From Coast to Coast

The jetBlue terminal (five) at JFK was probably one of the nicest terminals we have visited in our recent travels. We managed to grab a bite to eat, down some coffee, before the final leg of our air travel portion was complete.

Our arrival in Charleston was a little later than planned. JFK was operating only one runway, so we had to queue up with all the other planes and patiently wait our turn for take-off. The last two hours were uneventful – I forced myself to adjust to our new timezone, while Madelyn and Kendrick took catnaps in an effort to shake off some tummy uneasiness. How can Madelyn possibly rest like this, I’ll never fully understand… But then again, it’s not my job to understand, but rather just let it be. Upon stepping out of the plan in Charleston, the humidity hit us like a brick wall. Even after growing up in the Midwest and living a fair portion of our adult years in both Indy and St. Louis, this humidity quickly reminds us why we have chosen the Pacific Northwest for our home.

Thankfully, our three checked “bags” arrived without issue. This meant that we’d have all of necessary riding gear that we couldn’t easily wear or haul on the plane as carry-on bags.

Anyone recognize the white straps securing each of the boxes? Throughout the trip, you’ll see how we use white straps and when we wrap up the trip, we’ll be creating an album on our shop Facebook pages to see what clever ways and applications you have also identified for repurposing those handy woven white straps.

 After just one jetBlue experience, I’d rate them at the top on my airline carrier preferences. Considering that we flew coach, one way, it’s easy to summarize jetBlue as — fair fare, very good customer service, nice in-flight amenities, and better than average legroom. Definitely a two thumbs up experience!

Next, we were off to reunite with our beloved two-wheeled friends. It has been over a month since the transportation company picked them up, so we were a little apprehensive about post-transport condition. Soon, we’d learn that our apprehension was totally unfounded. You see, Harry Dodson and his crew at Champion BMW, Ducati, Honda in Charleston had everything totally under control. We had a nice visit with Harry, while we reassembled our riding gear (put the armor back into the necessary pockets, since they were removed for easier travel) and loaded our bags onto our F800GSs. Thanks a million Harry!

Shortly thereafter, we were on our way. Our motel room was ready, so we checked-in and spent several hours installing last minute RAM mounts for GoPros, cameras, etc., stickers on our aluminum sidecases from the companies we selected as suppliers for the trip, and loading the first segment of the Trans-America Trail (TAT) roll-charts onto our roll-chart holders.

This left two things left on our list to get accomplished for today: investigate an awesome barbecue spot recommended by customer Alex & Kelly Gardner and visit the Atlantic Ocean. We geared up and headed to the old part of Charleston in search of “Queology” on North Market Street. Late July, Wednesday afternoons in Charleston are very busy. We navigated traffic for a handful of blocks and lucked upon someone vacating a metered parking spot with still enough time left for us to locate and hopefully grab a late lunch.

Queology is a must visit, as their pulled pork and three barbecue choice have been winning awards for the last thirteen years! We were famished, so it didn’t take long before we had our plates cleaned and we were ready to get to the water. Alex & Kelly know their stuff, so we’ll be asking them for other culinary advice in the future!

I almost forgot to mention, that we got plenty of weird looks as we rode our motorcycles; not because we were riding motorcycles, but we were riding motorcycles in full gear. South Carolina leaves the discretion of wearing riding gear to the motorcyclist; as such, most people we have seen riding motorcycles are just wearing shorts, tennis shoes, t-shirts, and no helmet! So, image the three of us riding around, dressed head-to-toe — we get looks ;>).

A quick map survey suggested that we head east through Mt. Pleasant and then to Sullivan’s Island near Fort Moultrie for our Atlantic Ocean fix. These are two beautiful little towns with a mix of nice homes, bars, and eateries, with great access to the water.

Visiting the Atlantic Ocean prompted resetting of GPS data and “starting” the Coast to Coast trip. At this point, we had a pretty long day, so retreating to the motel didn’t take much discussion. By the time we all got back to the motel, our motorcycles are full of fuel, and ready for the longest segment of the trip – 375 miles from Charleston, South Carolina to Murphy, Tennessee. This will also be the longest day (mileage-wise) we have all ridden together.

It started today!

The day finally arrived. We woke up at home and packed the Jeep for the drive north. Before almost totally exiting from our normal day-to-day business activities, we stopped at both shops to bid our friends and staff members farewell. While we won’t entirely escape from work during the next four weeks, these hardy souls will step-up and take the lead on keeping the doors open in our absence. For that, we owe all of them a big THANK YOU!

As normal, Madelyn and I were up front chatting about business, while Kendrick was in the back doing his normal thing:

Upon arrival in Portland, we ran a couple of last minute errands, ate some lunch, and showered before heading to the airport for our red-eye flights to Charleston SC.

Today, was a hot summer afternoon in Portland with temperatures surpassing the 90 degree mark. Although it was rush hour, the traffic was normal for Portland and it still only took us a little over an hour to get dropped off at the airport. Madelyn and Kendrick rode president and first lady, while I kept our cabbie company in front.

Our cabbie, Ed, is a US veteran and one of the proud owner-operators of the Radio Cab company in Portland. Ed did a fantastic job of navigating the traffic safely and efficiently. Ed rocks!

Because we arrived early, check-in was a breeze, thanks to Jeanette our friendly customer service agent from JetBlue. Madelyn was more than proud to point out that both her checked baggage and carry-on were smaller than either of the two guys. Never mind the details of her not carrying the computer, portable hard-drive, digital SLR, and supporting technical stuff.

We’ve never flown JetBlue before, so we’re optimistic about our red-eye flights from Portland to New York, then from New York to Charleston. In all, we’ll arrive by nine o’clock on Wednesday and have a full day of preparation before starting our westwardly trek.

Madelyn wonders… “does this helmet bag make by butt look big?”

Getting through security was a breeze, so all we had to do was find our gate and grab a bite to eat before boarding the plane.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Gustav’s and hope that will tide us over until the morning hours.

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Happy Independence Day!!

Thanks to the founding fathers of the United States of America, we are able to take a Trans-America Trail trip through the free-est country on Earth. We don’t take this privilege for granted and appreciate the sacrifices made by those individuals that continue to protect our ability to travel freely through our beautiful country.