2blave Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Juan, You are living my dream if not every motorcyclists dream. I have enjoyed living the ride with you through your photos. Thank you soooo much for taking the time to share not just with your family, but with all of us that are deskbound. May the road rise before you..... Carl Link to comment
ClearwaterBMW Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 this will go down as the best-documented 49 state tour online OF ALL TIME. we all owe Juan a big debt of gratitude for his hours of posting after his miles of riding greg Link to comment
1216 Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 This is great. It can't end. You need to just keep going. There have to be a few roads you haven't been on yet. Link to comment
ELP_JC Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 this will go down as the best-documented 49 state tour online OF ALL TIME. And probably as the thread with most views too ; closing in on 3,000. Link to comment
BabyCow Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 And truly world famous Link to comment
Bob Palin Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 this will go down as the best-documented 49 state tour online OF ALL TIME.That sounds like a challenge, what am I doing next summer? Link to comment
Camilo Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Juan has done such a great job that this is his next assignment That should keep us entertained for a while, and he gets to live another of his dreams Again, great job Juan, and hope to hear you stories Link to comment
Highway41 Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Finally dawned on me to bring the garmin indoors and follow your route. Hope your ahead of the traffic and storm heading your way. Looks like even Kansas will get wet. Good ridin... Link to comment
Calvin (no socks) Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Camilo, how many days will you give him to complete his next assignment? Link to comment
Smoky_Mtn_Buds Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Hello My Friend, The Hotels are completely full in Dallas and the surrounding areas. If you find yourself without a place to stay while driving through Texas let us know. We have an incredible group of friends who will help in several different areas. Of course, we would love to spend some time with our "Trail Boss". Let us know where you are so we can feel comfortable that you are safe. Remember that area of Texas and OK that you will be riding through have alot of activity after a hurricane hits landfall. Your trip has been such a special treat. I feel like everyday is Christmas. Let's Ride! Peggy & Vince Link to comment
tallman Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Juan, You da hombre. This has been a truly uplifting and inspiring saga. Inquiring minds want to know... where are you now? Sending out positive energy as you head through our neck of the woods. Thanks. Link to comment
Camilo Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Camilo, how many days will you give him to complete his next assignment? After this trip he is a seasoned pro and his next trip is a piece of cake. I would give him seven days, but you know Juan, he would probably take 30 Link to comment
Blake Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Great report, Juan, keep it up! Thx for letting us back seat drivers (ok, computer chair drivers) enjoy the trip too!! Ride safe and, as we say in the skydiving realm, Blue Skies!! Link to comment
Blake Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Inquiring minds want to know... where are you now? something tells me that he may be beatin feet to get ahead of the path of Rita..... Link to comment
Juan_S Posted September 24, 2005 Author Share Posted September 24, 2005 Day 27 September 19th – Santa Fe, NM Before heading out into the great void of eastern New Mexico, I decided to find a place to replace the tires that I installed in Utah. As you recall, I purchased the incorrect tires (Dunlop D207ZR instead of D220) and they are literally falling apart. As you can see there is not enough rubber to take me across the country. I found a great deal at R&S Honda in Albuquerque, $296 for both tires mounted. R&S was great, not only did they have a fantastic price, but they had me out of there within two hours of my arrival, in at 11:00 out at 1:00…dealers like this are life savers…. Being already past 1:00 pm, I decided to get on I40 to make up some of the time lost. Big mistake, there are no alternate routes in New Mexico once you are on 40 east of Albuquerque and your destination is Amarillo. Eastern New Mexico is very flat and really does not have many towns, or for that matter much of anything going on…. Since I find the highway very boring, I tried using alternate local roads, went south west on 285 and back to I40 on 54. It was a 80 mile break from the highway….but this part of New Mexico is desolate…not even cows!!!… Nonetheless, even on a long boring highway ride, mother nature takes care of entertaining this Colombian with a very nice show….. Another day of my wonderful trip comes to an end with me cruising east of Amarillo towards Oklahoma. Stats: Santa Fe, UT Departure 9:45am Shamrock, TX Arrival 8:30pm Miles 479.7 Weather: Fantastic Fun Factor: 10 (Scale 1 to 10) Link to comment
Highway41 Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 Good to her from you Juan. Am adding R&S to my notes. Good ridin... Link to comment
Juan_S Posted September 24, 2005 Author Share Posted September 24, 2005 Day 28 September 19th – Shamrock Texas The weather gods continue to look out for me, this morning is fantastic here in Shamrock. Yesterday, I had my fill of I40, so today is back to the small country roads. From the hotel, I headed north on 82 then 592 then 152…. All great roads… Soon enough I left the great state of Texas and into Oklahoma. This was my first visit to Oklahoma and what a great surprise. Oklahoma has trees and nice farms on rolling hills, and good fan rural roads. There are not too many hills, but to a Floridian, any dip is a mountain… Watch out for “wide loads” in these country roads….they are wide…. Coyote Trail is about 20 miles west of Tulsa and is a fantastic road with all kinds of twisties and even some hills…if you are in the area do try it, you will enjoy it… From Tulsa I headed over to northwest Arkansas, since I want to get some more twisties before I have to turn south towards home… This area of Arkansas reminds me of the foothills around Tennessee and North Carolina……. They are a very nice break after the mostly flat crossing from Albuquerque and an excellent way to end another day of riding on this amazing journey Stats: Shamrock, TX Departure 9:40am Fayetteville , AR Arrival 5:45pm Miles 440.5 Weather: Fantastic Fun Factor: 10 (Scale 1 to 10) Link to comment
1216 Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 This is great fun...feel like I have been you on the trip. I am surprised at how good the weather has been. Finish safely. Link to comment
ian408 Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 What a great report. 30 days doesn't seem like a lot of time but you seem to have been making the most of it. Sorry to have missed you as you came through CA. Ian Link to comment
ELP_JC Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 Hey Juan, your last post is of 6 days ago (Sep 19). You should be home by now; hope Rita allowed you to finish your trip on a high note . Take care. Link to comment
Juan_S Posted September 25, 2005 Author Share Posted September 25, 2005 Hey Juan, your last post is of 6 days ago (Sep 19). You should be home by now; hope Rita allowed you to finish your trip on a high note . Take care. Made it home ahead of Rita with no problems, will catch up with the postings ASAP Juan Link to comment
ClearwaterBMW Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 glad you are home, juan get some rest and catch up with your family before worrying about any more postings here... your family waited for you.... now WE can wait for you congratulations greg Link to comment
murrayg Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 Juan, Thanks for taking us along on your fantastic trip. I've read every report and I don't recall you running into any rain. Do I have that right? I wish we could have hooked up while you were in Fayetteville, AR. I would have loved to have treated you to a meal. Congratulations on doing what most us would like to do, but few get a chance. Link to comment
ClearwaterBMW Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 I would have loved to have treated you to a meal. Congratulations on doing what most us would like to do, but few get a chance. believe me, juan a lot of us here owe you a meal for entertaining us and building our own dreams with your wonderful tale this past month can't wait to buy you that meal greg Link to comment
Juan_S Posted September 27, 2005 Author Share Posted September 27, 2005 Day 29 September 21st – Fayetteville, Arkansas I was a little slow off the mark this morning and only left the hotel in Fayetteville at around 10:00am. Again the weather is fantastic, a little warm but blue sky as far as the eye can see. My plan for the day is to go from Fayetteville up to around Eureka Springs and then head southeast across the state down to Louisiana and then across to Mississippi. As soon as I left 412 and got on 45 towards 12 I realized that this was going to be a fun day of twisties…. Route 23 is a hoot!!! It is nice to be back doing twisties after the straight roads I went through the last couple of days. Even though the hills in Arkansas are not very big, the roads give you the impression that you are in real mountainous terrain Best sign I saw all day….and no cars…and nice weather….it is perfect… South of Little Rock, the terrain flattens out and gives way to cotton fields. Seeing cotton at its peak was a first for me. It is very cool to see the huge fields all looking white like it had just snowed. It is cotton harvesting time….so the roads are very dusty. It is very interesting how they do it, they run harvesting machines through the cotton fields and the result are these huge cotton bales. It takes one 40 foot truck to pick each one up and take it away from the field. US 65 follows the Mississippi River for a long distance but you do not get to see the river at all since there is a levee system running the whole length. The mighty Mississippi river… after traveling through the dustiest road ever to cross the levee. I got to Jackson, Mississippi around 8:00pm and had a horrendous time finding a hotel as the area is full of people fleeing hurricanes Katrina and Rita. After about an hour of looking for a hotel I finally found a former Ramada Inn… This hotel did not even have the electronic keys working, so every time I wanted to get into my room I had to get the caretaker to come and open the room with a master key….interesting…but it was a bed…I think a clean bed…and at least it had AC and a clean bathroom…. Stats: Fayetteville, AK Departure 10:00am Jackson, MS Arrival 8:00pm Miles 521.8 Weather: Fantastic…Hot…over 101 around Little Rock Fun Factor: 10 (Scale 1 to 10) Link to comment
luv2cruz Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Juan, I know you are busy getting caught up from your trip, but I feel like I was reading a great book, and then LOST it! I can't wait to hear how your ride ended, eventful or not. The suspense is KILLING me!! Link to comment
Juan_S Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Day 30 September 22nd – Jackson MS Since the hurricane is approaching, I decided to go all the way home from here and leave the hotels and other limited resources to the unfortunate evacuees from Rita. Despite the approaching storm, the weather continues to be superb here in Jackson and is a great start to what will be my longest travel day of the whole trip. I took I20 from Jackson to about 40 miles short of Meridian and even though it was the slab, the morning was very interesting with the sun coming up through the fog… The Mississippi countryside is very pretty in the morning light and the country roads are also a lot of fun. There is a lot of tree damage visible from the roads in Alabama. This damage is about 100 miles north of Mobile… amazing how powerful Katrina was. The Alabama country roads were a lot of fun… Until I hit the full swarm of love bugs in southern Alabama. For those of you not familiar with love bugs, these are bugs that are permanently coupled, therefore the name. Anyway they swarm for about a week in May and then again in September. They make the worst mess when you ride through them….also they stink….they were so bad that I had to stop to wash them off three times within the space of a hundred miles…. Rain…the end to my sunny ride. I have not seen any rain since a couple of showers in British Columbia, two weeks ago. Also it is hot so I am not too upset… Little did I realize that these were the outer bands from hurricane Rita and not the common Florida afternoon showers. These were nasty, strong, and they accompanied me from about 100 miles west of Tallahassee until around Gainesville… My incredible journey through this amazing country sadly had to come to an end…. I arrived home a happy man… to a warm welcome…. from those I’d left behind. Stats: Jackson, MS Departure 8:10am Orlando, FL Arrival 8:15pm Miles 715.3 Weather: Fantastic…First half of the day, rain the last 300 miles.. Fun Factor: 10 (Scale 1 to 10) Link to comment
the_moviegoer Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Congratulations on a fantastic voyage! Link to comment
ClearwaterBMW Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 terrific ending, juan great photos of the family rest up... but, enjoy your life at home for a while thanks for the memories we'll get together soon greg Link to comment
TNT Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 This was a wonderful trip! Thanks man and welcome home. Link to comment
skyking44 Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Thanks for letting us share your adventure. It has been fun following your trip accross the entire U.S. I cannot wait until next year when you head south! Link to comment
Highway41 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Enjoyed your trip report immensely. Just got back from 4 days in western NC and thought of you several times. If you have more pics, put 'em in an album and post the link. Bill Link to comment
Rinkydink Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Wonderful read Juan. I live vicariously through you on your travels. I'm glad you got to ride Hwy 23 in Arkansas (the pigtrail) and to have the good weather you encountered on your trip was a godsend. Thanks for the journey! Link to comment
algover Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 An epic trip and Ride Tale, Juan! Thanks for taking us along. Link to comment
BamaRider Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Way to go brother, great ride and welcome home. Link to comment
BFish Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Juan...awesome tale. feel like a neighbor to you over here in melbourne. you have inspired me to take a trip like this. thanks for taking the time to keep us in the loop. Link to comment
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