Saturday, May 30, 2015

Day 4 - First mistake for the trip

Woke up before sunrise and packed up my gear and loaded the bike.  Evening before I asked a fellow for the best place to get breakfast in Monticello early.  He said the only good restaurant did not open until 8:00.  So I decided I would ride in to Moab, UT and find nourishment.  Fifty five miles and I would be awake and ready for food.

I found a favorite breakfast place called Denny's.  Familiar menu, familiar logo, always reasonable.  Here rears the ugly head of my mistake. While paying my bill I noticed that I still had my motel key.  Yes, and older, small town motel that still used keys.  So, back to the motel to turn in my key and then proceed with the ride.  Just a 110 mile detour for my day.  At least I had the flexibility to handle it without a problem.

After leaving Moab I went to Arches National Park.  Sure glad I brought my Senior Pass with me this time.  Awesome rock formations.  I did not go all the way in and back, just part way.  When I left the motel that morning it was 45 degrees.  I had unpacked my heavy, leather jacket and by the time I got into Arches up amongst the rocks it was in the mid-eighties and I was roasting when not moving.

Don't trust your GPS if your instincts tell you something is wrong.

When I left Arches I set my GPS for Green River, UT.  GPS said it was over 300 miles.  OK, I guess.  I got up to I-70 and it told me to turn East.  That seemed wrong even though it still said it was over 287 miles away.  A few miles down the road, I pulled of the road and stopped the program and reentered the town.  Ahhh, surprise.  Green River is only 27 miles away in the opposite direction.

Instinct wins again.

After leaving Green River (around 4,000' elevation) I started climbing.  Got into construction again.  No, they are not working on the weekend, but one lane is closed going east and west.  My luck I got in a line of cars behind an 18 wheeler (?) pulling three trailers on this long uphill grade at 20 mph.  That was a long 10-15 miles.  And again very hot, still wearing that leather jacket.

Pulled into Salina, UT and the first thing I see (initial surprise) are seagulls.  Maybe you know, maybe not, but when Mormons were first settling in Utah the had a plague of locusts and out of nowhere appeared these seagulls who devoured the locusts and saved their crops.  I had forgotten all about that and it may not be totally accurate.  Perhaps you can research it on the internet.

Ending mileage for the day is 161,313 for a total of 457 for the day.
Day 3 - Fun, fun, fun.

Could not connect my computer at motel last night.  Well, accessed, but allowed Local Access ONLY.  Day 4 had same problem, so went to Denny's next door and set down, plugged in, while ordering dinner, asked for a password and they tell me that their internet is not functional.  Came back for motel office and am using their office computer.  At least that works.

So, on to day three activities.  Departed Santa Rosa, NM and stopped for the night in Monticello, UT.

After leaving the Interstate at Albuquerque, I headed north on US 550.  I have traveled 550 in Colorado and it was a beautiful ride.  This one not much different.  550 was very beautiful for about 25-30 miles.  Just fantastic mountains and wild colors.  After that ran into construction for a while and then a flagman, and then stopped and sat and waited.  Very hot sitting in the sun even with the engine shut off.

After getting settled into my motel and finding out that my computer would not work, I got frustrated and walked outside.  Motel is right on US-191 (I think).  Watching traffic and looking down the road about 50-60 yards from me I see a deer walking across the road.  Car honked at him and he bounded off.  Looked like a spike or forked horn.  No big rack, but definitely a buck.  Then a few seconds later a doe bounds across the road after him.  I started walking down the road towards where they came out and two more came out and crossed the road, maybe another 40-50 yards further down.  Very surprised to see that activity.  Right in town, although it is not a very big town.

Ending mileage for the day was 160956, which makes the daily total at 433.


Thursday, May 28, 2015

Day 2 - Finally out of  the rain

After a peaceful nights rest in Sweetwater, TX, loaded up and put on my rain jacket, just in case.

Dodging thunderstorms again.  Coming up on one approaching Plainview I started to pull off on a county road and wait under an overpass and check the radar picture.  But, I could not exit.  Water had the exit ramp flooded.  I was riding in 3" of water and decided to get back on the highway.  Surprise, the water was completely covering over the slow lane and into the fast lane.  I got past it and stopped under the overpass anyway.  At least it was about a 5' shoulder.  After waiting a good half hour for the radar picture to improve I decided to venture forth again.

This storm was still hanging onto Plainview so I cut west on Texas 194 and followed it up to  I-40.  Best choice of the day.  No rain other than a few sprinkles.

Headed west on I-40 and stopped in Tucumcari, NM to look around the Blue Swallow Motel, which some of you have been to in the past on the New Mexico ride-ins.  Met the new owners then stopped at Denny's for a late lunch.

When walking out  of Denny's I went around the corner of the building and saw about 15-20 bikers riding in a group called U.S. Military Veterans.  Decided to socialize a bit and ended up recognizing one of the riders.  We had shared a Spring Break Ride about 2 years ago to Las Cruces, NM.  He is from Fort Worth and they were headed into Arizona for their ride.

Leaving Tucumcari I was pelted with a short, hard shower, the worst of the day, but it only lasted  about 5-10 miles.  Stopped in Santa Rosa, NM for the night.

Ending mileage for the day was: 160,523, which made exactly 400 miles for the day.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Day 1 - I am tired

Woke up this morning and checked the weather.  Another big thunderstorm is bearing down on Houston.  It was still north of us so decided to take the wife out to breakfast at the New York Bagel Shop.  Most excellent as usual.  Probably why it is one of our favorites.

Got back home and it was still sprinkling but it looked like it was moving more to the east and just a little to the south.  Put on my rain gear and headed west along the southern edge of the storm.  Had rain for about 50 miles and broke out into sunshine.  Nice surprise.

Clouded back up and started some light sprinkling, so decided it was time to refuel as I was about 20 miles from Austin.  Checked weather radar again.  Another big thunderstorm was moving into Austin from the south so decided to wait a while and check its progress later.  Second check showed it centered on Austin AND another cell was following it a little further to the west.

When the first one cleared the southern edge of Austin I took off as my route was around that side of town.  I got through there with just wet roads then angled northwest and managed to slip right between the two cells.  I did not want to hit Austin around lunch time with ongoing construction and thunderstorms.  Plan worked out but set back my timing for the day.

I stopped about 90 miles later in Brady and a lady asked if I was headed south.  I replied I was headed north.  She said that was good because she had just heard on the radio that 4 tornadoes had touched down in Blanco County.  That would have been the thunderstorm that I managed to avoid.

After that the day got hot.  I finally stopped in Sweetwater and got a room for the night.  It was already after 6 and I had started just after 8 this morning.  About 10 hours and only 421.7 miles.  Bike just purring along.

Ending mileage for the day: 160,123

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

2015 - Back to blogging - Hope you enjoy my trip.

Today is May 26,2015 and due to a request I decided to try updating my blog.

Cannot believe that 2009 was the last time I wrote anything. Nobody has bugged me about it so I guess my blogging was not missed.

 Hopefully this time you may find something to interest you as I undertake this journey on my motorcycle over the next 2.5 weeks. Early tomorrow morning, the good Lord willing, I will depart upon this epic adventure.

When I bought this motorcycle in 2007 I had two goals in mind. I wanted to ride at least 10,000 miles a year for the next five years and I wanted to travel to all of the lower 48 states. This July I will have had the bike 8 years. The bike had 25,450 miles on it when purchased. As of the start of this trip the bike has traveled 159,677 miles. I have logged 134,227 miles in a little under 8 years. That averages out to over 16,000 miles per year. However, I still have not completely covered all of the lower 48 states.

 This trip will cover: Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma. I really do not know if I will ever complete the lower 48 as I will still be missing the northeast corner of our great country.

 Well, now you have an idea of what I am planning on doing. Hopefully, I will be able to communicate some of me experiences to you. Hopefully, I will be able to access this on my laptop while on the road.