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First Day 8/4/08
We left the house in good spirits. The current weather was bright and sunny with a forecast of afternoon and evening thunderstorms. We decided to jump on Route 80 westbound, then 81 south to Luray, Virgina. The plan was working good until we got caught in a traffic jam on the expressway Route 80 due to dynamite blasting by a road crew. We sat for quite awhile in the hot baking sun, until Silver Streak started to balk. She ran her temperature up near the red line. It was becoming unbearable to sit on the bike, so I made a decision, a terrible one. I decided to make a u turn and go up the opposite direction on an on ramp to get off Route 80 to take an alternate route. It seemed like a good plan until it turned into a disaster. The ramp turned out not to be a very short one, but continued on with many S-turns with blocked visibility. I quickly realized I couldn't turn around and go back as I would be broadside to a lot of fast moving 18 wheelers, all coming at us at a high speed. I pressed on directly towards them, frantically waving for them to move over as I approached.
Over our intercom, I heard Carol begin to cry and moan. I told her, "I can't stop now, we'll get run over." I heard her moan again and felt her arms tighten around me. We made it through and I told her that I realized I made a terrible mistake and I would never do something like that again. The intercom was surprisingly quiet for many miles. I don't think Carol ever fully recovered.
Chriss
Over our intercom, I heard Carol begin to cry and moan. I told her, "I can't stop now, we'll get run over." I heard her moan again and felt her arms tighten around me. We made it through and I told her that I realized I made a terrible mistake and I would never do something like that again. The intercom was surprisingly quiet for many miles. I don't think Carol ever fully recovered.
Chriss
The traveling Retiree
Chriss and Carol's Excellent Adventure Begins!
Hello Family and Friends:
Hurray, today is departure day, 8/4/08. We have Silver Streak our new 2008 Kawasaki Concours 1400 motorcycle all loaded and ready to depart for parts unknown. We are planning to travel 10,000 miles. We will first travel by motorcycle, eventually picking up our motorhome and motorcycle trailer which we have left behind in Oklahoma during a previous trip.
Packing our new motorcycle has been a trial by many errors. So many times we have packed and repacked. It quickly became apparent that we would never fit everything in the saddlebags and our GIVI top box. We would need much more space to pack last minute things. I decided to add a tank bag along with two large fanny packs that would sit on top of the saddle bags alongside of Carol’s seat. Packing a month or more worth of clothes and necessities in two small saddle bags and the top box was fun said Carol….. “not” said me. After a many "discussions" regarding what we couldn't live without, we are loaded and ready. We have over 150 pounds of gear including intercom, 2 GPS’s and 2 XM radios as Carol insisted she have her own to watch and listen too.
We will be leaving from my Landing, NJ lake house at 1:00 PM, behind schedule. Our first stop will be at Luray, Va. We already have a motel reservation with a planned arrival of 6:00 PM. After that we will wing it. We hope to see the Luray Caverns while we are there. I wonder how the Early Americans traveled without their cell phones, GPS, rain gear, maps, XM radio, IPod and weather forecasts? We may be on a bike but this isn't ruffling it. Later tonight we will write more and let you know of our progress. Happy travelers we are as we leave beeping our horn and waving to neighbors shaking their heads.
I am publishing this blog as new, actually it is a remake of the original as written and posted by Carol during our trip. For the most part I will just copy from our original posts and will add additions for current events. and some words from me. I will post using the original posting dates although this blog may show a current posting time date stamp. I think you will enjoy it as much as we did living it.
Note!! put your cursor on the pictures to slow down the sideshow. Click on "comments" at the bottom of each post to leave one, please do.
Hurray, today is departure day, 8/4/08. We have Silver Streak our new 2008 Kawasaki Concours 1400 motorcycle all loaded and ready to depart for parts unknown. We are planning to travel 10,000 miles. We will first travel by motorcycle, eventually picking up our motorhome and motorcycle trailer which we have left behind in Oklahoma during a previous trip.
Packing our new motorcycle has been a trial by many errors. So many times we have packed and repacked. It quickly became apparent that we would never fit everything in the saddlebags and our GIVI top box. We would need much more space to pack last minute things. I decided to add a tank bag along with two large fanny packs that would sit on top of the saddle bags alongside of Carol’s seat. Packing a month or more worth of clothes and necessities in two small saddle bags and the top box was fun said Carol….. “not” said me. After a many "discussions" regarding what we couldn't live without, we are loaded and ready. We have over 150 pounds of gear including intercom, 2 GPS’s and 2 XM radios as Carol insisted she have her own to watch and listen too.
We will be leaving from my Landing, NJ lake house at 1:00 PM, behind schedule. Our first stop will be at Luray, Va. We already have a motel reservation with a planned arrival of 6:00 PM. After that we will wing it. We hope to see the Luray Caverns while we are there. I wonder how the Early Americans traveled without their cell phones, GPS, rain gear, maps, XM radio, IPod and weather forecasts? We may be on a bike but this isn't ruffling it. Later tonight we will write more and let you know of our progress. Happy travelers we are as we leave beeping our horn and waving to neighbors shaking their heads.
I am publishing this blog as new, actually it is a remake of the original as written and posted by Carol during our trip. For the most part I will just copy from our original posts and will add additions for current events. and some words from me. I will post using the original posting dates although this blog may show a current posting time date stamp. I think you will enjoy it as much as we did living it.
Note!! put your cursor on the pictures to slow down the sideshow. Click on "comments" at the bottom of each post to leave one, please do.
Chriss Horstman and Carol Hoff.