DAY 23 Tuesday, May 24, 2011 HOME!

My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM this morning, just like every other morning. The difference with today was that this was the last day of our ride. Jan and I got up, dressed and packed. We took our bags to our Motors. As we walked outside of the hotel, C.E. was already at his Motor preparing it for today's ride. We took our covers off and put our bags in their compartments. We did a little cleaning of our Motors and then headed towards breakfast. It was partially cloudy and very cool. No chance of rain! We got to the restaurant on site and C.E. and Ken were already seated at "our table" having breakfast. It was a buffet and they had a pretty good choice for breakfast. There was a chaffing dish containing, what we all thought to be, grits. I asked the cook, who was stirring the grits, if it was indeed grits. She told me that it was Cream of Wheat! That is different. We have never encountered Cream of Wheat in any of the hotels we have stayed. The cooked ham was more like jerky, but it was good. A fork could not cut it. You either needed a knife or your teeth to cut the ham. Chuck came in and served himself and later, Bruce walked in. We had breakfast and talked for a short time. We couldn't delay the inevitable, so we all went back to our rooms and gathered the rest of our stuff. Our Motors were packed and we were ready to leave. It was 54 degrees and we left at 8:28 AM.

I was leading and took the Group west on I-40. Sixteen miles from the hotel was the Arizona border. We crossed back into Arizona and gained an hour. We were riding against a strong head wind. The head wind was reeking havoc with our gas mileage! We were headed for Holbrook, AZ to get gas. Before we reached, Holbrook, we passed a large group of Motor riders. I didn't count the riders, but I would estimate that there were about 20 to 30 riders with a follow up truck with 3 more Motors in a trailer. For a split second, I considered getting off at the same exit that the large group got off at to get gas, however, I figured that it would take forever to wait in line for us to get gas. We continued on. After riding 92 miles, we stopped at a gas station in Holbrook, AZ at 8:31 AM. If you'll notice, we left the hotel in Gallup, NM at 8:28 AM and got to Holbrook, AZ at 8:31 AM. It only took us 3 minutes to travel 92 miles? No, we gained an hour when we crossed the Arizona border. It took us 1 hour and 3 minutes to cover 92 miles. Not bad for having a head wind! We gassed up, made a pit stop and bought some drinks. Chuck's Motor took 4.9 gallons on a 5 gallon tank and Jan needed to put his gas tank on reserve. It was 61 degrees. We left at 9:03 AM.

Bruce was up to lead. We headed back onto I-40 and rode through Holbrook. We soon turned onto Highway 377 towards Heber. Soon after we got on Highway 377, we saw something that I don't think that we have ever seen in any of our rides. There was a large herd of sheep. I don't know, are they called a herd? Whatever they are called, it was a lot of "woolies on the hoof!" We rode for another 51 miles and stopped at a Circle K in Heber, AZ at 9:51 AM. We didn't need gas, however, we needed a pit stop. It was still 61 degrees so we left our jackets on. We left at 10:08 AM.

Bruce was going to leave the Group in Heber and go to his Dad's cabin, however, when we were in Holbrook, he found out that his Dad had some medical problem and was taken back to Phoenix to see his doctor. We continued on with Bruce leading and after riding 52 miles, we stopped at a Subway at 11:10 AM in Payson. We went in and saw that it was crowded. There were no tables available, nor was there a restroom. We left at 11:16 AM. We rode south for a mile and stopped at Macky's Grill for lunch. We had a good lunch and it was soon time to leave. Bruce was going to head south on the Beeline Highway to go and see his Dad. We all hoped that he was alright. The rest of us headed north on the Beeline Highway for a mile and it turned into Highway 260. C.E. was next in line to lead and did so since Bruce left. We rode through Pine and Strawberry and eventually rode into Camp Verde. We had ridden 63 miles and arrived at a gas station at 1:20 PM. We gassed up and made a pit stop. It was warm so we all took off our jackets. We talked for a bit and Jan told us that he was going to leave the Group at Cherry Rd., Highway 169, to head for home. We left at 1:38 PM.

As is customary on our rides, Chuck starts the lead on Day 1 of our rides and always leads us home. It worked out that it was his turn to lead in the rotation and we were close to home. Chuck led us south on I-17. Soon, Jan turn right on Cherry Rd. and left the Group. We continued south. The remaining four: Chuck, Al, Ken and C.E., rode south. We were riding about 80 mph on a 75 mph zone and making good time. When we got to Sunset Point, there was a lane closure and construction just south. We had to slow down and eventually stopped. We were soon out of the construction zone and were back to 80 mph. When we got to New River Road, C.E. left the Group and turned right to head for home. The three of us continued. When we got to Pinnacle Peak Rd, Chuck turn off and was headed to see his grand kids at his daughter's, Allison, house. Not much later, I got off at the 101 Eastbound, leaving Ken to ride solo, southbound for home. I finally arrived home at 2:44 PM, after riding 79 miles. It felt good to be HOME!

Well, let me recap. We rode 338 miles today; at least I did. We rode a total of 7,995 miles in 23 days...at least I did. We were all close to that number. We rode in 20 States, some several times. The original 4: Chuck, Jan, Bruce and me, rode in 4 more new States. We have now ridden in 45 of the Continental United States. We now need 3 more States: North Dakota, New Jersey and Delaware. At this point, we are not sure where we will be riding next year. We DO know that we will add one more rider. J.B. Henderson will be rejoining the Group next year with a brand new Harley. We welcome J.B. back...after all, he is one of the original members of the Group.

This is our 5th annual ride. I would like to thank my wife & girl friend, Laura, for allowing me to go on these rides. I know I owe you "big time!" I would also like to thank my daughters; Lori and Jenn; grandson, Connor, K & C and the "guys" in the Group. I also want to thank all of you who have logged on and read about our "journey." I hope that you enjoyed the blog. As I stated on an earlier date, my blog is not malicious and not meant to hurt anyone. It is just a blog to let all of you know "most" of the things that went on with us. I can't tell you everything, the guys would hurt me if I did! I look forward to next year's ride and doing the blog and taking pictures. So, until next year...