10 Days in the United Arab Emirates

These are my thoughts on spending 10 days in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  It was the first time I had taken a trip this long and never ran across another American. In 10 days of no Americanism, getting a different perspective on the world was refreshing.  Sort of a vacation from hubris. 

Seeing the largest building in the world and riding an ultra-modern public transportation system in the world's most modern city was amazing; these are no longer in America.  We have fallen behind the rest of the world in many different ways. 

All people are basically the same; we all want the same things in life, to love and be loved.  That our children have a better life in security, free from turmoil and worry.  Whether it be the Arab Sheikh I met at the Sheraton Bar in Dubai or the laundry turn-in worker in Afghanistan whom I'd discovered never seen an aspirin.

I met the coolest people on this trip.  The Fabric buyer from Canada, The Arab Beer distributor, told me about his trip to the Budweiser Headquarters in St. Louis.  The Dutch couple stopped for a couple days to shop in Dubai before heading to South Africa on Holiday.  A group of Harley Riders in the western desert at their club convention.  They could have been bikers you'd meet at Sturgis, except they were Arabs and Muslims.  The Arab Sheikh from Saudi Arabia came to Dubai while his wife and Daughter were visiting his son, who was attending the University of Southern California.  I will remember his stories of him hunting with his $400K Falcon in Pakistan for the rest of my life.  He was getting ready to tear up the town Vegas Style with his boys.  

People are People wherever you go.  They're proud and like to boast about their things, the accomplishments of their children.  We all share the same humanity regardless of religion.   It is an amazing world that we live in.
After spending 5 days in Dubai, we rented a car and drove through the eastern desert to the Indian Ocean.  Our hotel was full of Russian, none that spoke English.  But they were fun to be with; you never saw whiter people in the desert.  This was a great eye-opening trip.   I recommend this trip to any American wishing to see a completely different part of the world.

Trip to the Old Homestead

Here we are sitting in the Seatac Airport waiting to fly home to Nashville. I just visited the Sub Pop store at the airport and I'm listening to Teen Spirit on my headphones my trip is complete.  Sub Pop the Record Label responsible for the Seattle Grunge revolution.  And Teen Spirt we all know what that started.

I had reservations traveling back to Washington State my childhood home.  I had said I never planned to go back after my father died and we spread his ashes over Deception Pass near my home town of Oak Harbor Washington.   I was completely done with this place been here done that got the T-shirt. But since my son and his family now live in Everett, I now have a new reason to visit the Pacific Northwest.

My idyllic childhood and adolescence would be hard to duplicate anywhere else.  Filled with cars, girls, partying, snow skis,  and of course fishing.  Both commercial and sport; Salmon and Trout.  Sometimes a single fish; sometimes a boatload or hundreds of fish; on occasion thousands of fish.

The saying is true one can never go home again.  Home isn't really a place but more of a place in time.  One can never travel back home and expect it to be the same, but sometimes it can be even better than it was before.  It was great to see our grandson a new generation and all the hope and promise that lies inside him.  

So next summer I plan to return again and do it right.  Do it even better on motorcycles and in the light of maturity.

A Fast Ride Home: From Eastern Tennessee through Kentucky and the Cumberland Gap

Probably the best-kept secret in the world of road building is the Kentucky Parkway System.  This series of freeways are some of the best built and least congested roads that I have ridden.   Living 6 miles from the Kentucky border in Tennessee I have had the chance to travel these great roads

After a long day of riding country roads in Eastern Tennessee on The Tennessee Lost Highways, we decide to head home through the Cumberland Gap.  In Tazewell Tennessee, we turn onto US Highway 25E to make a run to the Kentucky border and the Gap.   As you approach the gap, you notice the hazardous cargo warning signs for the tunnel that takes you through the mountain into Kentucky and to the town of Middleboro.

On US 25E the wall of Mountains comes at you fast.  Then before you know it, you are in them with the echo of your bike filling the tunnel.  On the other side is Middleboro once leaving the Tunnel the road follows the mountainous river valley.  Its long sweeping fast turns that make it a joy to ride.  We join another group of bikers as we make our way to Corbin Kentucky.  In the group running 75-80 the towns of Pineville, Flat Lick and Bourbonville melt away under the rubber of our two wheels. The rush is incredible.

Once in Corbin we lose the group and connect with I75 for a short run to London Kentucky.  There we jump on Kentucky Highway 80, that takes us to Somerset and the Cumberland Parkway.  The Cumberland Parkway is a long lonely road.  It is as good as any freeway enabling us to run 80-85 all the way to Bowling Green.

As the sunsets, we stop at a Wendy's for a quick dinner.  Then the final push back to Clarksville ending over 12 hours on Motorcycles and fantastic ride through Tennessee and Kentucky.