Headwest 2009 Day 2

Richmond, Indiana to Iowa City, Iowa is now behind us. We could not have asked for a better day to ride. It was absolutely sunny and beautiful! In case anybody didn't know it, they grow a lot of corn in Illinois and Iowa. We actually got to see 2 crop dusters spraying different fields which was awesome. Until I saw the size of the fields out here I never understood crop dusting by a plane, but now I understand.

We had our first minor mechanical problem of the trip. Dave, the medic, had his gear shifter come loose and he was stuck in 5th gear. It wasn't a problem until we hit the work zones so we had to stop on the side of the interstate to fix it. Thanks to Dave, the hogfather, and Perry it was fixed in no time. Oddly enough it looked like a government operation with 2 people working and 17 others watching.

Lesa and Pam took over doing the driving of the car and trailer so Mable could ride and they did an excellent job! Bryce enjoyed riding with them as well. Courtney got to ride with Perry today as well which I think she enjoyed. Dinner tonight was great as always, but let's just say that we can't wait to see Julie and Kim to get here so they can keep their husbands straight. Marilyne's pink mowhawk helmet was a hit to many on the road today.

Ed, we sure do miss you and Beth on this trip and wish you guys were here. We keep wondering what you would say to some of the stuff that's getting blurted out.

Tomorrow it is off to pick up Kim and Julie at the airport in Omaha, then on to Wayne, Nebraska which I am afraid will never be the same.

Below is the track for today and once again it is for legs 1,2 and 4, but it's still pretty cool to look at.
http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=9778464075821842445

Headwest 2009 Day 1

So the first day is behind us now. 520 miles later we arrived in Richmond, Indiana. As we were checking into the hotel it started raining. As we started to get our stuff into the rooms it started pouring down rain. Unfortunately the Lynchburg crew got caught and had to ride in the the rain. As I am typing this they are pulling in and I have a feeling they are pretty miserable right about now.
We are going to grab something to eat and hit the bed pretty early. It has been a long day and a few of us got sun burned. I have not downloaded any pictures yet, but as soon as I do I will add them.
It's only the first day and we are learning a lot about some of our crew. Especially Mike's personal hygiene preferences! Tomorrow is a 450 mile day so even thought it's a long one, at least it's shorter than today.
Mable and the kids have done great in the truck. Everybody has been awesome about looking out for her and making sure she doesn't get left behind. Below is the link to the instamapper track from today. I had to turn it off on one of the segments because my battery was dying, but I did get segments 1,2 and 4.
http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=17289631454830921412
That's all for now, but we will be posting again each day.

Sunday Afternoon Countdown

Mike, Perry and Greg talking about the trip! I truly wish Perry could show a little more enthusiasm about the trip!

Test for GPS Tracking

Test #2
http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=15128986427593273411

OK. Admittedly I am a big geek. If you click on this link it shows a GPS track from my blackberry. This one was from work to my house to the motorcycle shop on 28 back to my house. Each day on our trip I will create a track and label it the day number of the trip. As you can see it gives data such as Avg speed, max speed etc. You can also change the view from a map view to a satellite view and zoom in and out. It's pretty cool.

If you can't tell we are getting really excited about the trip.