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
Friday, July 30, 2010
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
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
DAY 12 - DEL RIO, TX - LAS CRUCES, NM
The route today will be pretty simple. I will ride west on US 90 to Van Horn, TX. There I will hook up with I-10 and follow that to Las Cruces, NM. It is just about 10 AM before I get started. I can't seem to get moving before that time so from now on I will assume that 9:30 is the normal start time.
I get a big suprise as I roll west. The Sage Brush is in bloom. The landscape is covered by a beautiful light blue blush. The color is very visable close up but fades in the distance to a simple blue-green color. The color is every where that I look. I try to remember last night as I came into Del Rio and I do not remember seeing any of the bloom as I came in. As far as I can remember, it is all on the west side of Del Rio. I also notice that other plants show signs of blooming. There are tall plant stalks all over the area also. The grasses are green and I am in the short grass country. No matter where I look there is this wonderful color of nature.
I ride past the Amistead Resevor on the Rio Grande. It is amazing to see the stark dry conditions next to the lake and the water right up to the rocks of the canyons that were flooded to make the lake. It is a large body of water and I pass sections of it for many miles.
I arrive at Lantry TX, home of Judge Roy Beans courthouse. They have preserved the old building. I have visited here before but stop in for a quick break and a refresher of this local history. It sure is not what the Hollywood players have made it out to be. I talk with some fellow veterans from Austin and also a local biker who is doing the county dirt roads on his dual sport bike. He was from Odessa,TX. He did not know any of the people that I knew from that area. It was pleasent to interact with another human. I have mentioned before, I so get tired of myself on this solo ride.
As I continue west the land continues to present her glory. I am now traveling in the northern part of the Big Bend Country. The National Park is about 70 miles south of me but in the settlement days, this was all concidered part of that country. I see many building that have been abandoned. The is a rich mixture of old buildings, some modern ones and some mobile homes. As I travel in the area, I occasionally see abandoned farm and ranch building. There is some ag land usage but mostly the area is used for cattle grasing. I see some cattle but mostly I
see vast areas of empty land.
It is not a waste land and there is much interesting sight to find. I seem to have run out of the Sage. There are many other interesting plants that I try to identify from what little I have studied dry land and desert plants.
I cross several low mountain ranges as I move west. The roads are a bikers dream. They have a lot of sweepers and some good twisties. I enjoy the change in riding. 90 swing north as I approach Van Horn. The ground is now much dryer. There are many areas of exposed dirt. It is hot and I start to see Dust Devils all around me. Some are very brief and other last for several minutes. These little tornado are interesting to watch. A couple develop close to the road and I try to take quick pictures of them. I will need to wait and see how they turn out.
The temp was steady in the mid to high 80's all morning and early afternoon. Now it starts to get hot. Temps hit 100 plus by the time I fuel up in Van Horn and take off down the superslap.
Now travel is faster, I need to be aware of the traffic. I am still running about 65 mph. Traffic on this section of I-10 is running at 80 plus.
The ground is now different and much more arrid. I am now traveling through mountainous land. I stay in that type land until I get back into the Rio Grande Valley. I now ride on the upper edge of the valley. As I look south I see ag and green crop land that gentley falls toward a break. The land then starts to rise and terminates in a set of mountains. It takes a little while until I realize that I am looking accross at Mexico.
I get to El Paso and now I am back in traffic. I decide to run up to Las Cruces this evening. I know that there is construction on I-10 but currently traffic is light and so I shouldn't have any delays getting there. It is a pleasant ride and I am ready for a break. The temps have been well about 100 since I left Van Horn. Now for a good nights rest in A/C. Milo
I get a big suprise as I roll west. The Sage Brush is in bloom. The landscape is covered by a beautiful light blue blush. The color is very visable close up but fades in the distance to a simple blue-green color. The color is every where that I look. I try to remember last night as I came into Del Rio and I do not remember seeing any of the bloom as I came in. As far as I can remember, it is all on the west side of Del Rio. I also notice that other plants show signs of blooming. There are tall plant stalks all over the area also. The grasses are green and I am in the short grass country. No matter where I look there is this wonderful color of nature.
I ride past the Amistead Resevor on the Rio Grande. It is amazing to see the stark dry conditions next to the lake and the water right up to the rocks of the canyons that were flooded to make the lake. It is a large body of water and I pass sections of it for many miles.
I arrive at Lantry TX, home of Judge Roy Beans courthouse. They have preserved the old building. I have visited here before but stop in for a quick break and a refresher of this local history. It sure is not what the Hollywood players have made it out to be. I talk with some fellow veterans from Austin and also a local biker who is doing the county dirt roads on his dual sport bike. He was from Odessa,TX. He did not know any of the people that I knew from that area. It was pleasent to interact with another human. I have mentioned before, I so get tired of myself on this solo ride.
As I continue west the land continues to present her glory. I am now traveling in the northern part of the Big Bend Country. The National Park is about 70 miles south of me but in the settlement days, this was all concidered part of that country. I see many building that have been abandoned. The is a rich mixture of old buildings, some modern ones and some mobile homes. As I travel in the area, I occasionally see abandoned farm and ranch building. There is some ag land usage but mostly the area is used for cattle grasing. I see some cattle but mostly I
see vast areas of empty land.
It is not a waste land and there is much interesting sight to find. I seem to have run out of the Sage. There are many other interesting plants that I try to identify from what little I have studied dry land and desert plants.
I cross several low mountain ranges as I move west. The roads are a bikers dream. They have a lot of sweepers and some good twisties. I enjoy the change in riding. 90 swing north as I approach Van Horn. The ground is now much dryer. There are many areas of exposed dirt. It is hot and I start to see Dust Devils all around me. Some are very brief and other last for several minutes. These little tornado are interesting to watch. A couple develop close to the road and I try to take quick pictures of them. I will need to wait and see how they turn out.
The temp was steady in the mid to high 80's all morning and early afternoon. Now it starts to get hot. Temps hit 100 plus by the time I fuel up in Van Horn and take off down the superslap.
Now travel is faster, I need to be aware of the traffic. I am still running about 65 mph. Traffic on this section of I-10 is running at 80 plus.
The ground is now different and much more arrid. I am now traveling through mountainous land. I stay in that type land until I get back into the Rio Grande Valley. I now ride on the upper edge of the valley. As I look south I see ag and green crop land that gentley falls toward a break. The land then starts to rise and terminates in a set of mountains. It takes a little while until I realize that I am looking accross at Mexico.
I get to El Paso and now I am back in traffic. I decide to run up to Las Cruces this evening. I know that there is construction on I-10 but currently traffic is light and so I shouldn't have any delays getting there. It is a pleasant ride and I am ready for a break. The temps have been well about 100 since I left Van Horn. Now for a good nights rest in A/C. Milo
Monday, July 19, 2010
DAY 14 YUMA, AZ TO EL CENTRO CA
I contacted the dealer here, Imperial Motorsports, and the service manager put me on the schedule for tomorrow AM. I packed up, checked out and started the process of fueling up. Normally that is not much problem. Today it became an issue. Yuma is recontruction the street that went past the hotel. I needed to cross over I-8 to get to a gas station. Got the fuel, coffee, water and ice and now I am ready to get to the Superslab. Only problem is I can't get there from here. I do a couple of loops around the area and make several u-turns and finally get to ride onto the interstate. I have no speedometer so I find an 18 wheeler headed west and follow him. CA has a 55 mph speed limit for anything pulling a trailer. I figured that if I followed the semi I would get caught speeding on the 8. It must have worked. The ride is only 60 miles. It was over 100 by the time I got started. When I got to El Centro, it was 111 and stayed there all day into the evening. I went right to the dealer to let him know that I was in town. I then got a motel and unloaded the scoot. That took about 2 hrs. I dropped the bike at the dealer and discuss, discribed the problems with the mechanic. They gave me a ride to the hotel and I rented a car from Enterprise. It is too hot to walk anywhere here in the desert.
I got a nice new GMC Cheyene. A nice little truck. I got lost about 3 times and finally found a place to get lunch/supper. Got back to the motel and got ready to go to an meeting. I had gotten that information earlier in the day. I figured my head needed to get unscrewed from the last 2 wks. The meeting was very good and now I am thinking in a half way rational manner. It is important to remember that drinking was not the problem; it was a symptom of the problem. Symptoms resolved for a little while.
I did some shopping and got back to the motel. I finally checked my phone and guess what, About 5:30 I got a call from the service manager that the bike was ready to go. I guess it was a pretty simple problem. Yahoo!! Plan is to get to sleep early, get packed and ready to go. I will be at the shop at 9 and get the bike, drop the rental and get loaded. I will do San Yasidro tomorrow about noon and then try to get through the LA area before 3. It is a plan. I will bring the 2 missing days in as soon as I can. I put together the dialogue for Del Rio to Las Curcis once and lost it in the transfer. Time to call it a night. Milo
I got a nice new GMC Cheyene. A nice little truck. I got lost about 3 times and finally found a place to get lunch/supper. Got back to the motel and got ready to go to an meeting. I had gotten that information earlier in the day. I figured my head needed to get unscrewed from the last 2 wks. The meeting was very good and now I am thinking in a half way rational manner. It is important to remember that drinking was not the problem; it was a symptom of the problem. Symptoms resolved for a little while.
I did some shopping and got back to the motel. I finally checked my phone and guess what, About 5:30 I got a call from the service manager that the bike was ready to go. I guess it was a pretty simple problem. Yahoo!! Plan is to get to sleep early, get packed and ready to go. I will be at the shop at 9 and get the bike, drop the rental and get loaded. I will do San Yasidro tomorrow about noon and then try to get through the LA area before 3. It is a plan. I will bring the 2 missing days in as soon as I can. I put together the dialogue for Del Rio to Las Curcis once and lost it in the transfer. Time to call it a night. Milo
DAY 13 - LAS CRUCIS NM TO YUMA, AZ
A quick note this morning. I am waiting for 9 AM to call a Honda dealer in El Centro, CA. Something crapped out on the Wing yesterday afternoon about 27 miles from Yuma. It is still running and all safey features are working but I lost the cruise control activation, the tach, the speedo, the odometer and the fuel and water temp guages. There is a Honda dealer here in Yuma but he is not open on Mondays. I plan on calling the El Centro dealer and see if I can get in today. I can run it over to there (about 60 miles) to get work started. If he can't get me in, I will be here for a couple of days I guess. Will let all know when I have a plan. I should have plenty of time to get caught up once I know what I need to do. Talk later. Milo
Saturday, July 17, 2010
DAY 11 - SULFUR, LA TO DEL RIO, TX
I got another late start. I guess that I need to just admit that I can't get moving as fast as I use to. The joints just don't move as quick. I had breakfast at Waffle House. I needed a break from the hotel continental breakfasts. They are ok but I need something different on occasion. I fueled up, got ice and a full cup of coffee and I was ready to roll. It will be an easy map day today. I will run I 10 to US 90 at San Antonio and then 90 to Del Rio.
East TX is a continuation of LA with lots of water and swamp. I stop for a new TX map at their welcome center. It was a nice experience. I got some advise on travel through Houston. As I travel west the land raise slightly, enough to dry out. I am then into flat wood lands, with agricultrual land and much is turned into commercial usage along side the hwy. Beyond the development work is always ag land. It is interesting that the corn crops are mature and starting to dry down. There is plenty of visibility of the heavy rain that occured in this area. All we have now is hot and damp. It is in the 90's by 11 AM.
I get to Houston as schedued and run into a traffic slowdown near the center of town. They are doing some major reconstruction on one of the downtown interchanges. All roads are narrowed to 2 lanes. I would hate to need to drive through here during rush hour. I get through the bottleneck and headed west on 10. Traffic is light at this time of day. I now head for San Antonio.
I am somwhat concerned about getting into there during rush hour. I stay traveling, taking only breaks for bathroom and fuel. It is about 200 miles and I do it in 3.5 hrs. The geography is much more interesting. The land shifts from the flat table land around the coast to the rolling hills and more arrid land further into the central part of the state. The hill are not high but they do break up the scenery. It is enjoyable looking at the various shapes that Mother Nature has designed with her trees, bushes and the vines that cover them. I also start to see some of the plants that are common to the more arrid lands. As I get close to San Antone, the only real change is again, more commercial development.
I get to the 410 beltline about 3:40. I am worried that I will run into traffic. I had stopped for fuel and a map check about 3 miles before I got to the belt line. I was relieved and happy to expierience moderate traffic. I got to the 90 exit without any problem and in only 20 minutes. Yahoo!! I am now west bound on US 90. I had traveled this road a couple times prior in FL and MS. Once I was west of the commercial development areas, I noticed a very different folage make up. I am starting to see the shrubs and catus that are more common in the desert. The grass is also much shorter now. There is still much agriculture. It seems to be either irrigated or dry land type farming system. As I get toward Del Rio, I am definately in the more arrid area. Grasses are very short. I am seeing a lot of mesquite and other bushes of that type. I don't really know that much about the types of plants. I do recognize the large number of live oaks. The way that each different oak seems to take a definate different shape from others of its kind. Again Mother Nature has done a beautiful job of decorating her home. I very much enjoy the constantly differing views that I see as I drive along.
I make Del Rio by about 7 PM. I get a motel and do laundry. Need to clean those socks and shirts for another week. I try to do this entry and it just doesn't work so I call it a night. I put on about 470 miles for to and most of it was in heavy traffic. What a day. Milo
East TX is a continuation of LA with lots of water and swamp. I stop for a new TX map at their welcome center. It was a nice experience. I got some advise on travel through Houston. As I travel west the land raise slightly, enough to dry out. I am then into flat wood lands, with agricultrual land and much is turned into commercial usage along side the hwy. Beyond the development work is always ag land. It is interesting that the corn crops are mature and starting to dry down. There is plenty of visibility of the heavy rain that occured in this area. All we have now is hot and damp. It is in the 90's by 11 AM.
I get to Houston as schedued and run into a traffic slowdown near the center of town. They are doing some major reconstruction on one of the downtown interchanges. All roads are narrowed to 2 lanes. I would hate to need to drive through here during rush hour. I get through the bottleneck and headed west on 10. Traffic is light at this time of day. I now head for San Antonio.
I am somwhat concerned about getting into there during rush hour. I stay traveling, taking only breaks for bathroom and fuel. It is about 200 miles and I do it in 3.5 hrs. The geography is much more interesting. The land shifts from the flat table land around the coast to the rolling hills and more arrid land further into the central part of the state. The hill are not high but they do break up the scenery. It is enjoyable looking at the various shapes that Mother Nature has designed with her trees, bushes and the vines that cover them. I also start to see some of the plants that are common to the more arrid lands. As I get close to San Antone, the only real change is again, more commercial development.
I get to the 410 beltline about 3:40. I am worried that I will run into traffic. I had stopped for fuel and a map check about 3 miles before I got to the belt line. I was relieved and happy to expierience moderate traffic. I got to the 90 exit without any problem and in only 20 minutes. Yahoo!! I am now west bound on US 90. I had traveled this road a couple times prior in FL and MS. Once I was west of the commercial development areas, I noticed a very different folage make up. I am starting to see the shrubs and catus that are more common in the desert. The grass is also much shorter now. There is still much agriculture. It seems to be either irrigated or dry land type farming system. As I get toward Del Rio, I am definately in the more arrid area. Grasses are very short. I am seeing a lot of mesquite and other bushes of that type. I don't really know that much about the types of plants. I do recognize the large number of live oaks. The way that each different oak seems to take a definate different shape from others of its kind. Again Mother Nature has done a beautiful job of decorating her home. I very much enjoy the constantly differing views that I see as I drive along.
I make Del Rio by about 7 PM. I get a motel and do laundry. Need to clean those socks and shirts for another week. I try to do this entry and it just doesn't work so I call it a night. I put on about 470 miles for to and most of it was in heavy traffic. What a day. Milo
Friday, July 16, 2010
DAY 10 - CRESTVIEW TO SULFER, LA
A quick note about todays run. !st will be a big happy 67th aniversary of my arrival and survival of this life. Also a big happy birthday to my 4 year younger sister.
I did mostly superslab riding yesterday. I took a brief drop down to the MS Gulf Coast at Biloxi. I saw some people picking up something on 1 beach and the rest seemed to be just deserted. I caught a couple brief smells of oil. From the road the beaches looked pretty clean. I was glad to hear last night that they finally got the well shut off.
I also rode the Lake Ponchitrain Causeway/bridge. It is really a wierd felling being on the bike and not being able to see land anywhere. I was only a brief distance above the water most of the time. Fortunately, the lake was quite. It was hot and I found it interesting to see several boats fishing by sitting in the shadow of the bridge. That really was a lot of water to cross. The I got to I10 west of New Orleans. It seems that a major part of that road is 1 big bridge. I understand the need (cost effectiveness) of using the Ponchitrain Bridge design for those watery and swamp areas that needed to be crossed.
It was another hot (97) and muggy day. I did 470 miles. The only advantage of the scoot was that I cooled off really nicely everytime I started riding. When I stopped my shirt was instant sweat. It may be a couple of days before I am back on line again. Now plan to run toward SW TX along US 90. Not much for communications out that way. I will keep it up as best I can. Maybe I will get time to work on the pictures. Milo
I did mostly superslab riding yesterday. I took a brief drop down to the MS Gulf Coast at Biloxi. I saw some people picking up something on 1 beach and the rest seemed to be just deserted. I caught a couple brief smells of oil. From the road the beaches looked pretty clean. I was glad to hear last night that they finally got the well shut off.
I also rode the Lake Ponchitrain Causeway/bridge. It is really a wierd felling being on the bike and not being able to see land anywhere. I was only a brief distance above the water most of the time. Fortunately, the lake was quite. It was hot and I found it interesting to see several boats fishing by sitting in the shadow of the bridge. That really was a lot of water to cross. The I got to I10 west of New Orleans. It seems that a major part of that road is 1 big bridge. I understand the need (cost effectiveness) of using the Ponchitrain Bridge design for those watery and swamp areas that needed to be crossed.
It was another hot (97) and muggy day. I did 470 miles. The only advantage of the scoot was that I cooled off really nicely everytime I started riding. When I stopped my shirt was instant sweat. It may be a couple of days before I am back on line again. Now plan to run toward SW TX along US 90. Not much for communications out that way. I will keep it up as best I can. Maybe I will get time to work on the pictures. Milo
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
DAY 9 OCALA TO CRESTVIEW FL
I have touched on where I am today and this is July 14. It took some work with the callender to get me straightened out tonight. I got in earlier that normal. It was before 6 PM eastern time. After I got registered and unloaded I finally figured out that I am now in central time. My biorythme is now back on track. I turned on the weather channel when I first got the room and saw Wausau right in the middle of a big thunderstorm with high winds and hail. I will need to connect with Roadrunner tomorrow to findout what happened with the storm.
I got out of Ocala about 9:45 this AM. I did stop and picks up some supplies before I hit the road. Hwy 27 northwest was a beautiful drive. It is a 4 lane open access road, through rural FL. I had my camera on the bike so tried shooting some photos on the go. I will need to down load that card cause got 3 days of photos on it. If I get some time I will learn how to get the photos onto the blog.
I ran 27 up to alt 27 and continue on alt 27. The road continued to be the wide open traveling that I had enjoyed earlier. About noon, I ran into my 1st rain shower. It was light so I just kept on rolling about 15 min. later I saw another one coming. This one looked hard so I put the rain gear on and buttoned up the bike for wet weather. It was the 1st of a series of popcorn storms that happened on and off all afternoon. The weather predications were correct and I ran into scattered thunderstorms all afternoon.
I turned off alt 27 at Perry and headed west toward the Gulf Coast on FL Hwy 98. I hit the coast at Ochlockonee Bay. The gulf was quite and peaceful. At a couple of spots they were getting the oil booms out in front of the beaches but I didn't see any oil and sure didn't smell it. I am well aware of the smell of raw crued from my trips through TX, OK and KS.
It was generally heavy overcast so water looked flat. I also saw what must have been fishing net floats and I saw some fishing boats headed into shore as I ran along the coast. I got tired of rain and sea about the time I got past Apalachicola and headed north on hwy 71. I turned off to hwy 73 and took that up to Marianna on I 10. I got lost in Marianna trying to find the superslab but finally made it. I hit a couple more storms and as I approached exit 56 another was headed my way. The exit had plenty of hotels so here I am. I did 400 mile today.
Tomorrow I plan on an early start and will get well into TX. I am planning a small side trip down to the MS Gulf Coast. Iron Mike and I traveled through there on our way to CA for RFTW one spring. I am curious to see what it looks like now. I also plan on detouring around some to take the Lake Ponchiatrain causeway to say that I took it. Hopefull I will run out of the rainy weather.
To my sister Linda, I hope you have a Happy Birthday tomorrow. We will need to celebrate that day when I get home. Milo
I got out of Ocala about 9:45 this AM. I did stop and picks up some supplies before I hit the road. Hwy 27 northwest was a beautiful drive. It is a 4 lane open access road, through rural FL. I had my camera on the bike so tried shooting some photos on the go. I will need to down load that card cause got 3 days of photos on it. If I get some time I will learn how to get the photos onto the blog.
I ran 27 up to alt 27 and continue on alt 27. The road continued to be the wide open traveling that I had enjoyed earlier. About noon, I ran into my 1st rain shower. It was light so I just kept on rolling about 15 min. later I saw another one coming. This one looked hard so I put the rain gear on and buttoned up the bike for wet weather. It was the 1st of a series of popcorn storms that happened on and off all afternoon. The weather predications were correct and I ran into scattered thunderstorms all afternoon.
I turned off alt 27 at Perry and headed west toward the Gulf Coast on FL Hwy 98. I hit the coast at Ochlockonee Bay. The gulf was quite and peaceful. At a couple of spots they were getting the oil booms out in front of the beaches but I didn't see any oil and sure didn't smell it. I am well aware of the smell of raw crued from my trips through TX, OK and KS.
It was generally heavy overcast so water looked flat. I also saw what must have been fishing net floats and I saw some fishing boats headed into shore as I ran along the coast. I got tired of rain and sea about the time I got past Apalachicola and headed north on hwy 71. I turned off to hwy 73 and took that up to Marianna on I 10. I got lost in Marianna trying to find the superslab but finally made it. I hit a couple more storms and as I approached exit 56 another was headed my way. The exit had plenty of hotels so here I am. I did 400 mile today.
Tomorrow I plan on an early start and will get well into TX. I am planning a small side trip down to the MS Gulf Coast. Iron Mike and I traveled through there on our way to CA for RFTW one spring. I am curious to see what it looks like now. I also plan on detouring around some to take the Lake Ponchiatrain causeway to say that I took it. Hopefull I will run out of the rainy weather.
To my sister Linda, I hope you have a Happy Birthday tomorrow. We will need to celebrate that day when I get home. Milo
DAY 8 kEY LARGO TO OCALA
Well, I'm at Crestview, FL. I am starting to get confused about what day I am working on. They all seem to be the same. The only difference is where I have been and I am loosing track of that sometimes. Fortunately I have a map on where I have been and some memory left on what occured. Today I did run through a number of popcorn showers. Between storms it was hot and muggy. I saw a combined heat index some place between 105 & 110. It definately reminded me of Vietnam and the reason that I never emigrated to the south. I don't like this type heat and do not deal well with it when I am in it. Fortunately I have a higher power that can do for me what I can't do for myself.
I will bring you up to date on yesterday. I got a late start from Key Largo. My old body just doesnot respond to the type of pressure I put on it yesterday. I put 477 miles on yesterday. I have done more than that many times but yesterday was heavy with extra traffic. That makes the difference. Defensive driving means max alert all the time. Max alert takes energy.
So, I didn't leave Key Largo until about 10 AM. I had a nice run north on Hwy 1 to Homestead. I was going to take the Toll Road up to The Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41). I missed the turn for the Toll Road and decided that Hwy 1 wouldn't be to bad and would have save me the toll charges. Bad decision. I really got messed up in traffic and spent a lot more time than planned getting to my road. Finally I was running on the trail, alone side the canal. Again there was not much to see because of the dike and growth along side the road. It was nice driving and traffic was not to heavy. I got past the everglades national park area and into Big Cyphrus National Park. The dike disappeared and I got to see the everglades. It was an interesting journey and I was able to snap some photos on the run. I haven't gotten them downloaded yet.
At the end of the trail I headed north to hook up with I 75. I was on the slab from here (Naples area) to my overnight at Ocala. Weather contiued to be hot. The air was humid. I cooled off on the bike but when I stopped for fuel, it was instant wet shirt. That made for quick cooling once I was rolling again. I ran until about 6:30 and then stopped at Ocala. I plan on taking 27 northwest tomorrow morning. I did try something new for supper. The resturant had Gator Tail on the menu, so I just had to try it. It was pretty good. It definately did not taste like chicken. Done for the day. I did 399 miles today. Milo
I will bring you up to date on yesterday. I got a late start from Key Largo. My old body just doesnot respond to the type of pressure I put on it yesterday. I put 477 miles on yesterday. I have done more than that many times but yesterday was heavy with extra traffic. That makes the difference. Defensive driving means max alert all the time. Max alert takes energy.
So, I didn't leave Key Largo until about 10 AM. I had a nice run north on Hwy 1 to Homestead. I was going to take the Toll Road up to The Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41). I missed the turn for the Toll Road and decided that Hwy 1 wouldn't be to bad and would have save me the toll charges. Bad decision. I really got messed up in traffic and spent a lot more time than planned getting to my road. Finally I was running on the trail, alone side the canal. Again there was not much to see because of the dike and growth along side the road. It was nice driving and traffic was not to heavy. I got past the everglades national park area and into Big Cyphrus National Park. The dike disappeared and I got to see the everglades. It was an interesting journey and I was able to snap some photos on the run. I haven't gotten them downloaded yet.
At the end of the trail I headed north to hook up with I 75. I was on the slab from here (Naples area) to my overnight at Ocala. Weather contiued to be hot. The air was humid. I cooled off on the bike but when I stopped for fuel, it was instant wet shirt. That made for quick cooling once I was rolling again. I ran until about 6:30 and then stopped at Ocala. I plan on taking 27 northwest tomorrow morning. I did try something new for supper. The resturant had Gator Tail on the menu, so I just had to try it. It was pretty good. It definately did not taste like chicken. Done for the day. I did 399 miles today. Milo
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
DAY 7 EXIT 55 - KEY WEST & BACK TO KEY LARGO
I am at Ocala, FL tonight. I ran hard and long yesterday to make Key West for the photo and check point stuff. I was on the road by 8:30. I followed Fl 27 south through the central part of the state. It was good traveling. The land was initially very flat. I passed citrus groves and other ag type activities. I eventually got into what must be the south FL hill country. It became more forest type land and I even saw "watch for bear" signs. I did not see any wildlife. Eventually I got to the south end of Lake Okeechobee. Unfortunately I was not able to see any of the lake because it was surrounded by a very high dike. I did get to see what I think was sugar cane fields. I also saw some mature corn that was still very green and they were chopping it for feed.
I continued south on 27 into the Everglades. I could see where they had drain some because of all the dead trees still standing. There was also a large ditch that ran beside the hwy. I am guessing that the purpose was to keep the road dry. I stayed on 27 until I got to hwy 997 which bypasses the metro area. It was a continuation of Everglades until I got near Homestead. I now became tangled up in city traffic with frequent stoplights. It took quit awhile to get down to the junction with US Hwy 1 and the journey into the Keys. I would have been ahead by a lot of time by using the toll roads. I did save the cost of the toll and saw some interesting sights.
Going south on US 1 was just what I expected, lots of traffic and some road contructions. I kept remembering back to 87 when I drove my van down here. I think that it has buteilt up even more than then, if that were possiblem. Traffic flowed well through the various small communities. Speeds were generally 45mph through population centers. On the rest of the route the speed was about 55mph. I was impressed by the work that FL had done with the old bridges to make them into attractive and safe fishing piers. They were very attractive and useful additions. It turns out that this project is ongoing and part of the stimulus package projects.
It took about 4 hrs to do the 125 miles from Homestead to Key West. I got there about 4:30. I figured that I would be headed back quickly. I found the Southern Most Point Bouy and got some other tourist to help with my picture. I gave a nice young man my camera and then rode the bike infront of the bouy. He shot a bunch of pictures and I pulled out and parked. We checked the pictures and they were good. Halaluia. I went looking for the gas station and then my trouble began. I got turned around and lost. I spent about 45 minutes going in circles until I found my way to the gas station. I got my fuel ticket and phone # and all I needed to do was get the letter into the post office and I'm outta here. It took another 30 minutes to find the post office and figure out how to get into it and mail the letter. I also found the end of US1 sign and so spent some time trying to get a picture of my bike and that sign. I got a good picture of the sign. I'm not sure about the bike and sign. I haven't checked out photos yet.
With that all done I find US 1 north and I outta here. It is about 6:45 when I head north on 1. It was a nice ride. There was some traffic but as I rode up the Keys, cars kept dropping out and pretty soon there was only a few of us and we rolled. I also tried to shoot some photos while riding. Not sure of those either. Will need to check tomorrow. It was a wonderful evening ride. It was about dark when I went through Key Largo. My plan was to ride up to Homestead and then get a motel. As I ride over the 2 bridges leaving Key Largo, I see lighting in the Northeast. I am reminded of the ride yesterday around Jacksonville. I keep going and see some more lighting. Then the rain drops start. I know I have 25 miles to go over dark, under contruction road. I pull off the last exit and do a turn around. I head back down Key Largo looking for that Holiday Inn that I saw which had some vacancies. I am tired so get the room, order food in and get my shower. I eat and go to sleep, very soundly. I will write about day 8 later because I am still tired from last night. Milo
I continued south on 27 into the Everglades. I could see where they had drain some because of all the dead trees still standing. There was also a large ditch that ran beside the hwy. I am guessing that the purpose was to keep the road dry. I stayed on 27 until I got to hwy 997 which bypasses the metro area. It was a continuation of Everglades until I got near Homestead. I now became tangled up in city traffic with frequent stoplights. It took quit awhile to get down to the junction with US Hwy 1 and the journey into the Keys. I would have been ahead by a lot of time by using the toll roads. I did save the cost of the toll and saw some interesting sights.
Going south on US 1 was just what I expected, lots of traffic and some road contructions. I kept remembering back to 87 when I drove my van down here. I think that it has buteilt up even more than then, if that were possiblem. Traffic flowed well through the various small communities. Speeds were generally 45mph through population centers. On the rest of the route the speed was about 55mph. I was impressed by the work that FL had done with the old bridges to make them into attractive and safe fishing piers. They were very attractive and useful additions. It turns out that this project is ongoing and part of the stimulus package projects.
It took about 4 hrs to do the 125 miles from Homestead to Key West. I got there about 4:30. I figured that I would be headed back quickly. I found the Southern Most Point Bouy and got some other tourist to help with my picture. I gave a nice young man my camera and then rode the bike infront of the bouy. He shot a bunch of pictures and I pulled out and parked. We checked the pictures and they were good. Halaluia. I went looking for the gas station and then my trouble began. I got turned around and lost. I spent about 45 minutes going in circles until I found my way to the gas station. I got my fuel ticket and phone # and all I needed to do was get the letter into the post office and I'm outta here. It took another 30 minutes to find the post office and figure out how to get into it and mail the letter. I also found the end of US1 sign and so spent some time trying to get a picture of my bike and that sign. I got a good picture of the sign. I'm not sure about the bike and sign. I haven't checked out photos yet.
With that all done I find US 1 north and I outta here. It is about 6:45 when I head north on 1. It was a nice ride. There was some traffic but as I rode up the Keys, cars kept dropping out and pretty soon there was only a few of us and we rolled. I also tried to shoot some photos while riding. Not sure of those either. Will need to check tomorrow. It was a wonderful evening ride. It was about dark when I went through Key Largo. My plan was to ride up to Homestead and then get a motel. As I ride over the 2 bridges leaving Key Largo, I see lighting in the Northeast. I am reminded of the ride yesterday around Jacksonville. I keep going and see some more lighting. Then the rain drops start. I know I have 25 miles to go over dark, under contruction road. I pull off the last exit and do a turn around. I head back down Key Largo looking for that Holiday Inn that I saw which had some vacancies. I am tired so get the room, order food in and get my shower. I eat and go to sleep, very soundly. I will write about day 8 later because I am still tired from last night. Milo
Sunday, July 11, 2010
DAY 6 - I-4, EXIT 55
I got in about 7:30 PM tonight. Before I go into today I will say a little about my day off yesterday. I thank Gunny and Pretty Patty for their hospitality. I enjoyed the rest and the long conversations. One of the problems with solo riding is that I only have myself to talk with. Now I like my conversations but my voice does ware out after a while. Also, I know all my opinions on everything and it is hard to learn anything new when the only person I listen to is myself. It was a good weekend of learning. Gunny and Patty especially took me to some great seafood places. I also got to see some very nice sight around the Charleston area. Gunny is an excellent guide and very enthusiastic & knowledgeable about his home town. I am really gona need to take some time to see everything that he has exposed me to. I liked the Ave. of Oaks. Picts come later. Gunny and Patty, say hey to Fingers and Lisa. I am sorry that I missed them. Also tell the 2nd mrs. that I didn't ruin the bed.
I had a good morning discussion and breakfast at the VFW then Gunny and Patty(she is riding her own soft tail) guided me to Hwy 17 and my way out of Charleston. As I headed south, they did a quick u-turn to get about their business. I followed 17 out to I-95 and fueled up. Then I headed south out of SC, through GA and into FL. I made a stop at the Welcome Center, got a map and some directions. I am needing to start putting some miles on each day if I want to complete this ride within the 21 days allowed.
I head south again with the temps in the low 90's. It is another hot and humid day. As I approach Jacksonville, I run into a light rain shower. At highway speed, the only thing that got wet was my lower jeans and boots. I just keep hummin down the road. Gotta make some miles. I see storm clouds ahead and it starts with light shows so I keep rolling. Then the light shower turn into heavy shower, which accelerate into a full blown thunder and lighting storm with lighting blots flashing overhead followed quickly by the crack of thunder. I just kept riding. I was not in my rain gear so as long as I could maintain about 40mph, I didn't get to wet. Unfortunately the cages around me were slowing down below that. It was starting to rain much harder by that time. Now, before you ask me what the H I was doing in that weather, I need to explain that I had run out of exits or bridges. The only thing that I could do was ride and follow the tail lights ahead of me. This went on for about 10 miles. I am not really sure because I couldn't read the odometer, the speedometer or the clock. The only good thing I had going for me was the ability to see the tail lights of the car in front of me and my Sirius radio which was operating perfectly for the first time after we put Gunny's redneck engineer fix to it.
At last an exit. I slowed down for it and got really wet. There was a big trunk at the stop sign waiting for traffic. I got wetter, if that was possible. I finally got to a gas station with a canopy over the pumps. I now was out of the rain. I fueled up, took care of myself and got my wet weather gear out. There were a number of bike sitting under that same canopy discussing the storm. Mean while it was continuing to flash and talk to us. We stand around and discuss the wisdom of getting back on the road. I see that the storm had move away from us to I decide to get back riding. Now I have my full face helmet on and a all weather jacket, which works very well by the way, so I get back in traffic. It continues to rain hard. I can see my speedometer and follow some tail lights. I ride for about 45 miles when it starts to lighten up and in another few miles I am getting only occasional sprinkles. Shortly there after I am starting to get to the
Daytona exits. I had planned to go toward Orlando on I 4 and make that turn. I decide to get to Hwy 27 and then call it a night. My jeans are dry in the legs but my shirt has a full fresh wash job. I had just washed it last night at Gunny's so I guess it got a good rinse job again today. It should be in good share for tomorrow. I get something to eat and set an early wake-up. I will need to make many miles tomorrow. Milo
I had a good morning discussion and breakfast at the VFW then Gunny and Patty(she is riding her own soft tail) guided me to Hwy 17 and my way out of Charleston. As I headed south, they did a quick u-turn to get about their business. I followed 17 out to I-95 and fueled up. Then I headed south out of SC, through GA and into FL. I made a stop at the Welcome Center, got a map and some directions. I am needing to start putting some miles on each day if I want to complete this ride within the 21 days allowed.
I head south again with the temps in the low 90's. It is another hot and humid day. As I approach Jacksonville, I run into a light rain shower. At highway speed, the only thing that got wet was my lower jeans and boots. I just keep hummin down the road. Gotta make some miles. I see storm clouds ahead and it starts with light shows so I keep rolling. Then the light shower turn into heavy shower, which accelerate into a full blown thunder and lighting storm with lighting blots flashing overhead followed quickly by the crack of thunder. I just kept riding. I was not in my rain gear so as long as I could maintain about 40mph, I didn't get to wet. Unfortunately the cages around me were slowing down below that. It was starting to rain much harder by that time. Now, before you ask me what the H I was doing in that weather, I need to explain that I had run out of exits or bridges. The only thing that I could do was ride and follow the tail lights ahead of me. This went on for about 10 miles. I am not really sure because I couldn't read the odometer, the speedometer or the clock. The only good thing I had going for me was the ability to see the tail lights of the car in front of me and my Sirius radio which was operating perfectly for the first time after we put Gunny's redneck engineer fix to it.
At last an exit. I slowed down for it and got really wet. There was a big trunk at the stop sign waiting for traffic. I got wetter, if that was possible. I finally got to a gas station with a canopy over the pumps. I now was out of the rain. I fueled up, took care of myself and got my wet weather gear out. There were a number of bike sitting under that same canopy discussing the storm. Mean while it was continuing to flash and talk to us. We stand around and discuss the wisdom of getting back on the road. I see that the storm had move away from us to I decide to get back riding. Now I have my full face helmet on and a all weather jacket, which works very well by the way, so I get back in traffic. It continues to rain hard. I can see my speedometer and follow some tail lights. I ride for about 45 miles when it starts to lighten up and in another few miles I am getting only occasional sprinkles. Shortly there after I am starting to get to the
Daytona exits. I had planned to go toward Orlando on I 4 and make that turn. I decide to get to Hwy 27 and then call it a night. My jeans are dry in the legs but my shirt has a full fresh wash job. I had just washed it last night at Gunny's so I guess it got a good rinse job again today. It should be in good share for tomorrow. I get something to eat and set an early wake-up. I will need to make many miles tomorrow. Milo
Saturday, July 10, 2010
DAY 3, DOVER,DL - ELISABETH CITY, NC
Today I got another late start. That ride and traffic yesterday kinda whipped my butt. Speaking about that end of the body, mine is starting to get broke into the saddle. I am easily putting on 100 ++ miles before the buns are getting tired. Then all I need to do is do a little shifting around and am set to go another 30 to 40 before refueling. I am currently getting about 31mph pulling the trailer. Speaking of trailers, last night I found a PEP BOYs store and got some straps to tye down the deck on the camper. I will fix the bolt at Gunny's. I plan to take Saturday off riding and get some maintenance caught up.
I leave Dover on US 1. I am headed over to the DE beach cities. I am hoping to see the Atlantic Ocean. Rural DE is flat and interesting country. There are some nice crops but I can see that the area is lacking in water. The corn has tasseled but the leaves are curled like small cigars. I had begun to see dry ditches and burned lawns late yesterday. I guess my ride has something to do with bringing the rain because I was in light showers for about an hour this morning. They were very light so the only thing that I got was slightly damp on my shirt. It helped cool me off. Today the temps are still hot but they are below the 100 mark so it seems cool. Also, as I get closer to the ocean I can feel the fresh breese coming in.
I finally get to the beaches and all I see are building and some sand dunes. I am very disappointed. On both sides of the hwy are commercial operations. I find one spot where this is parking and another spot where there is a pathway to the beach. Unfortunately I donot see the Atlantic Ocean. At Ocean City I headed back into the interior on hwy US 50. This is the start of another crosscountry trail that ends in San Francisco. I turned south on DE 113 and on to the next goal, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. I travel out of DE into Maryland and finally onto US 13 and into VI and the big crossing.
Again, I am in very pretty rural country. It is flat and interestingly another mix of old and new. Again, the corn shows signs of drought stress. I don't think that the light show I experienced earlier today will help much. The long range forecast is for scattered thunderstorms. Maybe they will get the rain that they need. I hope that it comes after I have left the area.
I get a new map as I cross into VI. Over lunch at a nice quiet welcome center, I study the map and figure my next campain against city heavy traffic. I will be getting into Norfolk about the time for afternoon rush hour traffic. I make my plan and try to memorize my intended route. I know that I eventually want to end up on Hwy 17 headed south toward NC.
I am ready when I get to the Bridge. Then I get another major rip off toll. I am starting to think that the AMA needs to do something about this unfair treatment toward motorcycles pulling a small trailer. The Bridge is a nice wide roadway. I travel easy until I come to the North Channel dome bridge. It has a steep grade going up and seems to climb forever. As I get near the top the old queasy feeling come back. It sometimes feels like looking out an jump plane with the door open and you are getting ready leap out. Only problem here is that it is to close to the water to make a successful parachute jump. The downgrade is like one of those Maine hill that I rode 2 days ago. I am able to maintain speed of 55 mph until the steep grade going into the tunnel. I make it through the 1st tunnel. The bridge is easy after that. It is built fairly close to the water. The 2nd tunnel is easier than the 1st. I miss the turn into the visitors spot right after the tunnel. It would have been nice to see this whole thing again from a steady location.
Now into Norfolk. I miss my 1st turn and from now on in I am reacting to hwy signs and traffic jam ups. I dodge here and turn there and all of a sudden I am leaving Norfolk in light traffic on Hwy 17 South toward NC. Thank you again Lord. Again, I have a pretty drive throught the Dismal Swamp area of Southeast VI. I am also riding past the Inland Waterway Canal.
I catch the NC Welcome station right at closing and am able to get a NC map. I look for a motel and a spot to stop for tonight. I find my place at Elisebeth City. Unfortunately, their internet system is not working. I do get a good night sleep. Milo
I leave Dover on US 1. I am headed over to the DE beach cities. I am hoping to see the Atlantic Ocean. Rural DE is flat and interesting country. There are some nice crops but I can see that the area is lacking in water. The corn has tasseled but the leaves are curled like small cigars. I had begun to see dry ditches and burned lawns late yesterday. I guess my ride has something to do with bringing the rain because I was in light showers for about an hour this morning. They were very light so the only thing that I got was slightly damp on my shirt. It helped cool me off. Today the temps are still hot but they are below the 100 mark so it seems cool. Also, as I get closer to the ocean I can feel the fresh breese coming in.
I finally get to the beaches and all I see are building and some sand dunes. I am very disappointed. On both sides of the hwy are commercial operations. I find one spot where this is parking and another spot where there is a pathway to the beach. Unfortunately I donot see the Atlantic Ocean. At Ocean City I headed back into the interior on hwy US 50. This is the start of another crosscountry trail that ends in San Francisco. I turned south on DE 113 and on to the next goal, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. I travel out of DE into Maryland and finally onto US 13 and into VI and the big crossing.
Again, I am in very pretty rural country. It is flat and interestingly another mix of old and new. Again, the corn shows signs of drought stress. I don't think that the light show I experienced earlier today will help much. The long range forecast is for scattered thunderstorms. Maybe they will get the rain that they need. I hope that it comes after I have left the area.
I get a new map as I cross into VI. Over lunch at a nice quiet welcome center, I study the map and figure my next campain against city heavy traffic. I will be getting into Norfolk about the time for afternoon rush hour traffic. I make my plan and try to memorize my intended route. I know that I eventually want to end up on Hwy 17 headed south toward NC.
I am ready when I get to the Bridge. Then I get another major rip off toll. I am starting to think that the AMA needs to do something about this unfair treatment toward motorcycles pulling a small trailer. The Bridge is a nice wide roadway. I travel easy until I come to the North Channel dome bridge. It has a steep grade going up and seems to climb forever. As I get near the top the old queasy feeling come back. It sometimes feels like looking out an jump plane with the door open and you are getting ready leap out. Only problem here is that it is to close to the water to make a successful parachute jump. The downgrade is like one of those Maine hill that I rode 2 days ago. I am able to maintain speed of 55 mph until the steep grade going into the tunnel. I make it through the 1st tunnel. The bridge is easy after that. It is built fairly close to the water. The 2nd tunnel is easier than the 1st. I miss the turn into the visitors spot right after the tunnel. It would have been nice to see this whole thing again from a steady location.
Now into Norfolk. I miss my 1st turn and from now on in I am reacting to hwy signs and traffic jam ups. I dodge here and turn there and all of a sudden I am leaving Norfolk in light traffic on Hwy 17 South toward NC. Thank you again Lord. Again, I have a pretty drive throught the Dismal Swamp area of Southeast VI. I am also riding past the Inland Waterway Canal.
I catch the NC Welcome station right at closing and am able to get a NC map. I look for a motel and a spot to stop for tonight. I find my place at Elisebeth City. Unfortunately, their internet system is not working. I do get a good night sleep. Milo
DAY 2 - HEVERHIL, MA - DOVER, DE
I know that this day will be a mad rush through traffic. It doesn't disappoint me. I start out at 9:30 and traffic is light. Good advise by the desk staff last night. I follow 495 around the Boston area but stay out of the main traffic area. All I am trying to do is get through this mess in 1 piece. I get to 95 south and traffic starts to increase. I then get into RI and am immediately into Providence. I can't help but think about the guy that I did all that drinking with from Providence. We got discharged together and I gave him a ride home. This city sure is different from what I remember from Aug, 1967. I am trying to remember his name and all I can come up with is D'augustino. I remember the big welcome home that he got and that Sunday dinner with all the pasta and people. I wonder how he has done these last 40 ++ years.
The hwy through Providence seems to be 1 big bridge. The next thing I know is that I am in CN. It is getting toward noon. I check the temp and it is 100. The asphalt is scorching hot. The bike cooling fans are blowing hot. The wind coming off the enviroment is scorching hot. I just keep drinking water and some Dr Pepper. As I start to get close to NY the traffic starts to really increase. I stop for a rest break, get a map and figure my best path of travel. I will cross the Hudson at Terrytown NY. I keep thinking that I would have like to take some pictures of this area but traffic is happening way to fast for me to try and do that.
As I travel toward the bridge, I run into constrution and the road gets really ruff. I notice that my camper looks kinda crooked so I find a place to stop and check it out. The rough roads have caused a bolt to loosen and fall out. I need to knock the strut off the deck and get everything back in place. I don't have anything to really secure it on well so hope that the elastic on the top cover keeps it from coming apart. It did the job.
I get over the bridge with another rip-off toll. I head south on the Garden State Parkway, another ripoff toll. It is just a little before 3 PM and traffic is moderate as I head for I 95 and the Jersey Pike. I am starting to think that I will get through this mess without to much trouble when I run into on of those CA parking lots. 4 lanes wide and stopped. Sign says delays because of a traffic crash up ahead. I see a hwy and town that I recognize from reading the maps so get off the Parkway. By the time I figureout what is happening I realize that I am going the wrong direction. Off the hwy and I find a gas station to fuel up at. I get directions and it turns out I am on the right road to get on the Parkway below the accident scene and can continue my journey. I get to see some nice NJ neighborhood but couldn't tell you where I was at. I follow the directions and wa-la there is the Parkway and traffic is flowing nicely. New Jersey Turnpike, here I come.
I get headed south on the Jersey pike and even with heavy traffic we move at speed. I am doing 65 and trying to stay in the middle so that the fast ones can play on both sides of me. I check the temp and it is still 103. It stays at the level until I get to the Delaware River. The river has a cooling effect and the temp stars to drop. I get going on south into DE on US 13. I am now officially hot, tired and looking for a place to stay. I am also in rush hour traffic and on a hwy with many stop lights. So it is a lot of stop and go. The only plus is temp has dropped to under 90. That is a real blessing. I continue south on the DE Parkway to Dover when I find a nice hotel and am able to stop. I have put on 448 miles of heavy traffic riding. All I want to do is get clean, get something to eat and then sleep. I find a nice resturant that has softshell crab. It is a real delacacy in this area. I enjoy the meal. Before I call it a night, I check in with Gunny and findout if they will be home for this weekend. They will and I am for sure visiting them on Friday. I am really looking forward to that. Milo
The hwy through Providence seems to be 1 big bridge. The next thing I know is that I am in CN. It is getting toward noon. I check the temp and it is 100. The asphalt is scorching hot. The bike cooling fans are blowing hot. The wind coming off the enviroment is scorching hot. I just keep drinking water and some Dr Pepper. As I start to get close to NY the traffic starts to really increase. I stop for a rest break, get a map and figure my best path of travel. I will cross the Hudson at Terrytown NY. I keep thinking that I would have like to take some pictures of this area but traffic is happening way to fast for me to try and do that.
As I travel toward the bridge, I run into constrution and the road gets really ruff. I notice that my camper looks kinda crooked so I find a place to stop and check it out. The rough roads have caused a bolt to loosen and fall out. I need to knock the strut off the deck and get everything back in place. I don't have anything to really secure it on well so hope that the elastic on the top cover keeps it from coming apart. It did the job.
I get over the bridge with another rip-off toll. I head south on the Garden State Parkway, another ripoff toll. It is just a little before 3 PM and traffic is moderate as I head for I 95 and the Jersey Pike. I am starting to think that I will get through this mess without to much trouble when I run into on of those CA parking lots. 4 lanes wide and stopped. Sign says delays because of a traffic crash up ahead. I see a hwy and town that I recognize from reading the maps so get off the Parkway. By the time I figureout what is happening I realize that I am going the wrong direction. Off the hwy and I find a gas station to fuel up at. I get directions and it turns out I am on the right road to get on the Parkway below the accident scene and can continue my journey. I get to see some nice NJ neighborhood but couldn't tell you where I was at. I follow the directions and wa-la there is the Parkway and traffic is flowing nicely. New Jersey Turnpike, here I come.
I get headed south on the Jersey pike and even with heavy traffic we move at speed. I am doing 65 and trying to stay in the middle so that the fast ones can play on both sides of me. I check the temp and it is still 103. It stays at the level until I get to the Delaware River. The river has a cooling effect and the temp stars to drop. I get going on south into DE on US 13. I am now officially hot, tired and looking for a place to stay. I am also in rush hour traffic and on a hwy with many stop lights. So it is a lot of stop and go. The only plus is temp has dropped to under 90. That is a real blessing. I continue south on the DE Parkway to Dover when I find a nice hotel and am able to stop. I have put on 448 miles of heavy traffic riding. All I want to do is get clean, get something to eat and then sleep. I find a nice resturant that has softshell crab. It is a real delacacy in this area. I enjoy the meal. Before I call it a night, I check in with Gunny and findout if they will be home for this weekend. They will and I am for sure visiting them on Friday. I am really looking forward to that. Milo
DAY 1 - Madawasks ME to Haverhill, MA
This afternoon I will try to bring this blog up to date on the first part of my jouney. I was awake early and got packed. See my earlier blog from Madawaska. After breakfast, coffee and fuel at the Gulf Station I dropped my 1st point letter into the mail. I was now on the clock. I have 21 days to make it to Blaine, WA. I was also feeling kinda whipped today. I had been on the road for a week and was just getting started. That was definately not my plan. I decided to just put the bike on the easiest route and make some time. I headed south on US 1. I have a picture of my bike at the northern end on US 1. I will get a picture at the Southern Terminal of this hwy when I get to Key West. Hwy 1 is a busy road with many small towns to slow down for. These are definately old towns. I see much different architeture, from early American small houses to the big family cracker box style to modern doublewides. It is interesting to look a all the stuff along the road. I find myself many times wanting to stop and get that or look at this. I have to keep moving to make any time. US 1 splits and I take the fast way to get to I 95. I get on I 95 about 3 miles from its start at the Canadian line. I will again also follow this route to its southern termination. Today I will rest and ride the superslab. Rest is a relative term and means pay attention, watch the cages and set the cruise and let her roll. I take a lunch break just outside Millinocket at a nice cool rest area. It was 78 when I left Madawaska. It is now in the low 90's. I get on the hammer and head out after a brief break. I hit the Maine Toll road and start to need to pay the same rate as a cage with a 2 wheeled trailer. I have tried to argue this before and just gotten irritated so now I just shut up and pay the toll. I continue to feel like I am being knowingly ripped off by the states.
At lunch I had called my sponser to get my head squared away somewhat so now I optat for serenity and letting go of this mentral battle. I instead try to focus on the beauty that is around me. Again, God has been good and I am riding dry. As I get toward Portland, I feel hotter and hotter. I am drinking water and it is almost hot. I check temp on the bike and ambient is over 100 degrees. No wonder it is hot.
I start to plan for my evening stop. I want to get off the road early enough to make a meeting. between the heat and the increased traffic, it is no long fun and relaxed riding. I plan on stopping about 5:oo PM. I start looking but there are no hotels on 95. I leave Maine and go through NH. That is a quick ride, about 40 miles I think. I get off the 95 and head west on the 495. I finally find a hotel. I get set up and in my room. Then I find out that they don't have in room internet, so no update this night. They do have a laundry so get the whites done. I check on rush hour for the morning and set up to leave after 9PM. It is late before I get to bed with the laundry and all. Sorry sponser but I didn't get that meeting in but our talk really helped me get my head screwed on straignt again. Tomorrow the big one. Milo
At lunch I had called my sponser to get my head squared away somewhat so now I optat for serenity and letting go of this mentral battle. I instead try to focus on the beauty that is around me. Again, God has been good and I am riding dry. As I get toward Portland, I feel hotter and hotter. I am drinking water and it is almost hot. I check temp on the bike and ambient is over 100 degrees. No wonder it is hot.
I start to plan for my evening stop. I want to get off the road early enough to make a meeting. between the heat and the increased traffic, it is no long fun and relaxed riding. I plan on stopping about 5:oo PM. I start looking but there are no hotels on 95. I leave Maine and go through NH. That is a quick ride, about 40 miles I think. I get off the 95 and head west on the 495. I finally find a hotel. I get set up and in my room. Then I find out that they don't have in room internet, so no update this night. They do have a laundry so get the whites done. I check on rush hour for the morning and set up to leave after 9PM. It is late before I get to bed with the laundry and all. Sorry sponser but I didn't get that meeting in but our talk really helped me get my head screwed on straignt again. Tomorrow the big one. Milo
CHARLESTON, SC
I am taking a day off today. I made Charleston and Gunny's about 6:30 last night. They actually picked my up enroute and we went to the local Hooter for dinner. We met a couple of their friends at there and had a good evening. It was a good end to a very good day of riding. I left Elisebeth City, NC yesterday AM. I got a late start (9:00) and did some touring on US 17 and NC 37. I followed that to 64 and then took 32 down to Hwy 92. 92 took me back to US 17. It was a nice ride though rural NC. I had my D 70 out and tried shooting some picture on the run. I haven't looked at them yet, but will later today. It was nice rural riding. Even got stuck behind some big farm equipment. Just like back home. The rural roads down here are numbers so were very similar to our county roads. Once I got back on 17 I rode that all the way to Charleston.
Toward noon, the traffic started to get pretty heavy and I put the camera away. It was time to make some miles and stay alert so that I could avoid those cages out there trying to get away for the weekend and run me over in the process. One advantage of riding a big bike pulling a trailer and heavily loaded is that it is hard to miss seeing me. I had time to enjoy the country as I passed thorough it. I was amazed at all of the timber in NC. I could see where they had clear cut some pieces of land but was very aware of all of the trees that were still growing. There were large crop land and then large chunks of heavy woodland. The temp was in the 80's which was cool compared to the last few day. With the forest land I was in and out of the shade which made for some cooler riding. Again, when I am on the scoot, I am part of the enviroment and therefore, any little change in temp and dampness is immediately felt. The oders of the back water, salt flats and greenery was very interesting and for the most part pleasant. Again, an advantage of being on the bike.
I followed 17 threw the rest of NC and into SC. I called Gunny in late afternoon to let him know I was still on my way and to get a suggestion on how to get around Mertle Beach. He made a good suggestion. At that point I thought that I would get in around 5:30. So much for plans. The northern SC coast area is well developed and everybody seemed to be headed someplace. Traffic was heavy and on a couple of occasions very backed up. There was all developments and no trees. Then it got hot on the tarmac. Once I got passed the beach traffic, it was good road and easy travel. When I came into Charleston, traffic was light for me because everyone was trying to get out of town. I took myselt as far as I could toward Gunny's house till memory failed and I pulled into a parking lot and called. He and Patty met me at the parking lot and then away we went to Hooters and a good evening of friends and fellowship.
Thats all for now but will come back later today and bring up to speed on days 1,2, & 3. Milo
Toward noon, the traffic started to get pretty heavy and I put the camera away. It was time to make some miles and stay alert so that I could avoid those cages out there trying to get away for the weekend and run me over in the process. One advantage of riding a big bike pulling a trailer and heavily loaded is that it is hard to miss seeing me. I had time to enjoy the country as I passed thorough it. I was amazed at all of the timber in NC. I could see where they had clear cut some pieces of land but was very aware of all of the trees that were still growing. There were large crop land and then large chunks of heavy woodland. The temp was in the 80's which was cool compared to the last few day. With the forest land I was in and out of the shade which made for some cooler riding. Again, when I am on the scoot, I am part of the enviroment and therefore, any little change in temp and dampness is immediately felt. The oders of the back water, salt flats and greenery was very interesting and for the most part pleasant. Again, an advantage of being on the bike.
I followed 17 threw the rest of NC and into SC. I called Gunny in late afternoon to let him know I was still on my way and to get a suggestion on how to get around Mertle Beach. He made a good suggestion. At that point I thought that I would get in around 5:30. So much for plans. The northern SC coast area is well developed and everybody seemed to be headed someplace. Traffic was heavy and on a couple of occasions very backed up. There was all developments and no trees. Then it got hot on the tarmac. Once I got passed the beach traffic, it was good road and easy travel. When I came into Charleston, traffic was light for me because everyone was trying to get out of town. I took myselt as far as I could toward Gunny's house till memory failed and I pulled into a parking lot and called. He and Patty met me at the parking lot and then away we went to Hooters and a good evening of friends and fellowship.
Thats all for now but will come back later today and bring up to speed on days 1,2, & 3. Milo
Thursday, July 8, 2010
DOVER,DE
Just a quick note to let you know that I made Dover last night. I am not sure of the distance yesterday. I just know it was long, very hot and heavy traffic. I left my hotel just west of Boston about 9:45. I was in moderate to heavy traffic all the way. It hit 100 about 11:00 and stayed that way until about 5:30, just after I crossed the Delaware River. I was whipped last night. I got 1 email off and then watched some TV, caught the weather and went to sleep. I will right more tonight. I have day 1 and some more on day2. Today I plan on going over to the Atlantic Ocean and follow that down to the Chesapeak Bridge/Tunnel crossing. I plan on an overnight someplace in NC. I talked with Gunny last night and will be with him and Patty Friday. I am looking forward to some human companionship. This solo riding is getting kinda old. Talk later. Milo
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
MADAWASKA ME--2ND POST
Got up early this AM and decided to bring the ride up to date before I start on the big run. As I stated earlier, yesterday was a slow start. My 1st attempt at leaving US 2 and heading north on State 11 was a back road short cut that I missed a turn on and ended up back on 2 at Norridgewock. After a quick consultation of the map I headed over to Skowhegan and back on track. The short cut was an interesting ride. It was rough in some places. I was easily seeing the effects of heavy freezeing on the roads. It was very similar to the county roads in WI. Again I was in hill country so the roads were full of twists and some sweeps. They made for extremely fun riding. That old Goldwing sure likes to take those cornors on the side walls. On a couple of them I needed to take is down to shoe scraping to make the corner. Each was one of the waho cornors.
I took 201 to Bingham and Hwy 16. I went east on 16 to Milo, ME which was one of my goals for this day. They had a nice welcome sign so I t00k the oppertunity to do a photo of the scoot. Many of the small towns that I entered did not have any identification signs at all. In general, Maine doesnot spend much on signage. It is not unusual to go for long distances and see no hwy or speed signs. On several occasions I rode out of a town and the last speed sign I saw was for 45mph. A number of miles later, I would come into another population area and see a slow down to 45 mph sign. I had no idea what the actual speed limit was for the area that I drove though. It does seem that the 2 lane max speed is 55 mph unless otherwise posted. That is the same as WI except WI post the speed a lot more frequently. Another thing that I have noticed about speed control. On the rural hwys, roads are geneally in good driveing conditions. They do use rough roads in the little communities to control speed. I was under 25 mph to keep from shaking the cycle and trailer apart.
I got on state hwy 11 Milo. That was my primary road to Ft Kent and the start of US 1. I road threw Millinocket, the home of the Pelletier Logging Operations. I looked for the cafe but couldn't find it. I just rode hwy 11 through town and then over to I95. I took I95 about 2 miles north and then reconnected with 11 for the final push to Ft Kent and then Madawaska. When I came off I95 at Sherman Station I saw a small sign that said the 4-Corner Park was 130 miles. North I headed for an interesting and wild ride. We rolled over many hills. When they built this road, they basically cut the surface soil and layed the blacktop. Therefore, I was following the exact contour of the ground. It made for some steep climbs and rides down the hills. Some times we hit 10% grades. Some of the grades were over 1/4 mile. A couple of them were longer than that. I would really pick up a lot of speed on those down grades and the Wing really needed to dig into its power curve to make the top on some of the others. Generally I could maintain speed on the up grades by going to full throttle. You need to remember, I am pulling a camper that weights 235 dry and I have about 100 extra pounds in it plus the hundred pounds on the bike and myself at 270. That old Girl is hawling quite a load.
As I road north, I was constantly running into names and locations of places written about by one of my favorite historical authors, Kenneth Roberts. I would look at the country and imagine the way it must have looked during the Revolutionary War era. It is rough now. It must have been a real challenge then.
I made Ft Kent without any problems and then came the confusion. I needed to do some sreaching to find the road to Madawaska. Again, there was very little signage. I finally worked it out and came to US 1. I did some manuvering to get a photo op at the sign of the start of US 1 with the bike. I got it and then on to Madawaska. It was solid overcast and threating rain when I got here. I got a room at the Martins Motel. I then went to the Post Office for my photo shot. I took a number of photos and had a local yourg man take a couple of me and the scoot. I also visited the 4 Corner Park. I took some photos there also. It is a nice monument dedicated to those who complete the challenge of the 4-Corner Run.
I will pack up and be off on my personal challenge of completeing this run. I had several phone calls on my cell last night but will not beable to either get messages of return calls until I get further south because of the local long distance charges over and about roaming charges. I will bring you up todate on this days journey tonight. Milo
I took 201 to Bingham and Hwy 16. I went east on 16 to Milo, ME which was one of my goals for this day. They had a nice welcome sign so I t00k the oppertunity to do a photo of the scoot. Many of the small towns that I entered did not have any identification signs at all. In general, Maine doesnot spend much on signage. It is not unusual to go for long distances and see no hwy or speed signs. On several occasions I rode out of a town and the last speed sign I saw was for 45mph. A number of miles later, I would come into another population area and see a slow down to 45 mph sign. I had no idea what the actual speed limit was for the area that I drove though. It does seem that the 2 lane max speed is 55 mph unless otherwise posted. That is the same as WI except WI post the speed a lot more frequently. Another thing that I have noticed about speed control. On the rural hwys, roads are geneally in good driveing conditions. They do use rough roads in the little communities to control speed. I was under 25 mph to keep from shaking the cycle and trailer apart.
I got on state hwy 11 Milo. That was my primary road to Ft Kent and the start of US 1. I road threw Millinocket, the home of the Pelletier Logging Operations. I looked for the cafe but couldn't find it. I just rode hwy 11 through town and then over to I95. I took I95 about 2 miles north and then reconnected with 11 for the final push to Ft Kent and then Madawaska. When I came off I95 at Sherman Station I saw a small sign that said the 4-Corner Park was 130 miles. North I headed for an interesting and wild ride. We rolled over many hills. When they built this road, they basically cut the surface soil and layed the blacktop. Therefore, I was following the exact contour of the ground. It made for some steep climbs and rides down the hills. Some times we hit 10% grades. Some of the grades were over 1/4 mile. A couple of them were longer than that. I would really pick up a lot of speed on those down grades and the Wing really needed to dig into its power curve to make the top on some of the others. Generally I could maintain speed on the up grades by going to full throttle. You need to remember, I am pulling a camper that weights 235 dry and I have about 100 extra pounds in it plus the hundred pounds on the bike and myself at 270. That old Girl is hawling quite a load.
As I road north, I was constantly running into names and locations of places written about by one of my favorite historical authors, Kenneth Roberts. I would look at the country and imagine the way it must have looked during the Revolutionary War era. It is rough now. It must have been a real challenge then.
I made Ft Kent without any problems and then came the confusion. I needed to do some sreaching to find the road to Madawaska. Again, there was very little signage. I finally worked it out and came to US 1. I did some manuvering to get a photo op at the sign of the start of US 1 with the bike. I got it and then on to Madawaska. It was solid overcast and threating rain when I got here. I got a room at the Martins Motel. I then went to the Post Office for my photo shot. I took a number of photos and had a local yourg man take a couple of me and the scoot. I also visited the 4 Corner Park. I took some photos there also. It is a nice monument dedicated to those who complete the challenge of the 4-Corner Run.
I will pack up and be off on my personal challenge of completeing this run. I had several phone calls on my cell last night but will not beable to either get messages of return calls until I get further south because of the local long distance charges over and about roaming charges. I will bring you up todate on this days journey tonight. Milo
Monday, July 5, 2010
MADAWASKA, ME!!!!!
July 4, 2010
Well, I got here about 6:30 PM. I had a beautiful ride up from Farmington. I got a late start. Yesterday whipped me some. I figured that I was about 1 1/2 Hrs ahead of where I planned on being this AM so no big deal.
I want to cover my travels on July 4th. I started early. 7:45 AM. I ran the Thoughway for about 60 miles. All I will say about the toll system is that they have good roads so there is fast travel. However, they really rip off the motorcycles especially when they are pulling a trailer. So I got trailer charges. They about doubled my costs. I just sucked it in, paid and muttered to my self and got off the !@ #$ %!!!! things and got on the back roads.
I got off near Rome, NY and got onto Hwy 8. What a wonderful ride. Lots of sweeper with a mix of twistys. Traffic was light so I could just let that Wing roll. I was really please with the power. I could pull the trailer thought the corner like it wasn't there. All I heard was a deep rumble of that 1800 adding power. I rode 8 up to I87 and then dropped south to Glen Falls and took 4 into VT. I was into traffic by now. Many people touristing. I worked on patience a number of times because they were not traveling at speed limit. Again, when I was outside of traffic it was just great rolling the twistees and sweepers. The timber was like WI, very green with multiple shades all the time. The whole area reminded me about the Mississippi River Valley and the WI bluff country around the that area. Love My Harley and I had done quite a bit of riding in that area so the pictures were fresh in my mind.
It was breathtaking peaking a hill and looking over the wide vista that spread before me. I just couldnot figure a way to take it as a picture. I will never forget the views though. A special treat.
To continue the trip. I followed US4 to VT 100 and then 107. These were a couple local roads that swept through the Green Mt. Again, some great riding and beautiful vistas. I went Noth on I91 to Montpelier VT and hooked up with Hwy2. 2 took me across the rest of VT, NH and into ME. One special treat was at Danville VT. It was hot all day and I wanted an Ice Cream treat. As I left Danville I was planning on stopping at a gas station to get an Ice Cream bar. As you leave Danville, there is a steep hill about 1/4 mile of longer with about a 8% grade. I saw the station and then ahead, about 1/2 way up the next hill were flags saying Ice Cream. This was a no brainer decision. I did the Ice Cream shop. What a treat. It was a little family run operation with chickens, dogs and other animals wandering around. The Ice Cream with Gilford. They had a Black Rasberry no sugar, no fat added. The size and price and quality would easily equal the Hawkeye dairy. If anyone get near St. Johnsbury VT they absolutely need to make that run over to Danville and the Ice Cream shop.
NH was very pretty also. A warning to anyone going east on US 2 into Maine. If you are thinking about overnight facilities, stop at Gorham NH. They have a number of old style motels and resturants. Use them unless you want to run over to Farmington ME. That is about a 2 hr drive. There is not much for overnight facilities between the two.
The Comfort Inn at Farmington was a nice stay. There are also several other motels there. They also have several good restrurants. Once I got settled down, I slept well. Continue later. Milo
Well, I got here about 6:30 PM. I had a beautiful ride up from Farmington. I got a late start. Yesterday whipped me some. I figured that I was about 1 1/2 Hrs ahead of where I planned on being this AM so no big deal.
I want to cover my travels on July 4th. I started early. 7:45 AM. I ran the Thoughway for about 60 miles. All I will say about the toll system is that they have good roads so there is fast travel. However, they really rip off the motorcycles especially when they are pulling a trailer. So I got trailer charges. They about doubled my costs. I just sucked it in, paid and muttered to my self and got off the !@ #$ %!!!! things and got on the back roads.
I got off near Rome, NY and got onto Hwy 8. What a wonderful ride. Lots of sweeper with a mix of twistys. Traffic was light so I could just let that Wing roll. I was really please with the power. I could pull the trailer thought the corner like it wasn't there. All I heard was a deep rumble of that 1800 adding power. I rode 8 up to I87 and then dropped south to Glen Falls and took 4 into VT. I was into traffic by now. Many people touristing. I worked on patience a number of times because they were not traveling at speed limit. Again, when I was outside of traffic it was just great rolling the twistees and sweepers. The timber was like WI, very green with multiple shades all the time. The whole area reminded me about the Mississippi River Valley and the WI bluff country around the that area. Love My Harley and I had done quite a bit of riding in that area so the pictures were fresh in my mind.
It was breathtaking peaking a hill and looking over the wide vista that spread before me. I just couldnot figure a way to take it as a picture. I will never forget the views though. A special treat.
To continue the trip. I followed US4 to VT 100 and then 107. These were a couple local roads that swept through the Green Mt. Again, some great riding and beautiful vistas. I went Noth on I91 to Montpelier VT and hooked up with Hwy2. 2 took me across the rest of VT, NH and into ME. One special treat was at Danville VT. It was hot all day and I wanted an Ice Cream treat. As I left Danville I was planning on stopping at a gas station to get an Ice Cream bar. As you leave Danville, there is a steep hill about 1/4 mile of longer with about a 8% grade. I saw the station and then ahead, about 1/2 way up the next hill were flags saying Ice Cream. This was a no brainer decision. I did the Ice Cream shop. What a treat. It was a little family run operation with chickens, dogs and other animals wandering around. The Ice Cream with Gilford. They had a Black Rasberry no sugar, no fat added. The size and price and quality would easily equal the Hawkeye dairy. If anyone get near St. Johnsbury VT they absolutely need to make that run over to Danville and the Ice Cream shop.
NH was very pretty also. A warning to anyone going east on US 2 into Maine. If you are thinking about overnight facilities, stop at Gorham NH. They have a number of old style motels and resturants. Use them unless you want to run over to Farmington ME. That is about a 2 hr drive. There is not much for overnight facilities between the two.
The Comfort Inn at Farmington was a nice stay. There are also several other motels there. They also have several good restrurants. Once I got settled down, I slept well. Continue later. Milo
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Farmington ME
It has been 2 eventful. Yesterday, Bel and I needed to separate. We did this with great reluctance but his Harley just rolled over, put it's tires in the air and kicked really hard and then died. We started well in the morning. We were at the Harley shop early. They couldn't get the bike in but guided Bel in replacking the Cruise Control switch. Bel completed the job with my encouragement and assistance. I said the bad words when necesary. We were done and on the road by 3;30 PM. The Cruise didn't work but we decided to keep going. We made a quick spot at a rest area to make those decisions. We took of in heavy traffic and I lost Bel. I got to do the loop the toll booths again and caught up with Bel. Thats when the Harley rolled over and died. We discussed the situation and Bel called a tow service. He was getting his bike on a trailer when I took off. I went about 65 miles down the road and spent the night. Bel and I talked by phone and he was still figuring options. I watched the 1st half of the race and went to bed for an early start on the 4th.
I am going to bed early again so will bring you up to day on this days activities tomorrow. Tomorrow I plan on get to Madawaska and start the official time for the 4 corners run.
I am going to bed early again so will bring you up to day on this days activities tomorrow. Tomorrow I plan on get to Madawaska and start the official time for the 4 corners run.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Our Odessey
Here we are at Buffalo again tonight. We ended up here last night because of a flat tire just as we entered the NY Thoughway. We had made it 8 miles. Bel picked up an s hook off a bungee, in his front tire. He had just entered the Thoughway. I had taken off ahead of him and didn't know until I saw that he wasn't behind me and stopped at an exit ramp. He called and let me know the problem so I did a quick turn around through the toll gates, to get back to him. Fortunately he decided to leave the s hook in place until we had a repair. The tire hadn't lost any air at this point. I have a tire plug kit with me so between him, another biker that stopped to help and myself, we got the hook out and the tire plug in without loosing any air in the tire. We spent last night in this same hotel room looking for Harley dealers and trying to figure out how to get to them. Between a couple maps, the yellow pages and this computer, we got'er done.
So we got to Buffalo Harley at 10 AM. They took the bike in right away. We went to breakfast and came back to, hopefully,,. a ready to ride motorcycle. Bel has them change the hand grips. Well, 4 hours later we are ready to leave. We load up, readjust our plan for the day and head for the Thoughway. We got 20 miles when Bel pulled up and said his cruise control was not working. His speedo was not working and his signals were not working. We tried to do some fixing and end up going back to Buffalo Harley. The Service Manage got Bel right in and did some troubleshooting. It turns out that who ever had the bike before Bel did some shade tree work on the cruise switch. When they installed the new grips the wires moved just enough to cause a short and blow the fuse.
He put it back together and the short was taken care of. We are not sure where it was but it was not shorting the fuses now. Only problem, cruise does not engage. So we are here again, waiting to get to the dealer tomorrow to get the switch changed. They have the switch in stock and will get on it right away.
This day is only the latest in several days of slow starts and worst finishes. Wednesday night we stayed at Emmet MI. We camped at a nices little KOA. Unfortunately it was 8 miles to a diner. Food was good but not great. We had a colllllddddd night. It had been a cold day of riding. We were in leather until that last hour. My outside temp gage never got over 65 until about Flint and the last hour. We were in cold and wind all the way up to Big Mac. The bridge was a person victory for me.
They were working on the rail (right) lane, so I had to ride the grates all the way across. That bridge has scared me every time that I had to cross it. I was always terrified about needing to ride the grates. I did it! The real problem was that we had 18 wheelers ahead of us and were limited to 15 mph. Motorcycles do not handle and balance well when at low speed. The put them on a surface that wiggles all over the place and the grates are not line up so I had a motorcycle that was just wiggling all over the place. It was like riding on grease with some grip to it. Normally when I cross it, I am locked up with my body. This time I had to move my body smoothly to follow the shifting balance of the bike. In addition we had about a 30+ mph cross wind out of the west while we were on the bridge. So now I had to also countersteer right to adjust for that wind. What a ride; I made it. Bel had a similar experience and feelings. We talked alot about this at lunch.
Thursday was another of those odessey experiences. We got an early start and headed across Southern Canada to Buffalo. Everything went well until we got about 40 miles from the border. 1st we were in 1 3/4 hours of traffic jams on the QEW toward the Lewis crossing. We finally got to the crossing and spent about 2 1/2 hours in line getting to the crossing point. It was after 6 PM by the time we got threw and some thing to eat. We had not eaten since breakfast and that was a quicke at McD's. We got fueled up and then to the Throughway. That is where I started this odessey.
I did take some time to get pictures download off my camera today so should be able to get some on site within next couple of day. I really do hope that I am someplace else that Buffalo when I make my next entry's. I guess we are all made stronger through stress and strife in our lives. The last couple days Bel and I have put on much spiritual mussel. Hope you all had a better day than we did. Milo
So we got to Buffalo Harley at 10 AM. They took the bike in right away. We went to breakfast and came back to, hopefully,,. a ready to ride motorcycle. Bel has them change the hand grips. Well, 4 hours later we are ready to leave. We load up, readjust our plan for the day and head for the Thoughway. We got 20 miles when Bel pulled up and said his cruise control was not working. His speedo was not working and his signals were not working. We tried to do some fixing and end up going back to Buffalo Harley. The Service Manage got Bel right in and did some troubleshooting. It turns out that who ever had the bike before Bel did some shade tree work on the cruise switch. When they installed the new grips the wires moved just enough to cause a short and blow the fuse.
He put it back together and the short was taken care of. We are not sure where it was but it was not shorting the fuses now. Only problem, cruise does not engage. So we are here again, waiting to get to the dealer tomorrow to get the switch changed. They have the switch in stock and will get on it right away.
This day is only the latest in several days of slow starts and worst finishes. Wednesday night we stayed at Emmet MI. We camped at a nices little KOA. Unfortunately it was 8 miles to a diner. Food was good but not great. We had a colllllddddd night. It had been a cold day of riding. We were in leather until that last hour. My outside temp gage never got over 65 until about Flint and the last hour. We were in cold and wind all the way up to Big Mac. The bridge was a person victory for me.
They were working on the rail (right) lane, so I had to ride the grates all the way across. That bridge has scared me every time that I had to cross it. I was always terrified about needing to ride the grates. I did it! The real problem was that we had 18 wheelers ahead of us and were limited to 15 mph. Motorcycles do not handle and balance well when at low speed. The put them on a surface that wiggles all over the place and the grates are not line up so I had a motorcycle that was just wiggling all over the place. It was like riding on grease with some grip to it. Normally when I cross it, I am locked up with my body. This time I had to move my body smoothly to follow the shifting balance of the bike. In addition we had about a 30+ mph cross wind out of the west while we were on the bridge. So now I had to also countersteer right to adjust for that wind. What a ride; I made it. Bel had a similar experience and feelings. We talked alot about this at lunch.
Thursday was another of those odessey experiences. We got an early start and headed across Southern Canada to Buffalo. Everything went well until we got about 40 miles from the border. 1st we were in 1 3/4 hours of traffic jams on the QEW toward the Lewis crossing. We finally got to the crossing and spent about 2 1/2 hours in line getting to the crossing point. It was after 6 PM by the time we got threw and some thing to eat. We had not eaten since breakfast and that was a quicke at McD's. We got fueled up and then to the Throughway. That is where I started this odessey.
I did take some time to get pictures download off my camera today so should be able to get some on site within next couple of day. I really do hope that I am someplace else that Buffalo when I make my next entry's. I guess we are all made stronger through stress and strife in our lives. The last couple days Bel and I have put on much spiritual mussel. Hope you all had a better day than we did. Milo
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