Graham and I left from Washington early Thursday morning for a 4 day ride in preparation for the “big” ride in two weeks. We ventured through Southern Illinois – down Hwy 1 to Cave In Rock and crossed the ferry into Kentucky. Our ride took us through Western Kentucky and Tennessee to Southaven, Mississippi, just south of Memphis. After 8 hours on the bikes – riding in sunny 95 degree weather, we arrived at the home of Walt Carnahan and family. Many of you from the Washington, IN area will remember Walt. He practiced medicine in Washington for several years. He is a good general practitioner. We have stayed in contact over the years and remain good friends. His son, Aaron, and Graham are the same age and were buddies when younger. Aaron will be leaving on Sunday, June 28, for his West Point appointment. Kate, his daughter, just graduated from Ole Miss and has an elementary teaching job in Southaven. Walt’s wife, Tammy, is a Nurse Practitioner and they work together in the clinic. Tammy has two sons, Grant and Tate. We enjoyed a dinner out with the whole family at a local bar-b-que restaurant. Just an observation – good friends are always good friends. It is that way every time Walt and I get together, we pick up right where we left off. Graham and Aaron really enjoyed each other’s company and took in the new Transformer movie, while Walt, Tammy and I did some catching up. It was also good to visit with Melanie, Walt’s former wife. She joined us for dinner and as a special treat, she made me a Key Lime pie. We had planned to camp in the back yard and set up our tent and shelter, but the air conditioned, carpeted living room floor was much more inviting. Walt and Tammy treated us to breakfast the next morning and after getting supplies for the next leg of the trip, we were off to Arkansas.

Another long hot day! The first two hours of riding was straight and flat, rice and cotton fields for miles and miles. The balance of the trip was in the Ozark hills – great motorcycle riding. We stopped often for drink and shade. The temperature was in the upper 90’s and sunny. We arrived late afternoon at Prairie Creek Marina on Beaver Lake and set up camp. The main reason for traveling to Northwest Arkansas was to visit with Tony Hise, a high school classmate. Graham and I met with Tony, Tim (Tony’s brother) and Cathy (Tim’s wife) for dinner. There were a lot of stories exchanged. Tim and Cathy were classmates of Susie. Tony and Tim gave Graham a chance to ask any question he wanted about me during high school/college years and they would truthfully???? answer. Thank goodness he didn’t ask. It had to be 90 degrees at 10:00 p.m. when we finally went down for bed. We sweat ourselves to sleep.

We were up moving early – trying to beat the forecasted heat, as we traveled from NW Arkansas to Jess and Tara’s place near St. Louis. Graham had a real scare. Driving on a hilly, curvy road, he rounded a curve to find a dog in the oncoming lane and a car in the middle of the road trying to avoid the dog. The only choice he had was to take the ditch. I’m not sure how he kept from crashing, but he rode the bike through a ditch and along a steep embankment until he couldn’t keep it upright any longer. The bike fell over half way down the embankment on the downhill side. By the time I realized he wasn’t behind me any more and turned around, a truck had stopped to help. We were able to upright the bike and with the help of some other good Samaritans, walked the bike up to the road. Fortunately, Graham was not hurt and the only damage to the bike was a couple of small dents in the exhaust. Considering the circumstances, we felt very blessed. After a stop at the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO, to get some camping supplies that we needed, we headed straight to St. Louis. We now know how to prepare ourselves for riding in hot weather. The next 3 hours of interstate riding in 100 degree temps were brutal. A shower and rest at Jess and Tara’s were wonderful. Graham and I watched Jack while Tara and Jess went out to dinner. Here is a picture of my Grandson, Jack. If he could talk, I know what he would say - "some day this will be my ride!"


Susie drove from Washington to meet us for the Cardinals – Twins game. The weather changed and we had a very pleasant, breezy day for the game. Unfortunately the Cardinals lost. This was our fourth game this year and we have yet to see the Cardinals win.

Overall it was a great trip for preparing for the “big” ride – covering 1250 miles, visiting friends and family and experiencing many different riding conditions. I failed to mention that I did purchase a GPS designed for motorcycles. It was great and will be a valuable asset for the trip. The next entry will be on July 7 – the first day of our trip. Until then – ride safe and so will we