The Itinerary of the Ride Across America.

6/29 Leave for beach (Rehoboth)

     Stay in the Sand Castle Motel.

7/1 Leave for West: Arrive Breezewood, PA

     Stay in the Budget Inn by the Turnpike.

7/2 Arrive Maumee OH

     Find and stay in the Motel 6 - find Tariq, and pick up the conversation.

7/3 Stop at UND - go to Grotto. Arrive Chicago,

     Spend July 4th with Elspeth and Chris.

7/5 Leave for Madison , See Carol and Don, stay night in Madison? 2:20, 143 miles. Call Randy in Red Lodge.

7/6 Leave for Minneapolis, 4:15, 273 miles. Did I call Randy in Red Lodge?

7/7 Spare Day. Call Randy.

7/8 Leave for Ellendale, ND Phone contact Randy Tracey. 325 miles, 5:11

7/9 Leave for Bowman ND Getting closer, call Randy. 348 miles, 5:48

7/10 Leave for Laurel MT Call Randy in Red Lodge before it's too late. 271 miles, 4:07

7/11 Spare Day - Yellowstone

7/12 Leave for Gardiner MT  242 miles 4:56

7/13 Leave for Bozeman 78.4 miles, 1:22

     Spend the night in Bozeman, tour Bozeman on the 14th

7/14 Spare Day in Bozeman

7/15 Leave for Butte/Anaconda 109 miles, 1:43

7/16 Leave for Missoula, Lolo, and Grangeville ID 272 miles, 5:05

7/17 Leave for Baker City, OR 221 miles, 4:00

7/18 Leave for Bend, OR 231 miles, 4:31

7/19 Leave for Crescent City, CA 272 miles, 5:40 

7/20 Leave for San Rafael, arrive San Rafael, CA 290 miles, 6:34

7/21 Bonnie arrives SFO

Return leg:

7/22-23 Spend night in San Franciso,

7/23-24 Go to Tahoe 7/23, spend night in Tahoe

7/26 Leave for Salt Lake City, with a fall back of Wendover UT...

Spend 7/27 in Salt Lake City.

7/27 Leave for Des Moines IA,

(THIS WILL BE AN IRON BUTT RUN, IF ALL GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN. MORE ABOUT THAT LATER)

7/28 Leave for Peoria,

7/29 Leave for Indianapolis

7/30 Leave for Cooper’s Lake Campground.

DRINK, SLEEP IT OFF. ARRIVE ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 8/1

Google Map of Pirsig's Ride

The second leg... and a memory.

Facebook reminds us of our past in ways that are charming, poignant, even annoying sometimes. But there is no denying that we can, if we wish, get insight into our past selves. I have been waiting for this day, to talk about the second leg of the Ride Across America, because the idea was sparked one year ago today:

I was on the way to the 50th Anniversary reunion of the Univeristy of Notre Dame's Independent Student newspaper, The Observer. I was only a month and a half post-surgery from TKA, and was still using a cane. I was planning, by this time, on driving a little farther to see Chris Murphy and Elspeth Payne to congratulate them on their engagement, which they had just announced from Ireland. Trump was already in the White House, but it was, from my perspective, still a much simpler time than today. Many things were about to change.

But the reason I remember Maumee (besides an exceptional breakfast at the Bob Evans family restaurant near my hotel: I called Bonnie at a ridiculous hour, because I was torn between Waffle House and Bob Evans', and I needed wisdom. If I didn't already know she is always right, I did that morning.) was a conversation with the young desk clerk at the Maumee Motel 6. I'm afraid I do not remember his name; I think it was Tariq. He was a young, very personable, relatively recent immigrant, whose brother was actually in DC being vetted for a job in telecommunications, if I remember correctly.

What struck me (besides the fact that I was tired, and I needed to take pain meds for my knee) was his overwhelming optimism - in the face of a new president who had been saying all manner of disparaging things about, well, him - he was open-minded: he admitted that he thought the president's stance on Islam and immigration was wrong-headed, but he could understand, he said, where it came from, and he thought that some of Mr. Trump's policies might be good for the economy.

I didn't have a chance to really engage, but I want to, now - now that we are really into this presidency, this new direction, I want to hear what this young man, a legal immigrant, has to say about our direction. I want to find out how living in a small town in Ohio has or hasn't changed from the perspective of a Muslim immigrant. I want to share that with my readers.

So the first stop in the Westward journey will be a return to Maumee, and, I hope, to the Bob Evans restaurant to which my beloved Bonnie steered me that first morning on the road:

The rest of the itinerary follows in the next post. I will be addressing my hopes and plans for the road through the rest of May, and then starting a read-along of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance through June up until I leave.

Remember to share these posts, as I need to try and get as many folk on board before my departure, so that a) I can afford this :-) and b) we can contribute as much to The Tricia Fund as possible.