Riding Days are Done.

 Sadly, on June 2, 2017 a Hit and Run incident in Knoxville, Tennessee ended our motorcycle riding career.  A very cruel and wicked person was pulling a stolen 18' tandem axle trailer with an allegedly stolen pickup truck on I-40 when the trailer came off of the truck at highway speed and proceeded off the highway and struck us as we were coming back onto the Interstate.  The driver stopped briefly on the highway and when he saw it strike us, he fled the scene. The license plate of the truck was called into the Tennessee Highway Patrol and an attempt was made to find the owner. The hit and run detective did make contact with the owner of the truck a few days later but the truck was reported stolen 4 days after the incident. 

We spent 5 days in the hospital, my wife 3 days in ICU, before being discharged and driven back to Texas by some dear friends who rented a Lincoln Navigator to ease our ride home. We spent a lot of time recuperating from this and did not replace this motorcycle. We were out over $3,000 but our insurance covered the medical bills or it would have bankrupted us. The bike was a total loss as was the trailer. We feel extremely blessed to still be alive. 

The after effects of this have made its mark upon both of us. We still suffer some from the injuries we sustained but have, for the most part, regained our mobility. My wife still suffers with her back and ankle and I still have issues with my ribs and shoulders. 

I never got to finish blogging all the trips that we were able to make and those very fond memories will always be with me. We were able to ride our Goldwing motorcycles in the lower 48 states accumulating more than 200,000 miles in the 13+ years we rode with some wonderful friends.

This will be my last blog. I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and tales we shared through the years.

God Bless 

West Coast Swing to Wing Ding 2016 Pt 2 - Arizona - California

Continuing we went to the Painted Dessert and the Petrified Forest National Parks.

It was a really pleasant ride through these parks at a leisurely pace. The speed limit was on 45 if I remember correctly but we were in no hurry.

 This tree must have fallen thousands of years ago. Now what was once wood is now a rock. Go figure.  The Park Center has the full story along with some great exhibits.

We continues on I-40 west until we came to Winslow, Arizona. Every Eagles fan will remember the Jackson Brown song "Taking It Easy" that the Eagles released. Standing on the corner has become an icon for this town. they have two statues there along with a Flatbed Ford to mark the spot. We got a T-shirt, some memorabilia and some lunch before heading on to Kingman, Arizona.

After checking in to our hotel we went for a ride looking for a WWII museum but it had shut down so we went to plan B. Billie had found a place called the Hackberry General Store on old Route 66. We rode about 25 miles to find it. Interesting place.

This was the last stop before getting to Las Vegas for a few days stay at our Time Share. 

Just inside Nevada is a town called Boulder which has the World Famous Coffee Cup that we had visited on our way back from Billings, Montana in 2007. Guy Fieri  made a show here for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Channel. Breakfast was most excellent!

We spent 3 nights in Vegas and took in some shows and relaxed before heading into California.

We saw the Jersey Boys at Paris and it was a fantastic show. Great music from the 60's and early 70's  with a lot of behind the scenes information about Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons. So glad we got to see it. Brought back a lot of memories.

It goes up 550 ft at the top and gives a great view of Vegas.

Our time share is close to the Linq High Roller.  I had to try it even though Billie didn't want to go up. Each pod is air conditioned and some even have a bar in them.

We left Vegas very early in the morning to beat the heat getting across the dessert and into California.

It was a very nice ride, especially when we went into the Eastern side of California. 

We stopped at Mono Lake just outside of Yosemite National Park. Will have to make a trip back to Yosemite someday.

We stayed at a unique roadside Motel in Walker, California. They proprietor was a retired Marine and he had this place spotless. He also had a 1945 Ford pickup truck that he had put a Mustang engine, transmission and rear end in. 

We love these types of Motels. We park the bike right out our door and it is very easy to unload the cooler and trailer as well as keep an eye on our baby.

The next day we were off across the High Sierra mountains. It was actually spitting snow as we went through the pass but not cold enough to accumulate any on the road or ground. 

We went into Willits, California and spent the night so that we could get an early start to ride the Avenue of the Giants. The Giant Sequoias are something to see, especially on a motorcycle!

 After our ride through the Avenue of the Giants we headed up to Oregon (Part 3 coming)

West Coast Swing to Wing Ding 2016 Pt 1 Texas to New Mexico

Billie and I loaded up our Bike and trailer for a 4 week trip that turned into an almost 5 week trip on August 11th of 2016.

Day 1 we rode to Sweetwater, Texas with a lunch stop in Gatesville at the Ranchers Steak house before stopping for the night. We stayed at the Ranch-hand motel. We got in early enough to take a dip in the pool to cool off after a pretty warm ride up.

We left early on the 12th and rode to Rio Rancho, New Mexico on the west side of Albuquerque to spend a few days with family there.

The New Mexico Rail Runner

While visiting we took a train ride from Rio Rancho to Santa Fe and spent a day site-seeing.
There are a lot of things to see in Old Santa Fe.  We walked around the Square and visited some of the shops and had lunch there. We also went into a beautiful Catholic Church there.

Market Square Old Santa Fe

Old Santa Fe

Beautiful Architecture 

On the road again!

We left Rio Rancho early on August 17th to head West. Our first stop was in Gallup, New Mexico. We went for breakfast at the El Rancho Hotel. We did not know that this Hotel had hosted so many celebrities through the years. The breakfast was just ok but the surroundings of the old hotel were something to see.

Lobby

The doors of the rooms upstairs had names of celebrities who had stayed there with pictures all around of various people who had patronized the Hotel.

We continued on to Arizona and more adventures...  Part 2 coming up.

The New Ride - Our 2012 Dream Wing

After the accident on I-10 in August of 2015 Billie found us a beautiful replacement in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (see Earlier post "Our 2008 Gold Wing's Last Ride" for details)

This 2012 bike had a lot of the packages I really wanted on our next bike, including a Navigation/Serious XM radio package and most importantly ABS brakes.

The great part though was that this bike only had just over 5,000 miles on it and still had factory warranty. The seller was a very nice guy and included a lot of extras with the bike that was already at a good price.

After securing the financing, I booked a flight to Albuquerque on Southwest Airlines one way. My brother picked me up at the airport and drove me to the sellers house who actually lived north of Albuquerque a ways. I gave him his check and he gave me the keys and a bunch of goodies with the bike.
I spent a couple of nights with my brother and installed the highway pegs on the bike before heading back to Houston.

The ride home was one of the favorite rides I had made several times.  The Windmill farms north of Sweetwater, Texas are always a nice ride for me.  A long 15 hour day with nothing but the wind in my face and a lot of great tunes on the XM radio in my ears. There's just something about the open road and riding a motorcycle that will never be unseated in my heart or memories.

Once I got home then the personalization of the new toy began. I ordered a trailer hitch, a CB radio and luggage rack for the trunk. I had help from some great friends getting them all installed.

I purchased light kits at the Kansas District GWRRA Rally and put them on along with some lights in the saddle bags, trunk and pockets. Also had some ground effect lights added with plans to add more at a later date. Never too many lights on a Gold Wing for me.

More lights! It is nice have the saddle bags, trunk and front storage pockets lit at night. The lights were connected to a switch that turned them on when I lifted the trunk lid. Sure make it a lot easier to find things. I also added LED lighting inside the trailer.

These are the friends that helped with the installation of the trailer hitch and the CB radio. Many hands make for a light load but the camaraderie of friends makes for lasting memories.

Randy Rainwater

Steve Seligman

I loved the results of all of the things we added to the Wing.  I was a very comfortable ride and we got it all done in time for a big adventure to finish up our goal of riding in all 48 Continental States.

Next up will be our longest trip on our motorcycle. Over 5,000 miles covering much the Western United States. Stay tuned...

New England Trip 2015 Pt 7 Vermont to Niagara Falls, Canada

Leaving Wells, Maine we traveled across New Hampshire into Vermont and into upstate New York to go through Lake George. We wanted to see the location for the Americade Motorcycle Rally which usually takes place in early June every year. The ride across the Green Mountains in Vermont was beautiful.

After the ride through Lake George we went to Utica to spend the night. We did not stop in Lake George; we only wanted to see it since we plan to come back to Americade and we needed to get on to the hotel before dark.

The next day we were up early and rode to Lockport, NY to take a ride on the Erie Canal and go through the only double locks on the canal.

The double locks raise or lower boats 49 feet depending on which way they are going. Heading West our boat was raised; the return trip we were heading East and the boat was lowered. 

The locks do not have any pumping stations. All water flow is handled by gravity and a series of valves and gates. 

The canal was built 80 feet wide in its narrowest places. Our boat was 77 feet long and had a split paddle wheel which could be controlled independently for propulsion.  Our Captain took us to a place that was 80 feet wide and turned us around to head back,  He only had 3 feet of clearance so he had to be precise in his navigation. He did it flawlessly and never came close to hitting either side of the canal.

The Erie Canal allowed merchant traffic to make a trip from Buffalo, New York all the way to New Your City by way of the Hudson River where the canal ended.

You can see how big the gates are in the pictures above. It really is an amazing feat of engineering considering the era in which the canal was built.  I'm not sure if you can traverse the whole canal now because I am not sure the other locks are still operational. It would be interesting to make that trip if it is still navigable. Sure is a lot of history along the canal.

There were a lot of Canada Geese and Mallards that were nesting along the canal in Lockport. Most cities have pidgeons; Lockport has geese and ducks. Well at least in June when we were there.

We left Lockport for the short ride to Buffalo and the Rainbow Bridge to Canada.

There was a long line to get across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada and while we were stopped, we were bumped by the man in a van behind us. We were probably on the Canadian side and he had Ontario plates so I was glad that there was no actual damage. Just not paying attention.

We had a room at the Embassy Suites on the 22nd floor overlooking the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls too. Great view. We had a Prime Rib dinner in the hotel dining room on the 9th floor which also had a great view of the falls. The food was excellent and modestly priced.

Great views from our suite.

After dinner we went down to the Horseshoe falls and walked around taking pictures.

The Horn Blower was making its run up the river getting excursion takers all wet in the mist created by the falls.

At night the American Falls are lit up in colors but I could not get a decent picture of it.

The next day we started making our way back home. We went across Canada to get to the Flint, Michigan Port of Entry. We were advised by friends to avoid the Detroit entry point as it is always a long wait. Coming back into Flint was relatively quick. I don't think it took us an hour to get across.

Once back in the country we made our way to Eldorado, Kansas to see friends and then on back to Texas. It was a wonderful trip on the motorcycle and we sure had a lot of fun seeing a lot of this beautiful country. I could not possible post all of the pictures I took on this trip. You have only seen less than 1% in these posts I'm sure. 

Stay tuned for more adventures. We did a big West Coast trip in 2016 to complete our goal of riding our motorcycle in all 48 contiguous states.