Pictures from my (almost) cross country ride....tons of pics (4/6)

[thirdgenlxi]

Well the thursday before last (Apr 2nd), I set out on a near cross country adventure, taking me through 5 new states I've never been through before (bringing my total to 17 visited states on my F4i). I left thursday morning from my house about 45 miles east of Atlanta, Georgia and headed west, on my way to Tucson, Arizona, and arrived there saturday afternoon. It was quite an adventure to say the least!

Anyways... on with the pics!

This was the route..... unforunately since I was on some serious time constraints, I had no choice but to do all interstate superslab the whole way there and back. Booooring, but hey at least I got to see alot of new sights and places along the way, even if it was highway. Took I-20 all the way across from Atlanta to about 100 miles away from El Paso, TX where it meets I-10, which I took the rest of the way

Some storms the previous night had me leaving a little later than I had originally wanted to, but still not too bad. Got the trusty F4i all packed up and ready to go! Rolled out about 9:00 am

I was excited to try out my new GPS!

And yea I've learned from previous roadtrips... pack light!

I punched in my destination address, and ready to roll! The top number is the distance remaining to my destination, number below it is miles travelled

Beginning odo shot on the bike

Then for whatever reason, my camera mysteriously stopped working for the entire day. I stopped at the Alabama state line to take a pic, and it was completely dead. Pretty uneventful though... I hit some nasty weather soon as I crossed into Mississippi though... that band of nasty storms that was moving from Texas and eastbound (predicted heavy rain, tornados, large hail, 70 mph wind, and the like... radar map was red from almost Texas to Birmingham, AL). Anyways, I went through a little of that, but luckily it was moving east FAST and I was moving west, so between the two of us I got through it pretty quick. But man it POURED for a good 20 mins or so, and the wind picked up something furious!

Anyways.... by thursday night I had made it to Lindale, Texas and decided to stop for the night. I find a room, and sure enough my camera decides to start working fine again... weird! But I tuck her away for the night and catch some Zzzzzz's

Next morning we were both ready to roll again! More Texas fun...ugh, lol

Next stop.... Abilene, Texas

Met up with Brandon (rangerscott from cbrjunkie.com and other forums). Really nice guy... bought me lunch too!

I'm liking this guy already, hahaha

I guess it's no big secret where or where I might be here

It was getting later in the day and I was cruising down the highway, when I saw a sign that caught my eye. The exit simply said "Meteor Crater". I thought to myself.... "hmmm... now I've just gotta check this out". I get off the highway and follow the sign that points to the left for Meteor Crater, which says 2 miles down the road. I cross under the highway and head south, which leads me out into the middle of a field... literally. I was going down this little podunk road with nothing but open fields, oil rigs, and one kinda creepy tiny family cemetary that was blocked off with gates. A couple miles later I finally get to this place.... all by it's lonesome out in the middle of a field. Apparently it's a museum of some sort, but they were closed so I couldn't see anything there

I ain't kidding when I said this place was out in the middle of a field!!

I get back on the highway and go along my way for a little while longer. I love travelling west because you get to sit and watch the beautiful sunsets from start to finish. The sky was perfectly clear except for this one bunch of clouds right where the sun was setting... I thought it looked cool so I pulled off for a few pics

I made my way across the rest of Texas, and as I approached El Paso, I could see the Mexico border right next to the highway. It was kinda cool at night because you could see this dark area right next to the highway, then the wall and BAM tons of lights... could see right into Mexico. I could see the border on my GPS where it would come closer and farther from the highway, and look over and sure enough it did the same... pretty cool! By about I midnight arrived in Las Cruces, New Mexico where I decided to call it a night and find a room. I had a hard time finding a ground level outside room, so I ended up taking the grand tour of downtown Las Cruces at midnight... fun fun! Finally ended up staying at some ghetto motel right in town. Kind of a weird place, but hey it was cheap and I was able to sleep, so I don't care, lol

Being that it was nighttime when I arrived in Las Cruces, I was completely unaware of the surrounding terrain since I couldn't see anything the night prior. As I headed out saturday morning, I found myself surrounded by somewhat distant mountains... awesome! A little scenery, especially after just coming through Texas, was definitely a nice surprise to start the day. I went up the road a few miles then got off to fill up with gas... took a few pics too

A little further into New Mexico.... definitely not much out this way

WooHoo!! Success!

Once I got into Arizona the scenery got pretty nice. I got off to refuel about 70 miles from Tucson, and found it to be a perfect spot for a photo op! Just had to go over a cattle grate and up a dirt road a little ways, and BAM... perfect view! It was here I noticed my high beam headlight wasn't working... uh oh

Arrived safely at our hotel in Tucson right at 3:00 pm

Phew... fun stuff!

The bike turned 150k on the way out there, right after I crossed into Louisiana

The hotel we stayed at was pretty nice!

We had my aunt and uncles anniversary party saturday night.... lots of people there and lots of family members I haven't seen in some time.... good times!! Awesome food too!!

Then on sunday, my dad wanted to take me back to where he went on saturday before I had gotten into town. Ohhhh man I'm excited.... my 2nd love!

[thirdgenlxi]

Sweet! This place is the shizzle... I took tons of pics, these are only a few of my favs

Alright who's gonna be the first to fly it?

Pretty small for a dual rotor heli

Ohhh man this is one of my all time favorite planes!! Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.... this is one BAD plane!!

No squids here

SR-71 engine

Large sea planes are cool too

Wreckage recovery

Might be ugly, but still a bad plane!

YEA!! That's what I'm talkin about!

Both my parents used to fly gliders like this one back in the day

This thing was huge!

I would surely end up sick if I had to take this spot, lol

Alot of these old airplane engines are an inverse design... never seen that before

Old Allison (GM) liquid cooled 12 cylinder engine

More wreckage

Constellation - These were cool old planes

Beechcraft Starship full composite airplane

OMG this thing can actually get off the ground?!?!?

This is a bad boy right here.... B-52 bomber

Old Blue Angels plane

Did I mention this place was huge??

As Inspector Gadget would say.... Wowzers!! It really is rocket science!

Pretty beastly fire truck

Can't really see much here, but this was as we were leaving. Some of you may have heard about the huge airplane boneyard out in AZ where all the old retired/wrecked/whatever planes go to be dismantled/salvaged/parted/etc. This yard is freaking HUGE!!

Driving back to the hotel.... pretty cool cuz there's almost always a good view from pretty much anywhere in Tucson

[thirdgenlxi]

Monday morning.... woke up nice and early, knowing I had to leave early cuz the timezone changes were NOT going to work to my advantage travelling east, lol. Got on the road by just a little after 6am. Made my way through Tucson morning traffic, which really wasn't toooo bad. Got a little ways down the road and found a nice photo op spot

And from there I just made my way back east. I cheated on the NM picture... took it the same time I took the AZ picture as I was coming in. Good thing cuz there were some hitchhikers sleeping under the sign on the way out... didn't want to get a pic of them

Soooo.... is this where all the pimps hang out or what?? Looks pretty.... empty

Stopped at a rest stop in New Mexico.... middle of freakin NOWHERE!!

Made my way to Las Cruces once again to meet up with Grayson (Raven on cbrjunkie.com) and get some lunch. He was coming from a ways up north, but we both get into town at relatively the same time, but go to 2 different gas stations. After we get in contact with each other, he heads over my way. As I wait, I see a pretty sweet car roll into the gas station. Not bad.. I'd rock it!

Met up with Grayson and we headed over to Applebees to get some lunch. Nice guy!

After a nice relaxing lunch, I hit the road once again. UGH... noooooo not Texas again!!!

And 2 days later, lol

Finally made it home safe n' sound by 11:45pm wednesday night

YAY!!

Stats.... 3,727.4 miles total.... in 5.5 days. I ain't gonna lie.. I was tired!

Ending odo shot

I gave her a pat on the tank for a job well done, and rolled her into the garage to rest for the night with her siblings

I go upstairs and damn.... could you at least pretend to be excited to see me?? Maybe sit up or something?? hahah oh well

And that's all the pics I've got. Sorry for soooooo many pics of the bike, but I always try and get a good shot of her when there's a cool background. Oh yea and I ended up fixing my high beam headlight while I was out in Tucson.... my HID relay took a dump, and it just so happened I had a spare universal mini relay in my toolbag so I used some space connectors and a piece of extention cord to splice the new relay in.... worked perfect!

All in all... it was a great trip and I had a really good time! Despite being cramped for time, I always enjoy going somewhere I've never been before and seeing all the new sights, and travelling on some new roads. Still planning on my big roadtrip out west next year, but for now this one will do. Bike ran absolutely flawless the whole way.... gotta lover her! My chain did start to kink up though (it was on it's last legs already), so now I gotta replace that. No biggie though

[redkow97]

so which state had the honor of earning that 105mph top speed?

[ohdaho]

Had to be Texas...west texas sucks ass if youre riding/driving...hunting however its awesome.

[ohdaho]

If you like Airplane museums you mos def need to hit up the Air Force Museum in Dayton. You just might wet yourself.

[thirdgenlxi]

so which state had the honor of earning that 105mph top speed?

I don't remember exactly, but most likely... west Texas. Once I got west of Abilene it was soooooooooooo boring I wanted to slit my wrists, lol. Straight flat highway, one exit every 40-50 miles, and nothing but windfarms and oil rigs in between. 80 mph speed limit and there was absolutely nothing in sight. Was prob only for a sec though, I generally ride at a pretty easy pace, especially on a long trip. Mental fatigue is a bitch!!

[rawlins87]

nice trip. Looks of cool pictures too.

[Likwid]

@thirdgen: Thanks for sharing all the pictures with us!

I can't wait to see the pictures you take this year

[kreator]

Thats cool man! Thanks for sharing.. Poor guy come home and your Dog is like "whatever" haha.

[exSRAaron]

Very nice! Loved the airplane shots.

[knicks360]

Some really great pics kinda feel like i was right along side you..

[Disclaimer]

Invisi rep for the SR-71 and A10 pics. I <3 Warthogs. Top 3 coolest planes evar!

[Fonzie]

Cool trip & writeup

[Fonzie]

Cool trip & writeup

Who's the "we" you keep referring to?

[thirdgenlxi]

Cool trip & writeup

Who's the "we" you keep referring to?

My whole family was there.... it was my aunt and uncles 40th wedding anniversary and had been long time planned, so everybody was out there. I was sharing the hotel room with my dad, and then when we were out and about it was me, my dad, and an old time friend of his

[thirdgenlxi]

@thirdgen: Thanks for sharing all the pictures with us!

I can't wait to see the pictures you take this year

Anytime!! I'm really hoping to get some more roadtrips in year... I start to go nuts if I go too long without a roadtrip, lol

Thats cool man! Thanks for sharing.. Poor guy come home and your Dog is like "whatever" haha.

Hahaha yea she's a rather emotional little muffin. She pouts just like a human child... seriously! Everytime she doesn't get her way or I do something she doesn't like, she'll grunt and groan, then sit on my right foot and look directly away from me just staring at nothing. Then after a few minutes she'll slowly turn her head around and glare at me out of the corner of her eye for about 5 sec or so (the death stare), then turn back away and stare at nothing again, looking directly away from me..... still just sitting there on my foot. She'll do it exactly the same every single time... it's freakin hilarious, hahah. She was all better the next day though

Some really great pics kinda feel like i was right along side you..

Thanks!! That's always the effect I try to incorporate into all of my ride reports

Invisi rep for the SR-71 and A10 pics. I <3 Warthogs. Top 3 coolest planes evar!

Hell yea... SR-71 is my far one of my fav airplanes, and the A-10 is no joke either! SR-71 was so long I almost couldn't get it in one picture! I was backed up completely against the opposite wall in that building just trying to get the shot

Thanks for all the compliments everyone... glad you enjoyed the pics!

[bandit12]

Great pics, thanks for sharing. Add that to another place I wouldn't mind spending some vacation time.

[warpspeed]

very nice you get the iron butt award. I'd love to do a roadtrip accross america but those straight boring rides would make me insane....now if you could cruise at 120 or so it wouldn't be bad....