Route 66, Day 12......Back to Austin

The last road day of a vacation is always the hardest for me.  Your brain usually gets home about one day before your bike does.  You have to be kind of careful with that because it makes you stop concentrating on staying alive, and that is bad.  When we rolled out, it looked like we were going to be riding into a thunderstorm in Austin, so we stopped in Brownwood, TX to put on raingear and get ready for it.  We got a total of 11 drops between the four of us, and we stopped a few miles later and took off our rain liners.  We ended up getting to Austin without any more rain.

Knowing we were pushing to get into Austin before the storm, we really rode hard today.  The way I put it was "Roll like vikings".  We stopped twice for gas, and that was it.  We only stopped long enough to fill the tanks and drink water, and then we were back on the road.  Then we got in and did not see a drop of rain all day long.

After doing a post trip inspection on the bike, I found that one of my side case mounts snapped.  It broke at the connection to the passenger peg.  Not the same place the other one broke.  This one is not going to be fixable with JB weld.  I am going to have to replace them completely.  It sucks, but it is the price of admission I guess.  At least it is a bag mount, not a transmission.

It is time for bed to sleep off this trip.  I will put up a full summary later on this week.

Here is our route:


View Larger Map

Route 66, Day 10.....The ride home....

Today was the first day of the ride home.  We have passed the apex, and now we are dealing with re-entry.  We started off the morning in Tucumcari, NM.  It was a cool morning with a light breeze when we started.  Since we are headed back south, we are going through the section of New Mexico that I don't enjoy riding through.  Aside from the hideous winds and the stupid heat, there are long stretches of nothing.  Leaving town on NM 209 toward Clovis, the road is straight.  We could actually see the road disappear over the curvature of the earth at one point.  All I could see in front of me was a mesa that stretched from one side of my field of view to the other, and a road that was going straight to it.  After about 20 minutes we got close enough for me to tell that there was not one, but two mesas in front of us and the road curved between them.  That was a fairly disturbing visual on the motorcycle.

The other thing that makes me dislike riding in the desert is the sensation of standing still.  Since the only real features in the landscape is a road that goes straight over the horizon, and a Mesa in the distance,  riding is very disorienting.  The speed limit was 65mph.  While I am watching the horizon, if feels like I am standing still.  There is no movement, just vibration and wind.  There are no close features to see whipping past you an the side of the road.  I looked down at my speedometer and it is still telling me 65.  Then I look at the yellow road markings shooting under my bike, and I feel this sudden blast of acceleration.  It feels like I have just gone from a dead stop to 65mph instantly.  It was very disorienting.

    We crossed the border back into Texas at a little town called Texico.  I have always noticed that when I cross back into Texas from anywhere it just seems to get nicer.  In New Mexico we were fighting nasty crosswinds.  Once we came back into Texas, the winds started calming down a bit.  I have also noticed that the desolation out there looks different.  In New Mexico, everything is just empty.  All of the colors tend to blend together, and the sky just seems kind of dull.  There is some amazing scenery as far as mesas and draws and mountain ranges off in the distance.  I do kind of enjoy running out across New Mexico, there are some pretty views out there, but watching the road go over the horizon and not getting any closer, even after 30 minutes of running, starts eating away at your brain.  It is easy to get your brain into a rut that can get kind of spooky.  You will see a sign that indicates a curve ahead, and you can see all the way to the horizon and there are no curves that are visible.  Then you spot the little draw that drops about 5 feet or so makes a quick curve around nothing at all, and then continues directly inline with the road behind you.

    We also had a major accomplishment today.  This was the first time all 4 bikes made it past the burned out shell station in Anton, TX.  Last time we tried to pass that station, Kel blew her transmission out of her bike.  This is also the first time we all four pulled into the Lubbock Radisson under power.  Kel threatened to kill one or all of us if we tried to stop at that little gas station to get a picture.


Here is the Route for the day:


View Larger Map

Route 66, Day 9....Last day on the route

Getting up and getting moving was a bit difficult today. This is the last day on the route, and tomorrow we head home. Since we are cutting the trip a bit short, we are just going to take our time getting home. No need to push high mileage days, just move it along home at a leisurely pace.

The thing that has come as the biggest shock to me on this trip is the number of people from other places that I am seeing. I am not talking about other states, I mean other countries. So far, we have seen a group of Germans, a couple groups from Canada, one group from Switzerland, and a whole group from Norway/Sweden. They were a tour group that comes in from Norway and rents Harleys and rides from Chicago to L.A. There were about 20 or so bikes, and they were moving like a band of vikings headed for a village. They pulled into the Midpoint cafe about 10 minutes after we did, took a bunch of pictures, spent a lot of money in the gift shop, had some pie, and rode out in about an hour or so. It was actually kind of scary to watch the ruthless precision with which they moved through the gift shop into the cafe, and then back on the road. While we were at the midpoint, we ran into a few guys from Spain. they started the route in Dallas, and were headed for L.A.

After the midpoint, we went to Glen Rio. This is a little ghost town on the TX/NM border. This is where the First/Last Motel in Texas was located. Here is a shot from the motel.




After that, we took off down the older alignment of 66. It is about 15 miles of unpaved road. This was where the first real pucker of the trip came from. About 5 miles in, I started getting some heavy head-shake from the bike on the gravel. A bit further on, I hit some sand and it threw me into a full on tank-slapper. I managed to ride it out and keep the bike up, but I think I ruined my pants. Turns out Glenn, who was riding behind me, was using me for his canary in a coal mine. When I hit something that threw me sideways, he know to slow down and be gentle with it. Since we were never getting over about 20 mph, Kel and I were both having heat problems. If I could get up to 30 mph, the bikes would cool. The problem with 30 mph is that you are in tank-slapper territory again. I am glad we went down there, but I think one time is enough.

After we got back on pavement, we hit I-40 and ran straight through to the hotel. My nerves were not up for more riding.

Here is today's slideshow:



Here is the day's route:


View Larger Map

Route 66, Day 8....Palo Duro Canyon side trip

We decided to burn a day and go out to Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, we also stopped by Cadillac Ranch on the way. We had a lot of fun at the ranch, and of course I had to mark it. We found some spray paint on the ground and I put my "heart with wings" on a Cadillac. Kel marked it too with a KDVG 2010:





The ride down into the canyon was very twisty, but the speed limit was only 30mph. It was also only about 7 miles to the bottom of the canyon, and then 7 miles coming back up. Unfortunately the video camera failed so I don't have any video of the trip down into the canyon. That just means that we will have to go back

We had lunch at the trading post at the bottom of the canyon and then made it back to the hotel by 3:00.

Tonight we had dinner at The Big Texan. If you ware staying in a hotel along I-40, they will send a car out to pick you up.



Here is our route


View Larger Map

Route 66, Day 7....Amarillo by dinnertime.....

We managed to make our way to the National 66 Museum in Elk City, OK. It is a pretty nice little complex. They have some real neat stuff there. I got a few pics, they are in the slide show further down. Overall it was a very relaxing ride today. We pretty much wanted to get to Amarillo so we vould go and explore some in Palo Duro Canyon and then have dinner at the Big Texan. I think today we actually managed to find a higher percentage of original pavement than we have any other day. Except for about 9 miles on the interstate, we were on Route 66. For most of the trip it was the frontage road, but you have to be very alert and switch sides of the highway or you will be forced onto the interstate due to a creek. This will happen if the bridge is on the other side of the highway. Then there are times where the access road will take off into the middle of nowhere and pass through a few towns and then come back to the interstate.

I think the funniest thing I saw was just west of Texola, OK. When you cross the border you end up on the frontage road of I40. It is a 2 lane 2 way road. The neat part about it is that there were yellow wildflowers growing on the side of the road that were high enough that you could not see I 40, but you could hear it. By the time you got to where the flowers were short enough to see over, we were behind the trees again.

Crossing back into Texas also meant Texas bugs. I collected a huge grasshopper in the cooling fins on my motor. It was kind of scary.

Here is the shot of the U Drop Inn in Shamrock, TX:



It was actually a pretty tiring day of riding for only going about 150 or so miles. Route 66 miles are like dog miles. They feel much longer than the odometer says. This is maily due to the fact that you may end up going 70mph, or you may end up going 10mph on a gravel road. You may also circle an intersection a few times trying to figure out how to get there from here. Then realizing that the only way to get to that section of 66 is to take the back exit of a hotel parking lot.

After we got back from dinner last night, we checked on the bikes and my kickstand had sunk half an inch in the parking lot. The nice people at the Outback Steakhouse gave us a couple small cooking tins to put under the stands so we wouldn't sink.





Here is the route we took, hopefully, I will shoot some video from Palo Duro Canyon tomorrow.


View Larger Map

TTFN

Dave

Route 66, Day 6. everything changes, even our minds....again

So today we took out of Yukon. After looking at the weather options and the condition of all involved, we decided yo continue down Rt 66. We are taking very small jumps, and we will likely end in Tucumcari. Then we will either head back to Austin, or do something else.

Since we have drastically cut back our days, we have a lot of time to mess around and see what we can find. Today, as we left Yukon, we saw a big sign that said "Original Route 66, this way". Beside that one that was an arrow pointing another direction that said "Paved 66". The one for paved 66 was very small and hand painted. It was almost like they did not want us to find it. We followed that one all the way to Hydro Oklahoma. That was where we ran across Lucille's. This was the original that has closed down. We stopped and got a few pictures and then went on to Weatherford, OK to the new Lucille's and had lunch.






After that is was on to Clinton, OK to visit the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. We managed to follow a little bit of the Route to Elk City, OK, but we ended up back on the Interstate and on our way to the hotel. We are going to hit the Elk City National Route 66 Museum in the morning.



The bid thing I am seeing on this trip is that it is not a mile burner. If you want to ride a lot of miles, don't do 66. Moving too fast misses too much. Following the actual route will be slow. The ribbon road was 13 miles and it took us over an hour to complete. Today we left Yukon at 11:00 and made it to the hotel in Elk City at 5:30. We only went 100 miles or so.

Here is the route for the day....enjoy.


View Larger Map

TTFN

Route 66, Day 5, Slight change of plans.....

Well, after 4 riding days, we got a look at the weather and the condition of the riders and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. Between Vern's bum knee, my trick elbow, and Glenn's sensitivity to heat, we decided that trying to cross the panhandle and then New Mexico in 30 to 40 mph crosswinds would just be stupid. Today we burned a day in Yukon, OK to get the new routing down. We have decided to turn East and go to the Barber Motorsports Museum. The miles will be a little easier on the joints, and the weather will be better.

Spending the day in Yukon has been interesting. We went to the BMW dealership over in OKC to pickup a new pair of gloves to replace the ones that Vern blew the seams on. While we were there, we ran into a couple guys, one from Florida, and one from Toronto. They were going down Route 66. Kel spent about an hour going over maps with them.

Random thought from too many miles on the road...."My butt is asleep, that wasn't a fart.....it is snoring.

We also had our "Wild Hogs" moment....we went into the little restaurant in the lobby of our hotel. The name of the place is Big Dick's Roadhouse. It took us about 5 minutes to realize that we were not in our element there. This is not a restaurant, this is a bar that serves food. It had a very nice bar feel, but we felt a bit.....out of place, especially when most of the other customers sang along with the chorus of "Jack and Dianne". I also got to explain to the rest of the crew that "Biker Friendly" does not always necessarily include the touring crowd..... The service was excellent, the food was awesome.

Ok, tomorrow is the leg to Ft Smith, AR. Kind of a short leg. Most of them will be due to the fact that we only have about 800 miles to cover to get to the museum and 4 days to do it.

Here are a few shots of the Canadian River Bridge here in Yukon.




TTFN

Dave

Route 66, Day 3. Tomorow it begins.

Ok, We are in Joplin. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we start down 66. The goal for tomorrow is to make Yukon, OK. I have noticed over the years that when you are riding, you tend to obsess over the stupidest things. When you are trapped in a helmet with yourself, there is not much else to do. Around mile marker 82, there is a sign that reads "Ponder 1 mile". I realize that this is the exit that takes you to Ponder, TX, but I still spent the next 300 miles pondering 1 mile. My brain is certainly poo. I thought about stopping to get a picture of it, but it was near midnight and that was on I35 in the middle of nowhere.

Today it was a fairly leisurely ride up Route 69, it really exists I am not making it up. We only covered about 125 miles or so today, but they were the last miles off the route for another week or so. I got my state line pic for Missouri, and I updated my map above. Tomorrow night I will update the map with Kansas too.

Here is my state line pic for Missouri:



Here is the route for the first 3 days, A->B Friday, B->C Saturday, C->D Sunday.


View Larger Map

Have fun, I will update with pictures tomorrow night.

TTFN

Dave

Route 66, Day 2 Here we go......

Day one was just a grind up to Denton,TX so we could get some miles behind us. Day 2 was a straight shot to Muskogee, OK. Tomorrow is a straight shot to Joplin, Mo so we can start Route 66 on Monday. Check the "Where is Dave" link on the right side column to see where I am and see the route that we are taking. It is more or less real time tracking, usually about 15-30 minute lag.

Enjoy

Dave

All that way, and I got a Jolt cola......

I am a dork.....just a flat out dork. I rode 400+ miles to Pop's Route 66 and i froze up while looking at the selection of drinks. I got a Jolt cola.....I am a dork.

The ride started out fairly well, it was very cold this morning and pretty windy. I made it to the OK border at around 10:00. Here is the shot as I leave holy ground:




The first thing that I always see that lets me know I am riding in Oklahoma is the red dirt that washes over the road and leaves all of the bridges stained red. The big sign saying you are now entering Oklahoma is a big clue too......

The other thing that clues me in that I am in Oklahoma is the incredible amount of bug goo that appears on my visor:




When I finally called it a day at the Hotel, this nice little girl behind the gounter pointed out that my visor was covered with bugs......I can't believe she actually had the nerve to say something about it. After she got me situated with a room, she cleaned my visor for me. Now that is service......


I stopped off at the OKC BMW Dealership. There is actually a very nice dealership there. It kind of makes the one in Dallas look....dinky. The staff is very nice, and they have a great decompression facility. I have noticed that I am pushing about 120 miles between gas stops. Here is the bench in front of OKC BMW:




I finally came to understand how the very short stopping distance for a motorcycle is not really a benefit. I almost took a pickup up the tailpipe on I35 coming through OKC. The truck in front of me decided that it would stop short and I didn't have much of a choice but to follow suit. The pickup behind me, however, did not have a very good stopping distance. I have determined that the most disturbing sound in the world is anti-lock brakes doing their job heard echoing in your helmet. I managed to get onto the shoulder before the pickup went through the spot that I was sitting just before. He missed me by a mile, but I don't think he even noticed, he had his arms locked and his eyes closed. Wow. I am a lucky SOB. I love solo roadtrips.......they are so good at providing perspective.

oh well.....Here is the route for the day:


View Larger Map

We made it home alive.

Looks like me made it back. Now it is time to do all of the maintenance that needs to be done on the bikes after a long trip.

The ride back was fairly uneventful The roads out there are nice, but nothing like what we have been on. Just pretty enough to keep you awake, but not wild that you have to spend a lot of time working on keeping the bike up. Turns out the whole trip , with the in town running around came up to about 1900 miles.

Here is the final map.


View Larger Map

Looks like the next trip will be a short one, The Hill country Classic Rally, in Luckenbach.

Till then, Keep the dirty side down....

Dave

The long road home.....

We rolled out of Yukon, OK about 9:00 this morning. The road rolled by fairly easily. Today was spent mostly on fairly flat and featureless roads, with only a few very small towns along the way. The best thing on that road is the bridge over the Red River with a big sign on the far side that says "Welcome to Texas!" I got a bad case of Road Butt, I am going to bed. Next update will be from home tomorrow evening. YAY!!!!!!


View Larger Map


Rollin home.....

Dave

Route 66 and the assorted kicks.......

The road out of Eureka Springs is just about as nice as the road in. Not quite as high on the pucker factor, but still something to experience first thing in the morning while you are still tired from the night before. We crossed into Oklahoma on US 62. The first thing we discover is that we are on the Trail of Tears. This road has got to be a hidden gem. We did not see another bike through the whole thing. There were a few nice switchbacks , one even came with a semi crowding the double stripe.

Once we got onto 66 everything smoothed out nicely. Not much in the way of curves, not much in the way of real anything. I think the interstate has finally killed off the small towns along 66 except for the big ones that also touch the interstate. Pretty much all there is now is abandoned buildings and Route 66 museums and gift shops. On top of that, it looked like someone carpet-bombed the highway and then set the speed limit to 65.

Remember the old childhood rhyme "Birdie birdie in the sky, why'd you do this in my eye?" I think this bird must have had some precision bombing training. The little sucker got me right in the visor, in front of my right eye, at 60 mph. I am also discovering that Oklahoma has one of the most amazing selections of bugs I have ever encountered. We actually had to stop one hour outside of OKC to clean my visor.

Tomorrow is the downhill run back to Texas. Thursday night at Kel's parents house, then back to Austin on Fri.

Here was the route for today. Total mileage so far 1100 miles.


View Larger Map


TTFN,

Dave

And God said...."Let there be roller coaster......"

And there was Arkansas SH-7, and it was GOOD! That was the most insane road I have seen in a long time. Think 2222 between Mopac and 360, only 200 miles long. There were sections where you lost so much elevation in a curve your ears popped. There was a series of four S-curves that were so tight they were marked at 20mph. The road turned into sensory overload a lot more quickly than I would have believed. After hitting 7, I have to believe God loves roller coasters. If you are going to ride this little slice of heaven, the big thing that I will tell you is that you have to trust your bike. Some of those curves, even as marked, the only thing getting you through them alive is your bike's sense of self preservation.

There were a few scenic turnouts along the way.....we took a couple. The pictures are at http://public.fotki.com/dave-d/hot-springs/.



The only real downer was the 10 miles we were caught behind a semi haling chickens....They were in open air cages, and the stench was unreal. The feathers were coming off of the truck and flowing back around us, so we got some souveniers to remind us of that joyful aroma.

A bit of trivia for the day, some butterflies can sly while they have sex. I saw two of them locked together flying across the road. In fact, they were still locked together when we stopped and I wiped them off of my visor. That was nasty.......

Here is the route, click on the "view larger" link to see the actual route.


View Larger Map


Oh well, tomorrow is the run down Route 66.

Ya'll have fun now, y'hear...

Dave