This is a combination of Sunday and Monday as internet connection was not possible Sunday.
Robb and I left Kansas City, MO and skirted the border of Kansas and Oklahoma until finally turning east, going through Litltle Rock, Arkansas, through Mississippi and finally stopped in Birmingham, Alabama after covering 767 miles. Robb and I agreed it certainly was a great ride. Personally, from now on, I never want to take interstate 95 North through Atlanta and then through St. Louis. Mapquest may have this as the most direct route to Alaska but we were stuck two hours in Atlanta on the way up. This route via Little Rock and Birmingham is just 60 miles longer but the roads are much nicer and much less traffic.
Threatening rain clouds convinced us to stop in Birmingham even though we had over two hours of daylight left.
This morning, we left Birmingham before sunrise and navigated the rush hour traffic in Montgomery before finally heading south through Dothan, Alabama and finally into Florida. I knew we were in the South as we saw our first armadillo casuality on the highway earlier and the first boiled peanut stand.
Robb and I cruised east on Interstate 10 into Jacksonville where he split off to be with his wife, attending a speech pathologist meeting in Mandarin. By the time I arrived home, my trusty Gold Wing had clocked 530 miles today with a total of over 11,600 miles. The odometer has 107,200 miles on it.
Finally home with a welcome back package from Maureen!
Not counting Alaska, my average speed was 61.9 MPH and fuel economy was in the 40-44 range. Oil level after 7,000 miles full.
The bike is going to be treated to a good wash to get transcontinential grime off it and to the dealer for a tuneup.
Thank you, sponsors, for your mileage support. If you haven't made a mileage pledge, you can still do so by:
1. Going directly to SKI-HI's website and fill out a form and select a biker to sponsor and send SKI-HI a check. Here's the link.
2. To make a donation via credit card and designate a biker to sponsor, use this link.
MAKE PLANS NOW TO JOIN US IN 2009 and future years. We are trying to limit the longest segments to a maximum of 500 miles from this point on (the 2010 bed and breakfast tour segments will average 350 miles).
Robb and I cruised east on Interstate 10 into Jacksonville where he split off to be with his wife, attending a speech pathologist meeting in Mandarin. By the time I arrived home, my trusty Gold Wing had clocked 530 miles today with a total of over 11,600 miles. The odometer has 107,200 miles on it.
