As mentioned in my last Blog, weather primarily and timing have forced me to change my itinerary. After great consideration and a good suggestion from my daughter Emma, I have committed to New Orleans, LA as the starting point for my motorcycle adventure. NOLA was elected as a good mid-point of the country to start a ride back east. This is a huge change from my original plan to ride 2 – 3 months straight across the United States. But, per my previous blog, this is the new flexible me.
Today’s plan is to ship my Indian Roadmaster from my home in Riverside, CT to an Indian dealership, 14 miles from New Orleans, in St. Rose, Louisiana. The dealer, Indian Motorcycle of New Orleans, has graciously agreed to receive and hold my bike until I pick it up.
I am shipping the bike with Keyboard Carriage Shipping who was recommended by my Indian Dealer in Mineola, NY. The plan is for Keyboard to pick up the bike the week of February 26 and deliver it to New Orleans the week of March 12.
My wife Catherine and I will be flying to New Orleans on March 13th. Catherine has never experienced “The Big Easy” and everybody should visit New Orleans at least once in their life. Catherine will stay with me in New Orleans from March 13th to the 16th, when I begin my ride, and then fly home. Understandably for some and, not for others, Catherine has no desire to sit on the back of a motorcycle for weeks on end, stay in “catch as you can” motels and explore the deep South. Maybe she is right – NAH!
So, the itinerary, as planned today, and as I remember the concept of flexibility, is a 24-day ride, starting March 16 and ending April 9th, 2018 from New Orleans to Ormond Beach, Florida. Ormond Beach is the home of my friend John Kuendig and his wife Denise and they have graciously offered to store my bike for a few weeks as I jet off on other adventures. It is becoming increasingly more evident that the success of this ride will be largely based on the help of others.
Below is the currently planned route. Other than a jog into Northern Louisiana to visit the Crawfish Capital of the World (Breaux Bridge, LA – “D”) and Natchez, MS – “E” and Vicksburg, MS – “F”, for Civil War stories, I will be hugging the Gulf Coast for most of the way to Florida.
The leg from New Orleans “Green” to Grand Isle, LA “B” is a journey through the Bayou of Southern Louisiana that extends up to Breaux Bridge. The route from Breaux Bridge to Natchez and Vicksburg, MS will be a picturesque ride along the Mississippi River*. Once I leave Vicksburg, MS and head south to the Gulf Coast I will be visiting some Gulf Port fishing villages, Grand Bay, AL “I” as well as Gulf Coast resort towns such as Fairhope AL “J” and Seaside, FL “L”. And, some stops are just because the name means something to me such as Apalachicola, FL “N” (Tim McGraw, “Southern Voice” – “Smooth as the hickory wind That blows from Memphis Down to Apalachicola.”
I have built this route as a manageable, doable and relatively relaxed ride that will allow me to see the country and as importantly, meet people from a vastly different part of our country. Four pillars sum up why I am doing this ride; 1) Freedom – the freedom to explore and come and go at my pace versus the obligation to get up every day and commute to an office desk, 2) adventure – the adventure of being on the road and exploring new areas never before visited 3) self-awareness – an opportunity to become more aware 4) meeting people and gaining new perspectives – I am excited to meet the people in these areas and hearing and respecting their perspective on everything from sports and immigration to politicians and foreign policy.
Stay tune!
Cruising with Kramer 
“this is the new flexible me” was nice to read. Having made that transition myself, I know it isn’t easy, but in changing your plans about where to start the ride, you have shown it has already started to work. I also like the four pillars – it will be good for you to sit back after you return home to see how well you achieved them.
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Gary, thank you for reading the blog – I’ll keep writing – Did you have any ‘healthy” trepidation, nerves or concerns before you headed out. Things I wrote about in my 1st or 2nd Blog. Things like the bike’s performance, safety, bike being stolen, getting left out in the cold at night because you could not find boarding (thinking about bringing a small tent), etc.
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I really didn’t have much trepidation. I think like you, I like to plan things ahead, so that took quite a lot of concern away – at least I knew where I going! I didn’t worry too much about the performance of the bike as my view was there is simply no point in worrying, as if you do worry, that isn’t going to help one way or the other, so I never bothered about worrying! I always parked as close as possible to the front of the hotel I stayed at, even if that meant being a little cheeky with where I left my bike (often under the front canopy). I always pointed out to the hotel receptionist I had left it there, in a position where the receptionist could see it. That maybe helped them keep an eye on it. I did carry a bike cover, which helps a great deal, but to be honest, I rarely used it. At lunch stops, I sat where I could see my bike. For lodging, except in really busy places, such as Las Vegas and Monument Valley, I didn’t book ahead. I didn’t have a destination in mind for where to stay each evening, so at about 4pm used my gps to tell me where the hotels were. I picked one that sounded mid-range (Best Western / Holiday Inn types) and headed for there. It was only on one occasion that I couldn’t get into my first choice of hotel, but the next one had rooms. So ‘winging it’ on the accommodation worked really well for me. Using the gps worked well, as I could normally see at least 6 hotels / B&B’s in the area and my thinking was at least one of them is going to have a room. My advice would be leave the tent at home and take a small gas container instead – forgetting to fuel up was my only real problem and so I used the spare fuel just twice. I think mine was only half a gallon, but that is often enough to get me out of trouble. As for safety, I only felt compromised once in my four and a half month tour. That was because I took a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong part of Niagara Falls (of all places) and was approached by two guys at a a red light. I saw them approaching, so I simply rode away, through the red light. I never stop my motorcycle so close to the vehicle in front so I cannot ride away if needed. Simply being aware of your surroundings is the best way – you soon know if something doesn’t feel right. So, did I worry about anything? No, I was having too much fun enjoying the adventure. Gary.
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I really didn’t have much trepidation. I think like you, I like to plan things ahead, so that took quite a lot of concern away – at least I knew where I going! I didn’t worry too much about the performance of the bike as my view was there is simply no point in worrying, as if you do worry, that isn’t going to help one way or the other, so I never bothered about worrying! I always parked as close as possible to the front of the hotel I stayed at, even if that meant being a little cheeky with where I left my bike (often under the front canopy). I always pointed out to the hotel receptionist I had left it there, in a position where the receptionist could see it. That maybe helped them keep an eye on it. I did carry a bike cover, which helps a great deal, but to be honest, I rarely used it. At lunch stops, I sat where I could see my bike. For lodging, except in really busy places, such as Las Vegas and Monument Valley, I didn’t book ahead. I didn’t have a destination in mind for where to stay each evening, so at about 4pm used my gps to tell me where the hotels were. I picked one that sounded mid-range (Best Western / Holiday Inn types) and headed for there. It was only on one occasion that I couldn’t get into my first choice of hotel, but the next one had rooms. So ‘winging it’ on the accommodation worked really well for me. Using the gps worked well, as I could normally see at least 6 hotels / B&B’s in the area and my thinking was at least one of them is going to have a room. My advice would be leave the tent at home and take a small gas container instead – forgetting to fuel up was my only real problem and so I used the spare fuel just twice. I think mine was only half a gallon, but that is often enough to get me out of trouble. As for safety, I only felt compromised once in my four and a half month tour. That was because I took a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong part of Niagara Falls (of all places) and was approached by two guys at a a red light. I saw them approaching, so I simply rode away, through the red light. I never stop my motorcycle so close to the vehicle in front so I cannot ride away if needed. Simply being aware of your surroundings is the best way – you soon know if something doesn’t feel right. So, did I worry about anything? No, I was having too much fun enjoying the adventure. Gary.
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