From the Driver's seat

From the Driver's seat

A Post From Jason: My first blog, so bear with me a bit.

For those riders in the crowd, the road has changed drastically so far. From the Appalachians, to the high plateau in New York state (love those wind generators), the road is new for me. Ohio was flat, plain and simple, and I saw more of the impact of the down economy than ever before. Take a look at Youngstown, Ohio and you'll see the impact of the economy, far worse than seen on the east coast.

Indiana was flat as well, and I saw my first fields of amber waves. Longer and straighter roads were in the crossing into Illinois, and when we crossed, we found the Cicadas. Monsters of a bug, and riding down tree lined roads, the noise was louder than the Harley. Then there was the mess they made on the windshield, and the occasional helmet hit. Cicadas are large and juicy, and make a vision blocking mess when you hit one. Fortunately, as we crossed the southern end of Illinois we left them behind, and was able to clean up at the next fuel stop.

Then came the mighty Mississippi, something I also have never crossed or seen close up. But before the crossing, there was the flooding. Farmland below water, and lone farm homes and structures fighting back the water. We arrived here some time after the floods started, and I know that if we had, the route we took would have been under water.

All in all, a great first few days, and I am still reminded every day how beautiful this country of ours is. Ride on.