OFL

2956 miles covered from sea to shining sea. Well almost as I started in Charlottesville which is about 120 miles from the Atlantic and ended in Poway which is about 30 miles inland from the Pacific. Poway is a “City in the Country” about 20 miles north of San Diego. Pretty pleased with myself, nevertheless, even as the motorcycle Gods chose to play with me on the last day. Started in Ehrenberg which is on the Arizona side of the Colorado river and I have nothing to say about it because there is nothing to say. Same could be said for the Colorado River here as it has pretty much been sucked dry by the time it has reached Ehrenberg. What little is left is used to irrigate the land I passed through on the way ... read more

Today was the scariest ride I have ever had. Leaving Monticello I headed down route 95. I stopped at the tourist office in Blanding where a jovial and knowledgeable fellow was there to help. As soon as I speak folks ask me where I am from, when I say Virginia they look at me strangely which leads me to make an around the globe explanation. After I was done with that the jovial fellow said, “why bother with this, you have seen everything.” Nice guy. He set me off on a path I will not forget in a hurry. At first I was disappointed as I headed along 95 and down 261. If you were just plonked there you would go wow, but when you have been exposed to days and days of amazing scenery its ... read more

As I was anticipating from previous crossings, it was to be a day of contrasts. From flat endless plains to ragged snow capped mountains. A rider's visual feast. Before heading out it was the Days Inn breakfast, thankfully not Fruit Loops but Raisin Bran. Kudos to the backroom folks at Days Inn for sculpting a muffin looking object from a piece of cardboard. Earlier in the trip I was chatting to a visiting German fellow and was actually embarrassed as we sat at breakfast. European hotels do so much better. As you might imagine Lamar does not have the top 15 things to do according to Expedia. Rather they say a popular place to visit are cities outside of Lamar. Not to be deterred I headed for the petrified wood gas station. You can't make this ... read more

Fate has its say. Over breakfast at the Days Inn I met a delightful fellow, Rick, who hails from Kansas City. Our discussion was way more interesting than the breakfast. Two cereals, fruit loops and some sort of cubes that tasted exactly like fruit loops. Rick was attracted to my data science paraphernalia, sweatshirt, laptop stickers and hat. No outreach spared. Rick had worked both in manufacturing and pharmaceuticals as a data scientist before anyone ever heard of the term. Starting there I learnt of his life’s ups and down and the joy that comes from children making their own way in the world. I had similar stories to tell. We lingered long after I should have been on the road. It was then I realized these conversations were what makes the trip. Riding is fun, ... read more

I woke up with a heavy heart and a heavy stomach. The stomach was a result of the first day on the job for the pizza maker in the Paintsville Pizza Parlor and a heavy heart because of the waitress that served the concoction. She and I got into the usual conversation over my accent. As the conversation progressed from “where are you from?” I of course said I was crossing the country on a motorcycle. She asked, “what on earth made me stop in Paintsville, there is absolutely no reason to stop here.” This made me sad. She lives there and yet could not say anything beyond the desire to leave it on her own motorcycle. That her desire was to leave on a Harley and not a BMW was not the point. The point ... read more