2023 - The Year in Review

Had a few comments from some of my friends and family wondering about where my final trip post was.  In truth, while we arrived back in NB the next day however arriving home didn’t happen until over a week later.  We had friends staying in our home while we were away, as their home was being renovated.  So when we arrived back in NB we stayed with Larry’s sister for a few days until we were able to get back into ours.  This also included a night or two at Ted’s as well. So we were finally “home” by Oct 20 and not much has changed for these wanderers.

Since then we have visited the cottage for a birthday celebration, the camp and graveyard for Remembrance Day, Mom and Dad’s a few times, Fredericton to see Bob, Toronto for Trans Siberian Orchestra…..and when you add in the holidays there hasn’t been much down time.

As I reflect on this past year, on this last day of the year, it has been what I would call a significant year.  Retirement followed by 4 days on the south shore enjoying the ocean, preparations for our bike trip, which was really a trip of a lifetime and the year continuing as I noted above.  We have done a lot, seen a lot, experienced amazing things and if I would like to take anything into 2024, is the desire to continue to do a lot, see a lot and experience more amazing things.

Happy New Year my friends.  May you continue to dream, plan and realize those dreams in the same way we had the privilege of doing in 2023. 

Go Big And Go Home - Day 30 - Welcome Home?

 

We left Gorham, NH at around 9:30 am this morning.  Most of our morning departures in the last couple of days have been dependant on temperature and weather as we do our best to skirt the rain and stay in the warmer window.

Our packing and unpacking each day is a routine that is efficient and effective….it doesn’t take us long to load up the bikes…in fact, in this weather it probably takes us longer to get our gear on than it does to pack up the bikes.

It is not long after we leave that we cross into Maine.  “Welcome Home”…..although technically not home, it is home to a lot of riding we have done, and a big jump off for all of our big trips.  So familiar is this area that for the first time since our trip began we no longer needed to “plan” our route the night before.  We didn’t even have to write any directions….so in a familiar way it is almost home.

There has been a lot of discussion about how we are feeling about getting home and what that will look like.  In some ways, much like our last big trip, we wish it could continue.  That of course would require a change in weather and finances lol.  The exchange rate is much higher since we left but we have managed with what we have put aside.  Reality is that we have other things we also want to do, other travel and some work at home.  The lure of sleeping in our own bed, of being around familiar surroundings and people is also one of the things we are looking forward to.  I would almost say routines but in fact, we have a road routine so we don’t miss or crave that as much as one might think.

Speaking of routines, one of best reactions we get when we check into a hotel and start to unload the bikes into a cart, or even more when we come out to pack up the bikes, is usually from the front desk clerks and others who are interested in where we are travelling to/from…..how does all of that fit on two bikes….indeed it does appear to be a lot.  Aside from our gear (jackets and helmets), we each have two side bags.  These are used for our clothes, toiletries and other day to day needs.  We each have a what we call a “roll bag”…this sits on our passenger seat.  In this we keep stuff that is not attractive to anyone who is looking to “acquire” things.  They usually hold things like warmer vests, extra gloves, rain covers, sneakers/sandals, bungee cords and other items that may be needed on our trip.  Then we each have a top case.  Besides holding all of our collectible stickers, we keep things we need along the ride that are a little more valuable, like our charger/tire compressor (small unit), warm jacket and flip flops (for those hot days when you want to take off your boots), tech stuff and food.  These units are locked and a little harder to get at.  Then we each have a tank bag….the smallest of our luggage, these hold usually our phones, wallets, sunscreen, tissues, the stuff you may need during the day and need to reach quickly.  We do our best to ensure the weight is equally balanced (no one needs to have one side heavier than the other) and that we are not over loaded.  This is the one of the bonuses of having two bikes to do this kind of trip.

We try to find great ways to document our trip and in fact we came close to buying an onboard video camera in Utah….our final decision was really after careful consideration of our loved ones……showing people what you have seen vs what you experience are two very entirely different things.  There is no way to be able to share that experience with videos or even pictures…that and we were very sure that after 30 minutes of video just about everyone would be “done with that”……travelling by bike is a very different vacation than travelling by car or even by RV.  You are exposed to the elements, you can sometimes be restricted access to some areas and safety, both by exposure to some elements or surfaces, is always a consideration.  Sometimes the pictures are few or seem similar because you can’t just stop on the side of the road or because the road is just too amazing to stop or maybe just because it is part of your experience and one that you know will be difficult to translate to others.

Those who travel by bike are looking for a different experience than people who travel other ways.  The experience is the road, the landscape, the elements of nature and the camaraderie.  By all of these measures, this trip has been the trip of a lifetime….it is both sad and exciting to be getting home. 

Go Big And Go Home - Day 29 - Who turned off the heat?

 

It is hard to believe that just 2 weeks ago today, we were in Monument Valley and up until 4 days ago we were still experiencing 30C weather…today was no where close to that.

We are taking off later in the morning and making our stops a little closer together as we make our way home.  This morning we were off by 9:45 am under sunny skies and temperatures that were already 12C…still cool but manageable in the sun.

We made our way through Vermont, which is one of my favourite states.  A few switch back roads, along beautiful lakes and forests.  The colours in Vermont are still muted and I think it has a lot to do with the wind having stripped some of the trees of their leaves.  A stop at the top of one of the passes gave us a beautiful view of what this state is all about…green mountains.

We stopped in Danville for lunch at Bentley’s Bakery and Cafe.  Very small, so small we had to stand to eat our sandwiches but they were the best sandwiches we had in a while and huge.  So big, half of the sandwich was saved for supper.

It wasn’t long before we were entering New Hampshire on Hwy 2.  Familiar territory.  We have ridden this route so many times, we almost know it by heart….the other thing we know about this route is that it tends to be cooler and being in the mountains, you can expect any kind of weather…even the unexpected weather.  We had about 10 minutes of wet road and sprinkles from a system that was hanging out around Mount Washington.  Not unusual however it was not exactly wanted, especially when the temperature had fallen to 8C.

We made it to our motel in Gotham just as the sun appeared.  We were not long unloading and heating some water for a hot chocolate and maybe a drop of Baileys to help warm us up.  We have one more night on the road before we get into NB.  The rest of this trip will be roads we know.  Here’s hoping the weather co-operates just for a few days longer.

Go Big And Go Home - Day 28 - It Ain’t the Super 8, It’s Super Sweet!

So, a few items from yesterday that I forgot to include and those are the milestones we hit yesterday….the other thing is that we have thoroughly enjoyed all of the Halloween decor that people have put up in the small towns we travel through…let me tell you that I am hoping to bring some of that creativity back with me….except maybe the clown on the sidewalk looking down into the sewer…IT won’t be!

We have officially covered 16,000 kms on this trip so far.  Larry turned over 153,000 kms and I turned over 114,000 kms.  We still have three more days of riding not including today.

Larry chose another awesome route today through New York State.  We ended up in the Adirondack’s by afternoon.  We have been a little disappointed that the colour of the leaves are not brighter, but we have to remember that, just like home, they are just starting to get temperatures dropping at night.  Also, it would appear that the storms this past weekend have removed a lot of the leaves that already have changed.  

It would appear that the storm hit NY State a little harder than some other areas, both with wind and rain.  A lot of the smaller lakes and summer resort areas had high water levels….all of the dams on the lakes were open and water was flowing.

We stopped in Hague to check our bearings (directions) and we discovered that Lake George is part of the lock system that goes right up into Quebec where we were in June with Gilles and Nicole watching a boat go through….We have travelled Lake Champlain area a lot having crossed through the Hero Islands a couple of times…this too is part of the same lock system.

It is really cool that we visited the top of the lock system at the start of our travel in June and the bottom of the lock system in October at the end of our travel.  This was not planned but a reminder of just how connected we are.

This is a beautiful part of the state.  We have travelled through the Adirondack Park before.  This was the first time for this route.  We did stop for fuel and bathroom break at the beginning of the park…we also purchased a sub, which fed us both for lunch AND for supper (along with a salad).

As with all the last 3 states, it appears that bridges are the “bridge” between states.

We crossed the bridge into Vermont and headed to Middlebury for our stop for tonight.  Now an unexpected surprise to all of this is that this is a university town…and not just a university town.  The buildings are made of stone and are huge and take you back in time yet look like they were just built yesterday.  A ton of crosswalks and young people…this whole town could be university…..except for the motel we are staying at.

As I hinted at yesterday, hoping that tonight’s stop is as sweet as I think it might be…….you be the judge but I will tell you, the front office has a full on candy shoppe including mix and match M & M station, Jelly Belly station (yup…I got some) as well as all assorted candy.  In the front of the store they have a mix of chocolates you can chose from and even some of their hand made chocolates (we had some for dessert!).  Even our room has little Hershey chocolates and is decorated using Candy labels and decor…just enough to make it SWEET!  They also use some humour in some of their signage….gotta love it!

Tomorrow we head to New Hampshire, Wednesday in Maine and Thursday we will be back in NB.  Seems odd to think that we are nearing the end of this adventure and we both have mixed feelings on how that is going to look/feel…One thing for sure, we have been super lucky with the weather especially this time of the year.

Go Big And Go Home - Day 26 and 27 - Dodging Droplets

Yesterday was the down days of down days...pouring down rain to be exact.  Outside of switching rooms we really didn't do too much.  The staff at the Holiday Inn in Williamsport, PA were amazing and made sure we had the first cleaned room so we were not without a room.

We took off this morning, after air in the tires and a fuel up.  Probably around 10 am we were on our way.  The skies were cloudy, the temps at that time were around 10C.  We put on our rain gear mostly to help with the cold.

The route Larry chose today was another fabulous one.  It was a beautiful country side, rolling hills and winding roads kind of ride today.

Most of the leaves are off the trees, I expect as a result of the previous rain and wind storm over the past couple of days.  Despite this, we were still able to see some color although not a great deal.  Some trees had almost no leaves and some have yet to change so it was a mix really.  Fall hasn't reached its' full potential here as yet.

We did dodge some rain in Pennsylvania but just short showers.  Depending on the elevation, the temps went anywhere from 9C - 14C when we arrived in NY for the night.

We crossed into New York State mid afternoon and got to our stop for the night in Oneonta.  Beautiful area.

Larry is mapping out our route for tomorrow.  This will take us to an interesting stay in Vermont.  New to us.  I will however keep that for tomorrow's blog.  Hoping it is as sweet as I think it will be.

Go Big And Go Home - Day 25 - Exploring on Foot

 

Since we made the decision to hunker down for a couple of days waiting for the rain to pass, we decided we would continue to explore, but on foot.

We have stopped in Williamsport before and really enjoyed our time as well as the Bull Frog Brewery!

We headed first to the Williamsport Visitor Center.  This building was originally built as a bank around 1903.  It is very reminiscent of Lackawanna Station both in its’ history and the new life given by community minded developers.

Pictured here is the boardroom that sits above the entrance.  With all the original framing, glass and hardware, the windows to the outside open as do the windows above the bank floor.  Because these are single pane, they would have been very cold in the winter which is probably why they had 3 very large wall brass grates on either side of the room entrance and one side of the kitchen doors (seen at the end of the boardroom table).  The woodwork and the marble stairs were all original.  So we went there for a map and information and got an architectural tour!  The wonderful lady at the Visitor Center also pointed us in the direction of some other older buildings in the area.  One of the other interesting things we found out is that the rope used by Nik Wallenda when he did the tight rope walk across Niagara Falls (2012), Grand Canyon (2013), Chicago Skyscraper (2014) and Wisconsin State Fair (2015), were all made by Wirerope Works made in Williamsport.  Who knew!

After all the walking around we were a little thirsty and a bit hungry so we pulled into the Bull Frog to sample some brewskies and a crab dip.

When we stopped here in 2018, we were with Con and Terri…this is where we had our photo taken by the Van that had “Carpe Diem” on the back.

It hasn’t changed much and the people here are really sweet and so nice.  

We have rearranged our luggage to access our cooler weather clothes and we have put all of our warmer weather clothes into a compression bag.  By the looks of the weather forecasts, we won’t be needing them in the next little while.

Tomorrow we have to move rooms to the other side of the hotel…one of the reasons we stayed here is because this is Homecoming weekend in PA which means there are a lot of college alumni in town and in the area.  It was hard to get a reservation in Scranton at our chosen hotel so we opted to stay here.  The Holiday Inn and the Holiday Inn Express are two separate hotels connected.  This hotel was completely booked for tomorrow but they did have a room next door, lucky for us.

Go Big And Go Home - Day 24 - Head for the Hills

Off the highways and back on the byways.

We have spent a great deal of time in the last couple of days working on what route we will use to head home.  Thankfully I have my own personal meteorologist, my wonderful cousin Todd, who is helping with some of the storm movement.  All this to say, it takes time to find the right route on a good day but working around the remnants of TS Phillipe (which is very disorganized) and the cooler weather that follows has added to that time considerably.

Despite all of this, Larry selected a route yesterday that was just perfect.  We rode through 4 state forests which are located in a series of mountains.  We rode through Moshannon State Forest, Elk State Forest, Bucktail State Forest and Sproul State Forest.  As we passed through these, we were following the West Branch of Susquehanna River for most of it.

At Brady’s Bend we stopped at a look out which was high above the Allegheny River.  The river wound around below and you could see the small community that was built around it.  You could also see the colours that were just starting to show.

As we rode, the colours closer to the road were much more visible and brought fond memories of home and other fall rides.  Through these forests, the roads wound around, up and over elevations that were not as high as some we had experienced earlier on the trip but they were fun.  As we were riding through these state forests the real beauty was that the trees were like a canopy over the road offering shade and cool refreshing temperatures.  This is the optimal way to ride our bikes as the engines really love the temperatures and respond so well to the turns and rises.  It is also optimal for the riders who have endured some much warmer temperatures of late.  So deep in the woods, Larry almost got smacked by a very large hawk (still to be identified) that had just grabbed its’ lunch very close to the road and was trying to get airborne.  Birds are very attracted to Larry….he has taken out a pheasant with his shoulder while riding, he has been dive-bombed through Kansas by smaller birds while we were riding (I was laughing at the show), and no matter where we go, he tends to have a lot of birds crap on him…sometimes multiple birds at the same time!

We stopped last night in Williamsport, PA for the night and after a great dinner (first not FF or Pizza dinner in a while), we decided that we would stay here for 2 more nights to wait out the rain.  Cooler temps will follow but we can handle that…rain and cooler temps just makes it cold and wet so best to avoid.  There is lots to do in Williamsport as we have visited here before.  They have some great restaurants and bars and lots of building murals.

Go Big And Go Home - Day 23 - OH! Hi O!

Today was a straight shot across Ohio State….

I hate to say it was a non-event because it wasn’t really.  We did see some really neat stuff but we did take the Lincoln Highway clear across, so travelling along a divided highway at 70 mph, is sort of like driving on the TCH in New Brunswick…..I now know why it is called the “drive through” province.

Before leaving Indiana, we carefully marked out our route, which was supposed to be quite simple….then came the detour…we stopped a couple of times to check where we were…I forgot to put on my sunglasses so they flew off the bike after one stop (thankfully Larry went back on the off chance they were not crushed and they had survived)…..but we did watch carefully for the “state line” sign as well as the Welcome to Ohio sign……by the next stop we were already in Ohio and didn’t even know it.

We hit Interstate 75 for about 30 kms and then onto Highway 30 which took us allllll the way to the other side of the state.  It reminded us of home and New Hampshire as we can now see the changing colour of the leaves and some of the fields in Indiana also started to change to a beautiful yellow colour.  We also had some white fluffy clouds to enjoy.  First thing this morning was pretty harsh driving east right into the sun….so fluffy clouds were welcome.

We are now trying to calculate our best route as we are about 6 days out from home…..looks like we may have to spend an extra couple of days in the same place this weekend, as heavy rains and very cool temps are forecasted….we will play it by ear, but suffice to say we are a little ahead of our intended schedule.

Go Big And Go Home - Day 22 - The “I”s have it!

It was a three state day again…..Iowa, Illinois and Indiana……

As I mentioned yesterday, Iowa was supposed to be a short venture through so getting to and over the  Illinois state line was easy….and we got to cross the Mississippi River one more time (did this in 2016 as well).

We left at 8 am this morning so that we could get a good start, especially since we were losing an hour as we crossed the time zone into Eastern Time.  We rode for a bit through some nice winding roads…I happened to mention to Larry that maybe the roads were not as straight as pictured on the map…. WRONG!  Didn’t last long.  As we got to Macomb, where we were headed to before the mechanical issue, we noticed a sign that said this was the birthplace of Elizabeth J. Magie who was the inventor of the original Monopoly game (originally called the Landlords’ Game).  Elizabeth, besides being a game inventor, was a writer and feminist.  She was also involved in political and economic activism which is how she came to develop the game around 1908 I believe….anyway, interesting that you find these little tidbits as you are passing through these really small rural towns.

We made our way through each little town, that seemed to be separated by corn fields.  As we approached Osmon, we noticed another sign announcing Champaign County as the “Birthplace of the Tuskegee Airmen”.  Another interesting story and one I encourage you to look up.  This is a story around the time of  WWII.

Most of the roads for the rest of the day were straight….a few turns here and there especially when we entered some of the more larger communities along this rural route.

We crossed over the Illinois River and entered into Indiana…and yes, we sang the song.

As it was pretty straight riding and a great day, we decided we would push through past our original stop for the night to get to Albany, IN.  Unfortunately no hotels there so just a little side stop to Muncie….the name amuses me.  We also lost an hour so by the time we arrived it was 5:30 p.m. local time.  We unloaded the bikes, locked them up, changed and headed to Five Guys Restaurant for an amazing hamburger…..and it was….no extra charge for any of the toppings or any toppings in the fabulous milkshake that we shared.

Larry and I remarked on how long it seemed since we left Utah…..Just a week ago yesterday.  It is hard to believe all that we have seen, done and the ground we have covered.  The beauty is that we have had literally blue skies the whole time.  We had fog and smoke in Oregon, we had a round cloud on Kansas/Missouri border and a few clouds this morning that were gone by 9:30 am. (You can see them in the Illinois sign picture).  We have had 22 days of blue sky….I mention this because it appears that we are going to be going from blue sky to rain at some point by the weekend.  We have no reason to complain, not that we would anyway.  We are used to riding in all weather.  

The tires are holding up good…we might need another oil change before we get home…and they definitely need another good wash.  The place we had them serviced in Utah did a great job washing them….but they might be a little embarrassed by their state right now…in fact we probably look just as bad in our buggy pants…in fact our outer wear probably doesn’t smell all that great either lol.

Tomorrow we cross into Ohio….once we are through here we are in familiar territory…we just need to decide which familiar territory will keep us the driest, if possible.

TTFN

Go Big And Go Home - Day 20 and Day 21 - Trip Interupptus

The plan for yesterday had been to cross 3 states in a relatively easy ride day that would get us into Illinois ahead of a warm afternoon so that we could relax, do laundry, wash the bikes….and as they say, the best laid plans….

We took off around 8:30 am heading towards Iowa, expecting to cross the 5 km distance across that state into Illinois at Keokuk.  We made a quick stop for a break ahead of schedule…thankfully.  As we took off we quickly came upon a “detour”….This detour took us 70 kms out of our route heading south and then north instead of the easterly direction we were headed in.  At the end of the day it brought us less than 20 km closer on our route and added another hour to our ride.

We found a gas station in Memphis to fill up our tanks (and in Larry’s case drain his tank) and beside that was a Pizza Hut.  Given that we were now noon, we decided to stop here to eat.  We both had a great salad, paid and headed out.  While we thought the detour was enough interruption to our day, little did we know, we would have a bigger one.

Key in the ignition, turn…..nothing!…no instrumentation…..we turned the key back and forth a bit more, pulled up the kickstand…..finally got some instrumentation but just a “click, click, click” when we tried to start.  So we figured that I had a bad ignition switch that finally went kaput without any warning…..change of plans.  I called CAA who put me through to AAA for a pick up to the nearest Yamaha dealer.  We decided that would be in Keokuk as it had the authorized Yamaha dealer and was also in the direction we were headed….while we were waiting to hear back from AAA we cancelled our room at the next stop and found a hotel in Keokuk for the next three nights as the Yamaha dealer didn’t open until Tuesday morning.  The hotel, luckily was only a minute for the Yamaha dealer.

As we are waiting for AAA to get back to us, we are counting our blessings…in all of our trips we have not experienced any mechanical issues.  We are very diligent about keeping our bikes maintained properly but given we both have over 100,000 km it is not unrealistic to expect that this might happen at some point.  While we wait we are searching FJR forums for possible issues which point back to the ignition switch as it is a known issue for some years (not mine)….an easy fix at the dealer, which generally requires just a quick solder…….Then, as Sponge Bob would say “three hours later” I get two calls at the same time…one from AAA agent who is telling me that I will have to pay for any charges past $500, which I am telling her I don’t because my coverage is by mileage not cost and while trying to have this discussion the company who is supposed to be picking up my bike is calling so the agent tells me to pick it up.  I pick up that call, just to find out they only want to confirm the information (big help).  At this point I am a little frustrated because this is the 3rd time that AAA has indicated I would have to pay, and the 2nd time that I have had CAA confirm to them that I don’t….while on hold waiting for the “nice lady” to confirm this again with her supervisor, I signalled to Larry to go try the bike again…..I watch out the window as the lights come on the bike and I can see him crank the throttle…wooo…this looks good.  He shuts off the bike and tries it again…..yaaaaaa that looks good….while on hold (I am wearing ear buds), we get our gear on and get ready to ride…yup…I will take my chances on getting to Keokuk under my own steam….just as we are fully geared up, the nice lady comes back on (again misinformed by her supervisor) and I advise she can cancel the pick up…..we have power and I will ride it to the dealership.

We did stop to take a picture as we crossed the Missouri River and into Iowa.  As I mentioned, it was originally supposed to be a 5 km ride through, crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois, so finding our hotel did not take long…..the Mississippi will have to wait.

Today we slept in until 7 a.m. and started looking into more info around the ignition…what we figure is the real issue is that the ignition switch is just dirty…the solution and trouble shooting information on the forums suggesting turning ignition on/off several times to clean off the contacts…this seems to be what we did to make it work again.  Larry finds a motorcycle shop that is open and takes a run down to see if they can do anything….he agrees it is probably just a dirty ignition switch so he uses a dry lubricant and blew it out with the air hose just to make sure no further issues….and doesn’t even charge us for it….

So tomorrow, we are heading out and thankfully we don’t have to lose another day given that the weather is expecting to change a lot next week….looks like we have one more week of good weather until we hit Pennsylvania on Friday….when the rain and cooler temps start.

We are getting closer to home….we were expecting this would be the coolest part of the trip but not in a scenery kind of way so no surprises here.

Tonight, pizza and wine and repacking to head out early tomorrow…hoping to get away by or before 8 a.m.  Until then…here is the picture of the Iowa sign….and for today’s chuckle, the signage from a gas station we happened to spot….and no we didn’t stop there.

Go Big And Go Home - Day 19 - One Day, Three States

Today looked like it was going to be a repeat of yesterday and the day before, at least weather wise.  It started out that way as we headed on the 81 North.

Temperatures were 22C when we left Scott City at 8:30 a.m.  There was a strange cloud cover that was circular…almost perfectly circular with a few clouds trapped beneath it.  One that looked like it had a bit of rain.  The wind started out not as bad as the previous days but as the temperatures rose, so did the wind.  Again because we were headed north, the wind was mostly at our back, at least for a little while as we crossed into Nebraska….a new state for both Larry and I to add to our list of places we have ridden through.  Here we got a little bit of rain…maybe a couple of drops but not even enough to wet your whistle.

Before we left Kansas we saw more of the rolling hills that many of the folks from this state have been telling us about.  Still lots of open pastures and agricultural fields but definitely not as flat as we originally thought, but most definitely as windy as we thought.

Nebraska was very interesting although we didn’t stay long here….we were just passing through on our way to Missouri.

Now we have seen a lot of wind and solar farms along our travel but Nebraska, you could see windmills as far as the eye could travel….over every hill or turn (and yes we finally got some really nice ones), it seemed as though every farm was a windmill farm…it even seemed as though we were riding between the rows of them, there were that many.  As we were now headed east you must know by now that, yes we were riding sideways in the wind….I understand why so many windmills.

We entered Missouri at noon by crossing the bridge over the Missouri River.  The actual state line is halfway across the bridge but fortunately for us, the welcome sign was on the other side and we were able to take a quick photo.  The good news is the wind died down some.  The bad news was the heat didn’t.  By 11:30 am just before crossing into Missouri, the temperatures were now at 33/34C.  In three hours it had risen 11C and frankly the temps reached 32 long before 11:30 am.

The heat was so intense we actually stopped more than a few times to hydrate and just get some relief…there were not many bathroom breaks as we were obviously “pisspiring” taking care of two body functions at the same time.  We finally arrived at the hotel in Bethany at 2:30 pm, checked in, unloaded the bikes, dropped our stuff in the room, got on our bathing suits and headed for the pool…..this is what we do when we need to get the core body temperature down to a more comfortable situation.

Tonight we rest, tomorrow is a shorter ride so we are hoping to have more time at the other end to further plan our next routes.  We are getting closer to home.  Most of the roads we will soon encounter will be familiar to us as we have travelled the east coast and New England states a fair bit….there are a couple of things that we haven’t done along that way, so we may look to include them on this trip through.  By the looks of it all we should be back home by mid October as we planned.  Hoping the great weather they are getting now holds up until we get there.

Go Big And Go Home - Day 18 - Cue “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas

So before reading this blog page, go to whatever music platform you have and start to play the above song….it is a must for today’s read. [Edit - pls put on repeat as this may be longer than originally thought]

Ready?

So I will start with some of the interesting stuff we learned and saw today, so that you can get ready for the other.

Firstly the people here are friendly and generous and just so warm (nothing to do with the 36 C temps).  They have been engaging and interested in our journey.  

Secondly, Kansas, which I didn’t know, is pretty rich in oil.  We saw many derricks along the way, most of them still working even if they looked like something out of the 50’s.  There were also a lot of farms with the old style windmills, which are apparently used to pump water, which appears to be more valuable than oil.  

Thirdly, two main crops in Kansas, both of which we saw lots of although one we were unable to identify until we ran into a lovely Kansas lady in Beloit who helped me sort out what the wine coloured crop was.  Wheat we knew and could identify.  Milo, which is commonly called sorghum or great millet was the other.  It is a grain used for food for humans, animal feed and ethanol production.  Beautiful coloured fields where we saw this.

Fourth thing we noticed was the limestone.  Very common in Kansas, it was used as fence posts in a lot of fields.  Some fields still have the limestone although others have a mix which would indicate the repairs with more modern materials have happened.

Fifth thing, and one that everyone we stopped to talk to made sure that we were aware of and that is Kansas is not as flat as everyone thinks…and they are right.  While most of yesterday and early day today was pretty flat as noted in this early morning shot to the left, we did run into some very pretty rolling hills.  It is at this point that we also started to see more trees and larger communities.

The rolling hills and the winding roads (not a lot of winding but some) were a welcome relief from……….the wind.

Now, this is where the choice of music gets really important!

OMG - you will remember yesterday when I noted that the last 45 minutes of the ride we were literally riding like we were in a turn….a right hand turn given that we were riding east and the winds were coming from the south.  Well today started out similarly only the winds at 8:30 am were not too bad….at 19C.  By 9 a.m. the winds had picked up so much as the temperature rose to 21C that we started to ride “sideways” again.  At 9:30 a.m.  the temperature was at 28 C and the winds at about 30-40 km/hr with gusts around the 50 km/hr mark…….so strong that not only were we riding sideways but my tank bag blew clear off my bike and I watched it hurdle in the wind, across the highway, bouncing 3 feet in the air, right across and into the ditch…..4 feet off in the ditch where it hit tall grass and probably the only thing that stopped it.  Holy Hannah!  Once we retrieved it I put my drivers’ license and credit cards in my pants pocket…if it blew me off the bike at least I knew where they were.

So the whole first half of the day we travelled mostly east, and then north.  The winds, as I mentioned were coming out of the south so this meant that while we were riding east, we were sideways.  The up side of this is that the bikes were getting air through the engines, which is a good thing as they are water cooled so having air in and around the radiator helps to keep the engine cool without engaging the fan too much.  Even though the temps climbed to the 34-36C range, as long as we rode sideways, the engines ran cool.  When we headed in a northerly direction, the wind was then at our back.  It was great to have a reprieve from riding sideways however this meant you didn’t get the cooling effect of the wind, nor did the bikes.  Which means the fans kept kicking in and blasting our legs with heat, so we were getting heat from two sources…..except for me, I had 3 given that a hot flash or two may also have happened.  The best part of the afternoon is when we had a couple of direction changes from East to North…at least we didn’t have to contend with one or the other for too long.

Now for the really interesting part, and probably one of my few regrets on this trip.  I didn’t take a picture…because of the damn wind.  We were riding through a rolling hills area, travelling in an easterly direction (yup you guessed it, riding sideways)…and up ahead we could see a great deal of dust that seemed to be stirred up.  We suspected it was a farmer in one of the fields plowing.  It wasn’t….it was actually a wall of dust about a km or more long and about 30-40 feet high.  It wasn’t until we were in it that we realized this otherwise it would have made a fabulous picture.  When we got out the other side it was too disorganized and didn’t look the same at all.  It was an amazing visual though.

One other really interesting spot that we passed today was Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Refuge near Great Bend, KS.  This is a migratory “rest stop” for all North American shorebirds. In fact Cheyenne Bottoms and the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge can be seen in one drive by taking the 76 mile Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway for all you birders out there (JIM).

All in all a great day…..we arrived in Concordia by 3:30 pm, cooled our jets in our air conditioned room.  Larry ran out to get a bottle of wine (white because it is cold) and supper for tonight.  We don’t have our route planned yet for tomorrow but generally we are heading to Nebraska (north) with a quick turn (east) to Missouri……here’s hoping the winds are diminished tomorrow!

Damn ET and Teddy got into the wine already!

 

Go Big And Go Home - Day 17 - Entertaining Migration……

Well today marked another huge change of scenery from yesterday and the day before.

We hit the road early as it was expected to be a very hot day in Kansas.  Colorado had a very nice cool evening and morning so it made for a fresh and very comfortable start to the day.  Sunshine, blue skies, calm winds.  I had been a little stiff yesterday riding and had some discomfort in my shoulders and back, but the stretching I did the night before and this morning before we left did wonders.

As we headed out we bid adieu to the Rocky Mountains in our mirrors…..we had ridden quite a ways from the Rockies yesterday but we could still see them, or at least until we started out on Hwy 10….as they started to fade into the distance I took the opportunity for one last photo.  It was also a good opportunity to get a photo of all the windmills.  Wasn’t hard to pick them out as this area of Colorado, heading into Kansas, is nothing but miles and miles of Prairie range and poker straight roads.

So one might ask….what do you do to entertain yourself on a road that is, for all intent and purposes, straight as a school ruler for 100s of kms.

Well….first you pick out what looks like a “town” in the horizon, mark your odometer and then watch it as you hurl yourself towards said “town”  at 110 kms/hr.  Now I use the term “said towns” because often times there is not even a town, just a grain elevator posing as such….today we hit 12 kms from where we had seen it in the horizon until we were in front of it. 

The other way to entertain yourself, is to celebrate certain odometer “milestones”, like Mr. J!…..today old Blue hit 150,000 kms somewhere out in the Colorado prairie before getting to Kansas.

Sometimes, Mother Nature can provide you with entertainment or challenge your senses….like today for example.  As we rode along Hwy 10, I was the first to notice a huge tarantula on the road…at first I wasn’t sure if it was the hairy spider or a scorpion maybe……the second sighting confirmed it was a hairy tarantula….and if I wasn’t certain then, the next 50 or so we saw crossing the road, left no doubt in our minds….so apparently, according to locals who were not surprised at our sightings at all, this is the time of year that they migrate…finding one article about this informed us it is actually a mate-gration, which means the male tarantula will travel to find a den of the female to mate with.  Many cross the roads to get to the other “playing field” which is quite remarkable when you think of it.  Especially since once they mate, they die….or in this case die trying.  We did our best to avoid them, for many reasons but mostly because we didn’t want to kill them.  Thought I had seen all kinds of wildlife crossing the road in my day, including turtles earlier this summer, but this one caught me right in the web (tarantulas don’t spin webs just for the record).  So just like us, the male tarantula is both migrating and entertaining albeit in a much different fashion.

About an hour outside of our intended stop for the night in Scott City, KS, we crossed the state line into Kansas.  The picture to the left is the sign welcoming us to Kansas (hard to read in this pic but that is what it says), with a little bit of Kansas scenery to share as well…..The next 15 minutes brought us to lunch for a quick snack then back on the road again.  For the next 45 minutes it was prairie wind coming from the SW at a sustained speed of 55 km/hr with additional wind gusts.  The wind was essentially coming right at us on our right side, which meant for the next 45 minutes we rode like we were rounding a right corner, leaned over and steady on the right handle bar….not an easy ride for that length of time.  The bonus was getting into the hotel early, and since we lost an hour crossing the state line, arriving at 3 p.m. KS time was really like arriving at 2 p.m. CO time…either way it was just in time…the temps had increased to 35 C and the winds made us feel like we were in a convection oven.

A shower, some rest, more planning, and a few other things taken care of we headed to Pizza Hut (because we thought they would have wine and knew Wendy’s would not) for supper.  Lucky us we at least got a good walk in as Pizza Hut was further away, but no wine there either…three beers to chose from…Bud, Bud Light and Michelob…..we shared a Bud!

Tomorrow we are heading north to Concordia KS.  This should put us on track to head in a more easterly direction through Nebraska (a new state to cross) and then to Missouri and beyond.

Flat

Flat

Flatter

 

Go Big And Go Home - Day 16 - Rocky Mountain High

Well yesterday and today could not have been more different.  We rode into Colorado yesterday so we started our morning on the 160 E.  The easy part of this day is that it was the only highway we took.  We rode 441km to our destination at Walsenburg, CO, close to Kansas State Line.

So today we rode towards the Rockies.  It didn’t take long to catch sight of them.  As we were riding towards the mountains, there was also a sign asking people NOT to call 911 due to smoke in the valley as wildfire had already been reported.  On our next stop we checked to see where the wildfire was, and our app showed that it was in Quartz Creek not far from Pagosa Springs.  The information also indicated that it was a controlled burn so the only thing we needed to be aware of was smoke…luckily we didn’t have any of that either.  Fortunately that was the only real concern for the day.

So…..we were about 50 km away from Cortez when we started to see the mountains and start our ascent.  The Rockies started out with little peaks and snippets but didn’t take long for us to be up to 8000 ft elevation.  This was a huge change from yesterday…like a complete change……yesterday we say desert with sage and cactus…today we say gold meadows and green pines and trees starting to show their fall colour…..yesterday we saw red rock in formations that almost looked carved, today we saw grey mountain peaks with some showing a small bit of snow at the top…….yesterday was fairly flat, today was an elevation of 10, 857 feet (our highest to date)……yesterday was hot (30C), and today was fairly cool (14-22C)…yesterday the air was extremely dry, today it was cool and moist……..two completely different experiences in a very short distance.

Along the route we got our first look at one of the unique sites along Colorado 160.  That is Chimney Rock….had a hard time figuring out why it got that name lol….this formation is at 11,781 feet elevation but stands out in the distance because of its height and of course because it looks like a damn chimney!

This is apparently one of the bigger attractions along the route but we were not far into the Rockies when we found ourselves in a valley, surrounded by the mountains.

The day was sunny, the sky a beautiful colour of blue and the mountains were amazing.

Just as we got past Pagosi Springs it wasn’t long before we were making a real climb up the mountain.  This climb took us around at least one “hairpin” turn, which strangely had a look out right on the corner….poor planning I would say.  As we came to the top of the pass we pulled over at one of the scenic areas which, come to find out, was the Wolf Creek Valley Overlook, and also the Continental Divide.  I won’t bore you with Continental Divide info as you can read if you want on the below photos…what I will tell you is that it also divides Rio Grande National Forest to the east and the San Juan National Forest to the West…..funny note is that this is the second time in two months that I have stood on the Divide, once in Canada and now in the US…..wasn’t even planned.  This is also where we hit our highest elevation to date!

It was a beautiful ride, through a lot of towns/villages but also with a lot of viewing pleasure….here are a few more photos in larger format for you!