Mike's 1971 BMW R60/5

There was a pretty good selection of spurs with this sample of the different kinds of rowels you can order.  This is definitely cattle country.

A boot repair and saddle shop in Clayton.  I don't imagine there are too many remaining.  He had quite a few boots in for repair and his saddles and horse equipment was really cool stuff.

Our hotel in Clayton, NM.  Built in 1898 it was, and still is, quite nice.  I took pictures of the bullet holes in the saloon that were made about a week ago...not really, sometime in the late 1890's.   The outlaw "Black Jack" Ketchum was hanged in Clayton in 1900.  He was the guy that was decapitated when he was hanged, due to improper placement of the rope (so the story goes).

The sign says it all!  Stopped here to rest from the torture of fighting the winds.  Amazingly, the wind stopped about 10 miles from here.  It lasted until just out of Guymon, where it picked up again more intense than ever.  There were a few times when we thought the trip would end in the ditch out in the middle of sparsley populated farm country of OK.  We finally made the 105 miles from Guymon to Woodward in almost 4 hours of physical torture.  My arms felt like the size Popeye's arms!  Leaving Woodward the next morning the wind was blowing but no where near the intensity of the day before.  We rolled into Clayton, NM in about 3 1/2 hours.  Clayton is a genuine cowboy town.  The entire of the economy is based on cattle ranching and a few tourists (like us).  Unfortunately, the town did not appear prosperous. 

We had battled the wind for almost 190 miles at this point.  A victim of the high winds at Moreland, OK.

Check the flags!  At this point we were only about 50 miles out of Tulsa and the wind was about 30-40 mph.

Just as we got on the freeway to leave Tulsa, the engine quit and I lost throttle control.  Here I am waiting for Lon and Bonnie.  I messed with the throttle and was able to make it to a local HD dealer who fixed the problem in about 20 minutes.....great service by Myers-Duren HD! 

More storm damage in Tulsa.

More storm damage in Tulsa.

This turtle was literally blown into Bonnie's front yard by the storm.

One of the trees uprooted from the storm.  A bad picture of the water i Bonnies' basement.

Bonnies' award for the Best Beans in the Oklahoma State BBQ Championship.  Way to go, Bonnie!

One of four guys that do the final assembly of the guitar.  This is the only job in the factory that requires the employee to be a guitar player.

Almost done.

Staining the body of the guitar.  The resemblence to Derek is remarkable.

Start of the guitar body.

A way out of sequence photo of our tour of the Gibson Guitar factory in Memphis.  They make the hollow body electrics, here. 

The owner of this shop in Eureka Springs said the cat spends pretty much the day sleeping in the window sill.

Main street Eureka Springs.  ES has been "healing" people since the late 1800's.  The springs are thought to produce minerals that heal various "afflications".  Even if the springs don't really accomplish the desired result, the tourist trade there will definitely take up the slack. The shops are really quite nice and they have several restaurants that serve excellent food.  The streets are narrow, winding and sometimes quite steep......great on a motorcycle!

Friday, 31 May. Arrived in Tulsa from Eureka springs, Arkansas Wednesday night. Trip was off the Interstate on much less traveled roads. Beautiful country with a LOT of farms. I had no idea that Arkansas was such a heavily farmed area (at least on hwy 412). We are going to be staying at Bonnie and Lons' for several days to visit and wait out another impending storm. It rained and hailed this AM, but cleared up by noon. Rain is forecast for Tuesday, so current plan is to saddle up Wed and head out toward Denver. We went to the local HD dealership and bought another map....Stu has already planned our next trip....and we're not even home yet! Kyra called today to tell her grandpa that she did a 10 mile bike ride with her mom. This was her first real ride so she was excited (and tired). She has been watering all of our plants while we've been on the road and said they are really growing! She wants us to come home.....how much better can it get?

Custom made Baldwin pianos at the Gibson factory.  

Tuesday, 27 May.  All of our hunkering down for the big storm was an exercise in complete frustration.  Tuesday turned out to be a pretty nice day with zero rain (until 8:30 PM).  We rented a car from Hertz for the day and went into downtown Memphis where we toured the Gibson guitar factory.  This is a view of the back of the buildings in "tourist trap" area of Beale Street.  Photo taken from the Gibson factory as we waited for the tour to start.

Bike cleaned and under wraps at The Hampton Inn in Memphis.  We are hunkered down here waiting out the impending storm.  The clouds outside are dark and full of water just waiting for the right moment to dump!  This could last for 2 days, according to Weather Channel.  Stu has been looking thru one of the "what to do in Memphis" brochures and has the rental car look in her eyes.  I think my day is being planned as I write.

Stu doing what she really loves....checking out homes for sale in Asheville area (she found many she liked in the 3 million and up section).  And watching the Weather Channel.  Severe storm warning from Tulsa to Memphis...pretty much the route we are travelling.    

Second stop on I-40 after about 35 miles of no rain and almost dry roads. 

Toward Memphis on I-40.

Waitin' it out..... I'm really not sure this was any better than driving on the road, as the passing traffic, particularly the 18 wheelers, kicked up quite a lot of water.  But the company and conversation was great.

Here we are at mile 103 hiding beneath the overpass with Rick and Wanda from Memphis.  Visibility was quite limited by the rain so we elected to follow Rick to marginal shelter.  We were here for about 30 minutes.  It was great having company and conversation as we waited, and hoped, the rain would, at least, lighten up.  Rick is a truck driver and Wanda is a 3rd grade school teacher.  Naturally, she and Stu were able to carry on a pretty good conversation about the good and bad of the teaching profession.  The were riding a black Classic that was pretty close to being the twin to our bike.    

Monday, Memorial Day.  We could not decide whether to stay in Nashville or try and beat the weather and head to Memphis, TN. Far too late, as it turns out,  we packed up and headed out, fairly certain we could beat the incoming rain storm on the 210 mile ride to Memphis.  OK, we're packed, fueled up, helmets on, commo checked....we hit the road, deciding we would take a short break at the 100 mile mark.  As we cruised west bound in I-40, we congratulated ourselves on the dry roads, fairly light traffic and the warm tempertature.....our smugness was short lived, however.  As we joyfully cruised along, the temp took a big dip, the skies darkened and then "opened".   The photo under the overpass was at the 103 mile mark.......on schedule for the stop, but for the wrong reason! We have a genuine appreciation for freeway overpassesAbout 25 miles out of Memphis the rain stopped, the roads dried and the HEAT was on!  It was remarkable.....unbelievably hot with horrendous humidity!   We located the hotel where we made reservations and were happy to get into an air conditioned building.  We found a Macaroni Grill not far from our hotel and had a great dinner.  The storm was scheduled to start about 7:00 PM, so we went back to the hotel, cleaned the bike and put her under wraps.  The rain started about 8:30.

Yesterday was Maya's birthday so we called and sang happy birthday over the voice mail, as she was out playing with friends somewhere in the neighborhood.  Our grandkids are growning up far faster than we are groaning old!    

A McD's stop, Harriman, Tennessee.

This chair, being sold in the store, was supremely comfortable!

.This is an "old fashioned" store in Asheville.  They stock many items that haven't been in stores in decades.  They also have current stuff, but the atmosphere of the store is clearly very country.  We bought grandkid gifts

Stu's helmet.

More inside McD's.

Inside

Across the street from the entrance to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.  This is McD's nicest restaurant.  The menu is the same, but inside it's quite nice and is a reflection of the grandeur of the Biltmore Estate.

Area around Asheville.

The kids got to do a very mini version.

About 1 blk from our hotel in Asheville, they were having a Fireman's Combat competition.  The contestants have about 120 lbs of gear on, run up the 5 story of stairs (previous picture) lower hose down on a rope, down the stairs, hammer a steel block weighing 50 lbs with a sledge hammer (simulating chopping thru a roof), charge the hose and hit a target with the stream and then haul a 175 lb "Rescue Randy" 100 feet to the finish line.  All the time wearing full turn outs and a Scott Airpac.  The guy with the gray T shirt (kneeling) is a 2 time WORLD champion with a time of 1 minute, 22 secs!  The competition is very intense and is participated in by hundreds of dept's throughout the U.S.  The best then go to the world championships competing with firemen throughout the world.  There is sponsorship by several large corps that manufacture fire fighting equipment. 

A very cute "Yorky" that stopped by to see our bike in Asheville.

Friday, 23 May.  Well, we really focused  on riding and made it all the way to Asheville, NC....all 120 miles.    We would probably have stayed on BRP, but several miles was closed due to construction and were routed off the Parkway.  After living in Atlanta area for about a year, we never managed to get to Asheville, so we decided to spend a day there just checkin' the place out.  Enroute to Asheville, we met 2 couples on bikes from Murrieta (Atlanta suburb).  They were just terrific and offered a few ridin' stories.  Their motto:  Live to ride, Ride to eat!  They were staying at a different hotel so we went our separate ways.  We are continually amazed at the number of motorcyclists on the road and how very friendly and open with complete strangers the riders are......it adds a lot of enjoyment to the trip.  See our photos for some of the stuff in Asheville.  

Sunday, 25 May.  Left Asheville on I-40 toward Nashville......about 300 miles.  This is the first time we have had the experience of many miles on the Interstate on the new HD.   I rode frequently on California freeways when I was a motor cop, but that has been many years ago and traffic conditions have changed quite a bit.  Stu squeezed my side on several occasions, but did not pound on my back and only yelled on the 2 way microphone a couple of times!  The bike ran great and cruise control is awesome!  Sharing the road with 18 wheelers after being off a bike for over 20 years is sometimes a tense experience!  As you look thru the photos, you'll notice that we stop at McDonalds quite a bit.....why?  Because they are almost always close to a freeway off ramp for easy off, easy on and the drinks are not bad and they usually have a shady spot to park.  It has been HOT today.....according to the clerk at the Hampton Inn, much hotter than normal for this time of year.

We monitor weather conditions very carefully.  Each nite we tune into the Weather Channel to see what the next day will bring.  The recent tornados in the midwest do not inspire us to go north of I-40.  They are expecting rain tomorrow and Tuesday here in Nashville, so we may be stuck for a couple of days.  Obviously, rain and/or hail do not make for fun riding.......

We have stayed at Hampton Inns the entire trip and have been very pleased with their service and willingness to assist bikers.  Most have a washer and dryer so we can wash our limited supply of clothes....Stu thinks this is particularly important since she is on back!  When we get to Tulsa, the bike will be beyond ready for a thorough cleaning.....I am certain we have 25% of the bugs on I-40 welded to the front of the bike.  The dead bugs are so thick I suspect it is reducing our gas mileage.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventures.

 

On the road at BRP.