Haulin Ashe goes West

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HaulinAshe

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DAY-2 Report

I took the extra time to shoot some pics of the fabulous horse ranches before leaving Kentucky this morning. Will post up later.

KY rolls for what seems like forever, downhill, going into Indiana. Very beautiful countryside.

A hawk dropped from a tree top as I passed out of KY and landed directly on his breakfast. He just looked at me as if to say "You want some?".

:)

They are amazing up close and the FJR didn't disturb him in the least. Now on to Indiana...

If there ever was a reason to fold space, Indiana is it!!!

Indiana really wants you to know that they will fine you $1,000 for speeding and put in you jail for 8-years for wreckless driving. Signs many times along the I-64 route.

Speaking of the I-64 route, when I got past Louisville this morning, my GPS said "Drive 174 miles on I-64". I thought, no way! that thing NEVER sees 174 miles of no turns, boring-*** road. Sure enough, Indiana is it! Of course, there must be two Indiana State Troopers for every civilian resident. They all congregate on I-64 like bears waiting on the salmon. Anyway, I wanted to fold space this morning and just skip right over Indiana.

Went through St. Louis MO, Independence MO, and finally landed in Topeka KS, 634 miles later. Got my *** well rained on in one of those infamous midwest storms. It was HUGE, at least 30 miles across. Covered the entire horizon from North to South. I elected to ride through it while ALL the HDs bailed into truck stops etc. There was some hail, but nothing too big. Boy, are my boots wet! Mesh pants let the water run right down your legs into the boots. I will know to put on rain pants next time.

The rain gave me enough physical break to endure the afternoon temps of 88-91F. For all you guys who can't understand why some of us complained so much about the 05's heat, you must live west of the Miss. 88F out here is nothing like 88F at my house. Just not nearly as humid (yet).

Heading to Denver CO in the morning.

Grumpy is feeling okay. Said he is going for catheterization (sp?) on Monday. He's drinking Vodka and living vicariously through my phone calls and posts.

I would really like to hook up with some FJR folks sometime Sat.-Wed. Yellowstone, Glacier National anybody?

DAY-1 Report

At 4:50 this morning I awoke to the flash of lightning and the light fixtures in my house rattling from the thunder boom! No need for an alarm this morning!

Had to wait for the thunderboomer to pass and got off to a bit of a late start. Departed at 7:30 EDT headed west, well... West-Northwest.

Landed this evening in a place called Versailles Kentucky. Hotel is in Frankfort KY, which is the capital of Kentucky. But that lovely new Zumo GPS said BBQ could be had 9.6 miles down the road toward Versailles. Around these parts they pronounce it as Vurr-sails.

OMG, my youngest daughter would have dropped dead from a heart attack! On that 9.6 mile stretch of Hwy-60 between Frankfort and Versailles, as far as the eye can see, is nothing but multi-million, NO, multi-billion dollar horse ranches. Turns out that the biggest money horses in the entire known universe all hang out here. What a treat!

Looks like the prediction for my once-in-a-lifetime WFO trip is binary weather, HOT or Wet. There is not likely to be anything in between unless it HOT&WET.

668 miles today, about 8,000 more to go. Already I miss Grumpy's company more than he should know. Everybody say a prayer for Grumpy and his ailing heart. I'm sure he pissed God off long ago and needs all the recommendations he can get!!!

:)

 
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At 4:50 this morning I awoke to the flash of lightning and the light fixtures in my house rattling from the thunder boom! No need for an alarm this morning!Had to wait for the thunderboomer to pass and got off to a bit of a late start. Departed at 7:30 EDT headed west, well... West-Northwest.

Landed this evening in a place called Versailles Kentucky. Hotel is in Frankfort KY, which is the capital of Kentucky. But that lovely new Zumo GPS said BBQ could be had 9.6 miles down the road toward Versailles. Around these parts they pronounce it as Vurr-sails.

OMG, my youngest daughter would have dropped dead from a heart attack! On that 9.6 mile stretch of Hwy-60 between Frankfort and Versailles, as far as the eye can see, is nothing but multi-million, NO, multi-billion dollar horse ranches. Turns out that the biggest money horses in the entire known universe all hang out here. What a treat!

Looks like the prediction for my once-in-a-lifetime WFO trip is binary weather, HOT or Wet. There is not likely to be anything in between unless it HOT&WET.

668 miles today, about 8,000 more to go. Already I miss Grumpy's company more than he should know. Everybody say a prayer for Grumpy and his ailing heart. I'm sure he pissed God off long ago and needs all the recommendations he can get!!!

:)
We're ridin' with ya Jeff... keep us posted. I'm angling for the National FJR meet in Denver next year... we'll see. We may even try to drag Scab and his new gurly bike over there.
 
Hey, I got your email this morning. Was wondering how far you had gotten. 668 miles... nothin' to spit at, that's fo'sho'. How many left to Denver Airport?

I'm sitting here playing w/ my new (to me) GPS.

Saying big time prayers for the Grumpage. Please let us know what's up w/ him... & be sure to keep us posted what's up w/ you.

Be safe mister,

Heidi

 
Have a safe and uneventful trip Jeff. Seems to me that you will probably be crossing paths at some point with some other members headed out there (Geezer and Charlie Hoss?). You should post a route thread and see if you can hook up with somebody.

Positive energy flowing Grumpy's way.....

 
Have a great ride bud! Too bad I didn't know you were only going to be 40 mins or so away would have loved to ride a bit with you guys on your way out!

At any rate, enjoy the time and hope the weather plays nice enough for you guys!

 
I think there are hotter times in the summer that we could have WFO. Early July always seems a tad hotter. Not by much.

Have a good ride! cya there.

 
Hope you didn't get caught in that wicked storm that just went through down there. They were predicting up to 1" hail down near Versailles and the southwest region. :-(

It got pretty naughty up here near Florence, KY for about 40 mins or so. Ack. Hopefully you made it out of the area bright and early. :rolleyes:

 
My guess is that Jeff was out of Kentucky as of fairly early this morning. He's picking up his girl at Denver Airport & needs to be there pretty soon. I'm pretty sure that he didn't say, but he's gonna' be touring the Canadian Rockies b4 WFO. (I am sooo flippin' jealous!)

 
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There is not likely to be anything in between unless it HOT&WET.
Too bad you're with you daughter eh? OTHERWISE that would be a good thing :rolleyes:

Sooo...

you being a trailer queen?
Picking up the GF in Denver Fri afternoon.

Nope, no trailer. Riding the bike ALL the way. Did 639 miles today. Now typing from Topeka KS.

:)

Have a great ride bud! Too bad I didn't know you were only going to be 40 mins or so away would have loved to ride a bit with you guys on your way out!
At any rate, enjoy the time and hope the weather plays nice enough for you guys!
Sorry about not posting up. I found out only hours from scheduled departure that I was going to have to do this solo. There just was NO time to communicate.

You riding solo Jeffro?
Yep! It's admittedly a bit scarey at times.

 
Hope Mr. Ashe watch's his P's & Q's out there in kansas.

Last year this time I was Haulin *** out there and Don Knots of the K-patrol rang me up for 88 in a 65 just short of Dodge city.

I don't see how anybody can be from kansas other then Dorothy.That is the most boring state to ride through.

The cattle holding areas wake your *** up 5 miles before you get to um.

I did have fun racing an amtrak train though.

 
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