06_FRII_DAY SIX - Toledo, OH

It is my opinion that again today I will be the only motorcycle on the road.  Hands down, no doubt about it!  Today I leave Chicago in route to Cleveland.  I know, oh joy Hughesbaby, what the heck are you doing!  Hey, if you're hardcore you know that the weather is half the experience.

Chicago is beautiful when I leave.  The sun is shining bright, no rain and it's not to cool.  Thank God cause 2 days ago I thought I was going to die.  I pulled into the Westin on Lake Shore Dr. and asked how much the room was, I'm freezing.  The guy says, "$249 for a single is the best I can do today".  Wow, as cold as I was I didn't want to pay it.  After 20 minutes I forced myself out the door...wait a minute that was 2 days ago!  What a memory!

I'm on I-80/90 heading east...next stop South Bend, IN and the Notre Dame golden dome!  Shortly I arrived, and was immediately impressed by the secluded nature of the campus.  Very secure and covered with trees, so that you could only really see the campus on foot.  When you look at the pics I took you'll notice I went as far in as I could on the bike.  The students were very nice and eager to talk about their time at Notre Dame.  Actually, this was this wasn't my first time here.  I'd driven through South Bend in 1986 on my way to Cleveland and my dad took me on the football field in the 70's to meet his buddy Era Parsegian.  I also got to meet the great Joe Theisman & Tom Gatewood!  It was beautiful then too.

Back on the road...  It rained all of the way to Toledo.  Nothing like driving through rush our traffic in Cleveland in a crazy rainstorm!  Good old rain gear, and thank goodness for windshields!

Wandering...

Click this link to check out the pictures for today

05_FRII_DAY FIVE - Chicago, IL

Today is a recovery day.  Sleep really late, get a manicure and pedicure, wash the bike, and grab something to eat.  Oh, and I went to the best meeting.  It was in a house that was bought by members of the group to allow 6 people at a time to live there until they get back on there feet!  It took me awhile to find it, cause it was in between to industrial buildings in like a parking lot.  It was so cool!

There are no pictures from this day, because I lost my video camera!  It fell out of my pocket at a stupid toll booth!  I always keep my camera's in my vest, but the rain caused me to put it in my rain jacket.  The pocket wasn't very deep and it slipped out of my shallow pocket.  Damn!

Wandering...

04_FRII_DAY FOUR - Chicago, IL

The Lincoln House

Rain or Shine, you guess?

OK, you guessed it, rain.  I'm used to having rain during this time of the year, but only in the form of afternoon / evening thunderstorms.  These 1st 3 days have been completely wet and cold. In fact today would only reach a high that is only matched by a day 66 years ago!  Wet & cold, the worst.

I always say that the weather is as big a part of the thrill of riding as the beautiful sites you see for the 1st time.  However, this is made more difficult to believe when riding to places you've seen several times.  Like I have Chicago.  You guys know I've ridden Scenic 7 Hwy several times lately.  Doing so again when the forecast calls for rain is surely more difficult?  I love Chicago, it's my favorite city, but this week it was freaking cold!

BUT, I would have never discovered Pontiac, IL if I hadn't been riding to Chicago!  That's always the way it works for me when I ride!

This little town is or was created by Hwy 66.  I don't know why but I didn't associate Hwy 66 with this ride at all?  Pontiac, IL is a cool little town, that has managed to survive on it's promotion of Hwy 66 and all of the murals painted everywhere in the city!  It's truly a "change of scenery" in the truest since.  The food, people, and ice cream was excellent.  Check out the pics.

Wandering...

Click me to see all of the pictures for the day.

03_FRII_DAY THREE - Springfield, IL

The key photo for today was chosen for it's abundance of water. I don't think I took a picture of myself in any of the pictures for today, but I was in full rain gear. If you remember, I ended the night last night with a good drenching after leaving Bill. Well not much changed.

I woke as I normally do to a pounding on the door, "housekeeping!". I jumped up and looked out the window, "damn, rain". I got dressed in my normal optimistic way, without my rain gear on, willing the sun to come out at least for awhile. Nope, a few miles down the road I pulled over under a bridge and geared up.

Not much else to say about today. Nothing exciting other than making it to Springfield, IL safe, alive, and grateful. Good food, good sites, and new experiences.

Wandering...

Click on me to see the rest of today's pictures.

02_FRII DAY TWO - Springfield, MO

...and the rains came!

I started out thinking this was going to be a sign of things to come.  Hot spring days in full motorcycle gear.  I applied my sunscreen and headed out to what was supposed to be St. Louis, MO.

I decided that I would ride the Scenic 7 Highway again, cause it's beautiful.  I did, but got behind every slow moving truck, bus, car.  I hit every red light possible.  Bottom line it took me forever!  I am not complaining, the ride was beautiful, it just took longer than I expected.  On a sad not I came upon a group of bikers, ambulances, and police, tending to a fellow rider who had taken a fall.  I bowed my head in support.

Pushing on hard trying to make St. Louis I finally gave in to the fact that I wouldn't.  Knowing that I stopped off in Branson, MO to look for a hotel and see if it smelt like old people, as so many of these type places in Florida do.  It was gorgeous!  I will visit there again, but today I'm going to push on.

I continued on towards St. Louis, until stopping for a normal gas stop in Springfield, MO.  While I was gasing up a woman pulled up to the pump and while filling up she was listening to her portable weather service radio.  It was continually beeping off warnings and she said, "you better just stay here and head for an "Oklahoma whiney hole", that's where I'm going!"

I decided to stay and visit my friend Bill.  When I left his house the skies opened up the floodgates.  I was soaking wet by the time I arrived at my hotel for the night!  Just happy to be dry that night.

Wandering...


Click on me to view all photos for today.

01_FRII DAY ONE-Hot Springs, AR

Phat Hughesbaby

Well ladies and gentlemen I'm on the road again and totally stoked to bring you my experiences for your reading pleasure.  My goal on this ride is to check off the last three states Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine to complete all fifty!  Sweet!

Today I traveled to Hot Springs, AR some 300 miles of winding roads and beautiful trees.  The weather was excellent as I was racing a thunderstorm that was approximately an hour behind me.  This may have been reason it was a beautiful 60 something degrees, perfect!

The trip was not so photographic as it was several weeks ago when I went through for the first time, but I did want to show you my hotel.  On my last long ride you'll remember that I used nearly 500,000 Hilton Honors points, which was fantastic!  This time I was using money, my money, so I looked for a little more economical hotels / motels.

I spent the night in my first $39.99 hotel room tonight.  The Fountain Hotel, an original Hot Springs hotel.  It was all I needed, amazing, huh.  Check it out and I'll catch up with you tomorrow.

Wandering...

Click me to view all photos for this day.