(I see that I couldn’t even upload this Albuquerque post before somebody made the Bugs Bunny crack…)   

We got going a little late this morning, but we knew we would be picking up an hour when we crossed into the Mountain time zone, so we were not too concerned.  We are on vacation after all.

We followed Route 66 as best as we could out of Amarillo today, stopping to take a quick photo of “Cadillac Ranch.”  I think “Bug Ranch” was better, but that is just my opinion.  We tried to stay on Route 66 for a little while but portions of the road were closed and we kept ending up on detours that brought us right back onto the I-40.  We decided to just take the I-40 today and exit at some of the key Route 66 towns and see what we could see.

We crossed the border into New Mexico around noon today after battling the Texas winds to start battling the New Mexico winds.  We should be thankful for the wind, because it kept us a little cooler.  The landscape seemed to change again for New Mexico, even if the wind did not.  For all you Monty Python fans out there, the “Knights Who Say Nee!” would love New Mexico – there are shrubberies as far as the eye can see!  And did you know New Mexico had mountains?  We were not expecting to see mountains yet.

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Our “kicks” began today on Route 66.  Heading out from Clinton, Oklahoma, we followed Historic Route 66 through Foss and on to Canute.  We discovered almost immediately that there are just as many closed businesses on Route 66 as there are in Tennessee, but the closed businesses on Route 66 have more interesting signs.  You can still imagine the glory days of Route 66 even though the remnants of the once bustling towns and businesses are very rundown and boarded up.  The road itself is in varying states of disrepair, with some of the stretches still the original concrete but with grass beginning to sprout through the surface.  We also discovered that it is very difficult to stay on Historic Route 66 without being sucked on to the I-40.  Even when we were on the I-40, we could still see Route 66 running along side of the interstate.  The “EZ 66 Guide for Travelers” that we bought from the Route 66 Museum in Clinton is coming in very handy, though.  It was not just a gimmicky, tourist trap book.

We weaved on and off Route 66 and the I-40 driving through Elk City and Sayre and finally crossing the border into Texas.  From Route 66, we were able to stop and take a photo of the great expanse that is Texas.  Amazing!  As Jeremy said, you would see your dog running away for days.

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Today started out with fog as thick as pea soup.  We decided to wait until it burned off a little before we headed out since being visible is so important when riding.  Well, by check out time at the hotel, there was still some fog but better than it had been.  We decided a short ride might be in order today, since yesterday had been a long haul in the heat and we had already lost a half a day of riding with the fog.  We were both feeling a little achy and battered from a week of riding, so a day of rest was probably a good idea.

We rode for about an hour and half today to get to Clinton, Oklahoma, home of Oklahoma’s rendition of the Route 66 Museum (every state that has a portion of Historic Route 66 in it had a museum we could stop at about the highway).  The land around the I-40 was beautiful.  The soil is a bright, rich, red colour in this area of Oklahoma.   Quite striking against the backdrop of the green and yellow colours of their crops.  And, once again, everything was as neat as a pin.  They really live their motto of “Keep our land grand.”

We crossed over the South Canadian River!  We are not sure how it got its name, but it was a little surprise for us.  It is not a pretty river.  Quite muddy with a sandy bank.

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We got on the road this morning the earliest yet at 8:00 AM.  After almost a week of re-packing and re-loading the bikes, we are getting better at it.

We headed back to downtown Hot Springs to get a few photos of the old bath houses and The Arlington and then turned around again to head for the Ouachita National Forest.  The Arkansas marketing propaganda said the roads through the forest were so scenic that it was hard to keep your eye on the road.  Well, it was pretty . . . but not as pretty as Pennsylvania and Kentucky . . . but still nice.

We crossed the border around noon into Oklahoma.  We stopped at Wister Lake Dam and took a few photos and then headed to Wilburton, the old stomping grounds of Jesse James and Belle Star, for lunch.  Right away we could see a difference between Arkansas and Oklahoma – Oklahomians (just made that up) take pride in their state and want everyone to try and keep it beautiful, not just for tourists, but for themselves as well.   The roads were all well-maintained even if they were not overly exciting to drive on with our motorcycles.  Oklahoma is just very neat and tidy . . . I was hoping to at least see some tumbleweed but maybe tumbleweed has been banned from the state as too messy.

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Well, what can we say about Arkansas.  They say if you don’t have anything good to say it is better to not say anything.  This blog is meant to track our good and bad days, though, so I will post a few words on today’s experiences.

 We set out from the Heartbreak Hotel at 8:30 AM this morning, fresh and ready for “The Natural State” of Arkansas.  Highway 70 between Forrest City and Little Rock is very straight and very bumpy.  Our excitement on this route was armadillo road kill, a minnow farm, one curve, and a crop dusting.  We tried not to inhale the crop dusting . . .

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We started out this morning with some photo opportunities within Jellystone Park with Yogi and his friends before the rest of the park woke up.   After we had our camera fun at poor Yogi’s expense, we headed to the Ernest Tubb Record Shop in hopes that it was run by early birds.  No luck.  We took a picture and took a trip down the road to the Grand Ole Opry in hopes that it might be run by early birds.  Also, no luck, but we took a photo to prove we were actually there anyway.  Time to get out of Nashville . . . the town that sleeps in and parties all night, I guess.

We navigated out of Nashville via the interstate, escaping the interstate and exploring some of the less travelled highways starting at Bucksnort, Tennessee.  Definitely, one of the best town names so far on our trip.  Knob Lick, Kentucky was also a contender in the best name category.  I forgot to mention that one yesterday.

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We had a nice surprise this morning at our Holiday Inn in Lexington’s complimentary “continental” breakfast.  We were expecting muffins and bagels and some juice and coffee.  In Kentucky, a “continental” breakfast is a full breakfast buffet including eggs, sausage and grits.  I decided that I liked grits, but only in small quantities.

After we loaded up our motorcycles again, we were off to check out the Shaker village of Harrodsburg.  Once again, the roads were amazing through horse country.  We “stole the soul” of a Shaker actress by snapping her picture and fled.

Next checkpoint for us was Lebanon, Kentucky.  There is a photo of main street from today.  It really is very typical of what we have been seeing on our trip.

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We packed up camp a little quicker today and were on the road by 9:00 AM.  It started out a little chilly again, but we will be wishing for these crisp mornings later on when we are driving through New Mexico and Texas, I am sure.

Kind of morbid, but we saw our first possum road kill as we were leaving our campground.  Definitely, getting farther south now.

Today was a day of interstates – holy I-79 to unholy I-64, as Jeremy has dubbed them.  I-79 was beautiful driving along the edge of the Monongahela National Forest and West Virginia’s section of the Allegheny Mountains, but I-64 just wore us down.  We had intended to cover 696 KM today and reach Louisville, Kentucky.   We thought that we could cover more distance via the interstate, but we thought wrong.  We seem to cover more distance when we have more variety in what we are seeing and the roads we are driving on.  When your mind has something else to occupy its time then thinking about the aches and pains and how much further you have to go, its amazing how far you can go and not even realize it.

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Today started off a little on the chilly side.  It was overcast and the wind added an extra chill to the ride.  We had a cup of coffee at Tea Table Lookout at Letchworth State Park before heading out – one more last look at “The Grand Canyon of the East.”

We found some beautiful roads through the Allegheny National Forest and Amish Country. We saw lots of signs warning of Amish horse and buggy areas but did not see one anywhere.  I was a little disappointed but the farms and scenery certainly well made up for it.  The Amish have the most beautiful rolling farmland I have ever seen.  At one point we were at 698 M above sea level, our highest point riding our motorcycles . . . so, far, that is.

One thing we did see lots of was gun stores.  Every little town seemed to have one.     They seem to like to combine gun sales with some other commercial venture, sometimes related like “Dogs ‘n Guns” (if you are a hunter) and sometimes completely unrelated like “Pools and Guns.”   We did not think we would see stores like this until we hit Texas!

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Our road trip began as all Ross-Cole trips begin – in a storm.    We set off in the rain hoping, as the satellite weather predicted, to drive out of the rain into sunshine.   It rained for most of the first leg of our journey (but now we know our rainsuits work).  And no wet boots for Jenny too!

We crossed into the United States at Gananoque without any problems and got a bird’s eye view of the Thousands Islands from the bridge.  Too bad we could not stop to take a picture.

We drove through a nice stretch of New York.  Jenny was entertained watching all the cars speed up to pass and then slam on the breaks, thinking Jeremy was a cop.  The white motorcycle and helmet were a good idea.

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We met Geoff in Buckhorn for lunch around 1:00 after riding through torrential rains for a couple of hours.  It was a good introduction to riding in the rain for Jenny…

We didn’t take any pictures in Buckhorn, but we should have.  It’s a nice little town with a restaurant overlooking the locks.  It was just nice to start drying out again, except for the inside of Jenny’s boots!

I did take a picture of the bikes the next morning… just because it was nice out.