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.