It’s been almost a year since the trike rolled out of the garage and headed for the Blues Highway. A long motorcycle (or trike) road trip each year is mandatory. I looked at my “hat pin map” and noticed that over the years, various portions of Route 66 had been covered but there was a gap from about Winslow, Arizona to Eastern New Mexico. It was time to fill in at least part of that.

The planned launch time was 7:00 AM which seemed prudent. There was a storm hovering over the day’s destination – Fulton, Missouri. Leaving early meant that our actual arrival in Fulton could be delayed with some sight-seeing or shopping (Ugh!) along the way. Unfortunately, I had grabbed the old top box luggage which suffered from the too short tie down straps that I messed up several trips ago. Back in the house I went to retrieve the proper bag then transferred the contents of the wrong bag to the correct one. There was also a minor issue with the headset cord that was easily resolved (yes – the wireless headsets are proving too finicky and were left at home for this trip).

Finally the trike was fired and rolling at exactly 7:28 AM. This time it only required a slight elevation in my blood pressure to make it happen.

The route had been loaded in the navigation systems and phasers were set on stun. Engage.

About an hour later, breakfast was being served at the Westfield Diner. This was the first time eating here and the food was good plus it was served by a waitress who looked a lot like Alice from the old TV sitcom Mel’s Diner (that may be a memory test for some).

The first 3 hours showed 40 miles of progress. The pace needed to increase if we were going to make the planned mileage. We went to warp drive. The only stops were for gas and a salad at Toni’s Diner in Auburn, Illinois. Toni’s provided a huge salad and fed my addiction for the crane machines. The funny looking bird was gifted to the toddler running around the restaurant.

Another check of the radar and I was convinced that the rubber suits were in order. It appeared that the 150 remaining miles would be pretty soggy. The skies were really threatening. It turned out that the first 50 miles after Toni’s were dry and then the rains were everywhere. The storm that appeared on radar early this morning didn’t really move anywhere. It just spun in place and grew a little.

The final 100 miles were wet! We stopped for fuel and to get rid of the numerous cups of coffee. There weren’t any pictures. We’ve been this way multiple times. The trike docked at the hotel at exactly 7:39 PM (Indiana time) so we had been trying to get here for 12 hours and 11 minutes. As soon as the bike hit the parking lot of the hotel, the skies cleared and a rainbow greeted us. Tomorrow is another day.