We headed out at 7:15am to tag Louisiana. We stopped about 30 miles shy of the State line for a butt break. Then we had a mini celebration; we crossed into Louisiana. Wooo Hoooo! This means we have now ridden our motorcycle in 48 continental United States!!

We arrived in Batesville, Mississippi around 3:00pm and drove around to check out the town. None of the restaurants near us served alcohol. We decided to get a couple of beers and some wine and to buy some dinner to take back to the room. The grocery store didn't sell wine, only beer, so we found a liquor store. Amazingly, at least to us, the liquor store couldn't sell beer, only wine and hard liquor. So, we bought wine there and had to go back to the grocery store for the beer. We found a great BBQ place where we picked up some dinner. Finally, we were able to enjoy our meal. This trip has been wonderful and relaxing and it is difficult to believe that it is coming to an end.

We checked the weather forecast for the next two days for the trip home. There is a storm system that might affect us on Sunday, so we discussed driving back to Berwyn the next day (Saturday). That would be a pretty long 650 mile riding day. We called Brad in Champaign, Illinois to see if he was going to be busy Saturday and we made plans to have dinner together, spend the night, and head home the next morning. That would make the very last leg home only about 150 miles.

Odometer at end of the day = 42958

Miles ridden today = 457

Saturday, June 2, 2007

We were up at 6 a.m. We had coffee and fruit in the lobby, took one last look at the weather and were off. We made a couple of gas stops and arrive in Champaign about 1:30 p.m. We ate lunch with Brad. After lunch, Brad and Jeff enjoyed a fine cigar to pass the time until Marijane got home from work.

Brad is one of the few people I know who knows how to cook a great steak and we ate like royalty. Many thanks to you and Marijane for your friendship and hospitality, especially since we arranged the visit on such short notice.

Odometer at end of the day = 43439

Miles ridden today = 481

Sunday, June 3, 2007

We left Champaign around 9:30 a.m. and arrived at home sweet home about 11 a.m. It is always good to be home! Spent a couple hours cleaning all the love bug mess from the bike. (See the picture at the top of this page.)

Odometer at end of the day = 43586

Miles ridden today = 147

The trip ended up being a total of 5186 miles.

As far as Jeff's "muscle pull", it ended up being a cracked rib. Kudos to the BMW again because we rode 2092 miles from Key West to Berwyn in 4 ½ days with that cracked rib and he never felt uncomfortable on the bike.