tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48534255081865546702024-02-06T20:32:22.147-08:00A Road Well TraveledChad's motorcycle adventuresUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-52041444682183201572012-09-06T18:40:00.001-07:002012-09-06T18:40:28.596-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 23<i>"Homeward bound<br />I wish I was<br />Homeward bound<br />Home, where my thought's escaping<br />Home, where my music's playing<br />Home, where my love lies waiting<br />Silently for me"</i><br />
<i>Chorus to Homeward Bound, by Simon & Garfunkel</i><br />
<br />
Twenty three days, and nearly 6,700 miles, later...I'm home. All of a sudden my body aches in ways I wasn't aware it was aching. I feel weary in ways I didn't realize I felt weary. The end of the journey seems to have opened the floodgates to the effects of travel.<br />
<br />
As I crossed the border back into Michigan, at about 4:30PM, my thoughts turned to reflection on the travels of the past 16 months. I've ridden almost 23,000 miles and I've got plans to ride a couple thousand more before the snow flies. I've ridden to the east coast and I've ridden to the west. I've ridden in sunshine, wind, rain, extreme heat and not quite extreme cold. I've seen mountains, valleys, gorges, plains, deserts, ranges, oceans, rivers, lakes, swamps...in short, I've seen more of America than most people will see in their entire lives. On more than one occasion, I've been told that my travels have raised the "jealousy" factor among some of my fellow riders, a sentiment I can certainly understand.<br />
<br />
However, truth be told, I'd give back every vista, every scenic view, every stunning panorama, every inspiring moment, every sunrise and sunset...every mile...just to go to work at 7:00AM, spend 8 to 10 hours stressed to the max, and then come home to kiss my wife, pick my little girl up, and kiss her cheeks and nose while tickling her and listening to her squeal with delight because daddy's home...<br />
<br />
...sorry if that's a Debbie Downer moment there. It's just what I've been thinking about for the past few hours. Either way, it's good to be home, such as it is.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-71125676803448134712012-09-05T20:57:00.000-07:002012-09-05T20:58:03.551-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 22Has it really only been three weeks since I left home? Seems like I've been gone for a long time and seen a whole lot of these great United States.<br />
<br />
The past 4 days on I-80 have gone by pretty fast...sometimes literally. Now that I'm back in the eastern half of the country, things will probably slow down just a little bit. I don't think the speed limit tops 70 between here and home...I'll miss you 75.<br />
<br />
I rode 555 miles today, according to my odometer, and took no pictures. If you want to see what I saw, just scroll back to days 4 and 5. Replace any wheat you see with corn. You get the idea. I wanted to take one of the welcome to Iowa sign, but it's in the middle of a bridge over I-80, not the greatest place for me to play tourist.<br />
<br />
Even though it was a long day of riding, there were plenty of positives:<br />
<ul>
<li>The sun shone all day.</li>
<li>Gas is cheaper in Nebraska.</li>
<li>I met an old friend, from high school, for dinner.</li>
<li>I'm only 530 miles from home.</li>
</ul>
There were a few negatives, too:<br />
<ul>
<li>The wind was brutal through most of Nebraska, especially for the first couple hours. It was blowing hard out of the north or north west. This was the worst day for wind I've had on the entire ride. I didn't expect that to happen in Nebraska.</li>
<li>My fuel usage has seen a sharp increase. I had one tank of gas today where I only got 30MPG. I'm guessing I've lost any and all benefit from heading "downhill" and/or having a westerly tailwind. Four straight days of running hard and fast while getting 37 to 40MPG's was fun, but the fun appears to be over. Now that I'm "back east" and will have to slow down, it should creep back up into the mid 30's while on the highway. </li>
<li>I got sprayed with cow pee. I have long wondered what happens when a cow pees while being transported in a cattle carrier on the highway. I wonder no more. There was a construction zone about 200 miles into the ride. A westbound rig had a load of bovine in the back. I saw the mist shooting out the side of the truck just a mere second before we passed each other. I didn't get drenched, just "misted" quite nicely. I stopped for gas in Grand Island and tried washing up...as much as I'm ready to hit the hay tonight, I'm even more ready to take a shower. I'm trying to decide if getting sprayed with cow pee ranks higher or lower than seeing a naked man walking through San Francisco. I can wash cow pee off, I can't erase what I saw there.</li>
</ul>
Tomorrow is likely my last day on the road for this adventure. I'm too close to home to want to try and break the last 530 miles up into more than 1 day. Going 555 today let's me know I should be able to make it home quite easily, even with plenty of stops for gas and water.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is another day and another road (and hopefully a lot less cow pee.) :)<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-26116885018534712152012-09-04T15:45:00.002-07:002012-09-04T15:53:00.637-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 21I'm not really on the west coast anymore...am I? For that matter, I really spent most of this trip not on the west coast...oh, well, it was the destination. :)<br />
<br />
I pulled out of Green River, Wyoming, at 8:00AM this morning. It was cold. Colder than what I probably should have been riding in. Even with my leather coat and a sweatshirt on, I was cold. I shook it off because I knew that every mile I rode east was another little bit warmer. Southwest Wyoming might get cold at night, but it can warm up pretty fast. I knew it was supposed to be 90ish by the time I got to Cheyenne, so I figured I had plenty of time to warm up later.<br />
<br />
Two things I've noticed in the past couple days:<br />
1.) They take snow fencing seriously out here. Back home they'll string up that orange plastic drift fence in the worst spots and call it good. If they're really feeling like working, they'll put up the wooden slat fences. Our here, they build wall sized fences to control the drift. Of course, these mammoth fences can get overwhelmed. There are devices in place to shut I-80 down at almost every town, if the snow gets too bad.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-MXM42-sAGknb68RdYcv_CS2z2vwJHrUKE2kUMntKLpVAdWxVWIe-zaeJdyfZelisXbky1Vq67nwlAIKRPHIgufpVWLSitP-KtZVztq_0jr3qoO3qh6bj5Wlo56gVgPV-KoRstSYaRQ/s1600/IMG_0709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-MXM42-sAGknb68RdYcv_CS2z2vwJHrUKE2kUMntKLpVAdWxVWIe-zaeJdyfZelisXbky1Vq67nwlAIKRPHIgufpVWLSitP-KtZVztq_0jr3qoO3qh6bj5Wlo56gVgPV-KoRstSYaRQ/s640/IMG_0709.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snow fence, about 10 feet tall, I 'spect</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
2.) When they decide to divert traffic from one side of the highway to the other, they just plop cones down the center line, at least that's what I ran into in two looooong stretches in Wyoming. When I first drove through it I thought, "wow, they're really putting a lot of faith in humanity to expect those cones to keep traffic in the correct lanes." However, the longer I drove in it, the more I saw how stupid it is that when they do this back home they takes days, sometimes weeks, constructing temporary concrete barriers down the middle of the roadway. Seriously, we drive on 2 lane highways and other streets, without any cones or barriers in the middle of the road, all the time! Why does the state of Michigan waste so much time and money putting those dumb concrete barriers up? I can't imagine they're any good for the pavement or concrete we're driving on and putting them in place is a slow and costly process. Out here they plop down 10 miles of cones in a day and call it good. The cones are mostly there just to remind you that you're driving against opposing traffic and you need to stay in your lane. It's simple, really. Maybe that's the problem...it's simple...it makes too much sense...it's asking drivers to think for themselves instead of treating them like sheep. Baa-aaa-aaa-aaa!<br />
<br />
I reached the continental divide, at some point. I jokingly thought to myself that it would all be downhill from there. Nope, at one point I remember an elevation sign that read almost 9,000 feet farther down the road.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgob5em_LDpqiAtBFsY66m6ycXh0yREf_P8WMrzsoEmNnaIWO8W4_FOy1hIUilo5hHPxAICwwDiyW9kIku9Ab6BdyOuVtiq9bcR0k59CrvHtKwEX5HWBkVI47mddKqDh0_WLUsV2SweN0U/s1600/IMG_1866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgob5em_LDpqiAtBFsY66m6ycXh0yREf_P8WMrzsoEmNnaIWO8W4_FOy1hIUilo5hHPxAICwwDiyW9kIku9Ab6BdyOuVtiq9bcR0k59CrvHtKwEX5HWBkVI47mddKqDh0_WLUsV2SweN0U/s640/IMG_1866.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's all down hill from here!</td></tr>
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It's really funny how the landscape really does kind of change very quickly out here. Especially right along the state lines. The terrain change from California to Nevada was a noticeable change. The change from Nevada to Utah was a noticeable change. The shift from Utah to Wyoming was also a noticeable change. About 25 miles east of Cheyenne, Wyoming, you can tell another change, and another state, is coming. You're booking down I-80 and a hill raises up and begins looming out in the distance in front of you. It almost looks like an earthen wave. As you approach it, you start wondering if it's going to be the last hill you'll ever see. You can't see anything beyond it, and the land leading up to it is relatively flat. The road heads up little, then it heads down, and there you are, on the other side of the hill and in Nebraska. To be fair, it's not nearly as dramatic as the shift from in some of the other states. Nebraska certainly gets "flatter" than Wyoming, but it's not a pancake. There are plenty of rolling hills and even a few beautiful rocky outcroppings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5Cr7Xxx7MrWDCiMtGjaZAvWEO_Zrw0NFg65x1N2kIzatB-CybFQwaJyMtrsrZYfiK9F5qzIa6bYswa3xtW0NKufz9Bo-VOVvUDLM9uZWNv-_jIVplZ8k_ojWpql0KVelmxZjqLZus3s/s1600/IMG_1872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5Cr7Xxx7MrWDCiMtGjaZAvWEO_Zrw0NFg65x1N2kIzatB-CybFQwaJyMtrsrZYfiK9F5qzIa6bYswa3xtW0NKufz9Bo-VOVvUDLM9uZWNv-_jIVplZ8k_ojWpql0KVelmxZjqLZus3s/s640/IMG_1872.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucky #13</td></tr>
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Every since I got into Wyoming, I've been trying to figure out what to call the landscape. It's not prairie. It's not mountains. There are valleys and gorges, but it's not just those, either. Then, out of the blue, it hit me. "Home, home on the range. Where the deer and the antelope play..." It's the range. This is the range! This is where they grow my hamburgers! I finally felt like I had some context for what I was looking at...the antelope should have been a dead give away. No, I didn't take any pictures of the antelope. They seemed to stay away from the road and up on top of whatever hill they might be grazing on.<br />
<br />
While traveling this highway hasn't always been enthralling, it does seem to be a great way to get from one side of the country to the other. I hate to admit it, but there were plenty of times today when I looked down at my speedometer, only to find I was cruising along at about 90 to 95. There's just very little landscape to help you keep your speed in check...and even less traffic. There were often times today when I could see a mile in front and a mile behind me and I wasn't fighting anyone for space on the road, if there was even anyone on the road with me. The strong wind blowing out of the west certainly didn't help slow me down, either. When I filled up my gas tank in Cheyenne, I'd ridden almost 160 miles on 4 gallons of gas...in about 2 hours. Riding that fast back home would drop my MPG's down to about 32 miles per gallon...that must have been some tail wind...or maybe I just finally started going downhill. :)<br />
<br />
Last bit for today...I promise. I experienced two temperature shifts today that were totally unexpected. I was about 50 miles out of Green River when the first one occurred. I was cruising right along, and plenty cold, when I topped at small rise in the highway and felt an immediate increase of probably 5 degrees in the temperature. It went from being cold to being cool, in an instant. The next change came about 15 miles west of Cheyenne. I was surprised that it was cool enough out that I was still riding comfortably with my coat and a sweatshirt on. That all changed when I topped another small rise in the highway. It went from being cool to being hot in less than 2 miles. Not just take the sweatshirt off hot, it was take the sweatshirt and the coat off kinda hot. That's a pretty dramatic shift from being comfortable in them. I'm even pretty sure it was an actual temperature shift and not menopause, just in case you were wondering. I'm used to having stuff like that happen as I approach a large body of water, especially on an hot day. You'll be riding along and the temperature will drop 10 degrees in a mater of a just a mile or two. I've never had that kind of shift happen out in "the middle of nowhere" especially when it didn't seem like there was that big of a change in elevation taking place. Weird. That's all.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-74623369037821223922012-09-03T20:34:00.000-07:002012-09-03T20:37:35.938-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 20I thought the Nevada desert was bad...and then I rounded a corner, started down a hill, and the landscape got white...OK, not white but there was a lot of white mixed in with the brown. I didn't need a map to tell me I was getting close to the Utah state line. You can see the Bonneville Salt Flats before you get to the last town in Nevada. I'm not sure if it rained there recently, or if they flood it on purpose, but there was a lot of water covering the flats along the highway. Not deep water, mind you, just a few inches. There wasn't a ripple on the water, the surface was like a mirror. In the water, closest to the highway, you could still see the tire tracks from people who had been off-roading (or even drifted off the road) beneath the surface. I-80, through this stretch, is just about straight as an arrow...for almost 50 miles. It's so straight they have to put up signs reminding people not to go to sleep while they're driving.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQ4SEv3xvAwlBtjjYGfGP1D88r0HPGrGJYwS-noQVybUbYccE-5fj3Wj67itkpDruPlxUTPg6JeqsK75022ocTILdGzod7Den8eZlvQLMKzgHQy_UdaSY-0K0iB6olnV0vMthvAW05y0/s1600/IMG_1842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQ4SEv3xvAwlBtjjYGfGP1D88r0HPGrGJYwS-noQVybUbYccE-5fj3Wj67itkpDruPlxUTPg6JeqsK75022ocTILdGzod7Den8eZlvQLMKzgHQy_UdaSY-0K0iB6olnV0vMthvAW05y0/s640/IMG_1842.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to state #11</td></tr>
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The salt flats also have a unique "scent." It almost smells like the ocean...but without the fish. It's a very clean salt smell, almost like a saltwater pool, if you've ever experienced one of those. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvItLXOpE0UP9nMLEnE68C4ueYFVbQTT2KfysGKUXtQnmc0Rt4eVMR2PcFsM9-3EuajBIjJOj5H5OaYR_BWx_5KRH2bbqbFlNVpDerqvoLvXzTEeMH596-nR4bIVlLiaqcIQaVt_I1JA/s1600/Bonneville090312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvItLXOpE0UP9nMLEnE68C4ueYFVbQTT2KfysGKUXtQnmc0Rt4eVMR2PcFsM9-3EuajBIjJOj5H5OaYR_BWx_5KRH2bbqbFlNVpDerqvoLvXzTEeMH596-nR4bIVlLiaqcIQaVt_I1JA/s640/Bonneville090312.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I-80 east, about 15 miles into the flats</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZbkqzdnNh_SNd5ki8iv-4cv4SmiItlvcL4COIA_CplBIuFuCpq_vx5TYEXvrcN7KphQdg45DIG_RVAW0fmUyGVt6rhIhoYsEiq2qh3hvcpufiuB1GjFV7IKAdKQ-lkMOjjHoRP-jVeI/s1600/IMG_1843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZbkqzdnNh_SNd5ki8iv-4cv4SmiItlvcL4COIA_CplBIuFuCpq_vx5TYEXvrcN7KphQdg45DIG_RVAW0fmUyGVt6rhIhoYsEiq2qh3hvcpufiuB1GjFV7IKAdKQ-lkMOjjHoRP-jVeI/s640/IMG_1843.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking east, mountains and clouds mirrored in the water</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5rq98jc2ZBiqCoxWvJ2OOdKtAmKy0z5cHe3iPBDMOc_-oV8pklCntQid41RkuSezblM75xsW-8RYvA4cKzqa3e0bGZH78WchMAIvLY5BplYA1hbkFfQPKZvIO9EIzzn8rAoIxWk6UWU/s1600/IMG_1844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5rq98jc2ZBiqCoxWvJ2OOdKtAmKy0z5cHe3iPBDMOc_-oV8pklCntQid41RkuSezblM75xsW-8RYvA4cKzqa3e0bGZH78WchMAIvLY5BplYA1hbkFfQPKZvIO9EIzzn8rAoIxWk6UWU/s640/IMG_1844.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west, a lot like looking east</td></tr>
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I took a Photosynth panorama of the salt flats and even the app I use for that had a hard time with it. There's very little for it to use to line things up other than the road and the raid road tracks to the south.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=f42c5c38-faa4-4060-bbb9-ccfc18753b19&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
I stopped for lunch east of Salt Lake City...I'm not sure I've ever been on an interstate through a major city that was as unique as I-80 through SLC. I wanted to eat lunch in Salt Lake City...but traveling along I-80 there were no signs indicating what restaurants or gas stations might be available at any given exit, and, the way the highway is constructed, you really can't "see" what's going on in town. So I just kept going. I was 225 miles into my day and didn't feel like exploring. The Park City exit was a little more inviting. The only downside was it was about 2:00PM and everybody who was heading home after their Labor Day weekend festivities was stopping for gas and a bite to eat.<br />
<br />
Once you get to SLC, you also leave the "flat" desert behind. Things get rocky, and there's a touch of green, too. It stays that way right into Wyoming.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEBoMyT_lMwNwCbRDPXdEUp12eVHusbatpuChP0UJyQrGiSrZ35oanrJoUdbRUgt21SN6GvpKPhOuE2oFuPNesEkqmcTW-_o3nJDrUeAsrrsGBK09JtLZRdcRtk4L60R-_ejWL4xL_qnc/s1600/IMG_1857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEBoMyT_lMwNwCbRDPXdEUp12eVHusbatpuChP0UJyQrGiSrZ35oanrJoUdbRUgt21SN6GvpKPhOuE2oFuPNesEkqmcTW-_o3nJDrUeAsrrsGBK09JtLZRdcRtk4L60R-_ejWL4xL_qnc/s640/IMG_1857.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Northeast Utah, it gets kinda pretty up here</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hzR-aULQ-ZqjkXDiLye6uXwqbywXyg8PW_wMTcaAV5RCjjHFlMtBLqCG6aCAbbEFAs9CKpV-hBL04Ptz643YndCJX1q_0UPKILCaLOZonsilulviKTEzIOQ_8SdAvejhowZ3sc-bY38/s1600/IMG_1858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hzR-aULQ-ZqjkXDiLye6uXwqbywXyg8PW_wMTcaAV5RCjjHFlMtBLqCG6aCAbbEFAs9CKpV-hBL04Ptz643YndCJX1q_0UPKILCaLOZonsilulviKTEzIOQ_8SdAvejhowZ3sc-bY38/s640/IMG_1858.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to state #12</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4WRvCfz6DfXtkE4hiGUZeZWiFBTT_4bs7un6n1ftOUFz2ZHwGRo2A6CM8kGYskYCWCCdZfMg8OEdmRaOanI0MELrV6IoVCZA8aYJv_YCGaagAlQb65yljUhHrDuXkCOBOAxi0CdEO1k/s1600/IMG_1862.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4WRvCfz6DfXtkE4hiGUZeZWiFBTT_4bs7un6n1ftOUFz2ZHwGRo2A6CM8kGYskYCWCCdZfMg8OEdmRaOanI0MELrV6IoVCZA8aYJv_YCGaagAlQb65yljUhHrDuXkCOBOAxi0CdEO1k/s640/IMG_1862.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a different perspective...I wasn't tall enough to eliminate the fence</td></tr>
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I don't want people to think I hate Nevada and Utah, I'm just not planning on riding my motorcycle through that way e...v...e...r again. The best thing I can say about I-80 from Reno to SLC is that I survived it. That doesn't mean it isn't beautiful. There is a great beauty in the sparse desolation that defines this part of the country. I might be able to drive through here some time, I just don't want to ride a motorcycle through it again.<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-59742273814385209402012-09-02T22:40:00.000-07:002012-09-02T22:46:48.495-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 19Too much...that's what I think of the decision to try to ride nearly 500 miles today...it was just too much. Yes, I could have ridden more, probably several hundred more. If I had really wanted to push it, I probably could have ridden 800 and been in bed by midnight...but that would have just sucked. As it was, 500 turns out to be more than I want to do in a day. Plans have been changed and it shouldn't be an issue between here and home.<br />
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To keep things short and sweet, the ride out of San Francisco was foggy. It was only 8:30AM and I was well north and east of the bay when I finally rode out of the fog. Sacramento was 60 miles up the road so that's where I stopped for gas. I had to stop 60 miles later to take a picture of the Sierra's and to take my sweatshirt off...moving away from the coast has it's consequences and one of them is heat. The Sierra range is what I would call forested desert. There are lots of green pines covering the mountains, but that's really about it. Not much else seems to be growing there, other than some short scrub brush.<br />
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Once you hit the California/Nevada border, the scenery goes through an almost immediate and radical change. You're still traveling through a rolling mountain range...but it's like they told the trees they had to stop growing at the border. One minute you're trucking along through a pine forest and the next minute there's nothing...just barren hills....and I think that's pretty much what Nevada is, barren hills. I know there are a few spectacular resort areas, but when I looked at a map of the terrain of Nevada this evening, I'm under the impression that 99% of the state looks just like these two pictures here. <br />
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The up side to this kind of travel is that the speed limit on I-80, after Reno, is 75MPH. No one goes 75. Most people were going at least 80, and no one cared if you were going 85. After Reno, the traffic thins out to almost nothing. So, I flat-footed it across the desert as quickly as I felt I could. I left Reno at about 1:30PM and I was at my hotel in Elko at 5:40PM. It's about 290 miles from Reno to Elko...and I stopped for about 20 minutes for gas and a drink in Winnemucca...you do the math.<br />
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I've shortened my plans to about 400 miles for tomorrow, we'll see if that makes the day more tolerable. Planning on hitting the road bright and early again...for me it will be bright and early...Hopefully I can break it into four 100 mile sections with half of those before lunch (and before the temperature breaches 85.)<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-22948583844857537612012-09-01T21:17:00.002-07:002012-09-01T21:19:15.803-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 18Today is the end of the beginning...or the beginning of the end...or maybe that's tomorrow....<br />
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It's my last night in California and on the west coast. Tomorrow morning I hang a big left and start heading east, towards home. It will be mostly interstate riding, as I'd like to be home by the weekend. Unless things have changed drastically since the last time I rode on the interstate...I don't expect the next 4 or 5 days to be all that exciting.<br />
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If you're ever in Gualala, I'd highly recommend staying at the Surf Motel. It's a small place and the owner is involved in the whole operation. He was taking reservations, making breakfast, taking guests pictures on the beach, and I even walked out this morning to find a towel draped over the seat of Black Max so that it wouldn't get covered with dew during the night. That, my friends, is service. The facilities aren't high end, and I was glad the young couple in the room next to me was watching a ball game and not on their honeymoon...I'm assuming here...so bear with me, but the service was what you'd expect from a place that cost a whole lot more than this one did. <br />
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The weather was perfect as I got on the road. Partly cloudy with bursts of warm sunshine bathing the coast is gold. That didn't last long. I was only a few miles south of town when the clouds pushed in, the "fog" came back, and what was once stunning was now just kinda pretty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtruSdglxjERR3hTXDDG4jMTFcKIY4O1HNkyzjb1i9CKguXIa5xunDnM0IYL1Uj6Nvdxda11iki5kOlExadqIVTjVoLid2GCRdMFqNJMug9yKar_lZxal2qGpVsXKuUojRVJVdJ7T13gI/s1600/IMG_1794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtruSdglxjERR3hTXDDG4jMTFcKIY4O1HNkyzjb1i9CKguXIa5xunDnM0IYL1Uj6Nvdxda11iki5kOlExadqIVTjVoLid2GCRdMFqNJMug9yKar_lZxal2qGpVsXKuUojRVJVdJ7T13gI/s640/IMG_1794.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocky coast</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zJh3Umk__VAxAiTrpznltjNg-UK9NNrkyphyphenhyphen4Hfu94u5Q77CybB7IvOtAJkAeL4oTDweE4Ees0uN5NMaPU_YniTUulQH5r6PeSwVUpwbP0XvR780PFeKd5kILJLBqvlUiXqkClZT4EI/s1600/IMG_1801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zJh3Umk__VAxAiTrpznltjNg-UK9NNrkyphyphenhyphen4Hfu94u5Q77CybB7IvOtAJkAeL4oTDweE4Ees0uN5NMaPU_YniTUulQH5r6PeSwVUpwbP0XvR780PFeKd5kILJLBqvlUiXqkClZT4EI/s640/IMG_1801.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trees, fog, and grass...appropriately blurry</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2QKGbqo8xha9whqCbuOBUmzyemqzvS0tJcRL1PmI9FYj9s1p7Z5U3NJWo-zBtCYRVJ7cQmiaVyvzCoBRWTBnYSsZsjm47GENnhXFKexzD9F8VpP4O_MxggEBPKM6p8OUiT9YT8EJhfA/s1600/IMG_1802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2QKGbqo8xha9whqCbuOBUmzyemqzvS0tJcRL1PmI9FYj9s1p7Z5U3NJWo-zBtCYRVJ7cQmiaVyvzCoBRWTBnYSsZsjm47GENnhXFKexzD9F8VpP4O_MxggEBPKM6p8OUiT9YT8EJhfA/s640/IMG_1802.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure what I'm trying to accomplish with the blur</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTjxNNzBmNQcG_QmgP45hbMipgYF21iS-40oeiHZ3I3eaXhpmb1sCrG9eYczuB9QvAI3mk4k1qulv4n05T53kEOwRBX_F6ew6lp62zyuJdm3Y2QkGJ1HJRW-6pnuboGy6UN_i24bM1d4/s1600/IMG_1803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTjxNNzBmNQcG_QmgP45hbMipgYF21iS-40oeiHZ3I3eaXhpmb1sCrG9eYczuB9QvAI3mk4k1qulv4n05T53kEOwRBX_F6ew6lp62zyuJdm3Y2QkGJ1HJRW-6pnuboGy6UN_i24bM1d4/s640/IMG_1803.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Max, pushing that fog back</td></tr>
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I did get to see a few things today that were worth mentioning. In all the time I've spent on the coast, I haven't seen seals out "sunbathing." I got to see some today. :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4m0pET4K4v7XPyMtddCJLRjjCTwK5EsgunbvXExTuRsdVhWi_v4Umx85RwI9vFEyNApTSFwhKerBDRsNnJSDYP3VpJld8C4LCYBEYbePW5W9EuyGmcX4dulFjVfXOWTi2MomvGFaV1I/s1600/IMG_0702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4m0pET4K4v7XPyMtddCJLRjjCTwK5EsgunbvXExTuRsdVhWi_v4Umx85RwI9vFEyNApTSFwhKerBDRsNnJSDYP3VpJld8C4LCYBEYbePW5W9EuyGmcX4dulFjVfXOWTi2MomvGFaV1I/s640/IMG_0702.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seals, buzzards, and seagulls...sharing the beach</td></tr>
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I also had one of those moments during the ride where I figure people can only have one of two possible reactions. I was scooting right along when I came around a bend in the road and had what for me was the "wheeeeee-I-get-to-ride-that-and-it's-going-to-be-so-fun" moment. I could see the road twisting down into a valley and coming out far in the distance on the other side. The following picture just doesn't do it justice...and for the record, I think the only other response to this type of road is probably "I-hope-I-have-a-clean-pair-of-underwear-in-my-bag."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MLzUJfwiyn-fHKC_58Y56Vu7Kmr9lYSzT8sIn5mYnwnUNcxx-cyUOeCxvWbGAQMd30OdDCORBvYf2xwysV_1F5yxu3Recz0Qtp6p3jituBbn5nlhSZTWzuWYQPaScZA1GifWCiMVnOc/s1600/California1_090112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MLzUJfwiyn-fHKC_58Y56Vu7Kmr9lYSzT8sIn5mYnwnUNcxx-cyUOeCxvWbGAQMd30OdDCORBvYf2xwysV_1F5yxu3Recz0Qtp6p3jituBbn5nlhSZTWzuWYQPaScZA1GifWCiMVnOc/s640/California1_090112.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously...you had to have been there</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1LxrjYwA7veqDcvWbsjpzleVFlkYceeLgHG1E0Rxx0o9Nv9fGAWPQttxsyqAzKR_nBzU5Sd5FlEdY8_DXv2DohB6PzOpMN15HKwJfahq9Q1hMgqgPMz8MEqSPT6Yjul2doILGOaOHJU/s1600/Day1803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1LxrjYwA7veqDcvWbsjpzleVFlkYceeLgHG1E0Rxx0o9Nv9fGAWPQttxsyqAzKR_nBzU5Sd5FlEdY8_DXv2DohB6PzOpMN15HKwJfahq9Q1hMgqgPMz8MEqSPT6Yjul2doILGOaOHJU/s640/Day1803.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the "flat" version of what that looks like</td></tr>
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There's a point where California 1 strays from the coast, and that's where I got caught with my pants down. Not literally, duh, figuratively. If I could complain about one thing here in Cali, it's that your road signs kinda suck. They're not very big and they are often too close to the intersections to be of much help. They almost got me yesterday at the junction where 1 meets up with 128. If you're not really paying close attention (i.e. rubbernecking at all the cool scenery you don't get back home) you'll drive past the intersection where 1 make a right hand turn and the road you're on turns into 128. I was about 1 mile up the road before I realized I was following a river inland and I was sure 1 didn't follow any rivers inland on that part of the ride. An easy mistake to correct. Today it was almost the same deal. California 1 takes a right hand turn and if you go straight you're on Valley Ford Rd. It's sneaky, really, and I can't imagine I'm the only idiot that's made that mistake. As 1 veered away from the coast, it also moved away from the clouds and things warmed up to almost 60 degrees. Once I realized I was on the wrong road, I decided it didn't matter. I was enjoying the sunshine and the California farm country. I'll just have to see the rest of California 1 some other time (not that I was going to see the whole thing anyway.)<br />
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Before I knew it I was on US-101 and headed toward San Francisco. Because I'd left Gualala before 9:30AM, was cutting about 15 miles off my route, and making much better time than I would have on the coast, I knew I'd need to fill in some time before heading to my hotel. No better way to get to see a city than to visit all its Apple stores. :) This added about 50 miles and several hours to my riding schedule. Even on a holiday weekend, San Francisco is a big city and the streets are just packed. My first real introduction to the city was crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. I'll be honest, I like the Mackinaw Bridge better from a "view" perspective. Golden gate allows foot and bike traffic along the elevated sidewalks on either side of the bridge. The down side is that it really impedes your view of the water and the city while you're driving over it...I guess that could be a good thing or a bad thing.<br />
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After disembarking from the bridge, I followed California 1 back into the city and began my travels over the streets of San Francisco. I somehow managed to find a way around town that kept me traveling in the opposite direction of about 75% of the traffic. It always seemed like the direction I was going was relatively light while the other side of the road was usually backed up. You do know San Francisco is built on some hills, right? I got a good dose of it heading to the Apple store on Chestnut street and from there to the one down on Stockton. My route took me north on Divisadero Street which, between Geary and Lombard, goes UP and then DOWN at a very steep incline. I did that hill from north to south while taking Gough street down toward downtown.<br />
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I also got to see something today that I'm not sure I've ever seen...anywhere...ever...in all my travels. <span style="color: red;"><i>A completely naked man walking down the street.</i></span> I guess he wasn't completely naked...he had a nice pair of boots and some colorful socks on and he was also wearing a stocking cap. But other than that...he was decked out it his birthday suit. From the even distribution of his tan, I'd have to guess this was not a one time event. In all honesty, it's the west coast...I expect to see things I wouldn't normally see at home when I'm here...I did not expect to see that.<br />
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If you ever decide to drive down, or up, the PCH, here's a piece of advice...don't bother taking your phone if you've got AT&T. There was a stretch of at least 60 miles where I had no phone service at all. More bars in more places my patootie. That little message in the upper left corner of my phone screen haunted for most of my travel on the PCH.<br />
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And so, this feels like the end. If anything exciting happens while I'm making the 2,300 mile trip home, I'll be sure to share it; but, I'm not really expecting much. Guess that means I'll be honestly surprised when I do see something cool.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilD8Y9KY1GmJ2jPC1nphRC1MOFTVy20ibOYn_bl7k4ZaLZsCfCcddPyvq_fVyNU0ZOFJZznMc6wb7NbiJ_J2Ug5gQDPBDXNveY-zqaUg2Rsq0Kx32LiiIsfFnD7EpRj09djYlHQv2NuN4/s1600/Day1801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilD8Y9KY1GmJ2jPC1nphRC1MOFTVy20ibOYn_bl7k4ZaLZsCfCcddPyvq_fVyNU0ZOFJZznMc6wb7NbiJ_J2Ug5gQDPBDXNveY-zqaUg2Rsq0Kx32LiiIsfFnD7EpRj09djYlHQv2NuN4/s640/Day1801.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 18, a little over 150 miles</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7C1SGzNbDUX8Xrd2WYN9pRNS3Czxyn1fMcSXNOC5sw1cLIVeZbyjbfRnfteJl4_09C6sNwWOiLsFVhXo579BZ6cPyd3y286Uk0lMkRo1liKn6fUG6ogTUhxHC_JSIkeaP1UAEXZphNo/s1600/Day1802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7C1SGzNbDUX8Xrd2WYN9pRNS3Czxyn1fMcSXNOC5sw1cLIVeZbyjbfRnfteJl4_09C6sNwWOiLsFVhXo579BZ6cPyd3y286Uk0lMkRo1liKn6fUG6ogTUhxHC_JSIkeaP1UAEXZphNo/s640/Day1802.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost 4,300 miles in the bag and 2,300 left until I get to sleep in my own bed</td></tr>
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You can pretty much take a ruler and draw a line from point O to point A and that's how I'll be going home. My only regret on this trip is that I left 5 days late. It made me feel a little rushed in getting down the coast so that I could get back in time for the ART167 class I'm sitting in on at Spring Arbor University this fall. Having an extra 2 days to get down the coast would have allowed for more off highway exploring and I could have had 3 days to visit Yellowstone. C'est la vie. There's always next summer. :)<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road (I-80 to be exact.) :) Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-32323959662076340772012-08-31T21:33:00.002-07:002012-08-31T21:34:20.094-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 17The Pacific Coast Highway...when I first left home, this slice of highway was the whole reason for the trip. I've found other reasons as I've left the miles of asphalt behind me...but this one still remained.<br />
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It was cold, foggy, damp, and overcast when I left Eureka this morning. It never rained, but there were often times when my face mask had condensation on it and my pant legs were damp. This kind of fog pushes the humidity up to near 100% and it's hard to avoid getting damp, even if it's not raining.<br />
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The <a href="http://humboldtredwoods.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Humbolt Redwoods State Park</a> was not far down the road. If you've been here before, you know that the <a href="http://avenueofthegiants.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Avenue of the Giants</a> is the best way to see the park. It intersects with US-101 about a half dozen times over the full length of the road and gives drivers plenty of opportunities to get out and explore to their hearts content. One upside for me was that this pulled me away from the coast and it warmed up just a bit and the damp fog didn't reach this far inland. I was able to take 2 of my best Photosynth panoramas at the park, if I do say so myself. :)<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=ccea59f4-e930-417a-8d47-64ce8d263b48&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false" width="500"></iframe><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=d878843e-7f19-4d70-840c-6173e9849368&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false" width="500"></iframe><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK41hwJC18IPQzTzk__wQzr1keiAH0lni5guUpoZrYHUQ5pK8rFolicUnNuTpgfObeSFw922OvWWjZiHJ4_rlO9LemfeRBMJr93qJxygmTbBpMnY-Q0l1OWFuJ7DdfM3ZFhEjOetEFn4/s1600/IMG_1751.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK41hwJC18IPQzTzk__wQzr1keiAH0lni5guUpoZrYHUQ5pK8rFolicUnNuTpgfObeSFw922OvWWjZiHJ4_rlO9LemfeRBMJr93qJxygmTbBpMnY-Q0l1OWFuJ7DdfM3ZFhEjOetEFn4/s640/IMG_1751.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tall trees</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IOKOhGupkKANfc8ZbVGWxb11jqEit0-wjSlU4Z2VC1BhyuGQySSLTsV0MQbiG7-ioU73xQJOEsn6Nft45jcVFZsuymMqJD_ZSAY2yb_YS-H1YXWPi4SGvyDxcen99vrqouZPOaJSRf4/s1600/IMG_1755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6IOKOhGupkKANfc8ZbVGWxb11jqEit0-wjSlU4Z2VC1BhyuGQySSLTsV0MQbiG7-ioU73xQJOEsn6Nft45jcVFZsuymMqJD_ZSAY2yb_YS-H1YXWPi4SGvyDxcen99vrqouZPOaJSRf4/s320/IMG_1755.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, I was really there</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-rQ3cId2Watvd1n3Whxi9PrHboprxaNY_LkJEm-XmMSvbKnmtE7kYbaA-0v0J3FOpIp7eE76PbXPMhO98AIZU5pQGHbzDrJWtAYyQECYlYbk4hPJ7zVQynVHfgyo1xqu7aUHMOOosso/s1600/IMG_1759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-rQ3cId2Watvd1n3Whxi9PrHboprxaNY_LkJEm-XmMSvbKnmtE7kYbaA-0v0J3FOpIp7eE76PbXPMhO98AIZU5pQGHbzDrJWtAYyQECYlYbk4hPJ7zVQynVHfgyo1xqu7aUHMOOosso/s640/IMG_1759.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Max looking great in nature</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PsKXfPagMNDXPDv7W8lgwfWx8mIhwxkaJ2Je57VbOPdcQg1SmpO1bIKpok2yP7vDZ0iM39Li6JBfMZ4YmP1kAiwSdiW-CHiI5GgGv4d0wqQKh7IQOq1u4mx2ko4fTzp0nQNiSbdjrKw/s1600/IMG_1750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PsKXfPagMNDXPDv7W8lgwfWx8mIhwxkaJ2Je57VbOPdcQg1SmpO1bIKpok2yP7vDZ0iM39Li6JBfMZ4YmP1kAiwSdiW-CHiI5GgGv4d0wqQKh7IQOq1u4mx2ko4fTzp0nQNiSbdjrKw/s640/IMG_1750.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure if someone has been sleeping here or not</td></tr>
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If you've never been out here to see the redwoods...put it on your bucket list. If your bucket list only has things like sky diving, bungee jumping, and swimming with sharks on it, this might seem a little boring to you...but these trees really are an awesome spectacle to behold. If you come with your family, pack a cooler, take your time, and thoroughly enjoy the forest and what it has to offer.<br />
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When I finally got back on 101, the sun was shining and it had warmed up quite a bit. I was almost wishing I had not switched from my leather gloves to my mittens, fortunately they convert to fingerless gloves on the fly. It wasn't too far and I reached the junction of California 1 and US-101. It was time to head back to the coast.<br />
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I'm not sure I've ever ridden 20 tougher miles of road. For one, as soon as I reached the top of the mountains and started down to the coast the temperature began to drop...significantly, at least it felt significant. For another, it's twist and turn and curve and twist and turn and curve and twist...you get the idea. It would be very easy to overestimate your riding skills and end up plummeting down the side of the mountain. I believe it's happened more than once on this stretch of road. To top it off, the cool temperatures meant I was back under overcast skies and that damp coastal "fog."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDsVCL5FIwFxrCB2KawrEyQwbJYh6zdGh5L9f0uBiy7J6KBJQo8cGpuoiQueUwrnE1Qi-H33dN60coYe9r_3Tt1cQZiOhpfD1BMXP_czvA0cBfqdmuRDWDKSCd8nc7NWcl_utoWjavJhE/s1600/Day1703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDsVCL5FIwFxrCB2KawrEyQwbJYh6zdGh5L9f0uBiy7J6KBJQo8cGpuoiQueUwrnE1Qi-H33dN60coYe9r_3Tt1cQZiOhpfD1BMXP_czvA0cBfqdmuRDWDKSCd8nc7NWcl_utoWjavJhE/s640/Day1703.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This doesn't do the true nature of the road any justice</td></tr>
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I've never been more relieved to come around a curve and see nothing in front of me...aside from the ocean. Not that the shoreline of California 1 is an easy road to ride, but it does offer relief from the twisties that the mountain passage didn't.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Fu5es2nyCYsxrPo6FYWe-yyetSmJGXkg-3VNn6GjP7Sn9dSo6X7eFVdhUwd4vj9fnEUVfw2tzcxhJqyKDR0VFzkNacuPpZAwSRH_01B8GLKCi_y2RvO5tzqInzl2eAA_GM24jpi7bRQ/s1600/IMG_1764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Fu5es2nyCYsxrPo6FYWe-yyetSmJGXkg-3VNn6GjP7Sn9dSo6X7eFVdhUwd4vj9fnEUVfw2tzcxhJqyKDR0VFzkNacuPpZAwSRH_01B8GLKCi_y2RvO5tzqInzl2eAA_GM24jpi7bRQ/s640/IMG_1764.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">California 1 beneath my feet, view to the north</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCX_S0R1OThUeBMlxSMlMKe78gtxMQUA3PoNTp_j2RK5JqphYMVVEcH-ls8QbYBAXL63x3QHV6kMIB0o9Z2PeJeZ7D8IM2NMG0uSGw1gCLX1Cf85pkSAMEkSlM4Hos0Cv4du8IfAArN98/s1600/IMG_1766.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCX_S0R1OThUeBMlxSMlMKe78gtxMQUA3PoNTp_j2RK5JqphYMVVEcH-ls8QbYBAXL63x3QHV6kMIB0o9Z2PeJeZ7D8IM2NMG0uSGw1gCLX1Cf85pkSAMEkSlM4Hos0Cv4du8IfAArN98/s640/IMG_1766.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">California 1, north end of the shoreline highway, view to the south</td></tr>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=d3ae4042-8358-4ac7-a74e-023660db7701&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false" width="500"></iframe><br />
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The overcast skies were constant. I'm not even sure it was really clouds. I think the cold temperatures and ocean breeze just cause a dense humid fog to pile up along the coast. It's a couple hundred feet thick and just hangs about 100 feet or so off the ground. As long as it hangs there, like a blanket hovering over the landscape, it's really not that bad. After I stopped in Fort Bragg, the blanket fell and the fog made me think the last 40 miles of my ride were going to be a whole lot like the first 40 in terms of the weather conditions. I was about 15 miles north of Gualala and the fog finally lifted, but the overcast skies stayed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSsE0WTsLHucB4qj7ktGKKD5Z6-GXJPHTK0pS9aa9-Jm4oKqJQVpcKHoiJIZI0PQjGOtA9qP2OpkdYswLl1TzoRihf3nAQd5cUAP-WX-_dPKgYSQzxLN4DoETDeE7rMRsVjWfNAM5c6E/s1600/IMG_1768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSsE0WTsLHucB4qj7ktGKKD5Z6-GXJPHTK0pS9aa9-Jm4oKqJQVpcKHoiJIZI0PQjGOtA9qP2OpkdYswLl1TzoRihf3nAQd5cUAP-WX-_dPKgYSQzxLN4DoETDeE7rMRsVjWfNAM5c6E/s640/IMG_1768.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About 15 miles north of Gualala, California</td></tr>
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The weather redeemed itself when I was about 3 miles north of Gualala...the clouds parted and the sun gave me my best look at California's coast.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-pK3ts_w96Mk_x6pm3BS4RW8L5frlozNPIMf89dCpZcbHD9QxTSlzqRiyEQ6rEF1f_85zZe2IYDF-MlW0q__l_HFnmqjEqlrxtLsZlrojQXldwD6A44N6moqxvccXIDgg_gLoiMOeDc/s1600/IMG_1781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-pK3ts_w96Mk_x6pm3BS4RW8L5frlozNPIMf89dCpZcbHD9QxTSlzqRiyEQ6rEF1f_85zZe2IYDF-MlW0q__l_HFnmqjEqlrxtLsZlrojQXldwD6A44N6moqxvccXIDgg_gLoiMOeDc/s640/IMG_1781.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the path behind the Surf Motel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPLfKqwZNT9NXkaevL8QnvrTMBk-aEY2pSbum5ZwhvhHyhvKN2Ghf1mjskCDb55EpXpiHY4pCUX8_LbT8AP2bcUHDOcRdwHhZ6m4wEIoZdhHedhf96EVpt01KeNggEkMwpurpLyy-mWU/s1600/IMG_1785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPLfKqwZNT9NXkaevL8QnvrTMBk-aEY2pSbum5ZwhvhHyhvKN2Ghf1mjskCDb55EpXpiHY4pCUX8_LbT8AP2bcUHDOcRdwHhZ6m4wEIoZdhHedhf96EVpt01KeNggEkMwpurpLyy-mWU/s640/IMG_1785.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Surf Motel scenery</td></tr>
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<br />I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a significant dose of sunshine tomorrow. The PCH is a beautiful highway, no matter what, but a little sunshine doesn't hurt. :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCHgG0LnUoe5A-BmBi6Pqz2okCMzF3VraeI7u9jv-SbQgxvZljmm6OoRhXr-iZD44u6TUAwWQaDaGaC017D2tEpe0KfsftZoBAUUiBis-JUnnyHLkWPUw28-z4MxfSUAtT2Qv6D0U75o/s1600/IMG_1787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCHgG0LnUoe5A-BmBi6Pqz2okCMzF3VraeI7u9jv-SbQgxvZljmm6OoRhXr-iZD44u6TUAwWQaDaGaC017D2tEpe0KfsftZoBAUUiBis-JUnnyHLkWPUw28-z4MxfSUAtT2Qv6D0U75o/s640/IMG_1787.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset from behind the Surf Motel</td></tr>
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On a different note...are Labor Day weekend gas prices this high everywhere, or is this just a coastal California thing?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrw1wMmsJZOoWquKhVbrQpJvqkV17P-yQqP2iBf6eh6iOCsvhl4K66QXiDnWuNMI1_mEI3ixItmVYPsSzc77FJT6mOEBiZowBOdHuQ5mIMWq9N8T2p1fVElJ89hW6pLCu7_Umv1ANqiRA/s1600/IMG_1786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrw1wMmsJZOoWquKhVbrQpJvqkV17P-yQqP2iBf6eh6iOCsvhl4K66QXiDnWuNMI1_mEI3ixItmVYPsSzc77FJT6mOEBiZowBOdHuQ5mIMWq9N8T2p1fVElJ89hW6pLCu7_Umv1ANqiRA/s640/IMG_1786.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
I rode exactly 200 miles today. It doesn't seem like that should take 8 hours, but it does when you're being a tourist and also dealing with a couple hundred 15MPH curves. :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">200 miles of trees and twists</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4,145 miles...only a few more to go and then it's time to head home. :(</td></tr>
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-34701343371642487782012-08-30T19:30:00.003-07:002012-08-30T21:32:49.575-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 16I can feel "home" getting closer. Certainly not in terms of distance, more in terms of the longing to be there. Now that I've been on the road for over 2 weeks, I'm beginning to recognize a small voice in the back of my head that is saying, "soon." I'm hoping that I've timed things correctly, that two more days down the coast won't push me past the point of wishing I was already on my way back. It's one of those things that's hard to gauge.<br />
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The drive down to Eureka, CA, from Coos Bay, OR, is another beautiful piece of highway. You'd think I'd be sick of all the beauty by now...but I'm not. :) I did take a couple of trips away from US-101 today. Short diversions from the highway, not that they highway is bad, but the diversions are good. I started my day heading away from the highway and taking a couple of twisty turny local/logging roads towards the coast and then back towards the highway. If you like riding in straight lines, these kinds of roads aren't for you. Most of the time you can't see more than 25 to 100 yards of road out in front of you. It's not fast riding...but it's not slow riding either. I managed to scrape my highway pegs a couple times.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cape Arago Hwy, Seven Devils Rd & Beaver Hill Rd back to US-101</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from Seven Devils Road</td></tr>
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It was also nice to start my day away from the normal traffic. It's not horrible on 101 up here during the week, but there are still other cars to deal with, some of whom do not have the time or patience to deal with those who want to do the speed limit while gawking at the sights. In my travels down the coast, I have come across more than a couple cars driving slow enough to be considered impeding traffic. Most people who want to sight see pull off in the provided turn-outs to let those who wish to get moving do so. Likewise, I've only come across a few drivers who felt it was necessary to tailgate while waiting for someone to use a turnout. You find turds at both end of the spectrum, fortunately there haven't been too many of them floating in the pool this week. :)<br />
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I took the opportunity to divert away from the coast again just north of Gold Beach. A twisty drive up into the mountains was another great exercise in road management. I'm sure there are tons of opportunities to ride roads like these along this route, I'm glad I took two of them today. This second one took me over two one lane bridges. The first was just a short little span over a small creek. The second was a much longer span, nearly 100 feet high over the river; I had to take it to get to the road on the other side that would take me back to 101.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great place to practice putting your bike through a few curves</td></tr>
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My last "diversion" was the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. It's not so much a diversion as an opportunity to get up close and personal with these coastal giants. The redwoods are awesome. I remember my first experience ever driving in them, it was at night. Sara and I had flown into San Francisco on a Friday evening and had made hotel reservations up in Eureka for the night. I had not realize that Eureka was a good 4+ hour drive from San Francisco. Our flight hadn't gotten in until 9:00PM. We were traveling up US-101 and all of a sudden my headlights crossed a huge tree trunk right next to the road as we rounded a curve. When I say huge, I mean it was probably 8 to 10 feet in diameter. When I say next to the road, I don't mean it was 10 to 12 feet off the the side of the highway, I mean the little white line on the side of the road curved a little back toward the center to make room for the base of the tree. It was super eerie seeing something that big and only being about to see about 10 to 12 feet of it that was in my headlights. I remember that it got really dark as we continued into the forest. It was so dark, we eventually pulled over, just to make sure the world hadn't ended. Upon getting out of the car we looked straight up and could see a small ribbon of stars and moonlight far up in the sky, between the tree tops. Seeing these trees in the daylight is just awesome.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coastal fog drifting through the tree tops as I wait at a construction stop</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Port Orford</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cape Sebastion State Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">State #8 on the trip</td></tr>
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One of the things that has been interesting to see on this trip is the coastal fog. It can hang over parts of the highway for the whole day. The temperature on the coast has been about 60 degrees most of the last 2 days and the colder air has caused a lot of fog to drift in off the water. It's been sunny, and, as long as you're just walking about, a t-shirt is OK; however, as soon as I get moving down the road, I've been glad to have my sweatshirt on and warm gloves to wear.<br />
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It's hard to believe that I'll be in San Francisco on Saturday. As much as home may be starting to call, it hardly seems like its that close to having to turn eastward and eat up the highway to get back there. Classes at Spring Arbor University are starting this week. I'm going to be sitting in on ART167 so that I have some idea of what I'm doing when it comes time to judge artwork in a few short months for <a href="http://sadandchara.blogspot.com/p/memorial-funds.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Cole Color Award and the Sara J Cole Memorial Portrait Award</a> in the spring. I'm trying to get back so that I don't miss more than a class or two.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 16, another 240 miles or so</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3,900+ and counting</td></tr>
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)<br />
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Addendum @ 9:13PM Pacific<br />
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I had two GREAT meals today. I stopped for a late lunch in Brookings, Oregon, at about 2:00PM and Yelp showed me a little pub just down the street from where I was getting gas. Although parking is a bit of a challenge, if you're ever in Brookings and want a place to eat, I can heartily recommend <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-vista-pub-brookings" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Vista Pub</a>. Small and simple menu, nothing extravagant, but they are obviously good at what they've chosen to do. I liked it so much I <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-vista-pub-brookings#hrid:Fq6YZ5Du6JUzfoi-OdbsBQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">wrote a review.</a><br />
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The second meal was my dinner at the the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/brick-and-fire-bistro-eureka" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brick and Fire Bistro</a> in Eureka, California. Another great find on Yelp. I only got to eat there because I was dinning alone. The place is small and it was packed. They take reservations, so if you're going to go, it would probably be a good idea to make one, especially if you're not alone and want a table. I have a feeling their menu changes pretty regularly, but again, it's a simple menu with only a few options and they probably do them all well. The bartender brought me some bread when I sat down. A couple of pieces of a blueberry Parmesan bread and a couple pieces of an herbal poppy seed with oil and balsamic on the side. I had an appetizer of stuffed figs and apricots. They were stuffed with goat cheese and nuts, then wrapped in pancetta before being roasted in the brick oven which is where anything that required baking was cooked. For my entry, I went with one of their pizza. The whole meal just exploded with flavor.<br />
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I've been on the road for 16 days now and, with the exceptions of the meals I've eaten with family, these have been the best two places I've been to...without equal and without question. I've been staying away from fast food and chains as much as possible, but the food at the small town cafes I've been eating at has been good at best and "bland" at worst. So, a great day of riding was topped off with a great day of eating, too. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-6821131913860186892012-08-29T21:19:00.000-07:002012-08-29T21:19:36.644-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 15Having a couple days "off" was just what the doctor ordered. Huge thanks to my Aunt Kay and Uncle Jim for housing me for 3 nights. I was great to spend time with you, as always!<br />
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I hit the road at about 10:30AM this morning. I wasn't in a rush, didn't need to be, and it wouldn't have mattered if I had been. There's just no rushing to or from the Oregon coast. :) If you're from "back east" like me, you tend to think of cities like Portland and Seattle as coastal cities. The reality is, they're really not on the coast. Getting to the Pacific from either of them can take anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes, or more. Just thought I should clear that up...mostly as a reminder to myself. Besides the distance, there's enough traffic that they almost don't even need to post a speed limit. You have to work around a lot of other people to draw any attention to yourself if the police are around.<br />
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The ride from Canby to Lincoln City was a great trip through the foothills, back up through the coastal range, and then down to the coast. It was a little over 90 miles, took a little over 2 hours, and I only got rained on for a few minutes up in the mountains...gotta love that 20% chance of rain. I stopped for a quick bite to eat and got back on the road.<br />
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As expected, the Oregon coast offers plenty of beautiful views and beaches. If you wanted to take a slow family vacation down the coast, it would be pretty easy to fill up a couple of weeks with all the different state parks and visitor attractions. Of course, this trip is mostly about the ride, so most of the tourist stuff barely registers on my radar as I move from one small town to the next. I did stop pretty regularly to take in the scenic vistas and grab a couple pictures of some of the various beach locations.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpXphGsn9e-dg4NSrj1aIdswB2xsUy1HLagaTYsQ3yC5yZHXONjIgCz52t7PX2ZOtsn5KG8Lsc_R9Tq18D1nYd1gF6LDXNYfUWFkE6Iv-WjbPjC8XWTnQYlZdipMhyiAaUpDC4U_sKSc/s1600/IMG_1708.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpXphGsn9e-dg4NSrj1aIdswB2xsUy1HLagaTYsQ3yC5yZHXONjIgCz52t7PX2ZOtsn5KG8Lsc_R9Tq18D1nYd1gF6LDXNYfUWFkE6Iv-WjbPjC8XWTnQYlZdipMhyiAaUpDC4U_sKSc/s640/IMG_1708.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Depoe Bay, north</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Depoe Bay, south...and foggy</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seal Rock</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seal Rock</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooks Chasm</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North end of Oregon Dunes</td></tr>
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I mentioned, in an earlier post, that I realized, about a week into the ride, that many portions of this trip are through places that Sara and I had visited together during our marriage. One of my stops today was Depoe Bay. I recognized it, as I drove into town, because of the sea wall the shops of the city overlook. We were here in 2004. I stopped, sat on the wall for a while and did my best to remember. I also rode past the beaches where we sat and watched the seals play and where Jim and Joshua flew kites in the stiff ocean breeze. Good days, good memories. As I experience them, I realize it's OK to enjoy them, to cherish them, to keep them...and OK to look forward to making memories on my own, and possibly someday with someone else. No matter how that feels, I guess it's growth.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only 218 miles today, but lots of stops...over 7 hours of travel time</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nearly 3,700 miles so far</td></tr>
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Thursday brings the redwoods, the coastal giants. I'm looking forward to seeing them again.<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-86793098438368190852012-08-28T21:09:00.002-07:002012-08-29T18:05:50.280-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 14I didn't ride a single mile today and it was good. :) I spent the day be chauffeured around by my uncle. We ran up to Beaverton to pick up a luggage rack for Black Max which is going to make the rest of this trip a little more secure in terms of packing. Then headed to the big and tall shop down the road to pick up a new pair of jeans. I managed to rip mine last night...looks like they'll be shorts when I get home.<br />
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We ended up southeast of Portland and on a waterfall expedition...and ran into fire.<br />
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At first we thought they were forest fires; but, after driving around trying to get a good look at them, we finally figured out they were burning off the wheat fields after the harvest. There's a possibility that one could have been a small forest fire. When we did check out one of the waterfalls, the smoke smelled more like burning wood than the times we could clearly tell it was burning wheat.<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-68116864504041597952012-08-27T21:00:00.000-07:002012-08-29T21:19:41.818-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 13Having a day off has been nice. No long ride...just resting and relaxing...sort of.<br />
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I did ride about 50 miles today. Not really a big deal. Just hit 3 more Apple stores in the Portland area. See my previous post from last Friday for more info on why I'd do that. :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyMzh5S9U9fRlmCkDgXDLY0l1Go0yTY7q0ViZcV1ppIMQuUQrH8kp_N3fLlR5mXqP4J9iqfA_07nyas0pNxU_V2P4y6dVBeeXDTG4zDy5UPZFLSOM_ok-ucIJgcmea4HAceKHX7Iaxdo/s1600/IMG_1690.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyMzh5S9U9fRlmCkDgXDLY0l1Go0yTY7q0ViZcV1ppIMQuUQrH8kp_N3fLlR5mXqP4J9iqfA_07nyas0pNxU_V2P4y6dVBeeXDTG4zDy5UPZFLSOM_ok-ucIJgcmea4HAceKHX7Iaxdo/s200/IMG_1690.jpg" width="150" /></a></td><td width="15"></td><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhZPlg9hRCE5qfBFqVwbky-esBGAIHtTDDEdQaH15QkhQWluGB4OMskwhO1HDLKccyg6LxfmTVZegnLpfOkgGpI07G56X0tGGq4N46dE7oWJDMCAUYoNgf-5mQmjvI0jA_rbBu2wx4ds/s1600/IMG_1691.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhZPlg9hRCE5qfBFqVwbky-esBGAIHtTDDEdQaH15QkhQWluGB4OMskwhO1HDLKccyg6LxfmTVZegnLpfOkgGpI07G56X0tGGq4N46dE7oWJDMCAUYoNgf-5mQmjvI0jA_rbBu2wx4ds/s200/IMG_1691.jpg" width="150" /></a></td><td width="15"></td><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJ8K127rwnuo-7HhGiuzkKIuBU3hU-gwPwkOe6EObIoPFTm3so5_aoxcPuDcAy9qFKsMR8DGHtnhdx0io2BLCJkXY-86nZPtcPCQDjBs8Q7if_fBjVKABG1xj7LMxEcQNrt0p6FgJ5Ck/s1600/IMG_1692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJ8K127rwnuo-7HhGiuzkKIuBU3hU-gwPwkOe6EObIoPFTm3so5_aoxcPuDcAy9qFKsMR8DGHtnhdx0io2BLCJkXY-86nZPtcPCQDjBs8Q7if_fBjVKABG1xj7LMxEcQNrt0p6FgJ5Ck/s200/IMG_1692.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridgeport Village</td><td></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Washington Square</td><td></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pioneer Place</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Other than that, I went to the movies, ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, and dinner at Thai Dish. Looking forward to another quiet day and spending time with family tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-8451170657032758142012-08-26T21:33:00.000-07:002012-08-27T09:57:28.783-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 12It's not hard for me to imagine that any trip that involves a lot of travel, and lasts for more than a few days, is bound to have at least one day that just sucks. Today might have been that day for me...only time will truly tell. <br />
<br />
I woke up to cloudy skies and rain hovering offshore, over the Pacific. The forecast for the area indicated that any rain should be moving out by about 11:30AM and there would only be a 20% chance of rain after that. I'm flexible, so I waited. I listened to the morning service from the Spring Arbor Free Methodist Church. I showered. I packed. I took my time getting ready and it was only 10:30AM. It still hadn't rained in Hoquiam…and really didn't look like it would. I decided to head out for a late breakfast, figuring by the time I was done eating any threat of rain would surely have passed.<br />
<br />
I got out my trusty smart phone and started searching for places that would have brunch or breakfast. The first one that caught my eye was a place called The Blue Bacon Restaurant and Lounge. WHAT!? Any place that had the word BACON in the name of the restaurant had to fantastic. It was just a few miles down the road so I packed up and headed out. I quickly learned that BEACON and BACON look really similar on my phone screen. The Blue BEACON Restaurant and Lounge was what I found…and it was clearly a dive. I decided to risk it. I'll spare you the details…it's sufficient to let you know the omelette was not the best I've ever hard, nor was it the worst I've ever had. The texas toast was slathered in real butter and was delicious. If you're ever in the Hoquiam area and feeling adventurous…and maybe a little lucky…feel free to stop in at the Blue Beacon…their bacon was actually pretty good.<br />
<br />
By the time I got back to Black Max, it was about 12:05PM…and it was almost sprinkling. Just enough to be noticeable. Bugger. I hit the road and it actually didn't do much more than spit at me all the way from Hoquiam down to the state line…and that's when the coastal highway turned on me. You would think that after 7 years of riding a motorcycle, I would have
come to understand that a 20% chance of rain means you're bound to get
rain. If there was a 20% chance of something good falling out of the
sky, like gold coins or puppies, nothing would ever happen. But with
rain and a motorcycle, 20% might as well be 100%.<br />
<br />
Just after 2:00PM, as I rounded the bend where 101 meets the Columbia River as it dumps into the Pacific, the coastal "drizzle" started. It's not really rain, it's not really mist. It's just wet…which, I guess, makes it rain. To make it more fun, traffic was backed up on the bridge heading into Astoria, Oregon. So, I inched along, damp and disheartened. If I'd had my wits about me, I'd have read the signs at the end of the bridge, put my liberal arts education to good use, and taken US-30 out of Astoria and directly to Portland. Instead, I took 101 all the way down to Tillamook. A ride that normally should have only taken about 90 minutes. It took almost 3 hours…and it "rained" the entire time. Traveling 101 when it's raining would probably have been bad enough. It was cold, only about 60 degrees, and the wind was blowing pretty fiercely on the parts of the highway that actually got close enough to the coast where you could see the ocean. The kicker is that it was Sunday. The day when everyone who headed to the coast for the weekend was now heading home. That's why traffic was backed up over the bridge. That's why the normal 3 minute trip through Seaside took almost 30 minutes. By the time I got to Tillamook, I had been sitting on Black Max for almost 4 hours without a break.<br />
<br />
My original plan had been to stay on 101 all the way down to Lincoln City and then head east to Canby, to my aunt and uncle's place. The decision to take a left on 6 and head east early was not a difficult one to make.<br />
<br />
The ride up through the <a href="http://www.tillamookforestcenter.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tillamook National Forest </a>actually redeemed the day. The rain quit almost as soon as I moved away from the coast and within a few miles I was out of the danger zone. Highway 6, through the forest, is a beautiful ride. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have the sun shining…but after 3 hours of rain, I wasn't going to complain about the dry conditions even if it was overcast. I somehow managed to find a break in traffic and the first 30 miles of the ride were spectacular. I had the mountain highway practically to myself. It was only as I was exiting the National Forest that traffic once again picked up and stayed heavy all the way to Canby.<br />
<br />
As I rode out of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Coast_Range" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oregon Coast Range</a>, the overcast skies lightened and the air temperature had warmed up to around 75. By the time I got to Portland I was almost dry.<br />
<br />
If it hadn't been for the rain today, I'd have probably actually been a little disappointed that the coastal highway doesn't really run along the shore up here. It's coastal in the sense that you're near the coast. There are only a few places where you actually get to ride close enough to the shore to see the ocean. However, having the forest between the highway and the ocean helped protect me from the wind and even some of the rain. So I welcomed those tall trees anytime I was riding through them. The ride through the Tillamook National Forest was definitely the silver lining in what could have been a completely miserable day.<br />
<br />
I'll be hanging around Canby until Wednesday, when I'll head back to the coast…crossing my fingers and hoping for sunshine. :)<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjns2YoEBqQnjPfmIy-5H_iQ9jO_LsZrcSQbrssPVfh0wsFFgyvmrWLMvVEba5Mb7VZyi_6creTz4fJK82XXM41QLMJGAO7ew4-M0EiVp31105Gmz9GoOCn6ht-d8NuaHb2KZeys2kF0Sk/s1600/Day1201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjns2YoEBqQnjPfmIy-5H_iQ9jO_LsZrcSQbrssPVfh0wsFFgyvmrWLMvVEba5Mb7VZyi_6creTz4fJK82XXM41QLMJGAO7ew4-M0EiVp31105Gmz9GoOCn6ht-d8NuaHb2KZeys2kF0Sk/s320/Day1201.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The route I planned</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8pYBvY5cZibml5OdrD6_ngUgHPiEHziDUOCHPR8M3L2xqAdohv6vwhKmgO51VPqCJVPLljDaTjl1kK90k07IzbDwa_HYtsOiI4aamWE8J8dn4UFD9LbAzM6SbMN_7fEpX23mUfA2FRgo/s1600/Day1202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8pYBvY5cZibml5OdrD6_ngUgHPiEHziDUOCHPR8M3L2xqAdohv6vwhKmgO51VPqCJVPLljDaTjl1kK90k07IzbDwa_HYtsOiI4aamWE8J8dn4UFD9LbAzM6SbMN_7fEpX23mUfA2FRgo/s320/Day1202.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The route I took</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eRF1CS7iiodBwAyOwXJRrOjQ98O3Robz1pdzLe5ompoov26AFNPSrFzeUGv9Lwi-nzy_x7tfki3Ngm0iiM5EwBSWOVdEcLmRUv5iNIz230JVLeLwECHS_6u9pr4sFarALrvvRLVm00k/s1600/Day1203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eRF1CS7iiodBwAyOwXJRrOjQ98O3Robz1pdzLe5ompoov26AFNPSrFzeUGv9Lwi-nzy_x7tfki3Ngm0iiM5EwBSWOVdEcLmRUv5iNIz230JVLeLwECHS_6u9pr4sFarALrvvRLVm00k/s640/Day1203.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3,424 miles...just a few more to go</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Tomorrow is another day and another road (just not a very long one.) :) Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-79140020612338229642012-08-25T22:12:00.000-07:002012-08-25T22:18:33.190-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 113,092...miles. That's how many miles I rode, from Jackson, Michigan, before I finally saw the Pacific Ocean...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyKG_blW8gHQATj1GdUjV2X291N_MvBc1I191jzfg9Cj5hu5AJRAIT8ZEzNVg3KSWok4cWDK5-Rss-4nLPIasu0fgkVOmvU-AQACVQVs3lG_3eTARa7_vF30oLOfXcAb6vuq2s31v8FQ/s1600/IMG_1688.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyKG_blW8gHQATj1GdUjV2X291N_MvBc1I191jzfg9Cj5hu5AJRAIT8ZEzNVg3KSWok4cWDK5-Rss-4nLPIasu0fgkVOmvU-AQACVQVs3lG_3eTARa7_vF30oLOfXcAb6vuq2s31v8FQ/s640/IMG_1688.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pacific Ocean west of the Olympic National Forest, northwest coast of Washington.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=a74e1a5d-7684-4b5a-bf80-eb7659f9abaa&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false" width="500"></iframe>
<br />
...but that didn't happen until 4:30PM and almost 220 miles into today's ride.<br />
<br />
Those of you with any mapping skills might note that it's only about 80 miles from Tacoma to Hoquiam, where I'm spending the night tonight. Of course, that's if you drive directly over via The 5, Washington 8, and US-12 (the same one that goes just south of Jackson...it's a small world.) I choose to get to Hoquiam via The 5 and The 101...which makes it nearly 305 miles. A small difference.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqfJj1P2xZJuNseBDjMtIG4Wp0ExUgZxPbUfpKUmdnyco-8aZtOFMGcbzJmJJ399zgy6ueGcoawDjOXytnv5BNoJawzd9eo_Lox7SQ_ZN5-w3uP1jzzsSWx3TCODlnFV4ySnwDxnnfqk/s1600/Day1101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqfJj1P2xZJuNseBDjMtIG4Wp0ExUgZxPbUfpKUmdnyco-8aZtOFMGcbzJmJJ399zgy6ueGcoawDjOXytnv5BNoJawzd9eo_Lox7SQ_ZN5-w3uP1jzzsSWx3TCODlnFV4ySnwDxnnfqk/s640/Day1101.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">80 miles vs 305 miles...pick your poison. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaB7u26cQRD9i9NYxtidqouCMDh7LVUPZ22EuPY0KDquy-1matuE24e8wmUX4e-JOi5WPFzih933P4AKMBqzmcrM7j1kMTDMfKtOHKIwpgbwT1Wpv05rTaN-6laJNcA3D3R575VzsEE7s/s1600/Day1102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaB7u26cQRD9i9NYxtidqouCMDh7LVUPZ22EuPY0KDquy-1matuE24e8wmUX4e-JOi5WPFzih933P4AKMBqzmcrM7j1kMTDMfKtOHKIwpgbwT1Wpv05rTaN-6laJNcA3D3R575VzsEE7s/s640/Day1102.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3,174 miles so far and I still have to get home. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Taking the 101 around the peninsula that houses the Olympic National Park and the Olympic National Forest is a treat. You spend most of the day with the snow-capped <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Mountains" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Olympic Mountains </a>in your sight. It's a long ride, but a great one for a motorcycle. Lots of sections of winding curves and twists both through the foothills and along the different bodies of water you'll travel near.<br />
<br />
The ride north goes through the eastern foothills of the mountains and follows the fjord known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hood_Canal" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hood Canal</a> for quite a distance. You eventually turn westward and end up in Port Angeles, which is about the halfway point of the journey I made. It's a big enough town that you can find some decent food and plenty of places to get gas. I was a little disappointed to find that the restaurants I wanted to try didn't open until dinner time...settled for some decent Chinese instead.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26byaU9bD9hj3P9rKhI7NuD8LgM1DUxlb6FSpPn9p9BH3UWi7-9408s_lmm-IdvtfrG7CJDYPRsY7nEgIn3WHye0HGC7_KxKqtDe_GffsF9XTMQNPk6QrF_LIuM37qCrbUv72d0bbNoc/s1600/IMG_0689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26byaU9bD9hj3P9rKhI7NuD8LgM1DUxlb6FSpPn9p9BH3UWi7-9408s_lmm-IdvtfrG7CJDYPRsY7nEgIn3WHye0HGC7_KxKqtDe_GffsF9XTMQNPk6QrF_LIuM37qCrbUv72d0bbNoc/s640/IMG_0689.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hood Canal, home of Octopus Hole</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As you leave Port Angeles, you also leave the more populated section of the ride. There are several small towns on the western half of the peninsula, but far fewer than the eastern half. The most significant town on the western part of the route is Forks, Washington, which turns out is where the Twilight books are set. Plenty of Twilight buy-in as you drive through town. I saw stores selling Twilight themed native art and even a place selling Twilight firewood. If there's a buck to be made...<br />
<br />
The western half also has some of the twistier roads. Riding around Crescent Lake was a lot of fun, especially when I could put myself in the gaps between the groups of cars.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkRCwseOm5ihhc3tX-ybcjFSRZ4IdpgjKT9k67YadLjNUJG80qnwLZ7YKmHmJkycjZvjJg6zKn-9xJHHXvK6LKcrZ2_fvUUlaFPsBiVG2B-9roqiNIeIsxKcoxkiJLZ4goX5cp-5zNow/s1600/CrescentLakePano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkRCwseOm5ihhc3tX-ybcjFSRZ4IdpgjKT9k67YadLjNUJG80qnwLZ7YKmHmJkycjZvjJg6zKn-9xJHHXvK6LKcrZ2_fvUUlaFPsBiVG2B-9roqiNIeIsxKcoxkiJLZ4goX5cp-5zNow/s640/CrescentLakePano.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crescent Lake in Olympic National Park</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBr5CYJaoJ8tEZBKGVERC3Lfh5iVAMyZQa9yD9iwXjcwq39qSCj0raAgunFspddDgXBG1vsyypGP_opNPSjwX14P4CNxe419x6_gzuE88RF9DV0T7sbKA9GV9HzPHr2PMD0z_1X0xJbQ/s1600/IMG_0687.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBr5CYJaoJ8tEZBKGVERC3Lfh5iVAMyZQa9yD9iwXjcwq39qSCj0raAgunFspddDgXBG1vsyypGP_opNPSjwX14P4CNxe419x6_gzuE88RF9DV0T7sbKA9GV9HzPHr2PMD0z_1X0xJbQ/s640/IMG_0687.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSVKAKLfja-Flk5I1vAayokOlr37Ykr37SEAiuCTx9fgHxTuI-ImppSh09h9cYrTh3ILyDHt71zIDBzmJvMdYQZ47SlyptDCyPatyRL9Nl0B96XyQNUBJVwA2SmLj9Kr4_efx31JtVHU/s1600/IMG_0688.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSVKAKLfja-Flk5I1vAayokOlr37Ykr37SEAiuCTx9fgHxTuI-ImppSh09h9cYrTh3ILyDHt71zIDBzmJvMdYQZ47SlyptDCyPatyRL9Nl0B96XyQNUBJVwA2SmLj9Kr4_efx31JtVHU/s640/IMG_0688.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crystal clear waters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
By the time I got down to the coast, I was ready for it. This was one of the prime objectives of the trip, traveling the coastal highways. As road followed the terrain down, the trees and other vegetation started to get more "coastal", and the temperature started to drop. I held my breath at every curve waiting to see if this would be the one where the ocean would come into view. Eventually, you know you're getting near because you can see daylight through the forest. The temperature drops even more. The road takes a turn to the south and there it is...glistening at you through the trees...the Pacific. Admittedly, the northern coastal highways aren't going to offer the most scenic views, but they are nice. You're mostly up on the cliffs, with the beach a hundred feet or more below you. There are often trees between the road and the edge of the cliff, which means you'll only get your best views where the cliffs have eroded back toward the road and the trees are no longer in the way. I'll have three more days of riding the 101 before I get down to the Pacific Coast Highway in California, and I'll have a few days in the middle of those two while I visit with my aunt and uncle outside of Portland.<br />
<br />
As fun as today's ride was, I also came to realize a couple of other things. First, there's just no way I can fit all the things I want to see into the time I have left. I've decided I'm just going to have to skip the trip up to Yellowstone after I'm done along the coast. I'd only have 2 days to see the park and I think it deserves more attention than that. The silver lining is this gives me a reason to come back out this way some other time...but maybe in a car...or on a plane. :)<br />
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The other thing I realized is that some parts of this trip really may be part of the "saying goodbye" process. As I sat on the edge of the cliff, warming myself in the afternoon sun, watching the seals play in the surf, I remembered Sara was with me the last time I walked on our nation's western shore. We were together and happy. I'm going to be riding by the beach where that memory lives in about four days. We saw the redwoods together about 13 years ago, I'll be there next week. It occurs to me that many of the places I've ridden in the past year have those memory ties...and there are getting to be fewer and fewer of them. Maybe subconsciously, I'm letting go by visiting, on my own, the locations/trips/places we enjoyed together. The memories being stirred on this trip are happy ones, yet painful to relive. I know that by now I shouldn't be surprised at the power and quickness of grief...but I sometimes am, caught unaware when I least expect it.<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-87231770778987681022012-08-25T00:20:00.000-07:002012-08-25T00:20:11.589-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 10A day of rest....riiiiiiight. :)<br />
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I woke up this morning without a riding agenda. I've ridden enough miles to warrant an oil change and service check, so the biggest agenda item of the day was taking care of that. I was smart enough to plan this out and my hotel is less than a mile from the dealership I was going to drop Black Max off at to have the work done. Yay for walking!<br />
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As luck would have it, the hotel is also just a few doors down from a shop that repairs eyeglasses. Lucky, you ask? I managed to do yesterday morning what I'd been threatening to do for 8 straight days. I broke my glasses. I have to take them off when I put my helmet on or take it off. This usually involves setting them down on top of my travel bags until the helmet is either on or off and then putting them back on. I have, on more than one occasion on this trip, put my helmet on, gotten on the bike and driven off with my glasses sitting on top of the bags behind me. The shortest distance I've made it before remembering this is just a few feet, the longest was several miles. As I was preparing to leave Spokane yesterday, I remembered while I was still in the parking lot...but...in the process of stopping to retrieve them, the glasses slide forward, off the bags, onto the ground, right where I then proceeded to put my foot. Broken glasses ensued. So, on my walk back to the hotel I noticed this shop that said they repair glasses, I figured I'd give it a shot. $69 dollars and a few drops of solder later, I'm back in business. :) The true challenge is figuring out how to prevent this from happening again...stay tuned...<br />
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While Black Max was getting lubed and checked, I decided I'd stop at the local grocery store to pick up some snacks. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/paldo-world-lakewood" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pal-Do World</a> is right across the street from the shop where I'd dropped my glasses off, so I popped on in to see what I could see. I should have known I was in for a fun experience when the only thing I could actually read on the store sign were the words "Pal-Do World." Everything else was written in what I believe may have been Korean. The only area I really ran into issues was in the "salty" snacks. Most of the bags didn't have much English on them. The two words that were in English that kept popping up were prawn and shrimp...I've had prawn/shrimp flavored snacks before and I knew I didn't want any today. I finally found a small bag of some kind of chocolate puff, some wasabi rice crackers, dried mango, and candied tamarind. I've never had tamarind before, but it looked tasty. I also picked up a couple Granny Smith apples...there was no language barrier in figuring out what those were. :)<br />
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By the time I got back to the hotel, I was feeling a bit peckish, so, I cracked open that bag of tamarind to see what it was I'd bought. I popped one of the pods into my mouth and bit down, quickly realizing this wasn't going to be the way to eat candied <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarind" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">tamarind</a>. The candid flesh is sugary, soft, and chewy. The seeds inside the pod are as hard as rocks. I'm glad I didn't break a tooth. Turns out you eat what you can and spit the seeds in the trash. Not the kind of "candy" you'd serve at a posh dinner party, but no one cares if you spit seeds in the trash in your hotel room. :) If I ever run across candied tamarind while shopping back home, I might actually buy some...it's not bad, really...it's high in B vitamins and calcium. Who needs milk when you can eat tamarind?<br />
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I got the call at about 1:00 that Black Max was all ready to go. So I hiked back to the dealship to pick him up. Now all I had to do was figure out what to do with the rest of the day. I had plans to meet my cousin, Jonathon, and his wife for dinner at about 6:30, so I now had 5 hours to roam the greater Seattle area. It didn't take me long to come up with a plan. Did you know there are 5 <a href="http://www.apple.com/retail/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Stores</a> in the greater Seattle area? Now you do...and I visited every one of them.<br />
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No, this doesn't have to make sense to you. It's just something I like doing. It's also something my friend Jason likes doing...and now I've got 5 more stores on my list than he does. :) In my list of Apple stores that I've visited, these five are numbers 19 to 23. In some cases just finding the store is a challenge in and of itself. Driving around in a large, unfamiliar city can be challenging. One way streets that don't make sense, streets that aren't always labeled the same in real life as they are on the internet, etc., etc., etc. In the end, it took me over four and a half hours to get to each store and actually walk in and look around. If you don't walk in and look around it doesn't actually count as a visit. Besides, it can be fun to see what accessories the varying stores carry. I'm noticing a lot designer phone cases and golfing accessories out here that you don't see in the stores back home. <br />
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After visiting the last Apple store, I headed back into Seattle to visit Jonathon and Nicole. It was good to see them, spend a little time catching up, and enjoying some great fellowship over Pad Thai, Red Curry, and Chinese sausage salad.<br />
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So, the big question is, how many miles can one rack up traipsing from one Apple Store to another in a metropolitan area like this. The answer is 132.<br />
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Tomorrow will come early (it's actually already tomorrow...I should get to bed) and it will be the day I finally get to see the Pacific coast.<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-628614234856546212012-08-23T23:07:00.002-07:002012-08-23T23:07:36.244-07:00West Coast Adveture - Day 9<i>O beautiful for spacious skies,<br />For amber waves of grain,<br />For purple mountain majesties<br />Above the fruited plain!<br />America! America!<br />God shed his grace on thee<br />And crown thy good with brotherhood<br />From sea to shining sea!</i><br />
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I saw it all today...well...I saw a lot.<br />
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I saw amber waves of grain.<br />
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I saw purple mountains majesties.<br />
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I saw the fruited plain.<br />
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I saw America...and I'm exhausted. <br />
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I met John at 8:30AM this morning for breakfast. We're both members of the <a href="http://www.volusiariders.com/portal.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Volusia Riders</a>. Neither one of us rides a Volusia any more...truth be told, there are many people on the site who no longer have, or ride, a Volusia (or Boulevard)...but once you're a part of the family you're a part of the family. John lives in Spokane, Washington, had the day off work today, and decided he'd join me for the ride to Seattle.<br />
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Riding out of Spokane, one finds oneself quickly back on the plains...only, it's not the same plains as the middle of the country. For one, you can see the mountains to the west most of the time you're riding through them. It's also not as "flat" as the plains states. There were hills through North Dakota and Montana, too, but these hills were bigger, more pronounced, you noticed them...and it made it seem a lot less "flat." There were also dust devils. I don't recall seeing a single dust devil as I traveled through the Great Plains. I saw lots of them today. At one point, there was a relatively large one cruising across the open fields to our south and west, while at the same time I counted at least a dozen smaller ones in the open acreage around it. I've never actually seen a true dust devil before today...cool. :)<br />
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US-2 just keeps chugging along through the amber waves of grain until you reach Coulee City. I got another nice surprise there...canyons. Not valleys...actual canyons. We were scooting along, right as rain, and all of a sudden US-2 starts to drop. It's like the fields just open up and the road starts going down into this unknown chasm. Then, without warning, you come around a curve in the road and there's the canyon, right in front of you. Steep walls jutting up on either side and a ribbon of highway that shoots down to the canyon floor and up through a break in the walls on the other side. This was an unexpected piece of scenery, to say the least.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside Coulee City - click the picture to see a larger version</td></tr>
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Once you rise up out of the canyons, you're back in the foothills of the coastal mountains. The ride through them was exhilarating and over almost too quickly. If anyone from out east is up for it, I'd love to fly out to Seattle next spring or fall and take US-2 from Seattle, WA, to Kalispell, MT, and back again over the course of a week. I'm not sure there's any other place in the United States of America where you can see plains, canyons, mountains, rivers, lakes, streams, forests, big cities, small cities, and no cities all in just about 600 miles on one road. US-2, from western Montana to western Washington is America in a nutshell. About the only thing missing was swamp...and I didn't miss that. :)<br />
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One thing I haven't missed in my nine days of riding has been traffic. There have been a few times when I found myself amongst some other vehicles, but nothing close to what we ran into when we got to Seattle. It was about 5:00PM when John and I got onto the highway east of the city. 65 miles later, and over 90 minutes of fighting typical Seattle rush hour traffic, I finally made it to my hotel. The only thing left on the agenda for the night was to get some dinner...and for that I got to meet another great person with a Volusia Riders tie, Julie. I got to enjoy a few hours with her this evening as she gave me a quick tour of Steilacoom and treated me to dinner at the Steilacoom Pub & Grill.<br />
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As I got closer and closer to Seattle today, my thoughts started to become more introspective.<br />
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This trip does have meaning to me, in ways both known and unknown, regardless of what may have been posted earlier in the journey. This isn't a trip one takes just because it was there to be taken, at least that's not the only reason. For me, one known aspect of this journey is that the seeds for the trip were planted in 1994. Back then, my friends, Jason and Bryan, and I were supposed to drive out to Seattle via US-2 for our friend Jeremy's wedding. It's a trip that was well intentioned but never happened; however, I always wish it had. Instead, I flew out while Jason and Bryan took the Greyhound. If you ever get a chance to hear them talk about sharing a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter for three days...it's a story worth listening to. There's a part of me that takes great pride in making the journey, by myself, while at the same time it's an accomplishment that's diminished because Jason and Bryan didn't get to share in it.<br />
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As the miles fade into the road behind me, the unknown becomes more clear. Traveling like this helps me to both escape the reality of my life...and bring me face to face with it. There are still days when I feel like a stranger in my own skin. Days when I look in the mirror and simply don't recognize the person staring back at me. Days when I just want things to be the way they should have been, not the way they are. As I traveled US-2 today, I was reminded that I can't run away from that reality. It hit home hard at the point where US-2 runs into the Columbia River and heads south before turning back west and following the Wenatchee River up into the mountains. Sara and I had driven the highway on the other side of that river just a few years ago. We had flown out to spend a week with her sister at her sister's in-law's home near Lake Chelan. The next hour of the trip was a blur as I remembered that vacation. Our time together. That we'd driven back to Seattle early to celebrate our anniversary. Memories. I can't run away from the memories, from the reality that they are all that I have left.<br />
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The evening finds me exhausted. It was long day of riding and an even longer day emotionally.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spokane to Tacoma - 340 miles of some of the best riding I've ever experienced</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2,500+ miles and still rolling</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-39523670929743021572012-08-22T21:12:00.003-07:002012-08-22T21:53:13.846-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 8Montana is just big...I'm sure you could make it across the state in one day...especially if you wore an adult diaper and took snacks. When I woke up this morning, it marked my 4th day in the state. Admittedly, one of those days was for a fun adventure, but still...<br />
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I "slept in" until 7:30. Spent a few hours packing, surfing the internet, planning out the rest of my trip...more on that later...and then had a late breakfast before hitting the road. It's nice to not be in a hurry. :)<br />
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Idaho was still almost 90 miles away and I thought I'd push straight through and stop in Bonner's Ferry for my fist stop of the day. Little did I know the waters of western Montana would draw me in. I was hustling down US-2 when this beautiful body of water caught my eye; crystal clear waters just begging for a closer look.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">McGregor Lake</td></tr>
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I spent a few minutes wandering along this beautiful shoreline before heading west again. Not long after, I reached the small town of Libby and there was the Kootenai River, flowing westward at a pleasant clip. US-2 follows the river for quite a bit, crossing over it at least twice, and giving you an opportunity to stop and take a short stroll to see the Kootenai Falls. It was well worth the walk, and working up a small sweat, to see it.<br />
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After leaving the falls, the Idaho state line wasn't far.<br />
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I was no more than a few miles across the border when I was hit with an allergy attack. My eyes started watering, my nose started running, I started sneezing...super fun in full helmet...and had to stop at the first gas station I found to buy some Benadryl. Apparently I'm allergic to Idaho. Good thing I was only in the state for about an hour. :)<br />
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The Washington state line came pretty quickly once I was doped up. It was only about an hour from there to Spokane. It was during this segment of the trip that I had my first case of ride "weariness." After spending 8 days on the road, sleeping in a different bed every night, and seeing such a wide variety of terrain...I was ready to go home. I don't think it's homesickness. I've been away from home for longer. I had just hit a point where I didn't want to be on the road anymore. The feeling was not overwhelming, but it did make the rest of the ride to Spokane a little blah. It was more about just getting to the hotel than enjoying the majestic scenery around me.<br />
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I'll be curious to see if that follows me into tomorrow or not. I'll be spending the next 2 nights in Tacoma. By the time I get to my aunt and uncle's house in Canby, Oregon, on Sunday, I'll be halfway through the trip. It will be interesting to see if that has a positive effect on the desire to keep going.<br />
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I spent some time last night and this morning trying to figure out a plan of attack for the rest of the trip, that might have contributed to my feelings. It looks like I've got very little wiggle room in being able to stop and see the people I want to stop and see, see the sights I want to see, and fit it all in in the time I have left. I don't have a spare day between now and when I need to be home...here's hoping for the best. :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">257 miles today</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8 days and counting :)</td></tr>
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-25823208920801392882012-08-21T18:11:00.001-07:002012-08-21T19:54:42.227-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 7It's picture day! I decided to spend a day not heading west so that I could tour one of our great national parks. I got up early, hit the road at 7:30AM, and headed back east to the western entrance of Glacier National Park.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun keeping me warm as I head to Glacier National Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dxWcr0SB2qEgwA1Tm_wHs9S3wynzvTfIPd9P8qVLItiKb4w6XtYDrs6TCk7lz9NcTWxcD2aUF60XiEkwM5UyaCDNzlRNm80WAG0Oif9OBuRiZk-9dR_xUxVqk3hkEGDqU5Tae1kJNAo/s1600/IMG_0657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dxWcr0SB2qEgwA1Tm_wHs9S3wynzvTfIPd9P8qVLItiKb4w6XtYDrs6TCk7lz9NcTWxcD2aUF60XiEkwM5UyaCDNzlRNm80WAG0Oif9OBuRiZk-9dR_xUxVqk3hkEGDqU5Tae1kJNAo/s640/IMG_0657.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake McDonald as the haze obscures the mountains at the northeast end of the lake</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UPy4ywmv_NXSQ7BCtSahLTJN90BmP8MxwmybPqStp18Y5OzrOGVxbUWBc6BdbtUtnUZ0Lgb_Lgjt7nL2IQ0-X0rzqC7kI9XqAIqZwW2diXynBpjT-jpP4AIXcII7tkcRgZwy9IINjUA/s1600/IMG_0658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UPy4ywmv_NXSQ7BCtSahLTJN90BmP8MxwmybPqStp18Y5OzrOGVxbUWBc6BdbtUtnUZ0Lgb_Lgjt7nL2IQ0-X0rzqC7kI9XqAIqZwW2diXynBpjT-jpP4AIXcII7tkcRgZwy9IINjUA/s640/IMG_0658.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only blemish on the day was this woman, who felt it was appropriate to stand at the edge of the lake, talking loudly into her cell phone, swearing like a drunken sailor, completely oblivious to the wonderful setting she was ruining.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rushing waters</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small waterfall</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake McDonald, without the cursing woman :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiAqJQalyl1nk6l6_m3MbX75pzfXelZBaBN7nJbEqGRpTGdU_m92ZB4gpGrzV4wGDnLAHkLuRudmFvYRtrx5XSBd7rN2OnrDXyugFOZlhB68rUNCDtYYpS0BN4GGQ9Wh7P1M5YzYIly0/s1600/IMG_1612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiAqJQalyl1nk6l6_m3MbX75pzfXelZBaBN7nJbEqGRpTGdU_m92ZB4gpGrzV4wGDnLAHkLuRudmFvYRtrx5XSBd7rN2OnrDXyugFOZlhB68rUNCDtYYpS0BN4GGQ9Wh7P1M5YzYIly0/s400/IMG_1612.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, at "the loop" with Heaven's Peak in the background</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRYx7mcG_2vQBglOylnoaP5cj3ZE9CRzbhL6rhuftCvpHD59v8503e0QT4oE_BSQCBOMTG46xVD9tQHrrWpNHdcX9h3aXdbHB0Dcl8nrutBCliDJVYSdILdvExqhiiYo-7zhJ_u_pggk/s1600/IMG_1626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRYx7mcG_2vQBglOylnoaP5cj3ZE9CRzbhL6rhuftCvpHD59v8503e0QT4oE_BSQCBOMTG46xVD9tQHrrWpNHdcX9h3aXdbHB0Dcl8nrutBCliDJVYSdILdvExqhiiYo-7zhJ_u_pggk/s640/IMG_1626.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64Vyxnf44eeKiEBe5dBv-07sUh4j73TQXFQhhgr7tERoOH7Dxgm92bCNaudWcBtiUWB3tEx0zebW8t8aC-rMeJJ0YA5fIIU5viQWA_2HDaLz5QGb7DhbW-1cZED0580rfF_VA9HtMcFg/s1600/IMG_1627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64Vyxnf44eeKiEBe5dBv-07sUh4j73TQXFQhhgr7tERoOH7Dxgm92bCNaudWcBtiUWB3tEx0zebW8t8aC-rMeJJ0YA5fIIU5viQWA_2HDaLz5QGb7DhbW-1cZED0580rfF_VA9HtMcFg/s640/IMG_1627.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The is the a shot from the east entrance of the park, I got out just before the rain came over the mountains</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Black Max at the east entrance to the park</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the park from US-89, after the rain had passed</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXQmsfhAEFHSLyBzxM2csk8hZGAeRSNq5MmkQy4uIu02cZqARZuUY9b37iMbiOJef4odj7sXP2O-YlmO-trBVgQ8e2CeeoivjGeJNJgmpgfmQcIZf1FYYWRKNBSuIcXRLxMWA8ONrdEg/s1600/IMG_1631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXQmsfhAEFHSLyBzxM2csk8hZGAeRSNq5MmkQy4uIu02cZqARZuUY9b37iMbiOJef4odj7sXP2O-YlmO-trBVgQ8e2CeeoivjGeJNJgmpgfmQcIZf1FYYWRKNBSuIcXRLxMWA8ONrdEg/s640/IMG_1631.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stopped at the Glacier Village Restaurant & Gift Shop for some refreshing beverages</td></tr>
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One thing I noticed on the trip today was that most of the bicyclists were traveling from east to west. I only remember passing a couple of bikes heading from west to east. I have a feeling the ride from east to west has more "downhill" to it than the trip from west to east.<br />
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This unscheduled stop was a great distraction from just heading down the highway. I got enough of a taste to know that it would be fun to come back here for a longer vacation and actually see more of the park and do some hiking to see some of the glaciers.<br />
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Today was the first day, since day 2, that rain was in the forecast. I managed to stay dry the whole day, even when a significant cloudburst followed me out of the park and slammed the east side while I ate lunch at the lodge just outside the park. It poured for a good 10 to 20 minutes and then the sun came back out again, allowing me to travel back to Kalispell without getting more than a few sprinkles on me. :)<br />
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All in all, it was a fun day. If one were to plan it well, and weather was not an issue, riding from West Glacier to East Glacier via the Going-To-The-Sun road, US-89, and Montana 49 and then turning around and ride the same way back to West Glacier would make a long but fun day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilYOwuGCqDbCIAbBJr7WpR4_GLwuyG5IUvmipFHJOEpyxk-nVgp-KsV2KuPhmISNqVpzElxMK6xvNL5NAs4MayNU_2x6OUAOK2S9eV50ICjpIvoFGXYbKuF-No-sOWbIaiHcyulBk9iac/s1600/Day0701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilYOwuGCqDbCIAbBJr7WpR4_GLwuyG5IUvmipFHJOEpyxk-nVgp-KsV2KuPhmISNqVpzElxMK6xvNL5NAs4MayNU_2x6OUAOK2S9eV50ICjpIvoFGXYbKuF-No-sOWbIaiHcyulBk9iac/s640/Day0701.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">212 miles there and back again</td></tr>
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I almost forgot to add these scenic Glacier National Park panoramas to the blog. Good thing the day isn't over yet. :)<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-68246340851498965932012-08-20T20:32:00.002-07:002012-08-20T20:32:48.967-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 6What a difference a day can make.<br />
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When I left Havre, Montana, this morning it was pretty much the same as the past couple of days...prairie, prairie, and more prairie. You reach a point where you just start to enjoy all that grass and can see it for the beautiful piece of earth that it is.<br />
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In this panorama, which I took just west of Havre, you can see the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Paw_Mountains" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bear Paw Mountains</a> about 10 miles south of the city. These were the first mountains I recall seeing on the journey out, but they certainly aren't the last. Not long after I left Havre, I noticed another small range off to the north of US-2. It was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Grass_Hills" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sweet Grass Hills</a>. They're practically on the Canadian border, and I could see them for almost 100 miles as I traveled along US-2 between Havre and Shelby. I stopped and did another panorama at the top of a hill about half way between Shelby and Cut Bank.<br />
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It's no wonder you can see even these smaller mountains for such a long distance, the land is relatively flat, even when it's hilly. It reminds me of the lesson we learned in science class that if you could rub your finger over a version of the earth the size of a baseball it would feel as smooth as a ball from a pool table. The only thing that kept me from seeing the northern part of the Rockies any sooner than I did was the haze that had settled on the horizon. I saw the southern part of the range first, about 30 miles out, and the northern section came into view not long after.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Northern Rockies and Glacier National Park, east of East Glacier</td></tr>
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One of the things you don't realize, as you travel west of Shelby, is that you're steadily climbing uphill. By the time you get to East Glacier, on the edge of Glacier National Park, you're at about 4,800 feet. The highest elevation you hit on US-2 traveling through the mountains is 5,200 feet. This meant most of the trip after East Glacier was downhill, descending almost 2,000 feet by the time you get to Columbia Falls/Kalispell. Needless to say, I got great gas mileage on that last tank of gas! :)<br />
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One of the things that has been going through my mind over the past couple of days is thoughts about the first settlers to this part of the country. I've spent hours pondering the thoughts that might have been going through their heads as they slowly made their way across the plains. At what point does someone look around at all that barren grass and think, "This is it. This is where we're going to build our homestead." I also can't imagine the process of seeing mountains in the distance...anywhere from 3 to 4 days before you might get to them. I don't think we have any appreciation for that method and pace of travel today. :) <br />
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I'm going to be heading back east tomorrow, reversing course if you will, so that I can tour Glacier National Park. I'll be entering the park from West Glacier and taking the Going-To-The-Sun Road to the other side of the park. I need to do a little research yet this evening to see what kind of cool stops I might be able to make.<br />
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A side note here, I'm finding that bees seem to love Black Max. Anytime I stop for a stretch, I come back to the bike and find anywhere from a few bees to a dozen bees swarming around it. I'm not afraid of bees, so it's really no big deal. I just can't figure out if there's actually something about the bike they like, or if they're just checking out all the dead bees that are squished all over it. Bees seem to be the one insect that inhabits the plains and my coat, the bike, and helmet get covered in bee goo pretty quickly each day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAQPS_UVk8auWZIOBoD0KLI-zfDsoCRZk7_ttiPmx2FeLzEUT3SItI7mJKorDXVHDc6Ll9E0LJcqe4E2slPddFNRSG6OF3SVFvQz60Z0ZUOdFhdNh71w5ZAA73zABMxvQ67484cQColU/s1600/IMG_1596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAQPS_UVk8auWZIOBoD0KLI-zfDsoCRZk7_ttiPmx2FeLzEUT3SItI7mJKorDXVHDc6Ll9E0LJcqe4E2slPddFNRSG6OF3SVFvQz60Z0ZUOdFhdNh71w5ZAA73zABMxvQ67484cQColU/s640/IMG_1596.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Max, covered in bee guts</td></tr>
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I believe I'll push past the 2,000 mile mark on this trip tomorrow. It will be fun to reach that milestone while touring Glacier National Park.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBSq9OAPIOD8JePTPGiqcQqZgzl44_00TGJw6_DueqxN2HNc5-HWz2wzT4WxilwwU2gJBU_d2LgPGo-jy5s01uKef6ifJNp-PLDLhJqv2xrXdOCi5zRnji6HC19BFcwL2iRE7Jdufppg/s1600/Day0601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBSq9OAPIOD8JePTPGiqcQqZgzl44_00TGJw6_DueqxN2HNc5-HWz2wzT4WxilwwU2gJBU_d2LgPGo-jy5s01uKef6ifJNp-PLDLhJqv2xrXdOCi5zRnji6HC19BFcwL2iRE7Jdufppg/s640/Day0601.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Short jaunt today, a little less than 300 miles.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1928 miles so far</td></tr>
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-69932327645665715032012-08-19T18:42:00.002-07:002012-08-19T18:42:54.491-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 5The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains...<br />
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The Great Plains. Montana's High Plains. Big Sky. Is it possible for something to be so awesome and beautiful that it just gets boring? Maybe it's just overwhelming in an underwhelming sense of the word. <br />
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To be clear, I'm not disappointed...this is the US-2 I was expecting. It's rural...in every sense of the word. The highway slims back down to a petite two lanes not long after you leave Williston, North Dakota. It's well maintained and the speed limit during the day is 70; once you get out here, you know why...it would be dumb to set it any lower.<br />
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I'll take this moment to give props to the drivers of Montana. In the nearly 300 miles I spent on US-2 in your state today, I don't think I was ever tailgated once. I was passed quite a bit because I was typically only doing 60 to 65. Most of the folks with Montana plates on their vehicles would pull over to pass while they were still a good 6 to 10 cars lengths behind me and wouldn't pull back in until there were 6 to 7 in front of me. I wish the idiots in Michigan could figure out how to do that, instead of riding 10 feet off my back bumper and "wishing me faster." If traffic was coming from the opposite direction, the Montana drivers would just hang back at a safe distance until it was clear to pass. No muss, no fuss.<br />
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Driving this section of US-2 is one long drink of prairie. There are a few trees, but very few. Mostly it's just grass, wheat, or hay and livestock. There was a point, not long after I left Malta, where I realized there were more trees, a lot more trees, and the population seemed a little more dense. It took me a few minutes to realize it was because the highway had wandered into the valley. The hills could still be seen off in the distance to both the north and the south, but I was now traveling in the plain between the hills in the watershed where the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_River_%28Alberta%E2%80%93Montana%29" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Milk River</a> flows. I can only surmise, based on my liberal arts education, that the presence of a constant water source accounts for the trees and the population. It was a refreshing change of pace from the grasslands.<br />
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I found that it's not unusual to see farm equipment sitting forlornly out in the middle of land that doesn't look like it's been farmed in a very long time. A tractor, a harvester, etc. Just sitting there as if the farmer got out of the seat one day, walked away, and never came back...maybe that's exactly what happened. I was half tempted to stop and wander out to one of these steel monuments and see if the keys had been left in the ignition.<br />
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While we're talking about Montana, let's put a certain myth about the availability of gasoline to bed. It's just not true. If you run out of gas out here, it's because you're an idiot. I think the longest stretch I can remember going between gas stations is about 40 to 45 miles. And, yes, I did see one idiot pulled off to the side of the road about 5 miles out of Wolf Point, buying a can of gas from someone, at what was probably an exorbitant mark up. There's no excuse for running out of gas on this highway...aside from sheer incompetence.<br />
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To keep things interesting while you travel this route, there are Historical Points at regular intervals along the roadway. Typically it's just a large sign, posted at the side of the highway in a small area where you can pull off and read it without even getting out of your car (or off your bike.) Lots of history out in this barren land, mostly dealing with the military, native Americans, and trading posts. Once you get to Havre, you can even take a tour of the place where the native Americans ran buffalo off a cliff...which was a lot easier way to hunt them than with bows, arrows, and spears. Here's the view from Buffalo Jump, just west of town.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buffalo Jump in Havre, Montana</td></tr>
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Speaking of buffalo, I had enough time to investigate a member of the local fauna today...the mighty hayffalo. I noticed small herds of hayffalo almost immediately upon entering Montana. I saw them mostly in groups of anywhere from 30 to 50 animals. I wasn't long before the herds started getting bigger. At one point there were so many hayffalo to be seen on the prairie I was unable to even guess at their numbers, the herd must have numbered in the thousands. These portly beasts, with their immense girth, appear to be very slow moving, which is probably a good thing, considering the size of the herd. When I stopped to take a few pictures, I also found them to be exceptionally quite. Aside from the occasional passing car, the hayffalo live a peaceful existence listening to the crickets and the wind blowing through the prairie grass. From time to time I noticed what must be the nesting sites of the haffalo; they appear to bed down in large piles, sometimes two and three animals deep. I'm guessing this may be an attempt to keep warm when the temperature drops 40 to 50 degrees at night. Should you choose to travel through Montana keep your eyes peeled and enjoy the land of the stately hayffalo.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herd of hayffalo grazing just west of the Montana/North Dakota state line.</td></tr>
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And that my friends is what you have time to think up while you're traveling through the High Plains of Montana. :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West Coast Adventure - Day 5</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The route so far</td></tr>
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-30301861833771795292012-08-18T19:59:00.000-07:002012-08-19T07:14:49.945-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 4I got to sleep in this morning...which was unexpected with a 4 year old and nearly 2 year old in the house. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Ben and Libby Johnson for putting me up for the night and filling me up on some delicious homemade and garden fresh food last night. I do feel like I need to apologize though...I was totally clueless in missing that today was their 5th anniversary. I took their wedding pictures. I saw the collage of photos on the cabinet in the dining room a half dozen times over the course of last evening and this morning and it never clicked that today was the day listed with the photos. Anyway...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LIBBY AND BEN! From the bottom of my heart. :)<br />
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The sun was shining brightly in Grand Forks when I hit the road. US-2 is a four lane highway all the way across North Dakota...but it's definitely not a busy interstate.<br />
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I was only about 4 miles out of Grand Forks when I rolled over the 1,000 mile mark on my trip, so I stopped and snapped a quick picture to prove that I was still smiling. Well...I was smiling on the inside.<br />
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So, there is a downside to riding through the plains...it is a little boring. I saw lots of cowscornwheathaysunflowers and other agricultural whatnot. For the first 3/5 of the ride today, I struggled with keeping my speed in check. Everything is so flat and wide open, and there's so little traffic, that I kept slowly speeding up. It seemed like I'd have the speedometer up to around 80 without even realizing it. In a situation like that, I find it actually helps me to have a vehicle traveling the speed limit, or slower, about 100 yards in front of me; it gives me a gauge to keep things in check when I start to wish I was looking at something other than pavement, fields, and the black-eyed Susans growing along the edge of the highway.<br />
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I did find one thing to slow me down and distract me for a whole two minutes about 50 miles out of Grand Forks. I found myself back in Michigan. Whodathunkit? :)<br />
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I stopped for a quick gas up and lunch at Devil's Lake. I had planned on stopping there...but I was surprised to get there as quickly as I did...see the paragraph above for an explanation on how that happened. If you're ever in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, I'd recommend Kneadful Things for a meal. It's a small bakery/bistro. Not a huge menu. Mostly sandwiches, pastries, and other desserts. It was really good food, even if it was a bit pricy, and the coleslaw seemed like it was pretty well made on the spot, just for my meal, instead of scooped out of a bin.<br />
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About a half hour or so down the road from Devil's Lake I found a cool roadside attraction to stop at...the geographical center of North America. It's a small, unassuming monument in Rugby, North Dakota.<br />
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After enjoying being the "center of attention" for a few minutes, I jumped back on Black Max and continued my journey into cowscornwheathaysunflowers land. I was in for a nice surprise though...things spiced up just east of Minot. The terrain changes quickly. One minute I'm cruising along through the flattest land I've seen in a long time and then you come around a curve in the highway and the road dips down into a small valley and all of a sudden you're in hill country. It reminded me a lot of what the northwest lower peninsula of Michigan might look like...it it didn't have trees. Things got even more spicy after Minot, the hills just get bigger. Again, I was thinking it compared to some of what I've seen in the western and norther upper peninsula of Michigan...but, again, without the trees. The scenery doesn't change much after Minot. It's hills, hills, and more hills all the way to Williston. One thing that surprised me was that Williston is only 1,000 feet higher in elevation than Grand Forks and only 200 feet higher than Minot. It seemed like I was riding uphill for the better part of 2 hours after I left Minot. Every time I got to the top of a hill, there was just another, slightly taller, hill in front of me.<br />
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Yesterday, I was bemoaning what I felt was pork barrel spending that had resulted in US-2 being widened to 4 lanes. A little research shows me that happened, at least for some portions, back in the early 70's. I softened my stance on it a little today, not a lot, just a little. A couple of reasons:<br />
<ul>
<li>There were several times when large farm equipment was being driven along the highway. On a two lane highway this would have caused a huge back up. Even though US-2 isn't a packed interstate, there does seem to be enough traffic that having the ability to just go around the tractors is a welcome benefit with those extra lanes.</li>
<li>The closer I got to Williston, the more traffic there was. It never got overwhelming, but there was enough for me to think that a two lane highway would have seemed pretty busy...and probably slow. I can see where having the extra lanes makes things move more smoothly along the highway, even if there are times when it seems like you're the only person using the road.</li>
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Now, before leaving on this adventure I had been told that there was an oil boom out this way. I wasn't prepared for what that meant. If you're desperate for work...you can probably find it out here. You may not be able to find a place to live, but you can find work. The oil and natural gas industries are running full tilt. There are not enough hotels, apartments, and homes to keep up with the housing demands. I first started seeing the effects just a few miles outside of Minot. What appears to be "temporary" housing complexes are popping up along the highway. These complexes look a lot like railroad boxcars that have been modified to be apartments. The ones I saw were typically stacked 2 high and there were 10 to 20 units in a "complex."<br />
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As I got closer to Williston, I started seeing corporate housing complexes. At first I thought they were prisons. They were often fenced in and they looked like single story barracks lined up one after the other. I have a feeling these "villages" can be set up in just a couple days, house hundreds of workers, and probably earn the companies putting them up a pretty penny.<br />
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Some of the farmers are starting to get in the act, too. About 20 miles out of Williston, you start seeing the "land for sale" signs. They're plopped down right in the middle of the fields that are currently being harvested. There's money to be made here and those who "have" will. It would appear that at least someone thinks this boom can last a while, too. It looks like they are extending public water and utilities out along US-2 a good 20 miles to the east of Williston. In short, if you want a job, and don't care where the work is, or what it is, you can find some good money out here. One of the efficiency housing units on the outskirts of Williston is advertising "cheap" rentals...only $699 per week...<br />
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**** Sunday Morning, August 19 ****<br />
Was surfing the internet and stumbled across this article about a kid trying to make money for college by <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/18/us/shower-truck-invention/index.html?hpt=hp_c2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">selling showers in Williston.</a><br />
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I've traveled over 1,300 miles at this point. I'm more than halfway to the west coast at this point. Tomorrow is going to be a warm day and I'll be planting my flag in Havre, Montana, for the evening. After that I'm heading to Kalispell, Montana, where I'll spend two nights so that I can do a day long tour of Glacier National Park.<br />
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Here's maps showing today's route and the trip overall.<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-28656490234493798202012-08-17T20:59:00.003-07:002012-08-18T16:33:09.790-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 3The last 120 miles of my ride today were very difficult, what with the smell of pork overwhelming me the entire way…more on that later.<br />
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Traveling the length of the country on a single highway can start to add some perspective to the economic situations in the different states. Michigan appears to be dying…and it's sad. As happy as I was to see several of the hotels that were closed the last time I rode up here now open…there were more that were closed…and gas stations…and empty houses. It just doesn't look like there's any kind of recovery coming to the U.P. at a sustainable rate. Things don't seem to be going down hill as fast as they have in recent years…but it doesn't really look like they're getting better either. Crossing the border into Wisconsin provides an almost noticeable and immediate change…fewer closed businesses and fewer empty houses. By the time you get into Minnesota, you wouldn't be able to tell that things are so bad just a few hundred miles to the east. By no means am I saying things in Wisconsin and Minnesota are so great that we should begin a mass migration to the west, it's just easy to think that things outside of Michigan may be getting better faster than they are in my home state. Maybe I'm wrong…I hope I am.<br />
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The pork…I wasn't really smelling pork…it was pork barrel spending. US-2 turns into a 4 lane highway east of Bemidji, Minnesota, and remains that way for over 100 miles. Maybe someone from the area can tell me why this was necessary. I was riding this route from 4:00PM to 6:00PM, rush hour, and, with only a few exceptions, I can't tell why the money was spent expanding the highway out to 4 lanes…based on the traffic I saw, it seems like a waste. There were multiple times when I could see at least a mile down the road and couldn't count more than 8 to 10 cars traveling in either direction. How much does it cost to maintain a 4 lane highway instead of a 2 lane highway? How much did it cost to put it in in the first place? This didn't happen recently, it looks like it's been this way for quite a while. Someone slipped it in to some piece of legislation and we all just let it happen. It kind of makes me sick to my stomach…Maybe I'm wrong…I hope I am.<br />
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I woke up in Hurley, Wisconsin, this morning to crisp and cool conditions. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and by the time I left at 8:15AM it was only 55 degrees. A perfect day for wearing a sweatshirt under the leather. Given my druthers, every riding day would be like this. :)<br />
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I got my first glimpses of Lake Superior about 30 minutes into the ride
as I arrived at Chequamegon Bay. There's a nice little roadside park as
you head into Ashland, so I pulled over to grab a couple quick pictures. <br />
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Traffic between Ashland and Superior was pretty steady, but it never got busy, which means I was able to move along at a very comfortable pace, even with the stiff breeze blowing out of the northwest. I made it to Floodwood, Minnesota, in time to meet WiseguyDave for a great burger at Bridgeman's. Floodwood is one of the many small bergs along US-2 with fewer than 1,000 residents. Resilient little towns that hang on and survive regardless of the situation.<br />
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I tried to take a picture of the welcome to Minnesota sign on the Ira Richard Bong bridge between Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota....i didn't quite get it.<br />
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On my way out of town, I got a nice surprise…the Mississippi River. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be seeing it on this leg of my journey, as I knew its headwaters were south of US-2, but I didn't count on the fact that the river flows north and east before turning and heading south.<br />
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Here's a panorama of the river:<br /><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" src="http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=d0117500-a29f-45a5-8c3d-fe343b0990e0&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false" width="500" height="300"></iframe>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-36902918496203346272012-08-16T17:36:00.001-07:002012-08-16T19:47:05.650-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 2Hellooooooo wind!<br />
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Whew, feels good to be off the road. Mackinaw City to Hurley, Wisconsin, ended up being about 341 miles after throwing in a couple short side excursions. That is just about what I expect my average day to be like, riding between 300 and 350 miles and, hopefully, arriving at my destination by about 4:30. This should allow me time to clean up, find a decent place to eat, and spend the evening relaxing. <br />
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A few notes from the ride:<br />
<ol>
<li>US-2 is a great piece of road. It's well maintained, scenic, and has plenty of places to stop for food, gas, etc. If you wanted to stop at all the touristy places, you could probably take about 4 days to make the drive from the east end to the west end of the Michigan portion of the highway.</li>
<li>It looks like the fall colors are going to be coming soon. As I started west on US-2, I'd see a tree beginning to turn red or orange every couple of miles. After Escanaba, there were more and more trees that look like they're going to turn soon, with some that were already unfurling brilliant red, orange, and yellow leaves. Admittedly, it's probably less than 1% of the trees, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the western half of the U.P. in peak color about 4 to 5 weeks from now. Then again, what do I know...</li>
<li>The ride from Mackinaw City to Norway was pretty dreary. Mostly cloudy with patches of what could barely be called rain. There were parts of the highway where I could tell it had rained quite a bit prior to my riding through, but thankfully I managed to get there too late for it get me soaking wet...right up until I was about 3 miles east of Norway. It rained enough for about 2 minutes to get my pants and coat pretty wet; then it eased up and I was left with partly cloudy skies for most of the rest of my journey to Ironwood. The nice thing about that is, you tend to dry out pretty quick once the rain is done.</li>
<li>After I left Norway, the wind picked up, and I mean it really picked up. It blew out of the northwest at a pretty steady 15 to 20 miles per hour with gusts topping 30 or so. I'm not a small guy, and the VTX is a big bike, but there were a few times when I felt like a kite on a string. I think I've only ridden in wind like that on three other occasions. I'm wondering how the wind on the northern plains will compare?</li>
<li>It fun to ride through towns like Norway and Vulcan...simply because of the names of the towns. "So, where are you from?" "Vulcan." "Riiiiiight...live long and prosper, dude."</li>
<li>Even though I've been on the road for two days now, it doesn't feel like the trip has really begun yet. I think it's because I've ridden all these roads before, so I haven't seen anything "new" yet. That will all change tomorrow. When I leave here in the morning, it's all new...all the way to the west coast.</li>
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As I make my way west, I find comfort in some of my now standard traveling companions. I find that most gas stations are now carrying SoBe's lifewater (0 calories). I figure it tastes better than water and is probably better for me than pop. It says it's all natural, no artificial sweeteners, and each bottle has a different mix of vitamins and minerals in it. I often find myself downing 2 bottles at each gas stop, just to stay hydrated. So far, that plan seems to be working for me. This isn't the first trip I've done it on and haven't found any real negatives yet.<br />
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I also learned, on my first long trip ever, bring some ibuprofen and non-aspirin pain reliever. I don't normally partake in this type of voodoo, but learned that it can make the difference been a great day of riding and a not so great day of riding. I think it helps me sleep a little better at night, too, when my arms, back, and shoulders aren't yelling at me and asking why I'm doing this to them. :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAPrvC-VNZp7ElA7a4fTTK2MfatDUeMnUuqYlJQAaoQhb-xbscniDXDXaKwy-i4hN4dnvQDRYG3sXaeyl7MaHpaLk2JuCUJtzKwb967q_lAOLjL623aeEKAdEG9CUZVAGCF_RFt2jIZE/s1600/IMG_1574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAPrvC-VNZp7ElA7a4fTTK2MfatDUeMnUuqYlJQAaoQhb-xbscniDXDXaKwy-i4hN4dnvQDRYG3sXaeyl7MaHpaLk2JuCUJtzKwb967q_lAOLjL623aeEKAdEG9CUZVAGCF_RFt2jIZE/s400/IMG_1574.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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A few random pictures from today.</div>
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Stopped at a scenic turnout to get a shot of Black Max with Lake Michigan and some "scenery" in the back ground. This is Max's first time across the bridge. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVopusUg1zDsxs5I7s6RflTSRwnIaX-NToPizh4pjovEHjfkUcJzw0nCVXsWH_2N-T36WGkRUlyf0j328XFqy7AljIjNT3bzurgsNyKeKNCyruDEsK7FaI8R3QQ0R8brAezUKWZRQVJjU/s1600/IMG_1562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVopusUg1zDsxs5I7s6RflTSRwnIaX-NToPizh4pjovEHjfkUcJzw0nCVXsWH_2N-T36WGkRUlyf0j328XFqy7AljIjNT3bzurgsNyKeKNCyruDEsK7FaI8R3QQ0R8brAezUKWZRQVJjU/s640/IMG_1562.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I paused for a few quick pictures at the Cut River Bridge. As my friend
Joel likes to describe it, "it's a $10,000,000 bridge over a 10 cent
creek." I took a couple of Photosynth panoramas, too. You'll probably have to have Microsoft's Silverlight installed to view them.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://photosynth.net/embed.aspx?cid=c924ff59-f60b-41c3-a5cf-6e4ad02aaf34&delayLoad=true&slideShowPlaying=false" width="500"></iframe><br />
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US-2 takes you right by Watersmeet. If I have to explain the Nimrod's to
you, you either don't watch ESPN or you don't know Kevin Oxley. :)<br />
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Here's what today's route looks like on the map.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIZ2qQu0k6Rtdtggix5sLgiyteekE3AlrD4uH4bEYmrF1RVVndIzdX4OPiGBjSrht6hnyjlHBqY_Nv1q-3Ko_wk8nWhkNcx4N7N_Tk4Fzui6ei7ZRTpZXybiehQ0jh6P0Pyo6_5gcRYU/s1600/Day0201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIZ2qQu0k6Rtdtggix5sLgiyteekE3AlrD4uH4bEYmrF1RVVndIzdX4OPiGBjSrht6hnyjlHBqY_Nv1q-3Ko_wk8nWhkNcx4N7N_Tk4Fzui6ei7ZRTpZXybiehQ0jh6P0Pyo6_5gcRYU/s640/Day0201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And the overall route, so far.<br />
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Tomorrow is another day and another road. :)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-13428470301541361552012-08-15T19:32:00.000-07:002012-08-16T16:53:40.770-07:00West Coast Adventure - Day 1This is it...the BIG trip. It's part of what I wanted to do last summer, but the BIG trip last summer turned out to be enough after about 5,000 miles and 5 or 6 weeks of travel. I left this afternoon and hope to see the western end of US-2 in about 7 days.<br />
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Some of you might ask, "why?" The answer, of course, is because I can...or maybe, more correctly, because I want to. To which the quizzical would give me a blank stare and ask again, "why?"
For those who ride a motorcycle, no explanation is needed. For those who don't...none will really make much sense. The "why" is the same reason people climb mountains and go deep sea diving. That's why.<br />
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Believe it or not, today may actually be one of the harder days of the trip. It was only 275 miles, but it was almost all Interstate and I didn't leave home until after 3:00PM. Riding that far, with no windshield, on the interstate is actually a little draining. My arms and shoulders hurt tonight in ways they haven't in a long, long, time. However, once I'm on US-2, the speed limit is normally about 55, so that's going to help a ton. 55 to 60 with no windshield is manageable, in my humble opinion, while 70 to 75 is pushing it hard.<br />
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I could have left earlier in the day, taken 2 lane highways all the way up, and avoided the Interstate stress and pain, but I didn't...duh. I spent the morning and early afternoon running all the errands and taking care of all the little odds and ends one must take care of before leaving on a long trip. I could have done them yesterday, but I didn't...duh.<br />
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Once Black Max was loaded, it was pretty much off to the races. I just had one last errand to run and then a stop for gas and we were on our way.
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Black Max is what I've decided to call my VTX...every bike deserves a good name, right? I'd say the name came to me in a moment of inspiration, but that would be a lie. I actually had a FB friend that was looking for names for a piece of jewelry and asked people to make up a name using the color of pants they were wearing and the name of their first pet...hence, Black Max. In truth, I was wearing black shorts with a tropical floral pattern on them..but Black Tropical Floral Pattern Max sounds kind of stupid, if you ask me.<br />
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Tomorrow is shaping up to be the worst weather day for the first week of the trip. There's a 30% chance of rain first thing in the morning that quickly escalates to 50% and then 70%. However, it looks like something I can move through/past if I time it just right. The forecast for my destination, Hurley, Wisconsin, has a very low chance of rain tomorrow...hard to tell what it will be like until I actually get up in the morning and scope out the forecast and radar. Modern day travel has it's silver lining.<br />
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First day is in the books...and we're looking pretty good...tomorrow is another day and another road.<br />
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Here's the route for Day 1:<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-73188464020749634252012-08-09T16:14:00.000-07:002012-08-12T19:19:56.823-07:00Just Another RideSo, about 5:45PM last night, I'm riding north on I-75 headed to Detroit to catch the Tigers and Yankees game. My buddy and I had been in Cleveland, where he spent the day visiting his mom and I bought tickets thinking the ballgame would be a great way to relax on our way back home. I'm cruising along in the farthest left of 3 lanes at about 70MPH. It's pretty heavy traffic and only the left lane is moving at the posted speed limit. In the lane to my right, is a large SUV hauling a boat. In the lane to the right of him is a tractor trailer.<br />
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Just as I pull even with the front of the boat, and the rear of the SUV is lined up with the rear of the trailer the rig is hauling, the driver of the semi decides its time to move over into the middle lane. I started braking, but still found myself needing to head to the shoulder to avoid getting crunched by the boat…the 4 foot wide strip of concrete that serves as a shoulder in this case…the very poorly maintained 4 feet of concrete that serves as the should…you get the idea.<br />
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Those of you from Michigan won't need an explanation of the "Grand Canonesque" trenches that demarcate the highway from the shoulder. Michigan's crack Department of Transportation allows these 5 to 12 inch wide, and sometimes several inches deep "cracks" to exist in the vacuum between the roadway and the shoulder. They can be anywhere from a couple feet long to several meters.<br />
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In the end, I'm lucky to be alive. The only thought on my mind after I hit the first of these trenches was "keep the bike straight and keep it up." I wasn't trying to swerve back into the road where who knows what would have run into me. When I hit the first trench, I felt the front start to wobble and slip, I immediate knew the front tire was flat…at 70MPH on the busiest highway in the state, with no safe shoulder to stop on…I felt pretty boned at that point.<br />
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Fortunately, my buddy was far enough behind me that he wasn't affected by all this, and there were 2 tractor trailers in the lanes next to him that saw everything and immediately slowed down. Because THEY were paying attention, I was able to get back on the roadway and get over to the shoulder on the right side of the highway, thanks to them blocking traffic, where I was finally able to stop and begin cursing the day the first truck driver had been born.<br />
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Here's a picture of my tire and rim. The rim bent on both side, but the left side was the worst.<br />
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My buddy's wife drove the hour and a half to come pick me up and we took the backroads home while he rode in front of us.<br />
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Anyway, I'm not sure how other people react the day after death grabs their nuts and squeezes like he's not going to let go…as for me, I decided it would be a good day to modify my Honda VTX a little more. I recently had it painted and customized to have a lot of the chrome blacked out. Here's a few shots.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD16VFH1j3q2dV2cZyN6HQPauamXK4Yrs-RbNPtmyNO4l5NisqcASCTKdGkRqxBGjnsUTgKMsjlKRAxihxY7P6Ob6Bpk9cfLpQUsPHaSnWqRiRSf6SL1Q-XtNbdjwiqiz480uKoBa_Om8/s1600/IMG_1544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD16VFH1j3q2dV2cZyN6HQPauamXK4Yrs-RbNPtmyNO4l5NisqcASCTKdGkRqxBGjnsUTgKMsjlKRAxihxY7P6Ob6Bpk9cfLpQUsPHaSnWqRiRSf6SL1Q-XtNbdjwiqiz480uKoBa_Om8/s320/IMG_1544.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4853425508186554670.post-57928131602887116192012-06-13T18:44:00.001-07:002012-08-12T20:07:35.199-07:00Watch me ride...Went for a ride with my buddy, Jason, today. Buddy might not be the best word to describe him. Jason's my friend. A best friend. The kind most people are lucky if they have one of...in their whole life.<br />
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We rode over to the Dark Horse Brewery for lunch. Yummy! I'll have to go back to sample more of their menu sometime.<br />
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Here's a video I shot. It's 30 minutes of me, on the ride back. Enjoy it.<br />
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If you actually watched that whole thing...it must have only been for the music. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0