South to LAM - Day 0

Louisianna, Alabama and Mississippi is this years primary motorcycle long distance trip. Three states I haven't been to on a motorcycle. A long awaited and anticipated journey that is about to begin. Journey's such as this do not just start, they evolve. An idea or concept that grows out of time. Although the three key states are the principle goal, Additional goals have come out of this. Touching the edge of Texas and traveling the pan handle of Florida to cross those two state are secondary goals. Traveling through the state of Georgia to get that state is a tertiary goal. Completing the dream involves a stop at my friend Joe's house. Joe lives on the tail of the dragon in Tennessee (more on the dragon later). After that it will be a freeway blast home.

 

We have a alternate plan in the event a huricanne slams into the Southwest. You have to worry about things like that during the fall months. If diverted, we ambitiously will head to Winslow Arizona. There is a corner there that we want to find. And a flat bed Ford. Then perhaps on the way back we will take it easy. My riding buddy, Terry, has been having some misc issues with his Goldwing, and he's a bit fed up with them. One item is ghost shifting. Shop can't even recreate the problem (more like unwilling to try). So he is working on a deal with a vendor in Russelville Arkansas for a new bike. His plans currently call for him to leave around 5AM this morning, so he can get down to Russelville early enough on Saturday to buy a new 2012 Goldwing; and have them install a luggage rack on the back.

I on the other have a work deliverable that I can't publish until Friday. So I will be leaving today, 7 hours behind him. I will head south, solo, with plans to make at least Bethany MO tonight, 90 miles south of Des Moines. Then Sat Morning, I will work my way towards meeting up with Terry somewhere. Its 7-8 hours from Bethany to Russelville. Most of this is crappy four lane.... Perhaps Terry will backtrack, depending on time and delays he experiences at the dealer. This means there could be two days of riding on my own.

It looks like the hurricanes are staying away from the South West. So we will be heading into Lousianna, Mississippi and Alabama (LAM). The first goal is for us to get into New Orleans, LA (NOLA) on Sunday. Two big impactors to us finishing the big loop through the dragon is how much time the bike change costs us and how much fun we have around NOLA. After getting Terry's new bike, I'am not sure if we will head down south through Ark or work our way back to Texarcana. As Joe stated: "Some of the best trips never go according to plan".

I will let you know how we are doing and how the plans work... That gives me a good reason to write about this journey... Come back and find out where the journey takes us!