I was just checking my Google Analytics to see what was what on this here bloggy thing and wound up reading some of my post from the road.
I'm really glad that I decided to write everything down as I was going.  It's a real gift to be able read about all the little things that sorta slip out of your mind after a year.
Being able to turn to the blog to see the places I stayed, the restaurants I ate at, and even what I ordered, really help to put me right back square in that memory.
This post was written roughly half way across and gave me a big smile tonight.
Hope you'll enjoy it too.

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Friday, July 13, 2012

The numbers so far.

I left Atlanta on June 7th.

I've been to:
Montgomery
Gulf Shores
Orange Beach
Ft. Morgan
Ft. Gaines
Dauphine Island
Pascagoula
Biloxi
New Orleans
Houma
New Iberia
Houston
Wiemar
San Antonio
Converse
Austin
Ft. Stockton
Odessa
Carlsbad and Carlsbad Caverns
Alamogordo
Artesia
Cloudcroft
Deming
Lordsburg
Wilcox
Pima
Globe
Roosevelt Lake
Payson
Camp Verde
Jerome
Sedona
The Hoover Dam
Las Vegas
The Grand Canyon
The Mojave Desert
Los Angeles
Beverly Hills
Malibu
and Oxnard

Today is July 13th (Friday the 13th - Yikes!) and as of now, I've put 3,300 + miles on the Harley.
I've broken down twice.
Been rained on at least a half dozen times.
Nearly went down once coming off the ferry at Mobile Bay.
Had sunburn so bad that my right arm blistered and bled and lost $45 on the penny slots.
I saw Meatloaf live at Austin City Limits and met the band the next day.
Bought a stranger a slice of pound cake because she was crying.
Then a bunch of strangers gave me lots of water and even some sweet tea when I was down.
And GPL made me an early birthday pound cake.
I saw The Scorpions in San Antonio with Cousin-brother Ron.
Think I saw Pamela Anderson in a Starbucks in Malibu.
Ms. X and I saw Cirque de Soliel's "Beatles: Love" show in Vegas.
And I've ridden on the PCH and a little on Route 66.
I've had a few drinks on 6th St., Bourbon St., and Fremont St.
I walked down Sunset Strip at night.
I was ignored in NOLA but had great conversations with strangers in gas stations and coffee shops, in Harley service centers, and just walking down the street in Austin.
I was told by a "psychic" that "I was on a journey" (Nooooo Shit!)
Another psychic told me to work harder on my writing.
I met a really nice guy at a Shell station in Biloxi who had also survived brain cancer, while going thru a divorce, and trying to rebuild his business, who was riding his motorcycle around the country.
I celebrated a birthday.
Saw great live jazz at The Elephant Room and later stumbled out of The El Camino.
Missed "The 29"'s birthday party.
I saw Hitchcock in an old theater.
I drank Peyote Tea in the mountains where the moon was so bright I didn't need a flashlight.
I had a tarantula with boundary issues crawl across my boot and a rattlesnake cross my path and was nearly eaten by a bat.
The wind blew me off of Interstate 10 but then I saw the face of an angel in the clouds that night in Lordsburg, NM.
I rode thru temperatures ranging from 39 to 122.
Been thru the desert and the mountains, the cities and towns, and the great western BFE's.
I've had really nice talks with old men, and young girls, and little kids, and Dutch and German tourists, and all sorts of people outside of Starbucks from Louisiana to California.
Met a woman tow truck driver who has the same last name and whose grandfather came from the same little town in Spain that my grandfather was born in and had dinner with her and her grandkids. Her grandson, Isaiah, talked to my mom.
Met a teeny-tiny helicopter pilot who was so sweet and charming you wanted to fold her up and put her in your pocket to take home.
Played soccer with a 3 year old and had a little too much to drink with my brother Joey at The Flora-Bama and accidentally scared a retired couple on an elevator.
Walked on the beach and up in the mountains.
Saw sunsets over the Sierra's and the Pacific.
Been hot, cold, tired, and hungry. Sometimes all at once.
And I've just started California.
It's been a great trip so far.


Thanks for coming along with me!