“The man who goes alone can start today;
but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.”
~Henry David Thoreau
You will either look back in life and say,
"I wish I had" or "I'm glad I did."
~Zig Ziglar
Riding Route 66 on a motorcycle was a main item on my Original Bucket List, and was subsequently extended to riding across America. I'm not doing this activity during my
YEAR 77, but it is one of my favorite memories. I've always been aware of numbers, and any significance they may have. In this case I had decided I wanted to ride Route 66 on a motorcycle when I was 66 years old. A seven entered the picture because I did the ride in 2007, but I did it in June when I was still 66. I had such a good experience I thought I would share it with anyone interested in reading about this small adventure.
It has always been said that Route 66 began in Chicago and ran west, but since I would be starting in California, it would be the reverse for me. Route 66 covers 2,400 miles from Santa Monica, California to Chicago, Illinois, and travels through eight states; California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. Route 66 is difficult to find in some places, and is actually non-existent in many places. But with research, I eventually was able to prepare maps (and I bought a GPS for the Harley) so that I could ride the old road wherever it did exist. I left on June 1, 2007 (which happened to be Bonnie's birthday) and after 10 days of travel I reached Chicago. Dennie rode his Harley along with me for the first couple of days, and Art H. traveled along in his van as far as Chicago. Art wasn't on Route 66 much of the time, but he stayed with me in each town until Chicago, and then went on to his home in Ashland, New Hampshire. After Chicago I spent a couple of days with Jim & Lynne Newman at their summer home on Lake Geneva, then visited a Harley-Davidson factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and another in York, Pennsylvania. I continued my travel until I arrived in Ashland, where I stayed a few days visiting Art. I returned home without sightseeing; just hauled home from New Hampshire to Monrovia in six days. I was gone a total of 24 days and traveled 7,600 miles. It was a wonderful and memorable experience. I wrote a blog each day so Bonnie and the girls could keep up with my travels. Heather is an expert "scrap-booker" and as a gift to me, she prepared a wonderful, professionally-done, scrap book that includes all my blog entries and the Route 66 photos I posted. Heather's scrapbook is something I will always cherish and enjoy whenever I want to revisit this great experience.
Photos from top left: Me as I was preparing to leave on the trip, the route I followed across the country, a Route 66 sign painted on an asphalt highway in the desert of California, Art H., me and Dennie at a Rte. 66 museum in Barstow, CA, Dennie, Art H. and I having breakfast in a Safeway parking lot in Williams, AZ, me at the mid-point of Route 66 at the MidPoint Cafe in Adrian, TX, one of the confusing signs I found during my travels, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO, a girl that posed with me at the end of the line in Chicago (her boyfriend took the photo), me at a Harley-Davidson factory in Wauwatosa, WI, Art H. and I in his boat on Little Squam Lake in Ashland, NH on Father's Day, Art H. and I having dinner at a Common Man Restaurant in Pymouth, NH, and my Welcome Home from Bonnie -- I had a great adventure on this trip, but it was really good to come home and see her.
Click Photo to Enlarge - Use Arrows for Next Photo
