FORTY TO PHOENIX
 OR
5,000 MILES BEHIND A 100 GAL PEPSI CAN
                       By Jerry "JJ" Jones #55820

 
 
This story is about the "Forty to Phoenix" ride held March 12-20, 2010, and an amazing person I met during the ride. Even though we live about 50-miles apart, Jerry Boswell and I had never ridden together. Jerry rides with NC-D2, the Palace City Wings from New Bern, and I ride with NC-F, the Crystal Coast Wings from Jacksonville.
 
Jerry is retired from the U.S. Marine Corps and his own construction business (now ran by his son). While in the USMC, Jerry was on the International Marksmanship Team and competed for 9 years. He served in Vietnam as a Section Leader within an aircraft squadron, too.
 
Now, here's what I think is so amazing about Jerry. He is 73-years old and mostly blind in one eye. He is able to handle his GL1500 and trailer with no problems. During our trip I never heard Jerry complain about anything. He never mentioned being cold, wet, tired, or hungry. He never complained about the roads ridden or hours in the saddle. The only problem Jerry had was riding in the dark with his limited visibility.
 
Jerry also built his own trailer to pull behind his Wing. He used a small trailer from Harbor Freight cut down in width to fit an aluminum fuel tank from a dump truck. Since New Bern, North Carolina is the place Pepsi was founded, Jerry decided to paint the trailer as a Pepsi can. The only real difference is he listed it as holding 100 Gal versus 12 oz. I spent the majority of our ride following Jerry and his Pepsi can trailer and never once worried about what he was doing as we rode along.

 
The first two days of the ride we arrived at each stopping point after dark. A few of us discussed splitting off in order to leave earlier to make the next day's stop before dark, and Greg McKinney agreed this was a good idea. This worked well for a number of riders, and we had a nice little group of four bikes. Since our group was small, we did not worry too much about front-to-back communications, but relied on each rider paying attention and riding their own ride.
 
However, once we got into Texas, we were notified by Greg about a winter storm brewing in New Mexico. We stopped in Amarillo, Texas to determine a safe route to get to Phoenix and for the main group to catch up. After a discussion, our group decided to turn south through New Mexico and below the mountains that added over 100 miles to the trip, while the main group decided to continue on the original route.
 
Ray Latta had joined us in Amarillo and agreed to guide us south through New Mexico. Since Ray lives in this area we quickly agreed to follow him, even though he had no CB for communications. Since we were not too big on front-to-back communications, this did not present a problem for any of us, and we had a nice safe ride. Our little group grew by a few bikes, but we still had no problems.
 
After leaving Portales, New Mexico the next morning, we headed to Roswell. When we stopped for fuel we spoke with Greg, and he informed us events at GWRRA Headquarters were being delayed for a couple hours the next day. This made the decision to continue south around the Sacramento Mountains a little easier. Even though this added another 100 miles to the trip, we all agreed it was worth the extra hours in the saddle to have a safe ride.
 
We all made it to Phoenix safely and had a great time. While in Phoenix we met Kevin and Sandy from Michigan, who were snow-birding for the winter in the North Phoenix RV Park. This couple went out of their way to make everyone feel welcome and helped put on a great lunch for all. Later, they even invited Jerry and me to sleep in their toy hauler for the night.
 
The following morning, Jerry and I watched the group leave for California and then headed East. We made it to Las Cruces, NM that night. During the ride, we decided to take a day off the Interstate for a little sightseeing tour. The next morning, we rode to the White Sands Missile Range to look at their outdoor display of rockets and bombs. Later we rode further North to the White Sands National Monument where the actual white sand dunes are. What beautiful clean, white sand it is. It reminds me of sugar.
 
After a full day off the Interstate, it was time to get going East again. We went back into Texas and got on I-20 at Pecos. After a night in Odessa, we woke up to find a storm was coming along behind us. We had a long day, but made it to Longview, Texas where Jerry has a niece. We had a good dinner at the Catfish Village and a good night's sleep.
 
The following morning, we stopped in Shreveport, Louisiana for breakfast with one of Jerry's brothers. After breakfast, we got a tour of his business and another of Jerry's brothers joined up for a visit. Since we still had that storm behind us we had to make some miles. After another long day and 500-plus miles under the wheels, we stopped just East of Birmingham, Alabama. The storm finally caught up with us that night. With only 580 miles to go, we decided to take it easy in the rain and made it a two-day ride. 
 
So, after 5,000 plus miles, I bid Jerry and his Pepsi can farewell and had to make it the final 50 miles to the house on my own. I thank everyone that made this such a great time and wish them all the best for the future. This was a great trip, and I'd do it all again.