Across Kansas, Missouri, and into Illinois ; 27 June 2011

Since the motorcycle dealer did not open until 0800 we could not follow our normal routine. We were at the shop by 0745 and caught the owner as he was opening up for the day. The shop had exactly one tire that fit my bike. By 0810 we had the new tire mounted, balanced, and paid for ($200).

On the road again it was time to hang on and keep the bike on the road. At least it was cool and the traffic was manageable.

I70 goes through some large cities where the traffic is a real challenge. I ran out of gas again in a construction zone with a narrow berm. Mark had pulled behind me, turned on his flashers, and turned off his bike. After dumping the one spare gallon of gas into my bike, I was ready to blast off. Unfortunately, Mark could not. His bike was dead. After taking off his luggage packs and seat, he discovered a lot of corrosion on one of terminals. After cleaning the terminal, the Guzzi fired up. Other than that small drama there was little to talk about. We simply endured the ride all the way through St. Louis and into Illinois.

From Hayes, KS we had 1200 miles to Roanoke. Two 600 mile days were going to be the bottom line. We made it to Mt. Vernon, Illinois, exactly 600 miles from Hayes and 611 miles from Roanoke. If the weather holds we will be in Roanoke tomorrow.

Tonight we took a chance on a local Mexican restaurant. Sitting at the bar we met some guys who had been in town for a week and had sampled the local food. Based on their recommendation we tried a new dish. This turned out to be our best dinner of the entire trip. Somehow the cook had combined shrimp, beef, chicken, peppers, and onions. Fantastic. These fellows were hog farm managers, with head honcho being from North Carolina.

We will be up early tomorrow. Time for bed.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mt. Vernon, IL