NJ to Texas in 7 days

[paulcb]

New Jersey to Texas in 7 days

I asked for suggestions about this trip in another thread but thought I'd write up the ride report in a new thread. Thanks to those that commented, was helpful.

The ride started in Flemington, NJ on Sunday, June 14th and ended in Celina, TX on Sunday, June 21st.

Day 0 (Saturday) - in route from TX to NJ with the bike loaded in the truck



Day 1 (Sunday) - Rode from NJ to Mathews Arm Campground on Skyline Dr., just south of Front Royal, VA. Driving through Pennsylvania Amish country was nice but the towns were pretty crowded on Sunday. Saw several Amish boys courting Amish girls in their buggy's. Skyline is really nice to ride... not much traffic, great pavement, nice curves and beautiful views.

Day 1 Route...


Note that I did all my routing online using Motogoloco which I then imported into my (borrowed) GPS. Many thanks to Uncle Phil for loaning me his Rage motorcycle GPS for the trip. I ordered one but it didn't arrive in time for my trip.

Somewhere on the Northern end of Skyline Dr...


Camp at Mathews Arm...


This was a pretty nice campground with many of the tent sites cut out of the woods so you had privacy on three sides. Was a little surprised though... it was 1/2 full on a Sunday night, expected fewer campers. Overall a nice day's ride for the first day of my first big motocamping trip. Note how well my dry bag a is strapped on... didn't want a repeat performance of loosing my sleeping bag a few months ago.

 

[paulcb]

Day 2 (Monday) - Rode from Mathews Arm Campground in Northern VA to Willville Bike camp in Southern VA. The route was pretty simple... Skyline Dr. to Blue Ridge Parkway. Skyline just rolls right into BRP and Willville is just a mile or so off BRP, so I was pretty much on BRP most of the day, which is just a fantastic ride.

Day 2 Route...


Visitors Center near the beginning of BRP...


Chic-Fil-A near Roanoke, just off the BRP for a late lunch and gas...


Willville Bike Camp, about 1 mile off the BRP...


Can't say enough about Willville. Run (and owned) by Will (of course), it's a really nice, secluded motorcycle only campground right along side the Round Meadow Creek, which was flowing pretty well and just great for sleeping. They have a big covered pavilion with wifi. There's also the proverbial 'porch' to sit around and swap stories with other riders... there were several locals that rode in just to hang out. The showers were nice and clean with plenty of hot water. There are quite a few tent spots and a few small cabins. Will's a great guy and very laid back... I highly recommend this place. I met a guy (Steve) from Canada there on a V-Strom 1000. We rode together down the BRP the next day. He's done this trip about a dozen times and knew all the 'good' spots. After re-routing and loading new routes into my borrowed GPS, got to bed early and fell asleep to the sounds of the rolling creek a few feet away.

 

[paulcb]

Day 3 (Tuesday) - Rode from Willville Bike camp down the BRP to Balsam Mtn. Campground, just a few miles off BRP near the bottom end. Again, not much 'routing' involved since the entire route was along the BRP. Another fantastic day considering there was little traffic, great roads/curves and beautiful scenery. I rode this with my new friend Steve I met the night before at Willville. He treated me to an oatmeal breakfast before we left Willville. My original plan was to deviate off of BRP to Punkin Center Motorcycle Resort North of the Dragon but the idea of running the full length of the BRP was intriguing. I figured I'd just find a new route to the Dragon and Cherohala once I got to Cherokee, NC (bottom of BRP) and then hit the Dragon from the South end. It seemed to work out better than my original plan!

Day 3 Route...


A few morning pics from BRP...


We ran across a chicken that morning at one of the BRP pull-offs. Don't know where she came from but I'm guessing she didn't make it through the night!


A few more pics on BRP before lunch


We ate lunch at the restaurant on top of Mt. Mitchel... highly recommended.
(stock photo, it wasn't snowing when we were there!)

A few more shots along the BRP...


We ran into a pretty good rain about 30 minutes outside of Balsam Mtn. camp. It stopped just as we rolled in so setup wasn't too wet.


Steve was a veteran motocamper... I learned a lot from him. He cooked me dinner... stew warmed up in the can... tasted great!


Balsam was an OK campground but pretty crowded and not much privacy... tenters, RV's, trailers, etc. A good night's sleep was next with plans to finish out the BRP and get a hearty breakfast the next morning. It didn't rain overnight but the dew was real heavy the next morning... had to pack a soaked rainfly.

Note - one thing I'm (re)learning is that I'm not too good at taking pics. As I write this, I keep thinking of all the places I should have taken pics but didn't. Also, as an engineer, I'm not much of a story teller (just the facts) so apologies for not making it too interesting. Lessons learned for next trips and reports.

 

[Gandolkf]

Just the facts are good .and the pics are great.
Glad your having a good ride.

 

[gmast1100]

Very nice Paul. Glad you had a great trip. Now you know what motorcycle camping is all about!!

 

[paulcb]

Thanks Gary, it was a memorable trip, in the good sense. Not sure I know what it's ALL about but I know a little more now than I did 3 weeks ago.
You going to TexSTOC?

 

[paulcb]

Day 4 (Wednesday) - We broke camp that morning (it was really wet from dew), headed back to the BRP and finished it out down in Cherokee, NC. Found a place that had a nice breakfast buffet and chowed down on eggs, coffee, biscuits, bacon, etc. it was the first big meal I'd had in a few days! We then headed to a gas station, filled up and parted ways. Steve headed back north to Canada and I headed West towards The Dragon and Cherohala. Really enjoyed the ride with my new friend Steve.

Day 4 Route...


Got to the Dragon at Deal's Gap and saw this...


Lots of bikes and the store was pretty crowded. I bought the required t-shirt and sticker and then just sat around taking in the action and scenery to get a feel for the place. I then rode up (North) and back down the Dragon to hit it in both directions. I let an R1 get by me early on (never saw him again) but then had the whole thing to myself... no one in front and no one pushing me. I rode past the power lines that everyone told me to turn around at and just kept going because the road ahead looked so good. Kept on for another 5 miles or so till the road ran along the river, turned around and did it again. This time, early on, I got behind a guy on a Harley who wouldn't pull over for me to pass for several miles (LOTS of turns). I thought he was going to fall over on some of the turns he was going so slow. He finally pulled over and shortly after that, I ran up on a girl on a sportbike. She was fully geared out and rode pretty well so I backed off and just followed her back down to Deal's Gap.

I then just kept going South on 129 down to a little gas station at the beginning of Cherohala. Since it was one of the few places that had decent cell service, I hung out there a while contacting family (spoke to my Dad for a long while). A gaggle of ST type riders from Chicago stopped to gas up before a Cherohala run... ST13, BMW, GW, etc. Real nice guys doing some sort of charity run up to Nashville. I gave them some space and left about 30 minutes after they did. Rode Cherohala (great ride!) to the Cherohala Market in Telico Plains. It's motorcycle friendly and there's a covered area in the back where m/c guys hang out. I stopped there for about an hour and listened to a bunch of stories... heard a lot about a guys brand new FJR1300ES... that's a NICE bike.

Some pics along the Cherohala and at the Cherohala Market...


I then meandered through Southern TN along a route Uncle Phil recommended (thanks Phil, Route 30 through TN is a nice ride!). Came to a railroad crossing somewhere... the train was moving so I waited and waited and waited... is it slowing or speeding up? It finally stopped so I had to reroute a few miles to get around it. I love these parts of the trip!


For dinner, I ran across this little gem of a diner in Spencer, TN. Literally, everyone knew everyone, except me of course! I struck up conversations with a few, everyone being very friendly and welcoming to this oddly dressed stranger passing through.


After dinner, I headed towards my destination which was Rat's Nest Campground. I stopped to review my route and the weather... predictions were big thunderstorms that night and the next morning. I don't mind camping in the rain but didn't really feel like breaking camp the next morning in a thunderstorm. So, I wussed out and found a motel room in Murfreesboro, TN for the night where I was able to dry out my gear from the night before, take a shower, get rested and prepare for the 2nd half of my trip. Was a welcome room after 3 nights camping.


That's pretty much it for Day 4. Tomorrow will be a quick run West on I40 to a friends house in Mississippi, just South of Memphis.

 

[gmast1100]

Paul, no TexSTOC for me. Having total right knee replacement end of July so riding after that very limited for quite awhile.

 

[Mellow]

Paul, no TexSTOC for me. Having total right knee replacement end of July so riding after that very limited for quite awhile.

You may be surprised how fast you bounce back from that... hope that is the case.

 

[paulcb]

Paul, no TexSTOC for me. Having total right knee replacement end of July so riding after that very limited for quite awhile.

That's too bad Gary. We'll miss you. Heal fast!

 

[paulcb]

Day 5 (Thursday) - Not much exciting today. The route was a quick shot across TN to visit a friend... Murfreesboro, TN to Southhaven, MS which is just South of Memphis... pretty much a straight shot West on I40. Except for a few miles on I55 & I40 on Friday, this was my only real slab time, about 3 hours.



Nothing too eventful on I40. One rest stop along the way...


For some reason, tired or not, I have the desire to stop at every rest stop when on the highway, especially on a motorcycle... I don't, but want to. I guess it's just to see the area and all the other travelers?

After arriving at my friend's house, we took a ride around his area. He rides a 2014 HD Ultra Classic. I rode it a bit... first time on a Harley. Took me a bit to get used to the riding position, especially my feet. Don't really know how to explain it but I told my brother I felt like I was riding on a 50 year old bike, the way it shook and handled, and for a Harley, it didn't shake much. He loves it and tours all over the country with it. To each his own I guess, but it's not for me. Riding around, we ran across this bobbed deuce and a half. Sent a pic to my son... "Dad, can you buy it?". He loves those things.


Had some 'real' Memphis BBQ that night and then hit the sack, ready to leave the next day to meet my brother and ride Northern AR and Southeastern OK.

 

[paulcb]

Day 6 (Friday) - Had breakfast with my friend and some of his friends... it was his weekly breakfast with some riders from his church. One was a LEO and another was an instructor. Neat guys... had some interesting discussions. The goal for the day was to meet my brother in Conway, AR and then pair up from there headed towards Northern AR to camp somewhere.

Day 6 Route...


Ran into a little rain (TS Bill) that morning and as I was running West on 64 through AR, the wind decided to get real serious on the East side of TS Bill. I thought I'd ridden through some pretty serious wind in Northern TX but this was a cross-wind like I'd never experienced before, really strong and gusty. Got so bad I pulled off for about an hour and made some furry friends...


While I was stopped, I talked to several truckers and one said there were trees about 10-15 minutes West which would help. I decided to get going and it finally died down. It was pretty hairy there for a while. Made it to Conway and met my brother (Greg) at David's Burgers... highly recommended!

We ate a burger and mapped out a route to a camp near Jasper, AR. A few pics on the way up...


So, during the ride that day at one of the stops, my brother says "hey, you're missing a bolt!" What? This is what I found...


Turns out that all three of the remaining axle clamp bolts were loose! I tightened those three and started the hunt for an 8mm bolt to replace the missing one. We rode on, stopping every little bit to check for axle rotation and bolt tightness... no change. I found a bolt the next morning in Jasper hardware store, so was able to get her all fixed up but continued to check during the trip. After I got back, I looked through my pics and sure enough, that bolt was missing on my first day... note one of the first day pics at Mathews Arm campground. I also noticed that the axle had not rotated since then either, which made me feel a bit better. I can't figure how this happened... Who knows how long? I gave my bike a good once over before my trip but missed that. Have they been loose since my last tire change? Did I forget to tighten them when I remounted the wheel? I remember tightening them but maybe it was the time before? Either way, I can't explain it but am thankful it didn't cause me any problems. I know the axle can't come out but it could spin, which I don't like. So, that was the big excitement for the day. That new bolt is still there and none of the 4 have moved since.

We finally rolled into our campground and saw nothing but gravel tent spots (who puts gravel on a tent spot?), kids and dogs everywhere and even a pool.. the place was a packed madhouse! We're thinking this is NOT good. We booked out of there and just rode north up 7 out of Jasper, AR to see what we could find... happened to see a national park tent sign and followed the gravel road a mile or two to this...


The Buffalo River Campground with nobody there, except the host! It was beautiful, treed and right next the river. Turned out to be a great place for the night.

Greg had a little stove that we cooked some dinner on and then called it a night. Tomorrow was to be some interesting rides through Northern AR.

 

[paulcb]

Day 7 (Saturday) - Broke camp and rode down into Jasper for breakfast at the Ozark Cafe... was pretty good. We then decided to ride around Northern AR with a final destination for the night in Mena, AR which set us up to ride the Talimena the next day.

Day 7 Route...


A few shots from the day...


We were trying to ride south to Clarksville and then on to Mena but a road closure forced us to reroute in a more westerly direction. Of course, the GPS decided to have a little fun with us and took us down several gravel roads, one being about 7 miles long. Roads weren't too bad overall but had some pretty rough sections. The first pic above shows one that had a creek running across that we had to fiord. Was only a few inches deep but pretty rocky. Made it through OK and finally ended up on 71 just South of Fayetteville. We ran this south, down through Van Buren and Fort Smith all the way to Mena, where we stayed at the Limetree Inn for the night. Ate dinner in Mena at the Branding Iron Steak House. Was quite good at reasonable prices.

The next day was to be the Talimena and then home!

 

[paulcb]

Well, I guess I need to finish this report, at least for me.

Day 8 (Sunday) - Last day of the trip... Mena, AR to home in Celina, TX. We left the hotel in Mena and had breakfast at the Skyline Cafe. It's on the road out of Mena (Skyline Dr.) that turns into the Talimena. Service was a little slow but the food and atmosphere were good.

Day 8 Route...


First stop was an old fire tower. The clouds were rolling over the mountains during most of our ride along Skyline and Talimena.


A few more shots along the Talimena. The blue GW in the first pic below belonged to a guy from NY. He worked for the NYDOT and had 30 days vacation he had to take so he loaded up his motorcycle and headed out. He didn't really have a plan, was just riding around the USA, wherever the roads took him. I was definitely jealous!


The western end of the Talimena was closed but we rode down as far as we could go. We went around the barriers and tried to go through but the workers didn't appreciate that! Didn't get far enough to see what the problem was but I think a bridge was out. We rode back east to 259 and headed south toward home. Ran across Three Sticks in Hodgen, OK along 259...


The rest of the day was just getting home, stopping for lunch somewhere in Idabel, OK. When we crossed the Red River on 37, the Red was really flowing, nearly up to the bottom of the bridge. It was quite a sight. After crossing the river, we took a few back roads into Paris, TX and then it was divided highway the rest of the way home. Hit a little rain and got home about 7:30pm. Was a great trip, no issues... can't wait to do it again!

 

[gmast1100]

Sounds and looks like you had a great time. Can't wait to get back out on mine but will be awhile!

 

[paulcb]

Sounds and looks like you had a great time. Can't wait to get back out on mine but will be awhile!

I really did Gary. Always looking forward to the next trip. Hopefully, that will be ArkanSToc.

I'm hopeful your new knee works out well for you. IIRC, the first time we met was at an RTE in Temple a few months after your accident... you caged it. Might consider that for a few SToc events until you can ride safely. I know we would all like to see your new knee!