Day 15...Last day.

The trip is over. I'm home safe and sound. I left Richmond at about 7:45 am and arrived home at 5:45 pm. I made stops in Berkeley Springs, WV; Somerset, PA; somewhere on the Ohio Turn pike; and in Canton, MI. All but one of the stops were for fuel. (I had to pee in Ohio!) I just couldn't wait to get home. Absence really DOES make the heart grow fonder!

By the numbers:

15 Days away from home
14 Riding days
13 Nights in motels
38 States I rode in
7,104 Total miles ridden
139 Gallons of fuel
508 Average miles per day
762 Longest day's mileage
93 Shortest day's mileage

Some of the trip's highlights that stand out in my mind:

#1

The Crazy Horse Monument. It is a fantastic tribute to a great Native American leader. The visitor's center is a great place to visit. There are many displays and artistic representations of the history of the Lakota people.








Mt. Rushmore, while spectacular, pales in comparison to Crazy Horse in almost every way.

The size difference of the two monuments is so very evident when you see them in person as is the history of the actual carvings as well as the meaning of each monument. I just don't have the words to describe the feeling of awe that I experienced when I was standing at the foot of the Crazy Horse monument. Some personal advice for those planning their first visit to these wonderful works of art...go to Mt. Rushmore first.


#2

The wildlife that I saw while on the road. In addition to the antelope that I saw throughout the western States, I saw many other types of wildlife as well. From the numerous coyotes, fox and other small animals, to the bison that I encountered in Yellowstone, there were many more that I didn't get a chance to get photographs of. I saw mule deer, elk, eagles, white tail deer, and of course, big ole brown cows! I was on the lookout for, but never saw, bears or moose.

I did, however, see this little guy at 9,700 feet on the Bear Tooth Pass scenic pull off. I tossed him some trail mix that I had in my jacket pocket and he kept getting closer and closer. He never did come up to my hand to get fed, but he got within 3 or 4 feet. Not much in the way of food at that altitude I guess.

#3

And speaking of the Bear Tooth Pass...I highly recommend that those of you who have never had the chance to travel that road, add it to your own personal Bucket Lists. Especially on a motorcycle.
Everyone talks about how fun and challenging the Tail of the Dragon is, but the
Bear Tooth Pass is even more so and it has better scenery. Of course, the Dragon is much closer to those of us here in Michigan. Most riders do the Dragon in a long weekend from here.

#4

The Lewis and Clark Trail actually begins in Washington, DC and goes all the way to the Pacific Ocean in Washington State. I only rode a small portion in the mountains of Idaho.
The road (US 12) follows several streams and rivers throughout the mountains. As with the Bear Tooth Pass, dress warmly. Note the temperature on my bike's thermometer.

#5

The Mountains of Washington and Oregon. I know I rode though that part of the country in the early morning hours...just as the sun was coming up, and that may have added to the stunning beauty of that part of the country. I was in total awe when I stopped here. I just sat and watched the sun come up and the mist just seemed to vanish. As I said before, there wasn't a car on the road, the wind was calm and there was no sound. I almost thought I had gone deaf. It wasn't until I heard the sound of my own breathing and the rustle of my clothes that I knew my senses hadn't failed me. I know this is #4 on the "list," but it's #1 in my memory of the trip.

#5

Arizona, Four Corners, and New Mexico were also very beautiful. The landscapes are a pleasure to look at and the roads are fun and challenging to ride. Sometimes I wish I lived a little closer to this part of the country.

I have to be honest and say that after I left New Mexico, there wasn't a whole lot that impressed me in terms of landscape and roads. At least until I got to the eastern mountains. The Great Plains are just that in my humble opinion. Plain. Long, straight, flat roads are boring to a motorcyclist.

However, of particular note, everyone I met and talked to in this part of the country were very friendly and helpful. Of course, some of them I couldn't understand because of dialect and dental issues, but they were still very nice people.

Of course, this gas station in Arkansas still tickles my funny bone!

#6

The Cherohala Skyway and the Tail of the Dragon. The Skyway is much more scenic than the Dragon. It is a comfortable ride compared to out west. Yes, there are still steep drop offs and it's a long way down, but the trees and other foliage make it seem less threatening than the barren rock landscape of the western mountain roads.

The Dragon, on the other hand, is a challenging road, but the scenery is blocked out by the trees and rock faces. You can't see much other than that. Of course, with 318 curves in just 11 miles, you don't have time to look at the scenery anyway! Here's me on the Dragon. The link takes you to the first photo. Click on the right arrow for more. I think there are 5 all together.

I don't mind riding in the rain, but I was sick and tired of it by the time I neared the end of this trip. Several days out west, and 2 days in Gustav are enough rain to last me a lifetime.

This is the reason I decided to cut my trip short. Hanna was a huge rainmaker. I waited out the storm in a friends house in Richmond. At the worse of the storm, the rain was falling at the rate of over an inch an hour (according to the weather channel). And with Hurricane Ike and Tropical Storm Josephine following Hanna, I wanted to sprint home in decent weather.

Even with the loss of the gear from my open saddle bag and the failure of my Zumo, it was still a fantastic trip. I got to see almost everything I wanted on my Bucket List. The things I didn't get to see are a lot closer to home than the ones I did get to see, so there's still a good chance that I'll get to cross them off the List in the future. I don't have to take a 2 week vacation to go to New York and see the Statue of Liberty. I can do that in a long weekend.

If you have the means and opportunity, I highly recommend that you start fulfilling your own bucket list. Life is unpredictable. When I'm on my death bed, the only regret I want to have is that I didn't get to see or do something AGAIN. Not that I didn't get to see or do it in the first place.

Day 13 and 14

Not much to say about Day 13 and 14. As I type this, Hanna is directly overhead. The eye wall just crossed the Virgina border. It's raining pretty hard and the wind is blowing nice and strong. I'll weather out the storm here in Richmond today, and tomorrow it should be past. I'll leave early in the morning and make a B-line for home. It's only 700 miles, so I should have no problem. Besides, I have strong motivation. I miss the love of my life! See you tomorrow night darlin!

Mileage for the day: 311
Mileage for the trip: 6,504

Day twelve

Like I said on the Day 11 post, I stayed at the Cherohala Motorcycle Resort. Here's the cabin I stayed in. There are several other cabins there, as well as a bike wash station. The clubhouse/ office/ store has drinks, ice cream, TV and (most importantly) coffee in the morning. The owners are down to earth, very nice and they ride. I can't recommend the resort and campground enough.
There's a large covered pavilion as well as a fire pit in the field behind the cabins. Later in the night, I was in bed and heard that Harley in the picture pull in. The rider slept on a bedroll under the pavilion. That's an old Hard-tail and the rider told me that he was still 6 hours from home. Now THAT'S a rider!

So I left the resort and headed over to the Cherohala Skyway. The first few miles were kind of scary. The sun was coming up, and I couldn't see around the corners. So I pulled off in a scenic turn off and waited a bit until the sun was a little higher. I had a bottle of water and just enjoyed the view.

The Cherohala Skyway is one of the most scenic roads I've ridden on. If you've never taken it, I recommend adding it to YOUR Bucket List.

After the Skyway, I headed north on 129...AKA the Tail of The Dragon. I've heard that the resort wasn't the best in the world, but from what I saw, it was kind of nice. I ate lunch at the restaurant there, and then headed north on the Dragon. I had meant to visit the Tree of Shame, but totally forgot about it. Oh well, next time.

Within the first quarter mile, I came upon some chalk writ ting on the pavement that said, "OIL." And as I came around the next curve, there was oil covered with kitty litter across both lanes. I'm guessing that there was an accident there recently.

The traffic was light on the Dragon today. I did come upon one bike that was tooling along at about 20 mph and he waved me by, but other than that, I didn't see anyone in front of me until I got to the end. There was one bike behind me for the last couple of miles, but he wasn't in any hurry to pass me. Patricia seems to think that I was doing 40-60 mph on the Dragon. I don't know where she got that idea from. I never got above 3rd gear, and was in 2nd most of the way.

After it's said and done, I'm now authorized to bear the mark of the dragon.

OK, now for the bad news. If you look at today's track at the top of the page, you can see where I made an abrupt turn to the east. I was headed north to catch Kentucky and West Virginia when I heard the latest weather forecast. I made my decision to go to Virginia to my friends house and wait out the storms.

Hanna is forecast to hit Virginia Saturday with rain starting Friday afternoon. I'll spend the weekend in Virginia and head home Sunday morning. That way, Hanna will be long gone, Ike won't be there yet, and Gustav will have passed Michigan. I understand that the west side of Michigan is getting hammered with Gustav rain. I've already ridden for two days in that storm, I don't need another one.

Mileage for today: 341
Mileage for the trip: 6,193

Day eleven

I'm spending the night at the Cherohala Motorcycle Resort and Campground at the west end of the Cherohala Skyway. I found it by accident. Just rode past it on the way to a motel that someone told me was out here in the middle of nowhere. I'm in a cabin the size of my bedroom at home...two twin beds, a window a/c unit and a ceiling fan. I'm tapping into the owners wireless Internet (with permission of course) to do my update. It's a nice place. Of course, it's "off season" being the middle of the week, but it's only $40 a night. Here is the website if anyone is headed out this way and needs a nice inexpensive place to stay.

Gustov won. No pics today. It was raining too much to get the camera out. I rode all the way across Mississippi and half way across Alabama before I got out of the rain today. The bike handled well. My new Frogg Toggs look like hell, but I stayed dry for the most part. My Helen Two-wheels bags kept all my clothes dry. So how did Gustov win you ask?

My Zumo exploded. Well...not exploded exactly. More like blew the fuse, and then wouldn't work anymore even with the fuse replaced. The touch screen seems to be shorted out. Talk about a rude awakening! I had to get out a map! Usually, I just tell Zumo where I want to go, and it takes me there. Half the time, I don't even know what road I'm on! I'm not kidding. I'm a Zumo junkie. I got lost in Chattanooga more than once. Missed the exits, etc. I had to face the facts. I'm Zumo dependant.

So, as I'm looking for the ramp to get back on the highway, I see a yellow sign in the distance. It says, "Best Buy." Yep...I did. I had to get another Zumo. There's no way I could enjoy the rest of this trip with out it.

I'm keeping an eye on Hanna. After riding for 2 days in a row in Gustov, I have NO desire to go through Hanna. If it looks bad, I'm going to abort the east coast. After all, I did that last year. Besides, after having to buy a new Zumo, I pretty much blew the remainder of my budget for the trip.

Right now, I'm leaning toward heading to Virginia and then for home. Although if Hanna turns further west, I'll just skip Virginia and go home.

Only 391 miles today.

Mileage for the trip: 5,852

Day ten

I left Wichita this morning when it was still dark, but not by much. Within a half hour, the sun started peeking out from the horizon. And since I was riding East, it was a little bit of a challenge. Unfortunately, that challenge didn't last nearly long enough.

I kept changing the radio over to the weather station to keep myself updated on Gustov. The more you know, the better prepared you can be. Like....when would I have to stop and don my rain gear? How strong were the winds? Things like that. It seemed that I may have actually out run a hurricane!

As I crossed into Missouri, the blue sky started to become scarce. More and more clouds were building. The further I rode, the cloudier it got.

Just before I crossed into Arkansas, it started to rain. Not very heavy. What we used to call "a nice soaking rain" that would water the grass.

After about an hour of rain, it just stopped. I needed gas, so I pulled into the Kum and Go gas station. I did need the fuel, but the name is what made me stop at that particular station!

Just what the heck are they selling there?!?!?

As I finished filling up the bike, a couple pulled in on an old Harley to get gas. They both looked like they were rode hard and put away wet. I nodded at them and said hello. I guess that they thought that was an invitation to come over and tell me their life story!

I felt bad because as they started speaking to me, I realized that NEITHER one of them had ANY teeth. After that initial shock wore off, I had to mentally stop and figure out what language they were talking in. It was English...sort of. It had a totally unbelievable southern dialect to it. I've lived in Texas, and this was nothing like that. I looked at the plate on their bike to see where they were from. Arkansas. They were really a nice couple. But I think I only got about 20% of the conversation. I just smiled and laughed when I thought I was supposed to. And when I heard a statement end in what I thought was a question, I just said, "You know, I'm not sure..."

They're probably sitting at home tonight updating their blog saying that Yankees are so dumb, they can't understand plain English....

About 10 miles after I left the Kum and Go, it started raining again. And it hasn't stopped YET.

I'm in Olive Branch, MS (just south of Memphis, TN) for the night. As Forrest Gump would say, "My best good friend" from high school lives down here, and I had very nice visit with him and his wife over a stuffed crust pizza at the Hut.

I'm staying at the Holiday Inn Express. It was the 6th hotel I tried before I got a room. The evacuees from Gustov are filling up all the local hotels. In fact, when I was on the way back to the room after dinner, I rode up in the elevator with more pets than people. As I type this, I hear at least two dogs barking down the hall. It's a good thing I'm not a light sleeper!

I don't think I'll be able to catch Louisiana. Gustov is hanging on too long in these parts. Since I'm not going south, I won't be getting Florida, either. So far, all the other states are still a go. But I'm going to be keeping a close eye on all of those other tropical storms out there.

Since my route is changed up a bit, I should be at the south end of the Dragon tomorrow night.

Mileage for the day: 586
Mileage for the trip: 5,461

Day nine

Three words to describe today: Long, Hot and Boring. I'm on the west side of Wichita, KS in a cheap motel with no internet access. I am again on my Sprint Broad Band card with only two bars signal.

I'll make this short and sweet. I'll post some pics and more "story" tomorrow night. I was going to try an Iron Butt ride today (1000 miles in 24 hours) but I didn't prepare for it since I only decided it after I did 500 miles. At about 700 miles, I made a poor decision when I got pissed off at a line of 6 cars/pickups/SUVs behind a semi truck doing 20 MPH below the speed limit. No one would pass the semi. so...I passed 'em all at once. I didn't have a problem, but I was doing about 125 MPH when I got around the last one. I made sure to honk my air horn as I went around all of the vehicles in case they decided to grow a pair and actually try to pass. Not smart, I know.

Then about a half hour later, the passenger in a car in front of me threw out a cigarette and it actually hit me in the right arm. I recognized the symptoms of Road Rage, but I didn't care. We were on the expressway, so I went around them on the left, then flashed my brake light to make them go around me. That placed the passenger right where I wanted her. She rolled her window down and called me some names because I made them go around me, and I told her "Thanks for the F&$kin Cigarette But!" and pointed to the black mark on my bright yellow jacket sleeve. She actually looked embarrassed. My work is done here, I thought.

But then they got in front of me and slowed down. Enough of this crap, and I was about to downshift and test the power plant properly when they got off at the next exit. The windows went down and 4 arms came up with the one finger salute. Ok...bad decision number two in less than an hour. Time to call it a day.

Mileage for the day: 762
Mileage for the trip: 4,875

Day Eight

I slept in this morning. I went to see Penn & Teller at the Rio last night and didn't get back to my room until 2:30 East Coast time. I think I finally got out the door and on the road somewhere around 10:00 (7 local time). I headed over to Hoover Dam, and the bridge across the gorge is still under construction. It almost looks to be in the same state of building that it was when Patricia and I went there in November of '05.

As I stopped to take a picture at a scenic turnout on the other side of the Colorado River, there were 3 guys on bikes sitting there taking pics of their own. One of them asked me if I was riding my sewing machine cause that's what it sounded like when I pulled into the lot. I just took my pictures and then asked them where they were riding from and riding to. It seems they just rented these bikes from Vegas yesterday and were on a *gasp* 150 mile ride. I wish I had my camera out when I told them that I had done over 3000 miles in the last week and planned to do at least 500 today alone. I then told them that I'd take my 157 Horse Power "Sewing Machine" and roll on down the road.

It was raining when I got to the Grand Canyon South Rim. I felt like Clark Griswold on the Vacation movie. I stopped, looked at it, and was on the road again in about 45 seconds. You only get wet when you stop!

I reached the 4 corner monument a few hours later riding through rain, sun, heat and cold. I made sure to ride around the monument a couple of times to make sure I actually road the bike in all 4 states. I got a nice lady to take my picture standing in all 4 states at once. I considered getting down and posing something like I saw Natalie do, but I'm too sore!

I'm staying the night in Farmington, New Mexico and I'm watching the news and weather as I type this. I believe that I will have to make some adjustments to my route due to Gustov. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to ride down to the Gulf states. I would have to wait until the storm passes and lose several days...as well as there isn't anywhere for me to stay. All of the people that evacuated went north. I heard on the radio while I was riding that many went as far as Memphis.

I'm thinking I'm going to try to make Wichita tomorrow and then on to the Memphis area Tuesday evening. Hey Rick! Can ya put a brother up for the night if I can't find a motel?????

I don't think I'll get to ride in Louisiana, Florida, or the Carolinas. And Sarah, if that is the case, I'll probably be in your area Thursday evening depending on the weather.

Mileage for the day: 540
Mileage for the trip: 4,113