Blogs from Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States, North America

I'm doing my blogging here rather than on my Blogger.com site since my wife doesn't want to advertise the fact that she's home alone - albeit with dogs and heavily armed - during my absence. I met with BMW friend Charlie Parsons yesterday afternoon to firm up some plans and we settled on a departure time of 9 a.m. Wednesday from the Murphy Oil Co. station on Stadium Avenue in Jonesboro. Charlie's friend Tom is joining us on his 1993 BMW K75S. Tom has limited experience with long haul touring and camping, so we'll be mentoring him to the extent that he needs/wants mentoring. Charlie needs to be home by next Tuesday evening, so he was loathe to agree to a departure Thursday or Friday when the temperature will be as much as 20 degrees warmer ... read more

Hi all, well it is not long now before I will be heading home and looking forward to Aotearoa. Alot has happened since we last blogged mostly unexpected events. We left Washington DC and headed too Chicago to catch a connecting flight to Memphis only to find that our flight had been cancelled and the next one won't be until the following day, all good. They just put everyone up in a hotel with complementary food vouchers, so we got to spend a night in chicago. Caught our flight the next day where Jono dad and his aunty met us she is a hoot (Linda) so we have been spending our time with her. Linda lives an hour drive from Memphis in the rural sector, all flat land where she is surrounded by bean crops. Linda ... read more

Having filled my tank before I checked into the motel last night, I was ready to roll at sunup. Except that my route took me straight into the blinding morning sun. I felt completely disoriented as I merged with traffic on eastbound I-44 and fumbled my way to U.S. 65 south to U.S. 60 east. I stopped for a McDonald's breakfast at Mountain Grove, about an hour down the road, and was chagrined to find the Wifi wasn't working. I gassed again at Thayer and rode into my garage about 12:30.... read more

The UPS truck never showed up yesterday, so they put it out for delivery today. I saw around all day - mowed the grass, reinstalled Firefox on the VAIO laptop, did all kinds of busy work to occupy myself - planning to hit the road as soon as the package with my Kathmandu pants arrived. I finally gave up at 5 p.m. and sent emails to Rich Nathan and Maria to that effect. Naturally, the UPS truck arrived at 5:15 p.m. with my package. So I had a quiet evening at home, finishing up my packing, rather than a frenzied dash to some motel in central Illinois. I hope to be on the road shortly after 6 a.m. tomorrow. The Citgo station's pay-at-the-pump system was working today, so I topped off the tank and also updated ... read more

BROOKLAND, Ark. - It's 4:30 p.m. and I'm preparing for an early morning departure for Indianapolis. The bike is ready with properly inflated tires (36psi front, 42 psi rear). I just realized I forgot to check the oil level, so I must do that before I ride it down to the Citgo station to top off the gas tank. The front tire has just enough tread depth to cover the top of Abe Lincoln's head on a penny and the rear tire has substantially more. My plan is to buy new tires in Colorado next Tuesday - either at Pike's Peak Motorcycles in Colorado Springs or Foothills BMW in Lakewood - whoever has tires and can fit me in - and scrub them in riding up to Tim and Linda Balough's place. I've got the GPS ... read more

On this trip I have learned two things about myself, number one: I am a strong woman. Mother nature threw everything she had at me hours on end and for days on end. I withstood the physical test and began again the next day with excitement. I could have never dreamed up the things I was able to be a part of. The wildlife, historical places, whimsical palaces, mountains, lakes and rock formations were unbelievable. Secondly, I am a woman who is strong. I have withstood childbirth, divorce, poverty and emotional trauma with the death of dear friends and family. I have withstood a woman ,whom I called friend, whose treachery almost broke up my marriage.I have passed through to the other side. I do not listen to music as I ride, I prefer the solitude ... read more

I was up at 5 a.m., having slept soundly once again on the Hometics Smart Foam mattress cover on the bed in Steve and Nicky's guest bedroom. I packed my bags and hauled them downstairs where I drank a cup of coffee and did some last-minute computer stuff. Steve rousted Lisa out of bed and put her into the car seat to accompany us to the airport and we were out of the driveway about 6:50 a.m. It looked like all of Las Vegas was flying when we got to the airport, but I checked by large bag and dragged my carry-on through the TSA checkpoint with no problems. After the tram delivered me to Concourse D, I phoned Maria to let her know I was ready to get airborne. At Steve's suggestion, I got the ... read more

Preparing to leave for a "Grand Tour" on June 18th. The following entries will be a list of items and preparatory work for a 10,000 mile trip. ... read more

I turned 29 yesterday. Not a real big milestone but I figure I now have 1 year to do everything I wanted to before I turn 30. First thing that I need to do is make a list of things I need to do. So I'm in Jonesboro, AR not a very exciting place to celebrate one's birth, but I guess it's a good place to think about life and what it's all about. I've started talking to strangers more. Something I highly encourage. I used to be scared because I figured no one wants to talk to me but after trying it out you figure people just like to talk to anybody, all I really have to do is start the conversation then sit back and listen (occasionally nodding or prodding to continue the discussion). ... read more