Saturday, May 17, 2008
Nick and Dan were meeting at the Shortstop Truck stop at 8am and I was to meet then at the Speedway gas station in Rootstown by about 8:30 or so.
I was about to leave at my usual 15 minutes late when Tom W gave me a call. We confirmed our lunch meeting in Columbus at about noon. I finally got rolling at 8:30.
I caught up with Nick and Dan a good 40 minutes late, as usual for me, and after we topped off the bikes we hit the road. It did get a bit warmer but still looked like we were going to get wet. We rolled into Akron without a hitch and then on to Lodi when the rain came. Well we thought it was coming. All we got was about two minutes of sprinkles. Not even enough to put the rain gear on so we pushed west to I71.
As we made our turn south on 71 it again looked like we were going to ride into a storm but we got lucky, a sprinkle or two but nothing substantial.
Our next stop was near Mount Gilead where we fueled up and gave Tom our call. The weather did not get any better and I took this opportunity to put on my rain pants, just in case the clouds finally delivered on what they were promising all morning.
Taking the time to get the pants on seemed to pay off. The temperature warmed a bit and the clouds eased on their threat to deliver. We also made some pretty good time and made it to the Bob Evans pretty much on time in spite of my thirty minute sate start.
After our greetings we all went inside and got breakfast/lunch and was back on the road in about an hour with Tom and Rebecca in tow. They road with us to somewhere near Lebanon and then turned back home. It was good to see Tom W and Rebecca again.
Going west and south definitely was working to our advantage. As we moved on towards Elizabethtown, Ky the weather was improving by the hour. By the time we got to E-town, we had temps in the mid 70’s and breaking clouds in front of us. Things were looking good.
Except for Dan’s headlight burning out somewhere before Cincinnati we had no problems. When we got into E-town and fueled we made a trip to the store and picked up a light for Dan’s wing and swapped it our in the parking lot.
We closed down day 1 in E-town around 6pm or so. It was a long day for us and we were all glad to settle down for a good nights sleep.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Dan was up first with Nick and I close behind. We were washed up, coffeed up and on the road by 8. Our goal was to get to Horn Lake, Ms near 3pm. Were took the scenic route of the West Kentucky Parkway to the Purchase Parkway and then US 51 into Memphis.
The weather warmed to the point that I went from my leather to a lighter jacket to no jacket at all. The sky’s cleared and we had sunshine for most of the trip. We pulled into Nick’s daughter’s house right on time and she had dinner waiting. It was really a nice reception. We just kicked back and talked and relaxed until it was bed time.
I have to comment that although we were warned that the WK was a rough road, "the worst road in Kentucky", it was not bad at all. The WK would rate as a smooth road in north east Ohio. It’s amazing how they can make a bridge and the road surface at the same level in Kentucky but miss if in Ohio by about 4 inches. You ride across bridges here and don’t even know you are on them. Back home you will spill your coffee, hit your head on the roof and loose change from your pockets getting on or off a bridge. I don’t know, maybe it’s the quality of workmanship, maybe it’s the weather. Whatever…
Monday, May 19, 2008
Today we take a day off. We visit and rest.