Finish Line!

We had a short ride today and put the tool bag to use about a mile from the house. Tom needed to tighten the shifter. We made it to the house to find this awesome finish line sign made by my super creative neighbor & friend Denette. Denette & Jack even surprised us with yummy groceries for dinner & breakfast. So nice not to have to shop today! We were welcomed home by our friend & neighbor Susan also; who was the most awesome mail gatherer & stacker!Bonnie stopped to say Hi,too. We love our neighbors! Our trip was an amazing 2 months and 3 days. Tomkatrides breakdown Gas,food & lodging: $$$$ New helmet,boots & biker clothing:$$$ Speeding tickets & bail bonds: 0$ Entrance Fees to National Parks: 0$ Visits with family & friends, new friends we made, 1,600 plus blog views, traveling back and forth over 3 time zones, and other TOMKAT adventures :PRICELESS

Almost Home!

We rode 439 miles today. Half of which was in the rain. It was light and stayed cool so it was not bad with our rain gear on.It cleared up when we went over the Mobile,Alabama Bay. It was great seeing the Gulf shore. We beeped the horn when we crossed over into Florida at the Pensacola Welcome Center. It is home to the Navy Blue Angels. It was cool to see this at the welcome center.We went over the Escambia Bay and we saw the USS Alabama Battleship and more Gulf views. We are enjoying our last "vacation" night in Quincy,Florida. It will be a few hour ride to finish up our 10,000 mile bike trip!

Somewhere East turns out to be Clinton,Mississippi

After a really nice visit with my sister Carol & brother in law Joey.We then had a great ride from Melissa,Texas to Clinton,Mississippi. We rode thru Louisiana over the Mississippi River. There were miles of cotton Fields ready to be harvested.At the Louisiana Welcome center a women yelled to me when I was getting on the bike, "you go mama & ride that hog!" In Talulah,LA a young male cashier asked when we stopped for gas "Are you riding on that bike?" I said "you betcha!" He. Said "wow that's great!" I told him I was going out yelling & screaming & my husband is not ready to hand me my shawl. There was then a chorus behind me "you go girl! yeah! " That was a fun stop.I guess Louisiana loves old lady biker chicks! Lol! We rode 425mi. Today. We have a long day tomorrow to get to the Florida border. We will then finish our journey on Tuesday!In place of taking a photo, I thought this would be a good time for this!

Melissa,Texas: Great visit with Carol & Joey

After leaving Amarillo,Texas we headed to Melissa,Texas to spend a couple of days with my "big" sister Carol and brother in law Joey. We had a fabulous couple of days catching up. We were given some great tours of their areas. We checked out the historic area of McKinney,with a very cute old downtown area. We were treated to a yummy dinner at Square Burger. There is building going on everywhere since the area is growing rapidly. We also toured Croation Village which is an affluent Section built out of Stone and has an amazing tower. We went to a Container Store which I was happy to learn I could order online! After touring several shopping areas we were treated again to an amazing meal at Bonefish Grille.Carol & Joey surprised me with an early birthday celebration. We had lots of fun catching up & being sister's!It will be hard to leave in the morning but we are anxious to get home after our long journey. This was the best respite after so many hundreds of miles. We look forward to their visit to Florida. Next stop....somewhere East!

Santa Fe,NM to Amarillo, Texas

Yesterday we enjoyed Canyon Rd. In Santa Fe. It was so interesting and inspiring, the galleries were all so unique.We then headed up into the mountains to Taos.We explored for a few hours,took pictures & had a wonderful New Mexican cuisine lunch.We loved seeing all the pueblo style buildings and red peppers outside drying. We even stopped for a photo op along side the Rio Grande River. We have to say we have been pretty lucky with weather so far.Our trip to Amarillo was cool, then warm & breezy. We continued to see smaller mountain ranges and many large ranches. We stopped at Cadillac Ranch and had to spray paint "TomKat" on one of the cars! Fun! After walking a few hundred yards back in 90+ degrees we made a great decision to have a Dairy Queen Blizzard supper! We continue to head south & East. Tomorrow we will stop for some "big sister"& brother in-law time :-)

Wild Ride to Santa Fe

We rode out of Colorado thru Mesa Verde & San Juan Mountains. Stopping in Durango , where we shipped the rest of our camping supplies and enjoyed the historic downtown. We then rode thru several different Indian Reservations. When we got to Aztec,NM we hit rain & wind for a bit then just gusty winds! Needed to hold onto the face shield so I didn't go airborne! We were able to enjoy the Sandia mountains as we approached Albuquerque,NM and onto Santa Fe.It was also surprisingly cold which we did not expect.Our sweatshirts & rain gear kept us toasty. We were pretty worn out by the time we reached Santa Fe. We were able to rest a bit, then met up with an old friend from CT, Jeanne Webb,who now lives in the area. Had a wonderful dinner and visit near the plaza. We will explore this area & Taos tomorrow.

Moab,Utah to Cortez,Colorado

Yesterday we slept in then mailed some of our camping stuff. We then ate a great breakfast at. "Eklactacal" It was as far out as the name! After fueling ourselves, we headed over to the Arches National Park. We rode to most vista points, a few we needed to walk to. We even had fun trying to take a selfie even though the sun was too brightAfter having enough we headed to Cortez. Compared to our recent rides this one was short. We needed our sweatshirts it was so cool. We enjoyed riding thru all the farms and getting to our last campground of this trip. We enjoyed this cabin, it even had a TV. We were in early enough to enjoy a deer & her babies. I was able to get picks with camera, Tom was not able to zoom in enough on the iPad so he took pics of me taking pics. Off to Santa Fe, New Mexico.