Final Thoughts and Totals from the Trip

This trip really turned out to be fun, even more fun that I thought it might be.  When I thought about some of the areas I would be going through, I wasn't sure how much there would be to see.  It turned out that even in the areas that may be less exciting (say Texas and Oklahoma), it was still neat to the see the land change as I  progressed across the county side.  Everywhere I went, I saw something different.  That is what makes seeing the United States so interesting, especially on a motorcycle where you feel, see, smell, and experience things much more than when riding in a car or just flying over it in a plane.

I know I am very fortunate and blessed to have now have ridden in 49 states on a motorcycle.  Not many people can say they have done this.  It has been a great experience for me.  I am also glad that I have been able to share these experiences with you through my blogs while I have been traveling.  At least you have been able to get a small sampling of what I have experienced during these trips.

During the trips I have done over the last 5 years, I have ridden just short of 37,000 miles

Rocky Mountain Ride (2008) - 10,226 miles

Blue Ridge Parkway Ride (2009) - 5,430 miles

New England Ride (2010) - 7,125 miles

West Coast Ride (2011) - 6,338 miles

South (this year) - 7,837 miles

Here are some facts from this trip:

Miles driven: 7,837

Average miles per day: 483

New states driven in: 8 (New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida)

Additional states driven in: 13 (Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin)

Total states driven in: 21
Was in 3 time zones
Average miles per gallon: 47.58
Fuel consumed: 154 gallons
Total cost for fuel: $605 (51% of trip total costs)
I camped 12 nights
I stayed with daughter 2 nights
I stayed with parents 1 night
I stayed in a motel 2 nights
Highest temperature recorded while riding: 108
Time spent in rain gear: About 3 hours!

Here is the route map for this years trip

So after this trip, here is what my "States I have Ridden in Map" looks like now!



As you can see, there is only 1 state left and hopefully I can color that one early next year!

Thanks again for following along on my journey.  I hope you enjoyed it almost as much as I have.

Day 18 - Sept 16

It is 8:15 p.m. and I am home safe and in 1 piece!

The ride home from Chicago was 479 miles on the scenic route.

I will update more and put final totals on thoughts together ion Monday.

Day 17 - Sept 15

Today is a lazy day.  No riding today.  Just visiting, watching movies (Thor), and taking the grand doggies for a walk.

Day 16 - Sept 14

Today was a short ride of 278 miles to Chicago to see Trisha (daughter) and John (husband).  I actually had to put rain gear for about 30 minutes of riding around Indianapolis and as a light shower moved through the area.  That is only the 2^nd time on this trip to break out the rain gear.  What a difference from last year!

Traffic around downtown Chicago was a little slow with some sections being stop and go but other then that; no problems.  Having the GPS guide and provide directions makes getting through a city like Chicago a lot easier.

We spent the afternoon visiting and taking the dogs (my grand dogs!) for a walk and a swim.  Check out the photos of their dogs Einstein (the larger one) and Rosalind (the puppy)

No riding is schedule for Saturday.  Just a day to relax and visit.

I plan to ride the final leg of the trip on Sunday and be home before dark.  I have Monday as a vacation day to unpack, clean some things up, and do things around the house.  Tuesday it is back to work.

Day 15 – Sept 13

Today’s ride bought me out of Tennessee across the state of Kentucky and into Indiana.  The route that I had mapped was actually pretty good and most of the ride was interesting and enjoyable.  I have attached photos of tobacco fields for those who have not seen them and also a barn where the tobacco is being dried.

I couldn’t believe the gas prices when I got to Indiana.  Most are close to $4.00 per gallon!  I thought I was in Chicago already by the gas prices!  Other places on the trip they have been between $3.50 and $3.75 in most places.  Anyone have a clue?

Tonight I am staying at the Brown County State Park near Nashville (Indiana not Tennessee!!).  This area of Indiana is very different than what most people think about the state.  It is actually rather hilly (I wouldn’t call them mountains) but also heavily wooded.  I have attached a few photos from the park as well.  I am somewhat familiar with this area to due other trips through the area and times when I have travel to Columbus Indiana for work. 

 Tomorrow I will make my way to the greater Chicago area to see my daughter Trisha and her husband John.  I plan to be there Friday afternoon and Saturday and then make the final part of the return journey home on Sunday.  John’s mom and his brother are also coming to Chicago for the week-end to watch the NASCAR race.

Tonight I want to thank my wife Cathy for again supporting me and allowing me to take these extended rides.  Not many wives would be so supportive – THANK YOU!!!!

I have completed the mission of now riding in 49 states.  We are ready to enjoy Hawaii together as milestones of our birthdays and our marriage.  We have already booked airline tickets and places to stay for most of the vacation.  We will be enjoying the island of Maui for most of the time we are there.  This will be our first big trip and we are looking forward to it together. 

Here are some ride facts so far:

·         I have now ridden over 7,000 miles during these 14 days (not counting the first afternoon ride of only 100 miles)

·         Average miles per day is 500

·         I have now ridden in 19 states as part of this trip

·         Here are the 8 new states I have now ridden in (in order): New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida

·         Here are the other 11 states I have ridden in so far on this trip (in order): Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Indiana.

Day 14 – Sept 12

I had a great day of riding today!  I left camp early this morning (7:00 a.m.) and was on my way to Tennessee.  I was really looking forward to Cherohala Skyway and Tail of the Dragon.  As I said previously, I have ridden both of these roads on a prior trip and I remember how fun they were the first time so I was expecting the same today.  I was not disappointed.  They Skyway was great with many great views.  It was a little overcast which hindered the view some but still amazing.  Next there was a Dragon to be slayed!  There were more bikes out than I expected for the middle of the week but not too many to make any problems.  My ride on the Dragon was really good.  I had very little traffic to deal with.  I did catch up to a guy riding a Victory and he let me pass him so I had clear sailing right through to the end.  The Dragon is one of those roads that needs to be experienced to understand.  It provides a real “rush” when ridden.  It is both technically challenging and beautiful at the same time.  All kinds of cars and motorcycles come here to ride this road; it is really a gathering place.  One of the interesting things about riding the Dragon is that people take photos of the people driving by and then post them on a website so you can purchase them.  It is an opportunity to get a real action shot that you don't get very often.  I did purchase my photo from the last time I did this ride.  I will have to check the websites in a few days to see if they got any got actions photos this time!

After the Dragon, I continued on my route home.  At one part of my route, I got onto another very curvy and technical road.  Three guys on sport bikes were behind me.  I was unfamiliar with the road and what to expect ahead so I waved them on to get in front of me so I wasn’t slowing them down.  I was able to keep pace with these guys for the entire stretch; I have no idea how many miles it was.  At the end the road came to a T and they stopped. I stopped to talk to them as well.  It turns out, they are from Minnesota as well. What a coincidence!  One of them is from near where I grew up.  They have been making this trip every year for 9 years now around this time.  They commented they trailered their bikes down because if they rode them, their tires would need to be replaced by the time they got down here and then would need to be replaced before getting back home!  They were all very familiar with this road from previous trips and they said it is part of "Devils Triangle".  I have not heard of it in the past so I thought I would check out the website (http://www.devilstriangletn.com/) and here is what it said:

The adventure ranges from the bucolic rural Tennessee scenery to a view of Brushy Mountain State Prison; from gentle country road sweepers to gnarly steep switchbacks; from serene straights to Dragon like twisties with guard rails of death; from gentle pull-offs to three foot deep rock strewn gullies just inches from the pavement; from peaceful farmsteads to sections of rutted roadway right out of a horror movie.

Yes, the Triangle will get your attention in a hurry. This is no place for the beginning rider.

BULLETIN: The Devils Triangle is not a place for the squeamish or beginning rider. There are sections with difficult steep switchbacks, poorly patched asphalt, heaves in the roadway, broken pavement, gravel in road, steep dropoffs, and coal/logging trucks to dodge. Other that that it is a great road. RIDE WITH EXTREME CARE .....

The last image I have attached is part of the road as viewed in Google Earth showing 3 sharp switchbacks together.

I am staying at Cove Lake State Park in Tennessee (near Lake City) this evening.  The route tomorrow continues north into Kentucky.  I hope to make it north of Louisville tomorrow (Thursday) and then to Chicago on Friday.  The riding the next few days will not be as exciting today has been but I will have the memories of today to enjoy for a long time!

Day 13 – Sept 11

Today started with a great little road (see photo 1) on my way to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.  The museum was very interesting even though I didn’t know a lot about many of the bikes or even hear of their names before.  At one time there were many different motorcycle manufactures; everyone thought they could build a better motorcycle.  By walking through the museum you really could see the progression and change over time.  Many started by just adding motors to a simple bicycle.  Initially motorcycles were seen as a cheap method of transportation.  However, as time progressed, people wanted more power, more speed, more comfort, and more safety.  This desire for more continues today as motorcycles become more and more complex.  I have attached only a few of the photos I took.  With over 600 vehicles on display, it was even hard to decide which ones to take pictures of.

As I mentioned before the museum is part of a larger complex.  There is a race track there as well and you can take driving classes using Porsche cars.  I attached a photo of that as well.  Overall it was very interesting.  I am sure some people could spend all day there.  I spent about 3 hours and then decided to continue onward.

Onward in this case was to northern Alabama.  I have a few loops that go between Alabama and Tennessee I rode as well.  I am spending the night Woodville Alabama.  Again finding a camp site was a little frustrating but I did locate this place before it got dark.

Tomorrow I am a going to ride Cherohala Skyway (43 miles National Scenic Byway) and the Tail of the Dragon (318 curves in 11 miles).  I rode both of these roads back during my 2009 trip.  They just “happen” to be on my home on this trip as well. Oh darn!

Day 12 – Sept 10

Today started like last night ended, with a walk on the sandy beach.  The ferry was not scheduled to depart until 8:00 so after I had my camp site packed up; I headed to the beach for 1 more walk in the sand.  I figured this would be my last opportunity on this trip.

By 7:45 I was in line to catch the ferry.  It turned out to be a very short line – only 3 vehicles were on the ferry this morning, including me.  The ride across the gulf was a little rough so I stood beside the motorcycle to make sure it didn’t tip over due to the waves.  We reached the other side safely and I was on my way to further explore the gulf coast.  I continued east across Alabama and into Florida.  That makes the 49 states part of the mission complete! 

Before leaving Florida, I decided to have some fresh seafood.  I stopped at a place and had popcorn shrimp and Cat Fish; it was Ok but nothing great.  Oh well.  Just past noon, I made a left turn and started heading north on the return leg of my journey.  About 1 hour later I was out of Florida and back in Alabama.  This is the 3^rd time on this trip I have now ridden in Alabama; all in different parts of the state.  The first time was on the Natchez Trace in the northwest corner of the state.  The second time was along the Gulf of Mexico.  This time I am heading north towards Birmingham.

I made it to near Birmingham tonight which was my target.  However, finding a campground proved very difficult so I ended up staying in a hotel this evening.  The places that were advertised as “campgrounds” were really “RV Parks” and wanted nothing to do with a “real camper” like me. 

The first thing on the agenda for tomorrow is to see the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. According to its website, “The collection now has over 1,200 vintage and modern motorcycles and as well as a substantial collection of Lotus and other racecars. It is considered the largest collection of its type in North American and possibly the world.”  The museum was started by George Barber who is from Birmingham and he raced Porsches in the 1960’s.  The museum is part of the Barber Motorsports Park which includes a racetrack that is used for many different events.

After seeing the museum, I am going to head north to Tennessee. Depending on how long I spend at the museum will determine how far I make it!

Weather continues to be great!

Day 11 – Sept 9

Tonight I took a walk on a sunny, sandy beach, on an island in the Gulf of Mexico.  But that was at the end of the day, let me back up to the beginning first (how is that for a teaser!)

I left Baton Rogue this morning and started towards New Orleans.  I was not sure what to expect after hurricane Isaac went through not that long ago.  Well, the closer I got, the more damage I could see.  It was very hit or miss.  A tree down here, a tree down there.  Lots of places had branches that had been picked up  and put into piles.  Soon I started seeing more piles of furniture or carpet or insulation that had been put into piles along the street.  In most places the water had already receded and things would have looked normal if it were not for the piles of “rubbish”.  In some places if you looked close you could figure out how high the water had been at one point, but again, generally things looked “normal”.  There were a few places that still had “Relief Centers” set up where people could go.  I have never been through an area shortly after a hurricane; it is hard to imagine what these areas really looked like after the 20+ inches of rain that happened in some areas.  More on the hurricane affects in a little while.

After reaching New Orleans, one of things I wanted to do was drive across the Lake Pontchatrain bridge.  This is the lake just outside of New Orleans.  The bridge is over 23 miles (yes miles) long.  It felt weird to drive on a bridge when you can’t see what is on the other side!

After crossing the bridge, I headed to the gulf coast west of New Orleans.  This was the first place I got the see the Gulf of Mexico.  To my surprise, the road was closed due to clean-up of the roads after hurricane Isaac yet (see photos).  They were still using heavy equipment to clean up debris that was ashore and cleaning the beach sand off the roads!  This type of beach clean-up/damage continued until Biloxi Mississippi which is 91 miles west of New Orleans!

So tonight I am staying at Dauphin Island Campground on Dauphin Island which is off the coast near Mobil Alabama.  Tonight I took a 3.5 mile bridge to reach the island.  Tomorrow I am going to take a ferry from the island which will put me back on the main land but on the east side of Mobile.  If I was to return over the bridge and drive to the same point the ferry will drop me off, it is about 2.5 hour drive.  The ferry will leave at 8:00 a.m. and is about 35 minutes.  For $8.00 and the time it sounds like fun!  Two ferry rides on 1 trip.  If you look at the last photo I attached, the end of the gray line is the island I am on tonight.  To the right where the tip of land comes out is where the ferry will take me tomorrow and it will save me driving all the way around Mobil Bay..

As I started out saying, I took a walk on the sandy island beach tonight.  It was really nice; the sun was shining and the waves were gently rolling in.  Note: One of the things you could see from the beach was the oil drilling riggs out in the gulf (see the 4th photo).

What a great way to finish another great day on this trip.

Day 10 – Sept 8

When I got up this morning, the sky was cloudy (it rained overnight), a bit breezy, and cool (about 72 when I hit the road).  I am not complaining!  It felt good to ride in cool weather today.  It never got above 81 degrees.

While riding the remainder of the Natchez Trace today, it reminded me how similar it is to Historic Route 66 that I rode earlier in the trip:

·         Both routes changed America:  The Trace opened trade and communication with what was then the Wild West.  Route 66 made transportation easy from the now Midwest (Chicago) to the West Coast (California).

·         Both routes had stores and suppliers set up along the route to provide services to weary travelers.

·         Cultures along the route changed and blended as travelers of various geographic, religion, and educational backgrounds began to meld together.

·         Both routes became obsolete:  The Trace was no longer needed when steam engines and other modes of transportation became available.  Route 66 became obsolete when the interstate system was implemented.

·         Both routes continue to be remembered as important parts of history that should not be forgotten; for we would not be what we are today if we did have this in our past.

After completing the Trace I continued to Louisiana.  Here I had to do some crop identification.  I took a few pictures of cotton fields which I had never seen before.  Then there was another crop that I had not seen and could not identify.  I have now confirmed what I finally figured out—sugar cane!

The other part I will remember Louisiana for is its rough roads!  It even has Minnesota beat – I thought I might lose a kidney.  Oklahoma City is a close second based on my experience on this trip.

I am staying at a KOA outside Baton Rouge tonight.  It is laundry night – oh what fun!

Tomorrow I make my way to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.  Hopefully the roads improve!

Day 9 – Sept 7

Today was a day of transition.  When I got this morning, the mountains were smoking!  The moisture from the rain later in the day yesterday and overnight was still hanging in the air as the sun was coming up.  It looked pretty neat. 

I left the Ozarks in my rear view mirror early in the day and then made my way to southern Missouri and into Tennessee where I picked up the Natchez Trace outside of Nashville by about 70 miles.  The Trace is 440 miles long and runs from Natchez Mississippi, across the entire state of Mississippi, through a corner of Alabama, and up to Nashville Tennessee.  The Trace (or trail) started when people would take their boats and goods down the rivers to be sold.  They would sell not only their goods but also their boats as there was no way to get the boat back upstream.  The only way to get home was to walk.

Because the Trace is now a parkway, there are no commercial vehicles allowed on it and the speed limit is usually 50 mph.  The parkway is well taken care of and usually is tree lined on one or both sides.  This makes for a very relaxed ride. 

Tomorrow I will continue down the Trace and then head towards New Orleans.

I have now completed over 4,500 miles on this trip and I have averaged 640 miles per day.  Many of you may ask “How (and maybe even why) do you do this?”  I believe the answer lies in 3 words: 1) desire, 2) preparation, and 3) equipment.

Desire: My desire is not to just put on miles.  If that was the case, I could do it much quicker by getting on freeways and interstates and just drive and watch the miles count up.  No, my desire is to see and feel the areas in which I ride.  I use all of my senses to absorb the feeling of the areas in which I am driving and experiencing.  As you know, part of the desire of this trip is to complete riding in 49 states on a motorcycle.  I have now added 6 new ones to the list (New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi).  Two new states still remain: Louisiana and Florida.  However, in addition to just the state count, there are many wonderful areas left to explore!

Preparation:  This is critical to help maintain the miles per day.  I spend time in advance of the trip scouting out the roads I wish to ride (twisty, curvy, mountain, river, etc.) and have them mapped into my GPS.  This allows me to keep moving during the day and not spend a lot of time looking at maps and determining where to go to next.  However, I still have the option to vary my route from those pre-planned in the GPS.  To me this provides the best of both worlds.  I also bring along state highway maps for all the places I plan to go because there are still many advantages of looking at a large piece of paper when trying to see how the whole route fits together.

Equipment:  One must have the proper equipment to put on long miles day after day.  For me, one upgrade I did this year was a new custom seat for the bike.  When I placed the order, I was told the production date would not be in time for this trip.  I was disappointed but there was nothing else I could do then.  Disappointment turned to joy when I found out they had made my seat early and it would arrive about 1 week before I left.  I love my new Russell Day Long Saddle (a little plug for the seat!).  I also purchased LDComfort (Long Distance Comfort) undergarments to wear.  They have a moisture wicking layer to keep moisture away from the body and also have the seams done differently.  Again, love them!  Proper boots, gloves, jacket, helmet, and others allow a person to ride comfortably for a long time and adjust to various weather conditions.

That is all for tonight.  I am spending the night at the Trace State Park outside of Tupelo Mississippi.  My camp site is right along side the lake.  Sunrise (if not raining – 50% chance according to the forecast) should be beautiful!