Notes on Amateur Radio
Left home early this morning. The goal was to visit a Harley shop, the Peanut in Plains, GA, and a site to prove we were in Opelika, AL for the Coddiwomple. I had the Fire Department in Opelika as the spot.
I found it rather quickly and was able to get a couple of good pictures.
I was planning to do a multi-day ride with Randy. He wasn’t feeling well this morning and decided not to go. I understand, if you are sick and try to ride, you WILL be miserable.
I thought about a couple of plans, then decided to make a little change to the route I was planning to ride with Randy. I got the GPS out, edited the route then got ready to go.
I gassed up the bike, started both trackers, and started rolling. I got a few minuets down the road and went to turn on the route in the GPS. I couldn’t find it! I knew the first location, so I entered it into the GPS. I would just add the next site once I got to each stop.
My first stop was at Hooligan’s HD. This is in Oxford, AL and Tim belongs to the HOG chapter here as well as the chapter where we got our bikes.
I went in and was warmly greeted! I regret that this isn’t usually the norm. The salesman helped me get the check-in with the HOG app, then helped me got checked it with the riding challenge, even getting the latest keywords. I can see why Tim likes this place.
I went outside and got my picture with the bike in front of the dealership for the dealership challenge. Harley has so many challenges going on at one time, it can be confusing which dealership participates in which challenge and and which challenge is yearly or one that is on-going. Maybe one on-going challenge and one annual would be enough for people, but there are a lot of people who ride Harleys and each one like different challenges, so Harley wants to have something for every one.
The only one that I did which required a picture was the dealership challenge.
The next stop was in Tallapoosa, GA. This was to verify that I had been to a town mentioned in Johnny Cash’s song “I’ve Been Everywhere.” Tallapoosa is one of the towns he mentioned. I learned a few weeks ago that BMW is VERY specific as to what is and isn’t allowed. I used the Chamber of Commerce in El Dorado and they denied it. I had used a historical marker in the past with a sign “Welcome to Waterloo” in the background. They denied that one. I was able to go back to Waterloo and and took a picture at the Post Office. So, for Tallapoosa, GA, I was going to use the Post Office there. I entered the Post Office into the GPS, and I was on my way. Only about 30 miles away, so I would be there quickly.
As I entered the town, I remembered the Veteran’s Park which had a Huey and several other military items. I thought that across the street from the park was a city limits sign for Tallapoosa. And I also wondered if there would be a cannon in the park. As I got into town, the GPS pointed left for the Post Office, but I made a right turn to go to the park (also, there was a “no left turn” sign at the intersection.)
I got to the park and went to look for the Huey. I found it, but they were doing some restoration work on it and I didn’t think it would be a good picture. I looked around for a cannon or two, no luck. As I left the park, I didn’t see a city limits sign. Okay, at least I have to Post Office in the GPS!
As I head back into town, I pull into the parking lot of a BBQ place, “Turn Around Bar-B-Que.” It is in the same building as an equipment shop.
A few blocks away, I found Owen’s BBQ.
As I was leaving, I noticed a coffee shop! I parked in front and ran across the street to get the picture of K&M Coffee.
As I started rolling, I saw the Police Department on my right with the parking lot mostly vacant. I liked the idea of pulling into the parking lot on the right, then make a right to get back on the road. I have had great luck with police officers and sheriff deputies in the last few weeks, I thought this would be a fitting tribute, as long as they don’t come out and office me a tour and a place to stay for some reason.
I sat here for a few minutes to try to enter in my next locations. This was turning into too much trouble having to type in the names, especially when the keyboard is split between to pages that I would have to switch between. I decided to just head back home. I managed to get 400 miles on the bike today, which was what I was going to get if I had stayed with the initial plan. But, this was I get to sleep in my own bed tonight!
I ended the day yesterday visiting a Tour of Honor site and noticed as I was leaving that there was a cannon behind the memorial.
Simmesport, LA
Today I was hoping for two sites. I wanted to get a sign of some sort for Jacksonville, AR and one for El Dorado, AR.
I visited a site to finish up Louisiana and started working on Arkansas. I knew that El Dorado was one of the Coddiwomple sites. As I came into town, I saw a huge mural on the top of a building, When I stopped, the building in front blocked the view. I was still hopeful and found the El Dorado Chamber of Commerce! Being a Saturday, they were closed which left the parking lot empty for me to park for the best view.
My goal today was to visit some potential Tour of Honor sites. Along the way, I found some Coddiwomple sites!
My first planned site was a mural in Jasper. I knew the location and was looking for a mural of Sergeant William Jasper, the namesake of the town. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. As I rounded the corner I had an odd feeling that this was not going to be a fruitful visit. The corner where I was expecting a mural had the remnants of a burnt building.
There was a good part of the visit in Jasper, I found a mule statue in front of a bank on my way to the mural location. As I was riding to the mural location, I saw several other mule statues! I learned that Jasper has a lot of mule statues. I can only submit one mule per town, so I didn’t get any other pictures. If I check the rules and see that I can submit others, I may go back to Jasper.
My next stop was to be in Jacksonville, AL. This was to check another Tour of Honor site for next year. As I neared Jacksonville, I saw a sign and realized that Jacksonville is one of the towns in another category of the Coddiwomple challenge. I pulled to the shoulder of the road to get the picture.
The that was on my route was for the Tour of Honor. It is a site that I may submit for next year. I’ll not include the pictures on the post. I will have to wait until after April 1 of 2026 when the sites are announced.
My next target was a mural in Boaz. I found a mural, but it wasn’t what I was looking to use. Then I noticed a few things. First, there were several other mural in the town. Second, the mural across the street from where I parked has a mule on it! Another score for the Coddiwomple challenge. Because of the mural, location, and where I parked the bike, I needed two pictures.
My next stop was in Cullman. The mural was a few blocks off the main routes. If I had not learned of it from an internet search, I doubt I would have ever found it. Again, I am not including the picture since I may submit it for the Tour of Honor.
Great day on the road, but only one Coddiwomple, a visit to Waterloo, AL.
The original photo was denied since it wasn’t an official sign. Toda,, July 16, I went back and got a photo of the BMW at the Post Office.
Finally managed to get a photo of a ride with a Tennessee state sign after getting the Grand Coddiwomple number.
I also got the photo in South Pittsburg. Pittsburgh is on the list, I expect that they will be be strict about the spelling. I am not sure if I will submit with a note that I noticed the spelling is different, if they reject, I will understand.
Another one of the challenges in BMW’s Grand Coddiwomple is to find places matching to names of places in Johnny Cash’s song “I’ve Been Everywhere.” One place in particular is Dodge City. I happened to find a Dodge City in Alabama. And it is close enough that I can make a day ride to visit.
My initial goal today was to visit an old friend who works for Redstone Harley-Davidson. I had met him before I moved to Alabama, we met when I would visit Florence during various holidays or vacations.
After avoiding interstate to get to Redstone, I hopped on the interstate to get some quick miles down I-65.
After the photo in Dodge City, I meandered back home. The headset is only lasting about 3 hours, I thought that it had been lasting a lot longer when I first got it. This gave me some time to just listen to the wind.
