Tire Changing Day

We are getting ready for our trip to TN, GA and NC so we thought that we should put some fresh rubber on the bikes. Jackie, Rob and I all put new tires on the bikes. Herman came over to lend a hand as did my brother Vern. We got them done pretty quick. We then made burgers and ate some of Alta's world famous cake! It was a fantastic day. We also tried out the new Nomar spoons and wheel balancer. What a difference nice tools make when completing a task.

New layout - Thoughts anyone??

I have been trying to figure out a new look for the website. I was surfing around the web and decided to go and check on my web friend at Excessivelocity I have always enjoyed her blog and I like the fact that she can post larger pictures. So I decided to do something like her site. I wish I could do my banner something like hers, but I will work on it. I will be doing some small changes for the next couple of days so stay tuned.

So tell me what are your thoughts? How does it look on your monitor? let me know if I need to change something.

3 Days and counting!

We are ready to hit the road. i am going to change the oil in the bike this evening. We are hitting the road around 7AM on Saturday. It looks like we might have to dodge some afternoon showers. We are excited. the tire changing day went great this past Saturday. We changed and balanced 4 tires in a couple of hours. It sure is nice having our own machine.

Please check out the previous post as it has all of our trip laid out. I will add the gps maps soon. We can't wait! lets hit the road!

Change of Plans - Deals Gap here we come!

Well we were scheduled to head out for Colorado on May 24th. However after making some calls to the Colorado tourism people, and checking the weather. It seems that Colorado has stayed cold so far this season. Since we are camping we decided that we might want to change our plans. The weather forecast for the next 10 days has the evening lows in the low 30's. That is just to damn cold to camp.

So today we decided to change our plans and head east. We will be heading to Deals Gap, the Barber motorsports museum, 29 Dreams and the TWO camp grounds. We will then come back thru Arkansas and Push Mountain then thru Eureka Springs. Should put on a good 2500 miles or so.

Here are the tentative plans for the trip.

May 24 – May 31: Deals Gap – Barbers Motorsports – Arkansas

Saturday May 24: Plano to Greenville, MS (416M) – See Map
This day would take us over to Minneola for breakfast and then up thru East Texas on the route that we took after the Marshall Pie run. Then jump up and head over to the Mississippi Delta town of Greenville, MS

Sunday May 25: Greenville to 29 Dreams Campground (317M) – See Map
This would be a pretty easy day as we make our way to the motorcycle camp ground of 29 dreams. There is food and music. This place looks pretty cool.

http://www.29dreams.com

Monday May 26: 29 Dreams to Barber to Suches, GA (TWO camp grounds) (248M) – See Map
We will visit the museum in the morning then we ride up thru beautiful North Georgia to the TWO camp ground. This is where we stayed a few years ago on our trip to the gap. Very nice camp ground with food. We should be able to stop at the Amicalola Falls State Park

http://www.twowheelsonly.com
http://www.barbermuseum.org

Tuesday May 27: Suches, GA to Deals Gap - Smokey Mountain Loop – (299M)
This is a loop of the Great Smokey Mountain State Park. This will be new to us. This could be the prettiest day of all. Great picture taking ride.

Wednesday May 28: Suches, GA – Blue Ridge Parkway – Deals Gap Camping – (244M)
This route will take us over to the Blue Ridge Parkway and around Piscah national Forest. We will camp at the Deals Gap Camp ground.

http://www.dealsgap.com/motel.htm

Thursday May 29: Deals Gap Camping – Cherohala Skyway – Slab to Memphis. (493M)
This day will start off on the http://www.cherohala.org/ skyway. This will be a great way to start the day. The rest of the day will be spent making some miles and ending up in Marion Arkansas at the KOA.

Friday May 30: Marion, AR to Push Mountain – Eureka Springs. (301M)
We will get up and head to the beautiful roads in Arkansas. We will be doing Push Mountain before arriving at the Eureka Springs KOA.

Saturday May 31: Eureka Springs to the house. (412M)
We have done this route a number of times. This is a great way to end the trip and will give us the chance to hang out and relax on Sunday June 1

The routes above come in at 2730 Miles for the trip. We would hit a number of states and ride on some of the most famous roads in America. The other plus is the weather should be comfortable for camping.

Colorado Trip: May 24 - June 1, 2008

We have started to prepare for this years big motorcycle journey. We thought we would do this over Memorial Day weekend so that we could actually have 9 days available and only costing those of us who work, 4 days vacation. We have not been back on the bike since 2005 so we are really looking forward to the trip. Nothing has been set in stone and we are in the process of getting places to stay and that sort of thing. Here is the plan. (I want to make sure that this time we take our time, enjoy the scenery and take plenty of pictures.)

Looks like the group will be Jamie & I (Triumph Trophy 900), Rob (BMW 1200GT) and Jackie (BMW 1200RT)

Click on maps to see full size version.

Saturday May 24: Depart N Texas and stay the evening in Dalhart, Texas - 442 Miles

Sunday May 25: Dalhart, Texas to Gunnison, CO - 384 Miles

Monday May 26: Gunnison loop thru Independence Pass and Aspen - 343 Miles

Tuesday May 27:Gunnison loop with Leadville, Breckenridge loop - 298 Miles

Wednesday May 28: Gunnison Loop - short day via CO 92 - 240 Miles

Thursday May 29: Gunnison, Co to Ourey Co via CO 141 & 145 - 276 Miles

Friday May 30: Ourey CO to Red River NM - 293 Miles

Saturday May 31: Red River NM to Wichita Falls Texas - 504 Miles

June 1: Return to N Texas - 145 Miles

We will be camping at the KOA in Gunnison Colorado and the KOA in Ouray CO. We will stay in a hotel in Dalhart, Texas, Wichita Falls Texas & Red River NM. More information to follow.

I will post the routes later this evening. The average temps are posted below for the last week in May.