Road Pickle: The Small Stories, Part 1

Along the six months Sash and I spent riding across the USA, there were dozens of minor events and incidents that we hadn't mentioned on this blog. So, we wanted to share them with you through photos and captions.

Sash thanking the staff at Baymont Inn & Suites in Indianapolis, IN after they let us stay for several hours after we had checked out.  We were expecting a FedEx package to arrive the day before, but it instead was delayed and came the day we checked out.  The staff at Baymont let us set up our laptops in their dining room, bring in lunch from Subway, and use their Wi-Fi while we waited.  The FedEx guy finally showed up around 3:00pm.

Sash found various places across the United States where she wanted to be nude, including this spot inside Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.  We didn't realize it, but this spot happened to be where there was an arch rock, and dozens of tourists were out wanting to snap photos of it, some of whom spotted us, but Sash didn't seem to mind and they didn't seem create a stir.

We spotted a clothing boutique in downtown Eureka Springs, AR called, "No Clothes". So we decided to come back around 11:00pm at night, and photograph ourselves standing naked under the sign.  There wasn't anyone else around.

On the last day of our road trip, we stopped at Del Taco in Barstow, CA on the corner of 1st and Hutchinson, which is actually the 2nd Del Taco location in history.  Sash used to eat here with her grandmother when she lived in Barstow as a little girl.  FYI, this particular location offers a "Barstow Taco", which is a hard-shelled taco with a single sliced tomato instead of diced.

Sash ran out of gas along the I-15 in Utah, about 2 miles north of Fillmore. She had difficulty adjusting to the V-Star 650's 40 MPG versus the Ninja 500's 60 MPG.  Moreover, this stretch of the I-15 was at 5,200 FT elevation, making for a richer fuel mixture, and she had the throttle cranked all the way because of Utah's famous 80 MPH speed limit.  She called Triple A and they dispatched a guy out to refill her tank, except the gas can he used wasn't designed for motorcycles, and spilled about a half-gallon of gas all over her bike.

We were at the Farmers Market in Salt Lake City, when Sash spotted this gal selling chair massages.  She bought a half-hour massage from her and found her rather talented and quite muscular.  So, she invited her to our hotel room for a one-hour, full body massage, leaving her feeling quite relaxed yet sore.

Temperatures in Bloomington, MN got into the 100s while we were there.  The hotel we stayed at had fresh asphalt laid recently, which Sash's kickstand poked a rather ugly hole into.  The hotel asked us to place this plywood board under the kickstand.

When we left Columbus, OH, the weather was forecast for full sunshine with no chance of rain.  We were wearing light gear, prepared for a warm day of riding.  So as we got outside of city limits, we were hit by a rogue rain cloud that dumped an awful lot of water.  Sash decided to pull over under an overpass to wait it out.

Sash in the E/R at Robert J Wood Medical Center in New Brunswick, NJ. She was overcome with intense pain in her lower right back.  We thought it was kidney stones.  It turned out her ovary had "tortioned", or twisted itself around its fallopian tube.  She was there from morning to late evening. The E/R was very busy and it took a long time to get a physician to see her, let alone get CT Scans done and prescriptions written up.  While waiting for the physician to see her, the staff gave her some strong pain killers, but it wasn't enough to help.

Sash posing for a photo in front of Monogram Foods corporate headquarters in Memphis, TN.  Several businesses in Memphis have this same tiger statue on display, except painted and decorated in different ways.  It's the official mascot of the University of Memphis.  According to the folks at Monogram, their statue is a magnet for tourists seeking photos (like us).

In Albuquerue, NM, Sash and I had been out all night brewery hopping, and most of these breweries don't have food.  On our way back to the hotel, she wanted some tacos.  The local Taco Bell was open only for drive-thru however.

When we were in Tucson, AZ, Sash had been asking people for the most roughest, toughest, meanest, dirtiest biker bar in town.  Everyone directed us to The Bashful Bandit. We went inside and I had a couple of beers, but their beer selection is pretty much typical of biker bars, only the domestics, and I couldn't handle anymore.

We were in Fort Morgan, CO, after an afternoon of riding in near 100 degree F temperatures. We stopped at a Dairy Queen to cool off with some frozen drinks.  There were flies everywhere inside and outside. This fly was on the outside of the window and didn't seem to mind me photographing it on macro mode.

Sash at a roadside rest stop at Starvation Lake, Utah, along the US-40 westbound. When she was a teenager living in Utah with her father, her father would take her to this specific spot to picnic.

This photo was taken in Chamberlain, SD.  Throughout the trip, Sash was plagued with wrist pain from having to hold the throttle for long periods.  Her friend Betty Owen, MS, who's an expert on holistic and natural remedies, recommended a product called, "Deep Blue", a homeopathic solution for joint pain.  It seemed to help Sash along the way.

I saw this guy on a street corner in Denver, CO.  What you don't see is that the US Mint is on the other side of the street that I'm on.

Highway working out of his smartphone while nursing a margarita at Jose O'Shea's in Lakewood, CO.  It turned out we visited this restaurant numerous evenings because they offered free tacos, wings, and chimichangas for happy hour, and reduced prices on margaritas. It helped cut our dining expenses down.

Since she's known me, I've made a habit of riding without hands.  So, throughout the trip, Sash practiced doing the same.  By the time she got to Iowa (pictured here), along the US-34, she seemed to have mastered it.

So along the same stretch of highway as the last photo, I decided to one-up Sash by standing up on the motorcycle while riding without hands.

Sash wasn't going to let me best her, so here she is attempting to do the same thing, except she was never able to let go of the handle bars.

Probably the worst food we had along the trip was Joe's Crab Shack in Peoria, IL.  We were hungry by the time we reached Peoria along I-74 westbound, and took an off-ramp into downtown to the first restaurant we saw. Sash had the fish-n-chips, and found the fish to be awful, very fishy tasting, almost tasting spoiled.  I had fried jumbo shrimp over rice, and found the shrimp small and rubbery.

After one of our longest days of riding, from Bedford, PA to Columbus, OH, we relaxed in our in-room Jacuzzi. We had started the day riding in rain all the way from Bedford to Wheeling, WV. Sash became really irritated getting cold and soaked through her gear.  By the time we checked into our hotel in Columbus, all we wanted to do was kick back in the spa.  (That's my thumb sticking out the bubble bath, BTW)

We were at a truck stop just outside of Zanesville, OH, when Sash noticed these "Data Ports" all along the wall.  She couldn't figure how where to plug a cable into.  I explained that these were "Wi-Fi" ports.

We agreed that when we arrived in Philadelphia, we'd go to both Geno's Steaks and Pat's King of Steaks for what's often described as the best two Philly Cheese Steaks in the world.  But we never made it to those two.  So on the last day in Philadelphia, we scrambled around looking for a place to get cheese steaks.  We stopped at this place instead and each ordered them.  Sash thought they were good, but I know I've had better cheese steaks in California.

This is at Studio 6 in East Brunswick, NJ, where we stayed a week.  Sash and I stayed at a few other Studio 6 locations across the USA.  They're a sister-chain with Motel 6, except Studio 6 are studio apartments, with full size kitchens, and are cleaner and more modern looking than Motel 6.  Prices are low enough you could stay a month for about $900.00 depending on location.  It turned out this location in East Brunswick was the worst we had encountered.  Next door to us was a family of six, who had been living there for several months.  The husband worked construction all day, and had forbidden his wife to ever leave the room, stuck with four kids who shouted and banged toys, including one crying baby that never stopped crying.  The management would never answer the phone, so we couldn't call to complain. We called the police to complain about "child abuse", and they actually arrived, but it didn't seem to stop anything.  So Sash walked into the management office numerous times to complain, and finally they relented and forced the family to move out.

This is in Washington DC.  What you don't see is the Washington Monument behind Asphalt Annie.  Throughout the trip Sash was looking for creative ways to photograph Annie in provocative ways, requiring her to get into a variety of odd positions, and did it all with her smartphone.

And here's the photo that Sash took.

Highway taking a photo of Amish riding their buggy in Strasburg, PA.  I kept a long leash on my camera and wore it around my neck all throughout the trip.  When I saw a photo opportunity, I could turn on the camera and snap it right away.  And if I needed to let go of the camera immediately, I could just drop it.  I also rode without gloves on most days so that I could work the buttons on the camera.

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