Last Updated: Thursday, April 16, 2009
Don’t forget to check out Papaboop’s MIAZ pictures here:
http://papaboop.smugmug.com/gallery/7979251_iTasE#518605139_Wuqw4
And
Darcy’s here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dbhager1/MIAZ?feat=directlink#5331856584747339122
Starting point…
NJ in the cold… Banker came down from NH, we made it to the cabin in SC.
From there, it was on to New Orleans…
As posted on RMH:
Headed out of NJ with the
Banker about noon on Sunday, made the cabin,
had a martini and Banker had a PBR, cold all the way until we stopped at
the Pink Cadillac for dinner.
Left the cabin in wet, made it to Atlanta 2 1/2 hrs later and really
didn't need the rain gear. Saw the daughter and headed to Alabama.
Lots of rain, wind and tornado warnings, didn't see any tornados, didn't
see much rain... lots of wind.
Met up with Jinks in New Orleans, had some great food and drinks,,,
So far, so good.
Morristown, NJ… cold.
Pink Cadillac Diner – Exit 180 I-81, Virginia
The Cabin
Too much reflection to see the ‘victim’
Hotlanta – My Daughter, Banker (Capt Morgan), me
MC Calla, Alabama, where it’s warm and dry!
Outside of New Orleans where Banker got his reset button fixed, and Jinks got his horn unclogged.
You’d a thought they’d done that IN New Orleans
Left Nawlins after stopping by
the Cafe du Mond and having fried dough
smothered in powdered sugar, orange juice and cafe au lait.
The hot bread pudding last night was better... as a matter of fact, (for
those of you who *know* me)... it was better than a Cinnabun.
Anyway we took 90 for the most part out of Nawlins, and jumped back on
I-10 for the Beaumont Blast. Stayed on I-10 until Sequin, TX.
Stopped
here for some fried oysters (very good) and steaks (Jinks voted ok, but
not great).
Fuckin' BofA pulled a TL on me. I gotta go visit them tomorrow morning
and get my debit card out of the fraud division. Dickheads. Yeah,,,
there's somebody stealing all my money driving all over the country
spending 8 dollars every 2 1/2 hours! Fuckers.
Danl sed:
Nice
to see you guys are havin fun.
I had the same problem with BofA, cept I only have a 3 gal tank. Told
me it met their fraud pattern. Yea, 4 to 6 bucks at a time. After
several supervisors and a lot of screaming and threats of bodily harm
I haven't had that problem again. The idiots did send me a new card a
while back with no prior notice. My card stopped working. Lucky I
had another with me. Seems someone somewhere had been hacked and my
card info might have been exposed. Still haven't gotten the
information of who it was that got hacked! Fuckers refuse to tell me.
I need to keep the address of their FL corp office handy for a trip
soon.
Say hi to Jinks for me.
Jinks sed:
Wish
the fuck you'd gone with us. Maybe then Banker would
have quit callin' my 5 gal. tank "The Sportster"............Fuckin'
RETarded BaKeR...............8^)
Quinn sed:
oh
man! we shoulda went to the Payson airport for some homemade
(every day) hot bread pudding!
...next time.
Danl sed:
I wish this crippled old bod coulda gone too.
Jinks sed:
What's
the problem? I took one. It's only a little worse for
the wear..............
Fins sed:
And
with sufficient pickling you can hardly tell.
Good to see you again Gary.
Roach rote:
This
makes me envious of you guys. I wanted to go
to this gig.
But this makes me hate you. Haven't been there in 31 years.
Spent the night in Seguin, TX.
The next morning I tried to rectify the cancelation of my Bank of America Debit Card.
I got as far as getting them to Fed Ex next day delivery to Red’s house.
Breakfast
Banker and Jinks
Jinks
Ooops… dropped the camera,,, you should have seen Banker’s face.
That’s why they have those little strappy things on them.
Finally, got the camera and the shot.
International Armistad Reservoir
Jinks behind me
Crossing the Pecos River that feeds into the Rio Grande.
- Looking towards the US side - Looking towards Mexico (about 2 miles away)
After stopping for Pictures on the Pecos, I decided to step up the pace… just a little.
The nice TX Trooper shown below, thought I shouldn’t
Actually... the very nice TX
State Trooper got out of his car and said "I
clocked you at over 80 in a 75". I sed, "Let me start off by thanking
you for the
work that you do out here. I know it's very dangerous and you're not shown the
appreciation you deserve. It doesn't matter if you give me a ticket or not, I
will still thank you for the service you do."
He was stunned for a few seconds and then said "How am I supposed to give
you a
ticket after THAT?"
Here's the very important part.... you shouldn't fall into the line about how
he
shouldn't give you a ticket, just repeat the mantra... "We're very lucky
that
you put yourself in harms way for us."
I tell you it was like taking candy from a baby.
I also told him I had a concealed weapons permit. He thanked me for that
information and gave me a warning.
3rd one this year so far,,, and NO tickets.
82 in a 55.
55 in a 35.
80+ in a 75.
‘Course the 4th one was 67 in a 55 and the New Mexico Trooper
really had us dead to rights… all 3 of us. $80 each.
Ok, there's more to the Debit
Card story, BofA exceeded expectations.
They put a hold on it because a group of card numbers (mine included)
got hacked. They're ready to send me a new card (next day mail) to
anywhere I want, and they're willing to unblock the card anytime I need
to use it, but I do have to call them to have them do that each time.
No problem, I'll use the credit card instead of the debit card.
Here's one for the good guys/gals out there that do really try.
There'll be a letter to Jackie's boss as soon as I get back to NJ.
After I got back to NJ, the card was delivered to AZ, two days late.
I was gone by the time it got there. I ordered another and had it
shipped to the house in NJ. When it arrived, the name was wrong.
Went to the branch and had it reissued. Fuckin’ morons.
Van Horn, Texas in all it’s glory.
Chuy’s Restaurant in Van Horn
There’s a whole be deal about John Madden coming here and liking the food.
Out of Van Horn, TX heading North on State Road 90
Guadalupe Mountains on SR 180
--- El Capitan
Roswell
After taking SR264 we came out here, in Capitan, NM.
If you’re in Roswell and thinking of taking SR264, don’t bother,,, not that interesting.
I always thought it was Smokey THE Bear?
Quick stop at White Sands in New Mexico – HEAVY winds
Notch Above Bleow Scuzzy Motel in NM
Jinks PCIII seemed to cause the bike some odd behavior.
Pulled it, and carried on.
Sliders and beer in Safford, AZ
Debbie and Banker’s nose
Bull Pen, good bar, friendly people, pool tables. Riding on sidewalks in Safford
Outside of Safford – Snow on Mt. Graham
If I remember correctly, this is the view from the top of Salt Mountain on State Road 70.
Jinks
Bob in the bush
Jinks at MIAZ Campground ----- my abode – VERY windy Friday night (or was it Sat?)
Jim Forte, Steve Irv ------------------------------- Chuck
Fins, John Morgan -------------------------Darcy, Papaboop --
More of the Campground
R.E, John Morgan, Darcy
Rusty, Steve Irv
Quinn leading the way to Show Low for lunch. SR 60 in AZ
Just above Seneca on SR 60
Quinn, SO, and Steve Irv
Back a MIAZ – Jinks, Rip, Jim Forte
Rip, Jim Forte, Steve Irv -------- Steve Irv, Quinn, SO
R.E., Fins, Jon Morgan - Papaboop, Barb, Darcy (dbh)
Darcy (dbh), Chuck, Randy ------ Amanda setting up camp
Papaboop’s broken clutch adjuster with Darcy (dbh) looking on. ------ Rusty & Jinks
R.E., Barry, Jinks, Darcy (dbh), Papaboop, almost finished ---- Corliss, Darcy(dbh), Banker, Red, Rusty, R.E.
Corliss, Darcy(dbh), Banker --- R.E., Barry, Jinks
I didn’t get to meet Scott – Pic from Darcy
Group Grope, also from Darcy
Left Superior, AZ somewhere around noonish; after PapaBoop got his
softail clutch adjuster back together.
Wound of in Socorro, NM... and got 3 tickets for 67 in a 55 ($80 each).
Well, *I* didn't get 3, we did.
Steve Irv sed:
Ouch......
DP sed:
Did
you show them your pass you bought in Nevada a while back that lets you run
WFO all across the state? :)
http://ah104.com/2002Washington
This guy was so young and green
his shirt and pants were too big.
I got a feeling he got his ass kicked in high-school every day.
He even made a comment about how he pulls anyone over for doing 1mph
over the limit.
Not that he'd ticket them, just pull them over.
I passed on the snide comments, as I would have felt somewhat
responsible for getting Banker and Jinks thrown into jail.
On our way home a quick stop on SR 60 in the pass
Starting to get some elevation, Cibola National Forest
Snow on the ground. Ski slopes in the background.
VLA
> Wound up in Socorro, NM...
Do Not eat at the steakhouse next to the Super 8... K Bob's.
Just a tip from your Uncle Len...
Spent the night in Socorro, NM
On to SR 70 through Texas
Found Earth… didn’t know it was that young.
--So far, so good
No tickets today...
Took SR60 to SR70 across NM, TX in to OK.
60 sucks, 55mph and NM patrol everywhere.
Once we got in to TX, the speed limit was up to 70 and we finally made
some really good time.
I got 255 miles on a tank of gas and had 117 left in reserve, only put
in 4.2 gals.
Gotta love 60mpg at these elevations.
Jinks did the 255 with his '07 5 gal tank.
Famous last words:
"We can just take this two lane to an interstate and get a hotel room
there."
Tomorrow, we split off from Jinks as he heads southeast, we head
northeast.
Gotta get in to Arkansas, last of the lower 48 to cross off my rode in
list.
John Ross sed:
......and
are having some really good times. I'm jealous, sounds like a
great trip.
Crossing Texas on SR 70. “When you pass an interstate there’s always a hotel”.
Except in certain states, and SR70 & I-44 in Texas.
Dropped down to Wichita Falls, TX for the night.
The next morning, a quick run back up to SR70 and east.
Breakfast stop at Niki’s Place
Good food, reasonably priced.
Lake Texoma, just east of Kingston, OK
Soon, it was Banker and me, Jinks headed south around Idabel, OK.
We headed to Broken Bow, OK and Chapel Hill, AR.
Lake Greeson, AR
After Lake Greeson, AR, we continued on SR70 through Hot Springs, AR (the boyhood home of Pres Clinton).
And then on to Interstates for the fast way home, east of the Mississippi.
Coming in to Memphis, TN via SR 70 East
--So
far, so good.
Left Texas, and back into OK on 70, Great road through TX and OK... once
we got in to AR it went back down to 55mph. Nice road, but too slow.
Left Jinks somewhere in there near Idabel,,, got to I-30 and humped it
through Little Rock, Memphis, and hit the motel in Jackson, TN.
Went directly to the bar had a bar pizza and wound up calling Ray
Kimbro,,, he was on 'duty' at some other bar in VA and was getting
thrown out for disturbing everyone in the bar on his cell phone. So,
being the Asshole(tm) I am, called Roach and had him call Ray to add to
Ray's problems.
It's all good.
--So far, so good.
Just a blast up I-40 from Jackson, TN to I-81 today.
Nothing new there, same ol, same ol.
Made it to Winchester, VA, rain started, we stopped.
BTW, this subject came up at the party... Rude Olf has his original
tires, with over 16K on them.
Probably only get another 1K on the rear, but I'll be home before that
happens.
Good mileage on this new compound.
Jinks sed:
Sorry
to hear 'bout the rain. I wandered back roads after I
left you guys till I found myself in middle Louisiana with no motels
anywhere near. Followed the GPS out to Natchitoches. Expensive
rooms
& fine dinning by Huddle House. Ordered in a pizza & repacked my
gear. Got up early yesterday morning & decided to get a few miles
before breakfast. Plans always fail. Did 875 on interstates &
got
home about 9:15 last night.........breakfast was a couple of hot dogs
when I got home........<shrug>
--So far, so good.
Twelve days on the road, six thousand ninety-three and three tenths
miles to Arizona and back to New Jersey.
16,835 miles on the tire and still looks like it'll go another 1,000.
Got some pictures and some movies, they'll be on the web site sometime
soon.
Got one ticket, and talked my way out of another.
Had all kinds of weather, but mostly sun.
Finally met Barry, didn't get to meet Scott, maybe next time.
Had a lot of thoughts I'd like to share with everyone, and I probably
will over the next year, whenever we meet up again.
But the one thought I can't pass up is:
Do it.
Before it's too late.
Nobody get's out alive.
The Movie: (alert: over 600MB might take a while!)
http://www.ah104.com/2009MIAZ/MOV04257.MPG
Rude Olf with Arizona bugs.
The sad news was, my Uncle Bill passed away while I was on this trip.
Banker and I put the hammer down on the interstate and I got home in time for his funeral.