Day 2 - E&E's and Road Construction

Deal’s Gap, NC to Little Rock, AR (via TN and MS)

Daily milage: 590mi

Total mileage: 1085mi

State count: 5

What a wonderful night spent on the Dragon!  Such a special place for us it seems, and we were so happy that we could make it fit into the schedule.  Stickers were bought and put on the bike, along with a new pin for the “Adventure Box” (the top case that’s on Martinique’s bike, that represents all our adventures).

We started our day by heading into Knoxville from the Dragon.  HAD to find a Krystal since we’re deprived of them up North.

There was a group of old guys hanging out while we were there.  They were very interested in our stickers “Just Married” and where we were headed.  They provided some good tips (Hwy 70).  After a look at the storm that was coming in (that’d hit OK  City the night before) we decided that we wanted to try and head south (instead of the slightly upward trek I-40 has) and picked a route that wound it’s way down through Southern TN.  Our original plan for the first few days was to slab it out West so we could get there any enjoy ourselves, but now that just wasn’t seeming as fun.

We stopped for lunch at this place along the side of Hwy 64 called E&E’s Food and Spirits.  Place looked pretty sketch (we forgot to grab a photo) but there was a bunch of bikes, including two GS’s and an XR1200, so we turned around and pulled in.  Immediately, the guy on the XR1200 came out (a local) and starting chatting us up.  He said the pizza was amazing so we ended up getting that with everything they had (including cactus!). We were only able to eat half, so we had some for dinner, and breakfast the next more also! The owner of E&E’s was a Marine veteran F4 fighter pilot from Vietnam. VERY nice guy, and he made some killer pizza! Very much a hole in the wall, but a great stop!!

What was left of our pizza:

We donned our rain gear before leaving E&E’s with the thought that rain would hit us in an hour.  Not 20 minutes after rolling it started to come down.  Not at all close to the worst we’ve ever ridden in, but still pretty sketch when you’re trying to go 70mph.  But we faired all right with the super PR2’s and 3’s that Larkin hooked us up with.

We had opted for a more southern route after a “route suggestion” from Apple maps took us through MS for a ways.  Why not knock another state off the list!  So we dipped down, and picked up that state too.  We had though we could make it to West Memphis for the evening, but as we got closer, and there was still a lot of daylight, we tossed around the idea of continuing onto Little Rock for the evening.  When we pulled into the Red Rook Inn in West Memphis, we confirmed the idea to continue to Little Rock.  It was way to sketchy to leave our bikes outside overnight, and Yelp was showing one star for ratings, while Little Rock RRI had 4 stars.  So we jumped on I-40 ready to bang out the 120 extra miles.

And then we hit construction… Because we didn’t listen to the five signs before warning of massive road construction efforts between Memphis and Little Rock.  Added about an hour onto our trip to get to Little Rock, and we were ready for bed when we got there.  Martinique ended up having a fever by the end of the day.  Seems we’re both battling whatever it is.  We’ll pick up some drugs in the morning, and now with only ~850mil to Taos, NM for the next two days, the travel is much more manageable.  We’re gonna keep on keepin’ on!!

Day 1 - And We're Off!!

Richmond, VA to Deal's Gap, NC (via TN)
Daily Mileage: 495mi
Trip Mileage: 495mi
State Count: 3

After a year and a half of planning, we launch on our five week, 35 day adventure. J This morning started with a furry of packing, trying to make sure we had everything.  Luckily, we’d been adding things to a list (and had two bins  of random items we wanted to make sure we packed). We also had numerous “Just Married” and “OFP Racing” stickers we put on the bikes this morning.  After all that was completed, we hit the road at 10:00am ready to attack the day.

The original plan had been to get to Bristol, TN today.  But after Larkin coming home early last night, and having a bit of extra time, we decided to try and make it to Knoxville.  Martinique had made mention a few days ago about not having Dragon stickers on the Beemer, but we’d decided that it was a bit out of the way to go to Deal’s Gap.  Well, after making it to within an hour of Knoxville, and it only being 3:30, we decided, what the heck, we’re OFP!  What could be better than going to the place where we first said ILU, on our honeymoon!

Besides a pretty sore throat for Martinique, and the start of one for Larkin, we’re doing pretty good.  It probably has a lot to do with thick pollen and allergies.  The bikes have pollen all over them.  Today was a blast and not too hot, tomorrow we’ll set out early for Little Rock!

T-1, the night before...

Almost time to leave!!  Can't believe it.  Over a year and a half of talking and "planning" this trip, and it's finally happening, it's almost surreal.  It's hard to think that we'll be on the road for five whole weeks.  But that's nothing compared to our friends over at RideDOT.com, an amazing blog I LOVE to read. :)

After a frantic week for Martinique trying to get all the loose ends tied up at work, and a lot of pressure on Larkin working through the last of the Beemer issues and just general bike prep, everything is all together and we're ready to finalize the details and get on the road!  The last of the packing needs to be done, but since Martinique is incapable of packing more then three hours before departure...  That'll happen tomorrow. :)

Larkin was extra on the medic unit, and was able to use annual leave to dip out early in order to ensure a good nights rest.  The goal is to hit the road by 9am tomorrow, to try and avoid the very hot mid afternoon we're sure to hit.  With highs in the 90's, we're definitely not acclimatized to those extreme temps just yet, and it may make the start of our trip a little difficult.

Here's the starting map:


This is on my top case, representing all the states we've rode in together.  Both Louisiana and South Carolina were done via trackdays. :) We'll be knocking out a lot of these over the next 5 weeks... :D

Finally, here's a friend Larkin picked up while packing last night...


Stay tuned... It's gonna get crazy!! :D

Oh yeah, and don't forget to check out our Facebook page OFP Racing & Adventures.  We'll be posting pics, status updates, and a route tracker on there real time. :)

Day 9 - The sounds of Indy

After waking up this morning and packing up the bikes, we realized we didn't have a tent to camp with. Jeremy offered us the pull out for another night, and we gladly accepted.

So we unloaded everything we didn't need so we'd have room for our gear in the saddlebags and headed to a laundromat. With the addition of three days of travel, we needed some clean clothes. We ate some breakfast at White Castle while we waited for the clothes to dry, then headed to the track.

Jeremy had given us directions to the free bike parking, but we had no idea we'd be parking where the Indy cars race!! We got to park on the back straight of the oval!! Super awesome, and so many bikes! It was like a bike show just trying to walk in, lol!!

GP practice was just wrapping up as we got to the track. So we walked around the vendor areas and met up with friends. We just missed Elena at the Suzuki tent, so we took note to show up tomorrow at 11.

We spent the day walking around checking out the vendors and running into friends. It was quite a blast. Watching qualifying was pretty cool too, although there were a number of crashes. We even got to walk down put lane at the end of the day which was pretty awesome.

We ended the day at White Castle with friends who hadn't been yet. Dinner of champions, lol. By the time we got home at 9pm, we were pooped!! Showered up, and watched some GP recap action on TV. Then passed out, excited for the racing action tomorrow!!

Day 8 - The long, horrible, painful road to Indy...

So... As the title might indicate, today was not the best of days... After a bit of a late start (8:00) we were able to make it down the road 130 miles before stopping for breakfast at an Eat'n'Park. Good breakfast, but when we came out, it started to rain. We headed to Home Depot to get a replacement bulb for one of Larkin's spotter lights, then got on the road to head to a BBQ place to snap a pic for PA. Right across the street from our destination for the pic was a covered gas station so we took shelter to try and ride the storm out. We donned our bootie covers (for the wet roads) but that was it since the rain had mostly stopped. There was another little storm behind it, but we weren't too worried. So off we went.

We wanted to get to Columbus, so we could have just one more stop before Indy. Unfortunately, traffic had other plans. Shortly after crossing into Ohio, we ran into stopped traffic for construction. So we sat, and sat, and moved 50 feet and sat (similar to day 1). A car (from Chantilly no less) attempted to lane share with me. When I blasted my horn instead of backing off, they just kept being their shiny black Lexus SUV right into me. I gave up and backed off. It was so pointless for the to move over anyways! We're barely moving!! And the two lanes are moving at basically the same speed!! Ugh.

After awhile, five motorcycles rode by on the shoulder. After some debating of pro/cons, we decided to go for it. "They can't write us all!" was Larkin's mindset. My fan had been on way too long, I was starting to get dehydrated, and my left hand was cramping up bad. We didn't go very far at all when a car jumped out in front of the bikes we were joining up with. He was trying to block them, but they were able to slip by somehow. By the time we got to him he was out for blood. He was no longer using his vehicle to block, but rather as a weapon. I got pissed and opted to just pull over. I needed Motrin and some water. A few cars back from battering ram guy, was a guy who asked if I wanted to borrow his 9mm. Thanks dude, would love to!! Just kidding, but this guy was trying to kill me. So we hydrate a bit, take some Motrin and try to ride the shoulder again. (I'll note that we're STUCK on the interstate. Since we hit construction traffic there hasn't been an exit, so we literally have no where to go.) As soon as we get up to the guy, he swerves to the shoulder, fully, so I take his place in the regular lane. He's not going to have that either, as he starts pushing towards me, Larkin says "He has nothing to lose" so I back off. I'm so angry, I back off. Larkin starts talking to the guy, pleading because of how I'm feeling. He doesn't care. After calling him a d-bag numerous times the guy admits to riding a Harley!! WTF dude!! Ugh!! The car behind us appears to be trying to pass us, and I think he's pissed at battering ram guy. We let him around so he can try and deal with the fool. But alas, he's not able to right this guy either. I'm near my breaking point when it finally let's up. So not what we needed for this day...

Instead of stopping, we hammer down to get to Columbus which is about 100mi away at this point. We take a much needed break there, but end up taking an hour and a half. We're just so beat physically and mentally. We have about 160mi left so we saddle up and get moving.

The last leg is uneventful save for a false neutral that freaked me out. I couldn't get the bike into gear so I put on my flashers and pulled off the interstate and asked Larkin to pull off ahead of me, I'd coast up to him. As soon as I pulled off, so did a big, black Suburban from CT. A guy jumped out and waved for us to ride up to them. Some fellow riders headed to Indy, he just wanted to make sure we were okay. I was able to get it into gear at that point so we thanked him and said we were good. He offered to ride behind us just in case but we declined. Just a minor recurring issue I hadn't been able to fix on the fly. :-)

So after a very painful 160mi, we made it to our dinner stop to meet up with Jeremy and Stacy. We were going to go to Jersey Cafe (apparently it was on the travel channel) but it was packed so we opted for an Italian place nearby that was pretty yummy. After some debating on what to do, camp at the track or get a hotel room (which most everything was sold out) Jeremy and Stacy offered their pull-out for us. Which was awesome cause then we could shower and clean-up, and camp at the track tomorrow night.

So after a quick shower we passed out. Two 550 mile days back to back had really done us in. A lot of learning, and this will really help for next year. Sweet dreams!! :-)

Day 7 - The road to Indy!!

The beginning of today seems so long ago!! But we're on the road to Moto GP!

So today started bright and early. Larkin made a 6am call to his Capt, who informed him he needed to go through staffing for the leave request. So he sent an email and we waited for a response. We mapped out a route to pick up a Vermont BBQ place since we'd missed it on our way to Maine and headed out. The plan was to head South, waiting for an answer. If it was not approved, we'd head over to RI and get that state too. If it WAS approved, we'd head straight to get my tire changed, missing RI.

So off we went. There was a nice little diner in the town of our stop in VT so we got some hearty breakfast. While we're there, Larkin gets the email. Approved!! We're going to Indy!! I email my boss to secure leave, then realize I'm working next weekend and need to take Monday off anyways!! WOOT!!!!! So we get going, lotta ground to cover today!

We had the "toll avoidances" option activated on the GPS and it didn't work out too bad. Took some beautiful parkways through CT and NJ. Stopped for lunch just short of our tire changing stop, so we arrived there around 3:30. We wanted to leave around 5:00 at the latest so we could knock out another 150mi before stopping for the night.

Rubber Chicken Racing Service did a great job with my bike and got me up and running again. HUGE thanks for Tom for hooking it up while we were on the road. Def took great care of us. It's great having all these track friends scattered across the country. :-) With a brand new Q2 on the back, I was ready to rock and roll again!

Tom escorted us through town to put us back on the interstate so we wouldn't have to navigate ourselves. It was too bad it was a short visit but we should be seeing him in two weeks at VIR. :-) So, pointed West, off we went. About 100mi later we stopped for fuel. Our planned stop for the evening was only 30mi away, but Breezewood was 100mi away and that'd make tomorrow a more manageable day. So off we went with a planned arrival in Breezewood of 9:00pm. The worst thing about driving at night with my headlight is that the high beam blinds Larkin in his mirrors. But for the most part, we had light and it wasn't too bad. Made the last 100mi without incident. Had some famous bowls at KFC, yum! Met a guy from MD headed home from a three and a half week excursion (that'll be us next year!!). Also met a guy from San Diego (originally Australia) who was appalled at the toll roads, and that they charged Larkin and I $17.25 each for the last 200 miles. Seeing places, meeting people, what a great day! We've gone over 2000 miles on the tripometer so far, and still have 1000 miles to go!! This is DEF an epic adventure!! Tomorrow we arrive in Indy!!

Day 6 - Leaving Acadia

Ahh!! So much fun at Acadia National Park with our awesome friends!! So sad to leave today. We slept in a little too much, but it was some much needed rest after Cadillac Mountain yesterday. But we got up and moving, got the bikes packed, ready to go, and my bike was COMPLETELY dead. Since my bump starting skills are amateur at best, Larkin hopped on and tried to get it going with Mica pushing down a LOOOONG hill. Nothing. Dead. Dead. Dead. So Mica brought the truck around so we could jump my bike. Took a little bit to build up enough juice, but we finally got it started and on our way to breakfast!!

So we headed into Bar Harbor for some awesome breakfast. The blueberry pancakes were AMAZING but someone "doesn't like puttin' fruit in stuff that's supposed to be good" so he had tasty plain pancakes. :-)

So after our sad goodbyes, we headed out a little before noon (later than we wanted but meh). It really was very fortunate that Larkin and I were able to mesh our trip with our friends. We both feel very fortunate for the awesome experience. Acadia National Park FTMFW!! :-)

Today turned out to be pretty uneventful. We opted to skip I-95 and instead head down Rt 1, thinking the coastal ride would be more fun. But the craziness of the small tourist towns was almost more than we could handle. Took FOREVER to get anywhere. We had our sights set on VT since we'd missed a BBQ place on the way to Maine due to the nasty weather. Made it to Keene, NH, about 30 minutes from the BBQ place we scoped out on Google Maps. These places are not as abundant as they are in the South, that's for sure!

So, as we're sitting at the gas station in Keene, looking up a place to stay, and I'm playing around on FB, I mention something about a few friends checking in near Indy for the Moto GP races. We kept talking about it, but Larkin has to work Saturday. But the Battalion Chief can approve leave. His crew is on today, so he attempted to call his Lt to discuss, but he's also on his Kelly day. SO... He'll call his Capt first thing tomorrow morning when they get in (6am). Then he can run it up the chain. It's a slim chance, but if it happens? Total epicness for this trip. So fingers crossed. :-) We've got it planned out, ready to rock and roll if it happens. I'll most def need that tire we're getting tomorrow though!! Can't. Freaking. Wait. Sooooo excited!! Stay tuned!! :-)