The last Night in Kingsport, TN

 I woke at 4:30 excited to be heading home.  The fog was pretty heavy so I waited until 7:00 am to head out.  

It was an easy day across the mountains on Rt. 19E to Boone then through Winston-Salem to Cary.  29 days, 5865 miles, 18 states, fun riding with my son Ryan, BMWMOA Rally, MSTA Star Rally and lots of smiles!

Dodge City, KS

 Well, my hoped for view of the old west was a bust!  I rode through and didn’t stop.  I was overwhelmed by the smell of cattle and their deposits.  For 40 miles there were huge cattle feed lots by the road.  The tractor trailers were everywhere carrying them off to the butcher.  It was rather sickening and made me want to be a vegetarian.  I got to see some of the old building that had been repurposed to function in todays world.  I guess I was expecting more of a Disneyland experience of the old west.

After the sloppy start with heavy rain and fog that passed by 8 am it was an easy ride to Wichita with one stop on the way in the little town of Pratt.  What a find!

This little donut shop was just outside of town and I almost passed it.  But out of the corner of my eye I saw the sign for donuts!  The donuts were excellent reminding me of the days with Mom & Pop donut shops were all around.  The surprise was the coffee.  This Korean lady could put Starbucks out of business.  I lingered for multiple donuts and cups of coffee and then it was time to move on to Wichita.

I stayed in the Wyndham hotel and was probably one of 3 guests in this 8 story hotel.  The area was pretty much deserted and for dinner I walked into town 12-15 blocks and saw nothing but empty building, apartment, parking garages and office buildings.  It was spooky.  I found this tiny French restaurant that was the only tenant in a 5 story building.  There were 3 people there.  The food was excellent.  If they were located in NY it was a $60 meal.  In Raleigh a $40 meal but in Wichita is was $20.  On the walk back I crossed a 6 lane street with no traffic.  The waiter said the the town had been on gradual decline for a few years before Covid but It all accelerated after that.

I asked about the Keeper of the Plains and he told me that Covid shut down most of the show around it but if I just wanted a pretty walk along the Arkansas River it was still very nice.  Covid shut down another of my ideas on the trip.  Also the Salt Mine I passed because of the significant thunderstorm chasing me.  It might not have been open anyway.  Seems Covid is still causing damage in the mid-west.  Off to bed.

The morning was clear and I was intent on making it to MO.  All good on the road again and making the miles in the 300-400 mile range.  I got to Mountain Grove, MO and my random motels hit a new low.  I had booked the hotel via Hotels.com which I used whenever I knew when I wanted to stop.  My lunch time project was to figure out how far I wanted to go in the afternoon then use the App to book a room.  I had found that small towns booked up fast when people wanted to get off the road so I always booked a room.  It has been a good strategy until now!  Mountain Grove had 2 motels, a Days Inn (where I couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone) and the Royal Inn.  I pulled in to be treated by:

The lobby didn’t look so bad but I was hoping the burned up wing wasn’t where my room was located.  Then the pool looked like the army had practiced bombing runs.  The room door had so much space around it that the light from the street shined all night around it.  Funny, I slept pretty well even with the spiders and flies.  This was my low point for lodging!

Riding early in the morning was the key to beating the heat.  Rt. 60 dumped me onto a small 2 lane road approaching the Mississippi.  It ran on top of the dike protecting the beautiful farmland near the river.  The approach was onto a very narrow steel bridge over the Mississippi and after 100 yards a right turn to another old bridge over the Ohio River.  Very old structures,  very high, and the rivers were huge.  

I was welcomed to Bowling Green KY by the Best Western plus with a parking space at the door.

Doesn’t get much better than this.  I must have looked tired since I just completed 400 miles and it was very humid around the rivers.  The desk clerk greeted me with a bag of popcorn and a bottled water.  Nice.  This was the best nights sleep on the trip.  I woke up at 6:30 which is late for me.  This was another 350-375 day and my goal was to reach Kingsport TN which would be half way home.

I reached halfway between Kingsport and Johnson City and was treated at the Comfort Inn & Suites by a nice lady at the check-in telling me that I was not allowed to park in front of the hotel.  Their insurance won’t allow it.  Nice hotel but not a good feel coming in hot and tired.

Tomorrow I will be home after a ride through Boone, NC and 275 miles home.  I will follow this up with some things I learned on the road.  And yes I would do it again!

The Road Home

 July 6th I left Denver at 7 am heading east on I-70 for about 65 miles.  Once I was past the exit for the airport the traffic thinned out to almost nothing.  Once I turned south heading for Kansas it was all 2 lane 65-70 mph road through the farms.  On this route I had a headwind and I misjudged the gas and almost ran out.  It seems when planning gas stops you should always calculate based on a much lower mpg than normal.  My range has been 38-50 depending on the direction of the wind.  I had 2/3 of a tank of gas and didn’t see a station or town for 150 miles, so things were getting a little close but with 20 miles to go in the tank I found gas.

You are surrounded by western history just riding down the road.

Unfortunately Kit Carson was a dead town.  I didn’t see one business open.  But still it was a pretty ride down to Syracuse, KS for my next stop.  Syracuse had one pub and one nice motel so I was all set.  I planned on eating dinner at the pub but nature intervened and with torrents of rain falling it was Hot Pockets in the motel for me.

I had to go to the office to find out what time it was.  My computer said it was 6 PM and my phone said 5 pm.  It turns out that is a frequent question since the Central and Mountain time line is 100 yards from the motel.  So there is one little slice of KS that is in Mountain time that includes the motel.

It was supposed to be clear, warm with chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon on Wednesday.  So I planned on getting up early around 5 am and getting my miles in to Wichita.

Rain and fog, yuk!  So I had to wait an hour for the fog to lift.  Well, a mile down the road the fog hadn’t lifted and it was pea soup for 20 miles, I hate riding in fog.

I by-passed my planned trip to a salt mine since thunderstorms were moving in and the temperature was rising but I still hope to get a picture of the Keeper of the Plains.  Probably an evening ride into town.  Tomorrow I am off to MO!

Steamboat, CO

 After the splash of showers and a bit of snow the ride to Steamboat up Rt 40 was stunning.  Long sweepers and beautiful scenery, much different than what we see in the east.  We checked into the Ptarmigan Inn and wandered the area for tacos for lunch then on to the Jacuzzi and pool.  A nice way to end a short ride.  We went into town for a sushi dinner, site seeing and then back to the hotel.

It is a beautiful town with great memories.  My roommate in the army joined me for a ski week here in 1979 and we loved the mountain and the nightlife in the town.  At that time it was just a Sheraton on the mountain with a couple of other small lodges.  The area is about 3 miles from the town.  Back then it was still a real western town.  I think the mountain looks better with a coat of snow.  The town and the mountain have grown together and is well developed.

My son also egged me on to do the mountain slider which was a blast.  I have to admit that I was probably the slowest person on the mountain, oh and the oldest.

We were rested the next morning with plans of going to a small mining town called Craig but a staff member told us the Steamboat Lake was a prettier ride so that is what we did.  The road was a very winding 2 lane with cattle farms all around climbing to a crystal clear lake surrounded by the mountains.

It was only a 60 mile round trip on the paved roads but Ryan wanted to test out his Tiger on the dirt and gravel roads.  It was a clay and gravel road, well packed down easy on the road bike until a bit of rain made the rear slip a bit on the corners but the surface was fine for me.  He had no problems.

We stopped to visit some of the local residents.

No fence and Ryan then warned me that the bull was not to happy with me stopping to photograph his ladies.  We stopped at the local general store, Clark’s, and had lunch.  I had the chili made the western way with chunks of steak.  Excellent! Then back to town.  Dinner was at a steakhouse where the diners were expected to cook their own steak.  I am not so sure I like this idea since I go out to eat so I don’t have to cook.

The steak was excellent, probably because of the chef!

We had a light evening and Ryan had his cigar on the back deck enjoying the crisp clear evening.  We also had time for another dip in the pool.

It was time to leave the next day heading back to Broomfield.  We were taking a route back to Kremmling then down to I-70.  The views were amazing.

 We didn’t know that Saturday I-70 had been closed due to multiple mud slides but it turns out that where we got to I-70 it was clear for us all the way back into Denver.  The slides were just west of us.  So we were very lucky.  We arrived in time for the after 4th of July cookout at Ryan’s best friends house.  Chris and Sarah were great hosts and a crowd of other friends were there.  A fun afternoon.

I now have a day off to rest before the long ride home.  I will be leaving in the early morning on Tuesday heading for Kansas.  I am afraid the weather looks hot so the early morning hours is best.  Happy 4th to everyone!

Arrived in Broomfield and checked out Ryan’s bike.

 We spent a day of prepping the bike for his first road trip.  Found the chain on the Triumph Tiger too tight so we put some slack in it and added to his tools.  Packing went smoothly but the weather forecast was not looking good.  We planned to leave on July 1.  Ryan didn’t have rain pants so we needed to make a stop on the way out of town at Cycle Gear for Frogg Toggs.

We were all dressed up with no place to go on Thursday morning and made the decision to give it a try even with the severe storm warning with flooding.  If it was bad we would turn around and call it a day.  We got the Frogg Toggs then headed out on I-70 which we were going to avoid by going through Rocky Mountain National Park but again it is required to have a reservation and a time slot.  I hate this!  So I-70 it is and we were going to get off just past Lawson and head up Rt. 40 to Winter Park.  Well, the second we left Denver the clouds were gathering and we could see lightning over the Flat Irons.  We were south of that but still nervous.  Then it started dumping on us for 20 miles with pooling water and cars splashing sheets of water in our direction.  We were relieved to reach the exit and get off that road.  The rains moderated and we could pay more attention to the scenery.

Stunning road to Winter Park, winding with switch-backs and a significant elevation change.  It got colder as we climbed but the view was beautiful.  We arrived in Winter Park for lunch and ate at the SmokeHouse BBQ.  The Brisket was to die for and we lingered.  We then stopped to gas up and noticed a cloud bank approaching.

It was ugly and cars were pulling over in the gas station and sitting there.  We sought shelter under the awning and had a cup of coffee.  It lasted maybe 30 minutes and was impressive.  When we returned to the road leaving town the road was lined with snow not a mile from where we sheltered.  The sky was clearing now and it was warming up.  Ryan was very glad we stopped at Cycle Gear!

We were heading to Kremmling for the night, not knowing what was there.  The Super 8 reached a new low but was clean.  We were tired and wandered out for dinner, a short walk.  The town had a population of 1800 and they had this really neat Distillery, Brewery, restaurant.  Quite an investment for such a small town.

I think the meal helped us sleep well that night.  So no complaints.

Ryan slept well!  We got up and wandered  the town to find coffee and take some pictures.  A very neat little town.

We did our 60 mile trip to Steamboat on this beautiful road with big sweepers and incredible vistas.  What a beautiful day.

Casper, WY to Broomfield, CO

 This was a relaxing ride in the river valleys with sweeping curves and a beautiful 2 lane road with traffic holding a constant 68 mph.  The scenery was not really noteworthy or worth a picture but it was beautiful. The interesting part was the transition when I crossed into Colorado.  It was a whole new structure to the geography with large mounds of soft edged rocks and it was obvious that I had arrived in CO.

Animal life was sparse with the occasional huge black cattle that I assume to be Black Angus.  Once into CO there was more animal life.  I stopped in Laramie to get gas and was approached by a woman with a camera.  Her request was a picture with Oswald.  No one wants a picture of me!  Oswald had meaning to her, she and her husband were married at the Flamingo in Las Vegas.  She then counseled me on being careful since her father also rides motorcycles.  I asked her what the small deer were with short spike horns.  Turns out they are called Pronghorns and many think they are antelope.  There speed of movement far exceeded that of other animals so she said if you see one start to move be careful.  So far I only saw them lying in the grasses and not moving around.  It was obvious that they get on the road because there were many carcasses on the roadway.

After a quick break there at the gas station I was off to Broomfield.  Nice day and had a beer with son Ryan to top it off.  We will be prepping for our trip up in the Rockies tomorrow then of to Rocky Mountain National Park.  He will be riding his Triumph Tiger and is very excited about his first road trip.

Back later.

I didn’t expect this kind of day!

 Left Billings for the 320 mile trip down to Casper, WY.  It was low 60’s to start rising to low 70’s for the rest of the day.  It was a beautiful day and the trip went very smoothly.  I was under the impression that the lower section of WY was rolling hills and not very interesting.  So I was expecting to be bored.  The first 100 miles paralleled the high mountains with snow clearly visible.  Average speeds were around 70 and it was all 2 lane.  Some construction zones but flowed easily with a little slow down.  The only problem was the herds of RV’s and 5th wheel RV’s.  They tend to cluster and they don’t do hills very well.  The winds were also picking up in some places so getting around these guys was a challenge.   It is not often that I get to cruise at 100 mph but that is what needed to happen when looking down the long straight highways it was all clear.  The RV’s don’t leave a lot of room to pass them one at a time with good visibility down the road on the straight a ways I had to pass all of them, sometimes there were 5.  

The bike ran smoothly and actually in the 90’s it ran the best.  I don’t like to linger in the blind spot of trucks so off I went.  I made good time all the way to Thermopolis.  Small town but the gem was a brewery/pub that had excellent food!

I was very interested in the food selection and had the hamburger with sweet potato fries.  It was excellent but no beer!  I never drink when on the bike.

Then the surprise was traveling down Wind River Canyon.  It was stunning.  I paralleled the river with fly fishermen enjoying a wonderful day to be out.  The Canyon had shear walls and sweeping turns by the river.

It was an exciting way to spend the last 100 miles before reaching the boring part.  I even got rained on (more like spritzed on) 3 times for 30 seconds and it was a nice refresher.

I arrived in Casper around 4 and had time for some afternoon rest.  Tomorrow I get to Broomfield!

Next stop Broomfield, CO

 But first I have to get through WY.  It should be a beautiful ride down through Cody to Casper, WY.  Today’s ride was very relaxing with temps in the low 80’s.  The next few days it will be in the high 70’s so it gets better.  Today 215 miles and tomorrow 325.  That will leave me with a short ride into Broomfield.

When I left Billings last Wednesday I had to climb the cliffs on a series of switchbacks.  Very steep and totally unexpected.  Today I came back down a different way along the edge of the plateau.  I did a panoramic for facebook but it doesn’t really show the depth of field.  Here is what the photo shots looked like.

Quite the view.  The sky is also amazing out here.  It is 9:20 pm and it is still very light outside.  I will be surprising Ryan, my son, by arriving 2 days early.

The 2021 BMWMOA Rally is over!

 4900 members attended and the weather was great.  

And some came the hard way:

 

Our little Airbnb was fine and dandy only 1 1/2 miles from the Rally.  You could see a bit of the past here.

Then of course there was the great falls!

We didn’t do much riding but we needed some rest after the long miles in the heavy wind.  Now to start the journey home but first to my son’s house in Denver.  Ray is off to Utah to see old friends and will meetup with me on the other side of Denver.

The weather has turned for the better!

 I have been riding for 13 days with only 1 short day.  Usually, on a long trip, I will take a day off every 4th day.  The days have worn on me with my ribs experiencing pain from fighting the cross winds.  On the return trip from Denver I will take a more leisurely pace.  Some of the legs out here the last few days were beautiful but again I took a beating from the winds.  There is a certain peace that comes with those rides and when I stop to look back it amazes me the size of this country!

But Ray arrived from his long route through California then up to Montana. And I arrived to our Airbnb.

We are 1 mile from the action and the place is packed with 5,000 attending and more walking in.  More to follow.

What a beautiful day of riding!

 I left Aberdeen, SD at 8:30 this morning with temperatures in the 50’s.  Within 1 hour it was 71 and was a clear day with little wind.  That is new for me on this trip.  Rt. 12 is a two lane road posted at 65 mph and very little traffic.  The countryside is so amazing.  I stopped to take a picture and there is no way to show it in a way that you would understand.  I always thought that this area was dry and not very productive.  There were lakes and streams over every hill and the hills were lush and green.  It was a rolling kind of countryside with sweeping turns on the roads.

It is hard to take a picture that does justice.  All along the road you could see old farmhouses with no windows.  There were also the remnants of an old road with the occasional bridge over a stream that looked like it was the original road back in the 1800’s.  Some of these old houses had been cut off from access by the parallel railroad tracks that was constantly next to the highway.

After one hour I was crossing over the head waters of the Missouri River at Mobridge and entering the Sioux Indian reservation.  Memorials were present for Sitting Bull and Sacajawea.  The land was beautiful but the reservation had the same lodging seen in the east…trailers.  I wish I understood more about the reservation system.  You could easily picture Sitting Bull on a paint horse on a hilltop with his Indian warriors.  Guess I watched too many movies.

Still no traffic and it was just a relaxing day.  I could have easily gone 400 miles today but I have started making reservations because the hotels have been filling up and I will reach Great Falls in 2 more days of 250 miles.  So it will be an easy pace on into the rally.  There was an interesting sight on the trip today at a rest stop.

I am not sure I understand this sign in the men’s room.  Well it is a little different out here.  I am spending the night in Bowman, ND at a Super 8.  Across the street is a little restaurant that had the best hamburger that I have ever had.  Great time to stop.  Tomorrow won’t be as easy as today.  It will be another 275 mile day but the temperature will possibly hit 100 as I ride down to Billings, MT.  Going to bed!

Early morning and a cool clear day.

 I left the motel at 7:30 and the temperature was 54 degrees.  It was beautiful and clear.  I checked the tires and oil and nothing to do but put a couple of lbs in the tires.  I was looking forward to a 2 lane country ride and it was all of that.  About every 30 miles I came to a small town, population 800-1200, so the speed of 60 mph only slowed momentarily for the crossroads.  Every town had massive grain storage on the road.

These things are huge.  Some farms are so large that they have their own silos.  This one was big enough to justify railroad tracks up to them.

Leaving Mankato, MN it was only about 20 miles to enter South Dakota and when you are in western Minnesota you are going to see plenty of these.

It was a wonderful day.  The temperature barely climbed over 65 so it was perfect.  300 miles later and I was in Aberdeen, SD and a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner…very good.

Did I tell you that my love affair with my GPS has ended.  Yes, entering MN to the town of Albert Lea, a beautiful little town, for some reason I must have dropped several waypoints on this town.  After numerous trips around town to include a trip around the lake, and down Main Street in both directions our relationship ended on yet again another gravel road.  I even have the avoid box checked for that.  So now I am point to point for each leg of the trip.  We will try to make up before Glacier National Park but I am not hopeful.  Tomorrow is a hot one so I will be out of here by 7.  Time for some sleep.

A day of rain and wind

 Not too bad for an ugly day.  I woke at 4:00 am and it looked dry outside but then again it changed.  At 6 the rains came.  I moved the bike under the awning and checked the tires.  I added a couple of pounds of air to each and packed to ride in the rain for much of the day.  I was only planning to put in 250 miles since I am running ahead of schedule.  It was 67 degrees and would warm up into the 70’s but the rain stayed with me.  It was a relaxing day since I enjoy riding in the rain.  I actually felt great as was planning to go on to 300 miles but as I rounded a turn in Mankato, MN a shelf cloud with high winds was approaching.  The weather station had warned of severe storms in the afternoon so as I looked around there appeared a Comfort Inn that just opened.  Like an omen so there you have it, it is now laundry day!  I also managed to get in a Jacuzzi and swim.

 And the winds kept coming so I am glad to be out of it.  I have to admit it that the cross-winds have inflicted pain on my rib cage  but Advil seems to be helping.

Tomorrow it will be colder in the low 50’s with a high in the mid-60’s, perfect weather for a long day.  I am back on the 2 lane roads and so far just a bunch of wind turbines.  Don’t know what the winds will bring.  I am expecting around 18 mph.

It was a hot one today!

 I had planned to leave around 6 am to beat the heat but a storm cell hit the hotel at 7 am and the wind gusts and rain continued until 9 am.  These weren’t everyday gusts but were measured at 50-60 mph.  There was also a chance of hail so back in the lobby for a 3rd, 4th and 5th cup of coffee.  I was off at 9:00 after thanking the desk clerk for telling me to put my bike under the front awning for safety from the storm.

My first hour had plenty of gusts but no rain.  That was after I went back in the room and changed out of my summer gear and into my rain gear.  So my day was 100+ heat index and wind.  No rain and I was in the wrong suit.  

You might ask….Where are the pictures?  It’s Iowa, the first 10 minutes of corn and wind turbines is repeated every 10 minutes all day.  Nothing different or interesting.  According to the weather app tomorrow is going to be cooler and this will continue through the week with highs in the 70’s.   Tomorrow will have rain but once I am buttoned up in my gear it doesn’t matter and will be cooler.

I will be into MN tomorrow and the scenery will again be interesting.  I am in a Days Inn in Waterloo, IA. I stopped for gas and was planning on continuing on for a 400 mile day but after filling up I realized how tired I am and across the street were a number of hotels and restaurants so 325 miles is enough.  I am still on schedule to arrive at the MOA Rally on Thursday with 1200 miles to go or 240 miles a day.  Pretty easy finish to the trip.  If it is cooler in Montana then I will probably put in a long day so I can get there by Wednesday.  Heading north in the morning!

The Industrial Heartland

 Not a lot to take pictures of here.  Yesterday was a long day.  The first 4 hours I managed to go 150 miles due to 3 trucks carrying Wind Turbine blades.  They are big and long.  We managed to go 20-30 mph on Rt. 33 for 75 miles.  The trucks are so long that there is no place they can pull off to let us by.  I was tired by the time I got to Parkersburg, WV.  Then in to Ohio and warmer weather.  I have managed to continue on 2 lane country roads but by mid-afternoon the heat was starting to get to me so on to the interstate to Dayton, OH.  I spent last night across the street from the Wright Patterson Air force Museum.  3 years ago a group of us spent a morning there and it is beautiful.  I did manage to find a local cafe for a nice dinner of home cooked food:

Today was a grind.  This area of OH and IN is a trucking crossroad.  Temperatures reached into the mid-90’s and there were 60 mph gusts.  The heat and wind coupled with the significant construction made for a challenging day.  I cut it short around 1:00 due to the significant amount of lightning and the threat of hail and other severe ugly weather.  But before leaving the interstate at a rest area I ran across these 2 guys with collectors bikes on their trailer.

So I am in for the night and tomorrow will be early to beat the heat.  In 2 more days the highs will be in the high 70’s or low 80’s so better weather for the coming week.