Sat morning , 16 May, the Wee and I will be heading toward Anchorage, AK.

Wife will fly up and we will play tourist for a week. After she takes the plane back to Georgia, I will start heading in the general direction of home. I made the trip up to the Arctic Circle in Alaska and on up to Deadhorse in 2010, so on this trip, weather permitting, I want to make an attempt on the Dempster and ride up to the Arctic Circle in Canada.

5:45 and the wheels were rolling. Weather was better than what the weather reports were predicting. Mostly cloudy with some light mist here and there.

I was trying to stay off of the slab as much as practical. Two lane roads through Georgia and into Alabama where I picked up I-20.

A little bit of Georgia:

And some Alabama two lane:

Alabama two lane was short lived and then it was back to I-20.

More clouds and more frequent showers of light rain just south of Birmingham.

Off of I-20, made it through Tuscaloosa and took Hwy 82 west which took me through Mississippi and into Arkansas. Mixture of sun and clouds with the temperature into the lower 80's.

Crossing the Mississippi River:

Made it into Monticello, AR by mid afternoon. My planned stop for the day.

The Weather Channel had been reporting a lot about a large line of thunder storms and tornadoes that extend from south Texas all of the way up to Minnesota. It was moving to the east and I was going to be riding to the west. Seems that the only way through it is thought it.

I left this morning expecting the worst but hoping for only rain minus the thunder storms, winds, and tornadoes. The system was weakening over night so maybe I would be lucky.

Headed west on Hwy 278 then picked up Hwy 8 out of Warren. Nice little two lane road with numerous easy curves.

The first rain band caught me much earlier than I expected. Still had all of the vents open in the jacket. Narrow curvy road, no place to stop and close up the vents. Water proof jackets are not very water proof when you are riding with the vents open. It rained hard for about 15 minutes then finally stopped.

Stopped at the next town that I came to and put on an external rain jacket and water proof gloves, and made sure that everything on the bike was water proof. Now I was ready to do battle with the forthcoming beast. Of course, 10 minutes later, the sun started trying to appear.

After riding in this false hope for a while, then the rains came. Around 100 miles in a hard down pour. However no lightning or strong wind so I had no real complaints.

Reaching the Oklahoma state line, the rain was replaced with wind and sunshine.

Continued west for a while in Oklahoma and then went north on Hwy 2 back up to I-40.

Finished the day's ride into Oklahoma City on I-40.

Stopping in Oklahoma City to visit with a friend that my wife and I have long time. Got to Susan's house and had a very unexpected greeting.

Will stay with Susan Monday and then back on the road again on Tuesday.

This was a non-riding day.

Weather was great today. Plenty of sunshine and in the 80's.

Breakfast also included 2 home made pies. Needed to finish them up by today. Can't take them with me.

Took a short hike down by Lake Overholser.

Ate too much.

Took a nap.

Went to see Susan's daughter and grandchildren.

Oklahoma Cuties.

Ate too much trying to finish the pies.

Back on the road tomorrow.

Left this morning around 6:30. cloudy, 58F and suppose to be a high of 65 for the day.

Got through the traffic in Oklahoma City and headed west on I-40 for about 40 miles. The temperature was dropping.

Headed north on Hwy 270. The temperature was still dropping. By now, it was in the 40's.

Cross winds picked up and the temperature was still dropping.

About 2 hours into the ride continuous rain started. At one point the temperature dropped down to 34F and was back up to 38 when I quit for the day. Over 7 hours of steady rain with temperatures in the 30's.

When I did the Chihuahua Rally, we adopted the unofficial title of "Drowned Rats". This was due to intense lightning and hard rain that we had to go through on our return into Chihuahua. After unloading the bike and getting all of my gear into my motel room, it was obvious that I had once again become a "Drowned Rat".

Not the best day that I have ever had on the bike.

Today started out at 38F and cloudy. However, no rain and no winds to deal with. No complaints.

Started with about 50 miles on I-80.

Hwy 26 northeast into Wyoming and the north on Hwy 85 to Newcastle, WY. Temperature very slowly climbed up into the 40s.

Chimney Rock to the right.

Hwy 16 and then 100 miles of slab on I-90 into Buffalo. Bighorn Mountains in the distance.