Jerry's Trip West 2007

Computer and phone advice

2007-08-21T16:00:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in a previous blog how valuable my laptop computer was on my trip because I was able to use it to keep up with the weather, things to see, travel distances and routes, as well as getting my email and doing my banking while I was on my extended trip. One thing I discovered however was that as I traveled the computer would bounce around in my saddlebag and after a while I noticed an area on the monitor that was beginning to get worn. After noticing this, I began putting a cloth between the keyboard and the monitor to minimize this wear and tear, and it worked. I am glad that I noticed this early on in the trip. I also had to do the same thing with my cell phone which I kept in a case on my belt. The buttons on the keypad were causing marks on surface of the screen on the phone. I again put some pieces of paper towels over the surface of the keypad and this eliminated the problem.

The Beef Jerky Travel Diet

2007-08-21T15:45:00.001-04:00

When I travel I usually do not like to stop for lunch and I very seldom go out for dinner either. This is a good thing because it saves me money and it reduces my calorie intake, which is something I need to do desperately. As I travel, I usually eat about 2 ounces of beef jerky and one crunchy granola bar for lunch. Breakfast is usually whatever is free at motel which usually consists of a bowl of cereal, an English muffin, and a piece of fruit. For dinner I would stop at a local grocery store and pick up a quarter pound of sliced ham, two pieces of fruit, and some carrots or other suitable vegetable to munch on. I did go out to eat several times when I was at one of my relatives homes, but even then I would try to eat lighter portions. The result is, after 5 weeks, that I lost about 10 pounds. Now I just have to try to keep that up now that I am home.

Some of my friends suggested that I should write a book about my "Beef Jerky Travel Diet" to compete with books like the South Beach Diet or the Atkins Diet. I really don't think I have a have enough material to make this into a book however. I suppose I could write a book about the different jerkies I have eaten along the way. One of my favorites was the Gary West Jerky that I picked up in Jacksonville, OR.

After thoughts and upcoming videos

2007-08-21T14:57:00.001-04:00

For those of you that have been following my blog I want to thank you for your interest in my journey. It was encouraging to me to have so many people show an interest in what I was doing for myself. Now that I am home, I will be working on editing the videos that I took on my trip. If you are interested is seeing them I will be posting them on YouTube and I will put a link to the YouTube site on my blog. Since I am not sure when I will have the editing done, if you want to send me your email address, I can send you an email to let you know when I have posted something new. If interested, please respond by sending me your email address to:
gesvendor@westshore.edu

You will need to send it directly to my email because I cannot respond directly to if you you contact me through this blog site.

Day 34 - My last day on the road

2007-08-21T14:36:00.001-04:00

Picture 1 - A flower garden in the Open Space in Traverse on the West Bay. Picture 2 and 3 - The state park beach on the East Bay in Traverse City. Picture 4 and 5 - The Boardman River behind the stores on Front Street in Traverse City.

Today was the last leg of my trip but it certainly did not lack in regard to beautiful scenery. Michigan is a very beautiful state and has some of the best lakes and shoreline when compared to others I have seen around the country. On my way home today I decided not to take I-75 but instead to use US-31. I have not traveled this way in many years but after witnessing the beauty of this route, it may again become the route of choice when I travel north to the Mackinaw Bridge from now on. As I traveled through towns like Petoskey, Charlevoix, Conway, Elk Rapids, and Traverse City, I was struck by the beauty of the lakes, woods, and shoreline that help to make Michigan one of the most beautiful places I have seen on my trip. I have seen the beaches of California, Oregon, and Washington and they do not compare to the beaches here in Michigan. Oregon was the closest, but the constant cold breezes that come in off the ocean in every one of these states, makes them virtually useless for what most people go to the beach for; i.e., swimming and sunbathing.

The weather was cool today, but as I left Petoskey it was at least partly cloudy so the traveling was delightful. It wasn’t until I passed Bear Lake that I knew that I was going to need my rain suit to complete the trip home. I no sooner got it on and the rain started to come pretty steady for the last 40 miles of the trip. So the journey ended as it began; with cool weather and rain. But I must admit this did not dampen the enjoyment of what I have experienced on this 8,100 mile ride.

Speaking of all the miles, when I was talking to a guy at the motel last night about my trip, I mentioned that I had ridden 8,000 in five weeks and he said, “Wow, you must have a leather ass by now.” I guess I probably do with all the miles I put in the saddle, but I have to admit, that the seat on my Heritage Softail Classic was quite comfortable the entire trip.

I have included some pictures above from the Traverse City area. Traverse City holds a special place in my heart as one of the best vacation spots in the world because it is where my parents and other relatives used to go to vacation when I was a kid back in the 40s and 50s. I was always fascinated by the Boardman River in Traverse City and the way it meandered through the downtown area right behind the stores that lined Front Street. As I rode out of Traverse City down Front Street and onto North Long Lake Road toward Long Lake where we spent many a summer, I was reminded of those wonderful years when we would go fishing on some of the smaller lakes in the area. As I passed by them I could still remember some of the fish I caught on lakes like South Twin, Coffield’s, Obrien’s, and Lions. The memories washed over me like a flood as I passed along side these lakes and especially Long Lake with its beautiful islands and sandy shores. It was a great way to end a great trip; i.e., remembering the best vacations of a lifetime some 50 and 60 years ago and reflecting on the journey of a lifetime that I have dreamed about doing for many many years.

Day 33

2007-08-18T23:04:00.001-04:00

All of the pictures are from Palms Book Spring State Park in the Upper Peninsula near Manistique. This is Big Spring or "Kitch-iti-kipi."

Today was my second day in the UP of Michigan near Houghton. The temperature this morning dropped to 32 degrees F and there was frost on the ground. Joyce, Juhanni, and I went to house Chris and Maryann’s house for breakfast this morning. Chris is Joyce’s son and Joyce is my mother-in-law. Juhanni is Chris’ son who has been staying in the big house at the Bohjanen farm where Joyce lives. Maryann, my sister-in-law, made a traditional Finnish breakfast delicacy called Pannukakku. It is mostly egg and milk and is baked in an oven like a soufflé. We ate it with a strawberry topping and it was delicious. When I left Houghton, the sun was shining but it was still cool. After riding for about and hour the sky got overcast and I got pretty cold so I stopped to put on more clothes. After putting on a second long sleeved shirt, and my chaps, I headed back out on the road. With the thin layer of high clouds and a lower level of stratus clouds, the temperature never got above about 65 all day, so the extra clothing was a big help, but I never did get fully warmed up. The towns clicked off as the miles flew by. Towns like Baraga, L’Anse, Ishpeming, Negaunee, and Marquette.

At Marquette I turned south on MI-41 to head down to US-2 at Rapid River. I decided to take this route because it will take me past Palms Book Spring State Park just west of Manistique. This is where you can find one of the Upper Peninsula's major attractions, Kitch-iti-kipi or "The Big Spring." Kitch-iti-kipi is two hundred feet across and forty feet deep. The spring spews out over 10,000 gallons a minute from many fissures in the underlying limestone. The flow continues throughout the year at a constant 45 degree temperature so the spring never freezes and can be enjoyed any season of the year. On the spring is a barge that is guided by a cable stretched across the spring. The center of the barge is open so you can easily see the bottom of the spring in the crystal clear water. Swimming beneath the barge are numerous trout that have been planted there from nearby fish hatcheries. I have posted several pictures from Kitch-iti-kipi including one looking through the bottom of the barge showing some of the trout and the boiling sand at the bottom of the spring. I have been here once before about 20 years ago but the visit today was just as delightful. The spring is truly awesome.

After leaving the spring, I headed toward St. Ignace with the intent of finding a motel there to stay the night. I had forgotten that today was Saturday during the height of the tourist season and every motel that I checked with was full, so I decided to cross the bridge and try my luck there. Most of the motels south of the bridge were full too, so I continued south on US-31. I finally found a motel in Petoskey so this is where I am for the night. I might have just ridden all the way home tonight but I found out that it had been raining in Ludington all day and I was already cold. I didn’t relish the thought of being wet and cold.

Today, the odometer rolled over the 30,000 mile mark since I bought the bike in 2002. On this trip, which has lasted one day short of five weeks, I will surpass the 8,000 mile mark which will occur tomorrow before I arrive at home. Home is approximately 160 miles away if I don’t take any detours.

Day 32

2007-08-18T19:18:00.001-04:00

This next part actually happened yesterday, but I was so long winded on what I wrote in yesterday’s blog that I decided to split up some of the information. As I rode on from Duluth, I entered Superior, Wisconsin where I stopped at Barkley Island. There is a rubber sided ship on display in the harbor there which was rather unique with its rounded sides. You can see it in the picture above. Northern Wisconsin was exactly like Northern Minnesota and Northern Michigan; very wooded with lots of lakes, rivers, swamps, and hills. I eventually made my way into Michigan and headed toward Silver City near the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. I had always wanted to see the Lake of the Clouds which is located there so I took a 9 mile detour to the west of Silver City and a short walk up the hill to see it. The lake was quite beautiful and I was glad I took the time to ride up there. I have a couple of pictures of the lake posted above.

Today, Friday, it was quite cool but sunny. It was also extremely windy so I decided not to go for any extended rides on the motorcycle to see any of the sites around the Keweenaw Peninsula. I did take a few pictures of the Bohjanen homestead which I have stitched together as one and included it above.

Day 31

2007-08-17T16:00:00.001-04:00

Today I left Grand Rapids, MN and headed toward Duluth, MN and eventually to Joyce Bohjanen’s home in Oskar, MI just north of Houghton, MI in the UP. Joyce is my mother-in-law and has a beautiful 40 acre homestead way out in the north woods. All the way through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan I was struck by the beauty and similarity of these three states. With their abundant forests and the beautiful lakes I felt like I was really home again. It felt good to be back in familiar territory. What a wonderful change over the prairies in North Dakota and eastern Montana.

On my way down US-2 toward Duluth I was on the lookout for a large steam locomotive that a friend of mine wanted me to take a picture of. He is a truck driver that made a lot of runs through Duluth and was always captivated by the size of this locomotive. He was never able to get a picture of it because there was no place for him to stop with his 18 wheeler. Before heading out toward Duluth I did some research on the computer to see if I could locate where it was. I was not able to find it online but I did find a Railroad Museum in Duluth so I programmed that into my GPS. I figured if nothing else, I could go there and someone would know were it was. I recall as I rode through town of Proctor, just outside of Duluth, my attention was drawn to an Air Force Jet that was poised on a pedestal on the side of the highway. I thought about stopping there to get a picture of it because it was quite neat, but I was going just a little too fast to stop so I just kept heading toward the museum. Shortly after that I saw a turnout for a rest area and tourist information site which I also thought about stopping at but I decided against it at the last minute. After rounding a curve and cresting a hill, I got my first view of Duluth and the harbor on Lake Superior. It was absolutely gorgeous. At that point it was too late to stop to get a picture but I decided that after visiting the museum I would probably go back to that information rest area because it was on an even higher hill overlooking the city and would allow me to get some good pictures.

Upon arriving at the Museum I parked my bike on the street and took both cameras with me to try to get some pictures in the museum. The building that housed the museums (there were actually four museums in this building) was a beautiful old train station. From the road outside I took my 35 mm camera out to take a picture of the building. I noticed that I did not have my memory card in it because I left it in the computer. I thought for a moment that it would be okay because I still had my camcorder with me and it takes pretty good still pictures along with videos; but since I was only a half a block away from my bike I decided to go back and get the memory card. I was so glad I did because when I finally got in the place and tried to take some video I discovered that the battery was dead on the camcorder.

Upon entering the museum, I asked the person at the ticket counter if he knew of a train located along US-2 somewhere. He told me it was right along side the highway in the town of Proctor and you can’t miss it as you drive through. Well Proctor is the town I had just come through and I did miss it. I guess eyesight is the first thing to go when you get old; or is it the second? He told me that if I head back to Proctor, just after passing the first red light, I will crest a hill and the train will be on my left. I thanked him and went about the business of visiting the Railroad Museum. I was impressed by the number of restored old trains that they had on display inside the building. I took a lot of pictures, some of which you can see above. While I was there I also got a short ride on and old restored electric trolley. This trolley was actually built in South America and was used in Duluth for many years. There is a sister trolley that is still in use in Alaska but it has been converted to diesel.

After leaving the museum, I headed back to Proctor to find the locomotive that I somehow missed on my first pass through. As I came to the first red light, I could not see it yet but as I crested the hill I discovered why I did not see it the first time. It was right next to the Air Force Jet that is also on display next to the highway. Anyway, I stopped and got some pictures of the jet and the train and headed into Proctor to get some lunch. At the restaurant I found out that the engine and tender car for this locomotive was 127 feet long and the engine was the most powerful engine in the world at the time.
After eating I then head back onto US-2 to make a stop at the tourist information center to get some pictures of Duluth and the harbor. The view from that hill was breathtaking and I was extremely glad that I came back that way to see it and get some pictures. While I was there I met a nice couple from Boston who had been vacationing in Minnesota and were driving back through Upper Michigan, then Canada, and back to the US in the Thousand Island area on the St. Lawrence Seaway. In our discussion I discovered that he had actually been born in Ann Arbor, MI. They asked for my recommendation on what to see as they passed through the UP. I recommended Pictured Rocks and Tahquamenon Falls. They wrote both things down and said they would definitely stop at each.

Day 30

2007-08-15T21:41:00.001-04:00

Picture 1 - Sunflowers growing in a field. Picture 2 - Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in Bemidji, MN. Picture 3 - Paul and Babe but this time in Oregon taken several days ago. Picture 4 - Large Muskie outside of a bar in Minisota.

This morning I started in Minot, ND and rode to Grand Rapids, MN; a total of 325 miles altogether. The riding was easy and fast. With the speed limit at 70 in North Dakota I was usually running at 75 mph most of the day with spurts up to 80 from time to time. The terrain started out much like yesterday, mostly flat farm land or grazing land. The farther east I went, however, the more I began to see some ponds in the fields, then bigger ponds, and then lakes and bigger lakes. It was nice to see some lakes along the way, but the lake were pretty much wide open. That is, there were no trees around most of them. They were just lakes in a field. Once I crossed over into Minnesota, that is when the landscape really changed. Northern Minnesota looks a lot like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Covered with trees and the lakes are surrounded by trees. I felt like I was home again; and it felt good.

Let me say something about highway US-2. Before I started my trip a number of people warned me that US-2 might not be in that good a shape because it is not the primary rode for cross country travel like it used to be. I was, in fact, a little apprehensive about taking that route at first, but now that I have been on it from Seattle, WA to Grand Rapids, MN I can tell you that there is nothing wrong with this road. Ever since Montana, the speed limit on the road has been 70 mph (except for in the towns) and 70 is a comfortable speed for the condition of the road; which is good. What I like most about it is that you can travel just as fast as on the interstate, but with much, much less traffic and very few trucks; and you get to see all the little towns along the way. In Montana, US-2 was a two-lane road for the entire state. But with so little traffic, it presented no problem because there was hardly ever anyone to pass along the way. In North Dakota US-2 becomes a four-lane divided highway, but it is not limited access. The four lanes obviously makes passing easier, but still there were very few people on the road to pass anyway. There are only about 30 miles that are not four-lane but they are currently working on that section and it will probably be done this year. Once I got to Minnesota the speed limit dropped to 65 and in Bemidji, MN the road again turned into a two-lane road. In Minnesota the towns are a little closer together than in the other states.

As I rode today, and also a few times yesterday, I came across several huge areas of sun flowers growing in fields. It was quite nice to see some color other than the tannish brown wheat fields that I have see ever since Washington State. I stopped to take a picture of one of the fields, which you can see above. In Bemidji, MN I had to stop to take a picture of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. This is not the first time I have seen these characters. There was a statue of them in Oregon as well; right near the California border and the redwood forests. I have included both pictures above. Halfway between Bemidji and Grand Rapids, I came across a bar that had a huge muskie outside of it. The muskie was actually a building. The doorway was in the mouth and you can see windows on the side as well as a small chimney coming out the back near the fish’s dorsal fin.

Day 29

2007-08-14T22:07:00.001-04:00

Today I took only one picture so I decided to include three pictures from two days ago. Picture 1 – Bridge over Lake Koocanusa about 30 miles north of the Libby Dam. Picture 2 – The gorge and river in Glacier Park where kids were jumping into the river. Picture 3 – A close up of the pool they jumped into. Picture 4 – An old steamboat that was used on the Missouri River near Wolf Point, MT.

Last night I stayed in Glasgow, MT and I rode to Minot, ND to end my day; a distance of about 280 miles. Rain threatened all day but I never got any rain until I secured my motel room in Minot. Then we had about 5 minutes of drizzle. In Williston, ND, which was about half way on today’s ride, I stopped for lunch and checked out the weather channel weather map on my computer. There was a huge band of thunder storms about 60 miles south of my position that stretched almost the entire width of the state. This would have put it smack dab on top of I-94 which made me glad that I was riding US-2 rather than the interstate.

Having left Montana, let me summarize my thoughts about this state. First of all, Montana is one wide state. Riding on US-2 from the Idaho border to the North Dakota border is about 680 miles. That is the equivalent of the distance between Lansing, MI and New York, NY. On the western end of Montana the terrain in mountainous and heavily forested and I might add; it is quite beautiful. Riding through Glacier National Park was some of the best scenery that I have seen anywhere. Once I left Glacier Park, I entered the town of Browning which was probably one of the dumpiest towns I have come across on my trip. Later I found out that it is a town on an Indian Reservation that has an extremely high crime rate and murder rate. Four people had been murdered there in just the last two months with the most recent being just one day before I passed through the town.

From Browning all the way to North Dakota, the terrain changed from mountains to flat dry farm and grazing land. The roads changed from twisty to fast and straight. Riding on US-2 was nice for a change but the scenery got to be a little boring. All along US-2 there were little towns dotting the way about every 20 miles or so, with absolutely nothing in between. The towns were obviously populated by Native Americans because I have never seen so many casinos in my life. Every town had at least one casino and in some towns there were dozens. There were casinos everywhere. They were in gas stations, liquor stores, restaurants, and casinos all by themselves. In my mind, I imagined that Montana to be all mountains and lakes. Boy was I wrong. It is like that only on the western third of the state. Otherwise, it was flat prairie land.

On today’s ride I stopped at three historic sites. The first told about how, in 1837, the Little Girl Band of Assiniboine Indians were exposed to smallpox by the European trappers. The exposure wiped out 94% of the entire tribe. Numerous other tribes were exposed to the disease as well with almost as devastating results as the Assiniboines had. The second was at Wolf Point, MT which told about the Lewis and Clark Expedition which passed through that area in 1805. I might add that I have crossed over the Lewis and Clark trail several times in the last few days. Wolf Point got its name because in 1879 trappers killed several hundred wolves and piled them up along the Missouri River for the steamboats to see as they passed by. The final site was tribute to the steamboats that used to run up and down the Missouri River bringing supplies to the settlers and forts that were populating the area. I have included a picture of one of the steamboats above.

Day 28

2007-08-13T22:18:00.001-04:00

Picture 1 is the picture of the dinosaur at the Philip County Museum in Malta, MT. The picture was actually 4 separate pictures that I took and then stitched together using the panorama feature of my Olympus Master editing software. Picture 2 are some antique clothes from the museum.

Today there isn’t too much to report today. Before leaving I noticed that my cycle cover had some white stuff on it when I went to take it off. At first I didn’t know what it was but then I figured out that it was ash from the distant forest fires that are raging in Idaho and Montana. I left Cut Bank, MT this morning heading east on US-2. For the most part US-2 is as straight as an arrow and has a speed limit of 70 mph. The riding was easy, but the scenery left a little to be desired. Ever since I left Glacier National Park, the land flattened out and became wheat growing or cattle grazing farmland that stretches as far as the eye can see. It has been that way for well over 300 miles. Except for the river valleys, there are almost no trees anywhere. Actually the straighter road riding is kind of a relief from all the twists and turns that I experienced all along the coast and through the mountains that have dominated my riding for the last two weeks or more. Riding US-2 is also a whole lot better than riding the interstate highways. There is definitely a lot less traffic.

Because of the lack of scenery I started to stop at most of the historical markers that were along US-2 near each of the towns that I rode through. I found out about people like: Chief Joseph, Chief of the Nez Perce Indian tribe; Flat Nose Curry, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid; the slaughtering of the free range buffalo in the 1880s; and things like the various kinds of cattle brands. In the town of Malta, MT I stopped at a museum. The key item at the museum was a complete skeleton of a brachylophosaurus dinosaur that was found near there. This dinosaur is an early cousin of the T-Rex. It measured 28 feet long. The museum nicknamed the dinosaur “Elvis the Pelvis.” I included a picture of Elvis above.

Day 27

2007-08-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 – Mountains in Glacier Park . Picture 2 – Entrance to Glacier Park. Picture 3 – Upper Libby Dam and Koocanusa Lake. Picture 4 – Libby Dam

Today was a really great day. It started out with a ride up to the Libby Dam on the Kootenai River which creates the 90 mile long Koocanusa Lake. Forty-two of the lake miles are in Canada, the rest are in the USA. Although the dam does generate electricity, its primary purpose is to control flooding in the area by storing up the spring run off and releasing it over the summer and fall. As I rode along the lake I stopped to watch some people that were rock climbing. There were actually several groups of people.

Glacier National Park was simply fantastic. People told me that it was beautiful, but until you actually see it for yourself it is hard to imagine what it looks like. When you first enter there is a large lake on your left which is really beautiful. Then you begin to rise in altitude and the lake changes to a river and the mountain tops start to come into view. As you rise up further the mountains become more visible and more majestic. They are breathtaking. Part way up, I stop by a waterfall in the river to take some pictures. Just above the falls area is a neat canyon where the river forms a deep pool that swimmers were jumping 15 feet off the canyon walls into.

As you ascend further the mountain become even more rugged than before. During the first part of the ascent, I was on the inside lane, but after negotiating a very sharp switchback I was then in the outside lane for the rest of the ride on the Road to the Sun. About 5 or 10 miles before the end of the Sun Road as I approached the town of St. Mary, another lake appeared but this time on my right. When the lake ended the St. Mary River started.

Once I was out of the park I got on MT89 and headed south. This road took me through an area that was recently burned out by a forest fire. In a few more miles the mountains turned into rolling foot hills with horses and cattle roaming on a free range. Some of the horses were even on the roadway. The farther east I rode the flatter the terrain got and the drier it got. Then the wind started to pick up. It must have been gusting up to 50 miles per hour. I was glad when I turned east so that the wind was at my back. I was traveling on US 2 at about 75 MPH but it didn’t seem that fast because I didn’t feel the wind as much.

Day 26

2007-08-12T00:42:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 - A neat restored schoolhouse near Reardan, WA. Picture 2 - Kootenai River in Idaho. Picture 3 & 4 - Kootenai Falls in Montana. Picture 5 - Me standing in front of Kootenai Falls.

This morning I left Davenport heading for Shumate Harley Davidson in Spokane, WA. I just turned over 6,000 miles and needed my second oil change of the trip. My first oil change was at Santa Barbara H-D in Carpenteria, CA, just a couple of weeks ago. Although I am not in the business of writing about dealers on my trip, I think a comparison of the two might be in order. I called ahead at both dealers to see if I could get an oil change and both could accommodate. Both were very friendly and both had me in and out within an hour. Now let’s talk about the differences. In California they tried to add on all kinds of extras which would have cost me $341. After I objected and said all I wanted was and oil change, he backed out some of the items. When it was done I ended up with a bill for $145 for an oil change. This was the first time I ever had my oil changed at a dealer before so I did not have anything to compare it to. Today I was surprised to find out that my cost for the oil change in Spokane, WA was $66 and they even checked over the bike to make sure everything was still in place and nothing had come loose. I realize this is a small sample from which to base an opinion, but when an oil change costs more than twice as much, at one dealer over another dealer, I am forced to state my opinion. First I want to express my thanks to Shumate H-D in Spokane for doing a great job at a reasonable price. My recommendation to anyone planning on making a long trip on a Harley; don’t get your oil changed in the Los Angeles area and especially not at Santa Barbara H-D in Carpenteria, CA. I am not sure that the price was high just because it was near LA, but I would not want to test the theory if I were in the LA area again.

While I was at the dealership in Spokane, a delightful 68 year old gentleman overheard that I had ridden Route 66 and he couldn’t stop asking questions about my experience. I filled him in on some of the generalities of the trip and advised him to check out my blog if he wanted more detail about my experience. He told me that he would definitely do that because he wanted to ride it next year.

After leaving the dealership I programmed my GPS to take me to Glacier National Park. Because I was already east of US-2 the GPS pointed me to Idaho 95 which would head north and eventually connect with US-2. This seemed reasonable to me so I followed the GPS, but did that ever turn out to be a mistake. The problem was not with the road or the route, it was the fact that this route took me past a large amusement park in Sandpoint, ID. This being a weekend, the traffic was especially heavy on this road and to make matters worse, there was a major accident just north of the park which completely closed down the road. This created a major traffic jam that took me about an hour to get through, and when I finally thought I was through it, I found out that I then had to take a detour around the accident that was ahead.

After getting through the traffic problems I eventually linked up with US-2 and the ride again became delightful as usual. It wasn’t long before I was riding in the Idaho mountains next to the majestic Kootenai River. The longer I road along the river the nicer it got. I eventually came across a turnout that boasted a view of Kootenai Falls. I almost passed it up, but decided to make the stop; and am I glad I did. This river was one of the most powerful rivers I have seen on my trip. The falls are not large in terms of height, but the rush of water through this gorge and around the rocky islands was overwhelming. I was totally blown away. I took some really good video of the falls and some pictures as well. The pictures are good but they do not give the total impression that you get from the videos. Even the videos don’t capture it all, however. One aspect not captured on the videos is the thunderous sound that engulfed you as you stood near the river. The videos could pick up the sound of rushing water which by itself was impressive, but what it didn’t pick up was a thunderous din which emanated from the falls and reverberated from the surrounding mountains and canyon walls. At first I wasn’t sure it was there, but the longed I stayed there, the more I was aware of its presence.

You may recall that I had previously talked about the Meryl Streep movie, “The River Wild,” which was partly filmed at the Hellsgate, Canyon on the Rogue River in Oregon. I have now discovered that the movie scenes involving the major rapids were filmed at this site on the Kootenai River. I can easily see why they chose this spot.

Currently I am at Libby, Montana which is about 100 miles west of Glacier National Park which I intend to visit tomorrow. I have passed the 6,000 mile mark on my odometer and I have now been it 15 different states on my trip. When I started this journey, I had a vision of what I expected to experience. Although some of what I envisioned has been correct, the extent of what I have really experienced has far exceeded the vision. This is probably not unusual because how can you know what is there until you actually get out and see it for yourself. If you aren’t able read into the meaning of that statement, let me spell it out for you. Get out and discover America. You will never regret it. This is one great country.

Day 25

2007-08-11T13:43:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 - Grant and me heading to Davenport. Picture 2 - Chris, Zach, and me going for a ride. Picture 3 - Leena and Donny's front yard. Picture 4 - Front of their house.

I stayed at Leena’s house today and did not travel so there is not too much to report today. This morning I took Grant with me into Davenport to go to the post office to mail
Heather’s car keys back to her that I had in my pocket when I left. I also mailed out another package as well. While I was in town, I parked outside of Donny’s office to connect to the wireless internet so I could post my blog and to check my email. After that we headed back home and I gave the other two kids a short ride on the motorcycle because they have been bugging me for a ride ever since I arrived yesterday. While I was in town, I also called the Harley dealer in Spokane to see if they would be able to change my oil on Saturday morning. They indicated it would not be a problems so I will stop there on my way out tomorrow.

Once I leave Spokane, I will be getting back on US-2 to head toward Glacier National Park in Montana which is 330 miles from here and probably about 275 miles from Spokane.
Last night we all went out to dinner at Milford’s Seafood in Spokane, WA. Following dinner we dropped Donny and Grant off at the railroad station so they could take a train to Montana to pick up Donny’s truck.

Day 24

2007-08-10T13:57:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 – Pike Place Fish Market. Picture 2 – Bear and Yokoyama at Fish Market. Picture 3 – Wenatchee River along US-2 in the Cascade Mountains. Picture 4 – Leavenworth a Bavarian Village in the Cascade Mountains. Picture 5 – Svea, Zach, and Grant.

Today I left Heather’s house in Yelm, WA heading toward Seattle. My first stop for the day was going to be the world famous, Pike Place Fish Market. The fish market was one place that I could not pass up. Many of you are familiar with the Fish Philosophy training that I did at West Shore Community College. This training was based on the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, so I had to stop. In the training I dress up like Bear, one of the prominent characters in both the Fish book and Fish video. As it turns out Bear still works there and I was able to get a couple of pictures of him at the market today. Many of the employees are new since the Fish video was published, but there were two of the old guard that were still there and working today: Bear and the brother of Johnny Yokoyama. Johnny is the owner of Pike Place Fish and the person that helped to make it world famous.

One thing that surprised me about Seattle was how steep the streets are that lead to Pike Place. It reminded me of San Francisco. I felt a little uneasy riding down them and then back up as I was leaving. I think going up was worse because I hit every red light and had to keep the brake on to keep from rolling backwards while trying to feather the clutch and give it gas to get going all at the same time. I didn’t stay at the market long because parking was $5 for half an hour. Pike Place Market is actually a whole bunch of shops connected together. It was really crowded and difficult to move around. The best activity was around the Pike Place Fish market which is where I spent most of my time.

After leaving Seattle, I headed a little north to get on US-2 which would take me to Davenport, WA where my niece Leena lives with her husband Donny and their four kids: Grant, Svea, Zach, Maija. The trip there from Seattle was about 280 miles, but I had already ridden 60+ miles from Yelm to Seattle. What struck me most about the ride today were the changes in terrain and climate. For about the last two weeks, I have been riding along the coast and have always been west of the Cascade Mountains. Along the coast it has been extremely cold with temperatures mostly in the 60s for highs and the lows have been in the 50’s with a time or two in the 40s. As I headed up the Cascade Mountains I was struck by their beauty. Much like the Olympic Mountains, they looked a lot like the Swiss Alps. In Seattle I was pretty close to sea level. At the highest point in the Cascades, I was at just over 4,000 feet, but the surrounding mountains were much higher than that. The temperature was cool at that elevation but it began to warm up as I descended down the other side. For a long time US-2 followed the Wenatchee River which was a beautiful blue\green when it wasn’t boiling over in the rocky areas. US-2 was extremely beautiful through this section. With the mountains rising up on both sides of the road and the river running along my right side, it was all I could do to keep my eyes on the road as I traveled along. On the eastern side of the Cascades was the town of Leavenworth. This was a delightful little town that was patterned after a Bavarian town nestled in the Alps. It looked a lot like Frankenmuth, MI except that it was surrounded by mountains. Shortly after leaving Leavenworth, the terrain and climate made an abrupt change. The lush green mountains gave way to brown un-vegetated hills that looked more like the desert southwest than the northwest. The temperature jumped significantly as well. After passing over the Columbia River the elevation began to climb again as I rode up the desert-like mountains. What really surprised me was when I got to the top of the mountain (about 2,800 feet above sea level). There the land opened up into a vast area of wheat farms as far as the eye could see in every direction. The road at this point became straight as an arrow. The only curves in the road were the up and down undulations as the road contoured itself to the rolling terrain of the farmland. This lasted for pretty much the rest of my trip today which was at least 100 miles. I don’t think I have ever seen this much wheat farming in my life.
In Davenport, where my niece lives I discovered that her house was actually 16 miles north of Davenport and US-2. As I headed north I was again seeing nothing but wheat farms in every direction. It was only in the last few miles when I turned onto Porcupine Bay road that the scenery changed to pine covered mountains that were just beautiful. When my GPS took me on the last turn on the last road to Leena’s house, it wasn’t quite sure where her house was, so it took me past her house down a gravel road and left me in the middle of no where; and I me no where. Luckily they heard me go by and sent their son Grant out on his dirt bike to retrieve me and get me back to their place. I was relieved to see Grant coming because, as I said, we were in the boonies and I discovered I had no cell phone service

Day 23

2007-08-09T01:19:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 - Entering the Quinault Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. Picture 2 and 3 - Moss covered trees on the Maple Glade Trail. Picture 4 - An area with some huge cedar trees. Picture 5 - A huge log on the beach in the Olympic National Park.

Today I headed back to the Olympic National Park but this time to the southwest side and the Quinault Rain Forest. The ride there was on the cool side as usual but the sun peaked out every once in a while. I arrived at the rain forest just before noon and headed right for the ranger station to check out one of the trails through the forest. It only took a few steps into the forest to make me feel that I was in a different world. This place was just amazing. The trees were huge and in many cases completely moss covered. The forest floor was completely green with ferns, moss, and many other types of plants. Being in the rain forest was like stepping back into prehistoric times. I was expecting to see dinosaurs at any minute. There was a creek running the forest in one area and it was absolutely beautiful. The undergrowth in the forest came right up to the banks of the creek and into it as well. Everything was so lush that not even the water would keep the plants from growing. The creek ran into a pond that was just completely engulfed with plant life. It was really beautiful. The water in the creek was absolutely clear. Probably because there were so many plants to filter it. There are two rain forest areas in Olympic Park, but I only visited one of them. I would suggest that if you are ever in this area, put this on your must see list.

After seeing the rain forest I head northwest on US101 toward the coast and the beach areas of the Olympic National Park. Although the highway is right on the coast for several miles, you cannot see the ocean from the highway because there is a small hill full of trees between the ocean and the road. Being short on time I only rode as far as Beach 3. Each of these beaches had only a small parking area by the road and path that led down to the beach. Not seeing much of the ocean, I decided to turn around and go back to South Beach because it had a camping area and you could drive down to the beach area. I was not impressed by the camping area. It was nothing more than a long gravel parking lot with campers parked all along its perimeter. From the parking lot the land dropped off down to the beach. I wasn’t really impressed by the beach itself but what did impress me were the huge driftwood logs that had washed up on the beach. They were massive. You can see one in picture 5 above.

Tomorrow I will be heading up to Seattle and then out on US2 in the general direction of home, but first I will be stopping at my niece Leena’s house in Davenport, WA.

Day 22

2007-08-08T00:08:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 is Heather on Mount Rainier. Picture 2 is a dammed up lake on the way to Mount Rainier. Picture 3 and 4 are Narada Falls which are at the 3500 foot level on Mount Rainier.

I know you have all been waiting for the one big event or the one big story that becomes the defining moment in my trip. All biker trips have to have at least one. This is the event that separates the men from the boys; the Harley dudes from the other bikers. Well, I think I have it for you today. If you haven't read the other blogs, that's ok; BUT DON'T MISS THIS ONE.

So far on my trip I have been staying in motels or on several occasions I have been lucky enough to stay with relatives. I want to thank Lisa in San Bernardino CA, Betty in Medford OR, David in Dundee OR, and now Heather in Yelm WA where I am currently staying. The time I have spent with each of them has been wonderful and I appreciate, very much, the hospitality they have shown me. In addition, staying with them has saved me hundreds of dollars in motel cost that I didn’t have to shell out. Today, however, I think I paid the ultimate price for staying with relatives, especially ones that have little kids. This morning Heather needed to take Aiden to his swimming lesson so I volunteered to baby sit for Keilani (4) and Hailey (7 months). When Heather left, Haley was napping but woke up just as she was leaving. Heather had given me instructions on how to warm up her formula and where the diapers were in case I needed them. Haley was just fine playing for a while but then she started to fuss and Keilani said she was probably hungry; so I warmed up the formula and Haley started to eat. I decided that I better burp her so I walked over to get a dish towel to put over my shoulder. As I grabbed the dish towel and put it over my shoulder, I discover some yellow stuff on Hailey’s arm and my hands. Upon further investigation, I could see poop coming out the back of her diaper. It was all over my arm, shirt, and the baby’s clothes. What a mess! Every time I tried to lay her down to get something to clean her up with she would scream, so I would pick her up again. I laid down a dish towel on the counter but then I couldn’t get to the water so I move everything closer to the sink. Every time I would try to take her shirt off she would scream, but eventually I got it off. Then the pants; after trying to unbutton or unsnap them for about 2 minutes I realized that the button was just for decoration, so I pulled the pants down and off. It was at this point that I saw the extent of the mess. It had squeezed out of her diaper and was all over her back and legs. Using wet paper towel, I finally wiped off most of the exposed poop. It was time to dig into the main event. After untaping the diaper I pulled it away. I could see I still had a lot more work to do. With Hailey fussing all the while, I eventually got the entire mess cleaned up from her body. Now my next dilemma; I could not remember where Heather said the diapers were. I asked Keilani if she knew but she said she didn’t. So after wiping the poop off my arms, I took the naked baby in my arms to search the house. I was hoping all the while that she wouldn’t come up with any more surprises for me. I eventually found the diapers in a basket on top of the TV. Once I had the diaper on her I then needed to find some clean clothes. Once again, Keilani was no help. After going through a few drawers, I found a shirt that goes over her head and snaps between her legs. Heiley, however, didn’t want anything to do with that shirt, but after struggling with her for a few minutes I eventually got it over her head and wrestled her arms through the arm holes. I figured that was close enough and said the heck with the snaps between the legs. Soon after that she fell asleep and I put her in her crib. What a relief! Now I could wash myself off a little better and change my clothes. The only good part of this is that the poop didn’t smell too bad so my gag reflex did not reach its maximum capabilities. The poop actually smelled sort of fruity. Thank God for small favors. [How is that for a defining moment? There probably aren't many Harley riders that can tell a story like that.]

After Heather got home with Aiden and the babysitter, Heather and I got ready to go for a motorcycle ride to Mount Rainier National Park. The sky was cloudy again but we were dressed warm. We weren’t too far out when it started to drizzle on us. Luckily it didn’t last too long so we kept on heading to Mount Rainier. The ride to the mountain was just gorgeous and after entering the park, it was even better. As we climbed in elevation the temperature really started to drop. When we arrived at the Paradise Observation area, we were in the clouds and could not see a thing. So I am relying on Heather’s word that there really is a mountain there and that it really is beautiful. We were at 5700 feet and the temperature was probably in the 40s and it was really damp. After warming up inside for a while and buying a Mount Rainier yo-yo in the gift shop, we started our trek back to Heather’s house. About 16 miles before getting there, however, it started to rain pretty steady. At least we were at lower elevations and the temperature was up in the 60s. Even though it was cold and wet, and we couldn’t see the mountain, we both enjoyed the ride very much.

By the way, I reached another milestone today. I have not cranked out more that 5,000 miles for the trip now.

Day 21

2007-08-07T00:00:00.001-04:00

Picture 1 shows the Olympic mountains. Picture 2 shows the same mountains a little more to the west. Carrie Glacier is visible in this picture. Picture 3 is looking toward Victoria, British Columbia which is across Puget Sound beyond the trees. Pictue 4 is one of several ships that were docked in Port Angeles.

This morning the sky was overcast and the temperature was in the 50s when I headed out to ride to Port Angeles and the Olympic National Park. I was dressed for the cold because the temperature was supposed to be even cooler at Port Angeles. I had on my long johns, jeans, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, my leather jacket, and my leather chaps. After about 9 miles on the road it began to drizzle so I stopped and put on my rain suit over everything else. For the entire ride to Port Angeles the sky remained overcast and it drizzled on and off the entire time. Needless to say, even with all the clothes I had on, I was freezing; especially my hands, because I did not have insulated gloves. On the way into Port Angeles, I was looking around for a Wal-Mart so that I could by another set of gloves and possibly a sweatshirt. Instead, however, the clouds opened up and the sun peeked through bringing a little warmth to the air so I decided that I might not need the extra things after all. Instead I headed right to the Olympic National Park information center to find out how best to see the park with what little time I had left that day. They suggested that I ride up to Hurricane Ridge which was a 45 minute ride up into the mountains. From there I would be able to get a great view of the Olympic Mountains, Mount Olympus (the tallest peak in the mountains), several glaciers, and from across the road, I would also be able to view the city of Victoria, British Columbia.
The park ranger at the information desk commented that many visitors to Hurricane Ridge tell her how much this area looks like the Swiss Alps. When I arrived at the site, I could see why people would think that. Although I have never been to the Alps, the pictures I have seen of them look just like the mountains here. They were absolutely beautiful. I was also surprised by the fact that many of the kids that were walking around in the area were singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” I guess everyone was thinking about the Alps while they were there.
Although the trip up was cold, the scenery was great. I was on US101 which paralleled Hood Canal which is part of Puget Sound. US101 passed through numerous fishing villages along the way. It reminded me a lot of the Upper Peninsula around Munising and Grand Island and also along Keweenaw Bay. The woods along that area were very dense and many of the trees and large boulders were covered with a very thick bright green moss.
If you plan to come to the Olympic National Park, be sure to set aside at least two full days for exploring. I was trying to do it in one day, and part of that was spent just traveling to the park. I may have to stay another day to go back to Olympic because I was not able to even get to the rain forest portion of the park and that is one of the most unique features of this area because it is the only rain forest in the U.S.

Day 20

2007-08-06T01:43:00.000-04:00

After a wonderful evening with David and Cheri Herr and their family and a wonderful breakfast this morning, I was off again; this time headed north into Washington state and Mount Saint Helen. The weather was cloudy and overcast and after about 20 miles it started to drizzle a little so I stopped at a gas station to put on my rain suit. Luckily it never did really rain at all but it was cool enough to make me glad I had on my rain suit for the extra warmth. It stayed cloud and cool all the way to the Mount Saint Helen information center. At the center, they were saying that it was too cloudy to see the mountain today but it could possibly clear up later this afternoon. The closest mountain observation post was still 47 miles away with an estimated drive time of 1 hour and 20 minutes. After listening to a park ranger presentation about the history of Mount Saint Helen, I was ready to head up to the mountain. In addition to being 47 miles to get there, it was also a climb in elevation of about 4000 feet. The information attendant assured me that the drive was worth the time even if the mountain was not visible. I have to admit, he was absolutely right about the ride. It has to rank among the best rides that I have had so far on the trip; and I have had some good ones. About 20 miles into to the trip, I stopped at another information center and observation deck. This one overlooked the north fork of the Toutle River. The mountains on either side of the river were green and lush with fir trees but the valley bottom still bore the scars of the flood and effects of the volcanic eruption. The elevation here was about 2600 feet and the cloud cover was just above us. After viewing some of the exhibits there I headed onward and upward. Eventually the rise in elevation took me into the clouds and the visibility was terrible, but not as bad as I experienced at the Blue Ridge Parkway last year. It didn’t take long however until I emerged above the clouds to a bright sunny sky and my first view of Mount Saint Helen. I stopped as soon as I could to get a picture of the mountain before the clouds covered it up again. Well the clouds never did come back so I got several good pictures of the mountain from a much closer vantage point.
After leaving Mount Saint Helen’s, I then headed to my niece’s house in Yelm, WA. I will probably be at her place for a couple of days. Tomorrow I am heading up to the Olympic National Park.

Day 19

2007-08-05T02:18:00.000-04:00

This morning I left Coos Bay at 9:00 a.m. it was in the 50s so I had my long underwear on along with the usual leather outer covering. It was sunny but it stayed cool along the coast until I headed inland at about 1:30 in the afternoon. From the time I left Coos Bay until about 10 miles north of Florence, US-101 stayed pretty much away from the coast with the exceptions of a short glimpse of the ocean once in a while. For that entire time, there were sand dunes just to my left that even came right up to the back of some of the stores in the towns that lined 101. This meant that there was pretty much a continuous dune from Coos Bay to Florence, a distance of about 60 miles, and it appeared that most of it was open to dune buggy riding. In Winchester there was even a Dune Buggy Festival going on this week, so there were dune buggies, quads, and four wheelers all over the place.

In Florence I came across a delightful little restaurant that caught my eye as I rode by. It was called “Hot Rod Grill.” I have included several pictures of it because it was so unique. It reminded me of several of the places I saw along Route 66, but it was as if it was on steroids. There were classic cars all over the place both on and in the building. There were vintage gas station memorabilia through out the store. Even the seats at the counter were made of motorcycle seats. Two of the booths inside were actual automobiles that had the booths inside the car. You can see a picture of one of those above. When I asked the waitress where I might begin to see the coast, she said that I would see it in about 10 miles and the road would follow the coast for quite a while after that. Sure enough, she was right and I did eventually get to the coast and it was beautiful. I eventually stopped at the Sea Lion Caves and overlook. From their store you could see quite a few sea lions playing in the surf but they were so far down that it was difficult to get a good picture of them. You could pay a fee to get to a closer vantage point, but I opted to skip the walk down because I knew it is also accompanied by a walk back up. From the store there, it was possible to see a delightful lighthouse just to the north. I got a pretty decent picture of it which you can see above.

Eventually I made it to Lincoln City which is where I started to head inland to meet up with my second cousin, David Herr. David owns The Newberg Bike Shoppe in Newberg, OR. After visiting with him at the store, I eventually headed to David’s house in Dundee where I met his family: his wife Cheri, his twin sons, Martin and Garret, his wife’s parents, Keith and Sharon Freeman, and his niece Hanna. They treated me to a great BBQ chicken meal and made me feel right at home. We had a great time visiting and sharing stories about family and travels. The twins were fascinated by the motorcycle so I got a picture of the two of them sitting on the bike.

Day 18

2007-08-04T01:03:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 - Beach picture at Bandon, OR. Picture 2 - Face Rock at Bandond. Picture 3 - A really beautiful oceangoing yatch in Coos Bay, OR. Picture 4 - Unique bridge design in Coos Bay. Picture 5 - Coos Bay Dunes Recreational Area.

Well I am back on the road again after spending two full days in Medford, OR. On the way out of town I took a short trip to Jacksonville, OR. Jacksonville is a picture-perfect historic village and center for musical arts in the heart of Oregon's Wine Country. Betty and her sons highly recommended that I take some time to see the town and some of the beautiful homes that can be found there. Jacksonville is also the home of the Gary West Artisan Food Store and production facility. Gary West Foods produces many food products but is best known for making the best beef jerky in the world. They have been featured on numerous national TV shows that have promoted their products. I did a little tasting at the store before purchasing any, but since beef jerky is my main food when I ride, I couldn’t resist buying two pounds of their jerky. I then rode through one the housing areas in Jacksonville and I was really impressed by the homes. The entire community looked like all the houses were Victorian era or Cape Cod type design (but everything was new construction). Every home was immaculate and to set it all off the yards, streets, and landscaping were built and designed to match the beauty of the homes. I was totally impressed.

When I left Medford the temperature was very pleasant. Within about an hour or two, I could feel the temperature begin to drop significantly. My guess is that it was the altitude that was doing it, but I am not totally sure. I eventually had to stop and put on a long sleeve shirt and my leather jacket. Once I turned west, I was heading down hill but I was also getting closer to the ocean, so the temperature just continued to drop the rest of the day. Riding through the Oregon Mountains was absolutely beautiful. The tree covered hills and the beautiful valleys kept me mind active as I soaked up the beauty of the ride. I eventually made it to the coast at a town called Bandon, OR. Once there I headed to the ocean to find “Face Rock.” Face Rock is a large outcropping of rock in the ocean that resembles the profile of a person’s face. You can see it in Picture 2 above. Bandon has a nice little historic downtown area with numerous gift shops, restaurants, and a very active marina. Commercial fishing and charter fishing are quite active here. It was a nice town, but I decided it was too early to quit riding so I headed up the coast to Coos Bay to find lodging for the night.

Highway 101 from Bandon to Coos Bay ran inland several miles so I did not have much chance to see the Oregon coastline. What I have seen of it, however, gives me the feeling that it is going to be a sight to behold as I continue north tomorrow. At Bandon I cold see that there was definitely more beach than anything I had seen in California (Picture 1) and the beach sand looks a lot more like the beaches on Lake Michigan back home. In Coos Bay, there is a huge dunes recreational area that allows dune buggies and other off-road vehicles (see picture 5)much like the State Park in Mears, Michigan. Getting to the Dunes area I had to cross a delightful old bridge that crossed the huge harbor that is located at Coos Bay. This bridge is large enough to allow ocean going vessels to pass beneath it. Its architecture was quite unique. It was like riding through a cathedral. You can see it in picture 4 above.

Day 17

2007-08-03T01:35:00.000-04:00

Picture 1- One of the Hellcat Jet Boats. Picturte 2 - the OK Corral Lodge. Picture 3 Jeff Case and Betty. Picture 4 - Betty's son Roger Case on the right and his friend Larry. Picture 5 - Steve Case and Peggy. Picture 6 - The Case Coffee Shop which is owned by Steve's son Tim.

Yesterday was a milestone on my trip. My odometer turned over 4,000 miles since I left Michigan 16 days ago. Today I did not ride the motorcycle at all, but I still had a great day. Betty and I went to Grants Pass to ride the Hellcat Jet Boats on the Rogue River. This is a 36 mile trip all together with a break in the middle to enjoy a wonderful BBQ chicken dinner at the OK Corral. The lunch was great, the weather was perfect, and the ride was wonderful. The temperature today was right around 100 but it was a little cooler on the river and the antics of the jet boat pilot provided us with ample opportunities to spray us with water which helped to this a perfect day. The area we were on at the Rogue River is where two movies were filmed. One was “Rooster Cogburn” staring John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn, and the other was “The River Wild” with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon. The canyon area, which is as far as we went on the river, was absolutely beautiful and this was the site where both movies were filmed.

The jet boats were 36 feet long and accommodated at least 50 people. There were 4 boats on the river while we were there. At times the boats would stop real fast which would make them nosedive into the water causing a big spray of water to shoot over the bow. At other times the boat would turn real sharply to the left or right causing it to do a 360 degree turn in the river and; this time causing water to wash up over the side of the boat. We did this about 7 or 8 times on the trip and it was great fun. I took quite a bit of video along the river on the ride, including during some of the 360 degree turns. We also saw quite a bit of wildlife along the way. We saw osprey, blue herons, turkey vultures, egrets, ducks, geese, deer, turtles, and more. All in all, it was a fantastic experience that I would recommend to anyone if you are in the southwestern Oregon area.

That morning, I had the opportunity to meet Betty’s son Jeff, and later in the evening we went to visit a couple more of Betty’s kids. I was able to meet her son Roger and her other son Steve and his wife Peggy. At Steve’s we also met Steve’s son Tim and his wife Kati. Tim and Kati own a neat little coffee shop on Siskiyou Blvd. in Ashland right across from Southern Oregon State College. The store is called Case Coffee Shop.

Day 16

2007-08-01T23:03:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 - Videa Falls which comes out of the east rim of Crater Lake. Picture 2 - Entrance to Crater Lake. Picture 3 - Wizard Island in Crater Lake (this is one of the newest formations in the Lake - 1000 to 2000 years old). Picture 4 - Phanton Ship. This is the remains of the oldest of the area volcanos that had formed the area (400,000 years old). Picture 5 - Picture of the lake. Picture 6 - That's me with Wizard Island in the background.

This morning in Medford, the temperature was in the mid to upper 70s and it was expected to go up to 100. I was headed up to Crater Lake which is at least 6000 feet higher in elevation than Medford. As I began to rise up in elevation the scenery around me began to improve exponentially. For miles I was paralleling the Rogue River as I headed toward Crater Lake. This is a very beautiful and rugged river. I stopped at one point to view the Rogue River Gorge. This is a 500 foot long stretch of the river that was created by the collapse of lava tubes under the earth. I was impressed with its beauty but I was looking forward to the beauty that was still ahead – Crater Lake.

The woods that lined both sides of the road were just beautiful, but as I went up in elevation the vistas of the surrounding hills and valleys in all directions were as beautiful as anything I have seen on this trip. Eventually, I arrived at Crater Lake. A quick stop at the information center to get some information and view a quick movie about the lake was very helpful in giving me some background information about the lake and then on to the lake. The video describe how blue the lake was and it did not exaggerate. The blue is like no other lake I have ever seen. Some facts about Crater Lake: the lake elevation is 6,173 feet, the rim elevation ranges between 7,000 to just over 8,000 feet. The lake depth is 1,935 feet. It is the deepest lake in North America.

The weather at the lake could not have been more perfect today. I would guess that it was in the low 80s and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky in any direction. This made the riding just delightful and the picture taking perfect. When I headed back to Medford I could feel the temperature rising as I descended down the mountain. About 30 miles from Medford I could see a large cloud moving in my direction. At one point it started to rain, but not enough to warrant putting on my rain suit. Actually the few rain drops that did come felt kind of good in the 100 degree heat.

Tomorrow, Betty and I are going to Grants Pass to get a ride on the Hellcat Jet Boats that provide tours on the Rogue River. This is a 3 hour tour. Midway on the adventure we will be treated to a BBQ chicken lunch at the OK Corral dock overlooking the beautiful Rogue River.

Day 15

2007-08-01T01:46:00.001-04:00

Picture 1 is the "Big Tree" in the Redwood National Park. Picture 2 is me by another big tree. Picture 3 is an unusual tree I saw in the RNP (Read more on this below). Picture 4 is Lane, Hanna and Betty. Picture 5 is Rod with his new Ultra Classic. [DON'T FORGET, YOU CAN ENLARGE THE PICS BY CLICKING ON THEM]

This morning I left Eureka, CA to head up through the Redwood National Park and eventually end up in Medford, OR where Betty Case lives. Betty is the sister of my mother-in-law. Not far out of Eureka I came upon a beach so I thought I might stop and take a picture. There were two other bikers stopped there so I pulled up along side of them. They were a couple from Denmark. I am still amazed at how many Europeans and other foreigners that I have seen and met on this trip. Shortly after meeting up with them I stopped at the Redwood NP information center to find out the best route through the park. After watching a short movie on the Redwood NP, I headed out into the park and took the first suggested detour which was the Newton Drury Scenic Bypass. I can’t say that it was any better than the “Avenue of the Giants” that I saw yesterday but it was just as good and I stopped at several of the special turnouts to see some of the unusual trees that were highlighted along the way. First there was the “Big Tree.” It was only a short walk into the woods to get to it but along the way there were some mighty impressive trees as well and I couldn’t help but take my picture with some of them. There was also a really unusual tree that proved to me, at least, that trees do have gender. This was a mighty big and obviously “male” tree. I just couldn’t keep my self from saying, “Wow! Look at the size of that thing.” You can see it in picture 3 above.

After leaving the Drury Bypass, I took the next suggested bypass which was at Requa. This bypass takes you out to the ocean on a very high hill at the mouth of the Klamath River. It is supposed to have spectacular views and is a good place to view seals and also whales when the whales are in season. Today, unfortunately, all I saw was fog, so back down the mountain and on toward Crescent City where I would eventually leave the park and head toward Grant Pass and Medford, OR. I was on CA-199 which follows the Smith River. This river had some spectacular gorges and some neat rapids. Unfortunately the road was rather twisty and it was necessary for me to keep my eyes on the road so I could not get the full benefit of its beauty. I did stop and take some pictures, but this was not in the best parts.

By 4:00 I arrived at Betty’s house. Two of her sons stopped by to say hello and one of her grand daughters: Lane and his daughter Hanna and then Rod. Later that evening Rod and his girlfriend Cindy took us out to dinner at the Roadhouse restaurant. Both Lane and Rod are bikers. Rod just got a new 2007 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic. It is an impressive bike. He and Cindy will be riding it to Sturgis this year. I wish them a great trip.

Day 14

2007-07-30T20:32:00.002-04:00

Picture 1 is a beach just north of Fort Bragg, CA. Picture 2 is the drive thru in Leggett, CA. Picture 3 is a hollow log near the drive through tree. Picture 4 is on the Avenue of the Giants. Picture 5 is a carved wooden indian head on the Avenue of the Gaints in the town of Miranda. (DID YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU CLICK ON THE PICTURE, IT WILL ENLARGE IT SO YOU CAN SEE IT BETTER?)

Obviously this being my 14th day on the road, it is the end of the first fortnight of my trip. The things that I have seen in that time are absolutely overwhelming. My experience so far has left me in complete awe at the vastness and variety that this country has to offer. From the flatness of the farm lands of Indiana and Illinois, the rugged desolation of northern Texas and New Mexico, the extreme heat of the deserts in Arizona and the Mojave desert in California, to the really cool (cold) rides along the Pacific coast; the range of experiences has provided me with a foundation of new memories that have done so much to enhance my view of the greatness of this country and this land.

Today started out cool as usual, but it wasn’t long before CA-1 turned away from the ocean and move inland several miles. This helped to warm things up considerably; enough in fact that I was finally able to ride for a while without my chaps and eventually without my leather jacket. Not only did the temperature rise, but so did the elevation. I was riding up into mountainous terrain that was covered by a lush green forest that in many places covered the road with a tunnel of tree branches. The farther I rode the bigger the trees became. By Michigan standard, they were huge, but I knew there were larger ones to come. I was looking forward to riding on the “Avenue of the Giants” today because after hearing about it yesterday, I did some research on the internet last night and that really piqued my interest to want to see it even more. Just before reaching the Avenue, I came to the town of Leggett. This is the town that boasts the “Drive Thru Tree.” Seeing the sign, I had to stop and check it out. The $3 admission charge was well worth the experience. I am really glad I took that slight detour. After a few pictures at the drive thru tree and a “Hot Diggity Dog” [that is what they called it] for lunch I was again on my way to the “Avenue of the Giants.” The Avenue is a 32 mile section of road that parallels CA-101 which takes you through the largest single concentration of original growth redwood forest in all of California. The experience of this drive was just amazing. It is hard to describe the size of these 2000+ year old trees. I am not sure what the experience will be like tomorrow when I ride through the Redwood National Park, but I cannot imagine how the experience can be any better than it was today. While I was researching the Redwood National Park today I also came across other nearby national parks. I discovered that Crater Lake National Park is only about 50 miles from Medford, OR which is were I will be heading tomorrow, so I have added that to my list of “things to see.” Also nearby is the Lava Bed National Monument in Tulelake, CA. I am not sure about going to this one but I will make that call after the Crater Lake visit.

When I started this trip, I decided to bring my computer along for the purpose of maintaining my blog. As the trip progressed, however, the computer has evolved into something much more useful than just that. It became my weather guide as I tried to avoid the thunderstorms and to figure out what to wear the next day. It became a useful research device and trip planner as I tried to figure out what route to take and what distances were between various points on the map so I could plan my next day’s itinerary. Between the computer and my GPS this trip has been electronically enhanced in ways that I never imagined when I first left Michigan two weeks ago. This trip has opened my eyes to a new travel companion that will be with me on all my future trips.

Day 13

2007-07-30T01:57:00.001-04:00

Picture 1 is a neat rock outcropping somewhere north of Jenner, CA. Picture 2 and 3 are a coupe of really unusual trees in someone's yard. Picture 4, Do I look happy or what? Picture 5 is another rock outcropping just south of Fort Bragg. Picture 6 is the harbor at Fort Bragg.

This morning I was in San Jose and would be heading north through San Francisco and then over to Bodega Bay to ride along the coast again on CA-1 up to Fort Bragg. The weather at San Jose was pretty nice, but as I approached San Francisco I could see a big cloud bank over the city and the temperature began to drop significantly and there was a dampness in the air making it feel even cooler. I was riding CA-101 into downtown San Francisco toward the Golden Gate Bridge. I could hardly see the bridge because of the clouds that shrouded its towers, but a quick glance over my right shoulder allowed me a glimpse of Alcatraz. Once over the bridge and up the hills in Sausalito, the haze began to burn off and the temperature began to rise again. Once I started to get near the ocean again you could feel the temperature begin to drop. One major difference today, however, is that the sun stayed out all day so it was not nearly as cold as it was yesterday. During the later afternoon, however, the wind did kick up again and it blew relentlessly as I rode to the north.

One section of road just north of Jenner, CA was really twisty. It was up hill with numerous switchbacks. A quick glance at my GPS unit showed a hodgepodge of road just twisting back and forth as it wound its way up the hill. This section of coast north of San Francisco was different than the section south of SF. For one thing the hills and mountains were generally not as high or as rough. A second difference is that it seemed more populated with small towns and homes along most of the way. There were more trees including some really nice sections of redwood trees, but the major redwood sections are still ahead of me. One of the things that I particularly liked about this section of road was that the rivers often created neat little ports that supported small fishing villages. This was especially true at Fort Bragg. There was a wonderful wharf area that was home to a pretty good size fishery and numerous restaurants that sell the catches of the day. They also have whale watching excursions, however this is not the season for that so I guess I would go whale watching.

I met a couple of bikers at the motel today that just rode in from the north. They both highly recommended riding on the “Avenue of the Giants” north or Eureka. They said it is well worth the extra time. They both also recommended that I take Highway 20 north of Seattle. This highway eventually connects with US-2 at the eastern end of Washington which is the road I planned to take back to Michigan anyway, so the Highway 20 looks like a good option to me.

Day 12

2007-07-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

Picture 1, Sea Lions on the beach. Pic 2, One of the many bridges on CA-1. Pic 3 is a tour boat moving in around the kelp. Pic 4 is me outside the Whale Watchers Cafe. Pic 5 is a lighthouse on a rock in the ocean. There are cattle grazing in between the lighthouse and the cars.

This morning the temperature in San Luis Obispo was a cool 54 degrees. The predicted high for areas along the coast was 68 degrees. With the weather being that cool, I put on a long sleeve shirt my chaps, my leather, gloves and leather jacket. As I approached the coast at Morro Bay a mist blew in off the ocean and made the temperature seem even colder. It was down right cold in fact. After riding up the coast for about 30 miles I decided to stop at a restaurant in Cambria to get some breakfast and warm up. I also hoped that maybe the mist would begin to lift if I waited a while. After about 40 minutes I was back on the road again but the chill was still in the air. Every so often, however, the sky would clear a bit and the sun would shine through. But even with that, the chill was still there. Shortly after leaving the restaurant, I came across a place where you could view sea lions on the beach. I am glad they had the signs posted because I would not have known they were there otherwise. There was a whole herd of them just lying on the beach. They were throwing sand on themselves while others played and snorted at each other in the water. There was a guy there that would answer questions and tell you about the sea lions. He said that they come there every year and lay on the beach until they molt. Then they will play around in the water in the area and eventually leave again. They are usually there for 30 days.

After leaving that area the road, CA-1, really began to get twisty, and the mountains to my right were extremely tall, steep, and rugged. It was difficult at times trying to keep my eyes on the road and still enjoy the scenery. Making things more difficult was the fact that I had my camcorder mounted on my handle bars and I was trying to control that as well. I guess this is good training for multitasking. I do think I got some good video, but I have not reviewed it yet. I will do that soon, but as I mentioned once before, I do not have my editing software on this computer so I will not be able to share the videos until I get home. At one point this morning I rode past the Hearst Castle near San Simeon, but I was not able to see it because of the low clouds.

At one of the stops today I met a family that was visiting from England. They were enjoying the trip along CA-1. I also met another biker and his wife. Although he lives near LA now, he was originally from Grand Rapids. His wife had a bike the same color as mine.
About half way to Monterey, I noticed that my new GPS had frozen in one position. No matter what I tried it would not move from that position. Everything else seemed to work fine but it was not picking up a signal from the satellites even though the satellite signals were relatively strong. So there I was riding and multitasking with one more thing. When I got to Carmel I stopped at a gas station and asked where I might find the nearest Circuit City store. Luckily it was only seven miles up the road in Seaside, CA. The guys at Circuit City were very helpful and were able to fix it right away by inserting a wire into the reset hole on the side of the unit.
About 20 miles before I got to Carmel, the wind really started blowing in from the ocean and brought with it another blast of heavy mist and colder air. The winds were really strong and would blast you from all sides. They would hit me on my left and blow me to the right and at other times they would bounce off the mountains to my right and blow me to the left. All of this is happening while the road was getting twistier by the moment.

After leaving Seaside, I headed inland toward San Jose to find a room for the night. After driving about 30 miles the temperature suddenly jumped 95 degrees and I had to stop and take off my leathers. It was a relief to be warm again and also to have my GPS working again. This area of California was really big into agriculture. You could smell the crops in the air. There were major vineyards, cabbage fields, and I even came across and area where the National Garlic festival was going on. I didn’t stop for it but I could pick up the aroma.

In San Jose, I am about 40 – 50 miles south of San Francisco. Tomorrow I plan to pass through San Francisco and then head to the Coast again to follow CA-1 starting at Bodega Bay. I only hope it is warmer along the coast tomorrow than it was today. In two days, I should be at the Redwood National Park in northern California. Then after that I am headed to Medford Oregon where my mother-in-law’s sister lives. I hope to visit with her for a day or two and see some sights in Oregon.

Day 11

2007-07-28T23:53:00.000-04:00

Another picture of Lisa, the day I left her house.

I am sorry again for not posting a blog today, but the motel I stayed at did not have a WiFi connection. Tomorrow I will post two. Anyway, I was back on the road again today. My goal was to get through the LA traffic and start heading up the coast. I was also about to turn 3000 miles on the odometer so I also needed to stop for an oil change. Before hitting the road this morning Lisa and I went out for breakfast with a couple of her friends. During breakfast we discussed possible routes for me to get me through LA with the least amount of traffic and to find a Harley dealer along the way. After selecting a route and an appropriate dealer I called ahead to see if they could change my oil that day. Santa Barbara Harley-Davidson in Carpentaria, CA had me in and out in about a half hour. While I was waiting, several of the employees came over and made numerous suggestions about where I should ride if I want to maximize my riding pleasure and witness some of the best scenery.

Carpentaria was only 140 miles from San Bernardino but it took me 4 hours to get there. For the most part, the traffic moved along well, but there were at least four times when the expressway traffic came to a standstill and it was stop and go for several miles at a time. What made it worse was that the temperature was close to 100 again. I guess when you are in LA you just need to put up with traffic problems. One of the things that surprised me most about riding through LA was how many of the towns and street names were familiar to me. I guess it must be the power of television and movies. The towns and streets have become household names.
As I neared the ocean, I could feel the temperature begin to drop. When I crossed the mountains by Oxnard, it felt like someone turned on the air conditioner. I think it went from 100 to 70 in less than a minute. Not only that, but it also looked like someone turned on the Technicolor switch because it went from brown, drab, and dry to green, lush, flowered and full of color.

I rode 270 miles today which took me to San Luis Obispo. I am about 230 miles south of San Francisco. From here I will head out in the morning on US-1 which follows the coast and should start the beginning of some of the most picturesque coastal scenery in the country. I am looking forward to getting some good pictures and hopefully some video as I ride along the coast.

Day 10

2007-07-26T20:54:00.001-04:00

Picture 1 and 2 are of a Route 66 edition of a PT Crusier. It was owned by a couple from Colon, MI. They were traveling Route 66 out to the Grand Canyon. Picture 3 is of Lisa Kovalchik, my niece. Here she is leading her class in from outside.

After 9 days of riding, I finally have a day of rest. As I indicated in yesterday’s blog, I am at my niece’s house in San Bernardino. I will be leaving here tomorrow, but having one day of rest from all the riding is a nice break in the routine. This morning I worked on getting familiar with my new GPS. Although it is very similar to the old one, it is different enough that I needed some practice with it before using it on the road. A couple good features that are different from my old one are that it has a bigger screen, louder sound, and a much sturdier mounting bracket; features that will be very helpful to me as I head down the road.
At 11:30 a.m. today I went to Lisa’s school and did a yo-yo show for the morning kindergarten class and then at 12:30 I did another one for the afternoon class. These were a really big hit with the kids. Afterwards Lisa’s asked if I could do another one for the 1st grade class at about 2:30, and I agreed. In the down time between the shows, I ran to the post office to mail home my old GPS unit and a few other things that I no longer needed. After doing the show for the first graders, I headed back to Lisa’s to wait for her to get out of work. It is another hot one today; about 100 degrees.

Tomorrow I will be heading north to Bakersfield and then across the mountains to the coast. This will help me to avoid the traffic in LA. It will be nice to be on the coast and feel the cool ocean breezes. I hope to get somewhere near San Francisco if I can. While watching the news tonight there was a story that Needle, CA got 7 inches of rain yesterday. There was flash flooding and many streets were closed. I am glad I missed that one.
Now that I have completed my Route 66 journey let me make a few summarizing comments. First of all I will admit that I missed riding some of it, but what I saw was everything I imagined and more. I mentioned before how the smaller towns along the route are like time capsules dating back to the 40s and 50s era. In areas where buildings and features have been restored, these were a sight to behold. In areas where the buildings and sights were abandoned and dilapidated, I was in awe of what these structures once meant to so many people. I can vividly remember my second day on the road as I traveled Route 66 for the first time heading south of Carlinville, IL. Although most of the route was lined with nothing but corn, I imagined all the history of those that had ridden this "mother of roads" before me. I vividly remember physically having goose bumps rise up on my arms. It was one of those unforgettable moments. Although I was no more than a blip on the radar screen of history, the memory of this event will live on in my mind for many years to come. This trip, for me, has made me a part of a historical icon. It may be insignificant to others, but it is monumental to me. Each state has its own highs and lows, good parts and bad parts. For me, the areas that I enjoyed the most were in western Oklahoma, western Arizona, and parts of New Mexico. Some of the more memorable towns were Williams, Seligman, and Oatman, in Arizona. In New Mexico, I enjoyed Tucumcari and Gallup. In Oklahoma, I particularly liked the Route 66 Museum in Clinton. Other memorable moments so far are the two National Parks: the Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon.

The parts I liked the least were the trips through the bigger cities. In Tulsa, OK I tried to follow the route through the downtown, but I just kept getting off the route and had now idea how to get back on. From that point I resolved to just skip the downtown parts in any of the big cities. The experience in California is mixed. The first part is the Mojave Desert and although, as a "ride," it is somewhat uninspiring; as an experience, I would not have missed it for the world. During my entire preparation for this trip, I kept hearing stories about crossing the desert and I had conjured up all kinds of scary things in my mind. Even during my ride I wondered if I should even attempt it; especially riding by myself. But riding through western Arizona helped to build my confidence, and I felt ready to take on the challenge. I am so glad that I did. For those of you, out there, that are contemplating a Route 66 journey; DO IT! It will be an experience you will never forget.

As a side note regarding my motorcycle; it is a 2002 Heritage Softail Classic. Ever since I bought it my gas mileage has always been between 40 and 44 MPG. In New Mexico, after leaving Santa Fe, my mileage jumped to over 50 MPG. At first I thought it was a fluke, or that I did something wrong, but it has continuously stayed there ever since. My highest mileage was 55 and nothing has been lower than 50 ever since. I wondered if it was because if the higher altitudes, but even after coming down to lower elevations, I am still hitting 50. Can anyone explain this or has anyone else experienced it?

Day 9

2007-07-26T09:28:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 is the Route 66 Museum in Victorville. Picture 2 it the Bagdad Cafe which is near Ludlow in the Mohave Desert.

Today I left Needles, CA at about 8:00 a.m. to start my trek across the Mojave Desert. Just a few miles out of Needles I got off the interstate and onto Route 66. The landscape was stark and dry. You could see for miles in every direction. The route was headed north here and I was cruising along at about 60 MPH. In the distance I could see a train approaching and a train-crossing. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get to the crossing before the train but I sped up to try to make it. I did not want to sit there in the heat waiting for the train. It was only 8:30 a.m. but the temperature was already in the 90s. It looked like I was going to make it so I headed across the tracks. What I hadn’t counted on was the fact that the tracks had a pretty large bump in them. As I went across, I bounced off the seat but did not lose control. Traveling on for another 10 miles I got the first inkling that I was going the wrong way. What tipped me off is when I saw a signed that told me how many miles it was to Las Vegas. What clinched it was when I crossed into the state of Nevada. After checking my map I turned around to find out where I gotten off track. I don’t remember crossing any intersections. After the 10 mile trek back I came to the railroad tracks again but I crossed them more slowly this time. Sure enough, right across the track was where I was supposed to turn. I was so intent on crossing before the train, I didn’t even notice the signs or the road for that matter.
Back on Route 66 again I settled back into my seat and headed west across the desert. As the hours went by, the temperature went up. I did not have a thermometer but I will tell you that it was hot. When I eventually got to my niece’s house (Lisa Kovalchik) in San Bernardino she told me it was 100 degrees at her house and the desert is usually at least 10 degrees hotter. I took ten 20-ounce bottles of water with me for this trip. By the time I got to San Bernardino I had consumed 5 of them; and I was still thirsty. At San Bernardino I stopped at a Wal-Mart and got a 20 ounce diet coke. Soon after that, when I got to Lisa’s house, I took and quick shower and we went out to dinner. There I had another 20-ounce glass of water and an O’Doul’s. Following that we went to the show and saw "Evan Almighty." At the show I drank a 20-ounce lemonade. I finished that off in the first few minutes and kept wishing I had gotten the 60-ounce. When we got back to her place, I drank another 20 ounce diet coke. Guess what? I am still thirsty.
I stopped at the Route 66 Museum in Victorville, but they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; so much for that.
I think it was yesterday when I was riding just past Kingman, AZ when I felt something hit my leg. I didn’t know what it was at first but shortly after that my GPS gave me a signal that the battery was critically low. When I pulled over to check it out, I found out that then end cover that holds the batter in place had fallen off. Luckily, I had brought along some rubber bands. By stretching a rubber band around the unit and onto the battery, was able to keep it in place so I could continue to use it. Today as I was riding through the desert, I noticed that the GPS was turning on its mount. So I tightened the screw that holds it in place. A little while later it did the same thing so I tightened it again. After a few more episodes of this I decided to stop and check out the problem. As I began to tighten the screw a little more it was apparent that the unit was about to break off. So I stowed the GPS in the saddle bag and continued on my way. I left the mount on the windshield, however, and about 5 miles later the end of the mount fell completely off, and I was not able to find it again. I was really thankful that I had taken the GPS unit off a few minutes earlier or I would have lost that too. With the mount broken, I had to duct tape the GPS to my windshield bag in order to find my way to Lisa’s house. When I got to San Bernardino, I stopped at Wal-Mart and bought a bag of rubber bands so that I could connect it to the bag without the duct tape. After Lisa and I had dinner, we went to Circuit City where I bought a new GPS for the rest of my trip. I would hate to think of trying to make the rest of my journey without one, and the old one would have just been too klutzy to use in the condition that it was in.
I am going to stay one more day with my niece so I will not be traveling on Thursday. She is a kindergarten teacher and they have school year around here. So tomorrow I will be going to her school to do a yo-yo show for her students and another kindergarten class as well; one show in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Day 8

2007-07-25T01:07:00.000-04:00

Pictures from top to bottom: Williams, AZ; Ash Fork, AZ; Seligman, AZ; Black Mountains in AZ; and Oatman, AZ.

Hello again. I have been receiving several comments from numerous individuals and that is very encouraging to me. After riding all day, it usually takes me all night just to get my thoughts down in the computer and to get it posted to the blogsite. I didn’t expect it to be that much work, but it is fun. Especially when I know that many of you are enjoying it.

Today I got a later start than usual, but not because I was sleeping in. Actually I got up at 6:30 a.m. and after checking outside and seeing a little drizzle I decided to take care of some of my bills that I received notice of electronically. Although that should not have taken too long it ended up taking a couple hours because I could not login to find out how much my credit card bill was. After several attempts with a particularly slow WiFi, I eventually tried to contact the company by phone. Even then it didn’t work so back on the phone again. Eventually I got in and was able to get the amount and make my payment online. What a relief.

It was cool this morning, about 55 degrees in Williams, AZ. It was still spitting a little rain and the sky to the west was really dark. So I got fully suited up for the worst: leather jacket, rain suit, gloves, and Harley boots with plastic shopping bags over them tied at the ankles and then covered part way with the rain pants. I even had the weather tight bag over my suit case to keep that from getting wet. At least if I had to ride in the rain today, I was not going to let it be like yesterday; i.e. getting wet first and then put on the rain suit.

I was on the road for about 5 minutes and it started raining a little harder but nothing like yesterday. Actually it didn’t feel too bad because I was prepared for it. I started out on I-40 because the girl at the gas station told me that Route 66 did not connect to the next town which is Ash Fork. At Ash Fork Route 66 follows within 2 miles I-40 all the way to Seligman. At Seligman Route 66 turns northwest and stays about 30 to 40 miles away from I-40 all the way to Kingman which was about 80 miles away. I was glad I chose this route today because there was a huge thunderstorm that I had been watching and I appeared to be heading right at it until Route 66 turned north at Seligman. I got a few drops, but nothing like what I would have gotten had I been traveling on I-40. About 40 miles past Seligman, there was another major storm approaching from the north. Again, it looked like I was headed right for it until Route 66 took a turn to the southwest to head toward Kingman. Just when I thought I was clear of that one, I came across a guy and his girlfriend who were broken down on the side of the road. I stopped to see if I could be of help. He asked if I had any tools because he thought he fouled a plug on his Harley Sportster. I had a crescent wrench, channel locks, and vice grips. He used the crescent wrench to check the plugs but they were okay. So he checked a few more things and was able to start it. The bad part about all of this was that the thunder storm that I thought I was going to avoid started to come our way. Any he got the bike started and we took off but within about two miles he stalled again so we stopped again. The storm got closer as we searched for the problem. Eventually he came across a vacuum hose that was not connected. He was not sure where it went but when he blocked the hose the bike would run. He then used the inside of a ball point pen to plug the hose and we were able to ride off again. At that point it looked like we were heading directly into a major downpour. Just as it started to rain with some big drops, the road took another turn to the south and directed us around the major part of the rain. Once I got to Kingman, I could tell that most of the storms were to the east of me to I was able to take off my rain suit. I was happy about that because it was starting to warm up.

From Kingman, I stayed on Route 66 to Oatman. At Kingman, you descend from the mountains into a true desert like valley. In the distance you could see another mountain range (the Black Mountains) that looked exceptionally ominous. I wondered if the road would take me around this mountain range or over it. Well it took me over it and let me tell you this was some of the most treacherous riding I have encountered on any of my trips. The road was narrow and twisty. There were numerous switchbacks and in many cases there were huge drop offs on the very edge of the road; in many cases without any guardrails. Back when I was at the Route 66 Museum, I watch a movie that showed some extremely bad road sections. I am quite sure that this is where they took those movies. After a few miles of this I figured that I might want to try to capture some of this on my camcorder, so I found a place to stop and I taped the camera to the handle bars by my right mirror. The problem is there are so many variables to get right: angle, camera settings, zoom, and countless other things which are hard enough to get right under good conditions. These were not good conditions. It was about 99 degrees and I still had my leather jacket on. The camera is wrapped in a washcloth and taped to the handle bar. You can’t see most of the camera controls, much let get at them. I just hooked it up and hoped for the best. On my first attempt the angle was a little bit too far to the right but the video actually turned out pretty good. At one point I stopped to change the angle but inadvertently pushed the zoom button so unfortunately the next section turned out to be very blurry. As I approached Oatman, I noticed that the zoom had been changed so I pulled back the washcloth enough to change the setting. Luckily I did because I was able to get some video riding through Oatman. Oatman is a really neat little town with a whole bunch of little donkeys roaming around on main street.

As I descended from the hills at Oatman, I could see in the distance what I thought was a very large body of water. At first I thought it was a mirage because we were in a desert. But as I approached it I could tell that it was really water. It turned out to be the Colorado River. The same river I saw the day before at the Grand Canyon but then I was 5000 feet above it. At the canyon the river looked muddy, most likely because of runoff from the recent rains. Here, at the California border the river was quite blue and beautiful. Earlier today when I was crossing the desert in the valley between two mountain ranges, there were numerous signs that warned travelers not to cross if there was water flowing across the road. These areas were major dry washes. One was named the Sacramento Wash. As I approached the Colorado River I came across the other end of the Sacramento Wash at the point where it emptied into the Colorado River. All along the river there was a very heavy plant growth of some of the most twisted looking trees that I have ever seen. There was evidence everywhere that there must have been many times when the Sacramento Wash was a raging torrent of water that just ravaged this vegetation. I was glad that there weren’t any flash floods going on while I was there.

Today's ride was a total of 240 miles and probably about 210 of that was on Route 66. My hat's off to Arizona for there exceptional marking of the historic highway. I never got lost or off track once today, or anywhere in Arizona for that matter. I can not say that for all of the states I have been through.

Anyway I crossed over the Colorado into California and got a room at Needles, CA. Tomorrow I am heading to my niece’s house in San Bernardino which is about 250 miles away if I take Route 66. Most of this will be across the Mohave Desert. I hope I can get an early start.

Day 7

2007-07-24T00:39:00.000-04:00

This morning started out to be a beautiful day. It was cool but sunny and I was heading up to the Grand Canyon. As I got nearer to the Grand Canyon you could see some dark clouds and lightning off in the distance. When I got to the east gate of the south rim the sun was still out but the clouds getting closer. I stopped at the first overlook for my first look at the Grand Canyon. I have to tell you, it was spectacular. I could actually begin to feel my breathing change as I got closer. This place is so overwhelming; it takes your breath away. I took numerous pictures but none of them can do it justice. Anyway, I headed off to the next overlook and it was even more spectacular. As I headed to the third overlook, I felt a drop of rain and wondered if I should stop to put my rain suit on or just head to the next stop and do it there. Well I decided on the latter and that was the wrong decision. I no sooner got out of the parking lot and onto the road and the sky just let loose. The road at that point had no shoulder so it was not possible for me to stop to put on my rain suit. So I just continued on until the road finally widened. At that point I was pretty soaked but I put on my rain suit anyway. After getting to the next overlook I sat under a sign that had a small roof over it. After about an hour the rain slowed enough to take a few pictures and head to the next few overlooks. It was lightning and thundering really bad. At one of the overlooks, there was a guy there who said, “it’s going to lightning again because my hair is standing on end.” Sure enough it was standing on end and the lightning did come. It was really strange; his hair would rise up and then go down again.

After getting a few more pictures I decided to leave. Just as I was leaving the park the rain came again really strong and the visibility was really bad. A few miles south of the canyon’s south gate, I rode into a small village and decided to stop at the National Geographic Center to try to wait out the rain. There is an IMAX theater there so I decided to see the Grand Canyon on the IMAX. I had to wait for 50 minutes for the movie to start and the movie was 35 minutes long so I was hoping the rain would pass by that time. Well, no such luck. It was still raining when I got out but it was a little lighter. In the movie I sat next to a gentleman from Australia. He has been in this country since February and is just traveling around the country seeing all the sights. He will be heading back soon because he only had a 6 month visa. I also met a guy from Chile who was in this country with his wife and daughter and they are traveling on motorcycles seeing all the national parks. It is amazing how many foreigners there are at national parks. I think they vastly outnumber Americans. Today I met people from Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, France, and Germany today. In addition, the Japanese are all over the place.

After leaving the National Geographic Center, I rode in the rain for about 15 minutes and then it finally started to clear up a little. I got a motel in Wilson, AZ. This is another of those really quaint Route 66 towns. Tomorrow I should get to the California border and on Wednesday I should arrive at my niece’s house in San Bernardino, CA.

Day 6

2007-07-22T23:48:00.000-04:00

Picture 1 is the storm I rode into yesterday in NM. The other pics are all in the Petrified forest.

Well today was a great day. It was partly cloudy this morning and a little cool but in short order it warmed up really nice. I left Gallup, NM at about 9:00 a.m. and got to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park at about 9:00 a.m. There was a time change in AZ so the one hour ride didn't take me any time at all. Once I arrived at the national park, I took off my leather jacket because the temperature had risen into the 80s. At the entrance I purchased a senior annual pass for $10. What a bargain; access to all the national parks for $10. At the information building, I met another couple on a BMW motorcycle. They were from Germany and were touring several of the national parks. A little while later I came across another couple from Germany. Each of them was riding rented Harley-Davidson's. I felt sorry for them because they each had on black leather pants and black shirts and the temperature was now approaching 90.

The Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest are very much like the Bad Lands in South Dakota. They are some of the most inhospitable of landscapes but they are breathtakingly beautiful. At the Petrified Forest end of the park the petrified trees are amazing. There is one that has even formed a natural bridge over and ancient dry wash. Some of these trees are huge; probably 6 to 8 feet in diameter. About half way through the park, I had to stop to change into my sleeveless shirt and shorts. It was really getting warm but there was at least a nice breeze. The one guy from Germany on the BMW still had his jacket on so I asked why? He said he had all his valuables in it and was afraid that he might lose it. I think I would by a fanny pack for my valuables.

After leaving the park I got back on I-40 toward Flagstaff, getting off to cruise through each of the small towns along the way on Route 66. These towns are like time capsules that date back to the 50s. It is just amazing.

As I neared Flagstaff, I could see some clouds and thunderstorms getting closer. About 20 miles out the temperature had dropped considerably and I was still in my shorts. As I neared Flagstaff I could feel a few drops of rain. I got a room right away and unpacked the bike. After running to the store for some supplies I headed back to the room. I let the bike cool down for about a half hour and then covered it with the rain cover. Within 30 minutes, the rain started. Now that is the way it is supposed to happen on a bike trip. I guess I must have done something wrong yesterday to get caught in the rain the way I did.

Tomorrow I am heading up to the Grand Canyon which is 93 miles north of here. The Flagstaff weather for tomorrow is predicted to be a high of 71 with scattered thundershowers. Hopefully, they will all scatter to the south.

Several of you have written comments to my blogsite and I want to thank you for that. It is nice to know that people are actually reading it. This is actually a lot of work. One night I was up until 1:30 a.m. working on it. I am not sure why the comments are not showing up on the blogsite itself, but today some of them came to my email. I received comments from Dan Dellar, Connie Wright, and Aaron Bohjanen. Thanks to each of you. I tried to respond to the emails but that didn’t work because it comes in as a blogspot.com email.

Day 5

2007-07-22T00:06:00.000-04:00

This morning I road from Tucumcari, NM to Santa Fe. The weather was great this morning; partly cloudy and about 80. As the rose higher, I also was heading up to a higher altitude which kept the temperature from getting oppressively hot like it has been the last few days. At one point today I checked the altimeter on my GPS and it read 7,340 feet above sea level. This was just about 30 miles from Santa Fe. In Santa Fe itself the altitude was about 6,800 feet. I arrived in Santa Fe at about 1:30 p.m. I headed directly to the visitors center to what was available there. The town of Santa Fe is really nice looking. Pretty much every home and building is an adobe type constructed building. The visitor’s center was right in the center of town which was build many years ago, thus the streets are very narrow. Being there gave me a somewhat claustrophobic feeling. My intent was to stick around town and check out some of the sights, but instead I decided to head back out on the road. I decided to try to get as close to Arizona as I could because I want to stop at the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert in AZ. Not too long after getting by Albuquerque I could see several thunderstorms looming on the horizon. As they got closer, the temperature began to drop. Eventually it became apparent that I was not going to miss the rain so I stopped to put on my rain suit. I no sooner got it on and I began to feel a few rain drops. Within a minute it was a major downpour so I stopped under an overpass. After about 45 minutes the rain slowed a little. You could see that the main storm was moving to the south but there was another one coming in from the north. I got back on the bike to see if I could get to Gallup, NM, which was about 60 miles ahead. As the one storm moved off, there was only a brief slow down in the rain. The other one was only minutes away and it started raining again. Eventually I made it to Gallup and found a motel. It continued to rain for another 2 hours but then is slowed down enough to get out and wipe down the bike and cover it with the new rain cover that I bought a couple of months ago.

On the way to Santa Fe, I tried out the helmet cam. That is, I duct taped my Sony Camcorder to my helmet and took so videos of a very scenic drive along old Route 66. This time I even tried narrating a little as I drove and took videos. When I checked it out tonight I found out that I had the camera pointed too high, so all I have is pictures of the sky and the clouds. That is disappointing, because the place was really neat looking.

Other than for the rain today, it was a really good day. No breakdowns of any kind.

Because it was raining when I got hear I forgot to check the odometer to see what my miles driven were, but I know that not too long before getting to Gallup, my odometer turned 24,000. This would mean that I traveled about 500 miles today and overall a total of 1900 in the 5 days.

The picture of the Cross is in Groom, TX. It is 190 feet tall and is said to be the tallest cross in the Westeren Hemisphere.

Day 4

2007-07-21T01:26:00.000-04:00

Current I am in Tucumcari, NM. The temperature seemed a little cooler today because there were a few clouds in the sky, but even at that the temp was 92 when I pulled into Tucumcari at 5:45 p.m. I managed to travel 386 miles today. For the four day, I have traveled 1520 total miles and have been in the following states: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. I have passed the midway point on Route 66 which is in Adrian, TX. Today I did most of my traveling on I-40, getting onto Route 66 only when there was a known interesting site to see. I decided to stay on the interstate to cover more ground today because, quite frankly, the scenery in Texas and Oklahoma leaves a lot to be desired.

Tomorrow I plan to head up to Santa Fe, NM. I have been told that it is a fantastic city and the scenery getting there is a vast improvement over what I have been through the past several days. It is only 167 miles from Tucumcari, so I should be able to get there early enough to enjoy the town.

Today I was able to see some pretty neat stuff even though most of my time was spent traveling on the interstate highway. In Texas, I passed by a really huge herd of cattle. I have to say that I smelled it before I saw it. There must have been thousands of them in one group and there were several more groups farther down the road.

The highlight of today was my visit to the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK. They had some really neat memorabilia and they also showed a film of the history of Route 66 that was just fascinating. It even included a clip from the Route 66 TV show that starred George Maharis and Martin Milner. You old timers should remember that.

One thing I forgot to mention the other day was having passed a place called “Spanish Echo Farms.” The name intrigued me so I thought I better stop and check it out. From the side of the road I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled out, “HELLO,” and a second later the echo came back, “HOLA.” So then I shouted, “GOOD BYE,” and the response came back, “ADIOS.” On a third try, I shouted, “CONGRATULATIONS,” and the response was, “______.” I suppose that is because I don’t know that word in Spanish. Now this may not be exactly how it happened, but that’s my story and I am sticking to it.

So far, ever day has had some kind of problem and today was no different. This morning when I went to start the bike the key fob that unlocks the electronic anti theft system would not work, no matter what I tried, the antitheft system would not shut down. I finally had to enter the pass code using the turn signals to get it unlocked. I headed directly to the Harley dealer to see what was wrong. The service manager told me it was interference from a radio tower that was right across the road from the dealer and only 2 miles from my motel. The signal from it also messed up my GPS for about 12 more miles. A second problem occurred just outside Amarillo, TX. My GPS quit working because it wasn’t charging and the internal battery died so it shut down. Apparently there was something wrong with the connection to the battery. I stopped at an auto parts store in Amarillo and bought a circuit tester to track down the problem. After fiddling with it for several minutes I was able to get it connected and charging again. I hope that if I have any other problems on this trip, they end up being small ones like this.

Have a good day. I know I will.

Picture 1 is the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, OK. Picture 3 is of an old restored Philips 66 gas station in Mclean, TX.

By the way, I am staying at the Tucumcari Inn in Tucumcari, NM. Although it is and older motel (1950s vintage) it had one of the cleanest and nicest rooms so far and it is the cheapest room so far as well. The price, including taxes, was $30.50. I would recommend it to anyone who passes through this way.

Day 3

2007-07-19T22:19:00.000-04:00

Sorry I didn’t post a blog today. I had it already to go, but then I lost my internet connection. The temperature today was 96. I traveled 320 miles.

This morning at breakfast I met a lady from Belgium. She came to America with her niece for the sole purpose of traveling from Chicago to LA on America’s Mother Road, Route 66. She said that it has been her dream since she was 18 years old. I would guess her age at 60 – 70 now. She was so excited about her trip. She indicated how the freight trains that ran along side Route 66 fascinated her because she could just imagine how the people of years ago would just hope on them and ride to wherever it took them.

My route took me from Springfield, MO to Oklahoma City, OK; a total of 320 miles. I improved my skill at staying on Route 66 with the use of my GPS. Previously, I had preprogrammed various stops on Route 66, buy quite often there were many miles between these sites, so the GPS would want to take me to my destination but it would use a different route taking me of Route 66. To counteract that I started programming in, sites that were much closer together. Close enough in fact, that the GPS had no choice but to stay on the road I was on. As a result, I got to see a whole lot more of Route 66 than on previous days. Another advantage today is that Route 66 highway was much farther away from I-44 so it was easier to keep from being directed back to the interstate.

The major cities are another problem. Trying to find your way through them while staying on Route 66 is quite difficult and I would also add, it is also the least satisfying. I think from now on, I will take the interstate highways around the bigger cities and then reconnect to Route 66 on the other side of the city.

Today I got to see some neat attractions along the way. Among them were a pond with a big Blue Whale in it, an abandoned castle, and a beautifully restored Sinclair station.

Day 2

2007-07-18T22:45:00.000-04:00

What a day. I got up in the morning and the weather looked great. I cleaned off the bike from the wet ride on Tuesday and got everything packed up to go. My plan was to head out back to Carlinville, IL and get on IL-4 which is Route 66 heading to St. Louis. After taking a few pictures in Carlinville, which has a really picturesque town square. After a few pictures, I headed south on Route 66. Although there are signs telling you that you are on Historic Route 66, the signs are really few and far between and it is easy to get off track. Having gotten off track a few times as I neared St. Louis I figured I would just head toward the Mississippi River, get to Missouri, and try to get my bearings from there. In Alton, IL I got on a bridge to cross the river just north of St. Louis. As soon as I got to the Missouri side I could feel the rear tire begin a very unsettling wobble. I immediately thought, "flat tire," and sure enough it was. I was doing about 50 mph when I first noticed it but I was able to get the bike slowed down without any incident. It was 11:00 a.m., 95 degrees, and here I was stuck on the side of the road. I immediately took out my cell phone and my HOG card to call for road side assistance. The lady from HOG was really great and within 5 minutes she had all the information she needed. With the 95 degree heat I needed to get out of the sun while I waited, so I walked up a hill and settled down in some bushes. At 11:45 the truck showed up. I was amazed that they got there that quickly. The driver loaded me up and by 12:30 he had me at Doc's Harley-Davidson in Kirkwood, MO. As we were in route to the dealer, he called ahead and arranged to have my bike worked on right away. By 3:15 p.m. I was back on the road again. I cannot say enough about the great service that HOG Road Side Assistance provided and Doc's Harley-Davidson. Following that ordeal, I got back on Route 66 with the hope of making Springfield, MO which was about 210 miles away. This was short of my goal for the day, but it would put me back on track without too much lost time, but reaching Springfield would be a stretch if I stayed on Route 66 for the entire time, especially since it is not always clear where Route 66 is at all times. Every once in a while 66 just dissappears and you need to get on I-44. After a few times of that happening, I decided to stay on I-44 for the last 90 miles so that I could get to Springfield before 8:00 p.m. Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful. I will say this though, "I would rather put up with the inconvenience of a flat tire than to be back at work. Retirement is great and inspite of the difficulties of the first two day, I am having a GREAT TIME."

Day 1

2007-07-17T22:06:00.000-04:00

Finally I got underway on my trip after a 4 day delay. My anticipation was high but a check of the weather in the morning showed that if I stuck to planned route, I was in for some really wet riding on my first day. Immediately to my south in Michigan and Indiana was a pretty large thunder storm and heading toward Chicago was an extremely large storm cell that was heading southwest. Between them there appeared to be an opening, that if I was lucky, I could head south into central Indiana and possibly avoid both storms. If I stuck to my plan and headed toward Chicago and Route 66 there would be no way to avoid the major storm that was headed in from the west. This storm was packing heavy rain, hail, flash flooding, and high winds. So instead of heading to Route 66 at Joliet, IL, I decided to turn south at Michigan City, IN and hopefully avoid the major storm. As I approached the Michigan state line, it started to rain and it progressively got harder as I got to Michigan City. In Michigan City I headed south on IN-421 which goes straight south to Lafayette, IN. The farther south I got the lighter the rain became; eventually turning into a light drizzle. After about 70 miles of rain, the sun began to peak through. At Crawfordsville, IN I headed west to Springfield, IL and then to south Carlinville, IL where I eventually got a room at the Carlinville Best Western at about 8:00 p.m. Michigan time. This was an 11 hour ride that covered about 540 miles all together. I am sure that I have missed a lot of great sights along Route 66 from Chicago to Carlinville, but with the rain I am not sure that I would have enjoy it much any. In any event I was able to see a whole lot of corn growing in Indiana and Illinois. Needless to say, with the rain and all the corn, I did not get to take any pictures. The weather report for tomorrow is 95 and sunny. Hopefully more conducive to sightseeing and picture taking.

What next?

2007-07-16T13:03:00.000-04:00

Monday morning and I went to the doctor to get my blood pressure checked to see if I could leave today. It was moderately high but the doctor gave me permission to leave. Then it started to drizzle so I checked the weather channel. They indicated severe thunderstorms for today for the Chicago area, so I did some checking on line and it appeared that if I left right away, I might pass by Chicago on my way to Springfield, IL before the storms got there. So I got everything packed and headed out. I got about 8 miles out when I noticed my check engine light come on. I stopped to check my oil and other obvious things and everything appeared to be fine. I started the engine and the light was off. So I headed south again but within a few miles the light came on so I turned around and headed home. I called Hot Rod Harley in Muskegon and they said they could check it out at around 4:00 p.m. today. So I loaded it on the trailer and headed down to Muskegon. Assuming that they find and fix the problem, I will try to get my trip started on Tuesday. I hope the rest of the trip goes better than the start.

I just got back from Muskegon. Their diagnostic computer identified the problem with the coil or the plug wires. The guy tested the plug wires and found them to be OK, but noticed that the one wire was not connected securely to the coil. This would account for the engine light coming on and going off intermittently. After a short test ride this evening everything seems to be in good working order so I have everything all repacked and ready for an early start tomorrow morning. I just pray that nothing else happens.

Getting a late start

2007-07-13T14:28:00.000-04:00

Today was to be the day I started my two month motorcycle trip out west. Unfortunately, I saw the doctor yesterday and he discovered I had some high blood pressure. He is a new doctor for me and this is the first time I had ever seen him. He wanted to check my pressure again this morning, Friday, before I left. It was better but still up some so he wanted me to start on some pills and see him again on Monday. Hopefully he will give me the green light to leave on Monday. As you can see in the picture, I was all packed and ready to go. Maybe this is a good thing. Everyone told me not to leave on Friday the 13th anyway.

Jerry

Helmet Cam Video of the Blue Ridge Parway

2007-07-11T20:04:00.000-04:00

Just north of Ashville, I decided to try to take some video while riding the Blue Ridge Parkway, so I duct taped my Sony Video Camcorder to my helmet and took some video. It actually turned out pretty good. Click on the link below to see the video.

Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) Trip - July 22 to 31, 2006

2007-07-08T22:48:00.000-04:00

Introduction:

My goal on this ride was to head south from Ludington, MI and get on the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) in Cherokee, NC. I would ride the Blue Ridge its entire length (469 miles) from Cherokee to Waynesboro, VA. In Waynesboro I would continue on to ride the entire length of the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park in VA. This runs for 105 miles and ends in the town of Front Royal, VA. Both the BRP and the Skyline are without any stop signs their entire length. However, this does not mean you never stop. With their abundances of beautiful vista and scenic overlooks, it is difficult to ride more than a few miles without stopping to enjoy the beauty.

Day 1 (July 22, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:45:00.000-04:00

Ludington, MI to Georgetown, KY

Started at 8:40 a.m. ended at 6:30 p.m.

Total miles = 548

In Brighton, Michigan I had to stop at the new Brighton Harley-Davidson dealer because my clutch was sticking. They were having a big open house event so there were hundreds of motorcycles there. One of the mechanics brought some tools out to my bike and adjusted the clutch cable. They didn’t charge me a dime. They wished me well on my trip and told me to be sure to check out the Tail of the Dragon. My hat’s off to their crew. Where else can you get free mechanical help and a trip tip?

Day 2 (July 23, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:43:00.000-04:00

Georgetown, KY to Knoxville, TN

Started at 9:15 a.m. ended at 12:30 p.m.

Total miles = 200

This was a short ride day because I only had to go as far as Knoxville because I was stopping at Jill’s house, my niece. My plan was to visit her for one day and then set out on my ride to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I got to her house at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday but she was at work. After calling her on her cell phone she called her baby sitter to let me in the house. Later Jill came home and we went out to dinner at the Olive Garden. I was glad I had my GPS on the bike because the route to her house was very complex with numerous turns through numerous subdivisions. Jill also asked me if I was going to ride the Tail of the Dragon. This was not on my original itinerary, but with two people suggesting it in two days, how could I miss it. After doing some research on my GPS, I was able to determine where it was so I plotted out a course for the Dragon which took me around the western edge of the Smokey Mountains.

Day 3 (July 24, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:37:00.000-04:00

Knoxville to Ashville, NC

Started at 8:45 a.m. ended at 5:00 p.m.

Total miles = 240. About 85 were on the BRP

I left Jill’s house that morning and got on highway US 129 which takes you around the western edge of the Smokey Mountains. US 129 eventually takes you to the Tail of the Dragon. This is an 11 mile section of road that starts at Chilhowie Dam and ends at Deals Gap. This section of road boasts no less than 318 turns in an 11 mile stretch of highway. I finished the Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap at 12:00 noon. As I rode through the Dragon, killboy.com, a professional photographer was taking pictures. When I got home I went online and purchased all 10 of them. I took a side trip around Santeetlah Lake and eventually found my way to Cherokee, NC at 2:00 p.m. From there I got on the BRP and made it to Asheville, NC at 5:00 p.m. Cherokee is at the southern end of the BRP. The temperature in Cherokee was in the high 80s. Once I got on the BRP I climbed in elevation to a high of 6113 feet and the temperature dropped down to the mid to low 60s. There was even a slight drizzle but it only lasted about 5 minutes. The picture on the bottom is from Killboy.com.

Day 4 (July 25, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:29:00.000-04:00

Ashville, NC to Fancy Gap, VA

Started at 9:40 a.m. ended at 5:00 p.m.

Total miles = 220

After leaving Asheville, I head back up the BRP. It was a little cool but partly sunny. I decided to try to take some riding pictures with my Sony DVD Camcorder. So I took out my duct tape and taped the cam to my helmet and proceeded to ride the BRP with the cam on. Actually, the videos turned out amazingly good. About 15 miles out of Ashville, I started to climb into the clouds and visibility got pretty bad. The worse it got, the more I began to rely on my GPS to tell me where the turns were. I eventually stopped that the Visitor Center in Craggy Meadow to wait for the clouds to lift. After about a half hour, I was on my way again. By 5:00 p.m. I made it to Fancy Gap, VA, a very small town on the top of the mountain right next to the BRP. I stayed at the Lakeview Motel which was on the south side if the road and right next to the BRP. It had a restaurant at the motel too. The food was great. Motel cost was $34. The cheapest motel I found on the whole trip. Down the mountain from Fancy Gap is the town of Mount Airy, NC. The town made famous by the Andy Griffith TV show, “Mayberry RFD.” I started out to visit this town, but once I got down the mountain, I ran into rain, so I headed back to the motel.

Day 5 (July 26, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:25:00.000-04:00

Fancy Gap, VA to Waynesboro, VA

Started at 8:40 a.m. ended at 7:10 p.m.

Total miles = 400 About 200 on the BRP and 200 on the expressway going back and forth between Fancy Gap and Roanoke.

Got to Roanoke at noon, which was about 90 miles. Mabry Mill is between Fancy Gap and Roanoke. I stopped for a while at Mabry Mill which is a very picturesque and historic mill site. After a cup of coffee and cookie and numerous pictures, I was back on the road again heading up the BRP. When I got to Roanoke I thought I left my cell phone at the motel in Fancy Gap so I got on the expressway and rode back to Fancy Gap. It wasn’t there so I rode the expressway back to Roanoke and got back on the BRP. Got back on BRP at 4:00 and got to Waynesboro at 7:10. Waynesboro is the Northeast end of the BRP. In Waynesboro, I met a guy that was originally from Michigan but he moved to Waynesboro in the early 80s. His name was John Appleford and he was working as a judge in Waynesboro. He asked what my plan was for getting back to Michigan. I told him I didn’t have any special plan so he recommended that I take US 250 from Waynesboro, through West Virginia and Ohio. He said it was a straight shot to Sandusky, OH and it was a very beautiful drive. To accomplish this I would alter my plan to ride the Skyline Drive from Wayneboro to Front Royal. Instead, I would take the expressway around to Front Royal and ride the Skyline Drive back to Waynesboro. The Skyline Drive starts in Waynesboro and ends in Front Royal. Skyline Drive is in the Shenandoah National Park and is 105 miles long.

Day 6 (July 27, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:21:00.000-04:00

Waynesboro, VA to Fairmont, WV

Started at 9:00 a.m. ended about 6:00 p.m.

Total miles = 382

When I left Waynesboro, I rode the expressway around the Skyline Drive to Front Royal. In Front Royal I stopped at the visitor’s center. This town is very neat and clean. It is also very historic, but I didn’t stay long. I was anxious to get going on the Skyline. So I got on the Skyline and rode it back to Waynesboro. I was only on the Skyline for a few miles when I encountered a black bear crossing the road. It wandered across the road and sat on top of a rock fence. It was within 30 feet of me as I passed it by. Near the end of the Skyline Drive I had another animal encounter. This time it was a rattlesnake crossing the road. This time is was within a few feet as I dodged around it. I got to Waynesboro at 2:30. From there I got on US 250 and headed northwest toward home. That evening I stopped in Fairmont, WV. On the way to Fairmont I passed through Philippi which was very historic looking and had a really neat double covered bridge.

Day 7 (July 28, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:19:00.000-04:00

Fairmont, WV to Mt. Vernon, OH

Started at 10:00 a.m. ended about 6:00 p.m.

Total miles = 221

As soon as I finished breakfast it started raining very hard so I headed back to the motel to wait it out. At 10:00 a.m. the rain slowed to a drizzle so I decided to head out. Not long after hitting the road, the light rain turned to a downpour and lasted for 3 hours. It was a little scary riding through the mountains of WV in the rain, but I eventually made it to Wheeling, WV about 1:00 p.m. The rain stopped there. I then continued on toward Mansfield, OH. I actually stopped in Mt. Vernon, OH, just south of Mansfield.

Day 8 (July 29, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:15:00.000-04:00

Mt. Vernon, OH to Detroit, MI

Started at 9:00 a.m. ended about 5:00 p.m.

Total miles = 183

My destination today was the AMA motorcycle races and vintage motorcycle show at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Raceway just outside of Mansfield, OH. There was a slight drizzle in the morning. I got to the motorcycle races and vintage cycle show and swap meet at 11:00 a.m. The races were really great and the vintage bikes were fun to see. This is a really big event. I was pleasantly surprised. After getting there the sun came out and it got very hot. I stayed there for 3 hours and headed for Michigan. I stayed at my step mom’s house near Detroit.

Day 9 (July 30, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:11:00.000-04:00

Detroit, MI to Coldwater, MI
Started at 9:00 a.m. ended about 4:00 p.m.
Total miles = 187
I left Julie’s house and went to visit my uncle in Ypsilanti. Found out that he was in the hospital in Wyandotte, MI so I went there to visit him. After that I head to my brother’s house in Allen Park. He was not there so I decided to go to Coldwater to see if he was at the cottage. On the way to Coldwater it began to rain very hard near Albion, MI. I stopped for 45 minutes at a gas station and waited for the rain to let up. I finally got started again and headed to Coldwater. I got to the cottage at 4:00 p.m. My brother was just packing the car to leave when I got there. He then unpacked and stayed another night, so we had an opportunity to visit.

Day 10 (July 31, 2006)

2007-07-08T22:07:00.001-04:00

Coldwater, MI to Ludington, MI
Started at 9:00 a.m. ended about 2:30 p.m.
Total miles = 225
Took back roads from Coldwater to Grand Haven, and then used the expressway from there to home. Total miles on the trip 2815 miles. The ride exceeded my expectations. I would recommend the BRP to anyone.