Saturday morning, Sept. 18, my friend Mike Hinton & I rode out on what we called, "Rob & Mike's Excellent Adventure"- a motorcycle road trip out west and back. We planned to get as far as Arizona, possibly see Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Winslow, as well as visit the Big Texan Steak Ranch and the famed Cadillac Ranch, both in Amarillo, Texas. Other than those places, we would travel and see what we could find. The journey was what would be important to us, not just the destinations.
So we set out first north out of Georgia into Tennessee, travelling up through Chattanooga and Nashville, over to Memphis, then out to Arkansas by day 1. We then crossed Arkansas through Little Rock, and rode on into Oklahoma, getting past Oklahoma City by the end of day 2. We awoke on day 3 to discover we were in the rolling prairies of what had once been buffalo and Indian nation country, and were following the original Route 66! Crossing Oklahoma into north Texas was both a thrill and terrifying- the country on both sides was breathtaking as far as the eye could see, but the driving winds made riding a white-knuckles experience. We found old Route 66 towns all along the way, such as Weatherford, where we saw our first "Route 66" sign, Elk City, home to the National Route 66 Museum, and McLean, a town all but dead, but with a Phillips 66 original gas station and a 10 Commandments monument. Each town along the route had its own flavor and tales to add to the Route 66 legacy. We arrived in Amarillo, and spent a day discovering other gems- Palo Duro Canyon, 2nd largest canyon in America, and rode through it on our bikes; a steak dinner at the famed Big Texan (not the 72oz challenge!); the quirky Cadillac Ranch, where we painted our names along with the countless others; and the Route 66 Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Tx, which had closed but reopened for us and 4 other travelers. That place was special. We met the owner and manager/cook, who served up their famous "Ugly Crust Pie", and met Rick from Toronto and Alan from England, both travelling across America by motorcycle and had just met each other in Amarillo, and a couple from Massachusetts, travelling by small camper van, heading to San Fransisco so their son could ride the dad across the San Fran Bridge by motorcycle! We stayed there for over an hour, enjoying rich conversation with all these wonderful people.
We traveled on into the canyonlands and mesa lands of New Mexico, tent camping in Tucumcari at a KOA. Beautiful place. Then disaster struck. My wallet was stolen, and we didn't discover it until we were past Tucumcari. We searched town, the KOA, the frontage road, finally finding it on the side of the KOA frontage road with my ID's intact, but all money and cards gone. After filling out a police report in town, we doubled back to Amarillo, fighting wind and rain all the way. Lisa wired some money to us, and we set out the next day southeast for Ft. Worth to my brother's house, passing through Wichita Falls and many quaint little Texas towns. We spent 2 nights with Rick, Robyn and the kids, due to heavy rains, enjoying their hospitality, then rode on to Gary, Tx, to Mike's sister's place. Their home is a remodelled train depot, and was really cool. After doing a live audio broadcast back to our children's church hours about our trip so far, we set out for Louisiana and Mississippi, riding all the way to Meridian.
Waking up to reports of heavy storms all along our planned route home, we decided to ride south for Mobile, Alabama, and on to Perdido Key, Florida. Lisa's sister had arranged for us to stay at her condo on the beach for a night, and we had a great time sitting in the sand and walking down the beaches. Who would have thought we would end up in Florida?? As Mike said, "We may have lost Arizona, but we gained Florida." From New Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico- not a bad diversion!
We rode for home the next day, riding up through Montgomery and over into Georgia, arriving home at nightfall. It had been a grand journey- 10 days, 10 states, 3300 miles, one "Excellent Adventure"! We missed some places we would like to have seen, but gained many more in their place. We were never "Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona", but we definitely could say we "Get your kicks on Route 66" and so many other places.
I think even more memorable than the places we visited and the things we saw, were the people we met. There was the lady travelling from Florida to Utah, whom we had met at a gas station in Arkansas; the girl at Palo Duro Canyon, driving from Rhode Island to California by herself; Rick, Alan, and the Massachusetts couple at Midpoint Cafe, who I will never forget; Fred from Phoenix, travelling to Vermont in his SUV with 5 large dogs; the mom outside Clarendon, Tx, who offered to top off our gas tanks; the little old man at a gas station in Vernon, Tx, who said he would pray for us; our family members, who loved and cared for us on the journey; Julie on the beach in Perdido Key, her life broken in so many ways, but with a hope in Christ that shined in her eyes. Everywhere we went, we met people with unique stories, and who were interested in ours. We enriched each other's lives. From the hills of Tennessee and Arkansas, the rolling prairies of Oklahoma, the "fruited plains" of Panhandle Texas, to the mesa lands of New Mexico, and the Gulf coast of Alabama and Florida, we rode in wonder and worship. So it was an "Excellent Adventure" indeed, shared with a great friend, following the leading of our great Lord. To Him be all the thanksgiving and glory.