Piglet's Big Adventure

Hello Everyone!! It's me, Piglet, and Rich! It's Monday night, Aug. 7 and we are in Salem, Illinois (about halfway through the southern part of the state). We left Ocean City, Maryland before 8AM Saturday, travelled up the eastern shore, across the Bay Bridge, through Washington, D.C. and up to Cumberland, Maryland for the night. Sunday took us through West Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia (yes, U.S. 50 goes thru those states twice!) then ultimately to Hillsboro, Ohio for Sunday night. Today we went around the south side of Cincinnati and into Indiana. Through Indiana & Illinois the road was Straight, Fast and Hot! But we have travelled about 960 miles in 3 days, so we are on track. Tomorrow we will hit St. Louis in the morning, then will end up in Kansas City on the Kansas side (Lenexa, KS) for the night. Piglet stays wrapped up safely in a Harley-Davidson monogrammed fork bag, then comes out when we arrive at the hotel to cool off in the A/C. Rich & MJ put on their bathing suits and jump into the pool to cool off! We all crash early, then start all over again the next day around 6AM. We are having a great time and all is well!
Thank you so much to all of you who left messages for us, it is Great to hear from you! More later as we travel! We love ya! Piglet, MJ & Rich.

Day 4:
Well, we were going to upload some photos tonight but this computer is VERY old. We'll try again the next time we see a computer. Anyway, today we traversed Missouri (where it was pretty, but very, very quiet) and we are in Lenexa, Kansas, just southwest of Kansas City. Tomorrow...corn and more corn as we start to cross Kansas. Should be in Dodge City tomorrow night with Wyatt Earp.
A couple of notes: Thanks for the comments, we love em so keep 'em comin'. If you do comment anonymously then put something in the text to let us know who you are. Also, in case you didn't know, on the map you can click on the pointers to see mileage and location info.
More to come!

Day 5:
Hi Everyone! Thanks again for all your interest in our travels and for leaving us messages! Tonight we are in Dodge City, Kansas...home of Wyatt Earp and Marshall Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke TV show. Last night on the news, all we heard was how hot it was going to be so we got up real early and were on the road at 7AM. The early light was beautiful and it was very comfortable for most of the day. As it got closer to noon, we could feel the heat at our backs. Kansas is really pretty, although very dry right now, and there are 30 or more miles between tiny towns. We stopped for lunch in Stafford, KS in Ickey's Cafe near farmland. The place was full! Don't know where everyone came from. We had good burgers and home-made cherry pie. Yummy. The last miles were VERY hot, we passed a sign that said 101, but we got to our hotel by 3:30 and hit the pool! We drank tons of water and stopped alot so arrived in good shape. Tomorrow night we'll be in Colorado Springs! Yippee! We'll take a break and stay 2 nights and will resume our travels on Saturday morning. Til then, adios amigos!

This was taken at Ocean City, MD on Day 1 (8/5/06) at about 7:30AM. I was so excited to be starting the Big Adventure!


This sign is on the bridge leaving Ocean City on Route 50. There is supposed to be a sign in Sacramento showing the mileage to Ocean City! You'll see that later.

Gateway to the West! Yes, St. Louis! We've been through several states before getting here.

Kinsley, Kansas, midway USA! This is about 40 miles from Dodge City where we spent the night. We were nearly melting here, but we were happy!

Day 6:

What a spectacular morning! We left before 7 while the moon was still over the southwest sky and the light was coming up for the day. It was a beautiful, cool ride for the next few hours over Kansas high plains on our way to Colorado. We stopped along the highway to take some photos and a Kansas State Trooper stopped to be sure we were O.K., and to make what he termed a "social call". He was sincerely interested in our trip, having rode himself in the great wide state of Kansas, and we had a nice visit! He sent us on our way with a handshake and a good wish, and off we went into Colorado where we could see the landscape begin to change. Beautiful blue sky, greener pastures, and after awhile we could see the hazy outline of distant mountains. We arrived in Pueblo, Colorado for a quick lunch, then headed north to Colorado Springs for a planned rest. We'll get the bike serviced tomorrow (the Fat Boy has been a trooper, not one complaint and just buzzing along all this way in all the heat and high wind) and we'll see Rich's cousin for dinner. It is beautiful here with the mountains surrounding the city. We are in a nice hotel with a nice outdoor pool and we are resting our tired bodies. We'll be here til Saturday when we head across the mountains over the rest of Colorado! Happy Trails! We will see if "the bear" can take some photos of us and will add them when we get to a computer that has later than dial-up and Windows 98. Love you all!

Day 7:

Got the oil changed in the bike at Pikes Peak HD, they were slammed with all the travelers going to and coming from Sturgis but they worked us in anyway. Gave us a ride back to our hotel while they were working on it and then picked us up when it was done...Now that's service! While the bike was getting its oil changed we hit the laundry-mat and refreshed our clothes, mmmm clean clothes! We met my cousin half way between here and Denver for dinner (Spur of the Moment in Larkspur, CO), wouldn't you know it poured about 3 miles from there and we got soaked!!! Still had a great time! Helmet cam should be back in action today thanks to my cousin for letting me have the replacement part shipped to her house.

Day 8:

Speaking of the helmet camera! We spent nearly 2 hours this morning trying to find an adaptor because it came with a plug that didn't fit the recorder. Grrrrrrrr. Finally worked that out but didn't leave Colorado Springs until 10:30. No big deal, it's Saturday and we didn't have terribly far to go. Or so we thought. We saw ugly rain clouds after about 100 miles so we stopped by a lovely ranch and put on our rain gear. We got rained on through what was so far the prettiest drive on U.S. 50, but we could still see it through the rain. Had a rear brake issue to fix in Montrose, CO (at a Yamaha shop! you should have seen them look for American wrenches!) but took care of it and made it to Delta, CO. Can't put up any pictures tonight for the same reason we couldn't last night. Hang in there with us, we will as soon as we can. We are fine and can't believe we are this far! The scenery is spectacular and we are loving it. See you tomorrow!

Days 9,10 & 11!

We didn't have internet access the last 2 nights due to the remoteness of our locations! Check the pointers on the map to see where we were. Day 9 was Sunday when we left Delta, CO. We were in Utah in about 30 minutes. Sunday worship services were provided by the State of Utah...we said "Oh, My God" about 50 times that day! The scenery was spectacular through the entire state. Rocky canyons, red mountains, huge rock formations...awesome. We could see a dark cloud in the distance, and sure enough we were headed right for it. We soon realized we needed to stop and put our rain gear on, and we found a place to do so none too soon. As soon as we got back on the highway it began to rain. Hard. Harder...and it became hail! Pea-sized hail so fast and hard we had to stop alongside the road. A big tractor trailer pulled up behind us and the driver waved us in out of the storm. Our angel was Steve from Omaha! His parents ride Harleys so he took care of us for a few minutes. That was neat (I've never been in one of those cabs!). It cleared up quickly and we could move on. We arrived in Delta, Utah safely and slept very soundly. Delta, Utah is not much larger than 3 or 4 blocks but we found a great local place to eat and learn some history of the area. Day 10 we travelled into Nevada, gained an hour as it changed to Pacific time at the state line. We arrived early in Austin, NV right smack in the middle of the state and a very interesting western town. Stayed at the Pony Canyon Motel, room #7 of 10. Met other very interesting travellers and saw a fabulous night sky...we could see the Milky Way there, which is hard to see unless you are out away from lights. Beautiful. Today, Day 11, we made it to California! It was a slow day, we hit alot of construction in the desert of Nevada and around Lake Tahoe (which was gorgeous). As we headed south around the lake we crossed the state line into California and were so happy to have made it this far! We are now in Rancho Cordova, just east of Sacramento where U.S. 50 ends. We'll see that end tomorrow morning, then head to San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge, south on the Pacific Coast Highway to Marina, California just north of Monterey. All is well with us, we are having a wonderful time and are enjoying this beautiful country and all the interesting folks we meet!

Day 12 & 13:

This is the second stop where we could not add new pointers or add photos to the site, sorry! The last 2 computers were locked down so we could not do it without causing a stir. Day 12 was the last day of our trip on U.S Route 50. We saw the Ocean City, MD sign west of Sacramento and have the photo of it for you as soon as we can put it up here! We were so excited to complete this part of the trip, it was Rich's dream since he lived in Ocean City and saw that sign to Sacramento every day. What a sense of accomplishment we feel! It was awesome each and every day of it. We travelled over the Golden Gate Bridge this day and started our journey down California Route 1. We stayed in Marina, just north of Monterey, for the night. Day 13 we continued to Big Sur and all points further south on Route 1 looking at the Pacific Ocean all along the way. We found out later that there is an event in Laguna Seca (auto race track) as we passed about 30 Ferraris, a few Lamborghinis and other exotic cars on their way north to the event. We drooled alot. As any of you know who have made this trip, the scenery is gorgeous. It was a bit hazy and cold but still beautiful. We had a wonderful day taking our time down this road. Tonight we are in Lompoc, near Vandenburg Air Force Base and are resting well. Sorry about no photos; we have tons (MJ has been quite busy with the camera!) so will get them up as soon as we are allowed. Thanks for all the comments, we miss you and appreciate you checking in! More later! UPDATE: I got the positions updated on the map!

Day 14 & 15

We left Lompoc (pronounced Lom-poke) and rode through a very interesting part of California. Beautiful ranches in high hills on either side of the road. As we got to lower elevations there were huge vegetable and fruit fields, kept cool by the Pacific but in plenty of sun. Strawberries, cabbage, flowers... went through a town named Guadalupe and we might as well have been in Mexico, it looked just like a Mexican town. This part of Route 1 now begins to approach Los Angeles. We went through Santa Barbara and some nice towns north of L.A., then went right through L.A. past the Airport on Sepulveda Blvd, then went through some interesting areas south of L.A. (!!) and then finally got back into some nice areas again as we approached Newport Beach, where we spent the night. Took Piglet to the beach and got our Pacific Ocean photos. It was breezy there but clear and pretty! We did not swim because the water was quite cold. Today we left Newport Beach (reluctantly) and travelled along Old Route 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway through Laguna Beach, Del Mar, San Clemente, Carlsbad, Encinitas and many other really beautiful California coastal towns. Finally made it to San Diego along with a bazillion other cars headed for that area...finally got to a place for lunch with a lovely cool patio. Got back on the bike and made that dreaded left turn east on Interstate 8...Waaahhhh...hot and dry for the next 100 miles into El Centro, and now we are in the desert. Did I say it was hot and dry? It was 109 degrees here today, and we got here at 4:30. Couldn't get into the hotel fast enough! We are fed now and will be going to bed soon. Tomorrow, Phoenix Arizona!

Relaxing at lunch in Colorado Springs...this place was called the Squatting Chicken!

On the road in Utah! We saw many scenes like this one, which was not taken during the hail storm!

A man from Milan, Italy who was visiting Utah with his family took this one for us!

Entering Nevada on the Loneliest Road in America...and boy, was it! Awesome, each and every mile.

Along the road in Nevada, getting closer to Carson City.

And here's the sign on the other end of U.S. Route 50! We covered every mile and loved every one! We are very proud of ourselves!

Yes, this is us getting ready to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. It was chilly and foggy but it was neat!

Somewhere along Big Sur...this route along the coast is amazing. This is the day we saw all the Ferraris!

Rich taking a break near the breakers! The Fat Boy is taking a break, too.

We finally made it to the Pacific Ocean! Look how happy Piglet is! The other girl looks pooped out, but I think she was happy, too!

Day 17:

Today is MJ's Birthday!!! Everybody tell her "Happy 29th (for the 22nd time) Birthday"

Day 17 Part 2:

I just read everyone's birthday greetings, and I thank you so much for them! I feel great today, it is hot and sunny and clear in Scottsdale, Arizona (we arrived yesterday, Sunday, at 2PM local time. Another hot day of riding in 107 degree heat!). I lived here for 3 years in the late 80's so it is great to be here for my birthday. The Harley is getting service today so this is a rest day for us. I have a friend who still lives here and although she had to be away this week for a work conference, her husband will host a birthday dinner for me tonite. We met with him last night and had fun catching up. The 2 men got along just great as they are both friendly, happy and talkative! Thanks again for all the messages, it is so great to stay connected this way. Tomorrow we will head further east on U.S. Route 60 to eastern Arizona and into New Mexico. All is well with us and we are Happy!

Day 18 & 19:

On my birthday night, Phoenix decided to give me a lovely thunderstorm! It happens like twice a year (not really, but it does not rain much out here!). So we couldn't sit on the patio but we had a nice night. We left in light rain on Tuesday, Aug. 22 and headed east towards the Superstition Mountains and northeast to Show Low. On this road in Arizona we drove through Salt River Canyon, which is a mini-Grand Canyon. It was spectacular. The road then climbs higher to pine forests and cooler air. More rain here so we got a bit wet for a little while as we rode east to the state line of New Mexico. It was very, very green here as we heard they have had lots of rain this month. Very lush and beautiful. We stopped in a true one-horse town of Quemado just over the state line. This was the smallest town we stayed in yet, but we had fun as usual. Left this morning not knowing what time it really was because we had 3 different clocks with different times. Whatever. The road east through NM continued to be beautiful and green, and we saw our first antelopes! That was cool. 355 miles to Clovis, NM just west of the Texas state line and the Central time zone. Tomorrow we'll go through Amarillo, TX and into Oklahoma somewhere. Again, thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! Hasta manana!

Day 20, 21 & 22:

No internet access since Clovis, NM so I'll catch up here. To make it short, north Texas was FLAT, Oklahoma was WINDY, and Missouri was cool, comfortable and full of trees. We got to the Texas border pretty quickly Thursday and it was flat as far as the eye could see in all directions. The other word was, BEEF. Lots of feed lots, which we had seen in the west but these were huge. Gave me the creeps. Flat for hours, then we got to Oklahoma. I think it was pretty...it was so windy I had to hold on to my helmet and keep my head down and eyes closed! Fortunately Rich was watching because he got us safely to our next stop in Seiling, OK. Don't try to find it on the map, it's one of our many stops in the middle of nowhere. But we had a decent hotel and an awesome restaurant next door. Friday we drove through more of Oklahoma. The wind started as soon as the sun came up. It was hot and yes, windy for the entire day across this state, but it was Oklahoma and we were happy to be there. We crossed the state line to Missouri late in the day and stopped in Neosho, MO just west of Springfield. The Best Western had a nice pool so we relaxed there for a bit then headed for dinner at the Gearhead Grill. Yes, a biker/Nascar place that turned out to be great. However, MJ was craving a beer but they said their liquor license "had expired"! Yeesh! Oh well, no big deal. Today, Saturday, we are still in Missouri but the weather cooled off and we had a very comfortable ride through the Ozarks and saw lots of pretty ranches and farms and lots of trees, which looked good to me! We stopped just short of the Kentucky border so will make it to Lexington, Kentucky tomorrow for our 3rd break. We love reading your comments and are glad you are checking up on us. Keep them coming! We still have a week ahead of us and we plan to milk every mile. Luv ya!

Days 23-27:

I'll bet you thought we went to Mexico and disappeared forever! We thought about it! Just didn't have computer/internet access since Saturday night. So lots to catch up on. We got to Lexington, KY late Sunday night. Early that morning as we were preparing to leave we heard of a plane crash there. When we arrived, we realized the hotel we had booked was about a mile away from the Blue Grass Airport and they had just determined that the plane was on the wrong runway. Flags were at half mast all day Monday, which was a planned day off for us. It rained most of the day but we got our laundry done, ate Mexican lunch and went to a movie. Tuesday (Day 25) we decided to throw our maps away and change the plan. The Harley just wasn't ready to cross that Virginia line yet. So we headed south to Tennessee and stopped overnight in Gatlinburg. This day we took more roads than we had for the last 4 weeks! I-64, SR 15, SR 421, SR80, SR 119, SR25E, SR 63W to SR25W to I-75 to I-40 to SR 441. It was supposed to be 179 miles from Lexington to Gatlinburg but it took us 9 hours and 350+ miles. We hit our first big heavy thunderstorm in Tennessee...had to stop to wait it out, it was raining so hard. But it stopped so we could continue. Gatlinburg was great, we'd never been there before and didn't know how quaint it was. We (and most everyone else there) had a room with a balcony overlooking the river and the Great Smoky Mountains so it was a nice rest. It was so nice we lingered a bit in the morning and didn't get on the road until 10:30. That turned out to be a blessing. Just outside of Gatlinburg the road immerses you into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and some very spectacular riding. Mist was lingering in the mountains as it had rained earlier in the morning. 30 miles through this lovely park to the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Cherokee, N.C. where we started north. We had tried in the past to ride this portion of the parkway but had always been met with road closures. We got about 15 miles and darned if the road wasn't closed AGAIN! We couldn't believe it. Something about a landslide. They were nice enough to post the detour directions, which turned out to be kind of useless because the road signs didn't match their map. Been there before, too. About an hour later we got back on the parkway and continued. We could see very black, ugly thunderheads off in the distance over Asheville, but our road was sunny and the vistas were clear. The road was wet and was wetter as we travelled. We met people on the way who had come south and they said, "Oh my gosh, the rain was treacherous!" Well, we didn't hit any of it all day, just watched the thunderheads move away all around us. So we enjoyed a full day of gorgeous riding up to Boone, N.C. where it started to drizzle as we checked into our hotel. When we got up to leave at 7:30, it was already pouring. This day, we had rain, mist and fog all day long. We got to Danville, Virginia (yes, we tricked the Harley into crossing the state line) about 1:30 and stopped for now. We'll keep our eye on the Weather Channel before we head home on that last stretch, but we think we'll be home tomorrow, September 1. We have travelled 7,100 miles through 19 states in 27 days. Would we do it again? You betcha! We'll add more photos when we get home to our own computers, but we have about 1000 to go through! This was an awesome, spectacular, fantastic, amazing adventure. We endured extreme heat, high winds, hail, rain, fog and now a hurricane! We saw beautiful sights and met great, hardy people. Will tell you more as we see you. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for keeping in touch with us here! We enjoyed all the comments and will have them forever.

See you soon!

Piglet, Rich and M.J.

Day 28:

We did not travel Friday, September 1 due to high winds and rain in Danville and worse rain and wind in Virginia Beach. So we spent a lazy day in the hotel and got early rest.

Day 29 - The Final Travel Day of our Big Adventure

Saturday morning we got ourselves packed for the last time and hoisted our butts on the bike. We left Danville under very clear blue skies and 60 degrees of cool weather. We were on the tail of Ernesto but had a lovely day to travel home. Lots of thoughts running through our heads, most wishing we had one more week! We got to Suffolk and stopped for lunch. Other local riders stopped shortly after us and shared their stories of 4-6 week rides around the country and all the fun they had. They looked enviously at our road-filthy motorcycle and the luggage bags attached to it and gave us hearty high fives for our adventure...it was a good way to recap our trip and to give us motivation for the next one. We got home in an hour and were greeted by major weeds in M.J.'s garden and grass that needed cutting. I guess that was to be expected! All is well at home; we are reviewing and enjoying our photos and videos (more of which we will add to this site). Stay tuned for Part Two (Time and Place TBA!)