What is it about me, Harleys and rain? Woke up to the sound of thunder and rain beating against the window. Stopped by the time I dragged my sorry ass (learning yank already) out of bed. Had brekkie and met my fellow travellers. Had only met two the night before (Simon and Vivien). Had pep talk from The Bear, riding techniques, etc, and then headed off in a limo to pick up the bikes.
We had a short 40 minute ride from picking the bikes up to our first stop, the rocket man at the Lauchpad Diner, by which time one of the party (Bill) had dropped his Road King twice. Bit different from the Matchless he’s used to riding. There is another tour going on at the same time as ours, through Eaglerider. Loads of Aussies and South Africans. A huge party of them. Luckily for us we are only six bikes. Nice and compact.
Taking it nice and steady. It’s hot though, freakin' hot. People are shedding clothes at every stop. The support vehicle is loaded with two ice coolers, with water in. Whenever we stop we can fill our bottles. Gary shows those of us with screens fitted to the bike a neat place to tuck the water bottle, especially useful when you have cruise control so can use either hand. A left turn and a bump and my bottle decides to eject out the side door, causing a mass pile up at the intersection. Only joking. I did lose the water though.
We stop for lunch at a welcomingly cool greekish establishment. I spot gyros platter on the menu and plump for that. Not realising it also comes with salad and a pud for $10. I’m stuffed by the time I’ve finished. Mind you, those that ordered the salad could hardly talk. Over in UK, what it was served in would be the serving dish for everyone, not just one person!!
People we have met so far have been very friendly. Lots of people just wave as you go by and they even stop to chat at the gas station.
Had a few spots of rain on a couple of occasions but nothing more than that. Otherwise sunny and temp in the 80s. Stopped off at a couple of old ‘attractions’, a restored garage and another tall man, this time holding a hotdog. Also passed through a town, which only last week, was hit by a tornado. Lots of firewood lying about! Apparently nobody was injured though. By the time we hit Springfield and our hotel, we were all ready for a beer or two, not all of us food! Walked down to some BBQ grill type place recommended by Gary and had a red Irish beer and a wheat beer, plus some mini chicken burger things in a spicy sauce. Not bad. Am convinced I shall be at least a stone heavier if this continues!
Tomorrow we’re off to Rolla, Missouri via St Louis and the Mississippi river. It’s an early start though so this is all for now.
Apologies for pic upload malfunction last night, Day 1 & 2 pics have now been put on flickr.
For those with restrictive company networks, there’s one below.
Neill
One hell of a sausage that one....
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