I am at Sandpoint, ID tonight. I made about 450 miles today. I was on the road about 11 hrs. Most of the travel was on WA 20. I rode it from I-5 to US 2. It was a very fun motorcycle road. I could see that by all the bikes that were running the pavement. It is full of nice curves (sweepers) and some really nice twisties ( tight corners). This morning and early afternoon I had excellent riding weather. The sun was out and the air was warm. I enjoyed the run through the tall Douglas Firs and other big trees. The only problem was that the trees blocked the Sirius signal.
I followed the Skagit River to its origin. It was interesting to see the reserviors because they looked like giant emeralds. This river takes alot of the snow and glacer water to the Pacific. The color is the result of the mineral silt that flows into the river. It looked much the same as the last time I came through in June, 1990. I did notice that the last reservior was a clearer color. There is apparently much less silt that high up. I passed a couple of areas where the trees apeared to be dying. It looked like there was a major shortage of water in this area. There were all kinds of signs stating that there was a total ban on any type burning.
The problems started after my brief stop for lunch. I noticed the sky cloud up and then the clouds got dark. I stopped and got set for rain. I had just completed the process when I ran into the rain. I hit a couple of hard downpours. The rest of the time of the time I was just in a drizzle. The real problem was that they were working on this road at this time. They had recently put down tar and small pea gravel to resurface the road. The gravel was packed down but there was still alot of it on the road. That slowed the travel time conciderable. About an hour down the road I had a real treat. They had just freshly layed the tar and gravel. That was a very slow ride. In addition I was going over a pass with very tight corners. I like corners but not under these conditions. Riding on that type gravel is like trying to walk on b-b's, not fun.
In eastern WA I finally connected with the Pend Oreille River. I followed that all the way to Sandpoint. The biggest problem that I experience for the whole day was that this past week of being off the scoot softened the postierier and legs. I had sore legs and burning bunns most of the day. It sure felt good to get to the motel tonight. Like I said when I started, a very long day. I hope to do equally well tomorrow. Milo
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
AUG 1 THE DAY BEFORE I START AGAIN
I spent the day getting ready to load up tomorrow and head east. Last night I talked with my friend Ted about us hooking up. They were in north central CO last night. Their plan was to head east today. We had a good talk but agreed that I would probably be about 1 day behind them. Also, they are going across the central US and I plan on taking the High Line.
The past week has been very relaxing. Of coarse, Lorrie was working every day and Marty was suppose to be off all week but got called in for overtime on 2 days. I took tuesday as a "go to hell" day and spent the day readying a book that Lorrie got from the Library. It is call the "Horse Solders" and I highly recommend it. It is about the start of our war in Afganistan. It also documents how badly the Bush Administration messed that war up once we had it won. I am talking about Afganistan not Iraq. Enough on that for now, I need some serenity for tonight.
I did cook up a mess of Milo Special Spagetti Sauce and now they have spagetti enough for 2 months. They both like the sauce. I got to me another neat new acquantance while here. Marty and Lorrie have a fellow glass worker living here during the summer. Allen is currently frScottdale AZ but fount the heat to much for him this summer so he came north. He is really a nice open minded guy who makes just really beautiful fused glass jewelry. I am really impressed by how he works the glass, which is difficult and make really unique items. He is also a fellow philosopher and we all have had many a spritual discussion. It was refreshing to have those this week.
Marty had a number of projects on his lists. We got some acomplished and had fun each day as we did them. Theresa and Nichol were also involve in the process. The week was full of friends having fun doing things together. Between Lorrie and I, we got the office trim cleaned, stained and finshed. We also got the replacement door for her bedroom finished. Shadow and Nuggy convinced Puzzini to crawl out the window last night.
I am packed and ready to go. I am going to miss this visit but look forward to getting home. I have contacted Skip to call me to set up a stop over on my way through MT. I haven't heard back from him yet. I plan on doing WA 20 east to US 2. Then I will cross ID and head into some back road around NW MT. I traveled some of these road when I came out to Seattle for the International in 1990. I want to go back and look them over again. I do plan on doing the "Going to the Sun" hwy over Glacier Pk and then will hook up with 2 again and put the hammer down to US 13 in WI. Jim told me that I need to avoid Daluth because they have some major bridge construction going on there, so I will need to check out the map.
This has been a good run but am really looking forward to getting home. I will keep this updated as I travel my return trip. Should be home on Thursday or Friday. Later Milo
The past week has been very relaxing. Of coarse, Lorrie was working every day and Marty was suppose to be off all week but got called in for overtime on 2 days. I took tuesday as a "go to hell" day and spent the day readying a book that Lorrie got from the Library. It is call the "Horse Solders" and I highly recommend it. It is about the start of our war in Afganistan. It also documents how badly the Bush Administration messed that war up once we had it won. I am talking about Afganistan not Iraq. Enough on that for now, I need some serenity for tonight.
I did cook up a mess of Milo Special Spagetti Sauce and now they have spagetti enough for 2 months. They both like the sauce. I got to me another neat new acquantance while here. Marty and Lorrie have a fellow glass worker living here during the summer. Allen is currently frScottdale AZ but fount the heat to much for him this summer so he came north. He is really a nice open minded guy who makes just really beautiful fused glass jewelry. I am really impressed by how he works the glass, which is difficult and make really unique items. He is also a fellow philosopher and we all have had many a spritual discussion. It was refreshing to have those this week.
Marty had a number of projects on his lists. We got some acomplished and had fun each day as we did them. Theresa and Nichol were also involve in the process. The week was full of friends having fun doing things together. Between Lorrie and I, we got the office trim cleaned, stained and finshed. We also got the replacement door for her bedroom finished. Shadow and Nuggy convinced Puzzini to crawl out the window last night.
I am packed and ready to go. I am going to miss this visit but look forward to getting home. I have contacted Skip to call me to set up a stop over on my way through MT. I haven't heard back from him yet. I plan on doing WA 20 east to US 2. Then I will cross ID and head into some back road around NW MT. I traveled some of these road when I came out to Seattle for the International in 1990. I want to go back and look them over again. I do plan on doing the "Going to the Sun" hwy over Glacier Pk and then will hook up with 2 again and put the hammer down to US 13 in WI. Jim told me that I need to avoid Daluth because they have some major bridge construction going on there, so I will need to check out the map.
This has been a good run but am really looking forward to getting home. I will keep this updated as I travel my return trip. Should be home on Thursday or Friday. Later Milo
Friday, July 30, 2010
DAY 19 LYNNWOOD, WA TO BLAINE, WA
Today is the day that I have been looking for since June 29th when I left home and Wausau. I can't belive that I will finally have acomplished this dream that I have had since sometime in 2004. Good things do happen if you work for them.
I sleep late and have a good breakfast with Lorrie. It was an enjoyable early morning of sharing. About 10:30 AM I saddle up with the bike and trailer and head north to Blaine. I have my instructions and camera with me. I mention this because I was really worried that I would somehow leave and forget either one. I would then have needed to make this trip again. I am suprised to find traffic really heavy. This is a Saturday morning and I had thought that I would have light traffic for a change. I run into a number of slow downs as I move north. It seems that for each city I pass there is a bottle neck in traffic. I find my impatients starting to rear its ugly head. I focus on acceptance and the reality that it will not make much difference to my trip if I just put up with the slow downs and enjoy the journey. I-5 runs back from the coast so I don't get much ocean view but every once in a while I get to see some of the tidal inlets. I can see the time must be out because the water level is low in these inlet. It is interesting to see the birds working the mud flats.
Between the cities I am generally in Douglas Fir forest. Again, most of the trees are 2nd or 3rd growth trees. I do see logging trucks hauling some bigger logs down the hwy. Now that I am focused on the journey, my patients returns and I am experienceing the pleasure of the travel and the sights. I am also experienceing a sense of internal excitement because I am near the end of this goal. I stop at a wayside for a break and to again check my directions and make sure that they are readily available. I am approaching the exit for Blaine.
I reach the Blaine exit and find the cross street that I need to get to my checkpoint. I get fuel and my fuel slip along with the phone number. I feel proud as I share that I have now acomplished my goal. I get some coffee for the road, pull off to the side and fill out the last report sheet. I check my milage and then do some brief subtraction. I have traveled about 7000 since I left Maine. It sure seems farther than that. I also have traveled about 8900 miles since I left home. Depending upon the route back I will definately have over 10,000 miles for this trip.
I go over to the post office and take some pictures. I find 2 location with the name so take pictures at both locations. As I am taking the pictures in front of the PO. a local guy on an old Silverwing come by. I flag him down and we talk about bikes for awhile. He agrees to shoot some pictures of me on my bike at this location. We get the picts, talk somemore about scoots and each go our way. I experience the fellowship of the scoots again. I continue to enjoy the fellowship of this group as I travel.
I put the letter in the mail. It is after noon but I know that it will go out Monday at the latest. That will be in plenty of time to qualify. I have finshed. I head back toward Lynnwood and Lorrie's. South bound traffic has lightened up so I can spend some meditative time while riding back. I remember various random thoughts about this journey. I contemplate how exhausted I felt at Del Rio after the several days of heavy traffic riding to get across the Gulf Coast and through Florida. I also think with pleasure the wonderful ride across southwest TX and the blooming Sage Brush. What a treat to experience that fenamanin.
South bound traffic remains moderate but I see that they have an accident on the inside of the north bound lane and traffic is backed up for about 5 to 7 miles. I feel really fortunate that I have avoided that nightmare. I also recognize the problem here in WA. The population has outgrown the hiway infrastuture. With rare exception, every superslab seems to be 2 or 3 lanes wide and just not big enough to carry the traffic that is trying to move on it. When something causes a bottle neck, they have a major traffic problem. This is not an issue that I need to deal with anymore. The rest of my journey will be on 2 lane roads.
I get to Lorrie's, park the bike and put the cover on it. I think that it will sit there until I leave next week. I have ridden enough for now. It has been a good journey and I am taking a break. I will finish the blogs for the trip and then rest. I will return and bring you up to date on my journey home starting Aug 2nd. Talk later. Milo
I sleep late and have a good breakfast with Lorrie. It was an enjoyable early morning of sharing. About 10:30 AM I saddle up with the bike and trailer and head north to Blaine. I have my instructions and camera with me. I mention this because I was really worried that I would somehow leave and forget either one. I would then have needed to make this trip again. I am suprised to find traffic really heavy. This is a Saturday morning and I had thought that I would have light traffic for a change. I run into a number of slow downs as I move north. It seems that for each city I pass there is a bottle neck in traffic. I find my impatients starting to rear its ugly head. I focus on acceptance and the reality that it will not make much difference to my trip if I just put up with the slow downs and enjoy the journey. I-5 runs back from the coast so I don't get much ocean view but every once in a while I get to see some of the tidal inlets. I can see the time must be out because the water level is low in these inlet. It is interesting to see the birds working the mud flats.
Between the cities I am generally in Douglas Fir forest. Again, most of the trees are 2nd or 3rd growth trees. I do see logging trucks hauling some bigger logs down the hwy. Now that I am focused on the journey, my patients returns and I am experienceing the pleasure of the travel and the sights. I am also experienceing a sense of internal excitement because I am near the end of this goal. I stop at a wayside for a break and to again check my directions and make sure that they are readily available. I am approaching the exit for Blaine.
I reach the Blaine exit and find the cross street that I need to get to my checkpoint. I get fuel and my fuel slip along with the phone number. I feel proud as I share that I have now acomplished my goal. I get some coffee for the road, pull off to the side and fill out the last report sheet. I check my milage and then do some brief subtraction. I have traveled about 7000 since I left Maine. It sure seems farther than that. I also have traveled about 8900 miles since I left home. Depending upon the route back I will definately have over 10,000 miles for this trip.
I go over to the post office and take some pictures. I find 2 location with the name so take pictures at both locations. As I am taking the pictures in front of the PO. a local guy on an old Silverwing come by. I flag him down and we talk about bikes for awhile. He agrees to shoot some pictures of me on my bike at this location. We get the picts, talk somemore about scoots and each go our way. I experience the fellowship of the scoots again. I continue to enjoy the fellowship of this group as I travel.
I put the letter in the mail. It is after noon but I know that it will go out Monday at the latest. That will be in plenty of time to qualify. I have finshed. I head back toward Lynnwood and Lorrie's. South bound traffic has lightened up so I can spend some meditative time while riding back. I remember various random thoughts about this journey. I contemplate how exhausted I felt at Del Rio after the several days of heavy traffic riding to get across the Gulf Coast and through Florida. I also think with pleasure the wonderful ride across southwest TX and the blooming Sage Brush. What a treat to experience that fenamanin.
South bound traffic remains moderate but I see that they have an accident on the inside of the north bound lane and traffic is backed up for about 5 to 7 miles. I feel really fortunate that I have avoided that nightmare. I also recognize the problem here in WA. The population has outgrown the hiway infrastuture. With rare exception, every superslab seems to be 2 or 3 lanes wide and just not big enough to carry the traffic that is trying to move on it. When something causes a bottle neck, they have a major traffic problem. This is not an issue that I need to deal with anymore. The rest of my journey will be on 2 lane roads.
I get to Lorrie's, park the bike and put the cover on it. I think that it will sit there until I leave next week. I have ridden enough for now. It has been a good journey and I am taking a break. I will finish the blogs for the trip and then rest. I will return and bring you up to date on my journey home starting Aug 2nd. Talk later. Milo
Thursday, July 29, 2010
DAY 18 BEND,OR TO LYNNWOOD, WA
Today, I awake early and get packed right away. I am ready to roll, stop for some coffee and a bisquit then hit the road. I had debated with myself about roads to travel and do some sightseeing today, however, I have opted for the fastest way to Lorrie's. I had connected with her last night and gotten my directions to her place. I have been there a couple times over the years but it has been about 3 years since my last visit and I need a refresher.
I take hwy 20 northwest out of Bend. I am again in the rolling mountains. It is still Ponderosa Pine with some large butt trees close to the road. I do enter an area that was apparently burned over some years ago. The tall dead snags creat quite a contrast with the new life and growth coming from the soil. I wonder why they have not come in and harvested some of the bigger ones. It seems that some of the wood could have been salvaged. In other areas I see some trees that have been cut and then just left to rot. I guess I just don't understand that type of conservation. I guess I was raised in an era when conservation ment that we made the best use of nature without just destroying her. I understand the need to replentish the soil but branches, tops and needles do just as good a job without wasting the solid log. Maybe there is another reason; I am just not aware of it. These thoughts keep twisting through my mind as I ride.
I like the narrow roads and sharpe curves. I need to keep alert for the next turn. I also need to keep alert for oncoming and cross traffic. I am surely aware of the fact that is is family vacation time. I am running the limit plus my nickel. Most traffic seems to be running that way. I am glad that I have the cruise operating because I can feel myself wanting to push the throttle to get there faster. I am really ready to complete this ride.
The weather was nice and sunny when I left Bend. I have my leather jacket on. It feels good to need this jacket again. It means that I will not be sweating my butt off again. Unfortunately, I have a lot of it and it really doesn't seem to leave, it just gets wet. I am comfortable with the jacket. My route takes me to OR 22 which turns north toward Salem. I suddenly go over a divide and the timber changes. I am now in tall Douglas Fir. This is all new growth trees. There are a few that have a large trunk but most are pretty small. What I am amazed at is how tall they are and how close to the road that they grow. I would not want a flat tire on this hwy because I don't think I would have a decent spot to pull over. It is narrow road (about 10 -12 ft lanes), a 1 ft shoulder and a narrow ditch about 2 ft deep. The trees start right next to the ditch. As I approach Salem, I notice that I am starting to feel cold on my legs. I do not have my chaps on. I did not feel a need for them when I started this morning. Now, the air is cooler and more penetrating. I think that this must be another sign that my age is catching up with me. I just can't take this temperature anymore. What I really am is greatful because it is definately not 100 at this time. Only someone who has riding many day in that kind of temp can understand the pleasure of a cool morning.
I follow 22 and get into an urban area. The trees stop and buildings start. I get close to I-5 and stop for fuel. I am still feeling a chill and the pump attendant discusses how damp and cold it is. I notice that I have lost the sun and it is getting cool. Maybe it is just the weather and not my age. I get fueled and coffeed up and head north on I-5. I am only about 4o miles from Portland and expect moderate traffic. I am not disappointed. I get over in the left lanes to try and avoid the local traffic. I like to let the locals play with each other in the right lanes. There is a long string of traffic in the hammer lane so do not feel I am slowing anyone down by running the same speed as the others. I need to stay alert to the changing traffic signs so that I stay on I-5 through the snarl of city driving. I just stay with vehicles and suddenly I am on the bridge crossing the Columbia river. I am kinda disappointed. The way that they twist traffic around getting to the bridge, I was on and off so fast that I hardly saw the river. It did not seem any where near as big as it had the other times that I crossed this river. I am guessing that I must have been half way across before I knew it.
I am now running north in WA. I ride and keep alert for the next rest area. It should be a tourist information stop and I could use a big state map. When I get there I am really disappointed. It is a nice rest area but it is unattended and there are no state maps available. It must be some type of cost saving measure. This is the 1st state that I was not able to get a map at the 1st rest area that I entered on the interstate.
I am back on the superslab. I pass Kelso, WA and remember my trip west with my Uncle Tom. He and his family lived at Kelso in 64, just before I went into the Army. I also visited here in the summer and fall of 65 while I was stationed at Ft Lewis. There are some good memories from that time. I pass the entrance to Mt. St Helen. In 64, we also took a trip up to the lake and visited the area one Sunday. I know that the eruption took that whole area out.
I can do some thinking while riding but I really need to pay attention to traffic. It is late morning and early afternoon that I am traveling up 5 and I find it hard to believe the amount of traffic there is on this hwy. We experience major slowdowns at Centralia, as we approach Olympia and then on a continual basis until I get to the I-5/405 split. I keep looking at the south bound lanes and am amazed. That traffic has been at a crawl since we passed Centralia.
I look over Ft Lewis as we pass on the 5. I have plenty of time because we are moving slow. I try to locate our old barracks area but cannot. I think this it is on the east side of the 5 near a current housing area. When I was there in 65 and early 66 we had taken over the area that had housed some of the 4th Div. After I left in Jan. 66 the 11th Signal Group was relocated down to Ft Hueachuca, AZ. It was from the old North Ft area that I first volunteered to go to Vietnam. Anything was better than garrison duty.
I impatiently wait for the I5/405 split. Traffic just creeps along and then suddenly burst into speed. Just as suddenly it slows down again. I do catch glimspes of MT Rainier on my right.
Finally, the split. As soon as I get on the 405, I hit the diamond lane. I am approaching rush hour and I want to make as much time as possible. This lane is running fine while traffic on the regular lanes is still slow and slower. I think about trying to live this type a life and there ain't no way. I also find it hard to believe that so many people insist on driving 1/car. They should be able to pair up some how.
I am running at speed when I hit a stop in the diamond lane. There is an exit and I take it. It runs up, over the cross street and past the bus stop and then back into traffic. I bipass the blockage which I later find out was a city bus broken down in the diamond lane and causing all kinds of traffic problems. Thank you God for the directions.
I get to the junction of the 5/405 and traffic is snarlled again. I miss my turn and find myself headed toward some mall. I do remember that my Brother-In_Law took this way once and I just follow my guide and by pass that snarl. Thank you God. I had misplace the directions that I got from Lorrie so needed to focus on memory. I found the 1st turn, the Cirkle K, and then from recent memory and past experience get to here driveway. She had put out one of her old glass shop signs to identify the driveway. So I quitely pulled in to the yard that got to the door. I suprised her and had a good reunion. We spent this evening talking about a lot of stuff. I went to bed early. One more day. Milo
I take hwy 20 northwest out of Bend. I am again in the rolling mountains. It is still Ponderosa Pine with some large butt trees close to the road. I do enter an area that was apparently burned over some years ago. The tall dead snags creat quite a contrast with the new life and growth coming from the soil. I wonder why they have not come in and harvested some of the bigger ones. It seems that some of the wood could have been salvaged. In other areas I see some trees that have been cut and then just left to rot. I guess I just don't understand that type of conservation. I guess I was raised in an era when conservation ment that we made the best use of nature without just destroying her. I understand the need to replentish the soil but branches, tops and needles do just as good a job without wasting the solid log. Maybe there is another reason; I am just not aware of it. These thoughts keep twisting through my mind as I ride.
I like the narrow roads and sharpe curves. I need to keep alert for the next turn. I also need to keep alert for oncoming and cross traffic. I am surely aware of the fact that is is family vacation time. I am running the limit plus my nickel. Most traffic seems to be running that way. I am glad that I have the cruise operating because I can feel myself wanting to push the throttle to get there faster. I am really ready to complete this ride.
The weather was nice and sunny when I left Bend. I have my leather jacket on. It feels good to need this jacket again. It means that I will not be sweating my butt off again. Unfortunately, I have a lot of it and it really doesn't seem to leave, it just gets wet. I am comfortable with the jacket. My route takes me to OR 22 which turns north toward Salem. I suddenly go over a divide and the timber changes. I am now in tall Douglas Fir. This is all new growth trees. There are a few that have a large trunk but most are pretty small. What I am amazed at is how tall they are and how close to the road that they grow. I would not want a flat tire on this hwy because I don't think I would have a decent spot to pull over. It is narrow road (about 10 -12 ft lanes), a 1 ft shoulder and a narrow ditch about 2 ft deep. The trees start right next to the ditch. As I approach Salem, I notice that I am starting to feel cold on my legs. I do not have my chaps on. I did not feel a need for them when I started this morning. Now, the air is cooler and more penetrating. I think that this must be another sign that my age is catching up with me. I just can't take this temperature anymore. What I really am is greatful because it is definately not 100 at this time. Only someone who has riding many day in that kind of temp can understand the pleasure of a cool morning.
I follow 22 and get into an urban area. The trees stop and buildings start. I get close to I-5 and stop for fuel. I am still feeling a chill and the pump attendant discusses how damp and cold it is. I notice that I have lost the sun and it is getting cool. Maybe it is just the weather and not my age. I get fueled and coffeed up and head north on I-5. I am only about 4o miles from Portland and expect moderate traffic. I am not disappointed. I get over in the left lanes to try and avoid the local traffic. I like to let the locals play with each other in the right lanes. There is a long string of traffic in the hammer lane so do not feel I am slowing anyone down by running the same speed as the others. I need to stay alert to the changing traffic signs so that I stay on I-5 through the snarl of city driving. I just stay with vehicles and suddenly I am on the bridge crossing the Columbia river. I am kinda disappointed. The way that they twist traffic around getting to the bridge, I was on and off so fast that I hardly saw the river. It did not seem any where near as big as it had the other times that I crossed this river. I am guessing that I must have been half way across before I knew it.
I am now running north in WA. I ride and keep alert for the next rest area. It should be a tourist information stop and I could use a big state map. When I get there I am really disappointed. It is a nice rest area but it is unattended and there are no state maps available. It must be some type of cost saving measure. This is the 1st state that I was not able to get a map at the 1st rest area that I entered on the interstate.
I am back on the superslab. I pass Kelso, WA and remember my trip west with my Uncle Tom. He and his family lived at Kelso in 64, just before I went into the Army. I also visited here in the summer and fall of 65 while I was stationed at Ft Lewis. There are some good memories from that time. I pass the entrance to Mt. St Helen. In 64, we also took a trip up to the lake and visited the area one Sunday. I know that the eruption took that whole area out.
I can do some thinking while riding but I really need to pay attention to traffic. It is late morning and early afternoon that I am traveling up 5 and I find it hard to believe the amount of traffic there is on this hwy. We experience major slowdowns at Centralia, as we approach Olympia and then on a continual basis until I get to the I-5/405 split. I keep looking at the south bound lanes and am amazed. That traffic has been at a crawl since we passed Centralia.
I look over Ft Lewis as we pass on the 5. I have plenty of time because we are moving slow. I try to locate our old barracks area but cannot. I think this it is on the east side of the 5 near a current housing area. When I was there in 65 and early 66 we had taken over the area that had housed some of the 4th Div. After I left in Jan. 66 the 11th Signal Group was relocated down to Ft Hueachuca, AZ. It was from the old North Ft area that I first volunteered to go to Vietnam. Anything was better than garrison duty.
I impatiently wait for the I5/405 split. Traffic just creeps along and then suddenly burst into speed. Just as suddenly it slows down again. I do catch glimspes of MT Rainier on my right.
Finally, the split. As soon as I get on the 405, I hit the diamond lane. I am approaching rush hour and I want to make as much time as possible. This lane is running fine while traffic on the regular lanes is still slow and slower. I think about trying to live this type a life and there ain't no way. I also find it hard to believe that so many people insist on driving 1/car. They should be able to pair up some how.
I am running at speed when I hit a stop in the diamond lane. There is an exit and I take it. It runs up, over the cross street and past the bus stop and then back into traffic. I bipass the blockage which I later find out was a city bus broken down in the diamond lane and causing all kinds of traffic problems. Thank you God for the directions.
I get to the junction of the 5/405 and traffic is snarlled again. I miss my turn and find myself headed toward some mall. I do remember that my Brother-In_Law took this way once and I just follow my guide and by pass that snarl. Thank you God. I had misplace the directions that I got from Lorrie so needed to focus on memory. I found the 1st turn, the Cirkle K, and then from recent memory and past experience get to here driveway. She had put out one of her old glass shop signs to identify the driveway. So I quitely pulled in to the yard that got to the door. I suprised her and had a good reunion. We spent this evening talking about a lot of stuff. I went to bed early. One more day. Milo
Monday, July 26, 2010
DAY 17 FALLON, NV TO BEND, OR
As you can tell by yesterday's report, I have a whole lot more energy now and will probably bore you with many details. To me, the details of the journey as I saw them and felt them and thought about them are what is important. The roads traveled are just the vehicle to produce thoughs experiences. This is day 17. I am looking forward to the end. I can feel that it is just about here. My plan is to be in Lynnwood, WA some time early tomorrow afternoon.
I have figured a route out. It looks short. Here I go and we will see what happens. One of the awarenesses that I have again this morning is that no matter where I ride in NV, I am surrounded by mountains in the far distance. I experience that same feeling today as I get ready for the road. I have a neat experience though. One of those gifts that God gives us on a continual basis, if we see them. A young couple (at least 5 years younger than myself) are in the room next to me. As I come out of the room to load up, they are there loading up also. The gal as a question about my rig and we start talking. Her husband joins us and we discuss manuverability of the heavily loaded Wing. He is riding a 2300 cc Truimp hot rod. He reports trouble with low speed handling. She has a V-Star with Yellow roses painted on it. It is a really pretty bike. I run my speal about how great the Wing is for handling, even with the load. We talk back and forth. They are Mike and Tammy from some place in TX. We talk over a Micky D's breakfast and then they are onto planning their day and I am on to mine. It is a refreshing break for the start of the day.
I leave Fallon and head north on 95 up to I-80. There is no irrigation in this area. All I see is dry high desert with some bunch grass and low bushes. I am not sure what all the bushes are but some is Sage. There is a lot of red dry ground between the plants. Where ever there is drainage, I see white salt flats where water has collected and then evaporated. As I go by them, the distant part of the drainage takes on a watery sheen. I understand how thirsty people could be fooled by that sheen and think that there is water only a short way across the salt flat. As I get some elevation, the sheen goes away and it turns out to be all salt. I also notice that the road has that sheen on occasion. I think about all the stories that I have read about the dry part of the CA trail. I realize that I am riding on or near that trail. The truth of those tales comes to rest.
I hit I-80 and head northeast. I stop at Lovelock for coffee, water and ice. I am ready to go for it. Traffic is light and I roll easily northeast to Winnemucca. This is another interesting town. Again, it is built along the connecting hwys. I fuel on the last stop north on US95 and then head for my real adventure for this day. I run 95 north. I seem to be riding on top of a ridge and am also climbing all the way. It is barren land with very little life or human existance around. I see signs to watch out for grazing cattle but can not find anything for them to eat in this area. Maybe there is more folage when it is wet.
As I ride I suddenly come to the junction I am looking for; NV140. As I turn I hit a 8 or 9% grade for what seems to be forever. It is actually about a mile. As I roll down the grade I can see the road go straight as an arrow away from me to disappear into the distant mountain. I catch the odometer reading as I hit the bottom and on I roll. The valley seems to be flat and baron. Again, there is the low bushes and some dry bunch grass. There is not much of either. In the distance I see a dust devil. Thank God for Sirius radio. I hold the bike straight, focus on the road and listen to the radio. I am not sure what is on but it keeps the dogs attentive so that I can focus on keeping the scoot on the road. It seems to take for ever before I see a bend in the distance. I check to odometer and I am at 20 mile when I see the bend. I still am no closer to those mountains. At 32 miles the road turns and now I am slightly climbing at I roll. Again the road is straigt and I keep riding. At a little over 50 miles I hit another junction. There is a combination gas station, bar and country store at the junction. There is also a sign that says next services 85 miles in either direction. I am at a point where I might be able to make it but make the same decision as yesterday about valore. It takes a while to fuel up. There is 1 set of pumps and a line up for fuel. I give them my card first as required and then fuel up. Once paid for I continue on NV 140 toward the northwest corner of NV and then into OR. I continue to climb but now the mountains are only small bumps. That is because I am now in the middle of those preaks that I had been riding toward forever. Again, it is high desert country with very little follage. I still wonder what the cattle that they warn me about would eat because there is only some small brush and not much of that.
I have my big WOW on this section of road. I am riding on the high plateau when I pass a sign "caution 8%grade for 3 miles". I don't think much about it until I come around a curve and all I see is space and a small pull off on the opposite side of the road. There are 2 bikes and a pickup pulled over in the area and i am past it before I can react. All I see from there on is the edge of the road with no sholder or guard rail. When I look over the edge I see the valley floor which seems like 10,000 ft below. My heart is in my throat, my pucker factor on the seat has hit about a million and I am focused on riding down this side of this mountain. As I look ahead of myself, I see the road curve around the side of the mountain, the shoulder and the sharpe drop off the side then the bottom a very long ways below. I can tell you now that I had the bike in 4th gear to use the engine brakeing to help control the downward pull. I was facinated by the scene on my left, the bottom of the mountain and also the fear and caution to not look that way. I did keep remembering the many times that I had looked out of an Airplane to leap from it and how this sight on my left looked so similar to those times. Only problem now is that I am riding a motorcycle down this road and I do not have a parachute on. I was really wishing that I had that parachute. I am not sure that it would have done any good but it sure would have been a comfort.
Oviously I survived that down hill ride in very good shape and with no close calls. I will let you know that it set me up for a hesitation on every divide that I had cross again that day and I crossed several more. None of them had anything close to that type a grade or cut out of the cliff. I continue to follow 140. I have now figured that that grade occured just after I entered OR. I donot remember any significance to crossing the line but someplace I did. I also noticed many motorcycle headed that way so figure that the cliff face mountain road must be a popular destination for local riders. I also now started to realize that what I had planned for this day was not going to get accomplished. I realized that I had read the milage right as I looked at the maps last night but my brain did not comprehend what that milage ment. I decided to head for Bend, OR and try to do an overnight there. I continued on 140 until I junctioned with OR 31.
OR 31 is a fun motorcycle road. It is listed as a scenic hwy in the atlas and very much fits the discription. I enjoy the twisty and the sweeper. The scenery is a mix of desert, scattered Ponderosa Pine and subteraineion irrigated grass land. My attention was fixed on what the next hill or turn would show me. I also was starting to get tired and toward the end of that section of road and all the way from La Pine to Bend was focused on dealing with the heavy traffic and just getting to Bend to find a motel. Upon entery, the sign said that Bend has about 80,000 people. Great I said to myself, I will easily find a motel room. Well, if there are a lot of motels in Bend I couldn't find them. The few nationals I found were all full or overpriced. My spirit finally led me to a nice little Mom and Pop that was clean, quite and reasonable. It was also close to a nice Chinese Resturant that served off the menu and not a buffet. The food was good. I left an early wake up call, took a good shower, then checked the weather channel and let that set for the morning. I was tired and needed rest. The odometer showed 501.4 miles. No wonder I was tired. At least the temps were down from what I had been experiencing for this trip. It had been 100 when I let the Interstate but dropped into the 90's north of Winnemucca and into the low 80's at Bend. I am looking forward to tomorrow, the last hard day. Milo
I have figured a route out. It looks short. Here I go and we will see what happens. One of the awarenesses that I have again this morning is that no matter where I ride in NV, I am surrounded by mountains in the far distance. I experience that same feeling today as I get ready for the road. I have a neat experience though. One of those gifts that God gives us on a continual basis, if we see them. A young couple (at least 5 years younger than myself) are in the room next to me. As I come out of the room to load up, they are there loading up also. The gal as a question about my rig and we start talking. Her husband joins us and we discuss manuverability of the heavily loaded Wing. He is riding a 2300 cc Truimp hot rod. He reports trouble with low speed handling. She has a V-Star with Yellow roses painted on it. It is a really pretty bike. I run my speal about how great the Wing is for handling, even with the load. We talk back and forth. They are Mike and Tammy from some place in TX. We talk over a Micky D's breakfast and then they are onto planning their day and I am on to mine. It is a refreshing break for the start of the day.
I leave Fallon and head north on 95 up to I-80. There is no irrigation in this area. All I see is dry high desert with some bunch grass and low bushes. I am not sure what all the bushes are but some is Sage. There is a lot of red dry ground between the plants. Where ever there is drainage, I see white salt flats where water has collected and then evaporated. As I go by them, the distant part of the drainage takes on a watery sheen. I understand how thirsty people could be fooled by that sheen and think that there is water only a short way across the salt flat. As I get some elevation, the sheen goes away and it turns out to be all salt. I also notice that the road has that sheen on occasion. I think about all the stories that I have read about the dry part of the CA trail. I realize that I am riding on or near that trail. The truth of those tales comes to rest.
I hit I-80 and head northeast. I stop at Lovelock for coffee, water and ice. I am ready to go for it. Traffic is light and I roll easily northeast to Winnemucca. This is another interesting town. Again, it is built along the connecting hwys. I fuel on the last stop north on US95 and then head for my real adventure for this day. I run 95 north. I seem to be riding on top of a ridge and am also climbing all the way. It is barren land with very little life or human existance around. I see signs to watch out for grazing cattle but can not find anything for them to eat in this area. Maybe there is more folage when it is wet.
As I ride I suddenly come to the junction I am looking for; NV140. As I turn I hit a 8 or 9% grade for what seems to be forever. It is actually about a mile. As I roll down the grade I can see the road go straight as an arrow away from me to disappear into the distant mountain. I catch the odometer reading as I hit the bottom and on I roll. The valley seems to be flat and baron. Again, there is the low bushes and some dry bunch grass. There is not much of either. In the distance I see a dust devil. Thank God for Sirius radio. I hold the bike straight, focus on the road and listen to the radio. I am not sure what is on but it keeps the dogs attentive so that I can focus on keeping the scoot on the road. It seems to take for ever before I see a bend in the distance. I check to odometer and I am at 20 mile when I see the bend. I still am no closer to those mountains. At 32 miles the road turns and now I am slightly climbing at I roll. Again the road is straigt and I keep riding. At a little over 50 miles I hit another junction. There is a combination gas station, bar and country store at the junction. There is also a sign that says next services 85 miles in either direction. I am at a point where I might be able to make it but make the same decision as yesterday about valore. It takes a while to fuel up. There is 1 set of pumps and a line up for fuel. I give them my card first as required and then fuel up. Once paid for I continue on NV 140 toward the northwest corner of NV and then into OR. I continue to climb but now the mountains are only small bumps. That is because I am now in the middle of those preaks that I had been riding toward forever. Again, it is high desert country with very little follage. I still wonder what the cattle that they warn me about would eat because there is only some small brush and not much of that.
I have my big WOW on this section of road. I am riding on the high plateau when I pass a sign "caution 8%grade for 3 miles". I don't think much about it until I come around a curve and all I see is space and a small pull off on the opposite side of the road. There are 2 bikes and a pickup pulled over in the area and i am past it before I can react. All I see from there on is the edge of the road with no sholder or guard rail. When I look over the edge I see the valley floor which seems like 10,000 ft below. My heart is in my throat, my pucker factor on the seat has hit about a million and I am focused on riding down this side of this mountain. As I look ahead of myself, I see the road curve around the side of the mountain, the shoulder and the sharpe drop off the side then the bottom a very long ways below. I can tell you now that I had the bike in 4th gear to use the engine brakeing to help control the downward pull. I was facinated by the scene on my left, the bottom of the mountain and also the fear and caution to not look that way. I did keep remembering the many times that I had looked out of an Airplane to leap from it and how this sight on my left looked so similar to those times. Only problem now is that I am riding a motorcycle down this road and I do not have a parachute on. I was really wishing that I had that parachute. I am not sure that it would have done any good but it sure would have been a comfort.
Oviously I survived that down hill ride in very good shape and with no close calls. I will let you know that it set me up for a hesitation on every divide that I had cross again that day and I crossed several more. None of them had anything close to that type a grade or cut out of the cliff. I continue to follow 140. I have now figured that that grade occured just after I entered OR. I donot remember any significance to crossing the line but someplace I did. I also noticed many motorcycle headed that way so figure that the cliff face mountain road must be a popular destination for local riders. I also now started to realize that what I had planned for this day was not going to get accomplished. I realized that I had read the milage right as I looked at the maps last night but my brain did not comprehend what that milage ment. I decided to head for Bend, OR and try to do an overnight there. I continued on 140 until I junctioned with OR 31.
OR 31 is a fun motorcycle road. It is listed as a scenic hwy in the atlas and very much fits the discription. I enjoy the twisty and the sweeper. The scenery is a mix of desert, scattered Ponderosa Pine and subteraineion irrigated grass land. My attention was fixed on what the next hill or turn would show me. I also was starting to get tired and toward the end of that section of road and all the way from La Pine to Bend was focused on dealing with the heavy traffic and just getting to Bend to find a motel. Upon entery, the sign said that Bend has about 80,000 people. Great I said to myself, I will easily find a motel room. Well, if there are a lot of motels in Bend I couldn't find them. The few nationals I found were all full or overpriced. My spirit finally led me to a nice little Mom and Pop that was clean, quite and reasonable. It was also close to a nice Chinese Resturant that served off the menu and not a buffet. The food was good. I left an early wake up call, took a good shower, then checked the weather channel and let that set for the morning. I was tired and needed rest. The odometer showed 501.4 miles. No wonder I was tired. At least the temps were down from what I had been experiencing for this trip. It had been 100 when I let the Interstate but dropped into the 90's north of Winnemucca and into the low 80's at Bend. I am looking forward to tomorrow, the last hard day. Milo
Sunday, July 25, 2010
DAY 16 BARSTOW, CA TO FALLON, NV
A quick note: This is Sunday, July 25 and I am at Lorrie's. I completed the requirements for the 4-Corner run yesterday, shortly after noon at Blaine, WA. I will now bring you up to speed on what happened over the last 2 long days.
I was on the road out of Barstow by about 8:30 AM. It was an early start and I was anxious to get some miles on today. My plan was to run up to Baker and then head into the interior and Death Valley. I had always wanted to see Death Valley; I had been intrigied with the area for many years. This seemed to be my opportunity and I was gonna take it.
The temp had started to increase and was already above 100 by the time I got to Baker, CA. I fueled up regardless of need. Now I don't try to stretch the gas. If I run low in this country, it is a long way to the next station. I leave Baker and make my 1st mistake for the day. I miss the turn off for CA 127 to Death Valley and end up going north on I-15. It didn't take long to figure out I was on the wrong road but it took 12 miles to get to the next intersection that I could do a crossover on. I get back to Baker and find the right road. Now I am headed toward Death Valley.
The area is a contiuation of the Mohave Desert. I see plants that I am familiar with from my Palm Springs days. I still don't know much about them but at least I recognize them. It is getting hotter. I check temp and I am at 106, then 109 and then 111. I am drinking a lot of water. I have plenty with me. I am just crusing along, enjoying the view and the various structures that the enviroment creat. Erosion is such a wonderful scultor. Suddenly my instrument panel goes out. Damned, must have blown that fuse again. I check the milage and next town is about 25 miles. I run to that location without the speedo. I stop at a station and get some new fuses. The old one has definately blown. I change it and take off. I am about 5 miles outside of Death Valley Junction when I blow another fuse. I had been debating going through Death Valley or just continuing up to the next town in NV. I decide that discretion is the better part of valore and take the safe route. Death Valley is no place to be messing around with a questionable bike.
So at Death Valley Junction, I take CA 373 toward Amargosa Valley. I ride along the southeast edge of the valley and look longingly for a view on the other side of the mountain. I fuel again at Amargosa and then head north on US 95. I am again in desert country. I ride easy and spend my time looking at the vistas as they appear. I am now aware of the distance to the mountains. The flat seems to run on forever to the smoky haze covered mountains. On occasion I experience riding closer to near mountains that are clear, however, there are always the distant mountains wrapped in smoke (haze). It reminds me of the Smoky Mountains, only a lot hotter and dryer. I am mindlessly crusing along when anothe fuse goes. It is the last one I have for a spare. I also now know that it is not just the trailer lights. I know that the heat is causeing the cooling fans to run more. One is squalling on occasion. I decide that I will also eliminate use of cruse control until the temp starts to drop. I run this way into Beatty. There I find a hardware store and buy 5 fuses at $1 each. I also find an ice cream bar. I looked at my last fuel stop and they had the freezers but no ice cream. I need to eat it fast to keep from wearing it but does it taste good. Nothing like good cold ice cream on a hot day.
I continue north with a good supply of fuses. The ambient temp drops to about 101 so I decide to try the cruise again. It works and no fuse problem. I have my spares but no fuse problems for the rest of the trip. I get to Tonopah and have some decisions to make. It is now getting late in the afternoon and I have about 180 to 200 miles to go, depending on directions. I pick the way that seems to have a better chance at over night facilities.
I continue north on 95 which will eventually take me to Hawthrone and Fallon, NV. A word about Tonapoh before we leave. This is an old mining area and I was amazed at the amount of old specialized equipment that was sitting around and on display. It is an area that I could have spent days wondering around and looking at the old machines. They all seemed to be in good rust condition. Apparently the dry are causes a coat of rusty brown to develop and then they stop rusting because these items appeared as solid as the day that they quite using them. Some of them were definately of 30 and 40 vintage. This place is definately on my list to return too with time to explore all the old equipment. For a shade tree mechanic like myself, this was like falling into heaven. So the list gets longer.
As I roll north out of Tonapah, I come down from mountains into high desert. We climb through several high passes and roll down grade into some more interesting structure. I am not sure of the sequence but I know that I pass some high dry land ranching/farming. There seems to be subturaean water that had small fields green. The rest of the area around them were a definate dry brown. Eventually I get to Hawthorne. This is an Army Ordinace storage facility. I was amazed at all the earthen bunkers that were located around the town. I did not find any motels that were to my liking though there was one casino in town that probably would have had space. There were a lot of cars there.
I decided to push on to Fallon. I know from past experience that Fallon has excellent tourist facilities. I continue on 95 north. Just north of town I run into the Walker Rservior. This is a new expeierience for me. The road follows the western shore, about 5ooft above the shore line. I can see that the water level is way low from the high water mark. It is an interesting ride. I have sharp mountain on my left. Much of the road is cut out of the mountain. I have guard rail on my right with a steep slope going down to the water. The road sweeps left and right with nicely graded curves so that I can really roll through the corners. It was a fun ride if I had not been pushing daylight and needed to watch out for God's little critters , and some of the big one, that can cause so much hurt to me if we collide. North of Walker is the Walker River Piute Reservation which seems to be headquartered in Schurz, NV. It was definately evening and pretty quite as I rode through. I was impressed with the neat small houseing and farm units that I saw. Again, the ground seemed to be irrigated by subterrainian water flow.
Dusk was settling in. When I was out of the shadows, it was bright. When in the shadows, it was dark. I kept an alert for the critters that like to roam at this time of day. Fortunately, I did not see any. Thank you Lord. The temp was getting comfortable and I could even feel a chill as I rode through the evening. I was glad to hit the flat land and then the irrigated land south of Fallon. The dampness in the air from the irrigation moisture felt good after the heat that I had ridden in today. Finally, Fallon in the distance. It is a nice town that is built alone the highways. US 50 and 95 intersect here. I remember crossing US 50 in the eastern shore of Maryland as I headed toward the Chesepeak Bay Bridge/Tunnel. I also think of the other times that I have ridden 50, bother here in NV (Fallon to Utah; The Loneliest Hwy in the World) and in central KS around Dodge City. I am tired, it has been a long day with a lot of hot miles. I find a motel and grab dinner in a nice little Mexican Resturant that I catch just before they closed. I grab a quick shower and am down for the night. The odometer shows 451 miles plus I need to add about another 45 for running without a speedo for a total of 496 miles for the day. This is the longest day of riding so far and I feel it. Later. Milo
I was on the road out of Barstow by about 8:30 AM. It was an early start and I was anxious to get some miles on today. My plan was to run up to Baker and then head into the interior and Death Valley. I had always wanted to see Death Valley; I had been intrigied with the area for many years. This seemed to be my opportunity and I was gonna take it.
The temp had started to increase and was already above 100 by the time I got to Baker, CA. I fueled up regardless of need. Now I don't try to stretch the gas. If I run low in this country, it is a long way to the next station. I leave Baker and make my 1st mistake for the day. I miss the turn off for CA 127 to Death Valley and end up going north on I-15. It didn't take long to figure out I was on the wrong road but it took 12 miles to get to the next intersection that I could do a crossover on. I get back to Baker and find the right road. Now I am headed toward Death Valley.
The area is a contiuation of the Mohave Desert. I see plants that I am familiar with from my Palm Springs days. I still don't know much about them but at least I recognize them. It is getting hotter. I check temp and I am at 106, then 109 and then 111. I am drinking a lot of water. I have plenty with me. I am just crusing along, enjoying the view and the various structures that the enviroment creat. Erosion is such a wonderful scultor. Suddenly my instrument panel goes out. Damned, must have blown that fuse again. I check the milage and next town is about 25 miles. I run to that location without the speedo. I stop at a station and get some new fuses. The old one has definately blown. I change it and take off. I am about 5 miles outside of Death Valley Junction when I blow another fuse. I had been debating going through Death Valley or just continuing up to the next town in NV. I decide that discretion is the better part of valore and take the safe route. Death Valley is no place to be messing around with a questionable bike.
So at Death Valley Junction, I take CA 373 toward Amargosa Valley. I ride along the southeast edge of the valley and look longingly for a view on the other side of the mountain. I fuel again at Amargosa and then head north on US 95. I am again in desert country. I ride easy and spend my time looking at the vistas as they appear. I am now aware of the distance to the mountains. The flat seems to run on forever to the smoky haze covered mountains. On occasion I experience riding closer to near mountains that are clear, however, there are always the distant mountains wrapped in smoke (haze). It reminds me of the Smoky Mountains, only a lot hotter and dryer. I am mindlessly crusing along when anothe fuse goes. It is the last one I have for a spare. I also now know that it is not just the trailer lights. I know that the heat is causeing the cooling fans to run more. One is squalling on occasion. I decide that I will also eliminate use of cruse control until the temp starts to drop. I run this way into Beatty. There I find a hardware store and buy 5 fuses at $1 each. I also find an ice cream bar. I looked at my last fuel stop and they had the freezers but no ice cream. I need to eat it fast to keep from wearing it but does it taste good. Nothing like good cold ice cream on a hot day.
I continue north with a good supply of fuses. The ambient temp drops to about 101 so I decide to try the cruise again. It works and no fuse problem. I have my spares but no fuse problems for the rest of the trip. I get to Tonopah and have some decisions to make. It is now getting late in the afternoon and I have about 180 to 200 miles to go, depending on directions. I pick the way that seems to have a better chance at over night facilities.
I continue north on 95 which will eventually take me to Hawthrone and Fallon, NV. A word about Tonapoh before we leave. This is an old mining area and I was amazed at the amount of old specialized equipment that was sitting around and on display. It is an area that I could have spent days wondering around and looking at the old machines. They all seemed to be in good rust condition. Apparently the dry are causes a coat of rusty brown to develop and then they stop rusting because these items appeared as solid as the day that they quite using them. Some of them were definately of 30 and 40 vintage. This place is definately on my list to return too with time to explore all the old equipment. For a shade tree mechanic like myself, this was like falling into heaven. So the list gets longer.
As I roll north out of Tonapah, I come down from mountains into high desert. We climb through several high passes and roll down grade into some more interesting structure. I am not sure of the sequence but I know that I pass some high dry land ranching/farming. There seems to be subturaean water that had small fields green. The rest of the area around them were a definate dry brown. Eventually I get to Hawthorne. This is an Army Ordinace storage facility. I was amazed at all the earthen bunkers that were located around the town. I did not find any motels that were to my liking though there was one casino in town that probably would have had space. There were a lot of cars there.
I decided to push on to Fallon. I know from past experience that Fallon has excellent tourist facilities. I continue on 95 north. Just north of town I run into the Walker Rservior. This is a new expeierience for me. The road follows the western shore, about 5ooft above the shore line. I can see that the water level is way low from the high water mark. It is an interesting ride. I have sharp mountain on my left. Much of the road is cut out of the mountain. I have guard rail on my right with a steep slope going down to the water. The road sweeps left and right with nicely graded curves so that I can really roll through the corners. It was a fun ride if I had not been pushing daylight and needed to watch out for God's little critters , and some of the big one, that can cause so much hurt to me if we collide. North of Walker is the Walker River Piute Reservation which seems to be headquartered in Schurz, NV. It was definately evening and pretty quite as I rode through. I was impressed with the neat small houseing and farm units that I saw. Again, the ground seemed to be irrigated by subterrainian water flow.
Dusk was settling in. When I was out of the shadows, it was bright. When in the shadows, it was dark. I kept an alert for the critters that like to roam at this time of day. Fortunately, I did not see any. Thank you Lord. The temp was getting comfortable and I could even feel a chill as I rode through the evening. I was glad to hit the flat land and then the irrigated land south of Fallon. The dampness in the air from the irrigation moisture felt good after the heat that I had ridden in today. Finally, Fallon in the distance. It is a nice town that is built alone the highways. US 50 and 95 intersect here. I remember crossing US 50 in the eastern shore of Maryland as I headed toward the Chesepeak Bay Bridge/Tunnel. I also think of the other times that I have ridden 50, bother here in NV (Fallon to Utah; The Loneliest Hwy in the World) and in central KS around Dodge City. I am tired, it has been a long day with a lot of hot miles. I find a motel and grab dinner in a nice little Mexican Resturant that I catch just before they closed. I grab a quick shower and am down for the night. The odometer shows 451 miles plus I need to add about another 45 for running without a speedo for a total of 496 miles for the day. This is the longest day of riding so far and I feel it. Later. Milo
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
DAY 15 EL CENTRO, CA TO BARSTOW, CA
Today I finally feel confident that I will complete the run in the time alloted. I picked up the bike at the shop about 9 AM. The problem was a fuse, one that I hadn't looked at. The fuse for the tail lights is also the fuse for the insturment panel. The shop replaced it and wa la, I have a working motorcycle again. There was a mad scamble to get the rental truck dropped off, get my stuff loaded and check out by 11 AM but I made it. By the time I got coffee, water and Ice for the road it was 11:30. No problem except that it will cause me to get tied up in the LA traffic snarl on my way out of town.
I head west on I-8. There were a lot of alfalfa fields just outside of El Centro. Once the water ran out, it was no growth of anything. The temp was already over 100. I'm betting that it didn't take long for that fresh cut alfalfa to dry before they could bale it.
Once out of water, the desert starts to look like desert. I continue to see the beauty and struggle that it takes to survive in this climate. I am feeling pretty balanced today. That meeting last evening really helped me get centered again. I am sure that my sponser will be relieved to learn that I finally followed his suggestion. I just keep learning that sometimes I just need to take time to do for me what my ego loudly says that I don't have time for. The balance of life is suce a pleasure when it is achieved. How seldom I really achieve it.
I have a route worked out to take me to San Yasidro. I follow the route even though sometimes I don't know where I am and there are no signs to guide me. If I keep on the road that I think is right, sooner or later there is a sign to tell me where I need to turn. So I blindly follow CA 125 to CA54 to I-805 to San Yasidro Blvd west. I now needed to stop and get out my instructions. I follow the street numbers and they are correct. I find the gas station and the post office. I top off the tank, get my reciept and phone number and put all the information required on the report sheet, put it in the envelope and go to the post office to mail it. God is good again and the only parking spot is right in front of the sign. I get a number of pictures of the sign and bike. I have completed this stop and it is time to head north.
I get back on the 805 and head north. Traffic is running good. I follow to the I-15 north and the traffic gets heavier. We have several slow downs for no apparent reason, common in this area. I am greatful that the Border Patrol check point is closed so we are not backed up by that obstruction. I take a short break at a Shell station once I am out of the San Diago area. There I met a man selling waterless car wash products. We start to talk and he also rides motorcycle and just has gotten into camping himself. We share some experiences. We discover that we both are sober alcoholics. He gives me his card and says that if I ever want a riding partner to give him a call. I keep the card and do not buy the product; way to expensive for what it does.
I follow the 215 up accross the I-10 and on north to where it joins with the I-15. Once I am headed north on the 15, I am flooded with memories of my many rides along this road with RFTW. My last ride up was in 2003. I am amazed at the amount of work that has been done to the road to increase its ability to handle traffic. I remember the wild road guard rides getting past the pack to get set for the next exit. I remember the sense of personal pride at riding at the head of the Central Route in 2001 as we started our pilgrimage to Washington DC. I also remember slowing down way to early for out fuel stop at Barstow. That is when I learned that I had a team that would help me do what I didn't know that I needed to do. I am amazed at how the Lynwood Exit has built up. The last time I was here there was only a shopping mall on the north side of the exit and 2 gas stations and a fast food place on the south side. Now there are major truck stops on both sides of the 15 plus major hotels and a number of eating places. What a change. I have shut it down for the day and now will plan my new route up to Washington. It has been a good day and I had few traffic problems. Thank you Lord. Milo
I head west on I-8. There were a lot of alfalfa fields just outside of El Centro. Once the water ran out, it was no growth of anything. The temp was already over 100. I'm betting that it didn't take long for that fresh cut alfalfa to dry before they could bale it.
Once out of water, the desert starts to look like desert. I continue to see the beauty and struggle that it takes to survive in this climate. I am feeling pretty balanced today. That meeting last evening really helped me get centered again. I am sure that my sponser will be relieved to learn that I finally followed his suggestion. I just keep learning that sometimes I just need to take time to do for me what my ego loudly says that I don't have time for. The balance of life is suce a pleasure when it is achieved. How seldom I really achieve it.
I have a route worked out to take me to San Yasidro. I follow the route even though sometimes I don't know where I am and there are no signs to guide me. If I keep on the road that I think is right, sooner or later there is a sign to tell me where I need to turn. So I blindly follow CA 125 to CA54 to I-805 to San Yasidro Blvd west. I now needed to stop and get out my instructions. I follow the street numbers and they are correct. I find the gas station and the post office. I top off the tank, get my reciept and phone number and put all the information required on the report sheet, put it in the envelope and go to the post office to mail it. God is good again and the only parking spot is right in front of the sign. I get a number of pictures of the sign and bike. I have completed this stop and it is time to head north.
I get back on the 805 and head north. Traffic is running good. I follow to the I-15 north and the traffic gets heavier. We have several slow downs for no apparent reason, common in this area. I am greatful that the Border Patrol check point is closed so we are not backed up by that obstruction. I take a short break at a Shell station once I am out of the San Diago area. There I met a man selling waterless car wash products. We start to talk and he also rides motorcycle and just has gotten into camping himself. We share some experiences. We discover that we both are sober alcoholics. He gives me his card and says that if I ever want a riding partner to give him a call. I keep the card and do not buy the product; way to expensive for what it does.
I follow the 215 up accross the I-10 and on north to where it joins with the I-15. Once I am headed north on the 15, I am flooded with memories of my many rides along this road with RFTW. My last ride up was in 2003. I am amazed at the amount of work that has been done to the road to increase its ability to handle traffic. I remember the wild road guard rides getting past the pack to get set for the next exit. I remember the sense of personal pride at riding at the head of the Central Route in 2001 as we started our pilgrimage to Washington DC. I also remember slowing down way to early for out fuel stop at Barstow. That is when I learned that I had a team that would help me do what I didn't know that I needed to do. I am amazed at how the Lynwood Exit has built up. The last time I was here there was only a shopping mall on the north side of the exit and 2 gas stations and a fast food place on the south side. Now there are major truck stops on both sides of the 15 plus major hotels and a number of eating places. What a change. I have shut it down for the day and now will plan my new route up to Washington. It has been a good day and I had few traffic problems. Thank you Lord. Milo
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