Female Trailblazers

I was thinking about the day that we were at the Harley Davidson shop in Toledo, Ohio.  That was on Saturday, August 7, 2010.  We were listening to their in-store broadcast program,  Female Trailblazers. They mentioned Avis & Effie Hotchkiss, a mother-daughter team and the first women to ride cross-country on a motor cycle.  They rode from Brooklyn, New York to San Francisco, California in 1915. They left their home in May, reached San Francisco in August and returned home in October.


The next woman named was Dorothy “Dot” Robinson born April 22, 1912. She was considered one of the most enthusiastic & active women in motorcycling. She was the daughter of a sidecar manufacturer and owner of a Harley-Davidson dealership. Dot worked with her father starting at age 16. She met her future husband at the dealership and married in 1931. They brought the franchise from her father and she became the co-owner. She competed in endurance races in the Great Lakes and worked as a motorcycle courier for a private defense contractor during War World II. Dot was the first president of the Motor Maids and held that position for 25 years; she logged in up to 50,000 miles a year to help increase the visibility of the club. In her lifetime, she estimated having logged over 1.5 million total miles. In 1998 she was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

Bessie Stringfield was the third and last women discussed. She started riding when she was 16 years old.   At age 19 she became the first African–American woman to travel cross-country solo. This was in the 30’s & 40”s when it was rare to see a woman riding and even more rare to see an African American woman riding. When I looked her up on the internet, I learned that she was known as the Motorcycle Queen of Miami. She traveled in 48 states and later rode in Europe, Brazil and Haiti. She encountered racism, bigotry and sexism. At that time, due to racism and discrimination, African Americans had difficulties finding places (hotels, etc.) to stay. Bessie once told a reporter, “I knew the Lord would take care of me and he did. If I found black folks, I’d stay with them. If not I’d sleep at filling stations on my motorcycle.” During World War II, she joined a motorcycle dispatch unit of the army. For four years she was a courier. Bessie was honored in 1990 by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) “Heroes of Harley-Davidson.” Ten years later there was an award bearing her name to honor women regarding the sport of motorcycling. Bessie was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2002. She died in 1993 at age 82 after having owned 27 different Harley-Davidsons.



Weren’t they amazing?

Code of the Road

While traveling across the country again on the Harley, I paid more attention to what I call the “Code of the Road”. Motorcycle riders usually acknowledge each other. They put out their left arm. This is when they are traveling in the opposite direction. If riders pass each other while going the same direction they nod their heads. There are also times when a hand motion means to slow down. The rider extends the left arm and pats the palm several times down using a motion similar to the way a basketball player would bounce a basketball. One time, we pulled off to the side of the road and a rider gave us a thumbs up. I quickly learned that "thumbs up" means, "Are you OK?" At one point we actually needed help because our motorcycle wouldn't start. I thumbed down. Another rider, with one leg (yes, a one-legged rider! He had one prosethic leg), actually stopped for us to check on us. Riders do stop to help each other.

I especially like it when we would see one of those very long freight trains. Jim would wave at the engineer and he would blow his horn.

Family

“You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.”
Desmond Tutu

The morning of August 2, 2010, I read, “Christ in our home.” The reading was from the Book of Ecclesiastes 2:1-17.

"So Much to Do”

The end of this reading said, “Thankfully God’s love for us is not based on what we do, but on what Jesus did for us.” So why are our lives so busy and why are our to-do lists so very long? What are our priorities?

This vacation was great. It gave us time to slow down a little and to relax some. It also gave us time to reflect on what is important.

~Family~

The beginning of August we were with Jim’s cousins Terry and Phil in Aurora, Colorado. This visit was about nine days after the last family visit so we truly welcomed the break. Being with family is one of the best things about the trip. I miss my children, grands and siblings but it is great to see family members who live in other states.


First, we were with Jim’s cousins, Buddy and Katie in Serra Vista, Arizona on July 17, 2010. It was a great break from hotels. I told Katie that we were eating real food (great home cooking) as you know; we stated our journey on July 11, 2010. Then we were with Jim’s brother and wife, Jonathan & Lynne on July 18th & 19th. We had a wonderful time when they took us out to dinner (Texan Road House) Jim’s niece and nephew were there along with the new wife who is expecting their first child. On July 21st & 22nd, we were in Las Vegas, Nevada with Jim’s aunt & uncle, Theresa and Woody.  Theresa had homemade ice cream. Woody grilled some food fo us and took us to see a beautiful garden that happened to be in a casino. We also saw the largest water show I've ever seen at the Bellagio. All I could say was, “WOW, that’s a lot of water."   On July 24th we were in Monterey Park California.  Jim has a cousin named Sarah there however, we were not able to see her but we did  get to talk to her. As mentioned above we were in Aurora, Colorado. While there, we saw Terry’s mom, Catherine in Denver and also Terry’s brother, Skipper and his two children. Skipper helped Jim get to the Harley shop for routine maintenance. Around August 7th, we were in Chicago, Illinois and visited more family. We saw Bobby, Russell and Joy. Joy is 95 years old! Bobby took us to pick-up some south side ribs and we enjoyed them at Joy’s.


"The family is one of nature's masterpieces."
George Santayana

Hotels

Our last night in the hotel was on Saturday, August 7, 2010. That was at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Monroeville, PA. It was the 21st night in a hotel out of the 28 nights away from our home. This last week, Jim started saying “I do not know if my bed misses me but I miss my bed. At this point, I also missed our bed. Seven of the nights were with family. Some of the hotels were excellent, some good and some could have been better. When we were at the Days Inn in Princeton, Illinois, Jim said this Days Inn had the best water pressure in the shower. On Saturday morning, August 7, 2010 still at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Rossford, Ohio, he said that this Hampton Inn had the DoubleTree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in downtown Omaha beat because of the Great shower pressure. (I guess this shower was better than the Days Inn.) Hampton Inn & Suites also had a very good breakfast. Jim liked their bagel tops with the cheese eggs and bacon bits. I liked the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Omaha. We arrived about ten minutes before the end of their all you can eat Prime Rib Buffet. They held it open for us. We also had a voucher for breakfast the next day. They had a breakfast buffet but we could also order food from a menu. We also had leftover prime rib so we only needed eggs and OJ but got a full breakfast anyway. Most of the Best Western hotels were great. We stayed at eight of them. Jim is a Gold Elite Status member. His Hog membership collaborated with this hotel chain so we got discounts and free upgrades. The very first Best Western was a Jacuzzi Room. I believe we had four or five more Jacuzzi rooms. The Best Western –Pine Spring Inn in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico was lovely. They have a courtyard with rose gardens. Children were playing while parents were enjoying beverages. One hotel that could have been better was when we broke our rule of “NO NUMBERS” on 7/26/10. We stayed at Motor 6 in Reno, Nevada. It was getting late and dark. The room turned out to be OK.

Thank You

I still have several topics to post on this blog because I am still reminiscing about the trip. Jim & I really did something miraculous. Just the two of us travelling from coast to coast. YES there have been others to do this including Female Trailblazer, but can you imagine ~ It was really amazing. Now I am writing thank you cards to the family members that we stayed with on the trip. Pictures will also be placed in their cards. I also started putting pictures in our photo albums. I only have room for 1200 pictures. Yes we took a lot of pictures and we did 17 hours of video. Thank you to all of the family and friends that remained home and supported us in other ways.

Pins & Patches - Harley-Davidson

Last night,(Monday, August 22, 2010) Jim and I put pins and patches on our sleeveless denim Harley –Davidson vests. I now have twenty-five (25) pins on the front of my vest. Jim placed forty (40) patches on his vest and his dad will sew them on. He repositioned some, removed some and replaced some. He also has nineteen (19) pins. I guess you can tell we visited quite a few Harley-Davidson shops. I ordered a Harley-Davidson butterfly pin. Still waiting for it to arrive. That will be added to my collection.

List of Things

While traveling, we kept a list of mostly three things, Tolls, Gas and Hotels. We kept track of dates, places and amounts of tolls and for gas, dates, costs, miles, gallons and locations. For the hotels, we listed the dates, places, amounts and who paid. This way, we can total the cost of the trip. We never kept track of meals purchased or what we spent at the Harley-Davidson shops. Jim likes to purchase shirts, patches, shot glasses and sometimes pins from various locations. I usually get pins for my vest. We also brought Harley gifts for the grandchildren.

Reading

I did not do any reading this trip while riding on the motorcycle. During the 2007 trip across country, I did read two books while riding. This morning, in the hotel room, I read the book of Ecclesiastes. I think I want to explore this book of the Bible more when I get home. I also read Fredrick Douglass- Abolitionist & Reformer while visiting Therese & Woody on July 21st & 22nd. Other things that I read were the newspaper(some) and my "Christ in Our Home" daily devotions. My sister picked up a book for me from the library yesterday. I have been on the list since April, 2010. I am looking forward to reading this book and it is the book that my book club read at the overnight beach meeting on July 29, 2010. I think the title is Little Bee.

A Little Trivia & A Few Interesting Places

There are many, many points of interest in the US. While traveling, we came across a few. Did you know that?
Friona, Texas is the Hamburger capital of the world. Rigby, Idaho is the birthplace of Television. Inkom, Idaho has a population of 738 and the community name derives from an American Indian term for "come ahead." Chief Joseph(3/3/1840 - 9/21/1904) was the chief of the Wal-lam-wat-kain(Wallawa) band of the Nez Perce Tribe. Jim informed me that he once said,". . . I will fight no more forever." This was one of his many quotes and was stated after battling with the US army soldiers. We saw his name while riding through Yellowstone National Park. We visited Hover Dam on July 20, 2010 and on that day, the temperature was 119 degrees. Baker, CA, houses the largest thermometer in the world. It is 134 feet tall. Baker, CA is a small town near Nevada and is considered "The Gateway to Death Valley." We crossed the Rio Grandee River once in Texas and the Snake River twice in Idaho.We saw the famous Bonneville Salt Flats that borders Interstate 80 in Utah(south) and West Wendover, Nevada(west). It is the remnants of Lake Bonneville and stretches over 30,000 acres. Teddy Tezlaff, daredevil attempted an automobile speed record. He drove a Blitzen Benz 141.73 m.p.h. to set the official record in 1914. The Flats became international known in the 1930s. Records were made in the 1960s. Art Arfons(576.55 mph) & Craig Breedlove(600.6 mph) In 1970 Gary Gabdich attained 622 miles per hour. We are on our way up to Bear Tooth Pass in Montana today(11,000 feet up) to take some interesting shots. We'll get back to you later. Tina & Jim

Back At The Ranch

Back on Thursday, July 16, 2010, we had a great meal at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Jim found this place while watching the History Channel on television a while ago and decided that he wanted to go. This steak ranch is well known for their 72oz steaks. If you can eat the whole steak in 1 hour it is FREE. Once there, we also found out that a baked potato, roll, salad and shrimp cocktail must also be eaten within that 60 minutes. That's a lot of food. The meal was on display and we took pictures. They also had a chart with a list of people who were successful. (NO, we didn't try)

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is like a theme place, complete with a gift shop, slot machines, shooting games and more. There was a motel on the grounds and very large statues of a cow and of a boot. They also had a few of those cut outs that you put your face in to take pictures. Yes we took pictures.

Happy Birthday Dahmir - July 27, 2010

"Thanks be to God" On Tuesday, July 27th, Dahmir was 9 years old. I called him on his birthday and in order to do that, I had to get up very early. We were in Reno, Nevada and there is a three hour time difference. I  spoke with him and his sister, Amaia.  They were having their breakfast. I also spoke with my youngest granddaughter, Nile a few times on this trip. She is such a talker. Last night, I attempted to reach a few of my book club friends. They are at Ocean City, New Jersey for our annual overnight beach meeting. I will see them next meeting and will see my grans in about 15 days. Still riding and having fun.

Utah Winds

We are at the Oquirrah Inn, 8740 North State Highway 36, Lakepoint, Utah 84074. This is 18 miles from our goal of Salt Lake City, Utah. Last night the winds were extremely strong and it also rained. We rode through wind and rain as we got closed to Salt Lake, but then we got to a sign that said, "Strong Wind Gust Area." My question was,"How much stronger can they get?" They got stronger. A lot stronger. We rode on the shoulder for over 30 miles at about 20 MPH until we found some place to stay. 

Need a computer

It is not easy typing on Jim's IPod touch. There is so much to write about. We are near Magic Mountain, CA.

Interesting People

It is Monday, July 19, 2010 and we are at Jonathan & Lynne’s house in Chandler, AZ. Jonathan is Jim’s brother. I’m watching “Touch by an Angel” and thinking about some of the people that we met while at rest stops. There was the one biker that we met on Tuesday, July 13th and I already quoted him earlier. He said
“Keep it in the wind and on two wheels” Then we met a guy name Pete in Deming, New Mexico. People usually just walk right up to us and start a conversation by asking where we are from or where we are going. Well, Pete appeared to be about late 60ish and told us that he did a trip of 13,000 miles on a smaller bike. He went to the tip of Argentina. Jim estimated our total trip to be about 8,000 miles. Then there was another guy that was telling us about a trip that his friend was in. He said that they rode from Florida to Alaska and the first person there received ½ million dollars. It cost $1,000.00 to enter and it took them 7 days. His friend was number 37 out of 1500 riders. Today, Jim went to an area Harley Davidson dealer to have the Harley serviced and to purchase a long sleeve shirt for me. (Sun poison on my arms) While at the shop, he met other people who also rode from Florida to Alaska. Jim took a picture of the Banner that read.

HOKA HEY

. . .but not today

Key West, Florida to Homer, Alaska

13 days, 9,100 miles. Finished 115 & 116 out of 683

E.B. Chester & Travis Metcalfe. June 20 to July 3, 2010

There was also a guy name David that I ran into coming out of the rest room. He wanted to ask a few questions and I answered. He informed me that he would only try riding coast to coast on a Gold Wing Honda.

A Honda, yea right.

These were only a few of the many interesting people that we met and I am sure that we will meet many more.

What Day is It?

I was getting ready to read a page from,"Christ in Our Home" and I forgot what the day and date was. I looked on the television and did not see anything so I looked on my cell phone. It said Tuesday, July 20, 2010. I guess this is what happens when you are on vacation Especially a nice long vacation. I will now get back to my mini devotions.

Testing this blog

Yesterday and again this morning, I had something to write but the site was giving me problems. I tried to write in word and then paste, but it would not let me. I believe the system was thinking. Had a great time with Jim's brother over the past two days. We are now heading to Jim's aunt's home in Vegas.

SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO BEERS IS...

They say the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but what about the distance between two beers?  Beer number one was consumed in Atlantic City on Sunday, 7/11.  Beer number two, which was an ice cold Corona was consumed at the Nogales- Arizona border next to the Mexican border on Sunday,7/18.  I certainly hope the next beer is a lot closer than the 2800 miles between the first two. Oh, yeah, Los Angeles (beer 3) is only 600 miles away. I'm getting thirsty already!    by Jim Benton

Time to do the Laundry

We are now in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico and we are both very tire. It is 11:25PM but we must finish the laundry. We started the ride on Sunday and we said that we packed for 4 days, well it is now 6 days. I think we packed a few extra items of clothing.

The ride today (Friday) thru New Mexico was nice. We left flat plans and hot weather to cooler mountains and weather of about 65 degrees.

Weather

There were two comments on the first post and one was about the weather back home. The weather is very hot. It may be between 95 - 103 degrees but we have not had very much rain. One evening we may have been in rain for about 3 minutes. It was light and not enough to put on the rain gear.

The Gateway Arch in St Louis, Missouri

There is so much to write about when you are on a trip like this. There is not enough time to write and not enough computers to blog. On Tuesday, July 13, 2010, we visited the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. Years ago, my daughter gave me a post card of the Arch when she was there and in 2007, Jim and I saw it in passing on our motorcycle trip. This time, we saw it up close and personal. I touched it. Jim and I parked about 3 blocks away and the parking attendance watched the bike and all of our stuff. We walked in the 103 degree sunny weather thru the gateway park( after the 3 blocks) to the Arch. There were benches in the park so whenever we found shade, we sat down. Once we got to the Arch, we took some pictures. Actually, we took pictures of the Mississippi River prior to getting to the Arch. In order to get into the Arch building, we had to stand in a security line, take off our watches, belts, etc. From there, it was a line to pay for tickets and a line to go up in the Arch. We decided not to go up because the tram was so small and held 5 people. The area was very tight. I quickly visited the museum store and the museum. I took some pictures in the museum. I was glad to be able to visit the Arch on this trip.

Good Food

As always, I said my prayers this morning. I thought about what I wrote down on Tuesday when we were at Maggie O'Brien's Restaurant & Irish Pub.

May the road rise with you

May the wind be always at your back

May the sunshine be warm upon your

face and the rain fall soft upon your fields

and until we meet again...May God keep you in the

hollow of his hand.

   Irish Blessing

Jim really enjoyed the St Louis Style BBQ Ribs and so did I. The ribs were one thing on his list that he wanted to do in St. Louis, MO. The day before, (Monday) we enjoyed Donatos Pizza in Columbus, Ohio. We love this flat crust pizza that used to be in Flourtown, PA which is very close to where we live. The company started out in Ohio and tried other areas. When they moved and I tried to call to get a new location, I was told that the nearest location was in Ohio and that they could not compete with the mom & pop places in the area so after a few years, they left. Whenever we are in the Ohio area, we get their pizza. Reading their wall it said,

"Pizza is a slice of Life"

Going West

I am at the Marriott Courtyard writing in my journal with my feet in the whirlpool. My feet are my biggest problem, not my butt. "Riding a motocycle pushes the limits of physical endurances." Jim shared this quote with me yesterday while we were riding. I need to look up the author. He said that many years ago, a co-worker put a piece of paper on his desk and that is what was on the paper. We arrived in St. Louis on Monday evening at 11:00PM after riding 650 miles. On Sunday, we left Penllyn, PA and rode to Atlantic City, New Jersey so that Jim could put his right food in the Atlantic Ocean. From there, we stayed in Bentleyville, PA after riding 465 miles. His goal was to reach Pittsburgh but he decided to go farther. When we were leaving the Best Western in Bentleyville, (the hotel that gave us an upgrade to a jacuzzi room because of Harley Davidson membership) we met a guy named Dan. He suggested that we visit Crystal lake in Roswell. He also said,"Keep it in the wind and on two wheels."

Good Morning Sunday July 11,2010

The weather forecast is great. We are packed and ready to go. I was sorting a few papers to throw away and I found something that I wrote in church last week."Pack light, give up the need to control." I think this is so true when traveling on a motorcycle. You kinda go with the flow.

Not the First Day

This was to be the first day of our journey, however, it rained. It really rained hard. The forecast is for thunderstorms all day with heavy down pours and flooding. Jim said that if we were already into the ride we would pull over, put on our rain gear and keep going, but he is not going to start out in heavy rain. So, today we went through our stuff, put most of it in the bike and we will get an early start tomorrow. Jim has been planning for this trip for about two years. He wanted to do one last long trip before he turns 60. That special birthday will be in November. He said, however long he lives after this motorcycle trip, he'll have stories to tell forever after that. I believe that this trip is one item on his bucket list.            Mark Twain reflected this thought as written in a book by Thomas Kindade, A Book of Joy.      

 Twenty years from now

you will be more disappointed

by the things that you didn't do

than the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

                                                  

Creating a Blog (Again)

 I think I did it. We will see. I decided to try this weblog for our motorcycle trip across the United States. We are looking forward to this trip. I actually wrote this on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 6:19PM when I created the first blog with the misspelled IP address.