Aug 17 Day 1

Where are Tom and Lennie Now? - Click here for our current location !

It's finally here, day 1 of our trip to the West coast has arrived. We worked a half day, grabbed some lunch, and got on the road.

Prior to pulling out, Lennie always takes a few shots of the bike and trailer, loaded and ready to roll. We picked up a couple of new helmets, gotta love the hi-viz yellow. I guess if there is any chance it keeps someone from crushing us with their car or truck, I can live with the color.

Bike and trailer are ready to go. Over the last few weekends, the bike got new brake pads, new brake fluid, new clutch fluid, new oil and filter, new air filter, new antifreeze, new spark plugs, and two new tires. The trailer also got new freshly packed bearings. Thanks goes to my dad for helping me get everything tackled prior to the trip.

Lennie even cleaned the garage floor last weekend.

We headed out at about 2:30. A quick run through Cleveland took us past the Lake Erie shoreline. The lake looked a little rough, with only a few boaters out enjoying the day.

Onward past Progressive Field (I still call it the Jake).

Progressive Field as seen from route 90.

One more shot of Progressive Field. The light stands are pretty impressive. Too bad the team that calls this place home is not that impressive :)

The Cleveland skyline is worth a photo.

Just when you think that there is nothing else to photograph...

On to the turnpike for a few hours, and poof, we crossed the Indiana border. We continued on toward Elkhart Indiana. This area is known as home to tons of trailer manufacturers. We must of passed at least two dozen plants, some making utility trailers, and others making camping trailers. Once in Elkhart, we grabbed some dinner, fueled up the bike for tomorrow, and headed on to our hotel for the night.

A pretty boring day as far as blog material is concerned. The goal was to simply put a couple hundred miles behind us rather than waiting until Saturday to start our trip.

Tomorrow we will make our way past Chicago, across Illinois, and on to Des Moines Iowa. Like today, no real sight seeing planned, just making our way toward Las Vegas, one day at a time.

We covered 290 miles today from home to Elkhart IN. Below is a map of the route from today.