Route 66 Epilogue

Captain’s log – Road Date 10/23/2016

Temperature – low 19 high 26
Weather – overcast
Miles traveled – about 20 feet from my bed to the kitchen to type this blog

So we finished our annual motorcycle trip, the first one ever where it did not rain once. Maybe this might be an omen for future trips?

So let’s introduce our riders this year. We had all eight members of the Fukawi Motorcycle Club on this trip and here there are in no particular order.

Scott Ullrich – Call sign The Highwayman

After riding 1,000 miles straight in under 24 hours (earning him membership in The Iron Butt Club) Scott owns this call sign

Julian Davis – Call sign  Lay-Z-Boy

This has nothing to do with being lazy but everything think to do with Julian’s preference for his Honda Goldwing motorcycle which have been described as a Lay-Z-Boy couch on wheels

Don Weber – Call sign Rum Runner

Don is our Rum connoisseur, with a preference (or is it insistence) on only the best dark rum for his cocktail at the end of each ride

David Shier – Call sign 15 inches

Sorry ladies it’s not what you may be thinking. David’s love of pizza earned him this call sign when he finished a 15 inch pizza all on his own (PS Don't worry Mariola, he promises to shave off that thing he calls a beard when he gets home)

Andy Molloy – Call sign Celtic Rider

Every motorcycle club needs an Irishman, and Andy is ours. He wears his call sign with pride (he actually does, he has a baseball cap with those words on it)

Paul Klann – Call sign Maverick

Not be be confused with the role played by Tom Cruise in Top Gun but totally relevant to the western gambler played by James Garner in the TV series “Maverick”. Paul is our professional gambler in the group having won the 2013 World Poker Tour LA.

Shawn Marr – Call sign The Magician

When on the road with the group, Shawn takes the last position at the rear and has been know to drop back a little too far and get lost only to arrive at our destination, like magic, before the rest of the group.

Jack Buckingham – Call sign Moneymaker

As a professional financial advisor for a many investors, Jack has structured his life so that he is making money both at work and when on the road with the guys. His favourite saying is “with your money and my experience I can make it my money and your experience”

Another great ride comes to an end. The iconic Route 66 has been conquered  by The Fukawi Motorcycle Club. Our trips tend to be the journey and not the destination and it was certainly the case along this stretch of Americana. A lot of Route 66 has disappeared over the years and by our observations more of it will be gone in the future. This is sad indeed.  Eventually there may be no Route 66 but there will always be the song...

Lyrics to Nat King Cole’s Route 66

If you ever plan to motor west

Travel my way, take the highway, that’s the best

Get your kicks on Route 66

It winds from Chicago to L.A.

More than 2,000 miles all the way

Get your kicks on Route 66

Now you go through Saint Louie

And Joplin, Missouri

And Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty, you'll see

Amarillo…

Gallup, New Mexico

Flagstaff, Arizona

Don't forget Winona

Kingman, Barstow, San bernardino

Won't you get hip to this timely tip

When you make that California trip

Get your kicks on Route 66

(I bet we had you singing these lyrics in your head)

Till next year, keep the sunny side up and the rubber side down

Palm Springs - day 9

Captain's log - road date 10/22/2016

Today's stats
Temperature - low 15 high 33
Weather - Sunny
Miles traveled - 220

It's going to be hot today so an early start it is. Breakfast at 7:30 and wheels up at 8:00 (ok 8:30). Palm Springs is our destination and a nice hot tub awaits us there, so like the horse nearing the barn, we hope to make some time today. Before we start though, we have to get that iconic photograph of us standing on the highway (traffic is light so what the heck).

Today’s ride was through a lot of desert

This is pretty much all we say all day. 

Not sure it gets any better with us in the photo

There was virtually no traffic on this road which made for a very nice ride but you sure would not want to break down here.

Eventually we made it to civilization and had lunch at Route 62 Diner, which is of course is a take off on Route 66 but this is the highway that gets us home today.

And home is was after lunch. A few more miles, a drive through Palm Springs and finally making it to Jack’s place in Rancho Mirage.

Jack is actually in this picture. That is is hand at the left (sorry Jack).

So the trip is over and we all made it safe. To the pool to cool off and then to dinner (you’ve probably noticed a lot of our focus on our trips are around restaurants)

And this is no exception, to Morton’s we go for that end of the road steak.

Although this is the end of the road it is not the end of the blog. I have one more entry for tomorrow where I introduce the group and post some closing thoughts. See you tomorrow.

California -day 8

Captain's log - Road date 19/21/2016

Today's stats
Temperature - low -2 high 34
Weather - Sunny
Miles traveled - 234

So is it possible that nothing could go wrong today? Stay tuned.

Woke to a temperature of -2 which was a bit concerning as there was frost on our bikes. As today was another short day (you think we would have learned by now) the decision, which proved correct, was to wait till the temperature was above zero. At +2 we decided to head out.

The first portion of today’s ride had us rolling down interstate 40 till we reached the town of Williams, who’s claim to fame is “Gateway to The Grand Canyon” and “The Best of Route 66”.

Not sure it is either of these but it sure is a nice little town. From Williams we headed a little further down the freeway the took exit 139 to Route 66. The next 139 miles was fantastic.

Our first stop along the route was at the quaint little town of Seligman, Arizona. This is the home of the “Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona” as well as probably The funniest dinner along The route. We stopped here for some coffee and milkshakes (the milkshakes were fantastic). When ordering the coffee we were asked whether we wanted today’s or yesterday’s and those of use who order milkshakes had to ask for some straws and where actually given straw (you know like what horses eat). After a few chuckles we were given proper straws and today’s coffee.

Our next stop along the route was Grand Canyon Caverns. Here there was a motel, a restaurant and cave tours. We looked in the restaurant and had second thoughts about even entering the place, but we did and had the best hamburgers and hot dogs of the entire trip. So much for first impressions

Today’s world’s largest monument was found just outside Hackberry

World’s largest Tiki Head (14 feet tall)

Now I’ve never been to Easter Island so I can neither confirm or deny that this is really the world’s largest but I can say that thanks to our Ontario chapter, this monument has the cleanest nose.

Just before heading into the best twisty roads of this entire trip we stopped by this place

Now being bad ass bikers and not gentleman on this trip we of course never entered this place. In fact I was the only one who got off my bike and that was just to set up the tripod.
On to the twisties we went and they were spectacular. We headed into the Black Mountains, up one side and down the other. The view from the top was great.

On our way down we ran into our first traffic jam in Oatman, Arizona and it had nothing to do with vehicles

Eight jackasses on motorcycles meet several jackasses on Hooves

From Oatman we continued Route 66 to Needles, California. The only claim to fame this place has is it was the home to Snoopy’s (Form the Peanut’s cartoon) brother Spike.

Chinese food tonight, more drinking and to bed again. Tomorrow, Palm Springs.

And for those who read this till the end, the answer to the question first mention was nothing went wrong today, go figure.

Arizona - Day 7

Captain's log - road date 10/20/2016

Today's stats
Temperature - low -2 High 18
Weather - Sunny
Miles traveled - 185

So today started off in typical Fukawi fashion, meaning it didn’t start off at all, or at least not for a while.  After having seven great breakfasts (the waitress kept ignoring me but I did manage to get a coffee). We packed our bikes and started up seven out of eight engines. As you might appreciate, it was a bit disconcerting to the eight rider (me) that I could not get my bike unlocked and started.

No worries though, we have eight riders, and everyone pitched in to help to the point of actually disconnecting the locking mechanism from the bike. After a few phone calls to both the Eaglerider Rental place and a Harley Davidson store some 200 miles away we managed to get the locking mechanism back on the bike in the locked position. A few more jiggles, a little swearing and some not very helpful “you should have done this” we got to the point where we had to call in some local help. To the rescue was a fellow named Chris from the local motorcycle repair shop. He was working alone in the shop and had to phone his boss first to get permission to close up and head over to help us. The better part of an hour and a half later and after several head scratches, he managed to Jerry-rig the bike to start. He left us with this piece of advice, “be very careful not to screw this up”. With that we determined the best course of action was to drive straight to the Eaglerider store in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Yep, looks broke to me

Chris doing his magic

This meant driving on interstate 40, which interesting enough was actually most of what Route 66 was (as the freeway was built over it). We did manage to stop in Winslow, Arizona which was made famous by the song written by the Eagles

We were all supposed to be in this photo but in typical Fukawi tradition, we couldn't find it (another photo curtesy of Google)

Fast forward another hour and a half and we made it to the Eaglerider store in Flagstaff. A little paperwork later and I got a new bike

Goodbye old bike

                                                                    Hello new bike

With our late start we decided to stay in Flagstaff and we settled into our rooms at the Hampton Inn  (thanks to my travel agent, Lana and my wife Sheryl). By settle in I mean we opened the liquor and preceded to do our best to forget about this day. Two hours later we realized we had the munchies so headed to a local American Greek restaurant (in addition to greek food they also served hamburgers) We had the greek food but probably should have had the hamburgers.

That's someone's cheese on fire

Even Paul left his vegetables (and left the table)

Closeup of the vegetables

A few more drinks back a the hotel and to sleep we went.

New Mexico - Day 6

Captain's log - Road date 10/19/2016

Today's stats
Temperature - low 11 high 22
Weather - Sunny
Miles traveled - 235

So only the Fukawi can take was should have been a short day (less than 200 miles) and turn it into an all day ride.

As we thought this would be a short day, probably 6 hours tops, we slept in a bit and went for breakfast at 8:30 (add 1 hour to our day) and discovered there was a ½ hour wait for a table (add another ½ hour to our day – I think you’re getting the picture here). The breakfast was, however, worth the wait.

From breakfast we had a short drive through Santa Fe to see “the old town” (and another ½ hour) and then gassed up our bikes. It was a this point that Jack mentioned we were only 3 miles from the local Harley Davidson store. Don then mentioned that he wanted to purchase a comfy seat cover for his bike. Now before you judge Don on his manliness, four other Fukawi members already have these cushions.

So off to the Harley Davidson store we go. Within 2 minutes of entering the store we have determined that there are no comfy cushions to be purchased here. So… 50 minutes later and a few T-shirts, we’re off on the road. We haven’t even left Santa Fe and we’ve added 2 hours and 50 minutes to our short day.

Now the one real benefit of stopping at the Harley store was we found out that if we took a small detour (read add an another 1 hour to our day) we could drive through Madrid, New Mexico, Now Madrid holds a special place in our hearts. The is were the film “Wild Hogs” was filmed. If you haven’t seen it, rent it soon. It is mandatory that every Fukawi member must watch this film.

T-shirt anyone?

From Madrid we eventually hooked up again with Route 66 and headed along this road to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we had lunch a Loyola’s Restaurant, who’s claim to fame has nothing to do with the food they serve (believe me) but the fact that some episodes of “Breaking Bad” were shot here.

After lunch we continued along Route 66, enjoying the ride and the scenery stopping only for gas. We all got into the ride and no one noticed that one of our group was left at a gas station. Paul was just walking out of the gas station as he saw use heading down the freeway.  It was about about 12 miles down the road before anyone noticed he wasn’t with us. We of course pulled over and tried to contact him. First by phone and then we texted him co-ordinates where we could meet (add another 10 minutes to the day). Another 10 miles down the road we eventually hooked up and continued to tonight's destination, Gallup, New Mexico. We rolled in to tonight’s hotel, El Rancho at 6:00.

So let’s do the math.              
Original estimated travel time   6.0 hours
Sleeping in.                                1.0 hours
Waiting for breakfast.                0.5 hours
Driving through Old Santa Fe.  0.5 hours
Stop at Harley Davidson.           0.9 hours
Detour through Madrid.             1.0 hours
Time spent trying to find Paul.   0.1 hours

Let's just call it another long day

After checking into the historic El Rancho Hotel, we washed up and headed to the hotel bar for a couple beers, some food and of course watch the US Presidential debate. This proved a bit more difficult than we thought. Apparently everyone in Gallup wanted to watch the Cubs and Dodgers play baseball. Eventually we did find a bar down the street that agreed to put us in a corner and turn on the one TV to the debate.

Even the waiter got into the debate

Back to the hotel and then to bed. Tomorrow we ride to Arizona.

Texas - Day 5

Captain's log - Road date 10/18/2016

Today's stats

Temperture - low 11 high 23
Weather - Sunny
Miles traveled - 300

Not sure why but we seem to be spending a lot of time at Harley Davidson stores this trip. Yesterday Jack managed to lose his gloves (just like the kitten who lost his mittens - we'll have to attach them together with string this time) so we made what should have been a quick stop to buy a new pair. After a few minutes of waiting outside I went into the store to find Jack just coming out of the changing room. It seemed strange for a grown man to use a changing room to try on gloves. Anyway a few T-shirts later we managed to get on the road.

Our first stop was at the Cadillac Ranch, where we photographed today's worlds largest monument

Worlds largest collection of Cadillacs buried nose down in the dirt

Leave it to a Texan to come up with this. 10 Cadillac all buried nose down in the sand and then spray painted with graffiti. Being the artists we are, we of course added our personal touch as well

Our route today takes out out of Texas and into New Mexico. One of our stops was at Russel's Travel Centre/gas station/restaurant/general store/car museum.

Not quite the largest collection of pop machines, but close

For lunch we stopped in Santa Rosa, New Mexico at the Silver Moon Cafe. This place has been in business since 1959 and did not disappoint.

Finally we made it to our destination, Santa Fe, New Mexico. We arrived early today which allowed us some time to enjoy the El Rey Inn hot tub and just relax some. In the interest of not losing our readership there are no photos of us in the hot tub

But here we are checking out the next day

And yes we had a nice dinner at the Japenense restaurant across the street.

Missouri - Day 4

Captain's log - road date 10/17/2016

Today's stats

Temperature - low 24 high 32
Weather - Sunny with high (we mean real high) winds
Miles traveled - 396

So today is our longest ride of the trip but as we never seem to be able to leave before 8:30, no one really set any alarms. Plus the local Harley Davidson store is actually called "Route 66 Harley Davidson" so we all have to be there when it opened to buy T-shirts (it's a Harley Davidson marketing jackpot that probably makes them more money than the motorcycle sales).

Outside we got that one group photo to prove we actually purchased the T-shirts there and didn't have someone else do it, then mail it to us, so we could impress our friends (like anyone would be impressed)

We then loaded up our bikes with our precious T-shirts and started our journey for the day.

Before explaining what happened next, it's important to set the theme buy rewinding the clock back to the day we picked up our rental bikes. The rental person kept harping that we should always make sure we have our key fobs for the bikes. Not to let them out of our sight as we may find ourselves stranded with no way to start our bikes.  Ya, blab blah blah. We're all adults and really don't need to be lectured about this.

Fast forward to our first stop to check directions (we do that a lot) and low and behold, one of our members can't start his bike. So as not to embarrass him we won't mention names

Meet Mr. No Name

After basically ransacking his luggage like a Canadian custom's border guard, we found out the key fob was left back at the Route 66 Harley Davidson store. An hour later and after paying a handsome fee to a local taxi driver for delivering the keys, we were on our way. There was a little concern as we were now averaging 6 miles per hour (including stops) and we still had 370 miles to go.

The solution seemed quite simple at first. In looking at the map, Route 66 basically followed the local freeway all the way to Armarilo, Texas. We could simply drive the freeway at 70 miles per hour (+ or -, well + actually) and still make it in time for cocktails before dinner. The only snag, which we were not aware of, was the hurricane force winds that were forecast for the day. Now we have ridden in rain, sleet and even snow but we were not prepared for the G force effects on our bikes and bodies along Interstae 40. It got so bad that we almost lost two windshields and were forced to go back to riding at a slower pace along the more protected Route 66 (which is why we came here in the first place).

We did manage to make it to Acadia, Oklahoma where we were able to photograph today's world's largest monument

World's largest Coke Bottle

In addition to coke this place also had more than 800 types of soda which they proudly showcased on their windows

This is just a small portion of one window

In the interest of time I'm going to fast forward the next 4 hours of hell that had us riding through gail force winds, and on the interstate (after the winds died down) and in a final challenge to us all, driving in pitch black darkness while wearing sun glasses.

But at the end of every rainbow is a pot of gold. And ours was this lovely motel

Seriously, it has charm, ok

And this Is The Big Texan steakhouse.

And a little music to go with our meal 

This meal was every bit as good has last night. The bill was cheaper so David offered to pick it up. (OK, I'm just kidding, we had to force him to turn over his credit card).

Another eventful day followed by what should be a great sleep from 8 very tired people.