I had hoped to update everyone sometime last night with a 'last night in Johnson City' entry... but the computer's were packed before I had a chance, and by the time we finished loading all my stuff into the truck it was nearly 3:30 in the morning. I had planned to have a great deal more done earlier, but there were so many interruptions through the day that things didn't quite get done as quickly as I had anticipated. Nathan, Mitch and Jacob all came by to see and sign the picture... and I was just moving too slowly to get done at a reasonable hour. Jacob and I had missed each other all week. He came by yesterday before work and brought a first aid kit, along with a good length of rope (just in case). Thankfully, that evening Steph and Kendra came over to help pack and keep me company and were able to motivate :) The packing process ran so late that Jacob came back over after finishing work and we re-packed the truck once more b/c everything didn't quite fit on the first few attempts. So, BIG thanks to Jacob, Stephanie and Kendra for everything that they did for me yesterday.
Just before leaving, final check of the trailer.
Dave, cheesin' a bit.
Loaded down!!
Bikes!!
Strapped in pretty good...
Navigator, good to have... MS Streets and Trips :)
Finally on the road
Well, we didn't quite make it as far as we originally planned today... as expected, given the late packing completion, we got a later start than originally planned and didn't actually get onto the interstate until around 12ish, but we did make it to St. Louis. We stopped at the arch, briefly, but couldn't find a decent place to park. Turns out that the RV/Trailer parking was in a 'shady' section of riverfront in where neither of us felt very comfortable leaving the bikes and truck, so... we got a close-up of the arch from the truck and made our way onto I70 headed toward Kansas City.
The trip to this point was relatively uneventful... with only two minor exceptions.
1. I knew we were going to have problems with the damned license plate bracket. When I moved the trailer from my Uncle Ken's house to the apartment the tag drug the ground, bending it pretty good, and Just outside of Knoxville one of the bolts that held the plate in place came lose.. leaving it flapping in the wind for who knows how long, until I checked the trailer in the mirror and saw it. Of course it was raining, and there wasn't much room on the interstate shoulder, but I was thankfully bright enough to put my toolbox in a very accessible place and was able to find a zip tie and a lockwasher (for the nut/bolt that remained) to secure the plate.
Small tag modification... turned the bracket around b/c it was dragging (but the bolts didn't hold.
2. I'll try to describe this well, because it was very surreal for me. I had just answered a welcome call from my father, who was checking to see that we were on our way, and when I look back up at the road (brief glance to get my phone from it's resting place) I see one of those large, plastic playground sets, cartwheeling through the air toward us at high-speed!! Some nut in a pickup a few car-lengths ahead of us had this thing in the bed of his or her pickup, but didn't secure it properly and it was lofted some 10 or more feet into the air, landing only a car-length or so in front of the truck... now I'm not quite sure what the conversation sounded like on the other end of the phone, but I think I cursed once or twice as I started to think about where to swerve, how NOT to swerve too much, and how to avoid the heavy plastic playground that had managed to find its way into my path. As it fell, it broke into two pieces, the larger fell in the lane, just to the right of the dotted-white divider, the other part fell just over the other white line, a quick swerve to the right found just enough room for the truck and trailer... then I saw the truck leave the road, attempting to stop to pickup the pieces. Sadly the folks behind us had even less reaction time than I did, and there were SEVERAL near misses... a minivan, followed by an 18 wheeler... the van got by just fine, but the truck .. scared me a bit as it swerved b/c the trailer looked as though it would tip from the driver's reaction to the obstacle in the road.
Thankfully it seemed, at least from what I was able to see in the rearview as we put some distance on the playground that everyone was ok.
Our first stop for food, Cracker Barrel... breakfast is always good!
Me outside the Cracker Barrel.
So.. Dave and I have had this recurring theme that there is no originality in 'place' names across the US... have a look at this exit sign.
While it was a bit of a let-down not stopping at riverfront park and riding up in the arch, it was dark, and more than likely, because it was after 10pm, we wouldn't have been able to see the inside anyway. So, we pushed on and stopped just outside St. Louis, stopping at a particularly shady Motel 6 (It says something when there's a police substation is located inside the motel).... We walk to the room, passing some 'sweet' smelling bedroms, sensimilia aroma... haven't smelled that in quite a while.... we also realize that there's no way to move the truck to anywhere w/in view of the room... So, 3 chains w/ 2 master locks through the bike's swingarms... hopefully that'll deter any casual theives.
I also realized that I don't have a data cable for my phone, which unfortunately means that all the pics we took today will have to wait until I can spot a place to pick one up. So, you poor folks will be stuck w/ only my ramblings until then! I promise I'll update with pics as soon as I can..... also, we're in a hotel tonight, but will most likely be camping for the next couple of days... so there may not be any updates for a bit....
until next time!
P.S. Did I ever mention how much I HATE snoring? Totally grotesque noise -- usually fairly loud. Unfortunately I've always been a very light sleeper -- which makes it very difficult to get any sleep when my roomate does the whole snoring thing .. breathe right strips anyone? I think a grocery/drug store trip may be in order :)
Although, from what I understand, Dave's snoring doesn't hold a candle to Nathan.. LOL. That was a really fun trip!
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