Home for two weeks and the Aprilia is all repaired

It took two weeks for Stu to do the archeological dig to find parts for a 15 year old Italian motorcycle...  but he succeeded!   And working with Allstate was a really pleasant experience, quite amazing.  No arguments, disputes or lawyers at all. ;)
As with our other posts, click on the picture for a bigger view.

Final day of vacation-Deming to Scottsdale

The last day brings much cooler am temps.  At 7 am, Deming is 54 and Lordsburg 48 so I will get the jacket liner out!

Last day of packing....if all goes according to plan, we should be home this afternoon and get Lucy from the spa either later today or tomorrow am.

So, we got home at 2:30 without incident or drama. Picked Lucy up from the kennel and took her immediately into  the shower. I never saw a dog so happy to see her peeps...even after the shower. After 14 days and over 3200 miles of wear, the riding suits were super grungy, but they did their jobs. We needed very little additional clothing, aside from underwear, shorts, socks, t-shirts. I may run the washer empty afterwards to flush out the bug jerky.

Anyhow, all's well that ends well. Now starts the long fight with Allstate over the damage caused by that imbecile driver in Hobbs, New Mexico

Stu

And a final final photo.  Lucy had an exhausting two weeks at the spa, and has spent all today resting ;)

Another 338 miles takes us to Deming New Mexico

Greetings and salutations from Deming.  Hopefully this is our final night on our trip home.   The temperatures were better today, 93 was the highest I saw, but we had a 25 mph headwind so that was quite entertaining.

We are at a hotel that looks like it was a Howard Johnsons in a prior life.  We have hopes of a visit to the pool shortly.  The hotel even has an okay restaurant.  Then again, last night our dinner was granola bars (after a hard day of riding almost nothing can lure us back onto the bike) ;)

Turns out the pool is lovely looking but only 65 degrees so we won't be floating here today.  After 14 nights in hotels, we have packing and unpacking down to a science but we can't control the quality of the beds or showers...so we are full of zeal to see our home tomorrow.   🏠    And even more zeal to see Lucy. 🐩

Motorcycle maintenance update:   Arkansas chrome held with only one small piece flapping in the wind and most of it still clinging to the fairing.  Chain was adjusted tonight, clearance should be 15 mm and it had grown to 19.  Per Stu, amazingly little wear on the chain so he is happy.

Highest temperature seen on today's 350 mile ride: 101

It certainly was hot.  We rode from Seguin to Fort Stockton.  101 on the bike thermometer for the last two hours.  So it was a bit short of wonderful.  But we made it safe and sound, albeit a tad wilted.

We are now planted in front of the air conditioning, drinking water and watching the news.

I forgot to take a photo of the bike showing 101 but I took a few others.

Stu ordered a new motorcycle subframe (it is the part that holds the fairing onto the front of the bike) while we were traveling.  He found a new one on EBay England for half the US price, and it arrived today at home. Our wonderful neighbors intercepted it and wrestled it away from the UPS guy, thereby avoiding the potential fate of it being shipped back to England.

Las Cruces tomorrow, fallback plan is El Paso.   Gees, we just checked the weather and we have a big front coming through the west on Thursday, 23-25 mph winds.  To avoid such a fun filled final day, we will make sure we are home Weds night ;)

Edit from Stu: I called Sena tonight and got instructions for a factory reset of Hilo's headset...which has apparently worked to resolve the dead headset issue.

Bonus photos from our Tabasco tour

I just noticed I had taken this picture in the greenhouse.
It is a Tabasco plant and the interesting thing to note is that the peppers grow towards the sun.

Here are the barrels of ground up peppers, vinegar and local salt, marinating away for three years.

Ah lovely Seguin Texas

We have arrived in the tiny hamlet of Seguin. Many years ago we were on a GL1200 Gold Wing and woke up here to find our rear tire flat.   We were helped by a GWRRA member's wife who ferried us and our wheel to get a new tire and we were on our way.   Today we didn't have any big challenges, but it is still early ;).  

Riding was modest today, 270 miles, due to heat and humidity.  Apparently a heat wave is covering all the US, lucky us.  Thermometer on the bike read 96 for most of the afternoon.  We checked I-40 temperatures and they are the same, so we will stay on I-10.  Stu has an allergy to riding interstates but in these temperatures, even side roads would offer little charm and take longer.  

If all goes well, we will head towards Van Horn tomorrow. 360 miles might be too much in the temps so our fallback okay is Sonora @ 200 miles.   Then the next day would be New Mexico.
Yeah!

Morning in Beaumont and a Texas wrinkle

We are starting to pack up for the day.   Yesterday afternoon, coming into Beaumont, my intercom stopped working.  It wouldn't turn on again so we were hoping the battery had run out of steam.  But after overnight charging, it still won't work. Alas.  So the good news is that Stu will have a very quiet day with his passenger mute.  We will call the company tomorrow but doubt there is anything to do other than mail it back to them.  Stu still has his headset working so he has music, GPS and XM radio.   He is just missing the dulcet voice of his beloved passenger.

Bob, the symptom was that it just went dead.  When plugged in last night it took a charge all night and showed fully charged this am, but would not turn on and the LED went back to red.

Greetings from Beaumont Texas

Hot and humid today.   So we rode from scenic Slidell La to not as scenic Beaumont.  But we used hotel points for a free room and there is a restaurant next door.  I had bought two packages of cashews and peanuts in case we didn't have a restaurant nearby tonight...the famous peanut buffet..... but we are saved from that fate, it will be Italian food to the rescue.

When we arrived, Stu checked the motorcycle chain....absolutely amazing that it needed no adjustment after 2,000 miles!   It needed grease though, photo attached.   Notice his chain adjusting chair, also known as the left saddlebag.   That was the saddlebag scratched to smithereerns in Hobbs New Mexico.

Otherwise, a quiet day on the road.  Just heat, humidity and intermittent road construction.

Tomorrow Houston and points west.

Bonus photo:  the Arkansas chrome is looking a bit worse for wear but still holding the fairing pieces together ;)

Packing for the trip home

7 am here in Slidell, Louisiana.   Getting ready to pack up the bike to head west.   Temps forecast today show high 80's.  Checking tire pressure photos below.

Went through the luggage to see what we have added since we left home.  Lots related to the Hobbs mishap:  duct tape, brake cleaner, hand cleaner, quart of oil.  Tourist items:   One cooking apron with Tabaaco label, one glass jar of olives, some literature from WWII museum.  That's it.  I did have to throw away a shirt to make room....well it was a horrible shirt that I brought hoping to need to toss it ;).  No more lime green shirts for me, ever.

We will head west on 10 this morning towards Houston.  Our gas mileage is averaging 42-43 mpg.  Probably helped by the aerodynamic streamlining of the duct tape.

National World War II museum in New Orleans

Today was museum day!   What a great place.  It is up to four buildings now, and exhibits keep being added.   Since it is so huge we saw the new Pacific theatre exhibit and went to a "Tom Hanks narrated" movie, along with a "submarine" experience.   And then we were worn out.   Tomorrow we head homewards.  We will keep you posted along the way.

Happily arrived at an air conditioned hotel in New Orleans

It was a short trip today (160 miles)  from New Iberia to Slidell, Louisiana.   Slidell is just across the lake from New Orleans.  But it was hot and humid so we were happy to be done with the ride.  We stopped at a crawfish restaurant for lunch.  Stu had crawfish and I had red beans, rice and sausage.   Good meal and a nice break.   Nothing planned tonight.

Why Slidell you ask?    Last time we were in this area, we took a swamp boat tour.  At the end, we asked for local restaurant recommendations.    They suggested Copelands.  So we went and it was heavenly.   The owner is the guy who started the Popeye's chain.  He sold the chain then opened a better restaurant called Copelands.    We figured we would stay in Slidell since it would be near the restaurant plus out of the New Orleans downtown traffic.

We will report back tomorrow if the restaurant is indeed as good as our memories ;)

New Iberia continues and we see Tabasco heaven

Today is Wednesday.  We went to visit the world headquarters of Tabasco....well worth the trip for anyone in the area. Avery island, where the business is located, isn't an island but a salt dome.  It towers 150 feet over the  marsh which surrounds it, well towers isn't the right word, but it is higher.   The sauce was created in 1868 and the family still owns and runs it.   The tour shows you potted pepper plants (the actual peppers are grown overseas from the parent plants here in La), large oak casks of squashed peppers in vinegar and salt that age for three years, large vats of pepper stuff getting stirred and finally the bottling plant.   Very interesting to see.  When we walked through the bottling plant at about noon, they had already bottled 200,000 bottles that day.   We had lunch there, red beans with rice and sausage, and sat under huge live oaks with moss.   A tiny tidbit, one of the family served with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.

There are 170 acres of a land preserve and displays of interesting flora.  But it was 90 and humid and the road was coarse gravel....not a picnic on a large bike with saddlebags.   So we passed on that tour.

Our big purchase was a cooking apron for me;).  And we got a bonus bottle of olives with Tabasco flavor.  Alas this creates the issue of carrying a glass bottle for 3,000 miles.   We shall do our best but there is a good chance everything will smell like olives by the time we get home.

Tomorrow we are off to New Orleans to see the WWII museum and have at least one meal at a restaurant we found there last time.

Remaining excitement today, laundry!

To expand any photo, just tap on it.  

Greetings from New Iberia, La

What a day...

Stu started the day working on the bike to track down the oil seepage.   It appeared to be a few loose bolts and a hose clamp that needed replacement.   So we tracked down the local Shreveport NAPA store.  Ended up buying two hose clamps, hand cleaner and brake cleaner.   He used the brake cleaner to spray all the oil spray off the engine.  Then he replaced two hose clamps.  Then tightened some bolts.  And off we went to parts south.   We stopped about a hundred miles later, and yes, the leak was still there.   The good news is that the hose with the new hose clamps was dry.   He has come to the belief that he has a small amount of seepage but nothing worth worrying about.   So off we went again.

We probably did 230 miles today, I will get the final tally later, and it was sunny and humid.  93 degrees.  So we were happy to arrive in New Iberia.  It is not a lovely town.  We picked it because it is close to Avery island, the home of Tabasco.   Which is why we are here.  We will take the Tour El Grande of the Tabasco place tomorrow.   The other wonderful thing is the hotel we picked...lovely renovated place and we got upgraded to the deluxe whirlpool room ;).   Quality Suites...   It actually is quite nice inside but the bathroom is a hoot.   The hot tub is actually the shower and the bathtub combined, all they did is remove the wall so that now the bathtub is open to both the living room and the bathroom.  Gees.

Glad we are here and planted in front of the air conditioner.   We will take lots of pictures.  ;).

The Shreveport wrinkle

7:00 am in Shreveport. Stu went out for his morning bike look-over. Last night as we pulled in he thought he smelled something as we parked.  This am he found  a bit of engine oil on the exhaust pipe.  So he is now investigating where it came from.  Yesterday we checked the oil level and it was close to full, so he believes it is a small leak somewhere.  He thinks it might have been there for the past two days since he thought he smelled something in Ardmore but it isn't causing smells enough to notice all the time.

8:00 am Update:  it appears that something is seeping very slowly so Stu isn't worried.  But still looking for the culprit. He thinks it might be a relaxed hose letting oil seep out overnight.  The investigation continues.

10 am.  A few bolts tightened and one hose clamp that needs to be replaced a bit down the road but he bike is travel worthy.  So we are off to NAPA to get a hose clamp so Stu can replace a bit later.

Overnight in Ardmore Ok and onwards to Shreveport, La

A series of wonderful riding days.   Temperatures in the 70-80 range with partly cloudy skies.  Sunday saw us arriving in Ardmore to see Stu's old army friend and fellow  helicopter pilot and his wife.  We spent the afternoon and evening cooking and chattering away.  In addition, they have three dogs, two cats, one horse and one loaner horse.  So of course there are a few photos.  We had a quiet morning with them and left about midday to parts south and east.  We ended up at 7 pm pulling into a hotel in scenic Shreveport.   Well it might be scenic, in the dark it looks unremarkable.

Update Saturday night from Wichita Falls Texas

After a morning of turn signal repairs, the intrepid Oltmans hit the highway.   Did 300 miles today in lovely temperatures and low winds, through the very rural parts of Texas where even cows were hard to spot.  The duct tape held and we didn't notice any parts flying off ;).  Pulled into Wichita Falls about 6:30 and went directly to a nice restaurant, which of course had closed down.  Sigh.  Ended up at chili's, and had a surprisingly good salmon dinner.  Then we found a hotel and unloaded.  The photos should show the bug encrusted windshield.   At one point we flew through a cloud of black insects, pinging off the windshield and our helmets.  Ick.  We just ducked but many a big died on the bike windshield and our face shields.

Tomorrow we are off to see Stu's good friend George in Ardmore Oklahoma.

Photos of parking lot repair Saturday morning

This morning is warmer (55) and no wind.  Auspicious start to the day.  Stu starts the bike and alas, no turn signals.  So he disassembles the dash and finds the turn signal flasher had its electrical connection disconnected due to the force of the impact.  So he fixed the prongs and now is reassembling.   He tried super glue on the fairing plastic but it isn't working so we are back to Arkansas chrome.

Bike suffers from bad driver in the hotel parking lot in Hobbs.

Well as we are getting dressed to leave this morning, the front desk calls and says our bike was blown over by the wind.  By the time we get down to the lobby she says they checked the videotape and a car pushed it over.   So the police have arrived.  Nothing they can do on private property.  But the guy who did it, who delivered someone in housekeeping this am, then pushed the bike over and drove off, is coming back.  Hopefully with insurance.

Bike is rideable but has substantial cosmetic damage, fairing cracked etc.  More to follow.  Likely we will cancel the vacation and come home.

Mid day update.  The crazy driver did have real insurance.  We are staying another night here, Stu is calling our insurance company now.  Silver lining so far, other than we were not on the bike when it happened, is that the hotel folks have been really nice.   Helped figure out who did it, and managed getting the driver back here and had one of their staff translate in and out of Spanish to get all the forms filled out properly.    And a tidbit I didn't know, it turns out that crashing into a car or bike on private property is not against the law.

Still unclear if we go onwards to Oklahoma or head home.  Will tackle that question after insurance is in the loop.  I can't imagine progressive insurance has an agent in Hobbs but who knows.

Afternoon update.  We will keep going!   Oklahoma or bust, starting tomorrow am. Stu had a grand time with a roll of duct tape, so we now look like hillbillies.  Chuck mentioned that we are now sporting Arkansas chrome.  None of the "we live in Scottsdale and drive an Italian motorcycle" image for us.

Can this little piece of paradise be Hobbs, New Mexico?

We made it through another lovely day with nice temperatures and low winds.  Bike ran great and we had a quiet day.   Our intercom had a melt down mid day but Stu wrestled it back into working order.  We did about 300 miles yesterday and 400 today.

Hobbs isn't really paradise ;).  It turns out it is in the Permian basin which means thousands of oil rigs and drilling set ups.  And in some places it smells flammable...

Bob J., we are at a Holiday Inn Express and thought of you when we checked in!  After the dreadful Comfort Inn last night we are moving up;)

Greetings from Lordsburg, New Mexico

Day 1 of real travel, 85 degrees and very little wind.  Off the road early and managed to find new mexico's most expensive comfort inn with zero restaurants nearby.  So it will be the peanut buffet for us tonight.  😀  

As the sun sets in Scottsdale, we are busy packing for tomorrow's departure.  The picture shows Stu's valiant effort to fit all the Shriners in the VW.

Welcome to our adventures

Our first trip detailed on this blog starts in October 2016 on a 2002 Aprilia Caponord motorcycle.  Destination unknown, timing unknown.  We will post along the way.

And left behind at the dog spa is our dog Lucy.