A Prayer and an Applebee's

Jim and I had a late lunch today at Applebee's Bar & Grill in East Norriton, PA close to our home. Yes we are home. I thought about the Applebee's on our ride.

It was Tuesday, July 14, 2015. We were hot, tire, hungry & thirsty. We saw the sign for Applebee's and we knew we had food gift cards for this place. It was Bozeman, Montana.

We walked into the Applebee's and there were about 11 people a head of us. We had  polite conversation about our ride and learned that they were doing missionary work with Native Americans. Because it was only two of us, we were seated right away.

We finished our meal about the same time as the missionaries and continued our conversation in the parking lot. Before we went our separate ways, about 4 or 5 of them prayed with us. We held hands and formed a circle. They said prayers for our safe travels.  I thought that was nice.

I prayed each & every morning upon waking on this ride just like I have always done. First and foremost, I say, "Thank You" ~ Thanks is giving for so many people, things and the trip. I praise God through Jesus Christ and I ask for protection for me, Jim, the children, grands, siblings and the rest of our family. I also ask for travel mercy. I also pray each time we got on the motorcycle.

I also prayed for my church. I took a copy of the "Saint John's Pray For Continued Transformation." This is a 4 paragraph prayer offering thanks to God, requesting a clear vision, confessing and asking for the Holy Spirit to guide us. The pray uses Isaiah 43:19-20 . . . about to do a new thing . . . will make a way in the wildness and rivers in the desert." At the end of the prayer it said, Here we are, O Lord send us. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen. We are to pray this daily and on Wednesday, the whole church does it at 7:00PM. I think I did better with this on our last trip. 

Once a week, the Pastor e-mail the weekly service to the membership. I was able to read all of the Sunday's Bible Verses.

The Purple Heart Trail

Reflecting back on our forty-two (42) day motorcycle trip, I keep thinking about a particular sign that was on several different  roads that we travelled.

"THE PURPLE HEART TRAIL"

As we were riding, from time to time I would see this sign. I wanted to know what it was so I decided to Google it. This is what I learned. There was also this quote on some of the sites.

"As you travel the Purple Heart Trails, take a moment to remember the sacrifices that have been paid for our nation's freedom."

It's purpose is to create a symbolic & honorary system of roads, highways, bridges, etc that give tribute to the men and to the women who have been wounded, killed and may have been awarded the Purple Heart Medal. It is also done by creating a visual reminder to travellers that others paid a high price. 

The trail was established in 1992 by the Military Order of the Purple Heart. It starts at a monument in Mt. Vernon, Virginia and at present is in all 50 states and also in Guam and Puerto Rico. 

I first noticed it in California on the Pacific Coast Highway which is route 101. Jim said that he noticed it around Arizona on Interstate I- 40. The last time that I saw it was at the Delaware Welcome Center Travel Plaza in Newark, Delaware when we were trying to get home. I am glad I decided to get information on these signs.

How Many States Did We Ride Through?

On this trip we travelled through more than half of the 48 continuous states of the United States of America. We factually rode through 27 stated plus Canada. Starting with Pennsylvania, then West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinos, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington,
( Richmond, Bristish Columbia~ Vancouver), Oregon, California, Arizona , New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkanas, Tennesse, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and back home.

After all of this, getting home is the best stop.

Sinclair Gas

While traveling in the western part of the United States, I notice Sinclair Gas and , "Dino" the dinosaur on several signs.

Harry F. Sinclair formed Sinclair Oil in 1916. He had 11 small petroleum companies. Since 1916, it has grown to be one of the largest companies in the United States.

The headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2014, this company was in Forbes Magazine on their American's Largest Private Company List.

Sinclair uses the green gental gaunt Dinoaur with power, endurance and Stamina as their icon. They want customers to think of these qualities when using their product.

The history of Sinclair gas is long and rich

The Weather Channel

I was watching The Weather Channel this morning and they were talking about a microburst, rain curtain, the wind and other things related  to weather. 

A microburst is a small scale exceptional really intense localized column of sinking air that results in a violent outburst of air at the ground.  It is capable of producing damaging straight-line winds of more than 100 mph similar to some twin needles but without the spinning. There are two types of microbrews a wet one and a dry one. This definition came from on-line.

In 2012,  we were in a wet microbursts in North Carolina on our way to visit my friend Vanessa in Fayettesville. we got really soak. 

Our wettest  today was in Albuquerque, Texas. We pulled under a bridge after seeing all the rain that was ahead of us and stay there for nearly 40 minutes. While under the bridge, a rainbow appeared and then another rainbow appeared on top of the first one. It was spectacular. At the end of the rainbow, we did not see a pot of gold. What we did see were the cars driving right through the colors. It was a sight to see.

On This trip we rode through very strong wind corridors, especially in the state of Washington

and also in the western part of the country. 

Wish I Were Home

"When I think of home, I think of a place where there's love overflowing. I wish I was home, I wish I was back there with the things I been knowing. "
       Those are the words from the movie, The Wiz and Diana Ross is singing. The Wiz is the Black version of The Wizard of Oz. Diana Ross and Michael Jackson was in it.
     Jim said that not counting Penn State, this is the longest that he has been away from the house. I played the above song about two weeks ago. I was having breakfast outside in the court yard of one many hotels we stayed in. There was a swing hanging from a wooden arch and it immediately reminded me of the one at home that Jim build with the wisteria on it. I was home sick and wished I were home. I went back to the room and found the song and played it for Jim.
                         

All 48 States

Maybe this was the second goal of this trip, to complete or to have rode through all 48 continuous states of the USA. We did it, around August 6, 2015 we went to Little Rock, Arkansas.  That was the very last of the four states that we needed to visit on this ride.  As you may have read, the other states that we have never been to before July 5, 2015 were: North Dakota, Washington & Oregon

The Civil Rights Ride

We are in Little Rock, AK and Jim calls this part the civil rights march. From here we will go to Memphis, Birmingham and Atlanta.

Early Arrivals

It's great when we are able to check into a hotel early. Or should I say early for us. Today we rode about 340 miles from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Little Rock, Arkansas. We arrived at the Holiday Inn Presidential and the sun was still brightly shining. This greatly pleased me. We check in and had dinner at their restaurant, Camp David. The ribs were great.

Yesterday, we rode from Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma and checked into a Wyndham Garden Inn. We got there about 5:30pm and learned that  we were on time for  Taco Tuesday. They had a free taco bar. I got our bags to the room while Jim parked the motorcycle and then he went directly to the taco bar. I knew he would want to eat there and have a beer. I rushed back only to find him trying to bring me food to the room. I returned the luggage cart he turned around and got a seat and we enjoyed happy hour at the hotel food area.

Phillips 66 Gas

I started noticing them in New Mexico and then continued to see them in Texas and so far in Oklahoma. We still have several states to travel before reaching home. I decided to do a Google search and on Wikipedia I learned that it was founded by L. E. Phillips and Frank Phillips in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and incorporated on June 13, 1917.

In 1927, the company was testing gas on US Highway 66 in Oklahoma and when it turned out that the car was going 66 miles per hours, it named its new fuel Phillips 66. At that time 66 MPH was considered fast.

The first Phillips 66 service station opened November 19, 1927 at 805 E. Central in Wichita, Kansas. This station has been preserved. The Phillips 66 shield logo created to link to the famous highway Route 66 was introduced in 1930. It was black and orange for about 30 years. In 1959, the revised shield of red, black & white was introduced and still in used.

Get Your Kicks On Route 66

It was about 100 miles east is Amarillo, Texas almost near the Oklahoma border when we stopped for one of our stretch breaks. We were on the shoulder of Interstate highway 40 east and Jim decided to walk across the grass to the Historic Route 66 or as he and many also call it, "the mother Road. I put him on video and also took some still pictures. We played around for about 5 minutes and yes we did stretch. We were on some part of Route 66 back in 2007 & 2010.

This highway is also know as the Will Rodgers Highway. This was one of the Original highway within the USA. It was established on November 11, 1926. It ran from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California running through eight states.

Many may remember the TV show of the 1960s, Route 66 or the hit song, "Get Your Kicks On Route 66"
I think Jim got his kicks today.

Guest Laundry ~ Rio Grande, New Mexico

Sitting in the guest laundry area on the first Sunday night of August of the Best Western Rio Grande Inn in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Time to do the laundry again, again.

It seems as if on this trip, this has become my task. Jim at times will help to carry the clothes to the area and put them in the washing machine, but I usually complete the job. Now, he does fold his and I do mine, but again, that is after I return the clothes to the room. This may require a few trips because everything does not dry at the same time.

They get rolled up like jelly rolls with rubber bands just like we started on 7/5/15 and placed in the saddle bags. This is a pair of pants, two shirts, two sets of underwear and two pairs of socks.

                                      

This guest laundry room is very nice, clean and large. There is a knotty pine table and two chairs. There are two washers, side by side and two dryers on top of each other. I also see a machine where you can buy detergent and fabric sheets. We still have our own supplies and quarters left.

There are also three pictures on the wall. One is two women, one old and one young doing pottery. One is of  the Fanciscean Hotel in Albuquerque in 1925 and the third one is the Alvardado Hotel Fred Harvey Indian Room 1930 - Walkway and Indian Venders.

This was a much pleasurable and productive laundry time.

Under the Rainbow

We were doing well with trying to get 300 miles in today when heaven decided to open its doors with rain and lightning, and boy did it pour. We were about 40 miles from Albuquerque, New Mexico. We were trying to get about 100 miles East from there.

Jim said, "When people ask what do we do when it rains? We hide under a bridge and take pictures of rainbows. Rainbows are one of my favorite things and I did not think that I would see one on this trip. We stayed under the bridge for about 45 minutes. We saw a double one. The one on the bottom, or the first one had brilliant colors, I could see the purple, and the end of the rainbow was on the road and it appeared as if cars were riding through it.

Once the rains left and we could see light ahead, we started to ride again. The rainbow was still ahead of us for miles and then it seem like we were right under it. We were riding under the rainbow. A little farther down, we watched a train ride besides us for a while and then under us as we crossed a bridge. We drove over a train and under a rainbow within a short period of time.

New Mexico ~ Land of Enchantment

"Land of Enchantment" ~ that was what I notice when we saw the New Mexico sign. This is the state's official nickname. 

In 1941, this was placed on their license plates. In 2008,the United Stated bicentennial commemorative quarter for the state also features the nick name. This name describes it's scenic beauty and rich history as noted by online sources.

New Mexico became the 47th state in the USA in 1912. "It was given it's name in 1563, and again in 1581 by Spanish explorers who believe the area contained wealthy Indian cultures similar to those of the Mexican (Aztec) Empire." (this is from online wikipedia.org)

Other nicknames include:

The Cactus State

The Spanish State

The Land of Sunshine

The Land of the Heart's Desire

and a few more but as stated before, THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT is the official one.

A Very Late Check-in

Jim saw lots of lights, he thought that maybe there was a Best Western Hotel there, It was a STATE PRISON. No! We did not get a room. I guest you can tell it is getting late, actually getting dark if we see lights.

We continued on route 87 North to Winslow, AZ going to hit route 40 East to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We got off of 87 and went into a liquor store parking lot. This was a liquor store and not the cute Wine & Spirit Shops that we are used to.

Jim and I have a code word. WITH  - We In The Hood. That is exactly where we were. We quickly used the GPS to locate and we called about 4 hotels. There were no beds. One hotel suggested that we go to exit 253 off of interstate 40. We got on 40 and the exit numbers got larger starting with exit 257. After about 15 miles and not seeing anything but lighting, we turned around.

We saw a Best Western Hotel sign for exit 250 and got off only to find that there were no beds. At first the lady at the desk said she could not make calls but told us to go to exit 253. I told her we called a few and can she call. She did. She called around the Winslow area to about 4 other hotels and they were all booked. I asked if there were any other hotels and she said, "You wouldn't want to stay there." I asked no additional questions about them. She then asked if we were going to Flagstaff. I told her  were going towards Albuquerque. She found us the Lexington Inn 30 miles away, now going East again. We just came from that direction.

While riding, Jim said, "We need to stop lying to people." "About What" was my reply. "NOT RIDING AT NIGHT"  I said, "OH, this is the 4th time we were driving in the dark." Jim laughed

Family Break - Chandler, AZ

Run for the Border - San Ysidro, California

San Francisco ~ Golden Gate Bridge

The first time that we saw and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California was on our 2010, “One Heck of a Ride.” It was Monday, July 26.  Naturally, while in San Francisco, prior to the bridge, the first thing we did was to visit a Harley Davidson Shop. We brought our long sleeve shirts and also some patches and pins,  all with the store logo on them. Outside of the store, we took pictures of the steep incline of the streets and other nearby landmarks. We stayed in San Francisco in 2010 much longer than we did this year, 2015.

While at the Harley Shop, in 2010,  we met a couple who was also going to the Golden Gate Bridge so we rode together. The closer we got to the bridge, the colder it became. It was July but it was getting cold. in spike of the weather, crossing the bridge was wonderful, amazing and beautiful.  While riding across the bridge, I steadied my hand as much as possible to take the video.  Once we got to the other side, we took several still pictures with the bridge behind us, just the bridge and also with the other couple.

As soon as we took the pictures, I put on my full finger gloves and my long sleeve thermos turtle neck shirt. Again, it was July, can you imagine? It was extremely cold.

The year, 2015, we again rode across the Golden Gate Bridge, this time coming from the North. I, again, videotaped the ride but this time, we did not stop for anything.  Again, the ride was amazing.

We rode through parts of San Francisco on the way to Pacific Coast Highway. We videotaped some of the steep streets. Can you believe that some of the streets may be as steep as 42%? Think about a 45% angle.