KY County Courthouse Tour (2)

(8) Marshall County 

Benton, KY

(9) Trigg County 

Cadiz, KY 

Trigg County will soon have a new County Courthouse.

(10) Caldwell County

Princeton, KY

(11) Lyon County

Eddyville, KY

(12) Crittenden County

Marion, KY

(13) Livingston County 

Smithland, KY

"Life can be lost one day at a time or life can be gained one day at a time -- it's your choice." ~Oliver Leveritt~

Ky County Courthouse Tour (1)

After completing The Four Corners Tour and taking a much needed month long rest, I am once again itching to ride. I have used some of the hottest dog days of summer to plan rides for the balance of this year and 2009. Obviously any plan is subject to change.

My tenative motorcycle rides for 2009 include exploring the two largest rivers in the eastern US. The Great River Road (Mississippi River) starting at Lake Itasca, MN and finishing in Venice, LA, and The Ohio River Scenic Byway beginning in Cairo, IL and ending in western PA. These two rides will not be Ironbutt rides and will not have a timetable. I guess both could be described as exploratory or flower-sniffen rides.

I am also seriously considering exploring Canada’s Gaspe Peninsula, Prince Edward Island, The Cabot Trail and Newfoundland, either by car this fall, or as a bike trip sometime in mid-09.

As for the rest of 08;

A more detailed exploration of Kentucky has long been one of my retirement travel goals. I have decided to ride to all 120 county seats and courthouses within the Commonwealth. What better way to see a cross section of Kentucky?

I plan to accomplish this using a series of one day rides combined with a couple of three or four day trips to the eastern portion of the state. Remaining true to my past rides, I will take a photo of my bike in front of each county courthouse. There is no timeline for this project, therefore, I have no idea how long it will take me to complete this goal.

With my plan in mind, I started my Kentucky Courthouse ride today, 08/08/2008.

I thought it would be fitting to start here at home.

(1) McCracken County
Paducah, KY

(2) Ballard County
Wickliffe, KY

(3) Carlisle County
Bardwell, KY
This courthouse suffered a fire in December, 2007 and is in the process of rebuilding.

(4) Hickman County

Clinton, KY

(5) Fulton County

Hickman, KY
You will go a long way to find a more interesting building than the Fulton Co. Court House.

(6) Calloway County

Murray, KY

(7) Graves County

Mayfield, KY

Know the difference between speedboats and sailboats?
It's about the destination with speedboats.
With sailboats its all about the journey...."

It's Official!

I received the Four Corners Tour Certification today and my ride is now listed on the 2008 Four Corners Finishers Page. (Click 2008 Finishers - Completion Date: June 17, 08)

Madawaska, Maine is the only USA Corner that presents it's own certificate.

I also received the Ironbutt NPT Master Traveler (Gold) certificate while I was riding the Four Corners Tour.

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
~Albert Einstein~

4CT Tour - Thursday, June 26th. 08

Streets & Trips Map

SPOT Satellite Tracking Map of Tour

"The elephant has been eaten!"


I made it home safely this morning around 7:30 am.

It's "GREAT" to be home!

Now for a few stats:

Mileage Chart

I rode 11,897 miles total. For the entire ride I averaged 541 miles per day.

The "official" Four Corners Tour from Key West, FL to San Ysidro, CA to Blaine, WA, to Madawaska, ME totaled 9,045 miles. I rode the tour in 15 1/2 days with an overall average of 565.3 miles per day.

As listed above, 7 days were over 600+ mile days. Ten days were +500 miles, 3 were + 400 and 2 were +200.

The 3-400 mile days were two-lane side trips. (Big Sur / San Francisco - along the California coast, The Colombia River Gorge in Washington, Beartooth Pass , Chief Joseph Highway and Big Horn National Park in Montanna/Wyoming

Other higher mileage two-lane side trips included The Northern Cascades Historic Highway in Washington and a two-lane ride from Fargo, ND to Ottawa, Ontario. I also had the opportunity to ride through Boston, MA, Providence, RI, New York City, NY and Baltimore, MD on the ride home.

The 2-200 plus mile days were the short trip from Valdosta, GA to Orlando, FL (Day Plus One), and from Lexington, KY to Paducah, KY (Day Twenty One), the last day.

I enjoyed two rest days in Maine after completing the tour. With the Wing parked and no mileage, I excluded both days from the mileage totals and averages.

I count myself extremely fortunate not to have had an accident or even a close call during the Tour.

Gas Price - Temp Chart

The highest gas prices I found in the US was $4.67 in Pacifica, CA. (a suburb of San Francisco, CA)

The lowest gas price in the US was $3.66 in Tuson, AZ

The highest gas prices encountered in Canada was 1.41 per liter in Montreal, Quebec and Riviere Du Loup, Ontario.

I did not keep miles per gallon info.

The high temp of 100F came, as expected, in the panhandle of FL and The Imperial Valley, CA.

The low temp of 36F was found 11,000 ft up at the top of Beartooth Pass, Wyoming between the snowbanks.

My SPOT map has now been disabled. Thanks again to the many who followed my adventure and posted comments. All were much appreciated.

This was truly a ride that I will never forget!

"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space."~Anonymous~

4CT Tour - Wednesday, June 25th. 08

Tour Day:
Day/Date: Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Time Started: 5:08 AM EDST
Time Ended: 3:20 PM EDST
Starting Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Ending Location: Lexington, KY
Total Miles Today: 652
Cumulative Miles: 11,525
Low Temp: 61F - Wilmington, Delaware
High Temp: 91F - Lexington, KY
Highest Gas Price: $4.09 Morgantown, West Virginia
Lowest Gas Price: $3.95 Fredrick, MD
States: Maryland, West Virginia (34)


Today was all about mileage so there were no pictures. I promised myself last night I would take it easier today, maybe sleep in and ride less. After all, in this heat, I did not plan to ride the entire 912 miles in one day. I woke up at 3:30 am, laid there a while, and finally decided to hit the road, promise or no promise.

I quickly jumped back on I-95 south and in no time I was led into the heart of Baltimore. After circling The Chesapeake Bay shores, I passed under The Fort McHenry Tunnel , near Camden Yards baseball stadium. I-95 eventually joined I-270 -70 and I was finally moving west.

A note about EZ Pass. After receiving advice from my northeast friends, I made sure I had an EZ Pass with me for this trip. I must say, it is worth the trouble to get one. The New Jersey Turnpike has "Express Lanes" that allow you to go through the toll booths at 55mph. Talk about a time saver! The EZ Pass worked like a charm from Maine to Maryland on the many toll roads and bridges of the northeast.

After stopping for breakfast in Fredrick, Maryland, I continued to follow I-70 west, eventually joining I-68, The National Freeway.

At Morgantown, West Virginia I joined I-79 for the quick run to Charleston, WV where I joined I-64. In no time at all I crossed the border into good ole KY and rode to Lexington before I finally called it a day.

Tomorrow I will ride the 261 miles home, arriving sometime late morning.


To view my entire trip map page "Click Here"

To view the 24 hour SPOT map "Click Here"

"Only bikers understand why dogs like to stick their heads out of car windows."

4CT Tour - Tuesday, June 24th. 08

Tour Day:
Day/Date: Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Time Started: 4:23 AM EDST
Time Ended: 3:30 PM EDST
Starting Location: Peru, Maine
Ending Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Total Miles Today: 573
Cumulative Miles: 10,883
Low Temp: 56F - Auburn, Maine
High Temp: 81F - New York City, NY
Highest Gas Price: $4.41 New Haven, Connecticut
Lowest Gas Price: $4.05 Peru, Maine
States: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware (32)

After saying goodbye to my friends in Maine, I began the last leg of my trip home. I left Peru, Maine at 4:23 am with the goal of timing my arrival in New York City at a non-peak rush hour. I also wanted to ride in the four states I have not had my motorcycles in.

The first and second states came quickly.

I was following I-95 south and found the traffic heavy, as expected. As I neared New York City the traffic only got worse. Just before I crossed the George Washington Bridge, around 1 pm, traffic had come to a stop and crawl standstill. I was not in any hurry so I just moved over to the far left lane and rode it out. As soon as I crossed the double decker bridge traffic picked up and I entered The New Jersey Turnpike. I did encounter a few thundershowers on the Turnpike but nothing serious.

The ride was uneventful and yet interesting. Without a doubt some of the heaviest traffic I have ridden in. I did notice motorcycles were few and far between.

I was not able to get a picture of the state signs for New Jersey or Delaware. I did not see a New Jersey sign as I came off the George Washington Bridge nor did I see one on the Delaware Memorial Bridge. It would not have mattered as both locations simply had too much traffic to stop for any reason.

Tonight I am in Wilmington, Delaware. Tomorrow I turn west and, if all goes as planned, I should make it home sometime late Thursday afternoon.

To view my entire trip map page "Click Here"

To view the 24 hour SPOT map "Click Here"

"The biggest risk in life is not living it."

4CT Tour - Sunday & Monday, June 22nd & 23rd- 08

Two planned days of rest.

Several years ago, my wife and I met a couple of real characters while riding The Blue Ridge Parkway. Glen Tompkins (left) and Neil Sorenson (middle) have since visited us for a tour of Nashville and also hosted Carolyn and I while we were on a stamp hunting trip to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine. Both are great guys! You simply could not ask to meet two better people or have two better friends.

While resting a couple of days we decided to do a short tour of southeastern Maine. No tour would be complete without a trip to LL Bean in Freeport, Maine.

Who knew Maine has a desert?

Finding beautiful lakes is never hard in Maine.

We also drove by the Capitol building in Augusta, Maine.

Glen recentely had a close encounter of the worst kind with a cow moose. When it was all said and done his pickup suffered $5,000 in damage but no one was hurt. Well .... Not Quiet. Glen has had to endure a bit of public teasing as well. No doubt he has given as good as he is getting.

To view my entire trip map page "Click Here"

To view the 24 hour SPOT map "Click Here"

"So many roads, so little time!"