmin. Its a little tough because there's not a whole lot of room between the underside of the tank and the hot engine parts. I decided to run it along with some other wiring and put in some extra insulation. We'll see how that goes. I'm using my battery tender pigtail off the battery for power and I fashioned a cap for the GPS cable out of another SAE trailer pigtail. This way if I get in a pinch and have to charge my ipod, phone, or camera, I can throw on the 12volt "lighter" adaptor and charge my other devices. I plan to charge everything up at an electrical outlet each night anyway. That brings up a major concern...I hope my abused 44 year old back holds up on non-space-tech mattresses.

Molly, the Suzuki GS850

I sold my 1981 Suzuki GS850G (named Molly).  I was never able to get it street legal because the idiot I bought it from couldn't seem to get the title straightened out.  Regardless, the seat was amazingly comfortable, and I would have loved to have kept it.  All hail Craigslist.

Garmin Co. and my Bricked Nuvi 550

This week, I wanted to install Garmin MapSource to my laptop, so I could use it on my trip if necessary.  I installed, and it didn't pull the maps from my Garmin Nuvi 550.  I've had that GPS for a couple years and I love it.  It doesn't cost the price of a Zumo but is still waterproof.  I plugged it up and it sort of man-handled me through a firmware update.

The firmware update bricked my GPS!  I was pretty irate and wondering what I would do.  I need this GPS.  Everyone knows how I suck at directions (for the most part) and don't deal well with maps.  I called Garmin.  It went something like this...

Me:  Your update bricked my unit.
Rep:  Sorry.  If you want to send it in, we can fix it for $99.
Me: No, you don't get it.  Your firmware update bricked the GPS.  It's not my fault.
Rep: Sorry sir, it's out of warranty.
Me: I know, but your company did this.  They should fix it at no charge.
Rep:  That would require supervisor authorization.
Me:  Good call.  Let me speak to your supervisor.

The supervisor was a uniquely helpful individual named Mootz.  Yeah, like who can make THAT up?  Anyway, he apologized for the 'misunderstanding'.  I told him I was going on a trip asap, and needed the unit.  He offered to ship me a refurb, send me an email with a UPS label prepaid, and gave me his direct number to call the next day (yes, he shipped the refurb next day air) so I could set up the new unit properly.  It all went like clockwork.  He did take my credit card info in case I decided not to send back the bricked GPS.  I dropped it off at the UPS Store same day of the call/emailed label.

Two notes:

1. They are replacing the awesome MapSource software with BaseCamp.  It has a bit of a learning curve but I promised Mootz to give it a try in the future.  FYI, it's a free download!
2. They no longer carry the Nuvi 550, but have a $400 Zumo 220, which is similar but has bluetooth.