Monday, May 29, 2006
Memorial Day
Pensacola to Tyler, TX
Getting up early wasn't gonna happen today - my body needed the rest, so instead of leaving at o'dark thiry, I left close to 0800 in 72* temps, soon to climb to the mid 80s. I had checked on the NPS Website and Vicksburg was going to be open. Couple that fact with forecasts of strong t'stoms in the Houston area and I chose the more northerly route thru DFW.
Entered Alabama at 0815 and took a short side trip to see the USS Alabama, a WWII battleship, now a museum. The grounds also have Korea, Vietnam and Iraq memorials and I'm certain there will be ceremonies today. Thanks to ALL veterans for their service and willingness to sacrifice whatever to preserve our freedom.
After a small pilot error, got back on track and headed NW thru Alabama, Rte 98 ended up as a 2-lane road, clogged with traffic, but as soon as I entered Mississippi (0940), it opened up to a 4 land divided and considerably faster. That was a good thing because I was getting tired of looking at the tail end of the Chevy Blazer in front of me with no right rear brake light. When we got to the 4 lane, I tried to pull up the the driver's side and motion for her to roll her window down - she was too engrossed in her probably most important phone conversation to pay attention to me, so I said the hell with it and rolled on. Let someone else tell her about her busted taillight - maybe the same cop who tickets her for inattentive driving - heh,heh,heh!
Stopped at Vicksburg and got a stamp there. In the bookstore, I saw a brand new tour book - larger, like a daily planner with a lot more information, bigger maps, etc. Maybe next year, That new edition, however, showed a NM just outside of Epps, LA, slightly north of I-20. If it was true, it would save me a lot of time instead of heading south to Natchez. I decided to give it a try, knowing that there was a 50-50 chance of it being true because there was no mention if it being a NM in any other reference I checked.
Along the western horizon I can see storm cells building and I know I'm gonna get wet sometime or another the afternoon.
Crossed the Mississippi River and into Louisiana about 1340, with the rain just starting to come down. I passed a couple of Harley riders holed up underneath an overpass and as the rain started to come down harder, I considered how to get out of this monsoon ASAP. The exit to Epps came up and I exited, headed to the canopy over the pumps at a Citgo station. After about 20 minutes, the rain slowed down somewhat and I headed for Epps and Poverty Point ?NM.
36 useless miles later, I got back on the Interstate. Turns out that it was an histtoric site, but was a state site, not a national site. No joy!
By this time, I'm starting to get back into rider mode versus cruiser mode. I notched the steam gauge at 75 mph (by the GPS) and boogied. Got into Texas about 1835 and had to decide if I wanted to continue on the the proposed final destination for this leg, or cut it short, rest a little better and recalculate based upon my current position.
I stopped at Tyler, TX about 2015 hours. This isn't an Iron Butt ride and I have to keep telling myself that. As I look at my average speed and the total time/stopped time I see where the difference between IB rides and my current ride differ: On IB rides, the stopped times would be considerably less and the average speed would be a LOT higher.
Last gas stop in Shreveport was a comedy of errors...
I'm always looking for the cheapest gas and found a Citgo station with gas 3 cents/gallon less than the other stations around, so I pulled in. First pump - no hose; second pump - no credit card display, so I went to the third pump where I had seen someone get gas earlier, so I know it works. First thing I notice is a sign saying that I have to go inside for a receipt - that's okay, I need water and ice anyway. I fill up and go inside for water and ice, buy it and return to the bike to clean windshield and visor. I remember that I still need a receipt and go back inside. The gal behind the counter must have been new, because she couldn't make a receipt happen. She calls her boss, he fumbles around for a little while, give me some lame excuse that he can't print a receipt for blah, blah, blah and give me a prepaid receipt for $16, no gallons, etc. I finally gave up, took the receipt and left. It wasn't worth saving 3 cents per gallon on a 6 gallon purchase. Ah, me!!
Sooooo, the plan looks like I'm headed for El Paso for tomorrow night. I won't be able to get a stamp there until 0800the next day, so I'll get that one, head for White Sands, get a stamp and head west. Temps here look like they are gonna be brutal, so I may not make it to San Diego until Friday, but for now, I'm aiming for Thursday evenng in SD and Corner #3 of the 4 Corners Tour. We'll see...
Daily stats:
Tyler ,TX
Odo: 46334
GPS: 602.8
Cumulative miles: 5333
Driving avg: 64.3
Overall avg:50.2
Driving time: 9:22
Stopped time: 2:38
Total time: 12:00
Later,
Mike
Getting up early wasn't gonna happen today - my body needed the rest, so instead of leaving at o'dark thiry, I left close to 0800 in 72* temps, soon to climb to the mid 80s. I had checked on the NPS Website and Vicksburg was going to be open. Couple that fact with forecasts of strong t'stoms in the Houston area and I chose the more northerly route thru DFW.
Entered Alabama at 0815 and took a short side trip to see the USS Alabama, a WWII battleship, now a museum. The grounds also have Korea, Vietnam and Iraq memorials and I'm certain there will be ceremonies today. Thanks to ALL veterans for their service and willingness to sacrifice whatever to preserve our freedom.
After a small pilot error, got back on track and headed NW thru Alabama, Rte 98 ended up as a 2-lane road, clogged with traffic, but as soon as I entered Mississippi (0940), it opened up to a 4 land divided and considerably faster. That was a good thing because I was getting tired of looking at the tail end of the Chevy Blazer in front of me with no right rear brake light. When we got to the 4 lane, I tried to pull up the the driver's side and motion for her to roll her window down - she was too engrossed in her probably most important phone conversation to pay attention to me, so I said the hell with it and rolled on. Let someone else tell her about her busted taillight - maybe the same cop who tickets her for inattentive driving - heh,heh,heh!
Stopped at Vicksburg and got a stamp there. In the bookstore, I saw a brand new tour book - larger, like a daily planner with a lot more information, bigger maps, etc. Maybe next year, That new edition, however, showed a NM just outside of Epps, LA, slightly north of I-20. If it was true, it would save me a lot of time instead of heading south to Natchez. I decided to give it a try, knowing that there was a 50-50 chance of it being true because there was no mention if it being a NM in any other reference I checked.
Along the western horizon I can see storm cells building and I know I'm gonna get wet sometime or another the afternoon.
Crossed the Mississippi River and into Louisiana about 1340, with the rain just starting to come down. I passed a couple of Harley riders holed up underneath an overpass and as the rain started to come down harder, I considered how to get out of this monsoon ASAP. The exit to Epps came up and I exited, headed to the canopy over the pumps at a Citgo station. After about 20 minutes, the rain slowed down somewhat and I headed for Epps and Poverty Point ?NM.
36 useless miles later, I got back on the Interstate. Turns out that it was an histtoric site, but was a state site, not a national site. No joy!
By this time, I'm starting to get back into rider mode versus cruiser mode. I notched the steam gauge at 75 mph (by the GPS) and boogied. Got into Texas about 1835 and had to decide if I wanted to continue on the the proposed final destination for this leg, or cut it short, rest a little better and recalculate based upon my current position.
I stopped at Tyler, TX about 2015 hours. This isn't an Iron Butt ride and I have to keep telling myself that. As I look at my average speed and the total time/stopped time I see where the difference between IB rides and my current ride differ: On IB rides, the stopped times would be considerably less and the average speed would be a LOT higher.
Last gas stop in Shreveport was a comedy of errors...
I'm always looking for the cheapest gas and found a Citgo station with gas 3 cents/gallon less than the other stations around, so I pulled in. First pump - no hose; second pump - no credit card display, so I went to the third pump where I had seen someone get gas earlier, so I know it works. First thing I notice is a sign saying that I have to go inside for a receipt - that's okay, I need water and ice anyway. I fill up and go inside for water and ice, buy it and return to the bike to clean windshield and visor. I remember that I still need a receipt and go back inside. The gal behind the counter must have been new, because she couldn't make a receipt happen. She calls her boss, he fumbles around for a little while, give me some lame excuse that he can't print a receipt for blah, blah, blah and give me a prepaid receipt for $16, no gallons, etc. I finally gave up, took the receipt and left. It wasn't worth saving 3 cents per gallon on a 6 gallon purchase. Ah, me!!
Sooooo, the plan looks like I'm headed for El Paso for tomorrow night. I won't be able to get a stamp there until 0800the next day, so I'll get that one, head for White Sands, get a stamp and head west. Temps here look like they are gonna be brutal, so I may not make it to San Diego until Friday, but for now, I'm aiming for Thursday evenng in SD and Corner #3 of the 4 Corners Tour. We'll see...
Daily stats:
Tyler ,TX
Odo: 46334
GPS: 602.8
Cumulative miles: 5333
Driving avg: 64.3
Overall avg:50.2
Driving time: 9:22
Stopped time: 2:38
Total time: 12:00
Later,
Mike
Comments:
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Look it up, a monsoon means high winds NOT tons of rains... I did pay attention in meteorology! You should have gotten the book...
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# posted by 
: 8:59 PM
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