MACH.19 - Saguaro Country, Day 7: Rain Watchers

Saguaro Country, Day 7
Rain Watchers
Saturday May 4, 2018

"Kickstands up, 9:00 AM!" announced Picky last night.

During the night, heavy thunderstorms rolled noisily through Vicksburg;. At 7:00 AM, a look through the "tent flap" shows light cloud cover, but the radar shows a massive organized front imminently approaching from the West and south. The ride is cancelled.

Our ride today will track this thing along the eastern front all day at it moves across our path. There is no escape.

For no particular reason, we've gotten up earlier than we planned; and since we packed most of our belongings last night, leaving only the everyday luggage, there's no special re-packing to be done. We took the rain gear into our room last night.

An observant reader might recall the crawfish-contact lens saga.  It worked out pretty well last evening, but this morning when I put in my lenses, my eyes water and burn for about 20 minutes before it all dissipates.  Yes, it's worth it. I could wear glasses if I chose to do so.

The ride cancellation has spawned a cadre of folks sitting on picnic chairs under the overhang, like Professional Rain Watchers.

In unison, Kitty and I perform the Dance of the Rainsuits, positioning rain-proof hoods under helmets, cinching wrist gauntlets, making sure all flaps are zippered and velcroed shut. Helmets are next to last, followed only by rain gloves.

By now the storm front has arrived in earnest and the rain is pouring down. Kitty checks out of the motel while I pull the bike over to the Rain Watchers to say goodbye to our friends.

I consider waiting until this band has passed, but then realize we and it are traveling the same direction, and we'll simply catch up to it on a few minutes.  There seems be no gain in waiting.  On the radar screenshot attached to this blog entry, the blue pin is where we are; the red pin is where we're going.

So we mount up, salute the group of Rain Watchers with a good strong blast from the horn, and roll out into the pouring rain a little after 9:30 AM.

No sooner do we clear the entrance ramp to I-40 East than visibility decreases to a few hundred feet, and we ride at 45 mph with the four-way hazard flashers activated. We are dry and composed, traveling the same speed as cars and trucks who are barely visible in the mist, making slow but steady progress.

Within 10 miles we are out of this band and I can speed up to 65 mph (speed limit 70) but not using my cruise control.

Eventually we reach Jackson MS  where we pick up US 49 south. Just before reaching Hattiesburg MS we run into another strong organized cell and repeat the 45 mph hazard flasher routine for about 15 miles.

I have to give a shout-out to our Shoei Pin-Lock helmet shields. We each have two: dark and clear. I'm wearing the clear shield for better vision. In heavy weather, a real problem for a biker is the shield fogging up, especially when talking to my passenger on the headset. I've tried all kinds of devices and treatments for this (Fog City being probably the best of the bunch, but it creates annoying double images at night), but always end up periodically having to crack the shield open for a mile or so while the shield clears; this deposits water droplets on the inside of the shield, leading to significant visibility problems. You trade a fogged shield for one covered with water droplets, each looking as big as a saucer because of the proximity to the eyes.  These Pin-Lock shields snap decisively closed with a watertight seal, and absolutely will not fog.  Kitty and I both comment how much an improvement this is over everything else we've tried. It's very peaceful inside this cocoon even when surrounded by vile weather. They are expensive but when I'm on I-20 two-up and towing, with dramatically diminished visibility in torrential rain, I'd pay triple for the security and peace of mind.  These things are awesome!

For the last hour of the trip southward on US 49, we track "yellow" cells on the on-board radar as they move across our path.  No severe weather is reported by radar or the National Weather Service GPS screens, so we continue steadily and alertly onward.

After four hours of this, thankfully without any dramatic incidents, we reach our family in Gulfport and peel off all the wet layers before getting proper hugs from the grandkids and family.

We are dry and warm except Kitty's jeans are a little damp in spots. The rain slides off the rain jacket onto the seat and has no place to exit, so it finds tiny imperfections in the stitch seals during a long ride in hard rain.

Riding in this kind of weather wears me out even without drama, because the edge of safety is so much sharper than a sunny-day cruise.  Grilled country pork ribs and corn on the cob, followed by homemade ice cream and brownies, is the perfect way to unwind with the family.

MACH.19 - Saguaro Country, Day 6: On the Run

Saguaro Country, Day 6
On the Run
Friday May 3, 2018

When the "tent flap" opens this morning, we see it has rained overnight and in fact, it's still a bit misty.  Our Friday ride is to start at 10:00 AM.

By the time we've concluded a loud and chatty breakfast, the skies are clearing and we're off for the 10:00 AM ride.  As we line up an head out, Kitty counts 21 bikes.  Most are Gold Wings, several trikes, several Spyders, several Harley Davidson bikes, and a Honda Shadow.  The Shadow is ridden by our friend Skippy, who three years ago had a rare complication of Type II diabetes called diabetic amyotrophy, a debilitating neuropathy that affects leg muscles and is associated with a great deal of pain.  At that time he was here in a car and with a walker, and we wondered if we would ever see him on a bike again.  But here he was. He doesn't feel confident enough in his recovery to the point of being able to control the heavy Gold Wing at stops, so he opted for the lighter Shadow, but here he is on a motorcycle.  It's inspiring.

Putting 21 bikes in one group on the road is not to be taken lightly, and its a complex dance as we try to observe traffic laws and yet keep some semblance of togetherness.  But after navigating a few traffic lights and turns, we're all together on two-lane Mississippi roads, on the run to somewhere undisclosed, known only to the leader and the tail gunner.  In a quirk of roles, the tail gunner seems to have scouted out the route and is actually guiding the group on CB.  It seems we're looking for a military park. After an hour or so we arrive at a location with a sign, but it's a field without entry and no military museum.  We take some turns, make some fits and starts, but never do find the place.

One bike has an intermittent starter button problem and won't start when we try to leave after shutting down for a group discussion at a pullover. Someone stays with him and the remainder are waved on.

When we can't find a military museum, we know where to go: The Old Country Store, home of Mr. D's fried chicken.  Except somewhere we take a left turn and ride 18 miles in the opposite direction, then need to ride 18 miles back.  But it's a nice highway, and nobody seems to mind.  When you're on the run, it really doesn't matter.  Just happy to be here!

We've been to the Old Country Store many times on our trips to Vicksburg, and it's never a disappointment.  Yes, the fried chicken here really is all that!  Never greasy, always a light and fluffy batter, it's as good as it gets. It's a rather famous place; here's a link.

Mr. D. always comes out and sings to his customers. "Grandmama was a cornbread cookin' queen" is his staple offering but he sings various other songs as well.

Back at the hotel after our 180-mile ride concludes, I actually get a small nap before it's time to head out for the crawfish dinner. Rain starts to fall just as we arrive, but we park the bikes and get inside before the real rain starts.  The new venue this year is the Gumbo pot, as the former venue moved and had some menu changes.  Many of us get plates piled high with with four pounds of steaming hot, spicy crawfish, and diligently work our way through them. I've never learned to "Suck dat head" as t-shirts and slogans encourage us to do.  We have crawfish restaurants in Virginia, but there's nothing like the real deal, fresh and perfectly seasoned, here in the Deep South.  I really would ride 1100 miles to eat crawfish.  It's worth it!

Afterwards, the rain has moved out and there's a bonfire in the parking lot (yes, we get the hotel's permission and it's carefully controlled in a metal container) and chat some more.

There's a scheduled group ride at 9:00 AM tomorrow, but that ride will be going north, while we'll be heading south to see our family in Gulfport, MS.  So we won't be joining the ride. It looks like rain overnight and spotty rain all day tomorrow, so we bring in our rain gear to the hotel room, reconnect the trailer to the bike (I'd disconnected it and tethered it to a hotel column), test the electrical connection, and make ready to depart in the expected rain tomorrow morning.

And then the aftermath of eating spicy crawfish: I wear contacts when riding because it's such a nuisance to try to work a pair of glasses underneath the helmet.  That spicy seasoning on the hands - when taking out a contact, it's like lighting a match in your eye for 10 minutes. Then there's the other eye.  But I've found a technique that works fairly well: I wash my hands at least five times and thoroughly dry them.  Then, when I remove the contact lens, I'm careful not to touch the eyeball with my finger or thumb. Still, I know that when I put them back in my eyes tomorrow morning, there will be a bit of pain involved for several minutes from residual capsaicin in the pores of the lens and the wetting solution.


I've attached the GPS track of our 180-mile ride because it has more fidelity than the SpotWalla link, which updates only every 10 minutes.  GPS updates occur several times per second.

This has been a great day of riding and reconnecting with friends and I'm reluctant to see it come to a close, but we're ready for the next chapter.

On the Run

MACH.19 - Saguaro Country, Day 5: On the Interstate

Saguaro Country, Day 5
On the Interstate
Thursday May 2, 2018

Into each trip some Interstate seems to arrive. Today is one of those days. We depart our beautiful hotel at about 8:30 AM, say goodbye to the Rocket City, and point the fairing toward Vicksburg MS.  We avoid Interstates when we can, but trip parameters for this tour will call for some of those on both ends of the trip.

Once out in the city, I notice a pleasant sweet, heavy aroma that I associate with a flowering plant. We've experienced this on other trips this time of year, and soon identify the white shrubby trees lining the Interstate as the source. It's a pleasant and aromatic ride through the otherwise unremarkable Alabama countryside.

The temperature shown by my fairing thermometer hovers at a pleasant 84 degrees, like it's gotten stuck there.

I check the weather radar on the GPS screen and there's a strong front about 100 miles west of our destination and moving eastward.  "Looks like we'll hit some rain this afternoon," I say into the headset.

Nevertheless we roll south and west, and by afternoon the front has disintegrated and we arrive in Vicksburg around 3:30 PM.

Some of our friends are already there, and more friends, new and old, roll in as the evening wears on.  Good friendships and shared rides all over the US over a period of many years.  We share remembered stories of how I became known as Diesel Boi on an ill-fated ride in the Texas Hill Country, stories of rides across the country for the most improbable pretexts, and gatherings in Texas or Louisiana or New England.  Our shared experiences make for a close-knit feeling even though most of us don't see each other but once a year.

There's a group of four, riding in from Texas,  who post they have a bike with a battery casualty and some residual problems, stranded about a hundred miles west of Vicksburg.  It's a bit of a damper for our circle of picnic chairs in the parking lot.

We missed this gathering last year, and we are poignantly reminded of those of our group who have passed on. Roger and Gibby in particular are large in their absence, both taken in their prime by lung cancer.

Tonight, our small group of about 20 friends remember.

We've traveled just under 400 miles for the day, and a little over 1,100 miles for the trip.

Friends swapping stories at MACH.19, Vicksburg MS

SpotWalla trip breadcrumbs, Days 1-5

MACH.19 - Saguaro Country, Day 4: Rocket Man

Saguaro Country, Day 3
Rocket Man

Wednesday May 1, 2018

From my early years, I have been a space geek. In grade school and high school, I'd spend hours on clear, subzero winter nights with friends focusing a telescope into the starlit Pennsylvania skies. In eighth grade I wrote an award-winning space travel fiction short story. It didn't end well: There was a problem with the yaw attitude adjusters and the spacecraft tumbled into an irrecoverable decreasing-radius orbit around the sun. I have been fascinated with the possibilities of space travel and space technology all my life.

One of my life's dreams was to watch a space shuttle liftoff from Cape Kennedy.  I missed my window and it's one of the things I regret.  That, of course, and seeing the Earth Dog Cafe in Berkeley Springs, WV close its doors before we ever made our first stop there.

For years I've wanted to stop at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville AL, but our trip parameters didn't seem to align. But today that goal will be realized.  We've set aside the entire day as a no-travel day. Today I'm a Basic American Tourist; the bike and trailer will stay covered and parked at the hotel. Today, a cab ride will transport us to and from the venue.

We spend the first part of the day wandering around the museum, which is filled with all kinds of artifacts and facts.  I'm amazed that this technology of rockets and what became space flight and moon landings was computed with slide rules and computers whose computing power pales in comparison to today's most minimal smartphone.  There's a fascinating exhibit that shows the development of the space race between the USSR and the USA, along with the social climate of the times.

It wasn't long after the Soviet Union launched the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into space, that John F. Kennedy outlined his impassioned goal to put a man on the moon in 9 years.  When we visited the Davidson Center, which contains an actual Saturn IV rocket lying horizontally, 11 stories tall if it were vertical, we learn that when Kennedy made his speech, the largest and strongest rocket engine in the US inventory was able to produce about 188,000 pounds of thrust. The engines needed for a moon shot needed to produce a staggering 1,500,000 pounds of thrust - about 8 times what anyone had envisioned to that point.

Over the next decade, that engine, the F1, used in the Saturn series of rockets, was developed. There were a myriad of extremely serious and potentially show-stopping engineering obstacles, perhaps chief among which was that the engine would explode because of violent vibrations and nobody could figure out why.  Engineers eventually introduced some baffles into the fuel delivery system, which for unknown reasons seemed to solve the problem. To this day nobody knows what caused the problem or why the baffles solved it.

This engine is the largest rocket ever built.  The Saturn V rocket, containing five of these monsters, had 7 million moving parts, and those engines together produced 7.5 million pounds of thrust.  Nothing before or since has equaled that output.

"Can you imagine how the engineers felt the first time they saw their rocket engines launch such a monster into the sky!?" I ask Kitty. For some reason, we both have tears in our eyes.

We'd signed up for the bus tour to RedStone Arsenal, where we visited the old test pads and saw the new test pad for the new Space Launch System (SLC), which includes the Space-X launchers.

We saw the actual test pad where the first simultaneous test firing of five F1 Saturn engines was conducted. This 6.5-second test created a 3.5-magnitude earthquake 350 miles away and damaged $3 million worth of windows in Huntsville!

It's amazing to me that the last Saturn V rocket was launched in 1973 for the Skylab program, more than 45 years distant.  When I think of today's technology and compare it to the technology available then, I marvel at the ingenuity of the engineers and scientists of the day! Nothing came close to stressing society's every level of engineering, metallurgy, chemistry, and aerodynamics like this rocket. This was indeed an apex predator! It's very humbling to stand, literally, among these giants.

When we get back to the hotel, there's a car show going on in the quadrangle across the street, with maybe 200 cars and jeeps on display. Did I mention that I'm also a gearhead and mechanical geek? So after an early dinner at Taco Mama's next door, we wander through the display, which features a whole row of supercharged Corvettes, some with racing slicks and nitrous oxide tank holders in view, and another row of  Ferraris of similar ilk.  Beautiful, beautiful vehicles! A gearhead's bonanza!

Tomorrow it's back on the road again for a moderate 380-mile ride to Vicksburg, MS. We're looking forward to seeing our crawfish-eating friends for the next couple days.

Basic American Tourist

Main entrance to US Space and Rocket Center

Only stacked assembly of Space Shuttle in the world

Space shuttle engine

Kitty Beachy looking small under the space shuttle

Exhaust cone of Saturn V F1 engine

The mighty F1, largest rocket engine ever built

11-story Saturn V rocket lying horizontally

Tricked-out F150 Ford at car show

Supercharged, nitrous oxide-enhanced 'Vette

My personal favorite in the show - look at that color!

'Nuff said

MACH.19 - Saguaro Country, Day 3: Easy Too

Saguaro Country: Day 3
Easy Too
Tuesday April 30, 2018

As predicted, the tent flap stays closed until relatively late, which in this case means after 8:00 AM.  A look outside reveals brilliant blue skies, and stumbling outside to check on the bike reveals cool but delicious temperatures.

Knoxville and Chattanooga lie in our path today. Kitty generally has three rules for all of our trips. I call them Kitty's Kardinal Rules. In order: 1) No Snakes; 2) No Cities; 3) No Traffic.  I know that today I will violate at least two of the three.  So I spend the morning discovering the various layers of Awesomeness that are her attributes, in hopes that the rules might be suspended today.

All through Tennessee today, we see numerous road signs that announce "Air Quality Awareness Week. Please limit trips."  I did my part: I combined all my trips into one.  Mission accomplished.

We navigate without incident through Knoxville, and with Chattanooga looming on the GPSP screen, with traffic alerts every several minutes (Kitty hears the same GPS instructions I do, so there's no escape!), we discuss that both cities share the characteristics of multiple Interstate routes converging.  Great for business.  For travelers, not  so much.

Knoxville is a breeze at noon; and while Chattanooga presents some heavy traffic challenges, it's nothing too dramatic.  Even so, I know I've violated two of three Kardinal Rules. We talk about this but I don't sense any hostility.  Not that there would ever be hostility from Kitty (those of you who know her can bear witness), but the subtleties are there for the careful observer!  At one point I run over an unanticipated bump in the road, which causes her to announce, "You are allowed zero to one of those per day."  I think it distracts her from the Kardinal Rules so I focus on my earnest efforts to avoid replicating that bump on future days.

For those not aware of how this motorcycle communicates with its passengers and lets its passengers communicate with each other, allow me to take a brief side trip.  This Gold Wing is equipped with a built-in GPS system that enunciates in both riders' intercoms.  I've used GPS technology since 1999, and wouldn't want to do a major trip without it. Even free range bikers want to know how far to the next gas station, or how far to the destination, and instructions on how to get there.  This Gold Wing also has Sirius XM Music, Weather, and Traffic. One of its capabilities, ]absolutely my all-time favorite, is its ability to overlay real-time weather radar right on top of the GPS route. This has guided us in countless situations as to what to expect, whether we'll need rain gear, or perhaps need to sit out a big red splotch.  Today, there's nothing but clear skies on the radar for the duration of our trip.

We have Shoei RF1200 helmets with Pinlock shields, which as we learned in yesterday morning's 37-degree temps, absolutely prevent the shields from fogging, even while talking.  We have J&M's highest quality headsets, the Elite 801 series.  This is our second trip with these helmets and headsets, and we've both observed how light and well balanced the helmets are, how good the music sounds, and how easy it is to talk to each other.  We keep the intercom always live, so communication is as easy as when sitting in our living room.  Being able to communicate without yelling, without hand signals and gestures, is one of the most rewarding aspects of our rides together since 1997 when we got our first headsets. We missed out a lot on the years prior to that.

After winding through Chattanooga's traffic, we dip into Georgia on the Interstate, back into Tennessee, and then catch Rt 72 into Alabama and on to Huntsville. The clock on the bike is sync'd to the GPS, so it knows about time zone changes; I've been watching the clock on the GPS but miss the time zone change as we gain our extra hour rolling into Central Time Zone.

About 20 miles from Huntsville, AL, we see a white van with a driver frantically trying to rescue an escaped ladder from the four-lane highway.  Oooofffff. Wow, if a motorcycle were to hit that thing at speed, I don't see any way it wouldn't go down. "Unless you're super-skilled at avoidance techniques," says Kitty in the headset.  No, I don't think even super skills would prevent a get-off hitting a ladder at an angle.  Just be careful out there!

We arrive at our hotel in Huntsville, about 6 miles out of the city center.  Over a week ago, I planned to blithely roll into town and find a place.  For those who are paying attention, this would be a Really Bad Move!  I checked 23 properties, had a hotel search firm conduct a search, and couldn't find anything within 7 miles for under $300 a night.  I was finally able to book an upscale Hampton Inn Hotel in Providence Village north of the city.  This turns out to be a very upscale area with prices to match, but a beautiful venue with lots of shops and restaurants all within walking distance.  We've traveled 713 miles so far.

So tonight we'll play walkabout tourist in this "village", and tomorrow we plan to spend the day at the US Rocket and Space Center, basically a no-travel day.  I've even booked a cab for 8:30 AM so we can keep the bike parked where it is, right in front of the hotel, and dress in normal tourist clothes for tomorrow's activities.  Don't judge me.

MACH.19 - Saguaro Country Day 2: Escapade

Saguaro Country

Day 2: Escapade
Monday April 29, 2019

One day long ago at an undisclosed location, the first biker to set up an overnight tent awoke and, I'm sure, threw back the tent flap for his first act of the day, and observed the weather. For many, the tent flap has been replaced by cell phones and The Weather Channel,  but the primeval urge to see what's in store for the day makes us all still do the same thing.

I throw back the tent flap... er, check WeatherBug on my phone... a little after 7am.  37F. THIRTY SEVEN DEGREES FARENHEIT!!  I've been scoping out temeratures in faraway places in the deserts and Arizona high country, but didn't anticipate these temperatures less than 200 miles from home! My casual decision not to include our leather cold-weather riding gear doesn't seem quite so casual this morning.

But we gear up in layers with the jacket liners and mesh jackets and decide to have a quick bite at McDonald's a mile up the road.  There we are rewarded with a friendly credit card chip scanner that provides a pleasant chime when it's time to remove the card. Most of these scanners issue a guttural "MEEP-MEEP" as an incentive to remove the card when finished processing.  I love this scanner.

Thus off to the California Sidecar factory five miles south, where my Escapade Excel wheel bearing were repacked by Ada, one of the two trailer assemblers. Trailer bearings on these small wheels should be repacked annually; those 12" wheels have a high rotation at 70 mph.  I usually do this job myself but with the trips to work on Dad's estate and an otherwise busy schedule, I just haven't had the time. While waiting, I chat with Dwight, the sales guy who's been there at least since 1997 when I got my first Escapade trailer, and Scott, the service guy who's been there just as long.  This is a first-rate company staffed by first-rate, caring folks.  This is my third Escapade trailer (the first was demolished in a rear-end collision down on the Sabine River on the Texas-Louisana border, but that's another story).

"I slept for only an hour last night," Kitty announces.  "No more strong black coffee for me after dinner!" We strike out in late morning for the general direction of Huntsville AL, 560 easy miles with two easy days to ride them.  By this time it's 47 degrees with heavy overcast; we're both using the heated seat feature, and in addition I've turned on the heated grips and opened the heater vents in the lower fairing.  I'm warm enough, but Kitty, in back where the still-air envelope collapses around her shoulders, is always more chilly than the rider.

After several hours of riding we eventually stop in Christiansburg VA for an early fuel stop and to warm up.  We have a bite of lunch at the Subway associated with the gas station.  After ew order and I insert the credit card into the chip reader.  When it is done, it says MEEP-MEEP. After hanging out for an hour and a half, we are both warmed up and the skies are crystal blue. With the clouds gone it's about 10F warmer than when we arrived.

Kitty puts on a balaclava in addition to what she's already wearing; we gear up and saddle up. "I'm too warm!" Kitty announces in the headset as roll out.

Fifty or so miles later we've run out of the Appalachian mountains into the flatlands of eastern Tennessee, where the temperature is a pleasant 82F.  Except we're still dresssed for 50-degree temperatures, and now we really are hot even with all the heated stuff turned off.  After a fuel stop and a modified undressing ceremony for both of us, we decide to ride out the last 80 miles or so of our 325-ish mile day to Morristown TN, where we've staged for quite a few overnight stops.

We finish the ride under sunny skies and a pleasant 82F to arrive at out stop.  When traveling in an ad hoc fashion without a known destination, I often call ahead in the afternoon to make a hotel reservation, but on this day we take our chances and have no problem finding a room.

We've seen a 47-degree swing in temperatures today, one of the highest single-day variations of our trips together. Tonight I hope Kitty can make up for the last night's sleeplessness; we have an easy ride of less than 300 miles tomorrow, about half of which is likely to be Interstate.  Tomorrow we sleep in. The tent flap can stay closed for as long as it wants.

MACH.19 - Saguaro Country Day 1: Easy Rider

Saguaro Country

Day 1: Easy Rider

April 28, 2019

It’s been a crazy 18 months.  Last year seems like a lost year because of family responsibilities while Dad was in hospice for 280 days due to an intractable hip infection.  Much of last year we lived away from home.  Dad passed away in late October 2018, and the family has slowly been trying to understand and live the new normal.  I’m a co-executor of the estate, so that has taken more hours than I would have guessed, and we’ve spent numerous weekends going through the contents house.

In 2018, Kitty and I managed only one overnight ride, to Knoxville TN to have Lewis Preston of Electrical Connection install LED headlights to our bike, named Crusader. Otherwise just a few day rides here and there.  So far this year, one ride to the Honda shop and home is literally all I’ve managed.

By God’s grace and the family’s blessing, somehow we’ve carved out a three week respite wherein tomorrow, we plan to strike out on a 6,000+ mile two-up ride. Kitty has been everywhere on the North American continent, USA and Canada, except for the Saguaro cactus deserts, so that’s our primary target. We've planned stops in Vicksburg, MS to eat crawfish (Mississippi Area Crawfish Hunt, or MACH.19), a little time with family in Gulfport, MS, wandering around in the deserts of Arizona and Utah, our third visit to the Grand Canyon, a bit of circuitous wandering through New Mexico in the general direction of home, and then a super-slab ride home.

Kitty and I have experimented for the past couple months with SpotWalla, an Internet cell phone technology that uses GPS signals from compatible devices, broadcast over the Internet to a web site that in turn drops breadcrumbs onto a map.  I use the Bubbler GPS app on my Android phone, having set it to update every 10 minutes.  Thus anyone with the link can see real-time updates (with a 10-minute delay) as to the route, speed, location, and other parameters.  I plan to use that on this trip; I have an on-board GPS unit on my Gold Wing, and I’ll still download GPS tracks as usual, but will load them into the computer and the mapping software after the fact.  SpotWalla seems to do a good job, with the added advantage that the maps can be zoomed on a PC and pinch-zoomed on a phone.  The current link for this trip (cannot guarantee that it won’t become a dead link in the future) is this SpotWalla link.  I have the link configured to protect some secure zones where data won’t be shown, and otherwise the link is configured to show the entire trip.

During this trip, I might blog. I might provide a SpotWalla link. I might post Facebook updates. Time will tell. I'm a free range biker, traveling with my favorite free range biker chick.

After significant planning, shuffling of schedules, and revamping of our packing lists, I think we're ready.

So now, after streaming one of our church services this morning, we lazily finish packing up our luggage and loading the trailer.  All this luggage begs the question about what happened to the couple who would strike out for the weekend with an extra pair of underwear, a T-shirt and jeans, and be perfectly content.  After performing the Dance of the Repositioning Vehicles in a Single-Car Garage, I back the bike and trailer out of the driveway, almost surprised I still remember how to back a trailer; we connect our helmet intercom, and we’re on the road at 1:40 PM for our lazy afternoon ride.

The morning rain has moved out, leaving in its wake a beautiful mid-70's kind of day. In an easy-rider break-in ride, we have a lovely short 120+ mile day to Lovingston, VA, near the location of the California Sidecar factory, where tomorrow morning I've made an appointment for some minor service to the trailer.  Lovingston is a tiny village, and we stay in what I believe is the only motel.  We intend to walk about a mile into town to a café for dinner, but the four-lane highway really doesn’t work for that.  So we cross the highway and wander into a wonderfully surprising little Italian restaurant called Vito’s.  We’ve been there once before but I’ve forgotten what a little gem it is, an unassuming tiny place by the wayside along a country four-lane road.

Tomorrow we plan to be at the California Sidecar factory early, and then start heading toward Huntsville AL where we hope to spend a day at the US Space and Rocket Center.