No, it’s not my first rodeo. After all these years I’ve had some experiences. (Experience is what you get when things go a little wrong.) Today has had more than it’s share of “firsts”. The biggest one is that after all the crazy trips we’ve taken with Jana sitting behind me, she decided it’s time to ride her own beautiful Indian Scout on an extended journey. Since the Scout doesn’t have a back seat, I had to ride my own bike (don’t you feel sorry for me?).

The next never done before event happened when I failed to get the yard mowed yesterday. I blame it on the rain but it is more likely due to a lack of motivation on my part. That means that I had to mow early this morning. I started at 8:00 AM. I’m sure that my neighbors were as surprised as I was that the mower was running at that crazy hour. (My apologies to anyone that woke up the the rythms of John Deere and whirring blades.) It took an hour to mow the entire lawn and create such magnificent clumps. My yard is embarrassing but at least I’m not there to look at it.

The last few items were packed onto the bike and the tanks were filled. It was about 9:30 and time to roll. Every trip starts at zero.

Every good ride starts with breakfast. We didn’t get very far before we stopped at a place we hadn’t been to before. The Flamingo Inn and Cafe is a pretty small place. The food was really good and the service was great. The Flamingo Inn is in New Castle, Indiana and only 26 miles from our front door.

We stopped a couple of times along our route. Once due to too much breakfast coffee (bio break required) and once to put gas in the motorcycles. I was a little jealous – Jana’s Scout hit 60 MPG and my Ultra Limited hit 47.

The only road construction we hit all day was just after we crossed the Ohio River on US-421 and entered Kentucky from Madison, Indiana. I’m not sure why this area was so busy but we passed up a gas station because cars were 3 deep at the pumps. Waiting in line is not one of my strong points.

Jana has a GPS, I have a GPS, and I’m trying to use the Harley Navigation System. I wanted to see how flexible these systems are when I missed a critical turn that all of the devices were telling me I should make. I meant to do that. At least the roads so far in Kentucky are silky smooth.

After the aforementioned wrong turn, the rest of the day was spent getting to our hotel in Shelbyville, Kentucky. The Best Western here is clean and offers typical rooms at a reasonable price. The only drawback for me is that the only food within walking distance is a famous Golden Arches place and a “We Have the Meats” (aka Arby’s). I’m not a big fan of fast food but I guess it will have to do. The food delivery services are just too expensive for me.

The entire day was 165 miles (including the operator error). I am proud of Jana for handling her bike and for not mentioning the navigational error. The final first of the this day is that I’m writing this blog on a tablet instead of my trusty laptop. I’m a little lost.