New England Trip 2015 Pt 1 Arkansas to Virginia

In May and June of 2015 we had an adventurous trip that started with a trip to Harrison, Arkansas for the GWRRA Arkansas District Rally. The first stop was Texarkana. It was a great time seeing many of our friends and enjoying the activities at the rally. We left Texarkana in the rain but were out of it in less than 100 miles. We had a great ride with plans of taking the famous Pig Trail (23) up towards Harrison. We did not know until we crossed I 40 on 23 that the road was closed due to a big mud slide and wash out on up the mountain so we had to detour over to Russellville and take Scenic 7 again. 

The Cliff House overlooking the Arkansas Grand Canyon

We had a great rally with the Arkansas members.

Mary Jo and Arlene were lit up for the bike light show too!

The theme was Mash. The whole rally was a lot of fun but the Theme Competition was a blast. The District Team went all out and Director Klinger took the prize. What a fun time.

They were great!

From there we took the Peal Ferry into Missouri and went to the Lake of the Ozarks for a couple of nights before heading on out to Indianapolis Indiana.

And a little relaxing when the bike is covered for the night. 

We took a nice ride in Missouri through the country the second day before heading out. to our stop in Indianapolis for a night and then on the Ohio to the Dayton area where I was stationed from 1970 until 1971. We toured the United States Air Force Museum. Here are a few of the hundreds of pictures I took inside. Awesome place that is on my list of re-does.

 

The famous "Black bird" SR 71 but known to us on Okinawa as the Habu or snake in Japanese. 

General Robin Olds

Triple Ace from WWII to Viet Nam.

 Then into West Virginia for 4 days of wonderful riding on some of the best motorcycle roads in the country. We like it so much that we came back in October with our daughter and son-in-law for another 4 days of riding.

State Capitol in Charleston

Kanawha Falls

Kanawha Falls

New River Gorge Bridge

On the Fayette Station Bridge

Cathedral Falls near Gauley

New River from Hawk's Nest overlook.

Hawk's Nest State Park 

Good pizza and beer!

Our 2008 Gold Wing's Last Ride

On August 2, 2015 at mile marker 2.25 on Interstate 10 West in Louisiana at approximately 3 PM. While heading back from Lafayette I was approaching the DOT weigh station for commercial trucks. Traffic was heavy this hot Sunday afternoon. I changed lanes to be in the left lane away from exiting and returning traffic. The speed limit is 70 mph and according to my GPS tracks, I was traveling at 73 mph with the traffic flow as I passed the weigh station. Both lanes of traffic were full as an 18 wheeler was attempting to re-enter traffic. The run on lane for these trucks is not long enough for them to reach highway speeds before merging.
The truck did not have an opening in the right lane of traffic and the drivers in the lane were not slowing to allow the truck into traffic. Nevertheless, the truck kept accelerating and came into the lane forcing a pickup truck into my lane only a few feet in front of me. Before he could get completely in my lane someone in the right lane ahead of him changed lanes also forcing motorists to break hard to avoid an accident.
These events happened simultaneously so remember I said that he came over only a few feet in front of me. Although I had already throttled back my speed only slowed to 63 mph as I hit the breaks and tried to swerve to the center stripe to avoid hitting the pickup but because he was not fully in the lane, he was straddling the center stripe too. I hit the pickup at the right corner of his bumper, taking the bike down on the left side and ejecting me onto the left lane of traffic at 60+ mph.
As I came off of the bike I expected to die either from the impact or from being run over from behind.  I hit the road on my left shoulder and tucked my arms in to roll to lessen the road rash. I rolled over 300 feet according to the track of the Garmin GPS in my estimation before coming to a stop. The bike righted itself after my ejection and continued approximately 450 feet crossing the right lane of traffic behind the 18 wheeler and onto the shoulder striking the guard rail and going down on the right side as seen in the picture.

To my surprise, I was able to get to my feet with the help of motorists who stopped. I was dizzy from all of the rolling but was able to walk across to the bike after a few minutes which was approximately 150 feet further than me. You can see from the picture that trying to get to the left shoulder was not an option because there were s no shoulder,only about 18 inches separating the lane from the concrete divider.  The picture below shows some of the damage to the bike. It was a total loss. The front wheel would not roll until the fender was removed and the chrome guard bent away from the tire.

Despite the 100 degree temp, I had on all of the riding gear which limited my exposure and injuries. I was able to walk away from this with only scraped knees, elbow and a slightly sprained ankle. A CT scan and X-rays confirmed that I did not have any broken bones or internal injuries. God is good and thankfully I was alone on this ride. Bikes can be replaced, Billie can't!
 

Whizzerville Hall in McMahan Texas

Near the intersection of Hwy 713 and 86 you will find this little hidden treasure of Texas. It is billed as the Pizza Paradise of Texas and one trip will confirm the billing. Excellent food here!

This was my lunch, The Whiz.  Dang good!

My friends got the La Fiesta pizza and just raved about it.

Don't let this adventure slip past you if you like pizza and Italian food.

Light Shows

The beauty of a Gold Wing all lit up for show.

Bob McBird not only lights up his bike, he lights up the riders too. Impressive!

I have been playing with my technique for capturing these beautiful machines while rolling in a light parade commonly held at District and Regional Conventions. Some of these shots came out pretty good considering the low light and moving subject.

 

 

Waco Overnight Ride

Ride to Waco to the Dr. Pepper Museum 

We had a wonderful ride to Waco for a visit to the Dr. Pepper Museum. There were 6 of us on 3 bikes and we had a great ride even though we were fighting head winds all the way with chilly temps in the morning. The sky was clear and it warmed up pretty quickly as we made our way along the route planned and led by Randy Rainwater. Billie and I joined them at FM 1488 and US 290. We had to compete for a very short time with the MS150 bicycle riders but we quickly left them behind once we were on 290 and rolling west.

There was a major accident at Chappell Hill and we took a little detour through town to by-pass the traffic.




Health Camp in Waco, TX

  From there we continued on our way without further incident, making a couple of rest stops before we arrived at the Health Camp burger joint in Waco for lunch. What a classic diner! The burgers and fries were really good but I particularly was fond of the vanilla malt shake that I had to eat with a spoon; can someone say brain freeze?

The line for the goodies!

From there we headed on to the Dr. Pepper Museum for our tour which was very interesting. I did not know that Dr. Pepper has been around since the 1880's. I think that they had the very first bottle that I drank Dr. Pepper from when I was a kid. I still remember where I was when I first tasted it. It was at our church's State Convention and I think I was about 9 at the time. I have been a Pepper ever since. I had to stop in the gift shop and soda fountain for a Moon Pie and a Dr. Pepper before we left.

I believe the first bottle with the red and white label on the left was my first bottle of Dr. Pepper when I was 9 years old.

If that wasn't enough, we went from there to the Collins Street Bakery for a Texas Blonde Pecan Cake, some Jalapeno Rolls and Pecan Bread.

Same as in Corsicana, deadly good.

We went back to check in the hotel and rest a bit before heading out to Uncle Dan's BBQ for dinner. That was our low point for the day. The food was not the best we have had but it wasn't the worst either. Anyway, as Randy says, we can mark that one off of our list. Curiosity satisfied.

Then it was back to the hotel for a friendly round of Mexican Train after we covered the bikes for the night. There's nothing like the fellowship with good friends after a satisfying day on the bikes and having seen some new places. But that is a serendipity of being a GWRRA member who participates in the chapter. We go places and do things together. Making memories that last a lifetime.

Sunday morning we met for breakfast in the hotel dinning area. After some good food, we loaded our bikes and headed back towards home. The day was perfect! Not too hot, not too cold and not a cloud in the sky. The wind had calmed down too as we made our way eastward through some very pretty country side. We passed the big drag line dredges used for coal mining near Centerville after making a stop at Crossroads for some gas. We met a couple from Georgia who belong to GWRRA at the gas station and had a pleasant conversation with the former Marine and his bride. They had been touring on their trike and were on the return leg of their trip home.

We made a stop in Trinity at the Trinity Cafe for lunch. I had the buffet which was Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy with seasoned green beans and black-eyed peas with a roll. The dessert was a terrific bread pudding. Does it sound like I enjoyed the meal? This place rates a return visit just to prove that this excellent meal was no fluke.

While standing in line at the buffet, I met one of the local gentlemen named Jim Henderson. We engaged in some friendly conversation during which he informed me that he was the president of the local Liar's club and that we were all welcomed to joint him at the Liar's table. This good natured gentleman invited us to buy some land and move to their fair community. We exchanged business cards before leaving this friendly cafe. Great pick for lunch Randy.

From there the ride around Lake Livingston was all too short and we were soon saying our good-byes on the CB as we all headed our separate ways home. By the time we rolled into our garage, we had logged 502 wonderful safe miles over the weekend with some very dear friends. How can you top this? Only by taking trips that last for weeks I say.

Thanks Randy for planning such a great weekend.

For more pictures, visit my Album on the Picasa site at the link below. https://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/WacoOvernighter?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCInzgOmNv-HwCg&feat=directlink

Until next time, we'll see you down the road, On the Wing.