Going Home Day 1 – Appleton to New Lenox

Friday morning I packed up the bike, hitched the trailer and headed south to visit my brother in Illinois. I was on the interstate for a while, then followed back roads the rest of the way. Once I got to my broither’s there was time for a relaxing glass of wine and dinner. We spent the evening catching up on the events in our lives.

Going Home Day 2 – New Lenox to Cadiz, TN

This day was all interstate travel through Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Just south of Champign, IL, I noticed the shift lever was loose. I pulled over to the shoulder to assess the situation and determined the spline on the shifter shaft was worn. This is a fairly common problem on Harleys with heel and toe shifters. I tightened the bolt as best I could and continued on. I had to stop a second time and tighten it some more. I also removed the heel shift lever. After that it held until I got home.

I rode through about 5 minutes of rain in the morning, but the weater was fine the rest of the day. I took my usual morning ad afternoon coffee breaks.

That evening the motel clerk let me park the rig out front under the canopy.

Going Home Day 3 – Cadiz, TN to Columbus, GA

I rode a bit of interstate in the morning then took secondary highways south toward Columbus, GA. I found some pretty good 4-lane, divided hiughways.

Things got a bit dicey late in the afternoon. I went in to a Walmart near my hotel to get a salad for dinner. As I was leaving, I got a test that informed me my hotel reservation was cancelled. I tried contacting the hotel; the call went directly to voice mail. I decided to go to the hotel to see what was up. As you can see, a tree fell on the hotel.

When I got there the emergency response team was nearly finished dismantling the tree and covering the hole in the building.

I made another reservation at a hotel about ten miles away just as the rain started. The rain was very heavy and the route took me on an expressway that was under repair. The lanes were narrowed, which added to the stress. I managed to get to the hotel safely.

Again I was allowed to park under the canopy.

Going Home Day 4 – Columbus, GA to Home

On the final day of the journey I followed secondary, 4-lane divided roads through Georgia and Florida. I took only a couple of pictures.

Status Update – April, 2023

Beth’s recovery is complete. Her ribs healed rather quickly. The bones in her pelvis healed with the help of an ultra-sound stimulator. Her shoulder is about 95% healed. It only troubles her if she puts in one position. She returned to riding on the Goldwing trike shortly after I returned home. On New Year’s Day she rode it with friends on a 200-mile lunch ride without any issues.

We had Beth’s bike converted to a trike at the local trike shop. She has ridden it quite a bit, including a ride across the state to Daytona and back.

The story of the bike’s restoration and conversion will be the subject of another video.

For now, we are preparing for our Summer 2023 travels. We will be going to Williamsburg, VA in May for a wedding and Shark Week XIII. We’ll head oiut in early July for Springfield, MA and the Motor Maids convention. From Springfield we will try once again to make it to Alaska. This year we’ll both be on trikes and another couple is going with us.