I've got to be honest, I planned this trip, so it's my fault. Not that I didn't do a good job planning, just that I planned it at all. I really prefer to be lost, most of my greatest discoveries have happened that way. Let's face it, anyone can plan to go to what is known as "the greatest restaurant in town", but to discover it; some small hole in the wall, only a select few have ever heard of (outside it's regulars) is a wonderful experience.

Tommy, waiting for Father John
at St. Luke's Episcopal Church
to Bless Ellie and I for the trip.
Thanks, Father John!

 The roads were dry, no rain until just outside Arkansas, but man oh man, they were rough. New Mexico's were the worst, I think they just put up "Slow for Road Construction" signs where ever the road surface was particularly dangerous (about every 10 -15 miles). I almost never saw evidence of work, just huge bumps and potholes. Ellie took a real beating on these roads and I've promised her a new suspension system when we get home. Despite all the rough road conditions, I managed to make the stretch in about 36 hours as planned (I took 4 - 1 hour catnaps at rest stops).

Stopped along Rt. 66 for cofee

You'll never hear anyone say, "I missed seeing so many things, by not taking the interstate". Those slabs of concrete were made to get us from point "A" to point "B" quickly, not introduce us to the beauty of the countryside. And, to be honest, that is exactly what I wanted. I needed to get from the West, to the East Coast quickly. So when I set off I planned on taking freeways most of the way. It's roughly 1600 miles from L.A. to Arkansas, (24 hours of driving at 70 mph.) in order to complete this trip in 3 1/2 weeks I needed to get that section out of the way, I've been through it before and knowing that temps would be well into the 100's, I decided to just "Haul Ass". To be fair there are some beautiful places along this route, the area around Flagstaff is amazing and should be explored. New Mexico has some fantastic scenery, and sections of Texas and Oklahoma are truly beautiful. This is the route of the famous 66. The people along this route are particularly colorful and fun to talk to, except in Texas. For some reason people in Texas (just the majority I've encountered at gas stops etc,) don't like me. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact they sell hokey religious paraphernalia in their convenience stores, at the Gas Stations. Perhaps they can tell I don't go to Chick Fil-A or maybe it's that I am on a motorcycle?, or it could be my cologne. I never get smiled at, hear nasty conversations about others and -even got called a hippy by a group of farmers. -Oh well, their loss. 

More of these still open
the further south you go.

The clouds threatened
but never produced.

I rode out of the sunset...

Houck AZ. a tiny little place named for
the original Sheep King of AZ.

Cadillac Ranch, TX

Ellie turned 50k miles!

When I came about 100 miles from the Arkansas boarder things really changed, the trees were greener (the whole stretch of this route is in severe drought) the roads took a winding route up the mountainside and the weather welcomed me to Arkansas with one of the most spectacular lightning storms I've ever been in. I wish I had my Go Pro mounted at the time, but I didn't and I was not about to stop to  set it up. The rain was not bad, but the lightning ran around the clouds in 360 circles and scared the hell out of me. I was exhausted and considered that perhaps the lightning was a hallucination (it was not) I ended up skipping the nearly empty KOA campground because they wanted $22 for a tent space and I could get a clean motel room for $32. Really can't understand the cost of KOA spaces on this trip, insane. I slept nearly 10 hours and arose the next day to a beautiful sunshine soaked Arkansas day. Ellie fired right up, lurched into gear and we took off to see the amazing Ozark mountains.