Norm Barnard`s Amazing Ride

Norman Barnard was awarded the Southern California Motorcycle Association’s Triple Crown Award of Excellence at the Awards and Appreciation Banquet on
March 12, 2016. Norm received the award for completing the SCMA’s USA Four Corners Tour in 21 days, Best 15 US Roads Challenge, and the 2015 40th Annual
Three Flags Classic from Mexico to Canada. Some of you may have seen Norm’s trophy at the Chapter Meeting on March 13th, the day after the banquet.
This is approximately the route Norm took on the USA 4 Corners Tour. The four corners are San Ysidro CA, Key West FL, Blaine WA, and Madawaska ME. He
says this started out on July 13, 2015, as a trip to his nephew’s wedding in Montana and just kind of included a few extra turns along the way. The route is what
SCMA calls the True X; three required stops in Lebanon, Kansas at the geographic center of the US, between each of the four corners. He incorporated the 15
best motorcycle roads in the US into the route and also made a short detour to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia to celebrate completion of the four corners
route in Madawaska, Maine. After 26 days and 12,000 miles, the extra 1,200 miles along the Cabot Trail was just for fun and to complete all of the Canadian
Provinces along the US Border. Good thing he got that done, given that Trump is going to build a wall along the border. On the way home he traveled the Blue
Ridge Parkway to visit his Great Grandparents home town of Meadows of Dan, Virginia. The route home also included the Shenandoah Valley, Tail of the
Dragon, Back of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, and Twisted Sisters in Texas.
Time to spare, might as well visit some tourist sights.
The end of the Cabot Trail and the discovery point of the continent of America; on a clear day you can see Newfoundland and Labrador from here.
Boarding point for the ferry ride back to Portland
Maine.
After a dinner in San Diego on September 2, 2015 it was time to get some sleep and then head out on the 3 Flags Classic Highway for 2,414 miles to Vancouver
BC Canada. I think I made a wrong turn along the way because my gps was telling me to make a U-Turn which was difficult at the moment. Ultimately I
completed the ride into Vancouver and then made the U-turn back to the states. It was raining when I went by our old friends, Don and Dee’s, so I just waved
and kept on going.
I must have been lost because the little red line on the gps was not leading me down the coast to California. Actually, I was headed to St. George UT to meet up
with another group for a tour of Colorado…but that’s a story for another time. I know some of you followed along my adventures on Facebook; I hope you
enjoyed the ride. If not, you now have the short story version. I ended the year with 140,805 total miles on the odometer, a total of 45,878 for the year
according to the IRS, so you can see that I had many miles of smiles. About 42,000 miles of that was completing the 4 Corners, 3 Flags, and California Missions
Tour last year. Hence, the duplicate plaque. Having fun and enjoying the
ride!