| Today was the day. I woke up excited and ready to go. As you can see, the Dogsteed is loaded with everything--even the kitchen sink. The air was cool and a slight haze hung over the Tennessee River Valley as I made my way through Chattanooga. My impression of the day wasn't of the vistas and the green on green scenery, it was the smells that I am not accustomed to when traveling. It's something we have lost riding in our air conditioned vehicles. These are the scents that I tasted with my nose today: The clean, fresh smell of newly cut hay; the heavy smell of new asphalt; the overwhelming odors from a pig farm; the smell of decay from raod kill that had been in the sun several days; the smell of cattle from a feeding lot; an overheated ford pickup truck (had to be an old 351C.I. engine); and in between, lots of clean, fresh air. After the cool morning start, the air quickly warmed and as I rode through southern Illinois, a bank marquee showed 97 degrees in one small town. For an aviator, it was a deluxe day; for a biker, it was a plumb day -- plumb hot. Tonight, I am camped at Scott AFB, just outside of St. Louis. At least half of the folks in the campground stopped by to talk and look at the Dogsteed; I think they were all envious of "The Summer of My Solstice"--tomorrow--Omaha. Day 2: Talk about contrasts. Yesterday was extremely hot and humid and last night was a little too warm for good sleeping, so, I started very early breaking camp for the ride to Omaha. It was still so hot just before daylight that I was sweating at a good pace. I left wearing a T-shirt and leather jacket. About an hour out of St. Louis, the temperature dropped about 30 degrees and stayed that way until after 3 pm. Downright cold. Anyway, I ran through the rolling hills of Missouri and then reached the fruited plains. It may be fruited but it is downright plain -- a very discriptive word. Things have gone well and I am camped at Offutt AFB outside of Omaha for the night--tomorrow--Grand Forks, ND. Day 3: |