I've hit Chatham, Provincetown, Martha's Vineyard (Edgartown, Martha's Haven and Oak Bluffs - where the Obama's are vacationing now), and many many other towns here.

The rides on the bike are amazing when traffic is not an issue. Winding roads through the most incredible tunnels of trees. There seem to be less rules out here. Driving seems to be much more about responsibility out here. Roads are sometimes barely wide enough for two cars to pass, so it's definitely up to the drivers to watch out.

So, I wanted to post real quick here. I rode to Hyannis - the "big town" on the Cape to find a coffee shop to work in today. I ended up at the Common Ground on Main Street. Wow. I walked in, and some booths were tossed into what I can best describe as little hobbit burrows. The whole place feels like some establishment in Hobbiton. There are two main levels here, but little stairs go up from the second one into little tiny balconies. I feel like the place exists inside a giant tree trunk and was carved from that.

The baristas seem to love what they do, and continue making little tea or smoothy concoctions to send my way. Conversation has been very interesting and it's definitely a different world out here. Now that I think about it - again - it's like Hobbiton!

I promise I'll get a day of uploading numerous pics and movies and catch up. I don't know my schedule for leaving anymore. I have a project to do for work that is running longer than I thought, and it may rain this coming week, so it's possible I'll be stuck for a bit. Worse places to be stuck though.

Virginia was beautiful. One thing I noticed was the old barns throughout it. The states definitely have their unique properties if you look closely. Arkansas was overgrown, while Tennessee was cleaned up more along the interstate. New York, however, was extremely manicured! It was stunning to see the extent of polish they do along their interstate. Seems like the trees are even sculpted.

I was worried during the earlier part of Pennsylvania. At first, I thought it was going to be fairly bland, and the drivers were slightly less than friendly. I even swung by a Harley shop called M&S or something. It was near Gettysburg. Anyway, I stopped into their service area and asked if they would mind checking my tires. This is something I've never had any issues with at any dealer. They always take care of travelers. The guy in service basically laughed and said "check it yourself." I told him straight up they were appalling and the worst dealership I'd ever encountered. Especially when you spend a day in the saddle, Harley dealers have always been very cool until today.

So I was getting a little bummed in Pennsylvania, but then I entered the rolling hills, and it definitely became absolutely beautiful. Entered some areas of pines and some incredible mountain peaks. That all washed away my earlier impressions. Entering the Scranton area was stunning. The whole I-81 up that way was amazing.

As I said earlier, New York was very cleaned up. It was easy to see the difference right away. Now, I'm not trying to say that cleaned up is better. It's just different. There are many times where natural overgrowth is more attractive in my opinion. It's all good is what I'm saying I supposed.

I also had my first toll booth today. Went very smoothly. The lady said "take your time," and was incredibly pleasant. I had the change in one of my windshield bags, and all went well. I remember last year's ride to Michigan, I found it a little stressful. I think today's going well made it seem 10x better just for that reason. Felt good.

So, I made it to Danbury, CT. I wanted to mention the Super 8 where I'm staying. The manager was very friendly. Came outside while I was unloading the bike, and suggested I leave it under the overhang, and said he put me on the first floor so I'd be more comfortable watching the bike. These are all things I'd normally have to request and usually annoy the hotel's manager/desk. This guy then carried a couple of my bags to my room. First time on this trip a hotel seemed to be about real service. It's a very cool thing to have that out of the blue, especially on a hard trip like this.

Speaking of a hard trip, I'm exhausted. The bike puts me out in the elements, wind, sun and all, throughout the entire day. I know I'm pretty severely dehydrated all the time, despite drinking several waters and gatorades now throughout the day. It's getting harder and harder to stay in the saddle during the day. I knew what I was getting into, but it's incredibly physical! I'm mentally and physically fatigued during and at the end of each day. I can't wait to reach my destination and get off the bike for a bit. I feel muscles that are sore that I don't realize I'm even using during the ride.

That being said, it's amazing and gorgeous and worth the pain. Every bend, every peak, every view is what compensates for the pain and can make it possible to keep on going. I do notice how different the ride feels when there's more to look at - to keep me occupied. When I pull in at the end of the night though, I can suddenly feel all the aches and pains. I know it's there before then, but I try to push it to the back of my mind throughout the ride to reach my destination - whatever it takes.

I'm going to take it easy tonight, watch a little TV, and just relax. I feel so good knowing it's only 200 miles or so to my destination. Course, there's the ride back!

I think I'm getting better at taking pictures on the bike. Still the occasional picture with a little bit of finger in it, or quite the angle, or some blur, but I'm hanging onto some of those just because I thought they managed to still capture something unique. I hope you check out the incredible fog I rode through outside Texarkana! It was truly thick and amazing. Very chilly! And while I didn't feel wet, my windshield looked like it encountered a light drizzle.

I don't know how I've managed to once again avoid rain up to this point. People I encounter on the road going the same direction have said they've been rained on twice in one day! I seem to have some sort of luck.

Arkansas looked really beautiful. That's where all the fog pictures were taken. Every time I think it can't get any more beautiful, well, it does. Tennessee was stunning. And that was before I got to Nashville. Just wait for the next post (Monday's) where I hit the Appalachians and the huge rolling hills. It's almost hard not to just gasp at every view.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Wow, the section of Texas east of Dallas was pretty amazing. Tree-lined highways. Lots of horses.

I seemed to follow the rain across Texas. I had blue skies overhead with a few clouds the whole time, but the mark of a rainstorm was left everywhere I went. I was told at one stop that the rain had left only 30 min before I got there, and was heading east. Looks like I'm threading a needle once again. One nice thing about the interstate roads is they hold up to rain quite well. It was not unusual to see the frontage roads absolutely covered in giant puddles that cars had trouble navigating.

It was quite cool throughout much of the ride today. However, being from Phoenix, I was loving every minute of the chilly air. Today felt better overall. Not sure what the difference was, but I wasn't quite so aching in the saddle, and was a bit less tired today. I did start off my day waking up very out of it, and then quickly discovered a couple giant crickets (I thought they were black grasshoppers) sitting right on my luggage looking at me, ready to leap if I made any sudden moves. They seemed to be the only ones, but my first thought was that they were everywhere and in other luggage I left open.

My shower this morning offered up only scalding hot water, so I had to splash myself to rinse. Fairly irritating, but otherwise went ok. 

Fort Worth and Dallas were immense. Really are two separate cities. I expected one stretch of urban sprawl, but they both had significant downtowns.

I'm going to grab my camera and try to upload today's pics. If I can, I'll update this entry some more.

It's only the first day and I've already taken in so much. Riding the bag covered Harley past cars and trucks with kids faces pressed to the windows. I think I struck up a conversation at every gas station I hit. You can see when someone is kind of hovering and is feeling out whether he can talk. Once one does, several often join in.

Another amazing aspect of the ride is the little details that make it so unique. For example, I was riding up this fairly large hill / bridge - not quite sure what it was exactly. The air gets slightly cooler, the wind blows a little harder as I reach its summit. All those little things tell me I'm going up a hill just as much as my eyes. It's almost pleasantly overwhelming to have several senses giving you information rather than one or two.

View Day One Photo Gallery

Day One Photos

Once I was well south of Tucson and especially entering NM, the winds got a little harsh. There was a stretch of wind warnings with EXTREME CAUTION signs. I didn't hit those winds at least.

At one gas station in NM not near anything, I took my time and ate some lunch. Then a motorcycle pulled up and the rider starts talking to me. He was definitely off, and when I mention being from Chicago (big mistake), he challenges me to sing the Super Bowl Shuffle. Well, I was just in disbelief at this point, so he takes that to mean he's got the stage apparently. I swear he did at least three verses, as I awkwardly was getting my things together. My lack of interest didn't seem to bother him though. Finally, he says "be safe" and takes off - no gas or anything. I wonder if he lives somewhere where he could hear a bike going to the gas station, and he just hops on his bike to see who it is!

Oh! I saw a river today! I must have looked funny staring at it :)

About to settle in for the evening. I picked up Sons of Anarchy to watch during this trip. Haven't seen one yet, but it's a biker show and thought it might be a good one for the ride. Last year I watched Deadwood during my trip to Michigan, and it was perfect!

Good night all.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]