Day 15 - Forrest City, AR to Cleveland, TN 

404 Miles

Today was an odd day.  First of all, if you've been following the blog you'll notice I didn't say "to Cherokee, NC".  When I finally got around to making a reservation last night the hotel I was aiming for was full.  Not wanting to stay at a casino (and thereby tempting Denise at the tables), I opted for us to overnight in Cleveland, TN.  To be honest, it's good it worked out this way.

First, I overslept an hour.  That's not bad except when the sun is already starting to set a bit earlier and there was rain forecast into Forrest City by mid-morning.  "No problem, we'll be long gone by the time rain gets here."  Talk about close.  We probably only beat the rain by about half an hour.  We didn't leave Forrest City until almost 9:30.  That extra hour would have also had us arriving into Cherokee a full hour after dark; whereas we arrived in Cleveland an hour before dark.

Then, we got lost in downtown Memphis. I had it in my head that we were supposed to be following US64 across from Memphis.  When Gertrude tried sending me towards US72, by way of an interstate bypass, I instead chose to ignore her and follow 64 through Memphis.  We've been on rough streets and roads before, but none as consistently bad for so long as into and crossing through Memphis.  (I was going to add a comment about the need for so many Memphis urologists because the residents had to be routinely tinkling blood, but Denise said I shouldn't.  So I won't.  Heh.)  It was fun seeing Beale Street and some of the architecture in Memphis.  Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis Official Video

Finally, I gave up on finding my way through, turned the route back on and Gertrude had us on our way in short order.

Very much worth mentioning, by accidentally shifting our time, quite by chance we had an opportunity to see the riders from the annual Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride; a line of bikes at least five (5) miles long!  We were trying to get through Florence, AL when all of a sudden half the streets were blocked off.  We ended up having to slide through a large parking lot to get past the ~100 yards or so of US 72 that was blocked off.  We saw all kinds of folks lined up for miles like they were waiting for a parade, and then we saw the bikes.  And saw the bikes.  And saw the bikes!  The last time I saw so many bikes was during last years American Legion Legacy Ride and to be honest, I don't think we had as many bikes as they had today.  Here's the link to the official site if you're interested in getting more information on this.
Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride®

This was the front of the pack:

The other noteworthy item was when we were going through Huntsville we saw "Pathfinder", a Shuttle mock-up permanently on display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.  Unfortunately we were rolling too fast for Denise to snap a shot, but I've got a good friend in Huntsville I might ask to get us a shot from the interstate.  (Jim?)

I'll close out with some random photos from along the way.  Like I said it was an odd day, but we were upright, breathing, together and riding.  What else could someone ask for?!

Oh, and the reservation is made.  Tomorrow we'll bed down in Lake Lure after some scenic riding through the Smokey Mountains.  Take care.

Day 14 - Elk City, OK to Forrest City, AR via the Oklahoma City Memorial 

534 Miles

Today we rode from Elk City, OK to Forrest City, AR.  The highlight of the day was our stop at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.

Very briefly about the ride, it was fairly hot (started in the mid-70's, shot up quickly into the 80's and all after noon was in the low to mid 90's.  As you can see it was all interstate.  That's fine.  Starting tomorrow we're almost done with the big I's.

Arkansas was a classic example of what today's youth have lost and won't even know it.  We used to ride along and see the rivers, lakes, farmland, etc. Now, once out of the plains, in so much of America they've let trees grow together along the interstates.  Where you once saw wide open countryside, now you only see walls of trees with short wisps of scenery.  Sorry - I've been noticing this getting worse for several years and saw quite a bit on this trip as well.  Arkansas interstate seems to be be where it was most noticeable.

However, we want to focus the bulk of today's photos on the Oklahoma City Memorial.  The architects did an excellent job focusing on the moment of the attack by having one entrance symbolize the minute before the attack and a facing entrance at the other end of the reflection pool symbolizing the minute after (9:01 & 9:03).

 This was a panoramic view.  Expand it to get the full effect.

Next to the memorial pool are the chairs they've lined up to symbolize the folks who were killed and where they were located when it happened.

The following was written over the museum:

These tiles were along the wall leading to the museum entrance:

Finally around the memorial, which is actually built in the spot where the Federal Building used to sit, are signs of the damage; small remnants of the remains of the original building.

When you get a chance, swing by Oklahoma City and check out the memorial and museum.  It's important to remember.

Tomorrow we ride across southern Tennessee, down to Huntsville and make our stop in Cherokee, NC Cleveland, TN.

Day 13 - Gallup, NM to Elk City, OK 

575 Miles

Yesterday's ride was a very long "short" day.  Today's ride, on the other hand, was a very long "long" day.  575 miles and the absolute best thing I can say is that it's over.  Now mind you I am not complaining.  Today and tomorrow's rides are simply meant to make tracks and not see anything in particular.  And I think we accomplished that.

We left Gallup with temps at or near 52 degrees.  About the time we reached Tecumcari it was in the mid 80's and not long after we sat the rest of the day in the mid 90's.  The nice thing for most of the day was that the wind was pushing us along which gave us great gas mileage.  However, about the time I got the last fill-up in Vega, TX the wind shifted, hitting us more directly in the side and reducing our gas mileage substantially.  We dropped ~40 miles off the tank's range and luckily only had in the upper 170 mile range to the hotel.

Oh, one highlight.  We were filling up and Denise mentioned a nearby truck with Zombie Response Team markings.  I asked to take a picture and come to find out it was a young active duty Marine who had just returned from a tour on Okinawa and was headed for duty at the Marine Corps base at Twenty Nine Palms, CA.  We were stationed there from 89-92 and I gave him some info on the area.  This was one of his stickers:

Well, we're going to have a libation, take our showers and get rested for tomorrow.  We're pretty wore out tonight and there's not much more to talk about.  Maybe there will be more to talk about tomorrow night.  We'll be riding over to Forrest City, AR.  Again, wish us luck!

Sorry - I must have shifted the bike on her.

We've been following along the old Route 66 and Elk City even has a Rt 66 Museum.

Volcanic rock

Cool markings on the new Mexico underpasses.

It was cool seeing over fifty miles of windmills once we got into Texas, as well as seeing the water tower that appeared to be hanging on by a thread.