BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — A Blount County man recently reached an achievement many motorcyclists hope to accomplish one day. He completed his journey across the U.S. on his motorcycle, exploring all the contiguous 48 U.S. states. The only states Stanley Crye said he hasn't been to are Alaska and Hawaii.
He said he started riding motorcycles when he was a teenager but did not get his first Harley-Davidson bike until he was around 43 years old. Since then, he said rode a total of four motorcycles more than 148,000 miles across the U.S.
He said it wasn't until he looked at all the states he had been through on a map that he realized he could hit all 48 states in his lifetime.
"As I was going through it one day, I seen all these X's and I thought, 'Man, that's a lot of them.' So, I counted them up and I think I had either 29 or 30 then," he said. "I had Minnesota or Iowa, North Dakota. So, we left from here. I don't call it a pleasurable ride. It's more of a quest."
He said he also also traveled to parts of Canada and Mexico. Along the way, he visited national landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and Mount Rushmore.
"It's just very, very hot, very hot riding. Especially then, once you get out there and you see Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore. I could sit and look at it every day. It's incredible," he said.
He said Delaware and Vermont were his last two states, and he made it a priority to go through them on his last ride. With all these miles, he said the best riding is in the Southeast.
"Everywhere around here, I mean Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas. It's gorgeous. All of it. Virginia is beautiful," he said.
He said anyone who wants to drive through the contiguous U.S. should take their time and enjoy the ride.