My Cross Country Motorcycle Road Trip

I arrived home today safe and sound and I thank God. Our travel totaled 19 days, 5,359 miles, and 17 states (West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland). To date there were 730 visits to the blog and from 18 different countries. (Wow!)This has truly been a great adventure. I want to thank Rich for deciding to come along (and Maude, his wife, for allowing it!). I didn’t create any entries from August 21st until now. I GOT TIRED, OK! Actually, there wasn’t much to see in scenery. I had planned to stop in St Louis to photograph the arch. I missed the exit because of construction and we wound up on the other side of the river instead. I decided to keep riding toward Kentucky. We arrived in Louisville on Friday and spent two great days with friends and family (I thank you all!!). We needed the R&R. The trip from Louisville to home in Maryland gave me time to re...

I arrived at the Colorado Springs dealership before they opened to give the engine time to cool down. Kevin, the technician who performed the maintenance, got us underway before noon. We have approximately 1,100 miles to travel before we get to Louisville, KY on Friday and our route will take us through Kansas City and St. Louis. I didn’t take any photos of our trek across Kansas today. (By the way, I think I’m going to leave the Red Mountain photo on the blog for the rest of my trip unless I find a better subject between here and home). We had strong cross winds and dodged thunderstorms all afternoon. The temperature was around 98 degrees. Tomorrow we will continue on into Missouri. Unless something exciting or noteworthy happens between now and when arrive in Louisville, my next post will be after we arrive there.

Our ride from Alamosa to Colorado City was only 167 miles. For most of the ride we were well below the speed limit simply because there was no need to hurry. The scenery began to return to what I would call average compared to what we have seen for the past 12 days. I suspect that it will continue this way based upon our planned Interstate 70 route back. (No more state and county roads). We arrived in Colorado Springs around one o’clock yesterday. On our way to the motel we could see Pike’s Peak nearby. Upon checking the map we discovered that it was only 9 miles away. We pondered whether we should continue on to add it to our checklist of been there and done that. For some reason we felt that Pike’s Peak just didn’t seem to measure up (visually and road-wise) to what we have experienced on this trip. We decided to spend the afternoon at the pool. I am off to the local dealer this morning to get my bike serviced before we head back home. A bit of sadness is starting to sit in and at th...

Here is the recap of our journey from Vernal, Utah to Alamosa, Colorado on Saturday and Sunday, August 19th and 20th. Our Saturday ride began early after coffee and a light breakfast as usual. The temperature was in the 50s. We took US 40 east toward Dinosaur, Colorado. Although this is a major US highway there was very little traffic. Once in Dinosaur I noticed a small church off to the right, the Dinosaur Baptist Church. The name brought a smile to my face. We then took state route 24 east to pick up route 139 toward Grand Junction, Colorado. This section was as remote as the section in Utah we traveled earlier in the morning. However, there was a difference in the terrain. We had moved from vast open dry plateaus to the edges of the Colorado Rockies. Many portions of these areas are marked open range. This brings me to a story about Rich’s close encounter of the bull kind. I’m going to let him tell it in his own words first. His words follow: “We had entered an area of small mountai...

I'm too tired to post today and besides its Saturday night! Had a great ride today more photos and details tomorrow.

Our departure from Jackson Hole was not ideal. It was raining and the temperature was in the 50 degree range. We were prepared for such conditions and again we would not be uncomfortable during the ride. Our plan was to follow US 189 & US 191 from SW Wyoming into NE Utah. Based upon our review of the road atlas we believed those highways would provide great scenic views and we were not disappointed. The rain cleared after about an hour and the temperature began to rise. As we rode through this part of Wyoming I now understand why it is called a “high plains” area. There were vast gently rolling plains extending to the horizon on one side and a large mountain range far in the distance on the other side. We passed a sign which displayed the name of the town, the population (50), and elevation (8,000+ feet!!). At times our bikes were the only vehicles on the road for mile after mile. This area was marked as an open range – no fences. We came across a historical marker for the Oregon T...

Our trip from West Yellowstone began with a bright sunny day and a temperature of forty four degrees. Although it felt cool it was not uncomfortable. My heated seat and handgrips provided just the right amount of extra comfort. Once in the park I tuned my XM radio to channel 71, Watercolors. The sounds of smooth jazz playing softly in my helmet, the smell of the cold, crisp, lightly smoke filled air, the visual stimulation provided by park surroundings, and the smooth hum of my K1200GT’s engine - - - it couldn’t any get better than this. Rich called on the CB and asked, “What’s up?” I guess I hadn’t said anything for a while. We will do that frequently if we are out of visual contact just to make sure that we are both OK. We arrived at Old Faithful around 10:15. A park ranger told us that an eruption was expected around 11:07. We stayed for the display and grabbed lunch at the visitor’s center. Next we were off to see the Grand Tetons. I must say that these are the most majestic mounta...

Today our plan was for a for a 154 mile day which would take us from Red Lodge, Montana back across Bear Tooth Pass into Yellowstone National Park. We were heading toward the northeast entrance to the park. The eastern entrance was closed because of the burning forest on the east side. Our goal was to reach West Yellowstone in the mid afternoon so that we could finally have a real easy ride. The ride began at our usual 8:30 or so. The temperature was 69 degrees and the day was sunny. We headed west on US 212. Interestingly enough, the pass looked a bit different traveling the route from the opposite direction. Once we reached the top the temperature dropped to 58 degrees. We have experienced a temperature range from 109 to 58 in just a few days! We continue across the pass and enter Yellowstone National Park. One thing that catches our eyes and noses is the smoke. There was a continuous haze throughout the ride. You knew there were large fires in the vicinity. We took photos and you ca...

Our journey today was planned to take us from Sheridan, Wyoming to Red Lodge, Montana via the Chief Joseph Highway and Bear Tooth Pass. Both of these are scenic highways that go through some fantastic National Forrest. The temperature was in the upper 60s when we started out at 8:30AM. We had 264 miles to travel today over mountains that were over 10,000 feet in some locations. First we entered the Bighorn Mountains on Route 14. The ride today proceeded at a moderate pace so that we could observe the scenery and ride safe. As we rounded each curve we were presented with mountain rock formations that seemed different at each turn. It required concentration while riding since there were no guard rails in some locations. I saw a sign which said private ranch property next eight miles! (I don’t remember the name of the ranch but that’s some ranch spread.) We stopped for lunch in Cody, Wyoming at Granny’s Restaurant. Again, our random selection process produced excellent results. After lunc...

Today’s journey took us from Rapid City, SD to Sheridan, WY via Devil’s Tower (277 miles). Our trip started out after breakfast around 8:30AM. Again, I got a good night’s rest but woke up at 6AM EST (still haven’t adjusted to the two hour time shift). It didn’t take us long to cross into Wyoming. It is hard to describe the vast amount of open space (big sky country). Although we were riding our iron horses, it was easy to imagine what it must have been like for those in the old west who saw it for the first time as it was for us. There were times that we didn’t see anyone else on the road. The roads seemed to extend to the horizon as we traveled along the golden like prairies. While traveling Highway 24, all of a sudden when we reached the top of a hill you could see in the far distance what appeared to be a huge (and I do mean huge) rock standing alone in the middle of prairie lands. Of course this was Devil’s tower. We stopped to take a few pictures then we had lunch at a quaint litt...

Well, I need to catch up with posting for yesterday and today. Yesterday was a leisure day. We only traveled a total of 60 miles, the distance from Rapid City to Sturgis and back – what a pleasant change. Apparently attendance at the rally was down this year. For us that was a good thing. We actually found a shady spot to watch and photograph the crowd. Every biker needs to experience this rally at least once. When we returned to Rapid City we went out for dinner at a place called Fireside. It was located up in the Black Hills on an isolated road. It was a little spooky riding at night and we were warned about deer. There were other bikers on the road so we had company. It was recommended by the hotel staff and others. Great steak!! We then mapped out our travel through the Black Hills to Crazy Horse Mountain, Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore using back roads. That was it for Saturday. Today began cold and misty. We prepared our bikes for the route we had planned the night before....

We arrive in Rapid City last night around 7:30PM Mountain Time Friday!!! I didn’t post last night because I was just too tired. Here’s yesterday recap: We left Moline, IL at 3:39AM. Got a good night’s sleep and I actually felt refreshed. The one hour time shift helped a lot. The weather was great and the temperature was in the upper 60’s low 70’s. Not long after leaving Moline we crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa. This was my first time in this state. It’s true – hundreds of continuous miles of corn fields. We continue through this area with absolutely great weather conditions for riding. We continued through Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Waterloo to pick up US 218 heading into Minnesota. Once we were in Minnesota we get onto I90 westbound knowing that we had more than 500 miles to travel on this almost straight interstate highway to Rapid City, South Dakota. Then the weather conditions began to slowly change for the worse. Once we were on the other side of Sioux Falls, we notice ...

Rich met me at my house and we rode off at 3:58AM! Yes, I did keep waking up all night with great anticipation of the adventure that we were about to begin. Our first challenge was the weather. I heard about the weather front that was going to generate storms between here and Chicago. Of course, that was the direction we had planned to travel. We decided to take a more southern route across WV, OH, IN, and IL. We avoided the rain but it was hot, hot, hot. We are on a mission to get to Rapid City, SD by Friday night. Well, seventeen hours later we are in Moline, IL and 887 miles from home. We’ve checked in a motel for the night. No time for pictures today (not much to see anyway). It’s time to get some sleep so that we can start it all over again tomorrow – another 800+ miles to go. Z z z z z z z z. . .

Saddle bags packed (check), full tank of fuel (check), tire air pressure (check), oil level (check), . . . . . . . still have a feeling that I’m leaving something. We’re leaving at 4AM for our first leg toward Rapid City, SD with a stopover somewhere in between. Time to turn in (hope I can get some sleep). WESTWARD WE GO!

All electronic gadgets ( farkles ) installed and tested! What a busy past week. Gadget list: Garmin Zumo 550 GPS – provides voice route navigation. It also has a built-in MP3 player, and e-Book player. I added the optional XM receiver which provides real-time traffic and weather map updates on the GPS display. The Zumo is Bluetooth-enabled which allows me to take phone calls while my mobile phone is in my tank bag or pocket. (more about this later). Starcom1 Advance intercom system. This little cigarette pack sized unit provides for the integration of my Zumo, helmet headset, and CB radio. Midland 75-822 Portable CB radio The installation process began with me having to remove the bike side faring, tank top, and seats. I drew a picture of each part on a piece of cardboard and taped each screw that I removed from the bike to the same location on the cardboard. I don’t have a service manual and from experience I didn’t want to have any screws left over :-) I mounted the Starcom1 unde...