2013 Theodore Goes to Theodore Day 5

Elizabethtown, KY to Home.  182.0 Miles.

Woke up to a steely cool morning.  There was no reason to stay in the odoriferous room any longer so we packed up and were on the road by 8:00ET.
Traffic was noticeably heavier since it was still the end of rush hour as we got near Louisville.  Once through Louisville, we decided that since we had plenty of time to get home, we'd get off the freeway and take mostly 2-lane roads home.  The slower pace was a welcome change especially since there was almost no other cars on the road.

We almost always cross the Ohio near Cincinnati.  The Brent Spence Bridge is chaotic and hardly scenic, so it was nice to cross in a quieter way.

Once across the river, we wound our way towards the direction of home with no real plan on the route.  It spit rain on and off for a little while, but never hard enough for it to matter.  We didn't bother with rain gear (and mine had holes in it anyway).
Eventually, we got back on I-74 for a short stretch and crossed into Ohio.  One gas stop and a half hour later and we were home.

For a trip which lasted less than 96 hours, it felt a lot longer and in a good way.  We ended up doing and seeing a lot on the trip and traveled just under 1880 wonderful miles of memories.  We traveled through three new motorcycle states.  And, the fourth Theodore is (more) complete.  Vacation time and money well spent.

2013 Theodore Goes to Theodore Day 4

Meridian, MS to Elizabethtown, KY.  486.9 Miles

Woke up fairly early and had a hotel breakfast (Waffles! Saturated with syrup!).

Initial weather forecast and radar images looked pretty good.  A second look an hour or so later showed a significant amount of rain forming to the west so we packed up quickly and were on the road by about 7:00CT.  We suited up in rain gear in anticipation of what we were likely to ride through.
Drove northeast into Alabama in humid cloudy conditions toward Birmingham and then north on I-65.  Near the border between Alabama and Tennessee it started to sprinkle a little bit followed by very hard rain and a few rumbles of thunder for about an hour.  At some point I noticed that my rain suit had formed a large hole and my pants were getting wet - at least that is my story...  Time to order new rain suits when back at home.

The rain stopped around Nashville and had only marginally slowed us.  It wasn't an aggressive day so we could take our time.
We crossed into Kentucky and stopped at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY.  The museum was pretty neat, but definitely geared toward the Corvette owner/enthusiast.  There were many interesting Corvettes to see but the museum didn't tell the story well of the cars from their inception to where they are now.  Still, it was worth spending some time to see.
A few other nuggets that I didn't know before:

• The Corvette name comes from a French word for a small lightly armed but very maneuverable warship.  I guess the Chevy Littoral combat ship or Chevy PT Boat doesn't have the same ring.
• Until 1981 the cars where essentially made off a production line by hand and only 700,000 were made before moving production to a modern line at Bowling Green.
• Among the many neat prototypes/concept cars on display was a V-12 powered car with stretched engine bay to accommodate the larger engine called the "Falconer."  They should have taken that concept further!
• Many frame off cars showed the newer gearbox in back design in a way I hadn't previously understood.
• Some late '70s cars had pretty paltry performance numbers.  Given that emissions regulations were ahead of technology, this is a pretty dark time for cars in general.  

After going to the museum and having a hotdog at the "Corvette Cafe," we headed back north.  We were stopped and slowly plodded along for nearly an hour and several miles due to a moderately bad wreck involving a truck towing a camper-trailer.  The trailer had overturned and was severely damaged. Hopefully nobody was hurt.  The cops came up the shoulder when we were stopped and there was no ambulance.  Better to be stuck in stalled traffic than causing it.

Once moving again, we got to Elizabethtown, KY for the night.  A cheap chain Motel was it for the night which smelled of some potpourri of old cigarettes, paint, and a few other nameless wonders.  I guess that is what one gets when not willing to blow a C-note on a room to sleep a few hours in.
Dinner was at Texas Outlaw.  The ribs were actually smoked and were really good - the sauce was OK, since the meat was so good, it probably would have been better without the sauce.  Probably some of the better restaurant ribs I've had.

From here it is hopefully a couple hour jaunt to home.

2013 Theodore Goes to Theodore Day 3

Theodore, Al to Meridian, MS.  401.5 Miles.

In an unusual beginning to the day, we were woke up around 11:30 to the sound of someone entering our hotel room.  No, not trying to enter, actually entering.  The hotel staff had rented out our room to a second guest.  Luckily the security lock was on.  The individual trying to enter was very embarrassed and apologetic.  He said he was going to go talk to the front desk about the situation since he could have been shot.  Obviously my reputation proceeds.  Mistakes happen and hopefully it hasn't come to all that.

After sleeping the rest of the night, we got up the next morning and had a quick bite to eat.  Weather forecasts looked awful to the north so there was no reason to hurry.  We decided to head up to tour the USS Alabama and USS Drum near Mobile.  We left in plenty of time to get up there and walk around a bit. There happen to also be a Mopar car show going on there.

We entered at 8:00 promptly at opening and toured the battleship.  I normally don't like the slow pace of guided tours, but initially the ship was a little daunting to self-tour due to the size.  After getting the overall layout of the ship, I was really glad for the self-guided tour.  The ship was really well-done as a museum although I wish it came with an overall map.  Afterwards, we went through the airplane hanger which had several planes including an SR-71 Blackbird and a MIG29.  Not being a plane guy, I'm not sure what they all were.
The USS Drum was also available for self-tour.  Having toured the Cobia in Manitowoc, WI, it was pretty similar, but I'm endlessly fascinated by the submarine combat in WWII.  Both the USS Alabama and the Drum are well worth a visit.  The guides say to plan on two hours, it could have been longer.  The lack of other patrons made the early part of the day very nice.

From Mobile, we headed south again for a last look at Theodore and onto US90, crossing into Mississippi for the first time on my motorcycle.

We stayed on 2-lane roads across all of Mississippi's gulf coast.  Temperatures were warm but not hot, with enough breeze to be comfortable without sand blowing everywhere.  The gulf coast of Mississippi is great.  Miles and miles of white sand beaches with lots of parking.  Several casinos dot the area and there were many festivals going on along the length.  The fair-type food smell was intoxicating in a few locations.  I wouldn't want to do the drive on July 4th weekend, but it was great at the end of April.

It was interesting to see how many homes and buildings are protected, lifted, damaged or gone from hurricanes.  I wasn't quite sure why some were lifted so much farther of the ground than others.  Perhaps age since being built?  Or insurance level?  I was curious if the many vacant lots were from Hurricane Katrina.  Many dead trees lining the road had been turned into sculpture.

After the touristy gulf shores, we crossed into bayou country of swamps and many small rivers.  We crossed the border into Louisiana around noon making 40 states traveled through over the years, including every state west of the Mississippi River.  There were no signs marking the state line, but the road was a little remote at this point.  Perhaps Louisiana just isn't very proud of itself since there was no Louisiana sign (in the opposite direction) as we crossed back into Mississippi later in the day.  The remote road was dotted with people fishing, industrial areas focused on gulf industries.
Eventually, we met back up with civilization near New Orleans.  We thought about going into New Orleans, but traffic was crazy and drivers showing a lack of concern.
We headed north across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.  I had read there was a toll and was surprised there were no toll booths.  As best as I can figure out, there is supposed to be a cost to drive it, but they only collect when headed south.  Odd - sounds similar to the Tacoma Narrows in Washington State.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is one of the longest "bridges" in the world and is almost 24 miles long.  It was a little freaky at first, but I was glad we went across it.  Traffic was surprisingly light.
After crossing we stopped in Mandeville.  In 2010 we were going to come to the gulf coast and stay at a cottage near Lake Pontchartrain, but that was when we ended up buying the new house, cancelling any vacation plans.  The area looked really nice.  We may have to come back to do this at some time in the future.
We ate at Gene's Po-Boy Shack. It was a phenomenal lunch and with a little less chaos than we would have had in New Orleans.

At lunch, we decided it was too early to stop so there was no reason to stay in Slidell as we had originally intended.  There are some options for other interesting things on the way home and it will be good to leave some extra room in case of really bad weather.  We headed north to stay in Meridian, MS for the night.  The trip was uneventful except for the last 20 miles where it rained - moderately heavy at times.  It was warm enough and we were close to stopping so we didn't use rain gear.

Dinner was a steak at a chain restaurant - adequate, but no comparison to some of the local seafood.

2013 Theodore Goes to Theodore Day 2

Shepherdsville, Ky to Theodore, Al.  641.7 miles.

We got up and left pretty early, on the road by around 7:00.  There was no hotel breakfast so there was no reason to stick around.  The morning started out between cool and cold.  As the sun rose and we continued nearly straight south things warmed slowly.  By the time we got to Nashville, the temperature was fairly comfortable.

After Nashville, we crossed over into Alabama, making this the 38th state I've driven my motorcycle through. 

Shortly before Birmingham, we stopped for lunch at an Iron Skillet.  The restaurant was very cold which wasn't so nice given that we were just beginning to warm up.  The bacon cheeseburger and chicken strips was good however.

We continued south through Alabama.  It was interesting to see lots of city names of historical significance.  I'd like to try to do this trip again sometime when there is more time to explore some of the history.  Before we decided to leave on Thursday, I had mapped out some interesting graves to see. 

At a later gas stop, there was a group of us inline for the bathroom.  Let me just recommend  if you can't finish in a public restroom within 15 minutes, you need a doctor, not a bathroom.  

As we got nearer mobile bay, the elevation dropped to near sea level and there were several causeways to cross.  By this time, any thought of cold weather was replaced by hot, well over 80F.  I'm not used to that temperature yet, especially when the day started below 40F.

After rounding Mobile Bay, we got to the end of I-65 and onto I-10.  Immediately we started to see signs for Theodore!

I'm not sure who Tillman is, but he only gets a corner while I get a whole city.

We got off on the exit for Theodore and headed toward town.  We almost missed the welcome sign marking the momentous occasion.  But, a quick turn allowed for a few pictures.

After poking around town a bit, we found the high school.  There were several signs proudly proclaiming Theodore High School (Home of the Bobcats)!  Insert your own joke about what might go on at My High School.  I'm sure the underachievers are doing fine.

Enough with the Theodore pictures, but suffice to say, there were many more.  Theodore Dental, Theodore Veterinary, Theodore Methodist Church (seriously).

We made our way back to the north of Theodore and stayed at the Baymont.  Nothing wrong with last night's hotel, but this one was nicer.  We called around a bit at first and sort of wanted to stay on Dauphin Island as it would have been right on the water.  There was one place there that had one room, but they would not take a reservation for it and said we would have to see it first to make sure we would like it as it was in their old building.  Given some of the places we've stayed over the years, how bad could it be?  I've never heard a proprietor give that kind of warning - we chose not to go.
After poking around online, we found Neighbor's Seafood and Chicken for dinner.  We almost couldn't find it since either AT&T's network was having issues or my phone was.  The Seafood feast and fried pork chop were phenomenal.  Restaurants with that many locals are almost always good.  I hope all the grease is good for the coat.

Back at the hotel we rested after a good long day on the bike.  We'll have to watch the weather as it is starting to look more questionable for the next few days.

2013 Theodore Goes to Theodore Day 1

I was originally going to call this The Fourth Theodore.
Every time I saw or thought about those words (The Fourth Theodore), my mind tangentially referenced Norman Mailer's "Fifth Estate."  The Fifth Estate was some sort of metaphysical collection of Norman Mailer to serve as a counter to the Federal Government's covert intelligence - mostly domestic.  From what I've read, it was mostly just speeches.  Norman Mailer's Fifth Estate serves as a reminder that the political niche right does not have a monopoly on crazy paranoia.  Politics in the United States is often looked on as a bell curve, with most in the center, and fringes on the left and right.  This is wrong, the political spectrum is more of a bell curve wrapped around a cylinder. The far left and far right almost touching, behind the scenes.  As Sarah Vowell wrote, "It is interesting how, once one edits justifications for violence down to a length suitable for T-shirt slogans, political distinctions between left and right disappear."
Enough digression, The first Theodore was in Saskatchewan in Canada, 2008.  The second Theodore was somewhere in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 2010.  Theodore, Michigan has now been consumed by the town of Felch.  This is slated to be the third Theodore, in Alabama.  And, I am the fourth Theodore.
Since Norman Mailer is a nut-job...

This is to be a short trip, Theodore Goes to Theodore.

Much like 2012, I have several days of last year's vacation that needs to be used before the end of April.  Much like 2012, if I ever lose vacation, I'll know my life has made a turn I'm not prepared to make.  Unlike 2012, I wanted to do something more with at least part of my "carry-over" vacation.
The plan was originally to leave early Friday.  This can be a dicey time of year to travel.  Temperatures are starting to warm, but cold temperatures are still very possible and this is typically one of the wettest times of the year in the Eastern United States.  But, if travel is dictated by weather it won't happen.  Yesterday was particularly cold and wet, which prompted some pondering as I was walking the dog while wearing a winter coat and warm hat.

Since the dogs where scheduled to spend the night in beagle-jail Thursday, and I had all day to get ready, there was no reason not to plan on leaving on Thursday.  After waking up to a frigid morning with freezing fog and an unusual level of frost, most of the day was spent bouncing around the house, packing the motorcycle and doing small things that need to be done before leaving.  Anticipation can be a great part of travel, but it can also be painful.  Time moved very slow for the last couple hours.

Home to Shepherdsvillle, Kentucky.  167.8 Miles.

We were on the road by about 5:30 PM.  We took I-275 around Cincinnati since there is construction in the downtown area and rush hour traffic through Cincinnati isn't very much fun.  From there, we headed south and a little west to Louisville, then south on I-65 where we will spend most of the miles of this trip.  Just south of Louisville, we stopped in Shepherdsville at a Motel 6.  Hotel seemed nice enough and the price was right.  And, the bike was parked right outside the window.
Dinner was Long John Silver's (choices were few within walking distance) and some snacks from the gas station.

Getting a few hours down the road will make the rest of the trip to the gulf coast much easier and hopefully a few degrees warmer.