Final Thoughts

Well, another trip is complete.  I got all my "stuff" from the trip washed (thank you Cathy!) and put away.  I got the bike washed today (it was really dirty!) and the oil changed as well.  So things are now back to "normal".

Here are some of the statics:

• Total Days On the Road: 13 (only 5 vacations days from work required!)
• Total Trip Mileage: 4,962 (shortest of the trips I have done)
• Average Miles Per Day: 414
• Total Mileage on the bike: 88,000
• It is a model year 2006 that I purchased in 2009 with 20,000 miles on it.
• This is my 6th summer of riding the bike and I have put on over 70,000 miles by the end of the season.  That is an average of over 11,500 miles per year.
• I rode in a total of 8 states: Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Kansas, and Iowa.
• I stayed with family/friends 4 nights, stayed in hotels 3 nights, and camped 5 nights.
• I visited 4 National Parks: Capital Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and the Grand Canyon
• I spent $352 on gas (96 gallons).  I averaged 49 miles per gallon.
• Temperature: Lowest riding temp was 36 degrees when leaving Frisco CO.  The warmest was 108 degrees when approaching Phoenix.

This trip was a combination of seeing family, riding some great roads, seeing some great sights, and doing a little work (just 1 day). A great combination. Some of the places I had seen before, such as Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.  Many other places I had never been before such as the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Pikes Peak.

Once again I was very fortunate that the trip went as planned.  No weather problems.  No mechanical problems. Everything went as planned.  I followed my planned route fairly close but I did make a few alternations during the ride.  Here is the map with the complete route for this trip.

I hope you enjoyed following along with my trip!  As I say: "There is no better way to see the world than on a motorcycle!"

Wednesday, July 9 - Day 13: Returning Home - The Final Leg of this Adventure

I left Manhattan Kansas at 7:30 a.m. and 600+ miles later, I got home at 7:00 p.m.  - safe and sound!  Another successful trip!

Rather than jumping on the freeway, I took the more "cross country" route.  While it took a little longer, it is a much more enjoyable and relaxing ride.  I did a quick stop at my parents house on the way back.  My father is having a new heart valve put in tomorrow (Thursday) so I wanted to stop and wish him well prior to his procedure.  Please pray for him and for a successful procedure.

No photos to share for the day.  Just wanted to let everyone know I am home and back at work on Thursday.  I will post some final information about the trip when I can; but here are some highlights.

Here is the route for today.

Total state driven in: 8 (Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Kansas, and Iowa)

Total Mileage: 4,960

Watch for the final post sometime over the week-end!

Tuesday, July 8 - Day 12: And Now for the Farm Report....

This morning is the first day on the trip I set an alarm to wake me up.  I wanted to get an early start as I had about a 6 hour ride in front of me and I wanted to spend as much time with my daughter Trisha as I could today.  What I wasn't planning on was having the fire alarm to start beeping at 1:15 a.m. due to a low battery.  I got up and took down the smoke alarm and removed the battery to silence it.  It took a while, but I did finally fall back a sleep.  At 4:50 a.m. (Colorado time), the alarm went off.  Sunrise was at 5:30.  I looked out the window and saw the parking lot was a little wet from the overnight rain.  I looked at the weather radar and it looked like the last of the rain was just moving out of the area.  It looked like if I was on the road by 5:30, I should be able to be behind the rain and have a good ride.  I left the hotel on schedule and went across the road to fill up with gas before departing.  There are not a lot of small town gas stations that are as busy as this one was this morning!  I looked like everyone was "up and at it" early today.  30 minutes later I was in Kansas.  Soon there after I lost 1 hour as I cross back into the Central Time Zone.  All was going according to plan.  One gas stop, a little construction, and 375 miles later, I was in Manhattan Kansas, my destination for the day around 12:30.

And now for the farm report.  The key word is variable.  Some places the corn looks very good and is ready to tassel.  In other places, the corn was only 4 - 6" tall.  The similar variation was seen in the bean crop.  It looks like crops that got planted early are doing well, other crops were planted very late and have a lot of catching up to do.  There is also some land (maybe 10%) that was not planted at all.  The wheat harvest is progressing; I would estimate about 80% of the wheat was harvested so far.  A few of the wheat fields had already been worked up and where black already.  I saw very few flooded fields coming across Colorado and Kansas; much different that what is saw in Minnesota and South Dakota.

I spent the afternoon visiting with Trisha (I got to see the lab where she spends much of her time) and playing with the dogs (Einstein and Ros).  We even took the dogs to the lake to go swimming.  Here are pictures of the Grand Doggies!  They are both Pembroke Welsh Corgis.  Ros (the one on the left) is a 2 year old female.  Her older brother is Einstein, he is 5 years old.

Tomorrow is my final leg of the journey that will bring me back home.

I have always been very lucky on how these trips work out.  Yes I do my planning and organizing before I go, but things always fall in place.  I feel/know that someone who is much greater than I is watching over me and guiding me on these adventures.  I am very grateful for his presence.

Here is the route I took today.

Monday, July 7 - Day 11: It's All Down Hill From Hill (Literally!)

This morning I left the Black Canyon area near Gunnison and crossed the Continental Divide on Cottonwood Pass at 12,126 feet.  The road going up the pass was not paved but the surface was very packed so driving on it was pretty good.  It wasn't much rougher than many of the roads in Minnesota!  The views from the top of the pass were pretty amazing.  On the way down, I saw 2 bucks in velvet.  I got a photo of one of them.  I would have got a better photo but someone drove through and scared him just before I took the first photo.

The final highlight of the Rockies was going up Pike Peak which has it's summit at 14,110 ft.  While the road is busy, it does provide some amazing views.  I could definitely feel the affects of the altitude when walking around the summit.

On the way down, there is a mandatory brake check where they have someone with a temperature gun reading the temperature of brakes on the vehicles.   If they are too hot, the people need to pull over and let them cool down before proceeding down the remainder of the mountain.  At least 5 cars in front of me had to pull over.  He didn't even have to check mine; he just reminded me to keep the speeds down.

As I said in the title, it is now all down hill.  After leaving Pikes Peak, I started east across Colorado heading towards Manhattan Kansas to visit my oldest daughter Trisha.  I made it as for as Cheyenne Wells in eastern Colorado.  The temperature quickly increased as I headed across the plains; it reached 100 degrees for some time.  As I continued on, I got near a rain storm that dropped the temperatures to the mid 80s which felt much better but it also brought very strong crosswinds.  As I was approaching Cheyenne Wells, there was a strong gust of wind blowing dirt across the road and seriously decreased visibility.  A little rain plus blowing dust equals really dirty bike!  

I decided to try and get a motel room in town as there are not a lot of options out here.  When I went into the lobby, I found out they only had 1 room left and it was a smoking room.  Since there wasn't any other options I took it.  The person at the hotel said this room had been reserved but the person just cancelled.  It is wheat harvest time in the area so that is why rooms are in high demand.  Never planned on that!

I should make it to Manhattan early tomorrow afternoon and spend the remainder of the day with Trisha, husband John (depending on when he gets home from work) and my favorite Grand Puppies (Einstein and Ros) - photos tomorrow!

Here is the route I took today.

Sunday, July 6 - Day 10: Return to the Rockies!

I left the campground in Monument Valley this morning and took a few more pictures.

My next adventure was to climb Moki Dugway.  This is a road that basically climbs the ledge of a rock formation.  Is is really strange as you approach because all you see is this enormous rock in front of you and you ask yourself, "Where does this road go?"  There is only 1 answer, right up the side!  The road is gravel but well maintained.  I have included a photo of the road looking down on it.  At the top is the sign for Moki Dugway.  A friend/co-worker managed to accidentally get a great photo of his bike in the background behind the sign.  I tried my best to recreate what he did by accident.

From Moki Dugway, it was on to 4 Corners.  I had heard this had become a real "touristy" location and that is right.  People stand in line for some time to be able to take their picture standing at the exact location where 4 states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah) meet.  I chose instead to just take a picture of the point.  My main reason for stopping was to get a pin for my large US map I have to document many of the places I have been to on a motorcycle.

The next major road was the Million Dollar Highway (Hwy 550) in Colorado.  I took it from Durango, through Silverton and Ouray and all the way to Montrose.  The views along this road are amazing.  Because it was a Sunday afternoon on a long weekend, there was a lot of traffic. Sometimes it was more like being in a parade than being on a scenic drive, but you just sit back, take it easy, and enjoy the views.

The final part of the today's ride brought me along the Black Canyon around Gunnison, CO.  I had seen the canyon before from the south side, but this time I came along the north side of the canyon which provides many more views and the road is a lot more fun to ride!  Here is a view from Google Maps!

I am staying at a camp site that is part of the Blank Canyon recreation area.  I have a great view of the lake.  You have to love our park systems!  I have a lake side camp site for only $12.

Tomorrow will be my last day of "fun" riding.  I expect the highlight to be riding to the top of Pikes Peak.  I will see what the day has in store for me.  For now, I must go.

Saturday, July 5 - Day 9: Escaping The Phoenix Heat

I left Lindsey's this morning around 7:30 and it was already 90 degrees and the humidity was 36% - so much for the dry heat!  Typically the humidity is around 10% but there was a little rain the day before.

My route today went east/southeast from Phoenix to Clifton which is near the New Mexico border.  From there, highway 191 provided 100 miles of wonderful mountain driving.  This has to be one of the longer stretches of continuous "fun" roads.  I did have some rain near the end of this road and also a few other times later in the day; however, the rain always lasted less than 5 minutes so I drove through it without putting on the rain gear.  Here is the Google Maps satellite view of the road.  One of the sites just north of Clifton is a large copper mine.   If you look at the Google Map satellite image, you can see the large area near Clifton that is a different color; that is the large open pit mine.

For the remainder of the day I continued northward toward the Utah boarder.  I made it as far as Monument Valley which is right on the border.  It has large rock formations that stand out like monuments.  It was getting late and starting to rain when I got here so I only got a few pictures this evening.  I am hoping to get more in the morning.

I am staying at a campground that is right in the valley.  I got a campsite with a great view out my tent window.

I met a guy at the campground, I think is name was Joe.  He was also traveling on motorcycle; he is from Upstate New York, near Lake Placid.  He teaches electrical trades to the people at a correctional institution. He travels on motorcycle for much of the summer.  His "school break" varies from year to year depending on state funding but typically he gets about 5 weeks or more off during the summer.  During this same time, his wife who is a retired Doctor of Speech Therapy travels all over the US teaching Speech Theory teachers.  So, during his time off and while his wife is travelling, he travels the US on his motorcycle.  What a deal!  He says they have this arrangement during the summer and then have "normal husband/wife" time during the rest of the year.

Tomorrow's journey will take me further into Utah and then to 4 Corners (only place where 4 states join together: Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado) then up the Million Dollar Highway (550) in Colorado.

Here is track of my route today.

Friday, July 4 - Day 8: No Riding Today!

Because I am not riding today, I thought I would instead talk about some of the new gear I have on this trip.

The first is a new cot to sleep on.  It is a Therm-A-Rest LuxuryLite Ultralight Cot.  We actually purchased it as a replacement for an air mattress, that like most air mattresses, no longer held air.  We bought it so we could use it when we stay at Trisha's place (other daughter) in Kansas.  But it is small enough and light enough I can also use it on these trips.  It sets up quickly, packs small, is light, and it is much nicer than just sleeping on the ground. [Just a note, the fabric makes a squeaking sound on the side rods but rubbing wax from a candle took care of the sound.]

Because I now need to have room to pack the cot, I needed another bag that I use to pack all my camping gear in.  The previous one was not waterproof and was at maximum capacity already before the new cot.  The new bag is a DryPak bag that opens on the top for easy packing.  It is completely waterproof and all my camping equipment (tent, cot, sleeping bag, rain gear, etc.) all fit nicely inside the bag.  To attach the bag to the bike, I found an idea on the FJR Forum on how to make your own straps that attach to the bike and bag.  Cathy helped with the sewing required (a little more work than anticipated!) but they are working well.  Here is a picture of the bag on the bike. 

Not specifically related to this trip, but I do have a new helmet with Blue Tooth capability now.  The helmet is a High-Vis Schuberth C3.  I picked it up last year as my previous helmet was almost 10 years old and no longer fit properly.  I got this helmet on close-out as they are now making the C3 Pro.  I have added a Sena SMH10R communication system.  With the Blue Tooth capability, I am able to get my GPS directions and music from my phone to my helmet - all without wires!  I am also able to take/receive phone calls, but I have only done this once as a test.  I feel I have enough going on while riding to not worry about talking on the phone. However, it is nice that I know when I have received a call so I can then decide if/when I want to call the person back.  I am also capable of talking to people on other motorcycles that have similar communications systems.  I have not tested that capability yet either.  Sometimes it feels a little strange having to charge and even do software updates to my helmet (communication system)!

I am happy to report that equipment is working well and as intended!

Thursday, July 3 - Day 7: Happy Dance

Today's ride was short, only 231 miles but the roads were very good.  The goal today was to get to Lindsey's (my daughter) place in Tempe, Arizona (suburb of Phoenix) and beat the heat!  Well, I made it here but the last part of the ride was pretty hot - more about that later.

Today's ride took me from Flagstaff, through Sedona and Jerome, and then Prescott before heading to the Phoenix area.  There were 3 great sections of road during this short tide.  The first was a canyon ride from outside Flagstaff all the way to Sedona.  The second great section was around the city of Jerome.  The final section was the section from Prescott to Prescott Valley.  If you Google Map the route on 89A and 89 through these towns, you will see what I mean!  Here is the Google Maps satellite view of the road into/out of Jerome.

I reached Wickenberg, which is about 1 hour west of Phoenix, about 10:30 Arizona time, which is another story.  I forgot the entire state of Arizona doesn't do day light savings time so when I crossed into Arizona yesterday, I didn't set my clock back 1 additional hour. So in my head (and on my watch) it was 11:30 and a good time to grab lunch and prepare for the heat I knew would be coming and this last stretch of the ride.

The final section of the ride to Phoenix was simply hot!  The temperature reading on the bike fluctuated between 99 and 108 during the ride. What made the ride even worse is I didn't realize how many stop lights there were on the route.  There were many and I must have stopped at over 90% of them.  I finally arrived, quickly unloaded the bike and took a cold shower.  That felt good!

There are 3 things I learned about the heat in the Phoenix area during this last short section of riding:

1. Don't fill your gas tank full and then let it sit in the sun! I filled up with gas before I went to have a quick lunch.  When I returned to the bike, I saw fuel leaking out from under my bike.  I thought "oh no - now what broke".  Then I realized I could hear the fuel bubbling in the gas tank!  The gas had expanded so much and got so hot it was bubbling over and out the overflow.  
2. At stop lights, people will stop so they are under a bridge for shade if they can rather than at the stop light!
3. When someone asks "How hot is it?"  I would say, "Hot enough to start a garage hauling truck on fire!".  On the interstate, there was semi truck with a load of garbage that had stopped and disconnected the trailer from the tractor and flames were coming out the top of the trailer.  Now that is when you know it is hot!

While I am visiting Lindsey, I also get to see my Grand Kitty - Beethoven.  He recently turned 2.  Here is a brand new, never before released picture of Beethoven.  He is my favorite Grand Kitty!

This evening we went out for dinner.  We were sitting outside at the restaurant (SanTan) and suddenly a sand storm blew into town!  This is the first time even Lindsey has experienced such a storm.  We continued to sit outside as the inside of the restaurant was packed and we figured it would soon blow over.  SanTan is a micro brewery and we each had a sampler of their beers so we covered them and thought we would wait out the storm.  Well, it lasted over 30 minutes.  We finally did get a table inside and got our food to enjoy.  By the time we were done eating, the storm had passed.  All these new desert experiences!

Tomorrow, Friday, July 4, 2014, will not include riding.  Our plans for the day are not yet set.  We haven't decided if we are going to see fireworks somewhere or not.  We may just spend the day relaxing and staying inside where it is cool.

This will be the turning around point for this trip.  When I leave here on Friday morning (before the heat starts to set in!), I will be heading to the eastern side of Arizona and then start heading back north.  I have 3 days planned to ride from here back to Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak and then to Kansas and back home.  So far on this trip, I have ridden 2,500 miles!

Wednesday, July 2 - Day 6: Another Grand Day

This morning I left Bryce Canyon and headed towards Zion National Park.  Just a short way down the road I come to another beautiful area called Red Canyon.  I didn't know this existed - I just got lucky and found it!  As you can tell by the pictures, why it was so aptly named!

I continued on my journey to Zion National Park.  Even though Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon are pretty close together, they offer a very different experiences.  While Bryce has colorful, delicate looking spires, Zion has very large and massive rock formations.  As I had been to Zion previously, I did not do the "tour" part which entails taking a bus through one part of the park.  Rather I drove through the part of the park that allows cars.  After driving through Zion I decided to "recalculate" (been hearing that a lot from my GPS!) and double back through the canyon.  While it was a little warm (mid 90s), traffic was not to bad so I got to enjoy the sights again from a different direction.  Things often look different when approached from different directions.

  

Now, on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  I had previously been to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon with Cathy and some friends; this will be my first visit to the North Rim.  I had heard that the North Rim is prettier than the South Rim - it did not disappoint.  Although I must say that it is journey to get there to enjoy the sites.  First, you go 50 miles on a dead-end road to get the the visitor center.  There are plenty of trails there to take in the views from different directions.  From this area, you can't see the Colorado river that flows through the canyon, what you do see (and I learned!), there are actually many different canyons together that form the Grand Canyon!  One of the viewing points is Bright Angel Point where you walk out on a ridge to a point between 2 large canyons.  All I can say is that the views were Grand!  After taking in the views from the visitor center location, there are several other views that you can drive to - but they are another journey.  The furthermost view requires driving another 25 miles!  The drive was nice and enjoyable and puts into perspective just how large than Grand Canyon is!  While taking in these views, I could hear and see thunderstorms brewing of to the east but they did not impact my viewing.  

Finally it was time to move on. My GPS route had me back tracking the 50 miles back out of the park and going around the east end of the Canyon - it is a long way around.  While taking in the views of the canyon, I kept thinking if I could "Evil Knievel" across the canyon, it sure would save a lot of time! I kept looking for places to gather enough speed to enable the FJR to clear the canyon but to no avail - I guess I just have to follow the GPS and go the long way. Darn!

I continued on my ride towards the Phoenix area.  My plan was to go to Page AZ, but a road was closed and it was a long detour.  There seems to be these large formations everywhere so there are no shortcuts.  By the time I got to the road where I could go to Page, I was already half way to Flagstaff so I just headed there rather back backtracking to Page. Then I encounter road construction.  It was 8:30 before I finally arrived in Flagstaff.  I am spending the evening at a KOA campground there.

I had some light rain as I left the Grand Canyon.  Also, on the way to Flagstaff I could see rain falling from the sky; however, this was different.  You could see the rain but it dried up before it hit the ground!  There was even the start of a rainbow, but again it didn't come close to the ground because the rain dried up. 

Below is the route I did today.

Tuesday, July 1 - Day 5: America the Beautiful!

As our country prepares to celebrate its birthday together with what I saw today, I thought America the Beautiful would be an appropriate title for today's blog, but more on that in a little bit.

When I left Frisco CO this morning, the mountain air was cool and crisp.  The temperature was 44 degrees at the hotel and dropped to 36 degrees over the first couple of passes.  I had the right cloths along so riding in this cool weather actually felt good.  By the afternoon, I was riding in temperatures in the low 90s.  I had to keep reminding my self to not sweat it (pun intended), because by the time I reach the Phoenix area, it will likely be another 15 degrees or so warmer!

When I left Frisco I headed west across the remainder of Colorado and then into Utah.  While the first portion of the ride was in interstate, it is some of the most scenic freeway I have taken as it goes over the mountains. In some areas, there was not enough room between the mountains to have the lanes of traffic side-by-side so the traffic was stacked - west bound was elevated and east bound was on the ground!  It was interesting to watch the landscape change from section to section, but most of it was gorgeous. For example, in Colorado it went from the "'Rockies", to red rock, and then to multicolored.  The first section of Utah wasn't very exciting but then I turned south and the view picked up. Once I got of the interstate, the first section was very "lonely" - very few cars.  I felt like I was in the middle of no where!

The last time I rode in Utah, I went down the east side through Moab and National Parks such as Bridges.  This time I went more down the center and went through Capital Reef  National Park and Grand Staircase.  The views and the roads were totally awesome!  Here are a few picture, but they don't do justice to the beauty.

My next stop was Bryce Canyon.  I was at Bryce Canyon on a previous motorcycle trip back in 2008.  I liked it so much; I had to make a stop at it again on this trip.  For you fellow travelers, if you haven't yet seen Bryce Canyon, put it on your list!

I took a lot more photos today but due to upload speeds, this is all I can upload now.  I can share more photos with you later.

I have been very fortunate and blessed that to be able to see so much of this country while traveling on 2 wheels.  I must again thank my wife Cathy for supporting in my joy of motorcycle riding.  Without her support, all these trips would not be possible! Thank You Dear!

The places I saw today and others I will still see on this trip are some of the best in this country and because of that is say "America the Beautiful"!

I am spending the night at a campground with Bryce Canyon Nation Park. Tomorrow I plan to go through Zion National Park and then on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  I am expecting many more beautiful views tomorrow.

Here is the route I did today.