A Funny Thing Happened on the way . . .

Sitting in a Denny's waiting for the $2 breakfast ($3 w/ tax and tip!) and thinking about what happened this morning on the beach. I had finished rolling up the sleeping bag and pad and I had stepped outside the tent when it took off! The tent door was upzipped and it acted like a parachute taking off! The wind pulled the stakes out of the sand and it rolled about 1/4 mile down the beach and up into the dunes! I laughed when I finally caught it but I thought for a while it was a goner! Apparently this was very entertaining for the other campers along the beach because they were laughing their heads off! I got a lot of comments when I finally caught up with it and was walking back to my (former?) campsite. When I got back, the tarp I put the tent on was a goner too! It apparently blew down the beach and up over into the dunes as well. I'll just go to Wally World and spent $5 on a new one. Strong winds coming off the Gulf!

Day 1 of ALAA-Sat, June 14th, 2011. Home to Corpus Christi, TX

My campsite at Mustang Island State Park-the Gulf is just to the right

The first day was spent going from home to Galveston Island and then down the coast about 250 miles to Corpus Christi. This 300 miles today is pretty much in line with my plan of "A tank of gas in the morning and a tank of gas after lunch." Each tank is about 150 miles so I'm shooting for around 300 miles per day for the rest of the trip.


I'm spending the night at Mustang Island State Park. Mustang Island is my third island today. First was Galveston Island, then Mustang Island, then North Padre Island for dinner, and then back to Mustang Island. The campground here is literally right on the beach! My tent is set up about a hundred feet from the water-the waves are about 3-4 feet and should be a good sleeping pill.


The only really notable thing about today was that I finally got to see a feral hog. It was on the side of the road, apparently hit by a car. Mean lookin' sucker though! Tomorrow takes me through Corpus Christi, the King Ranch, to South Padre Island, and toward Laredo, Big Bend, El Paso, Yuma, and San Diego along the Mexican border. A lot more to come!

ONE Week Left!

This has been a busy week with the end of classes and Final Exams starting on Monday. It looks like I'm on schedule to have everything wrapped up and be able to leave a week from today. It's exciting to be setting off on such an Adventure but also a little scary! You never know exactly what you're going to encounter along the way.

It also looks like my Bride is going to fly to Portland so we can spend a few days along the Oregon coast. You understand that this means I will have to rent a car at PDX and leave the bike parked at the airport . . . . . but that's okay. There is a motel in Lincoln City on the coast called the Ester Lee-they have one bedroom units with large windows facing right out to the ocean. Throw a fireplace into the mix and you have a nice place to stay for a weekend. YIPPEE!

In Case You Were Wondering . . . . .

Just in case you took a CLOSE look at the picture of the bike, I've made another change that is more secure. In the picture, the back of the main piece of luggage is secured with red bungee cords. Well, those things made me nervous so they have been replaced by adjustable luggage straps that can be secured more easily.

The Bike is Fully Dressed

Okay, here is a pic of my ride and a brief description of what I've added to my 2007 Honda VTX 1300R to make it safer and more comfortable.
In case you don't know, this bike has 1300 cc's which means that the engine is about the size of the engine in a small car. It only has two cylinders, compared to the four cylinders in most small cars, so it has some vibration that small cars don't. The engine is liquid cooled like cars and it doesn't have a chain (thank goodness!) The power goes from the transmission to the rear drive wheel through a drive shaft, again like cars. For those of you who haven't seen our new home in Texas, this picture was taken under the carport and in front of the garage. If you look at the picture, from the front to the back, these are the changes I've made to the bike:

• You can't see the small deer whistle mounted below the headlight. I don't know how well they alert animals on the side of the road but, for $3, what's to lose?
• You can see the LOUD horn I added. It's behind the front wheel in front of the engine and behind the chrome rods called forks. Yes, I've had occasion to use it and those rude drivers CAN hear me!
• The new footpegs are slightly below the LOUD horn. These are for extending my legs to be more comfortable
• Just below the horn and near the footpegs is a small black spot that you can barely see. It is a black leather pouch attached to the frame on the other side of the bike that holds the disc lock. Disc locks attach to the front disc brake so the front wheel won't turn. The disc lock I bought has an alarm on it to slow down any potential thieves
• There are two small instruments mounted on the handlebar that aren't visible. One is a small waterproof clock and the other is a small waterproof thermometer
• There is also a cruise control on the throttle that you can't see in this picture. Yes, motorcycles can also have cruise controls but most of them are rudimentary compared to the cruise controls on cars. This one, for example, is mechanical, not electrical, so its accuracy is always suspect. I don't actually call it a cruise control but a throttle lock. It holds the throttle at a certain level but doesn't take into consideration the wind or hills.
• The windshield is there to keep the wind from pounding me (duh!) and to keep the bugs out of my teeth! :-)
• The black bag on the top of the gas tank is called (duh again!) a tank bag. It's a place to keep things close and convenient-granola bars, my glucometer, a camera, an ipod, a cell phone, etc. plus it has a clear pouch on top so it's a place to put maps (but not to look at while I'm riding!)
• There is an air seat pad on the rider's seat to make the hours fly by a little faster (NOT the bike faster . . . . . the hours faster!)
• The biggest piece of luggage also serves as a backrest on the bike. It converts to a backpack when off the bike and has 4 zippered pouches in addition to the main storage area. The space between this luggage and the backrest will hold my jacket when I'm not wearing it, the tent, and sleeping pad.
• The saddle bags are where heavier items will go. These are a small toolkit, very small aircompressor for flat tires, and any heavy food I might be carrying.
• The backrest and luggage rack were added to secure items and support the trunk
• The trunk attaches to the luggage rack and will hold lightweight items in addition to the sleeping bag. Only lightweight items because this is so high on the bike and so far back.

Well, all this is probably pretty boring to most of you but this post is a "justincaseyouwerewondering" kind of post!

Wow, A LOUD Horn!

This past weekend was a great one! Our daughter and grandson came down on Thursday night and stayed until Sunday night. My bride and our daughter went to the fundraiser Gala at CSK Saturday night and I got to keep the little guy. It was great fun!
Now, about the horn. I've been getting tired of that little Roadrunner "Beep-beep" that my bike made so I bought a Lolo Bad Boy horn. It is 139 decibels which is about twice as loud as the stock little beep-beep horn that came on the bike. It has its own little self-contained air compressor so it took a while to install but, MAN, is it loud! I'm riding back and forth from home to school waiting, just DARING, anyone to pull out in front of me or drift over into my lane! When they do, I am gonna BLAST 'em! I've made a number of other additions to the bike for the trip but that will be another post. . . . . .

Hum, Two Forgotten States

It seems that I've already forgotten two states: Rhode Island is between Massachusetts and Connecticut and Alabama is between Florida and Mississippi. I'll try to be more accurate in the future!