May 10, 2017 - Day 1 to CA

Here we go!! Day 1 on the way to CA!!
We headed thru Memphis this time.  The weather coming into Cincinnati was looking bad.  Good call. We missed it by going south.  No biker likes to ride in the rain.

Several people have asked how we get all the stuff in our bike.  Here is a pic of what we packed.

The day started out foggy.  56 degrees.  Ron, Jean, Larry

 Crossing the Ohio River.  Jenny it really is fog, not Rain

 We headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  Larry had his phone and Catfish had his keyfob.
 (Last year issues)

Here is the crew heading to CA.

Ken and Jenny Ward = aka Catfish and Lady Jen

 Larry and Jean Gault = aka Phatman and MamaG

Ron Naber - no road name yet

Brian Draman = aka Diesel

What a beautiful day!!!. We had sun all day long.  This is how if looked

 

First stop we were starting to delayer.  It got warm in a hurry.  It was 78.

After this stop, we were riding down the road and I saw a blue water bottle flying down the road.   Ron had just bought the water bottle before he left Cincy.  He opened his lower vents and the wind flipped the whole bracket upside down.  Tomorrow we buy new bottle and zip tie the holder. 

 For those of you new to my blog, I take lots of pics of this beautiful country.  Hope you like them

 Check out the colors.

 Ron

 Lady Jen

 Catfish

 Deisel

  

For those of you that fish these pics are from "Land Between the Lakes" 

(Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake)

For future reference, as we pull into gas stops, the leaders are always reminding us to pull up our highway pegs.  For those non-bikers, Ron has his foot on the peg.  Going into a gas stop could hurt the guys operating the pumps.  Think about this when you see the first gas stop.

Stopped in Memphis for the night.  Jenny wanted to go to Rendezvous.  You have to walk down an alley.  Glad it was still light out.  Headed to the basement. Yikes!

Robert was our server.  He has been there for 37 years.  What a great time!  Food was great!

His dad worked there since 1963

After Dinner we headed done to Beale Street.  We happened to hit bike night. 

 Larry and Ron

Loved the sign.

Ended the night with a night cap at BB Kings.

Summary of the day:

Temps: 56-85

No Rain
Total Miles: 504

Route: I71 - I65 - Western KY Parkway -  I69s - I24 w - Purchase Parkway - sr51s - I40

Little Trivia: 

Throughout the trip, we will be riding on road marked:  Purple Heart Trail.  You have probably seen them. 

The Purple Heart Trail was established in 1992 by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to be a symbolic trail throughout all 50 states to commemorate and honor all men and women who have been wounded or killed in combat while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.