Blogs from Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States, North America

We will be leaving June 17th for Salem, Oregon with stops in Asheville, NC, Glacier National Park, Bellingham, WA, and San Simenon, CA. Ralf wore out 3 road maps getting the shortcut down from Jonesboro to Salem but I think he finally got it. New tires on bikes, oil changed and new K&N air filters on both,and new Clearwater lights mounted on Marlena along with a led conversion for MotoLites. Since we will be in the US the entire trip, the need for some of the extra tools and parts should not be as great as it was for the Alaska trips.... read more

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

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

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

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