1joeranger

Came across this a while back and thought it was very cool!! http://www.classicinstruments.com/seriesdetail.aspx?SeriesCode=-

Looking forward to this!!

I howled! Wife is taking me in to see the doctor!?

I am convinced that my RSTD will be waiting for me when I arrive in heaven. I cannot imagine Bella not being there waiting on you!!

Haven't used this but it may be helpful!! http://www.tripit.com/destinations/11-excellent-motorcycle-trip-planning-websites/

What worked, and works, for me is to drive 2 each 100 mile legs before lunch. 100 miles seems to be the magic number. Allows one to get off the bike, stretch legs, pee, check map, talk with locals! Lunch we always tried to find something unique. I remember eating at a golf course club in the middle of nowhere in Canada. The staff was a hoot, us being the only customers! View over the course and surrounding country side was awesome! With only a 100 mile leg remaining after. We could take our time and enjoy the afternoon. It allowed us to divert when something came up, either by info. from a local, or passing something that looked interesting such as a roadside zoo in California. Even with the diverted side trip we still had plenty of time to pull into a campsite set up and visit. I remember one evening somewhere on the St. Lawrence River near Quebec trying to figure out the next day adventure. A french lady who spoke very little english (just like me!) tried to help out. She, and her husband, gave us their map finally which was more detailed than mine. I spent a year saving and planning this trip. But gave myself room for spontaneity, and diversions. Only runnin outta money keep me from doing everything, but that is not a complaint. It was a trip of a lifetime!!

Did what you are going to do in 09' Left Destin, FL driving up through Blue Ridge Parkway till I hit the Great Lake at Buffalo. Turning east we did not stop till we saw the Atlantic in Nova Scotia. Then back through Maine to Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa finally returning via Sault Ste. Marie to the US. Then it was west toward Wall Drug Store in South Dakota. Skipped Sturgis, which was in full swing, instead heading for the Shasta Mountains of Oregon. Turned left at the Pacific and rode the Coastal Hwy 1 into. Shelter Cove Beach, CA. just south of Eureka. I flew my girlfriend home and waited for money from charitable family members. Hell ride (1 day) to Phoenix AR. Laid over with my oldest daughter celebrating my 51st and then returned east! All in all 12,000 miles, I think!! Favorite: Nova Scotia!! Friendliest people I have ever encountered. Least Favorite: California, just don't like the country there although the Redwoods had me staring in awed humble amazement!! Averaged 300 miles per day which is a good day ride. Allowed us to take it easy, break camp late, leisurely explore, and make camp before Oh dark thirty that evening! 500 to 700 is definitely doable but sucks up 10 to 14hrs especially off the interstates! Something to consider!

Charles Coolidge, medal of honor winner, [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDq4PxzxWUw]Charles Coolidge, Medal of Honor, WWII - YouTube[/ame] attended our church Sunday. We gave him a spontaneous standing applause! It was quite moving! I first meet him one afternoon when I chased down his van with my RSTD. I became curious when I saw a Tennessee license plate "6" with what I thought was the purple heart emblem next to it. Getting closer I realized it was the Medal of Honor emblem. He laughed at me when I told him I had been in the Rangers. He let me know there were no Rangers around the day he won his medal! This is one of two experiences in my life that makes me so proud to be a part of this brotherhood!

Missed out on senior year of high school to get the old GI Bill joining the Army in 76. Got my GED while in. Started on Associates in Drafting at San Antonio College in 82 upon leaving the Army. Graduated Texas A&M in 89 with a Bachelors in Construction. GI Bill paid up for all except the last three or so semesters. Honed my survival skills those last semesters working two jobs, paying child support, and finishing college!! Rather interesting lifestyle, interesting girlfriends, and interesting meals during that time. Not so rather interesting grades! Had a blast!!

OK, I think I gut this straight! Jello shooter, on some mans breasts, with rum balls, on a boat during a motorcycle rally. Oh yeah almost forgot the ice cream and the escorts. Sounds like what we did last weekend!! (There were I found out wives ain't partial to escorts!) I hoping for something a little more original this go around!!

I don't think my wife would be to happy me bringing an escort! Do they still call em that?!

I think most do not realize how big that jello shot actually is!? Not that I am any kind of expert!!

Run, Forest, I mean Freebird, RUN!!

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/66-burmashave.html

I know I am gonna regret asking! But "WOT"? Last visit to a military post makes me feel old. The acronyms I hear there are not the same as when I was there!

First and only bike I have seen that I like besides my RSTD. So I am curious of the pros and cons of an FJR. I know our engine is rated for 200,000 miles, etc. I know nothing about an FJR? I mean, How come Freebird choose a Gold Wing instead of an FJR? He did choose a Gold Wing, right?!

I googled mapped Prudhoe Bay not knowing where that might be. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=prudhoe+bay+ak&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x5120759875720bb9:0x9b76efe3a7385345,Prudhoe+Bay,+AK&gl=us&ei=rH9dUti0EI2A9gTTr4HoDg&ved=0CL8BELYD My jaw dropped! What a ride! Cannot wait to see some of the Youtube videos! Looking forward to reading the book. Hate to have heard about this man in such a way. My prayers go out to his family! Thanks for this.

Same thing! Lost balance and bike fell onto the trailer railing. Had a nice big baseball size dent in the tank. Add insult to injury I had just finished having the tank, side covers, fenders painted! Sick is putting it mildly! It was a used bike I had just bought and touched up! Had to go on the trailer cause I could not get her to start. I had replaced the head gasket that had leaked. It was my first, for me, big surgery on a bike. Long before internet, long before online manuals, The local bike mechanic had talked me through the procedure. I had unfortunately got the plugs mixed up and didn't know it. Today, years later I am sitting here thinking of that dent again. Bondo and another paint job fixed the bike. Hearing your similar experience is adding salve to my ego and a smile to my face!! Thanks!!

Actually we went looking for it and never found it. We did wind up eating at Tellicafe, a sandwich shop behind Hardee's. Had a Monte Cristo which I love! Plan on taking my mentor back there in a week or so. He is 84 and I think will get a kick outta Mr. Hall's museum. Plan on trying the Bakery now that I know where it is!! Thanks!!

Well, when you do you'll have a place to stay, just look me up!! BTW: Love the avatar!

Took a ride today through the Tennessee mountains heading east along the Ocoee river through the Cherokee National Forest and turning north at Ducktown, TN. Town use to be called Hiwassee which to me sounds intriguing! Why would anyone change it? Ducktown, was the best they could come up with? Anyhow stopped at Tellico Plains and toured their museum. http://www.charleshallmuseum.com/ Tellico Plains outside of being the entrance to Cherohala Hiway doesn't seem to have much to offer and museums are not really my thing. But it was free and we had not much better else to do. The Charles Hall Museum surprised me therefore. Their gun collection will make any infantryman drool! M14, .50 cal mg, .50 cal sniper rifle, etc.! The other displays are also quite impressive. The proprietor, Mr Charles Hall, is a little over 90 and has a handshake that most young men would envy. He told me he had paid for the buildings and done most of the displays. He pointed out a rotary phone which the kids always asks: "How does it work?" I wanted to spend all day talking with him and could tell there was a good story there. I will be going back, soon! It is probably one of the best backcountry mountain rides a biker can experience with scenery, curves, light traffic, and mountains. Just make sure the next time you zip through on your way to the Cherohala and/or The Dragon you check out Mr. Hall's museum!!

I took that ferry ride, back in 79! I was 20 with all the camping gear and a 12 yr old brother a Suzuki 550 could handle. My first road trip on a bike on my way to 33 days and 6600 miles! One of the deck hands, who looked like a mountain of a man approached me. He was quite intimidating! Turns at he was part of "Darby's Rangers" in WWII. He had seen my Ranger tshirt and wanted to share some memories with a fellow Ranger. What an honor!! Darby was know for wearing out his men with speed marches. This deck hand told me as a long distance runner they had not given him that much trouble. It was hard for me to picture this old man who looked like the front line of the Dallas Cowboys as a young greyhound. I have been back to the Outer Banks in all these past years a few times. The place always has the mystique quality of bringing me back to my youth. I always wear a Ranger Shirt hoping for this man's grandson to approach and mention his grandfather. Hasn't happened but it is still an honor!! Thanks for those pictures and awakening my past!

I now reside in Cleveland, TN with my wife. Have a view of Frog Mountain right out our back window. Love the roads and the locals! Hate the winters but that only cause I'm a Florida boy at heart!!

There is no load on that wall even your ceiling joists run the other way! That's real good news allowing you to make the changes mentioned by others here with very little fuss or major surgery!