July 18 – South along the Mississippi
We got an early start because there was still 430 mile to get to New Orleans. Along the way, we took a break at the same place Grant’s army did during the Cival war and Sam and I did 4 years ago.
From there, we crossed the Mississippi, and rode to Vicksburg.
, had lunch at a very local Juke Joint, and then toured the Civil War memorial park. The park has miles of rodes winding through the battlefields, with monuments and artillery all over the route.
They also have the wreckage of a Cival War iron-clad ship called the Cariro. It is on display in the park, and setup so you can walk inside it.
We rolled into New Orleans at 9:30 and found our hotel in the French Quarter. Having a GPS on the bike is very handy at a time like that. We went down to Bourbon street and had dinner. The boys even ordered local foods.
July 19 – The day off in New Orleans
We dropped the bikes off at the local Harly shop to have the oil changed, and the ignition switch fixed. Then, took a taxi to the Cival War Museum and the national WWII museum. The WWII museum was amazing. The exhibits were very dramatic, and the 4D film narated by Tom Hanks was powerful. Its a must-see exhibit.
In the afternoon, we walked the city and then took a bus out to the swamps for a tour.
As the boat passed by a spider the size of a small cat, the captain made it pass right by where Sam was sitting. Anyone who knows Sam knows he does not do spiders.
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July 16 – We arrived in Missouri, 2100 miles down. The first city we came through was Joplin. Pictures can’t describe how horrible the destruction is, and it choked me up to see the rubble with paint-sprayed markings where the rescuers had tagged the buildings. This is a picture of what was once a residential neighborhood.
We rode over to Springfield where we stayed the night. Sam stayed with his friend Brian Hood. In the morning, Chris had an experience he’s never had before. Its one of the reasons I wanted to take my boys on the road… to do and see things they never have done before. He did laundary!
July 17 – Riding the Ozarks
We spent the day riding south through the Ozarks in Missouri. Awesome riding. We got a late start, so it was not a long day of riding. We stopped in the mountains and had lunch at a little cabin where they smoked their own meats.
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July 15 – We left Denver early, and the weather was great. Sam had a sore arm yesterday, and today it felt worse. After a couple hours of riding, it hurt bad enough to have it looked at. We stopped in the ER at Hugo Colorado and had it X-rayed. The guys at the ER were great. I highly recommend going to Hugo if you ever need to go to the ER.
The X-rays showed it was not broke. Probably a pulled something from the go-cart race the other day. By noon, we were back on the road. We knocked out 380 miles today. A little less than planned, but did have quite a few nice breaks. We checked out a couple automobile junk-yards that were packed with 1940-60 era cars. The guys even let me go through an antique shop. At the CO boarder, we found a wind-mill blade to take a break under.
We ran into a wall of rain in Kansas, but as we got closer, we were able to spot some sunshine, and timed our travels so that we slipped through the wall without getting too wet.
We rolled into Dodge City Kansas at sunset, checked out another steam engine, and got a nice steak dinner. Sam’s icing his arm now and hopefully in the morning its all good.
July 16 – Eastern Kansas
You’ll see there are very few pictures of Kansas. Two reasons. 1)Not much to take pictures of 2)My camera is laying somewhere on highway 400 between Dodge City and Wichita.
4:00 pm at a gas station near no-where, I had a Homer Simpson moment – D’oh! My bike would not start. Remember that flaky starter safety switch problem a few days ago. Yup, it up and died. After a half-hour of trying to troubleshoot it, we gave up and some friendly locals helped us push-start the bike. The next harley shop that is open will be tomorrow in new Orleans, so we’ll be push-starting it and keeping it running all day till we get there. We planned to go into the shop there anyway, because it is time for a new rear wheel and oil change.
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I am in awe. This better than the History Channel! Onward Young Men!
Comment by Tim Falck — July 20, 2011 @ 9:52 amDid you see any Swamp People?
Comment by Tim Falck — July 20, 2011 @ 9:55 amTim – Yes we did. The swamp-tour operator only hires Cajon guides. Our tour guide grew up in the swamp, plays with alligators, and likes to eat most of what you see on those pictures. Fun tour.
Comment by john — July 21, 2011 @ 5:52 amHey, how about we get together Tuesday night Aug 2nd?
The only person I know who hates spiders more than Steve, is Sam. LOVE the picture of him getting away from the spider! We went to the WWII museum when we were there (sadly, we went on a plane), it was incredible but the 4D movie wasn’t there yet – heard that was outstanding. You’ll have plenty of good stories for the campfire this season.
Comment by cindy & steve — July 21, 2011 @ 7:48 amRide on, Dudes!
Be careful of the alligator guys, they can jump high and run fast!!! Arielle’s mother, L
Comment by Leah Kahn Plavnick — July 25, 2011 @ 12:58 pmLeah
Tuesday night August 2nd sounds good! Let us know when and where.
Comment by Tim Falck — July 27, 2011 @ 9:59 am