Observations from the Road

Prairie dogs in Kansas, armadillos in Missouri, and opossums in Tennessee and North Carolina. What do they have in common? Popular road kill in their respective states. Sometimes you notice such things from the back of a motorcycle.

It’s been a good trip so far. Part of the fun of traveling across this great nation of ours, especially when you take the back roads and are riding a motorcycle, is the people you meet. We seem to attract some attention when we pull into a rest stop or a McDonalds to take a break or a motel parking lot. People like to come up, check out the bike and find out where we are from and where we are going. Sometimes we have to excuse ourselves so we can get inside and take care of the business for which we originally stopped.

Met an interesting guy at the Budget Lodge where I got a discount for the night’s room because I am a Vietnam Vet. Thanks. I appreciate that. He wanted to show me a 30 foot lodge pole pine he carved and painted to look like an American flag hanging at rest. Looked pretty good too. He was sure proud of it.

There was an old timer who came over to chat in the parking lot at a McDonalds. He was sporting a Harley shirt and cap and said that he was 80 years old and had been riding up until this year when his son took his motorcycle away from him. He wanted to know if we were part of a group of 400 bikers that were supposed to be passing through on their way to “the wall” in DC. I said we didn’t know anything about it. Said he made that ride a couple of years ago. He would’ve stood there in the hot sun until dark reliving his riding days if his wife hadn’t come over to drag him away.

We managed to get across the Big Muddy but had trouble getting across the Ohio and on to Paducah, KY. We got lost in the flooded neighborhoods of Metropolis, IL until a couple of fellas exchanging some money in a parking lot pointed us in the right direction.

Another guy in a new Camero pulled into the spot next to us at a rest stop in Tennessee. He went on and on about what he did and how he really didn’t like the Camero and thought that we had the better deal. I just smiled and agreed.

We'll be headed home on Friday looking forward to meeting some more folks and seeing what we can from the back of the Harley.