The Long Ride

Fall 2014 (part 1)

So we are 2 weeks back and I'm finally done with the videos

Heres the break down

8 days

2259 miles

100+ miles in the rain

3 days in South Padre Island Texas

3 days in New Orleans

great food and good times

We left out of OKC on Friday afternoon Oct 3. trying to get a jump on the weekend traffic.

We headed west to Hwy 81 heading south out of El Reno Ok. We know south I-35 on a Fridays 

is rough and extremely busy, so taking the back road would be safer but slower. We would hook up

with I-35 down in Texas around Ft. Worth. and go from there.

This trip was going to be a bit different than years past. Yes we would be on 2 wheels ( is there another way to take a trip?) but we would be taking Voyager. She is Voyager 2 but in all aspects a

clone of our first Voyager. This will also be the longest ride we have taken on this bike.

We stopped for supper in Bowie Texas at a Italian restaurant. Great food!

We gassed up and headed out again.

Now the ride so far was great with zero headaches, but we had not made it to Ft. Worth yet.

Now ridding in big cities doesn't bother us. We have rode in big cities all over the country.

But the thing about Dallas and Ft. Worth is the Hwys, they are always tore up and the traffic is 

so bad. Well it was really bad this night, seems there was a wreck and we got stuck in stop and go traffic. Now we can deal with that BUT Voyagers are known for not liking sitting still and running .

They run hot and after being on the road for almost an hour well shes already hot and getting hotter.

With the temp gauge showing almost to the top end of hot we had to get off and find a way around this cluster fuck.Off ramp close and we are off and moving again. We work our way around and back on the hwy and we are headed out of Ft. Worth. Good bye! We find a place to bed down for the night and get ready for the next day.We wake Saturday morn ready to make our way to SPI, now if you have read this blog you know the story behind SPI for Lynn and myself. We have been going to SPI since 1979. We have seen it grow up and become what it is today, at one time we even thought about moving there (but thats another story). We made it with no problems and no more traffic jams.

We seen some old friends and visited some familiar places and even did a few new things.

So the Theme of this trip was set by a flag that I had bought for the ride. It is a pirate flag that says                     "the beating will continue till morale improves"

                    And we can't have a ride to the ocean with out the ocean and bike pic

 Our time here had come to the end and it was time for the ride along the gulf coast. Now we were headed to Galveston Island and to ride the ferry across to Port Bolivar and Hwy 87.But first we have to make past these guys.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm must be a rough job, what with checking our text on our phones while drug dealers and illegals sneak past. Well we made made it past now on to our next adventure.

WOW we have never rode or drove the gulf coast of Texas, I can tell you besides all the hwy work it was great. The weather was perfect and the people were nice. We made it to the ferry later than what I wanted but we seen some great sights and had some good food. By the time we got off the ferry the sun had gone down and we were on the search for a place to bed down, so we rode for around 29 miles to find a family owned motel called Gulfway Motel in High Island Texas. I know we missed a lot of sites stumbling around in the dark but thats the way it goes some time.

It would have been nice to stay and maybe play in the pool but day light was here and it was time to roll to our next adventure. From here we were going to ride inland to interstate 10 to Lafayette and then take hwy 90 south and around to New Orleans. We had one stop in mind OakLawn Manor an old plantation where the Drowning Pool was filmed.

From here New Orleans seemed to get further and further away. Every time we would stop for gas I would ask how far is New Orleans and they would always say about 2 hours. Really am I backing up or just going the wrong way?
  Well we make our way from hwy 90 back up to interstate 10 because it had rained and there were motorcycles down all over the hwy (I kid you not) traffic was bad and course it was almost 5 o'clock on a weds so you know we are screwed in a traffic jam. I get off on the one exit I know and then thats when I screwed the pooch. It seems that Katy Perry was in town and the concert was tonight and we are sitting right by the one place I really didn't want to be the Super Dome and the concert was here and now.

Streets closed off plus road work being done had us stuck in down town New Orleans and going in circles. We met up with a guy and ask how to get to where we were going, he said he was headed that way and could take almost all the way. So we said ok he got on his bike and we took off. He stopped at the red light and said 2 blocks up hang a left then it's just up the street.we thanked him, the light turn green and he was gone and we had finally made it to the B&B.

Well we have 2 days and nights to rest and play and we did but we had so much fun that we stayed an extra day and night.

Oh New Orleans until we meet again be safe be free and enjoy life. We met some great people had some great food and had a really great time. We will miss you New Orleans but it's time for us to head home.
   Sat morn Oct 11 and it's time to roll out to home. Today will be another test of machine and man and woman. Voyager has done good on this ride the clutch is slippin but she will get us home. Home thats our goal for today. It's only 718 miles can we make that in 1 day? We know rain is in our future for this day, radar shows showers by Shreveport and back to the west from there. Maybe it will clear off by the time we get there?

Or maybe not LOL.
We woke up in New Orleans Sat morn and went to bed in OKC.
718 miles
13 hours
3 food stops
6 gas stops
over 100 miles in and out of rain, at some points a down pour
We lived thru I-35 all tore to hell in Dallas
plus OU football traffic headed back to Oklahoma
and still made it back in one day
I will let you do the math on our speed.
Anyone Anyone that tells you riding a full dresser is like driving a car is full of it
anyone that tells you, you don't feel the weather or that your out of touch with what a true"biker" is when you ride a couch glide is full of SHIT!!!!

I can tell you ridding a bike that is 917 lbs dry weight then you add me, Lynn and all our stuff (cause we pack heavy on Voyager) is not easy and not out of touch.

So we are getting ready for part 2 of our Fall Long Ride
we leave n Oct 29th late afternoon on Skull and head to Grafton Il.
so look for an update early Nov.
Till then be safe
WhiteWolf

Pre Fall ride 2014

So we are a week out from our fall ride 

2200 miles of fun and sun

riding the gulf coast of Texas and  Louisiana

This year we are taking Voyager

Yes I know what you are thinking

wussies!!

But I disagree

11 years and thousands of miles on Skull through rain, ice, cold and high winds

We have paid our dues and have the pictures and videos to prove it!

So no matter what anyone says we have rode hard and fast

now it's the time to take a slow ride, enjoy a different kind of riding.

and besides Skull has been to SPI and New Orleans

 For the "magazine" guys who try to lead all of down the righteous path on how to be bikers (lol)

how to dress, how to talk, how to walk,what tats to get, what not to ride, what gatherings we should go to etc....

Well YOUR not the boss of me so shut the F*ck up.

Go take your 1 long ride a year then sit in your office and tell the rest of us what we are doing wrong

Have the guy down the street build your bake and ride it around like your a GOD.

I have said it once and will say it again Lynn and I put more miles on Skull just pulling out of the driveway than you do in 2 years.

And if you think we don't then you are invited to ride with on any given day.

It's time to for a different kind of Long Ride.

Lets see where we go and what happens

WhiteWolf

Longton Kansas

One day ride 570 miles

13 hours

4 cemeteries

two food stops

6 gas stops

lots of twisties

and 1 swinging bridge

We made our way out of Oklahoma city Saturday morn, with cloudy skies and a balmy 46 degrees

Our goal was simple ride to Longton Kansas and find my family at the Longton cemetery

we were running late when we left because I had gassed up and packed Skull

When I fired her up she was having a small problem

seems she is fouling the #1 and #2 plugs

She was running just fine 2 weeks ago for the Labor Day weekend ride

Hmmmmmm 

don't know why and didn't have the time to look at her

So I unpacked Skull and pack Voyager

and we were off

We were going to spend the night in Independence Kansas but on the way Lynn said lets see

if we can go and make it home at a good time.

First stop was Pops on Rt66 for breakfast then east to 177 and north to Kansas. 

The Bridge is in Moline Kansas

 Now after the Bridge we got down to business of finding my family in the 4 cemeteries in 

Elk county

Which we did

No I wont bore you with a bunch of cemetery pic's

and besides they will be in a book I will be working on this winter (2014)

After wondering around the country side we worked our way to Howard Kansas and to the last cemetery

But we decided to stop and get a late lunch early supper

Lynn took these pics in a funy little park close to toots on 99

We found an old school house in Elk Falls

Voyager did great I think she will do good on our 2200+ Long Ride in 2 weeks

after a long day it was time to turn south and try to beat the sun set

Well don't look like we made it

Sunset south of Tonkawa runnin I-35

Heres a video

                         

Labor Day Weekend ride 2014

This is the first time Lynn and I have taken off for the 3 days of Labor Day in many years.

We decided to spend the weekend in the Wichita Mountains where we had just spent 2 weekends

looking for cemeteries, but this weekend was going to be just fun no research no taking pictures of headstones. Instead we would be taking pictures of the mountains wildlife and water, lots and lots of water. You see this part of Oklahoma has many lakes and streams just in the wild life areas.

We took over 1400 pictures so trying to put just one video together would be rough. 

So I have done 3. I will also post a few of the pic's at the end of this post.

We left out of OKC Saturday morn around 8am, first stop would be the Meers store and Restaurant in Meers Oklahoma. This place is said to have the best hamburgers in Oklahoma. Well it's time for us to check it out and find out for ourselves.

Now this area might not be that far from our home, but it's worlds away.So many things to see and do. Out of OKC we would take Rt66 to Hwy 81 south to hwy 152 west Then  south on Scenic Highway 115. This road sort of wanders with long winding curves for 52 miles. You will pass thru Mountain View heading out of town hang a right to stay on hwy 115 you will be headed to a small (non town) of Saddle Mountain, a left curve will take you pass whats left of the town. Follow the road and enjoy the view, you will be passing between the Wichita mountains stop and take the time to look around at the view. 13 miles from Saddle Mountain you will be in Meers Oklahoma.

If you have the time stop in at the restaurant and enjoy the atmosphere and food. Just a heads up

the wait is at least 2 hours to get a table, but if you show up around 10am (they open at 10:30) you can get a seat pretty quick. 

So this brings us to the first video

They have their own beer
(this ones is a flower vase on the table)

 Peach cobbler with home made ice cream

Now you might have seen pic's in the video of what appears to be me and 2 other people working on something. Funny story (lol)
We went to Medicine Park early Sunday morn to take pic's in town before the festival started, as we taking pic's a group of riders pulled up and stopped. They were looking for a place to eat breakfast, well we were setting up the camera to take pics of us and one of the guys offered to take the pic for us.

So after the pictures we decided to have them follow us to Ann's down the road.

As you leave our of Medicine park there is a 90 degree turn, as Lynn and I were making the turn the front tire hit something and took us down and bent the forward control on the shifter side.

Lynn was looking around later and found a solid skull head almost 3 inches around.

We told them how to get to Anns and sent them on there way, while I took the forward off and started to see if I could fix it

 

Me in a ditch using the metal covert as a brace to bend the pivot bolt

Lynn: Ah you know your standing in Poison Ivy

Me: No

After about 45 min I could see it was going to take a torch to heat it up and bend it back.

So I put it all back together and we head out to mount Scott to check out the view.

Half way up and Skull is just not having any thing to do with it. While Lynn takes pic's I start thinking about places I have seen in this area. Now it's Sunday morn Labor Day weekend in the country by 15 lakes, No shop is going to be open. But a guy that works on stuff out here might just be home. I think I know where we are taking Skull.

We turn her around and start back down the mountain, head into the Wildlife Refuge and take the Meers turn. I remember seeing a farm on Hwy 115 about a mile from Meers. Thats where we were headed. If we are lucky the guy would be home. We roll up the drive way and are greeted by the new puppy of the place.

Knock on the door and explain what happened and ask if he would be able to help.

 Well he did and didn't even charge us. He also invited us to stop in again next time we were in the area. Just might do that. Lynn got his name and Knows the address so we can send him a thank you card.

Home away from Home
So Lynn found a nice little place to stay for our weekend getaway
Stone Turtle Lodging
It's a nice place away from the crowds but close enough to every thing
Clean and cute just like Lynn likes
check it out

 After getting Skull fixed we headed  back up to Mount Scott, it was time to make it to the top.

I spent my time at the top talking with people about Skull.
Lynn and I are used to this, seems like it happens just about every where we go.
We also see the group we were going to show where Anns was at the top, they seemed a
little surprised we were back up and runnin.

Holy City of the Wichita's
This is the site of the longest Easter show

Well it was a great weekend
I think we will visit again in the fall.