H.A.R.P. Summer Tour 2015: Day 26 Wednesday August 19, 2015 -

A Little About Us

INTRODUCTION: First, allow me to introduce the members of this group...I'm Mike riding my 2003 Heritage Softail Springer...my wife Juju is on her 2015 Freewheeler...and Ed and Nancy are on their 2009 Heritage Softail. For the purposes of this trip we are referring to ourselves as H.A.R.P. HARP is a made-up name and it simply stands for Hogs And Retired People...and all that means is that we are members of HOG (Harley Owners Group) and we are...you guessed it...retired! The name came about when seven of us made a trip out west, but just the four of us this time. I've done blogs before, and this one will be for the same reason...to refresh our memories in our "Golden Years" (they say the memory is the second thing to go...and I can't remember what the first thing was). What is different this time is the blog is being shared by THUNDER ROADS PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE...Truly, an honor. This journey will be a round trip from, and to our home town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The plan is to travel to the Atlantic coast at Ocean City, Maryland for the "Official" start on U.S. Route 50. We will follow U.S. 50 west for over 3,000 miles to its terminus in Sacramento, California. From Sacramento, we will head a bit further west to the Pacific Ocean before we begin to travel south. California Highway 1 and U.S. Route 101, better known as the Pacific Coast Highway, will be the route for about 500 miles to Santa Monica. At the world famous Santa Monica Pier, we hop on Route 66...The "Mother Road". Travelling about 2,500 miles to the north east, we'll arrive at the end of 66 in Chicago, Illinois. The "Official" end of our journey. From Chicago, it's just another 450 miles and we're back in Pittsburgh. We've made very few lodging reservations, thus eliminating the pressure of trying to get somewhere by some deadline. The whole purpose of this ride to see this country and whatever piques our interest along the way...and we will be looking for that giant ball of yarn! So we invite you to ride along with us. We hope you will find it both entertaining and informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and share this with anyone you feel would have an interest.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Day 26 Wednesday August 19, 2015 -

Days without incident - 2
Days without rain gear - 12

Our stop in Holbrook last night was for the specific purpose of visiting The combined Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park. I urge you to click on the highlighted words in the previous sentence to learn more about this fascinating place.

About a 25-minute ride from the hotel, this was one of the most interesting parks we've seen. This is another one of those days when the photos will do more to tell the story than words.

So here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

On the subsequent ride to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Route 66 paralleled Interstate 40 for much of the time and frequently it joined I-40 for long stretches. The Historic Route 66 sections yielded some classic businesses like motels, gas stations, and eateries. But, most enjoyable are the Burma Shave Signs. Spaced a few hundred yards apart, they are whimsical bits just to amuse you and, in it's hey-day, sell Burma Shave shave cream, since the last sign was always the familiar company logo. Examples seen today: Slow down Pa...sakes alive...Ma just missed...signs four and five...Burma Shave. Don't loose your head...to save a minute...you need your head...your brains are in it...Burma Shave

Having been in Albuquerque before, one thing we were not going to miss was having sopapillas at Little Anita's Restaurant in the Old Town section.