Road Trip 2002

June 11^th – 13^th New Vienna, Iowa

The road trip started at My Brother’s house in New Vienna, Iowa. I had been buying items for the bike and sending them to Keith. He would then install the items that needed to go on the bike, and stored the rest for me. These items included; a new Corbin® Dual Touring Seat with removable backrests; new saddle bags from a company called Iron Bags®; an Aritronix® “Thunder Page” alarm system; risers and a leather touring jacket. He also put the bike in for its 5,000-mile check up. The bike only had 4,400 miles on it, but with the large trip coming up, it seemed like the smart thing to do. Once I got to Iowa (I live in the Marshall Islands), I also purchased rain gear and riding boots. The picture above was taken the morning I left, Thursday, June 13^th. It’s a good thing I bought the rain gear. I didn’t get 40 miles before it started raining…

June 13^th Kalamazoo, MI

After several hours of riding in 60-degree rainy weather, I had to pull off of the beltway around Chicago. It was pouring rain and I could no longer see. The problem was, there was no on-ramp to get right back on the beltway. So I asked directions…Man! Did I ever ask the wrong person. They sent me in to downtown Chicago in the rain, on a motorcycle during rush hour! It took me 3 hours to get the hell out of there and back on to the beltway out of town. I stopped in Michigan City when I saw a Harley sign along the freeway. I purchased a nice T-Bag to replace the backpacks I was using as luggage. I then continued to Kalamazoo, where I spent the night in a Motel 6.

June 14^th – 18^th Newport, RI

I got up early and hit the road with the rising sun. It was another cold and rainy day. It got colder the closer I got to Canada. By the time I hit Detroit, it was in the 40s. It stayed that way all the way through Canada and in to New York. I had planned on sight seeing at Niagara Falls, but was in no mood to get off of the bike. I decided that I would ride straight through to Rhode Island and visit my old friends from Kwajalein. I simply didn’t want to ride a 3^rd day in the cold rain. The trip was fairly uneventful, it was just really wet and cold…did I mention that? After 17 hours of riding, I arrived at Joe and Deana’s place in Newport. It was a true test of my new touring seat, but Corbin® is to be commended. You should have seen the looks I got from other Harley riders when they heard I road 17 hours straight, on a Fatboy. The seat and detachable windshield made it possible. While in Newport, Joe and Deana showed me a great time. The weather warmed up during my stay so we did some local riding and went to a large casino where Joe taught us how to play craps. I was able to meet up with Hal Dog, another Kwaj friend as well. The pictures below are of Me, Joe and Deana. Unfortunately, I didn’t get one of Hal Dog. We did a clam bake the last night I was there.

June 19^th – 20^th Harrisburg, PA

After my trip from Iowa to Rhode Island, I knew this next trip to Harrisburg was going to be easy. The only snag was a 30 minute HAIL STORM. I was pretty luck, I came up on an over pass as soon as it started. Once it was done, the rest of the ride was warm and dry. In PA, I was visiting my buddy Mick O’Hearn. He is a buddy I served with when I was in the Army and Stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. Mick is an Air Force Vet from Desert Storm (CPT O’Hearn). He is now a TV weatherman in Harrisburg. We had a great time in the Harrisburg area. Downtown has really been cleaned up and is a lot of fun to visit. The picture is of me and Mick at the Forecast Center in the TV station.

June 21^st – June 26^th Elk Ridge, MD

The trip from Harrisburg to Elk Ridge was only a couple of hours in the sun. A welcome break from the rain and hail of my previous trips. In MD, I stayed with my Brother Bill, his wife Laura and their two sons, Liam and Bryce. I also had some Army buddies at Ft. Meade, where I used to be stationed, so I was able to organize some time with them as well. One buddy, Sergeant First Class Bill Dingman, invited me to join him on a HOG rally to Fredrick, MD the day after I got in to town. Bill has a ’99 Softail Standard and was itching to ride. It was perfect weather and the rally was a great time. It was the first time he and I had ever had a chance to ride together. It was great to see my Brother and his family. Sometimes it gets too long between visits. While I was there, I also took a day ride out to Ocean City, MD and Annapolis. I had never made it to Ocean City while I was station there. The Boardwalk was beautiful, but I forgot my camera!

June 27^th – July 1^st Huntsville, AL

I rode down the Appalachian Mountains out of DC to Tennessee. It was a fantastic trip. I hit a little rain from time to time, but it was warm and the scenery was perfect. I wasn’t due to arrive until the next day, but it was only a 12-hour ride to Huntsville, so I arrived around 9 PM local time. I was visiting my old Kwajalein roommates, Ed and Amy. Ed has a V-Star and we had been looking forward to riding together. The stay in Huntsville was incredible. I got there just in time for the weekend to kick off. I met a ton of new people and had a great time making new friends. We did some riding when the weather let us. We had some scattered rain throughout the visit. The pictures below are of Ed and Amy (with me in the first picture) and Carrie and Sarah Beth (second picture-respectfully). Don’t ask me what we’re doing in some of these. Like I said, we had a great time…

July 2^nd – 6^th Aurthor City, TX

I left early Tuesday morning and had a nice ride. I hit some scattered showers along the way, but nothing too bad. On this leg, I was visiting my Mom (Sandy) and Step Father (Danny) at their Ranch. It is on the Red river between Hugo, OK and Paris, TX. My twin Brother, Keith, his wife Dee and their 4 children were also there. The kids’ names, from oldest to youngest, are Chelsea, Adam, Nicole and Casey. Another Army buddy, CPT Alan Brown, also came up for a couple of days. He and I had been stationed together in Wuerzburg, Germany just before I got our and came to the Marshall’s. We all had a great time ambushing Grandpa with water balloons. He cheated and grabbed the hose while Mom and Dee were wearing donkey ears apparently…

July 7^th – 10^th Weston, MO

Weston is a great little town built in the 1830s. My Friends, Zack and Leigh Ann live there with there Daughter Alyssa. Zack and I were stationed together in Frankfurt at the same time I knew Mick O’Hearn. Zack had served in the Army, but was a civilian by the time I met him. Zack is actually the one who got me hooked on Fatboys. I had always liked the way they looked, but once I rode his ’93 Fatboy, it was all over. The trip to Weston was made even more special, when Carrie, from Huntsville, joined me for some more sight seeing on the bike. Zack, Carrie and I logged quite a few miles during my short stay. The area has some beautiful country side, but is also less than an hour from Kansas City. I noticed later that my camera duties were lacking again. I missed out on getting Leigh Ann and the munchkin in some of the photos. Sorry guys!

July 11^th Back to Iowa

I slept in a little for my last leg. It was only about 8 hours to New Vienna, so I had all day. It was cold and rainy again as I entered Iowa. It was down to 64 degree, windy and raining in Western Iowa. But as I headed East towards my final destination, it got warmer and the skies cleared. By the time I arrived at my Brother’s house, it was sunny and in the 80s again. This final stay was meant for my Dad (Jim) and my Step Mother (Pauline). I hadn’t seen them in 4 years. While at my Brother’s house, we (my Dad, Brother and I) built some cabinets for the garage (see pictures), painted doorframes, built storage shelves and mowed the grass. We were cheap labor. Just kidding. We enjoyed doing the projects together and spending time with the entire family. As for the cabinets, you can see them in the pictures. I am the one in the blue shorts, white shirt and gray hat…of course, so is Keith. Not planned, it just seems to happen with twins. One night, Keith and I dubbed some old 35mm film from our childhood to Hi8 videotape. I had never seen these films before. They were pretty funny. I have an editing system at home and look forward to putting them together in a modern format. I also got to do some work on, and drive, my old Nova during this visit. Here are the pictures.

It was one of the best vacations of my life. And I have had some great ones, believe me. I hope you enjoyed the road trip with me. If you have any comments, please email me @ craiger62@hotmail.com Ride safe.