Motorcycle Travels
What we do, how we do it and where we've done it!
We ride two-up on a 2019 Harley-Davidson FLHTK (Ultra Classic). We have added a few doo-dads to her to make her our own. Her name is Big Red. Of course, there is a story behind that name but you'll have to ask about it!
This 2023 Road Trip is all about getting to Milwaukee for this year's NCVA (Navy Cryptologic Veterans Association, a Navy organization we belong to) Reunion. We left Tucson intending to follow The Great River Road from southern Louisiana to west of Milwaukee. After the reunion, we are just moseying around, working our way to the east coast and then south to the Gulf coast, then back to Tucson by the holidays.
TEXAS - We rode our bike a couple of times while we were here in TX. I think our favorite trip was to Fredericksburg, though our ride to Kerrville and Banderas was fun as well. We wanted to ride the Twisted Sisters (3 TX FM highways in the Hill Country area) but the weather didn't cooperate nicely the day we wanted to do this ride, so we drove it in the truck. It was quite twisty and was fun so I can only imagine how great it would have been on the bike. When we rode the bike to Kerrville, we did some of the Twisted Sisters route but not all of it. Kerrville and Bandera are both on the Twisted Sisters route. Another ride that was a LOT of fun was our ride to Livingston. Lot's of rural highway riding. We met some friends for lunch in Livingston but it was an ALL DAY ride. Lot's of GREAT riding in TX, I really hope we go back.
LOUISIANA - We rode a couple of times in LA as well. One ride was just poking around with nothing in particular in mind, but our REAL FUN ride was one that we rode all the way down to Laplace from Baton Rouge then back home via Sorrento. Lot's of riding on US Highway 61. If you know anything about blues music, you know the significance of Hwy 61 and we have spent a lot of time on or around Hwy 61 during our entire Road Trip 2023. This Louisiana stretch I found particularly interesting and beautiful.
MISSISSIPPI - Our one ride in Mississippi was the day we rode part of the Natchez Trace Parkway. We left home and headed south on Hwy 61 to Port Gibson (the Town too Pretty to Burn). We picked up "the Trace" there and rode south to Natchez. We stopped in Natchez to have lunch, looked around there a little bit, then returned to the Trace to go back home. Lots of real pretty riding. Commercial vehicles are NOT allowed on the Trace and the speed limit is 50 mph. This made the ride on the Trace very relaxing and fun. Probably one of the best rides I have ever been on. We MUST do some, or all, of the Trace again someday.
MISSOURI - We were able to get a little bit of riding done in Missouri and Illinois. In addition to some random rides around Scott AFB and Belleville, we rode the bike to old-town St. Charles and had a really nice lunch with some family and then we rode over to Illinois to the old river town Alton. We took a tour of the National Great Rivers Museum which included a tour of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam. It was a fascinating piece of engineering. Diana had never seen a lock and dam before. I'm glad we made this ride.
WISCONSIN - Milwaukee
OHIO - South Central, Wilmington, Triple Nickel
KENTUCKY - wherever we can ride
PENNSYLVANIA - Pittsburgh, Western, Orbisonia, Central
MARYLAND - Pomfret
VIRGINIA - Northern, Tidewater
GEORGIA - Fort Gordon, Macon
TENNESSEE - Tail of the Dragon
OKLAHOMA - maybe
2019 Harley-Davidson FLHTK Ultra Limited "Big Red"