jgreat-moto

Trip Stats

2009-07-08T11:20:00.002-05:00

Here are some of the stats from the trip:

Trip Mileage:

Day Total

day 1: 222.0 - 222.0

day 2: 404.1 - 626.1

day 3: 193.5 - 819.6

day 4: 244.9 - 1064.5

day 5: 301.5 - 1366.0

day 6 - 10: Stuck in Florida waiting for launch.

day 11: 234.0 - 1600.0

day 12: 319.0 - 1919.0

day 13: 384.3 - 2303.3

MPG recorded:
Gal. Mi.

5.408 233.1

7.712 307.4

5.486 244.4

2.326 96

5.568 267.8

2.264 115.9

3.356 144.6

4.068 175.1

3.425 148.5

3.323 164.6

--------------

42.936 1897.4

Average MPG: 44.19

Days on the road: 8
Days waiting for the shuttle: 5
Failure to launch due to hydrogen leaks (the shuttle not us): 2
Mechanical Faults: 1 (brake light)
Presidential Statues: 1
Nights camping: 1
Hotels: 4
Nights put up by cool people: 7
Bad milkshakes: 1
People that suck in Central Florida: lots

Day 13: Cherohala Skyway

2009-06-20T19:19:00.009-05:00

After a night in a good hotel, with good showers and clean rooms, I felt ready to go. After that 5 day break at my Aunt's house in Florida waiting for the shuttle to not launch we had been itching to get some miles down. Here was the payoff for our hard miles, some of the most beautiful motorcycling roads in the country.

The first part of our route took us from Anderson, SC to Franklin, NC up Highway 28.

View Larger Map

This road was awesome, but both Nate and I were surprised on how technical the stretch around Sumter National Forest was. I wish that I had realized how that road was going to be so I could have been in the right frame of mind ahead of time. I was still in "Sightseeing" mode when the had stuff started up. I quickly gathered my focus though after the first couple of tight corners. Although I had about 2000 miles on the bike, I hadn't really taken it though anything tight and winding as that stretch of highway. Lots of down hill switch backs and blind corners made it a thrilling ride to say the least. There were a couple that really had me breathing hard. I just had to keep telling myself that "the bike can handle it", I just have to commit and lean in to it. My biggest fear on roads like that is not really the road, its the idiots in cars and trucks that are coming the other way. All it takes is some A-hole in an SUV to drift over the line to end your good time (right Nate).

We made it though and stopped at an information point when we entered the Nantahala National Forest. That's when I had my first mechanical issue on the trip.

I got a little yellow exclamation point light on my dash and a "LAMPR" warning. I whipped out the owners manual and discovered that LAMPR means your tail light is out. I had Nate look and sure enough the brake light wasn't working. I did a quick search for an auto parts store and found one about 4 miles ahead in Franklin, NC. If your going to have an issue this wasn't a bad place to have one.

It took longer to get the redneck behind the counter to help me find the bulb then it did to replace it.

Redneck: "We don't carry motorcycle parts",

Me: "Its a standard bulb brake light bulb, Its even a Sylvania."

Redneck: "Well I don't think we have that"

Me: "Can you just cross reference the number its right on the bulb P5/21 7258"

Redneck: "Nope not in the computer"

Nate from the light bulb section: "Oh look its right here on your shelf"

After that we continued along highway 28 to Robbinsville, NC.

View Larger Map

Robbinville, NC is the start of the Cherohala Skyway.

View Larger Map

Its the highway 143/165 that connects Robbinsville, NC to Tellico Plains, TN that goes through Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests. This is a magnificent piece of road that just begs to be ridden. Its at about 4500 ft and peaks at 5300. It has an 45 MPH speed limit, but really don't want to just blow through this place, you just want to cruse and enjoy it.

It was a clear day and we could just see miles and miles of gorgeous mountain forest. We stopped at on of the highest point and did a little adventure hiking about a mile out to a beautiful meadow. Wild flowers and tall grass every where. Both of us having dual sport bikes, we had wished that the road to the meadow had not been locked by a gate, or we would have driven up the car path.

the problem with places like this is that pictures just don't do them justice, its just something you have to experience.

After we cleared the forest and reached Tellico Plains it was time for us to part. Nate is going on to Knoxville, and I'm heading for home, Spring Hill, TN. The Cherohala Skyway was not a bad way to end a trip.

For the trip home I was excited to see my family and I just took the most direct route via Interstate (this time the destination was more important then the journey). I arrived safely a thome at about 10PM. It had been almost 2 weeks and I was glad to see my family and my bed.

Day 12: Making some miles.

2009-06-18T21:07:00.006-05:00

After a long night at Nate's pick, the Sleazy 8, we hit the road. I didn't even wait to take a shower, since the water smelled like it came straight from a swamp.

We finished our slog up the interstate and stopped for lunch at a little place offering soul food. Gwen and Franny's Fried Chicken. It was good stuff.
We finally made it off of the Interstate and started the good part of the drive, through the beautiful scenic roads through South Carolina.
The roads were just awesome. I have to say if your trip is not all about the destination, its so worth taking the smaller state and US highways. So much less traffic. Its just a much more enjoyable experience. Plus my experience so far with the local road food has been great.

Hitting the road.

2009-06-17T20:47:00.002-05:00

Well after our failure to launch, we were anxious to hit the road. Actually we have bin chomping at the bit for a few days now, but while we still had a chance we were going to stay.

After saying good by to my Aunt Pat, we put some miles down. We came up a little short of hitting our goal of Savannah, GA because we hit rain. We stopped a crappy motel and will head out early in the morning.

Not meant to be.

2009-06-17T01:06:00.002-05:00

Well I guess it just wasn't meant to be. They scrubbed the launch again due to a leak in the same hydrogen system. After the drama with the weather not allowing them to fuel, I just am very frustrated.

I guess its home for me.

Pins and Needles

2009-06-16T21:57:00.002-05:00

A storm has been blowing through here and delaying the fueling procedure. They haven't called it yet, but I'm not sure how long this can be delayed.

The storm is almost through, I have my fingers crossed. The wait is killing us.

Sweet!

2009-06-16T18:56:00.002-05:00

Since the original date was a scrub and this launch is at 5:40AM, Nathan has managed to get us VIP access to the launch. I believe that we will be in the bleachers near the Apollo/Saturn V Center. That's even closer then the causeway viewing!

I sure hope every thing goes this time!

Day 10: KSC Redux

2009-06-16T16:17:00.009-05:00

We headed back to the Kennedy Space Center to do the bus tour we missed on day one. Since the tickets we have are good until the launch, we were able to go back as often as we want.

On the way to the first stop we got a great view at the crawler they use to move the assembled shuttle to the launch pad and the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building). The VAB is the 3 largest building in the world by volume. It can fit 4 Empire State Buildings inside.

The first stop on the bus tour took us to the Apollo/Saturn V Center. They take you through a simulation of an Apollo mission launch from the control room. It was pretty cool, even the windows shook when the rocket ignited.

Here they have an actual Saturn V Rocket laid out on its side. This is the rocket that took us to the moon. The scale of this rocket is just incomprehensible. Pictures just don't do it justice. It just wasn't possible to get the whole rocket in one picture.

This is just the first stage:
First stage looking the other way:
They also have on display a Lunar Module and the Lunar Rover that they did earth testing with.
This is the Command Module that the Lunar Lander attached to.

After the Saturn V tour, you get back on the bus and head over the International Space Station Center tour. This is the place where they bring all of the components for the space station before they go up on the shuttle. This is the observation window over the floor where some of the modules are waiting to be launched.
They have a room setup with examples of some of the original ISS modules. Most of the modules were kinda dated, but it was interesting that they used standard rack configurations for all of the componets, even the toilet.

We got done with the visitors center and on the way out stopped by the Astronaut Hall Of Fame. Its a separate museum that is included with the KSC admission. Its full of Astronaut memorabilia and exhibits.

This space suite was used by Gus Grissom during his Mercury-Redstone mission. Grissom was one of the Astronauts who dided in the Apollo I fire.
Here is the one of the actual computers they used on the moon missions.

Day 9: Stand by

2009-06-16T16:16:00.000-05:00

We just kinda hung out on Monday. Nothing exciting.

Day 8: Shuttle Launch Rescheduled

2009-06-15T16:00:00.002-05:00

After a couple of delays, NASA has confirmed that they will try to launch on Wednesday morning at 5:40AM. I have my fingers crossed.

Day 8: The Beach

2009-06-15T15:33:00.004-05:00

We needed to actually make it to the Atlantic while were here, so we headed down to the beach. We found a very touristy beach at Cocoa Beach.
Right on the beach is this huge Ron Jon Surf Shop.
I though that its just funny that the biggest surf shop I've ever seen is on a beach that hardly has any waves. The store was pretty cool though. I picked up a sweet pair for board shorts and some stuff for Kendra. Nate got himself a sweet hat.
We ate lunch at "Captain J's." Its right on the beach. It was a real dive, probably would not have been open except for its cool location.

After lunch we walked the beach. It was pretty much just like a Southern California beach, the water was just a bit warmer.
Hurray I've made it to another ocean :)

Day 7.1: Kennedy Space Complex Visitors Center

2009-06-13T19:38:00.007-05:00

So after the disappointment of this morning we decided to make a day out of seeing the Kennedy Space Complex Visitors Center (KSC). It was very cool. Well it was crazy hot but cool none the less.

We started with the 3D IMAX film "Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3-D". This film was moved me. It combined original footage with reenactments and great technical details. Plus it really had a human element.

The other IMAX theator had some technical dificuties so we did not get to see the "Space Station 3-D"

After the film we hit the Space Shuttle Experience. Its a 4 minute full motion ride that really simulated the acceleration and feel of the shuttle well. It tilts you back to almost vertical and shakes you in such away that if felt like you were accelerating the whole time. I was surprised on how realistic it felt. Now I know that a shuttle experiences about 3Gs on take off, and this was not that much force, but it was still neat.

After we finished the Space Shuttle Experience, we toured the Space Shuttle Replica. The Replica looked pretty realistic from the outside, all the way down to the ceramic tiles. Right next to it was the full sized Solid Rocket Boosters and External Tank.

We moved on to the astronaut memorial. They have a huge wall and a set of plaques memorializing the brave men and women that have lost their lives in the space program.

It was just hard to grasp the scale of the Rocket Garden. They had several Redstone, Atlas, Titan and a Saturn 1b rocket there. These things are just incredible in size. Pictures just don't do it justice.

The last thing we hit today was the Early Space Exploration Museum. They had exhibits on all of the pre-shuttle missions. I really dig the old space suits.

Day 7: Damn

2009-06-13T04:05:00.002-05:00

The launch has been scrubbed for at least 4 days.

The launch of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission to the International Space Station is on hold due to a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the external fuel tank. The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 12:26 a.m. EDT Saturday, managers officially scrubbed the launch for at least 96 hours.

Now what?

Day 6: Titusville

2009-06-13T03:43:00.004-05:00

Friday was spent gathering odds and ends. We borrowed my Aunt's Suburban and hit Walmart and Kinko's so Nate could replace the cards he's handing out. I grabbed another pair of light cotton shorts (I'm not sure what I was thinking bringing mostly jeans) and a couple of freeze dried meals to replace what we ate camping on Thursday.

My Aunt has really hooked us up. We have beds, a shower and great company. She has even set us up with passes to the Kennedy Space Center. I know she's family, but her generosity has blown me and Nate away.

Friday we went out for dinner with my Aunt Pat, my cousin Trisha and her son Corry, and daughters Taylor and Jasmine, to a restaurant called Dixie Crossroads. They are famous around here for their rock shrimp. I ate sooooo much and most of the awesome Key Lime pie. We hung out afterwards and showed off pictures of the family.
We hit the sack early in preparation to get up at 3:00AM to get out the KSC to see the launch.

Day 5: The Road to Titusville, Part 3

2009-06-12T11:07:00.006-05:00

This night was rough. Sleeping in the hot, sticky weather was tough. I woke up a lot just because I was too sweaty. But on the plus side, our beach side camping spot allowed me to get right up and head out for a swim in the gulf.
The water was great. It was warm with cooler swirls of current and we pretty much had the beach to ourselves It was invigorating.
We packed up our stuff and hit the road. Today we had a real destination in mind. We were offered a place to stay with my Aunt Pat.

We powered down the road. Determined to make some distance while it was still cool. We stopped for lunch/breakfast in Perry at a little local restaurant.
The breakfast food was good. Nate got stuck in the bathroom because the door knob stopped working. We talked riding gear with a cool older couple. They were looking at a long distance trip and wanted to know about our pants.

The road from Perry to Ocala was nice, fast country highway. We ate up the miles and enjoyed it. We took a break in Ocala. I was looking for shade and bathrooms and Nate noticed a nice looking bar/grill. We ordered Ice Tea and enjoyed the facilities and A/C. Now I sorta feel like we should be "roughing" it a bit more, but I guess real adventurers take advantage of A/C and clean bathrooms given the opportunity too :)
Looking at the map we thought the road through Ocala National Forest would be awesome. Unfortunately it was some of the least scenic highway we had been on all day. It was disappointing.

We had received advice by a rider in Ocala to skip the interstate and travel down the US1 when we got to Daytona Beach. This is was bad advice. The farther I go on this trip the more I seem to be affected by the feel of a place. Some places just feel wrong, and I don't want to be there.

The vibe of Daytona Beach beach was all wrong. Now, those who ride know about "The Wave." When you pass another motrocycleist (scooters don't count) you wave. Harley, metric, sports bike, whatever, if its got 2 wheels and you have to thow a leg over, you're a rider and you get a wave. Now about 98% of riders are cool and if they have a free hand they wave back. (the other 2% are pretentious picks and will only wave to someone who rides the same "type" of bike as them.) Out of at least 30 motorcyclists we waved to only 2 waved back. How LAME! Everyone seemed too self absorbed. People in cars had zero respect for motorcycles. I guess we were thinking it was going to be a beach type vibe. Daytona Beach is a beach town with out the beach soul.

We were so turned off by it, we just jumped back on the interstate and pushed for my Aunt's house. To get off the bikes and rest.

Day 4: The Road to Titusville, Part 2

2009-06-11T21:31:00.004-05:00

Well even with the good nights sleep in the hotel we got off to a late start.

I did learn a few things today:

Don't eat a Chocolate Shake when you are hot and sweaty, no matter how good it sounds.
Florida has some BIG ass flying bugs. (Full face helmets are a MUST).
Florida is HOT and STICKY. (Camping in best done in the winter, not the summer, dummy)
You can just skip everything from on the pan handle coast from Pensacola to Panama City Its all just a tourist trap.
Especially skip Panama City!

After some really nice highway miles through some pretty pine forest, we suddenly arrived in San Diego...well it looked just like San Diego, same wide streets with half brown grass at the sides, same kind of plants. Same kind of feel. It was really one of the small highways leading into Destin, but it could have been any street in Southern California. For some reason I was really disappointed. I had traveled 800 miles to see something new, and what I get is the city I grew up in. Fortunately not all of Gulf Coastal Florida is like that.

We decided to stop at Destin for lunch. We found a burger chain that I had never been to, and I said, "Mmmmm a shake sounds good." Big mistake. It made the next hours ride extra miserable.

Nate really wanted to go to Destin because he had been there as a kid and wanted to find the area he remembered. So we decided to try and take the coastal road US98 through that area. This whole section of Florida although pretty in parts (beautiful blue water, white sand), is basically one big tourist trap. It was hot and traffic was slow. Every park we tried to stop at just to take a picture was either military or charged money. We did finally find the "Public" beach and the spot that Nate thought could be the place from his childhood, but it had been completely developed around, so it was a bust.

We pressed on out of Destin and went from "San Diego" to "Tijuana" or better know as Panama City. This place was a pit. It was dirty and smelly, traffic was bad. At this point I was at my peak of feeling crappy because of my poor choice in lunch time beverage. We were just about ready to give up and take the fastest route to the interstate to get the hell out of town, when we stopped at a seedy gas station to recoupe and check the map for our escape route. After a Gatoraid and a few minuets off of the bikes we decided to press on with US98. This ended up being a great decision.

Once past Panama City the traffic evaporated, the temperature dropped a bit with a nice breeze of of the gulf and our spirits rose. We motored on and went through a little town with a great vibe, Mexico Beach. For some reason this little beach town reminded me of all the things I liked about beach living. It was just nice. It recharged us.
It was at this point I realized something interesting about how our surrounding really affected our morale and that our morale really affects our energy level. This may sound obvious, but it was absolutely amazing to see us go from "we want to find a place to stop" to "we can push on for hours" over a mater of minuets and a change in scenery and the "vibe" of a place.

After making up some major miles on nearly empty coastal roads we decided that we need to find a place to stay. we called up all the camp grounds that we could google and they we all full. Eventually we found a RV Park that had spaces open for camping. Nate said that he got a weird feeling from the guy on the phone, but we decided to check it out anyway. Well it looked more like a Trailer Park, then an RV Campground and the place did not have a good "vibe" about it. So we moved on.
We rode on, until about dusk. We found a RV Park that had a bunch of open spots less then 100yds from the beach. This was perfect. We staked our claim and prepared dinner, discussing the merits of my "Jet Boil" stove to Nate's mini camp stove. Both boil water well.
One pack of freeze dried mashed potatoes and a pack of chili mac later we were fed and ready to explore.

We walked the beach and found a whole bunch of 3 to 6 inch crabs out hunting for food. It was cool to watch them run.

Day 3: The Road to Titusville, Part 1

2009-06-09T23:19:00.004-05:00

The day started a little slow. After a late night (well late for me) in the French Quarter, we didn't make it out on to the road until about 11. Brent played tour guide again and rode out with us on his Suzuki Katana 600.
He took us back out across the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway to a little town called Covington. Covington boasts an interesting piece of "Classic Americana", the worlds largest Ronald Regan statue. We had to stop and get a picture for our friend Russ who's a Regan fanatic.
After seeing the statue we parked the bikes and got iced coffee and had lunch at a local grill.
I had a Fried Oyster Po-boy sandwich. It was good.

On this trip I'm stepping out of my comfort zone a bit trying to do my best "Feasting on Asphalt" impression. I'm trying not to eat at any national food chains, just local restaurants. Preferably with some local flavor.

Once we finally really hit the road Nate and I hit US90 East and Brent parted ways with us. We made a short stop at a rest area with a replica of the Lunar Lander.
For some reason I never realized how big the Lander was, It makes sense now that I think about it, but TV/pictures never really do justice to the scale of things.

Next we shot east along the Gulf coast and stopped at a beautiful beach in Long Beach, MI.
This was not at all what I expected. I had always pictured the gulf coast of Mississippi as "Bayou" swamp, not pristine white sand with hotels and casinos. Who knew? I'd live there if it didn't get wiped of the of the map every few years by some act of God.
Nate and I checked out the water. It was warm, but I was surprised at how dark the water was here. It's almost black.

After our quick stop to check out the beach and water, we powered on through to Mobile, AL. We stopped for dinner at a place called Binini Bob's. Not exactly local fare, but they had awesome deck that gave us an incredible view of the sun setting over the bay.

We decided to grab a room right next door and hit the pool and hot tub to soothe the sore muscles and beds to get a good night sleep. Maybe its not the most adventurous, but come on we're only human :)

Day 2: New Orleans

2009-06-09T22:04:00.006-05:00

Day 2 had me powering down the interstate toward New Orleans to meet Nate and our new friends. 404 miles later I was there. This is the longest single day of riding I have ever done. My new bike handled it great, I just twisted the throttle and it ate up the miles.

On the way in I crossed the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway which at 24 miles is the longest bridge in the world.

Nate had received and offer from a guy on advrider.com to crash at his place in New Orleans. This is how we met Brent and Nicole.
They were awesome. Every so often you meet someone who you just mesh with. You just feel comfortable and can be yourself and not have to be guarded. With in minuets of meeting Brent and Nicole it was like we had been friends for years. Too cool!

They live in a awesome little 100 year old house in the "Garden District". New Orleans is interesting in the fact the the "bad" neighborhoods are intermixed with the "good" neighborhoods. So its 3 blocks of ghetto right next to 3 blocks really nice houses. They live in one of the good neighborhoods.

They played tour guide for us and took us to the famous to the French District and Bourbon Street for dinner and drinks. We took one of the street cars down to there.

We ate at the Gumbo Shop. Oh boy it was good. I had the best Bloody "Cajan" Mary that I've had in a long time. I had Chicken Andouille Gumbo with Crawfish Etouffee followed by Bread Pudding with Whiskey sauce. I was stuffed!

After dinner we strolled down Bourbon Street just checking out the scene.
Its definitely an "Adult" scene. Its a bit surreal. You can take your beer down the street with you. There are guys in front of every club trying to entice you to come inside. Strip clubs are side by side with bars and souvenir shops. There is tons of great live music pouring out on to the street.

It actually was pretty dead, since it was Monday during the off season, and had just stopped raining.

We got back just before midnight and Nate and I had a chance encounter with the Louisiana "State Bird" Big Ass Flying Cockroach. The damn thing must have been 2 inches long. Nate stepped on it and it went "POP". We left the room for a couple of minuets and wen we got back it, despite being crushed, managed to crawl its way back into a corner. Yikes!

Day 1: The Road to Southhaven, MS

2009-06-07T19:35:00.011-05:00

After packing up all of my stuff I kissed the wife and kids good bye and set out along this route. This led me along some of the country highways and back roads instead of the boring interstate. I was glad I did. Tennessee has some beautiful country and this was no exception.

Along the way I happened to come across Sh iloh Memorial Military Park.
Its the site of the Shiloh Civil War battle and a National Cemetery.
I have wanted to see it for some time. In this beautiful area many men gave their lives. The only way I can describe the experience was solemn.

Here brave men lie.

222 miles today.

Road Trip!

2009-06-07T19:22:00.002-05:00

Here's the deal. My buddy Nate got laid off from his job (He's a Unix SA too). Bummer, but he's taking the opportunity to do something he has all ways wanted to do, take a Motorcycle trip across the country and see a Shuttle launch.

I thought that was an awesome idea. I've been wanting to do a Motorcycle trip and I've always wanted to see a shuttle launch. So I contacted him and asked if we could hook up when he made it to my neck of the woods.

Now I'm on my way to New Orleans to meet up. We're going to travel along the Gulf coast to Titusville, FL to see the June 13th shuttle mission. After that its back to TN.