We are on the road
CLICK to see live following of riders!! Our riders are #60,#41,#68, #30
You can zoom in and out and in the upper right corner there is a lot of info on the rider and the scorecard.
You can zoom in and out and in the upper right corner there is a lot of info on the rider and the scorecard.
Well,it is that time again. Crazy people on their two little wheeled vehicles riding across American for a chance to win nothing but bragging rights. There are over fifty riders signed up, but from history we know that not all will make it to the starting line in Morro Bay, CA and even less will be running when they arrive in Virginia Beach, VA ten days latter.
We will be traveling to altitudes in excess of ten thousand feet and to altitudes less that sea leave as we cross Death Valley. Long lonely stretches across across Texas and Oklahoma and the beauty of southern Utah and the Blue Ridge Parkway. There is more dirt road this year than any other. Challenging on a normal day, hellish on a rainy day.
It will be a challenging ride that this year I will be taking from the comfort of the support vehicle. Three official cannonballs and one non-official were fantastic, but I prefer to return from the West Coast at a leisurely pace. So, after this ride along, I will fly back to California and repeat it at a slower pace and a different route. Click here
(I read the 2016 blog of the Cannonball and I must admit it is worse than my usual bad grammar and spelling, but it was written on the fly. Hopefully, as a support driver, I will have more time to write and make at least some corrections as I write it.)
Traveling West in the Scooter
Conestoga
After breakfast with boys on Sunday we went home to load
the Conestoga. Walt came riding up the rain into the garage. Loading the pickup
was a no brainer with all the room compared to the 2014 Scooter Cannonball.
Loading the trailer always requires moving straps, adjusting this, adjusting
that, drilling for new i-bolts etc., but after an about an hour we had all that
done and we were ready to head west. After we took Walt home, he decided to
accept the offer which was good choice as the skies opened up, we cleaned up
and pulled out of the garage. The rain continued for most of the day until we
got west of Tallahasse and the sun broke through for time to time.
We stopped
on the causeway into Mobile at the Oyster House for dinner. It was a great
choice. So much so, that we consumed the oyster and gumbo before we even thought of the picture.
Back on the
highway we called it a day again at the Holiday Express in Lucedale MS.
Early to bed
and early to rise.
We had made
a pact of no hotel breakfasts. So, we garbed coffee and hit the road. I
instituted a no fast food, at least for me. Scott, before he recently retired,
went 90mph and grabbing a fast food on the go was his life style. He is down to
about 75mph and still heads for the quick bite. I all so must mention he is a
great chef, when he takes the time. So, rules in place, we headed up US49 in
the fog. I declared he wanted breakfast for 9. So, in Magee, MS, we pulled in
to Zip’s. This a very small café, with mismatched furniture and obviously has
been around a long time. An older lady walked by the table with a “Zip’s” t-shirt.
She said hello and engaged in conversation. She was none other than Mrs. Zip
herself. She and her husband, married in 1947, started the restaurant in 1963.
It had burnt been down town until it burnt down many years ago, the day after
the insurance lapsed. The did renew with that agent. We were served by Angie who had a longer
story than I can type, but all very interesting. She told us about being in
town to visit her mother but as she was about to live her mother had a stroke
and so that is how she came to be in Magee. Mom lived another five years and
she told us several endearing stories that brought tears to her eyes. She also told a funny tale. She was at the
hospital to visit her mother parked near the Emergency entrance when to cars
pulled up, each driver got out and shot the other. The ambulance, parked in the
Emergency drive through, cranked up, turned on the light, drove 30 feet, put
the shootees in the back and backed up to the door.
At Jackson,
MS we joined I-20 and headed for Dallas, crossing the Mississippi at Vicksburg,
MS. We had arranged to meet our nephew in Dallas but we forgot to send him the
arrival text as we were fighting our way through the Dallas traffic. By the
time we contacted him from the restaurant it was to late for him to drive all
the way to see and us to miss rush hour traffic, so sadly we missed the
meeting.
From Dallas
we headed northwest and overnighted in Wichita Falls.
 |
| Mrs. and Mr. Zip |
 |
| Angie, waitress by day, bail bonds mam by night |
 |
| Summer packed us up some Zip's special sauce and crackers for the road |
 |
| crossing the Mississippi |
 |
| BBQ that our nephew missed sharing. He did not miss much. The beans were great though. |
Witchita
Falls TX to Gallup NM
More
straight long four lane roads. The morning was spent with me driving and Scott
trying to pair is helmet bluetooth anything that would take it. After the first
hour he YouTube the procedure and found out that the printed instructions had
been wrong. The instructions had you
pushing the wrong button to pair them. Then after another hour he finally got
it to pair with the Garmins, almost. Garmin gladly informed him that his
Bluetooth device was not compatible with Garmin. That was a good morning
wasted.
I-40 took us straight from Amarillo to Gallup NM and the first martini of the trip.
 |
| vodka and crack |
