Home again, home again

On Sunday the 24th --our 16th day on the road--we made it back to Nashville. At first I wasn't sure we would. We awoke in Calhoun GA to storms and a check of the Weather Channel showed a large band from southern Texas up to PA. It was bright red on the TV screen indicating severe weather. We donned our banana suits (jackets only) and walked to breakfast. I missed Cvstar - she would have enjoyed the yellow parade. We actually had someone ask if they could have our rain jackets --we thought, "can we trade for your car?". We took our time packing up and it was still raining, sometimes very hard. We studied the maps --okay, the bits and pieces of maps that we had. You see, I had been less than confident we would make it all the way coast to coast so I had left all the Georgia and TN maps at home, figuring we didn't need them to return home via the Trace. After some study we determined that we should abandon the Cleveland TN route as it rode up along the storm line. Instead we opted to ride horizontally through the storm to get to the backside, which meant we were headed for Huntsville. It was a wet and cold ride. We stopped for lunch in Fayetteville TN after a beautiful trip through northern Alabama, and the atsy community of Mentone, AL. The Sunday-dressed crowd stared as we came in wearing banana suits, carrying helmets. An older gentleman inquired as to whether we were from outerspace. I was reminded of the morning we drove into UFO City -Roswell NM, we had been wearing our banana suits and had felt like aliens. After lunch, eventually, the sun danced in and out of overcast skies. I was just right if there was sun; cold if there wasn't. And although Cvstar wishes she had been there to record it, it wasn't long after lunch that BeamerPop and I pulled over for a little sidewalk snooze. (The Citgo sidewalk worked just as well as the DQ sidewalk!) After almost an hour, and a large cup of coffee, we headed towards the Natchez Trace. With BurgMa in the lead so she didn't have to see all the extra friendly handwaving from BeamerPop, the sunny Trace led us easily back to Nashville. We saw lots of deer on the Trace with two bounding across the road almost immediately when we got onto the road. And there were also lots of wild turkey. It was early evening when we pulled into our driveway. We were happy to be home, and eager to hear from Cvstar about the rest of her trip.

Over a light supper we discussed the next adventure...perhaps a north/south trip. We could go down to New Orleans and follow it up to the head, then eastward through Canada, and down through Maine. Hmmm...we have time to plan.

Through the lower Smokies

On Saturday morning the 23rd, we all hugged and parted ways, Cvstar headed north on Rt 17 towards Charleston; we,BeamerPop and BurgMa, headed northwest towards Augusta on Rt 321. We had a very nice journey on tree shaded two lane roads and passed through the limited access area of the Savannah River. We lunched in Augusta with Nana and Tom, enjoying a wonderful spread of fresh corn, boiled shrimp, crab cakes and baked potatoes. It was finalized with cool watermelon and wonderful peach pie. We had to decline Nana's gift of white peaches (our air-conditioning system wouldn't be able to keep them cool). A quick call to a BullDog enthusiast confirmed a home game in Athens. We headed out with hopes of making it to Cleveland TN before nightfall. The trip from Augusta to Athens GA was fine and we made it into Athens just as the football game was ending. Lots of red and black dressed fans were on the sidewalks and in cars; there wasn't alot of car-honking so we assumed it was a loss for the home team. We wove our way with the fans in a northeasterly direction before stopping in a large parking lot to let the hoopla subside. After a 30 minute break, the traffic diminished and we were ready to get some coffee and return to the road. Our friendly bulldog enthusiast is also an Athens native so a quick call to her for directions led us easily out of town on rt 129 which joined with rt53. It was a beautiful drive on the bikes and I would have enjoyed it more had nightfall not descended. We decided to make it to Calhoun before we called it a day.

Texas AGAIN

Cvstar writes:
We left Carlsbad this morning after staying in the Ocotillo Motel (named after a kind of cactus). As we pulled up to the motel last night we saw a bunch of motorcycles on the sidewalk out front. Turns out there is a lounge in the motel as well. It must be the town's biker hangout because in the morning the bikes were all gone. It was rather cool this morning as we headed out and thankfully warmed up to a nice comfortable temperature in the afternoon.
Miles and miles of Texas...AGAIN! We are taking a different route so the scenery is different than coming in. We saw a heck of a lot of cows and get this, even a zebra. I know, I know, you think the highway winds have damaged our brains, but seriously there were zebras. It must have been some exotic farm or something. Along with the zebras we saw lots of other animals today like bison, sheep, goats, antelopes, a dead armadillo, and birds that apparently don't see the orange vests. We have had at least one actually physical encounter with a bird (Beamerpop) and several close calls.
We landed in Brownwood TX for the night!
As requested here is a good picture of the Burgman. This was taken near the Carlsbad Caverns.

Again this is Cvstar...don't know what's wrong with the blogger.

BurgMa adds:
360 miles today. It was amazing to have the roads to ourselves again. And we continue to have wonderful weather; I guess we will need to start watching the Weather Channel again as we get closer to the eastern border of Texas. Today it was cool in the morning but by afternoon we were in T-shirts and our Mesh jackets. The sky was a beautiful cloudless blue. As we got out of southern New Mexico (filled with the oil pumps) we crossed a hilly section of Texas -quite pretty - and the pear cactus became more prolific. There were plenty of Mexican sunflowers again and also a blue phlox alongside the road. This part of Texas is quite green and filled with mesquite. I need to learn more about cattle; I can identify black angus but that's it. It is amazing to see some of the cattle stop chewing and raise their heads to watch us pass.

I had mentioned the hand sign for deer in an earlier post. We also have a sign for cattle --the Texas longhorn sign with thumb towards the temple. Cvstar came up with the sign for horse after day 2 --two fingers pointing upwards next to the temple - resembles horse ears! And the sign for elk is the deer sign moving back & forth from the head - we needed that in Arizona. We need more signals for goats and sheep as we see alot of them. Hopefully we won't see anymore zebra for the rest of the trip....

Batastic

Post for Monday:
Our goal today was to make it to Carlsbad Caverns, not an ambitious goal mileage wise but exciting none the less. We left El Paso and headed out towards the Guadalupe Mountains. It was surprisingly cool. After 2 days of interstate riding it was nice to get on a backroad again, and we enjoyed being one of the few travelers on the road. That is until we discovered there is no premium gas between El Paso and Carlsbad!! We stopped at the one station on the route which had only regular. It was a curious place, with turkeys running about and quail in cages; the owner, I presume, sat on a chair in front of the blue cement block building observing us. Cvstar and Burgma changed into warmer clothes for the mountain pass (approx. 4000 ft) which was in our view. However we could not believe that this was our only opportunity to get gas (the map showed a few ‘towns’ and intersections with other roads). We continued our speedy pace set by Cvstar in the lead until Cvstar had to switch to her reserve tank and then we slowed down drastically to get as many mpgs as we could. At every turn or intersection we expected there to be gas but instead there would be an abandoned station or boarded up building –no gas. We coasted into White’s City outside of the National Park with little to spare. The Guadalupe Mountains we passed through were probably the prettiest mountains so far. They were upright bare buttes with rolling green mountains surrounding them. And as we approached them we saw cattle, horses, deer, a lizard, and another Border Patrol station. This time instead of saluting us through, the officer asked each of us if we were citizens, and then let us pass when we responded affirmatively. Just before the mountains were the Salt Flats that looked like white sand marshes.
We arrived at Carlsbad Caverns in time to tour the Big Room. An elevator took us down 750 ft underground at a pace of 9mph. The Big Room can hold 6 football fields and contains some large and impressive formations. The big highlight however was the ‘bat show’. We sat in an outdoor amphitheater and watched cave swallows swooping over the enormous natural entrance to the caves which was below us. Eventually the cave swallows all went in the cave. Then, a puff of bats emerged from the cave followed by a steady stream of bats that circled counterclockwise for 1 or 2 rotations as they rose out of the cave entrance and then flew off into the sunset. They just kept coming; the ranger said they estimate over 300,000 bats live in the cave. It was an amazing site. The cave was discovered by settlers who saw the bats. They then proceeded to ‘harvest’ the guano and sell it to farmers in S. Calif as fertilizer. At some point, touring folks through the cave became more lucrative. They used to lower the tourists into the cave using the large buckets that used to carry the guano out of the cave. I was happy to have the elevator!
The GPS failed us on finding our hotel tonight. It led us many miles out of our way before we gave up on it. It was way too cold to be lost in Carlsbad. It’s back into Texas in the morning.

El Paso TX

In Casa Grande this morning it was cooler than normal. The bikes got to spend the night under the porch of the motel next to the pool. Before we got started we did our normal routine of cleaning the bugs off of our windshields and face shields. Because of our brief night ride through the desert last night, it took extra effort to scrape them off. I also spotted one of the caterpillars we (or at least I) had dodged yesterday. Here's a photo.
Well I got to lead all day today. Which meant that we made really good time! Beamerpop was having a little trouble keeping up, but we didn't loose him. He describes following me on a bike like riding with me on a rollercoaster. When I was little, Beamerpop was the only one who would ride with me on rollercoasters. He didn't like it, but he would do it. When we would get off the ride, he would think to himself "Thank God that's over." Nearly immediately I would turn to him and ask "Can we go again?" On the bikes today, when we were getting ready to get back on the road after a break, I would say "I'm leading."
We have offically found the smelliest road in the United States. On our way from Las Cruces to El Paso we passed a ton of cattle lots (feed lots). For miles all we could smell was cow dung. I can't imagine if it smelled that bad on the interstate what it smells like IN the feeds. The poor cows had nowhere to go and were sticking their heads through the fence to eat the small amounts of grass on the outside of the fence. It was enough to make you a vegetarian. Needless to say, tonight in beef country, none of us ate beef.
Tomorrow Carlsbad!

by the way this is Cvstar...forgot to sign in as me!

Leaving CA

9/16/06

This morning we left Julian on some really fun back roads. They were really curvy through the mountains. Beamerpop and I stayed right together cornering the turns. The road eventually flattened out, the temperature warmed up, and we ended up in Imperial Valley. This is where they make the sugar for the original Dr. Pepper (by the way we had some in Texas…you can only get it in certain parts of Texas). Here in Imperial, Burgma and I got our oil changed since we had been traveling for about 2500 miles already (more for me coming from NC). Beamerpop can only get his changed at a BMW dealership so he’ll have to wait.
Issy (that's my bike) rolled over 10000 miles toady! When I bought her she had 4000. I have put the most miles on her out of any of her owners, and I still have to make it back to NC.
We left Imperial and headed back through the white mountains on I 8. This time the wind wasn’t bad at all and we could ride without leaning into the wind or without feeling like you were in a sand storm. There were some AVT vehicles on the dunes riding around. Looked like fun…but no time, gotta keep riding. As it became dusk all these little caterpillars came out and started to cross the road in both directions. Beamerpop was in front of me and Burgma was behind me. I was desperately trying to dodge as many caterpillars as I could weaving all over the lane. I noticed that neither Beamerpop nor Burgma were doing this. Did they see the hundreds of caterpillars on the road? Yes…yes in fact they did. They just had a different perspective on population control than I did.
I’m starting to really get over the whole dessert scene. It’s flat, it’s dry, it’s hot…can’t believe I’m saying this but can’t wait to get to Texas. At least it’s a little greener there. We made it into Casa Grande for the night. Tomorrow…more dessert!

This is Cvstar reporting...

Our new names and sun tea

As we have headed west, Cvstar has given us Native American names. Cvstar is Li'l Tank because we always have to stop for gas for her. Her tank is the same size as the Burgman but Issy doesn't get quite as good mpg.
Beamer Pop is now Chief Squid. If you know Beamer Pop, you know he doesn't travel without multiple gadgets, all which need to be recharged each night. Often motels do not have enough outlets to accomodate all this recharging so for this trip we brought BeamerPop's "squid" -- a multi-outlet plug which resembles a squid.
BurgMa's new name is Powder Foot. It is because she is religious about putting foot powder in her boots, and consequently leaves white powder footprints in all the motels we have stayed in. It also may apply to the fact that BurgMa tends to take the mountain curves a little slower than Cvstar and BeamerPop.

And Cvstar likes to kid BurgMa about her sun tea. Every morning BurgMa fills up 2 bottles with water and a tea bag. She straps the bottles to the outside of her drybag and in an hour or so, we have fresh sun tea...or as Cvstar says...Texas Sun Tea, New Mexico Sun Tea, Arizona Sun Tea...well, you get the idea.

In and out of San Diego - We made it!!

(We've been w/o internet service for a few days so we need to catch you all up. The post below is for Friday.)


We did it. We have made it from Nashville TN to the Pacific Ocean in 7 days. For the most part, the trip has been awesome and enjoyable. Today was both the worst and the best. We headed out of El Centro CA this morning on I-8 with full expectations (and full water bottles) of taking it all the way into San Diego. About 15 minutes into the journey we are being beaten up by winds; winds are coming at us from in front, behind, and each side. Some gusts are so hard that we are leaning as far as we can into the wind to maintain our lane position, always fearing we will be pushed into the next lane and the path of an approaching truck. I am truly white-knuckled and hoping that the winds will end soon. Much to my horror, I then see a huge yellow sign saying CAUTION: High Winds for the next 52 miles. I am thinking they have got to be kidding. There is no way it can be worse than what I have just ridden through. I read somewhere a rule for motorcycling: “when in doubt, power it out.” I applied this rule to the high wind situation and increased my speed. So now I am going 70 mph in gale winds that are blowing me all over the lane, complicated by the usual truck drafts. In addition we are winding our way through the California mountains (sharp curves, no shoulder, and exits are few). The wind shifts direction so suddenly that you are leaning almost 45 degrees to compensate one second and then you have to recover and lean the other way.

After about 40 miles of this, a second High Winds caution sign appears (next 47 miles) and we pull over to get gas. Cvstar and I are looking at each other and shaking our heads. There is no way we are going back on that interstate. I am ready to call for a U-Haul truck to pick up my bike and I’ll fly home. I just can’t do it anymore. If I could find someone to give my bike to, I would. There is an alternative, a 2-lane road that runs next to the Mexican border. We had avoided it as we were worried about safety, the availability of gas, etc. Knowing that I am not going to be rescued by U-Haul (but still really hoping), I go into the convenience store to ask about RT 94. I find a Frito-Lay (F-L) delivery man and figure he must drive the roads in the area, so I ask him. He is eager to help and assures us that RT 94 will be less windy and we will enjoy it. Relieved, we walk back to our bikes but are having a hard time getting geared up to continue the trip (PTSD). The F-L man approaches us in the parking lot and advises us on the San Diego part of the trip and getting to Coronado Island by way of Otay Lakes road. Five more minutes pass and the F-L man returns again with more advise on how to get out of San Diego through a northern route which coincidentally will go right near his house in Poway.

We had a great ride on RT 94. It was full of Border Patrol vehicles, was meandering with great scenery of little towns, stables and, yes, it was still windy but not like I-8. At a fork in the road when we stopped to make a decision about the correct way to turn, a local resident came out of her “house/shed” and advised against RT 94 as there were too many accidents on that road and too many DUIs. But RT 94 saved the day. During lunch at a rustic log cabin place on the side of the road in Dulzura, we met two retired Border Patrolman who suggested we go to Border Field State Park, the southwest corner of the USA. They said we could see the border fencing extending out into the ocean. When we arrived in San Diego we followed their suggestion and drove down this very narrow winding 2 lane road lined with horse and mule stables; we ended up at a locked gate that prohibited our journey to the ocean. To our left was a fence and Mexico, and up on the cliffs overlooking us were the ever watchful Border Patrol.

We backtracked and found our way up to Coronado Island, riding between the Pacific waves on one side and the Bay on the other. Lots of kites were flying in the strong winds. To continue on the journey required crossing the Bay via the very high and long Coronado Bridge. I feared it would be very windy, but it was only scary as all bridges are to me. With a feeling of accomplishment we left San Diego and headed North on I-15 towards Poway. We exited near Poway to get gas and to decide where to lodge for the night. With our destination chosen (Julian CA) we headed out to find RT 67 and start our eastward journey. Guess who pulls up next to us? Yep – the Frito-Lay man driving home from work in his car. He chats with us at the red light and then we lose him when the light turns green. How strange was that?

Cotton and Catfish

Cvstar told me something to help me remember throught out the day all the things I want to write in the blog. She said that she makes a mnemonic by creating a saying with the first letters of her thoughts. So I tried it today..I can remember all the letters (BCCHFFDWR) and the saying, but I'm so tired I can't recall what all the letters stand for!!

But first, I forgot to mention that when we left the Trace yesterday and started westward in Mississppi, we could see what looked like foamy ponds in the distance. Turns out they were cotton fields. That was sort of reassuring to know that we still produce cotton! Further along the roads we coulds see what looked like snow; it was all the cotton scattered along the edge of the highway like organic litter! As we drove through Leland MS this morning we saw the home of the little green frog - Kermit! Actually, Leland claims Jim Henson as its 'son' so of course they get to claim all the other Muppets as well. We didn't stop at the Kermit museum (of course not - this is a drive-by trip) but it looked like fun!

Another interesting site in Mississipi yesterday and Arkansas today were the catfish ponds. They were everywhere, large rectangular ponds with an aerator strategically placed along one side. Some ponds had permanent aerators, others had mobile ones on the back of trailers. The aerators looked like a series of little paddlewheels. In addition to the ponds were large indusrial plants for catfish processing. One place in Arkansas was a low 1-story white cement block building which ran for about a block and was surrounded by catfish ponds. It had wooden handpainted signs along the roadway that read 'Seafood' (and I'm thinking --this is Arkansas, folks, not the coast), the next sign said 'frog legs', and the third sign read 'gulf shrimp'. Hmmm, do catfish and frog legs count as seafood?

Today we followed Rt 82 across the Mississippi River. Rt 82 has turned out to be an everything road. Sometimes it is a 2 lane highway, sometimes a 4 lane divided highway, sometimes a highway with real exits and sometimes it is the mainstreet of the little (pop.2100) towns we ride through. It can be all of these in the span of 2 miles! It has been a good ride today; the road was in pretty good condition, there was very little traffic (especially this overcast morning -Sunday) and there were times we had the road all to ourselves. Sometimes the pavement would be so black and so hot that you could just feel the heat burning up through your boots. We were pleased to see that parts of it allowed 70mph - a real boon to our progress across Texas. We had a delightful little rain in Blossom TX which cooled us off and gave us the oomph we needed to push on past Paris all the way to Gainesville. The town names are interesting; one sign I saw had Paris, Bogata and Detroit. It amused me, but perhaps the riding has made me simple minded already!

(I'm adding a belated note here as I remembered the miles and miles of unused new FEMA trailers housed next to the Red Stone or Red River base. We drove by miles and miles of trailers. A sad site that says they were not effectively used for people who needed housing after Katrina.)

Animals we saw today are buffalo, armadillo, dogs, cats, bulls, cattle, goats, geese, ducks and deer. Some of those were roadkill, which reminds me that I also saw alot of taxidermy places, one named 'Roadkill Taxidermy'.

As we were riding along the edge of the Mississippi River or some of its waters, we saw herons perched in the top of the cypress trees along the bank. Later we would see herons again enjoying fishing over the catfish ponds.

If you are curious, I can tell you that yes --there is a WalMart store everywhere! Even these little towns that appear to have nothing have a WalMart and a Family Dollar store. I am amazed and saddened. AND, even more importantly for those of you expecting postcards from us, we can't find any. None of these towns have postcards. I know it makes sense if you look at the map and see that we are really not going through any touristy areas (yet), but still we were surprised to not find any (and we ask everywhere we stop!!)

After 435 miles today, we are tired but pleased with our trip across Texas so far. I had expected less engaging scenery and much more blistering heat. I hope we do as well tomorrow!

(PS - Hey there Gamma Phis --look for the pink cap--its riding along on this trip to keep Joanne in my thoughts and prayers!!)

Nashville to Indianola

After a great sendoff breakfast (thank you family & friends for joining us!) at the Loveless Cafe, we departed Nashville on the Natchez Trace Scenic Parkway. BeamerPop and I have been on the Trace before, a rainy, cool day in May. Needless to say we had the road to ourselves for that ride! Well, not this time. We were immediately immersed in a bicycle rally and there were hundreds of bicyclist all over the road, coming and going. They were like fleas on a farm dog. Actually it made the ride even more interesting as we had to navigate among them. Eventually we moved beyond the range of the bicycle rally and enjoyed the ride with only a few other travellers. During one of our rest stops (there's a story here about Beamer Pop never looking in his rear view mirror for the 'stop needed' handsignal), we were alone until we heard it...the rolling thunder of lots of pipes. And sure enough, led by a big cruiser whose driver had a beard at least a foot long that was flapping in the wind. More than 20 bikes went by!! We waved to them all and I am sure they were unsure whether to wave to us or not...(it's the orange safety vest thing.) Other living things we saw on the Trace were hawks, turkey vultures, wild turkey, and deer.

The deer really surprised us as they crossed the road right in front of us, but it was a pretty site! We have a hand sign for deer. Open your hand and spread your fingers as far apart as they will go. Now hold your hand up to the side of your head with your thumb pointed into your temple. I mention this because I was the tail man and it was so funny when the deer crossed the road; the lead man, Beamer Pop gave the deer sign immediately followed by Cvstar and myself. It looked pretty silly and I laughed to myself.

Well yes we did have a few mishaps...or misdirections..or miscommunications, really. A few turnarounds as we had to find gas in Cherokee AL, and then later when we stopped for lunch in Tupelo (Elvis's birthplace). I'm sure BeamerPop and Cvstar will exagerate this story but I was in the lead for finding the restaurant and after a few missed turns, we ended up near the restaurant in the parking lot of a motel. We had the option of making a left turn into the main stream of traffic or trying to find a backway to carry us the one block to the restaurant. I led the crew behind the motel and onto a sidewalk that connected to a street that ran behind the restaurant. I thought I had been pretty clever; BeamerPop and Cvstar decided that was the last time I got to lead, and I think I have been designated as the official caboose!

Tonight, after 359 miles, we are spending the night in Indianola, MS, birthplace of B.B. King. We had a successful day and are looking forward to our ride tomorrow. BeamerPop is watching the weather forecast on TV; Cvstar is chatting on the phone. I'm ready to call it a day.

It all fits

BeamerPop and I did a trial run on the packing last night. I have a duffel bag that fits in the Burgman trunk to make removing items easier. The great news is that all my clothing fits in my trunk. BeamerPop was able to get all his clothes in the larger side case and we were able to pack all the "equipment" (e.g., tire inflator, first aid kit) in the smaller side case. The dri-bags hold our bedrolls, rain suits and bike covers. I am going to put my sneakers and some cold weather clothes in there, too (Yeah! I'll have some shoes!) This means we will be able to leave the top cases empty for the helmets as planned.

It is such a great relief to know that everything will fit and that I can take a reasonable amount of clothing - some warm weather, some cool weather. We will definately have to do laundry about every four days!

I am hoping Cvstar is able to pack all that she needs. She arrives in Nashville this week. We are wishing her a safe journey.

Getting ready to roll

The trip leave date is quickly approaching. All the bikes have been into their respective shops for new tires, oil changes, etc., and we think they are ready for the trip. This morning BurgMa packed up the glove boxes on the BurgMan and got the dri-bags ready to fill while Beamer Pop adjusted suspension and shocks as well as checked the tool kits. We still need to pick up some odds and ends like a tire repair kit (we have one but there are 6 tires involved so a 2nd wouldn't hurt), and perhaps some extra fuses and light bulbs.

BurgMa has been whittling away at the packing list after BeamerPop said it looked like she would need a trailer. And since BeamerPop isn't sharing his cases in the same manner that he shares the home closets (1 and 1/2 for BurgMa with 1/2 for BeamerPop), BurgMa is reluctantly leaving most of the cold gear at home. Using WeatherUnderground to check September weather (rain & temperature) averages for key points along the trip has helped BurgMa leave the wool sweater and longjohns off the packing list. Many thanks to our Phoenix friends for sending weather info for Show Low. All clothing, shoes, and toiletries need to fit into a space the size of a paper grocery bag. Shoes...how many can BurgMa pack?

CVStar insists she isn't packing hardly any clothes and will wear one outfit the whole time. BurgMa just remembered she needed to add foot powder and clothespins to the packing list.

BeamerPop is trying to decide between the Mesh jacket and the Belstaf which has many zippered vents. Suddenly we are concerned about road rash and what we should wear to prevent it. Should we always have jeans and jean jackets on under our Mesh? Will we just bake like potatoes? None of us, luckily, has any experience with going down while moving. BurgMa has gone down the most but it has always been at a very slow or still point; understand that BurgMa is vertically challenged (although horizontally accomplished) and wears platform boots in order to touch the ground (and with that, only the balls of her feet touch.)

One of the things still left to do is figure a way to temporarily mount the Garmin GPS (bought used off E-bay) to the BurgMan. CVStar and BurgMa want to share the devise, so we need a way we can move it easily between vehicles. I'm thinking that a car cup holder duct taped to the front may work. It is unclear yet whether BeamerPop will have GPS privileges on the road. He tends to focus more on the GPS screen than on the road in front of him when using it in the car. Because we really aren't making too many road changes, we anticipate that the GPS will be most useful when we approach a city and are looking for a specific hotel or restaurant.

More news later as we make more progress on the packing.