Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Author: Gale

  • Blue Ridge Parkway

    Days on the road: 3
    Day mileage: 200
    JF total mileage: 2653
    Gale total mileage: 1121
    States/Provinces: Tennessee, North Carolina

    We left Pigeon Forge around 9:00 and rode through Great Smoky Mountain National Park to Cherokee where we started the Blue Ridge Parkway. LOTS of curves, incredible scenery and views, many tunnels. Windy and cold in the mountains – that is NOT a complaint. We’re both so glad to be out of the heat.

    This first part of the Parkway is very mountainous so it was slow going. Now that we are out of the heat we can start camping and Julian Price Memorial Park had been recommended to us at the park ranger station – it’s absolutely gorgeous camping.

  • Hoping this is the last of the heat

    Days on the road: 2
    Day mileage: 450
    JF total mileage: 2453
    Gale total mileage: 921
    States/Provinces: Arkansas, Tennessee

    A 7:00 AM start but lots of stops due to nodding off from the heat. At almost every stop we have people talk to us and comment on our motorcycle trip and all the gear we’re carrying.

    Maintained 75 miles an hour almost all day and arrived in Pigeon Forge, TN around dinner time. Too much traffic, too touristy, too many hotels to try to pick from.

    Start of day

  • Day 1 – One bite at a time

    Days on road: 1
    Day mileage: 471
    JF total mileage: 2003
    Gale total mileage: 471
    States/Provinces: Texas, Arkansas

    One bite at a time – that’s how you eat an elephant. I would call a 12,000 mile trip an elephant (for me) and we had our first 471 mile course today with a couple side dishes added – a severe thunderstorm complete with mud bath and near 100 degree humid heat after the storm.

    We didn’t make it 30 minutes from the house before the storm let loose and we had to get off 121 and hide under the highway on Legacy Road until the storm let up enough for us to ride. Once on the road again I got a complete splash down with mud water when a vehicle blasted through a mud puddle next to me on 75 in McKinney. First time to be temporarily blinded while riding. Fortunately it was still pouring rain so the mud was quickly rinsed off my visor.

    We made to West Memphis, Arkansas as planned around 9:00 in the evening.

    R1200 GSA

    F650 GS

  • Parks Canada Annual Pass

    Parks Canada offers a Discovery Package that includes both National Parks and National Historic Sites for $84.40.

    http://www.pc.gc.ca/voyage-travel/carte-pass/index_E.asp

    Below are lists of the parks and historic sites that $84.40 will get us into on this trip. Parks or historic sites that are already on out to do list are listed in blue.

    National Parks of Canada Pass

    New Brunswick
    Fundy
    Kouchibouguac

    Newfoundland and Labrador
    Gros Morne
    Terra Nova

    Nova Scotia
    Cape Breton Highlands
    Kejimkujik

    Prince Edward Island
    Prince Edward Island

    Québec
    Forillon
    La Mauricie
    Mingan Archipelago
    Saguenay-St.Lawrence Marine Park

    National Historic Sites of Canada Pass

    New Brunswick
    Carleton Martello Tower
    Fort Beauséjour
    Monument Lefebvre
    St. Andrews Blockhouse

    Newfoundland and Labrador
    Cape Spear
    Castle Hill
    Hawthorne Cottage
    L’Anse aux Meadows
    Port au Choix
    Red Bay
    Ryan Premises
    Signal Hill

    Nova Scotia
    Alexander Graham Bell
    Canso Islands
    Fort Anne
    Fortress of Louisbourg
    Grand-Pré
    Halifax Citadel
    Kejimkujik (Day Use only)
    Port-Royal

    Prince Edward Island
    Green Gables House
    Port-la-Joye-Fort Amherst

    Québec
    Artillery Park
    Battle of the Châteauguay
    Battle of the Restigouche
    Carillon Canal
    Cartier-Brébeuf
    Chambly Canal
    Coteau-du-Lac
    Forges du Saint-Maurice
    Fort Chambly
    Fort Lennox
    Fort Témiscamingue
    Fortifications of Quebec
    The Fur Trade at Lachine
    Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial
    Lévis Forts
    Louis S. St. Laurent
    Manoir Papineau
    Old Port of Quebec Interpretation Centre
    Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse
    Saint-Ours Canal
    Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal
    Sir George-Étienne Cartier
    Sir Wilfrid Laurier

  • Guardian Angels… and tires

    I know I have great guardian angels — anyone who knows me knows who they are.

    I have always thought Jean-Francois may have even better guardian angels than I do, as was proved once again today. This afternoon he walked back to his motorcycle after taking a break to stretch his legs and a trucker pointed out his rear tire. About an inch down from the rim of the rear tire the steel belts were showing. And no — the tire was not under inflated. Jean Francois had no idea why the tire wore on the side.

    This occurred outside Gallup, New Mexico at 4:00 PM on a Friday afternoon. Jean-Francois immediately called me so I could do an internet search for motorcycle dealers. I found Desert Cycle in Gallup not far off I 40 so he took their number.

    They didn’t have a brand new tire that fit his wheel, but they had a practically brand new one with a mushroom plug in it. They sold it to him and mounted it for $40.

    The kindness of people when you’re on the road always warms my heart.

    Jean-Francois called by 6:00 PM ready to get back on the road. He mentioned that he had thought earlier in the day that he had never had a blow out on the road and with all the miles he had ridden he was probably about due. Not a blow out, but close enough. Probably would have been without the thoughtfulness of the trucker who pointed it out.

    A big thank you to the trucker and the folks at Desert Cycle.