The Search Continues...The Car

When I decided to retire there were two things that I intended to do. First I intended to ride my motorcycle from Portland Oregon to Portland Maine. My second goal was to purchase a Cadillac CTS so that I could see America in comfort when I was not out on the Harley. I made the trip from Portland to Portland. Now for the car...
About a year ago I was watching CNN, FOX, CNBC or MSNBC while on a treadmill at the gym. After interviewing the panel of experts with their ratings of new cars, the commentator ask each of them what they drove. They all drove Cadillacs and claimed that the CTS was one of the best made cars in America. (Maybe GM gave them all Cadillacs to drive, who knows.) I also found that Consumer Reports gave the CTS a favorable rating. I decided about a year ago that this was the car for me.
I got home August 6th and after unpacking, almost immediately began the search for a car. First I went on line and found all of the Cadillac Dealers within 125 miles of Silverton. I then looked at the inventory of each dealer.
I had decided to wait until the 2011 models were on the market to try and find a new 2010, thinking that the dealers might be more anxious to get rid of the older model. I wanted a red car with black interior. All wheel drive was a must. I was flexible with other options.
The first place I went was Capitol Auto Group in Salem since it was close and their on line inventory showed photos of what was available. I explained to the salesman, Mark Crawford that I was going to buy a 2010 CTS, I just didn't know who I was going to buy it from or where I was going to get it. He pointed out what was available and the options of each vehicle. He was polite and friendly and not at all pushy. He never asked for phone number or last name. I liked that.
I continued my on line search and eventually went to Vic Alfonso Cadillac in Portland and looked over their inventory. Once again the salesman, Tom Leiner, was very polite, friendly and helpful and not at all pushy. Now I'm becoming suspicious of what has happened to the American car salesman.
I returned home with a head full of car facts. After researching dealer costs on Edmund's.com I called other dealers asking about their inventory and learned that most did not have what I was interested in.
By Friday, August 13th (great day to buy a car) I narrowed my choice to two; a red one in Portland and a black one with black interior in Salem. I called Tom and the red car had been sold to a dealer the night before.
At about 4:00 PM Kelly and I went to Salem to test drive the black car. We learned that the cost of this car had been reduced by several thousand dollars due to manufacturer incentives to clear out the 2010's. We had been expecting to pay in the neighborhood of $50,000 for the car and were pleasantly surprised to find this was listed in the mid 30's. We bought it and were out of the business by 5:30 PM which I thought was amazing!!! But the story gets better.
Saturday morning Kelly's mom told her that there was an ad in the Statesman Journal for a 2010 CTS at Capitol Auto Group for $2,000 less than we had paid for ours. The car pictured in the ad was red but as I read on I saw the vehicle identification number for the car that was actually for sale....and it was the same as the car we had purchased the day before.
I called salesman Mark who told me of my that he would have the Sales Manager call me Monday.
Monday morning at 11:00 AM the phone rings and it's Jamie, the sales manager at Capitol Auto Group. He explains to me that the ad in the Statesman Journal was a typo on the papers behalf and that the number should have been 35 and not 33...
Now this is where the cynics begin to mutter as I tell the story with "Sure it was the paper's fault" before they hear what else he said...
Jamie said, "The ad in the paper was a typo on the part of the Statesman Journal but we will honor that ad and as soon as your check clears the bank we will send you a check for two thousand dollars".
Now is that great or what? I have wandered all over America trying to find out what makes this country tick and once again it is proven to me that it is the people of this country that make it everything I had hoped it to be. It makes me proud to be a part of this community and very proud to be an American.

Day 15 The Ride Home

I left my motel and 1/2 block later I was in Oregon. The ride home was uneventful but I took that time to reflect on what I had accomplished.
I had set out 15 days earlier to ride across this country to find out what is America. I started with three goals in mind; to visit a friend I had not seen in 42 years, to visit my father's grave in Utah and to reach a geographic destination, all of which I accomplished. All along the way I found nothing but nice, helpful, caring people. The only two times on my entire trip that I witnessed bad behavior were both by foreign tourists verbally abusing people that were trying to serve them.
A few people stand out as having gone above and beyond, like Candee Kitterman the Postmistress in Wall South Dakota who not only shipped my computer and boots home, but carefully wrapped and packaged them for me. Jamie Innes the service manager of Nashua Harley Davidson in Nashua, New Hampshire who made getting my bike serviced and back on the road a priority as well as technician Todd Smith who did the work. And then there are a whole lot of truckers who let me ride in the shade of their trailers while crossing the desert and the plains and provided some relief from the blistering sun.
The most important aspect of my 7408 mile journey across the United States and back was the time I had to recount the first 62 years of my life. I do believe that I relived every significant event that I have ever experienced. After all of the self reflection, evaluation and critique I am OK with where I have been and who I am. Like everyone who has taken risks in their life I am not without regret but I do not have a life of regrets. All and all my life has been like this trip. It was never about getting to New Hampshire, Maine, Utah or back home. It has always been about the ride, and I have had one hell of a ride. Thanks everyone who followed my journey and for being my friends.

Day 14

I hung around Utah until I thought the weather was breaking and headed out west again. I saw some weird art by the freeway near the Great Salt Lake which is depicted in the photos of the big yellow tower with strange orbs on it.
I rode out to the Bonneville Salt Flats speedway in hopes of seeing a rocket car or the Worlds Fastest Indian but the only other vehicle out there was the Worlds Fastest Winnebago. I decided not to make a run and turned around.
I was making pretty good time in Nevada despite high winds. As I crested a hill with my throttle screw set at about 78 miles per hour, I passed a very nice Nevada Highway Patrolman. He wanted to chat, so I pulled over. He said that I was going 86 in a 75 zone and that he found it curious that I sped up as I passed by him. I pointed out the disadvantage of the manual "cruise control" and how going down hill requires an adjustment, which I had failed to make. He sent me on my way with a promise to keep it under 80 on the interstate which severely reduced my total miles for the day.
By nightfall I had turned north from the Interstate and found myself on the Nevada-Oregon border. I found a forty dollar room in one of the two motels in McDermitt Nevada where I spent the night.

Day 13 a few more photos

Day 13 Denver to Salt Lake photos

Day 13 Denver to Salt Lake - Wind, Rain, Hail and Lightening

Today my weather luck ran out..I left Limon headed for Denver. It was a nice morning and a pleasant ride. Denver was really hazy and I couldn't see the mountains until I got to them. I had to stop and put on my coat when I got to the Eisenhower tunnel at the summit. At 11,000+ feet, it was cold. Once I crested the Rockies the sun went away and the storms began. I took 42 pictures trying to catch a lightening flash but missed the all. More importantly, they all missed me although they looked to be striking the ground. The wind was so strong at times that I had to slow to 40 and lean into it. Several times ice the size of hail fell from the sky and even with my rain gear on felt like a shotgun blast to the face and ribs. A few times it looked like the storms were over and I would take off my rain gear, only to find that the road changed directions into another storm. I gave up and left it on.
When I got to Selina Utah I headed north toward Fairview to visit my father's grave. He's buried in a cemetery that reminds me of one from the old west. It is up on a hill, overlooking the small town of Fairview.
I finally made it to Springville, a town south of Salt Lake at about 9:00 PM and checked into a hotel. There were some really obnoxious people checking in before me, giving the clerk a hard time. When it was my turn I told her I would take any room she had, even the laundry room. She put me in a suite for only $89.00. Very nice.
I am attaching some pictures of my ride. They are of my view of the Colorado Rockies from my bike, a gold mine, the summit, a Colorado canyon, riding in the storms and eastern Utah.

Day 12 Dodging Storms & a sign to Mexico In Missouri.

I checked the weather channel and it's web site before leaving St. Louis this morning. I had hoped to go to Dodge City Kansas today but it and Denver were under a severe weather watch. I guess this crappy weather explains why every state I have traveled through has been so green. Even South Dakota and Kansas were green.
I set my sights on getting to Colorado to see my buddy Bill Burnett who lives in Colorado Springs and works in the X-ray department at the Air Force Academy. He and I were buddies when I worked in Manteca. He was a reserve. We got divorced at the same time and rented a house together. After I moved back to Oregon he married the love of his life, Rosie and they eventually moved to Colorado. They are camping this week so I got no answer when I called their cell phone. Probably no service up in the mountains.
Anyway I rode from St. Louis to Limon Colorado, a trek of 730 miles. I like riding so much that I enjoy the time I spend looking at things and cleaning out my mind.
I have discovered that everyplace I have gone I have encountered nothing but nice people. I figured that along the way there would be some unpleasant people but so far, not a one.
Of course a lot of my contacts are my stop every two hours for gas. All I have to say is , "Sure is" and thanks because everyone says the same thing. "Pretty hot to be riding one of those things today". And "that'll be $3.15 for two bottles of water". Maybe tomorrow I'll mix it up a little and instead of saying, "Sure is" I'll say, "Beats the hell out of hopping around on a pogo stick" or something like that.
Another one of my mindless thoughts today was that I didn't know what the word crotch was until I was in high school..I always though it was crouch. It wasn't until I learned the real word that i realized why my little league coach liked me to tell about the time I got hit in the couch when I was playing catcher. He had me tell all of his buddies the story. I believed they thought the story was funny and didn't know they were laughing because I was an idiot. OK. Why did I think of this out in the middle of Kansas.. It was when some guys on crouch rockets went blasting by the opposite direction of the freeway.
Anyway the last 45 minutes of my ride was my windshield was so splattered with bugs I had to stop and wash it off. There was a line at the gas station..cars, trucks; everyone was washing off bugs.
I checked into a hotel, did my laundry (bug splattered pants today and a gasoline spill on my other pair yesterday) and I'm ready for bed.
It was over 100 degree's most of my ride today. I put a bottle of water in my leather pouch on my windshield so I can take a swig while I'm riding.
If I don't see Bill tomorrow, I'm heading for Utah to the cemetery where my dad and his sisters are resting.
I took a picture of miles and miles of Kansas and the only cloud over I-70 today. The rest were south and west.

Day 11 Just Another Pretty Face on the Interstate

After the whippen I took from the weather yesterday I checked the national weather map before I left Clearfield Pa. Severe weather was forecast for North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado.
I had planned to take I-80 west but that was into the storms. Instead I headed south west toward Akron, then to Indianapolis and eventually found my way to St. Louis and now I'm on I-70. I took a picture of the big arch as I rode by it but all I got was a picture of my bike. You need a photographer in a side car because you can't sop any place. But the picture I took at 60 miles an hour of a giant cross next to the freeway came out.
I rode from 8:30 am until 7:30 PM. I've seen a lot of stuff, just didn't get pictures. I've seen a bunch of professional baseball and football stadiums but the coolest looking one (from the outside) is the Colts. Maybe there will be some sights to see tomorrow.

Day 10

Day 10 I spent most of the day riding in pouring rain and hail in the Catskills. It rained like a bovine urinating on a plane of igneous material most of the day.

I said goodbye to Pete this mornig and headed to Boston. There were no signs to inform me of where things were so I took and off ramp and spent 45 minutes riding around the Boston Ghetto (dumpster to you Eric). Every time I stopped to take a picture a cop would pull up and point to the "No parking or standing" sign so I took some on the fly.
Then I headed west. I tried to find my way to I-70 via I-84 but in the storm I got lost. Finally I was on a Freeway that was headed toward lighter colored sky so I stayed on it and ended up on I-80, which is just fine with me.
Along the way in the storm I kept seeing signs along the freeway with yellow flashing lights. The signs said "Urgent travel information when lights are flashing. Tune to 1640 AM". They should have a reader board for people without a radio. When I got to my hotel I found the Urgent Message was a danger of Flash Floods on the Interstate.
I traveled 544 miles today and stoped at 9:30 when it was too dark to see deer on the shoulder. I am presently in Clearfield Pennsylvania, 120 miles from Ohio..and still having the time of my life.

Day 9

Day 9. I called the closest Harley shop and told them that my bike was a few hundred miles over due for servicing. The service manager, Jamie, told me to bring it in and he would put someone on it. Besides the regular servicing they discovered a nail in the rear tire which had not gone through to the tube and that my read brakes were worn. Four hours later I was on the road again. It only cost $100 per hour to sit in the waiting room at the Harley shop but they had real comfortable overstuffed leather couches and the work on the bike was FREE!. I went to see my friend Peter J. Dingle who was my best friend in Viet Nam. When we were young we laughed together, we cried together, we went to war together, we drank together and we built some big bridges. We hadn't seen each other in 42 years. The years have not been as kind to Pete health-wise as they have to me. We both have surely been blessed to have lived through the experience of war. It is sad to see what we once were physically, and what we are today. It brings to mind a realization of from the moment we are born where we are heading. I'm glad I made this journey and that I was able to spend some time with Pete. The hours I have spent on the road were hours of self reflection. I am so fortunate to have the things that I have; family; friends and I have lived a great life. Tomorrow I will stop and see my friend before heading west again. I have achieved the goals that I set out for myself but I leave here with a sadness in my heart. If there was only some way to capture the glorious days of youth...but they are gone forever. Attached are some pictures of Pete and his wife Pat's house (on a lake front), of Pete and Pat and of two broken down old men that were once soldiers. Not heroes, just good soldiers.

Day 8 I made it!!

Day 8. I arrived in Portland Maine at 4:30 PM and by the time The weather was good..sunny and warm with a few big white clouds.
I found a Harley shop it was closed. I rode 3727 miles (with my side trips) to get here.
Portland looked like a nice old seaport town. I saw the Atlantic ocean but forgot to take a picture of it.
I came back to Salem New Hampshire and called my friend Pete Dingle. We are going to meet tomorrow at noon after his dialysis and make a plan from there. I rode 486 miles today and I'm sleepy. I have to try to get my bike serviced in the morning for the return trip.

Day 7

Day 7 was a taking it easy day. I only rode 445 miles today including a side trip to Niagra Falls. It was cool to see and reminded me of the boxes of Nabisco Shredded Wheat when I was a kid. I rode from Cleveland to Utica Ohio today.

Yesterday it seemed that ALL of the toll booth attendants in Illinois were having PMS. Today all of the ones in New York were very friendly. I think that those of us that have worked serving the public, really notice poor customer service from other people that are supposed to be serving the public.

After I got settled into my room for the evening I went to Walmart to get some stuff. I couldn't find my way out of the damned store. Then when I did, my motorcycle was gone. Then I realized I came out a door about a 1/2 block from the one I went in. Jesus H. Getting old sucks.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to Portland Maine then back to my buddy's in Salem New Hampshire.

I still like riding every day. It is as close as I can come to the days of the old west when people traveled on horseback.

One thing I noticed in Montana was that they run over foxes like we hit possums. They were everywhere. That and deer. A lot of pickups have big metal shields like pit bars on the front because of the deer and antelope in the road. There's nothing to eat in the road. What the hell are they doing there anyway.

Day 6 Nasty Weather

Day 6 was the worst of days. I tried to get a picture of the Chicago Skyline but Obama's recovery act has made the freeway system a dangerous place to take a picture. And the freeways in the east aren't free. You have to stop ever 20 miles and pay to drive a little further. It usually cost 80 cents to $1.60 but I paid $7.50 to cross Indiana on Interstae 90 which I'm pretty sure some of my takes paid for.
I spent the morning trying to outrun a storm in Indiana. As I got into Ohio, it caught me. I put on my rain gear (thank you Eric Miller) and put my buff (thank you Miles and Carolyn Brenden) around my face just below my eves and then put my hood up and helmet on. I rode for 2 hours in rain, hail thunder and lightening. Then as I approached Cleveland the hail was so hard the road was slick and the rain had caused standing wather on the freeway. The wind increased to the point that I damned near blew over a few times. Some cars in front of me spun out either from the wind of hail and hit the inside wall. I'm a quitter...that was enough for me. Straight to a Holiday Inn. Only made it 383 miles today and still have 660 miles to go to get to Pete's house in Salem New Hampshire.

I only took a few pictures today.

Day 5 Sioux Falls to Chicago

Day 5- Today I rode 548 miles from Sioux Falls to Chicago. I crossed both the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. I was surprised at how wide they are this far north.

While I was out in the middle of now where I practiced a good biker wave for a few hours and practiced spitting. The wave was to look badassed as possible and the spitting was insect related.

I passed by a bunch of giant windmills and took a few pictures of them from the freeway.

I took some picture of how the highway pegs can make your ride more comfortable. I put my hand operated cruise control on about 78 and then as I ride along I can move around and relax my legs and my back. I ride with my feet flat on the floor boards, then with the soles on the pegs, then the heel on the pegs and last with my boots hanging over the pegs. Pretty comfy.

All you need for a long ride is foot pegs, sun screen and some preparation H (to tighten up the wrinkles around the eyes or whatever) and a back rest. Speaking of preparation H I took a picture of a sign for an exit to Well Kiester because it cracked me up.

I crack up at a lot of stuff that I think of when I'm riding but when I write it down, it isn't that funny.

The thing I have found that is really annoying is the truck driver who has a truck that will go 67 miles an hour when all of the rest can only go 65. So when the freeway only has 2 lanes each way and he has to pass it takes about 25 miles for him to get around another truck.

Anyway, I made it to Elgin Illinois, on the outskirts of Chicago where I holed up for the night.

Yesterdays photos.