BACKROADS • MAY 2022
Page 38
ROAD TRIP
OFF MY BUCKET LIST words + images: Lance Lamberton
I don’t remember exactly when I got the notion to take my 2009 Harley Road King Classic cross country, but once the idea finally took hold, there was no denying it. I also felt such a mega journey would be a nice book end to the one I took in 1974 from New York to Alaska after I had just graduated college.
So, on July 15, 2021, I started the first leg of my trip from Atlanta to Chattanooga, TN. Given the heat and humidity of the ride (after all, this is the southeast in the middle of July) I was glad it was a short one. The goal for the next day was to go hang gliding. Basically, what this entails is being towed up to an altitude of 3,000 feet by an ultra-light, then released to float gently down to earth. It also requires doing so in tandem with an
experienced guide. To do otherwise would be suicide. Regardless, it was exhilarating and can’t wait to go again. The rest of the day I headed north through Tennessee into Kentucky on my way to Louisville to stay with my two brothers-in-law. Fortunately, I had enough time to check out the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, which is where the iconic sportscars are made. The following morning, I headed west towards Peoria, IL where I stayed at the home of a friend. In the interest of economy, and to achieve my goal of reconnecting with friends and family at every opportunity, I planned my trip to be a “house guest” every chance I could. The course I charted was through southern Indiana starting off on 150 West from Louisville until it split off onto Indiana State 56 where it went through bucolic countryside including a fair number of twist and turns where suggested speeds ranged from 15 to 30 mph. When I got to the Illinois border, I deferred to my GPS which took me on some really obscure back roads until it finally linked up to I-74 where it was then a straight shot to Peoria. It was a long day in the saddle, covering 406 miles, so I experienced my first of what would soon to be many days of physical exhaustion. The next day I headed towards Omaha, NE to stay and visit with my cousin Trish. My goal was to traverse the southern portion of Iowa along US route 34 to avoid going interstate wherever possible. But the decades old map I was using was not working for me and I found myself constantly lost and having to back track, so that what I hoped would be “the scenic
