July, 1984
Start: June 30, 1984 Dallas, Texas
Finish: July 30, 1984, Houghton, Michigan
1600 miles
I took this trip with my ex-wife, Machelle, and for the life of me I don’t know what I could have been thinking. This was my only trip with another person, and it will be my last. Actually, she wasn’t that bad for someone not terribly athletic. She was a trooper and did her best, but it was slow. We managed to get invited into a lot of people’s homes, much more than ever before or since, I suppose because she looked pitiful and people thought they could trust a couple. She called the trip bootcamp to all her friends, but she kept bragging about it so for her it was a excrciating expierience, never to be repeated, but she was glad to have done it once. The highlight for me was our last night camping in the woods of Northern Michigan when a bear came sniffing around in the middle of the night.
We crossed the Red River,which separates texas from Oklahoma. I thought the sand formations in the river were cool.
Of all the flat tires I’ve had this is the only photo of me fixing one. You get really good at it.
I liked the way the sun lit up the side of this church. We passed hundreds like this across the south and midwest.
Speaking of churches, we frequently camped out behind them, as in this shot. It was quiet, comfortable and we felt safe, even with the cemetary next door.
While riding through a small town in Wisconsin a guy ran after us who turned out to be a reporter for the local paper. He took this photo and interviewed us. We ended up on the front page! Unfortunately I lost the copy he sent us.
I took some of the load from Machelle to make it easier for her. Here we stopped in Illinois on a very hot day. I am wiped out and taking a rest in the shade.