Brh continued...

Blue Ridge Mountains, VA & NC

I've been deep in hillbillyville for the last 3 days with no phone service & nothing around except some strange folks...yesterday a waiter told me "don't let night fall on you in wayne county!"
So o left nj headed t

hrough PA down towards WV to hop on the skyline drive & Blue ridge highway. i met a guy named Don who was from TN who I ride with to the parkway. The skyline drive was awesome and I ride for about 50 miles before finding a campsite in shenandoahNP.the next morning I got up early to get on the road.other creatures get up early too as I came across a black bear crossing the road! later I met everett who was riding to the outer banks of NC from NY to meet his family.everett &i ride 200 miles on the BR parkway that day. The only way to describe this place is a green hilly & forested paradise! The road dips up and down many times twisting & turning andsometimes your riding along the spine with amazing views on both sides!Everett&i decided to start looking for a campsite because there is nothing around for miles on all directions and their not allowed to put signs on the parkway so your pre
tty much on youre own. So we found a weird little site with some other trailers around. We were really hungry after ri ding all day so we attempted to get some sketchy directions and try to find a restaurant.people in the east are not so good st giving directions so we got lost for a little bit.it really is like deliverance out there! So after finally finding the place to eat I had the girl ashley at the gas station get us new directions back.it cooled down that night and was cool sleeping with the sounds of the noisy bugs all night long. The next morning we got up and out early to do the last 200 miles of the parkway.the NC part was even better&i would say it's just as beautiful or more than the rocky mtns.
So now I've ridden UT, black hills & the 400 mile blue ridge parkway! It's been such am amazing adventure seeing our country& meeting all kinds of people! The weather was not the best so I've had to stay in hotels more than I had planed. also dumping my bike in the creek has set me back on costs. I've pretty much run out of money and if I ride my bike 3000 more miles home I've got maintenance, gas,food & motels.
I've done the math and it's less expensive to ship the bike home and fly back from nashville. I'm bummed I couldn't finish the trip but it's been a totally fun crazy & adventurous experience! I went out last night in nashville had some good bbq and listened to some live country rock music.i dropped the bike off this morning at harley with 5175 miles since I left home 23 days ago. Il finish with a quote from my cab driver..."you should ve hitch hiked back, oh well, at least it was an adventure you will never forget!"

NYC!

Nyc was four days of crazy fun! I love the diversity & intensity of it! Every detail of the city is creative & loaded with character...the people, food & architecture all makeit the best city in world!i didn't get far today before hitting heavy rain. I thought I was in penn but I'm in nj.i scrambled around looking for shelter to get me and my gear out of it.luckily my finetuned navigation skills brought me to a super 8 only about 10 off my route.now I set up the tent in the room to dry it out along with a bunch of other wet gear to dry out.i hope to make up the lost time tomorrow towards west virginia.

The Allegheny Mountains, Pennsylvania

Leaving my Grandma's house was bittersweet...i had such a great time hanging out with my very cool grandma chatting and running around Canton OH.  One night we got together with family I haven't seen in 15 years.  We talked and had a geat time sitting on a porch overlooking a pond while a thunder & lightning storm kept our attention.  My cousin has a few toys that are pictured above! My Grandma took me out for an amazing steak dinner the night before I left...the best steak I've ever had...thanks so much Grandma for everything!! 
After resting for 2 1/2 days I was ready to hit the road again.  This time I would not take I-80 for very long.  Instead I headed deep into the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania on route 62 & 6.  The mountains were so amazing!  Every 30 miles there would be a small town with one stop light and an old court house, church and historic main street.  All the homes had cool porches, some rickety and some posh.  The mountain roads were uncrowded and winded up and down through the thick tall forest.  This route took quite a bit longer than it would have going east on 80 but it was well worth it!  Early on I made a wrong turn and stopped to chat with a guy who liked my bike.  His name was Mark and he rode a dyna and worked on harley's for the last 30 years.  As he was checking out my bike he noticed that there was oil splattered all over the battery box...not good!  He saw that the breather bolt was missing on the air cleaner attachment and oil had been leaking.  Now I had to keep checking my oil every 50 miles and I had to get it to a HD shop asap.  Not much was leaking out so I decided to stay in the small town of Mansfield and get it to the HD in Scranton in the AM.  So in Mansfield I found a cool brewery called Yorkholo.  I had a few ales and a tasty burger while talking with a guy from Vermont for a while.  The next morning I rode to Scranton where the guys at HD fixed my bike in about 30 minutes. Now on to NYC!
It was getting hot...I mean reeeeeaaal hot!  I had to pull ove once because it was getting hard to breathe.  So now was I going to go by what the maps say to get to NYC or the lady on my navigation???  She got me to Chicago alright so I went with her.  Hmmmmm...strange route she wanted me to take.  I found myself going through a ghetto neighborhood in New Jersey, lots of merging onto bumpy busy side roads and all of the sudden I saw the Lincoln Tunnel which was where I needed to go.  Going through this tunnel was not very pleasant!  It was probably about 95 with a heat index of 110 and I was sweating like a pig!  There were also tons of fumes in the tunnel from all the cars and trucks...so brutal!  I defininitely had to earn the last 20 miles of this cross country trip...it wasn't going to be a nice & easy final stretch!  This was it...I made it to NYC after coming out of the tunnel I felt a huge accomplishment!  Now I'm sitting in John's 25th floor apartment overlooking the Hudson River with views of the NYC skyline..it's time for a shower and some celebrating!  The journey is not over but I wanted to thank God, my family and friends for all of the support and encouragement along the way...it's been a crazy adventure just like I was hoping for!

Roadtrip flashback

Flashback to the highlights of the trip!

Here are some links to check out to show how cool the places actually are:  And these don't have bike shots!
Utah:
 http://www.nps.gov/care/photosmultimedia/Geology--Scenery.htm
http://www.nps.gov/care/photosmultimedia/Roads.htm
http://www.utah.com/byways/highway_12.htm

Black Hills, South Dakota

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gog6ShkXlF0
http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/videos

Everyone should visit Highway 12 in Utah and the Black Hills!

Grandma's House

Three words...hot, humid and corn!!  After Des Moines I was headed for Chicago to hang out with my buddy John.  The ride was long boring and all I saw for hours was corn farms...who eats all that corn?  It was cool crossing over the Mississippi River realizing how far I had come though.  I arrived in Chicago around 4 and it was brutally hot...around 108 with heat index and totally humid!  John wanted to show me his town and city so we took a trip downtown to Lake Shore Drive along Lake Michigan.  Chicago is such a cool city!  It's clean, the people are midwest friendly and the feeling is laid back unlike most big cities.  We cruised around checking out the Bean (I can't even explain...you'll have to google it), Buckingham Fountain (from Married with Children) and Navy Pier.  Every Saturday night there are fireworks at 10:05 on Navy Pier.  After some deep dish Chicago style pizza we went outside to watch the show.  This was the most amazing fireworks show I've ever seen...and they do it every Saturday all summer.  They had crazy fireworks that did more than just explode into colors...and I like explosions and anything having to do with fire a lot!  The next morning we went out to breakfast to his local diner and had some tasty grub and great "hang out" time!  John is a total bro and I can't wait to come back and see more of the city!
 I left Chicago around 12 and  I rode through Indiana and Ohio. It was not exciting at all, but way better than Iowa!  Lots of trees and cool river crossings and at least there wasn't any rain for once. I'm about 3,400 miles deep now and in the Eastern Standard Time Zone.  I kept stopping at all the same rest stops a pack of Outlaws (Ohio & New York chapters of a 1% Motorcycle Club) were stopping at.  I thought those guys were hard core, but they needed breaks just like me.  My neck and hands were sore from riding a ton the last three days and I just wanted to get to my grandma's house.  Finally I pulled into her driveway at 730 and it felt soooo good!  I haven't been here in about 15 years.  It's the same house my dad grew up in and it was so nice to know I had a few days with grandma to just hang out and relax before heading on to New York.

Des Moines, IA

Wow, not much to report today at all.  I woke up to rainy weather and didn't make it on the road until 11.  It was a boring straight ride on I-80 all the way through Nebraska to Des Moines.  I think I went over the Missouri River but I wasn't paying attention?  Now I'm going to grab a beer next door at a steak house and then crash.  I got a sore neck and many miles to go before Chicago...hopefully no rain!

2000+ miles

Ahhhh camping!  I packed up and headed out at 8AM to the Wildlife Loop ride out of the park.   I was going really slow hoping to see antelope, buffalo, deer and whatever else lives here?!  The landscape was awesome as before but it seemed more wilderness like being a Wildlife loop...like a drive thru zoo (anyone remember Lion Country Safari??) .  The rolling green hills continue to amaze me and I felt so relaxed and content ...except where were the animals?  The WL loop was about 15 miles long and I only saw a small herd of antelope towards the end, but it was a very peaceful stroll.  After I got out of the park though I saw tons of buffalo and a few deer.  The wildlife at Large signs say to stay in your car and a few buffalos gave me a dirty look like i was trying to move in on their cows with my loud black machine.  The next part of the ride took me into Nebraska "The Good Life!"  This part was more impressive than I had expected.  They're known as the Sand Hills and are miles and miles of low rolling bright green hills with no trees anywhere around.  After the Sand Hills I needed a break so I stopped for some food then later at a small General Store for water and a snack.  Here's a picture of Alicia at the diner and Jake the store owner.  Jake rides a harley night train and wanted to show it to me along with his gun arsenal, machine shop, leather collection, boots and garage that housed his bike, tractor and truck.  It was cool talking with him and after a water and some beef jerky I headed back on the road deeper into Nebraska.  The road did not stay very scenic after the Sand Hills and I found myself asking "Where am I going now?"  The next 4 hours were mostly boring...thankfully I had a great playlist to keep going.  I rolled in to the city of Grand Island NE at about 930 just after dark.  I found a hotel got a meal and went to bed.  There is a high heat warning here with a temp of 96 and about 85% humidity...brutal!

Day 7

Had a few drinks at the Saloon 10 in Deadwood last night.  I met two local girls and later found out one of them was Property  of Bandido (1% motorcycle club)...glad we got along! This morning I had to drive back to harley to get a leak checked out. It rained the whole 1 hour drive there...drag!  It turns out that the creek is still haunting me!  The primary is dented so it needs to be replaced sometime soon...it's sealed for now though. I'll talk later about a new plan for that issue.  After being bummed about the leak I was in need of something positive so I ventured out for a ride through Neddles Highway in Custer State Park. It was another epic ride with tight turns and spiraling rocks coming out of the trees! Soon the clouds disappeared and finally total blue skies.  Then I found another ride the guy at harley told me about...Iron Mountain Highway.  I can't even explain how fun, wild and beautiful this ride was!  Green rolling hills with scattered trees and winding burmy roads...one way single lane split through the trees...and no one else around! This is the new best ride ever!!  I decided to try and get a camp site and ride the Wildlife Loop in the morning on my way to Nebraska.  The site was nice...I set up camp and crashed (right after the nosiy neighbor family stopped chatting it up!).