Sunday 16 September 2012 Layton – Boise Idaho – Oregon – Yakima Washington - Home 850 miles

Sunday 16 September 2012  Layton – Boise Idaho – Oregon – Yakima Washington - Home 850 miles

Off we set at 0700, the sun not quite out of bed, but it was a clear, not so cold morning. As I rode north out of Layton on I84, the sun rose from behind the mountains, not too shabby a sight with some pink reflecting off of the clouds until it put its head above the mountains. 

Sunrise leaving  Layton

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Once I was clear of any city, the temperature dropped a fair bit, so I was glad of the fleece once again. Heading north towards Idaho, the scenery became just brown and parched. One felt sorry for any cattle trying to get some nutrients form the earth. I think the whole northwest has had a prolonged period without rain, Seattle certainly has, and it was much the same until about 40 miles from Twin Falls, where it suddenly switched to farmed fields, and agriculture. Obviously a case of irrigation from the Snake River complex. Past Twin Falls and on towards Boise the land resorted back to brown and dry. About 30 miles from Boise the air became very hazy to the west, more like smoke haze, and judging by the burnt areas along the highway, some serious bush fires had occurred. Zipping through Boise, and into northeast Oregon. It was now an area of brown mountains, and it was hard to imagine them being covered in snow during the winter. 

Brown Blue  Mountains of Oregon

 

Traffic was very light, I was surprised seeing as it was a Sunday, I expected more holiday type traffic. Many bikes were heading south, so I assumed a meet had occurred in the area. After a short while in Oregon, I picked up my hour for entering the Pacific Time Zone. Coming down from the brown Blue Mountains, I branched off onto I82, and across the Columbia River into Washington State.

Crossing the Columbia River:

 

As I rode towards Yakima, I could see the thick orange/brown haze to the west, caused by all the wild fires in eastern Washington; it was blocking the sun at times. I was making really good time, and Yakima was the point of stay or ride on. It was an easy decision, as I had plenty of time to make Snoqualmie Pass in daylight. Picking up I90 at Ellensburg, it was a100 miles to I405 then home. I had expected a lot more traffic, especially on I90, but was pleasantly surprised, traffic moved at limit rate (and more). The smoke mostly cleared as I headed west, and it was a really nice evening.

I turned off the ignition about 7:05PM, not bad, 850 miles in 13 hours.

So my 2012 road trip came to an end. I did manage to meet my main objectives of:

Seeing family and friends.

Riding in the rest of the 49 mainland States I had not done before

Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway

Memphis and the King.

Some stats:

Since leaving Waterdown last Monday 10^th, I had ridden 4121 miles in 7 days, the total mileage for the trip, including day rides was 9,381 miles.

The States I rode in when  returning from Ontario,  in order, were:

New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee (new), North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas (new), Oklahoma (new), Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington.

As for next year, who knows, it is a year ahead.

Thanks for reading, take care, and be safe..

Saturday 15th September 2012 Colby – Ft. Collins Colorado – Laramie Wyoming – Layton Utah 758 miles

Saturday 15th September 2012  Colby – Ft. Collins Colorado – Laramie Wyoming – Layton Utah 758 miles

Hmm, I thought you were going to Jackson Wyoming, and maybe ride through Yellowstone, head for Montana and ride I90 home?.. Well, I had lost track of time, and suddenly realized it was Saturday, a weekend no less. Jackson and Yellowstone are popular tourist areas, so I had Mission Control Google for lodgings (OK so I don’t have a smart phone), and see if there were any vacancies. No room at the inn was the reply, not even for over $200 a night. I had Googled other towns en route last evening, one being Rawlings which was 250 miles from Jackson. I actually passed through there at 1:30PM, so that was out. Allied to the fact that the weather forecast for Jackson was in the 30s tomorrow morning ( that is Gerbing and balaclava weather – I have neither with me), I decided to just carry on for home. I had ridden that area of Wyoming, including Yellowstone Park, a few years ago so it was no big deal to bypass it.

So back to to-day. It was a clear, but a very cold morning, definitely Gerbing weather, so I bundled up and headed out just after 7AM. The sun rose about 7:30, and I had a ringside seat through my rear view mirrors as I headed west on I70 towards Colorado. I gained the Mountain Time Zone hour after about 30 minutes, so I really had an early start. Traffic was light until near Denver, and I took the toll road to bypass the city to I25 and Fort Collins. I realized once I was on it, it is an E toll road, you pay by transponder or number plate (they photo it). It is difficult to see my state name under the tour pack, even the border guards have to ask or get out of their booth to see it, so it will be interesting to see how I get billed. I then picked up US287 to head for Laramie Wyoming and the I80W. That was a more interesting road, some red rocks instead of brown scenery. One interesting thing I wished I had gone back to photo, there was a shack and a monster sign saying “Fireworks, open year round”. It was open, and in the middle of nowhere, I mean nowhere. At least if the place blew up it wouldn’t do any other damage. I had stayed in Laramie on the way east nearly 5 weeks ago, and as I gassed up, still no Alan Ladd. That town is at over 7000 feet, you wouldn’t know it if the sign didn’t tell you. It was here that after an executive discussion with Mission Control, I decided that instead of turning north on US287 at Rawlings I would just keep rolling on I80 towards Salt Lake City.

I had travelled I80 going east, and nothing had changed since then. It was still brown and barren, with little traffic, and a few major lane closures for road works. One good thing, I could freewheel with cruise control, and let the bike stretch its legs. I took a couple of photos of the scenery, and this is for a few hundred miles. Imagine a few hundred years ago, when the prairies stretched hundreds of miles east to west, and north to south from Alberta,  Saskatchewan,  and Manitoba, south through Montana, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas. An enormous area of grasses, winds and very few trees. Unreal.

A view of I80 in Wyoming  - the same for hundreds of miles. Take away the hills and you have western Kansas and eastern Colorado.

So it was into Utah, and a change of scenery, red rocks and more hills, out of the prairies.

I took I84 to bypass Salt Lake City, and head north, eventually to Boise Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Tomorrow will be another day of riding the slab, I have done this trip a few times, and will most likely bed in eastern Washington before arriving home on Monday.

Friday 14th September 2012 Muskogee – Tulsa – Wichita – Colby Kansas 531 miles

Friday 14th September 2012  Muskogee – Tulsa – Wichita – Colby Kansas 531 miles

Today was intended as a “ride the slab” day, to head into Kansas then Colorado. It was a rain deluge at 7AM this morning, and I checked the local news channel radar where it seemed to be clearing from the north. As I was going to head that way, I waited until about 8AM, but with no sign of slowing, I battened down the hatches, prepared for rough seas, and headed out towards Tulsa. It was a deluge for about an hour, but the traffic was light which helped. As I got close to Tulsa the rain eased, then stopped, and the roads were actually drying as I rode through the city and picked up US412 heading west towards I35. It was very cold though, so I stopped and dressed up with my fleece. Part of US412 is a toll road, and for the 100 miles or so to I35 it was empty, hardly any traffic. Traffic was a little heavier heading north on I35, mainly Texas plates, and I eventually glimpsed a lightening of the sky to the north. So it was farewell Oklahoma, hello Kansas.

It was ironic seeing as to the weather, there were signs everywhere stating “Burn Ban Statewide”. Much of the area looked very brown though in eastern Oklahoma, the same as I entered Kansas. Most of the areas I had passed through seemed to be Indian Reservations, Pawnee, Cherokee, and Muskogee for instance. All had the obligatory casinos at each highway junction. Muskogee is defined as the ‘Port of Muskogee’, and apparently has access from the Gulf of Mexico. I couldn’t find anything relating  to a major river, but the whole area has some serious interconnecting  lakes and reservoirs so maybe they feed into one.  One sees many pickups hauling those monster bass boats with even larger outboards.

Once reaching Wichita, the roads were dry, and as I left heading north on I135 towards Salina and the I70W, the sky cleared and I had blue sky the rest of the day. It was really pleasant. Once on I70, one circle was complete, as I had headed east on this highway over 4 weeks ago. I even passed the monster wind farm I had previously mentioned. Traveling through Kansas on I70 is kind of blah, flat and windy. One good thing is that as traffic was light, it was cruise control for much of the journey. No photos to-day.

As lodgings are not that frequent I decided to stop in Colby, labeled as the “Oasis of the Prairies”, and continue west on I70 into Colorado tomorrow, then head around Denver towards Jackson Wyoming. I’ll take advantage of the extra hour due to mountain time being just before the State line.

Thursday 13th September 2012 Jackson – Memphis – Muskogee Oklahoma 485 miles

Thursday 13th September 2012  Jackson – Memphis – Muskogee Oklahoma 485 miles

It looked like my weather luck had broken, the day started cloudy with ominous black ones to the west. So I prepared for the worst as I set off for Memphis just after 7AM. It was  dry until about 10 miles from the city when I had one of those 30 second downpours, then it cleared as I hit Memphis itself. It was the first riding in rain I had had since leaving home so cannot complain. I hit Memphis for the rush hour, but once I hit the roads to Graceland, traffic cleared, and I arrived there just before 9AM. I had to ask a couple of times as to where the ticker office was, having gone around in circles, but eventually I made it. 

The whole area is Elvis oriented, all kinds of businesses, some cheesy. The actual Graceland tour is really well done. You park ($10), then go to the ticket office. It is a bit like a Government place, a few kiosks with numbers, and an announcement tells you which one to go to. Even at that hour is was busy. There are various tours (all prices), I chose just the house tour (seniors rates), you then line up for the shuttle bus to take you to the house. It is actually just across the road. Once there you are given a headset and a wireless  recording control for the tour. Each group is then basically guided around a set route, the upstairs is off limits, no idea why as I don’t think anyone lives there now. When you are done (you can leave any time or go around bits again), you get the bus back to the off loading area back across the road.

You can then visit other offerings like Lisa’s plane, his car collection, and other money making exibits. There are stores galore, even eating places, all Elvis themed. When he bought the place (for $100K), it was a farm and the whole area was cultivated. Not any more. I can see why he bought it, it is really a nice place, small compared to the 50K square feet that some athletes buy. The décor is really interesting, and it has a basement which he made great use of for a rec and media room. All his trophies and awards are on display, as are his charity contributions. The place and grounds are immaculate, and it is obviously still a big tourist attraction, and employs a large number of people. Whoever set it up knew what they were doing.

I am really glad I made the tour, it was a great experience, and of course he is buried there with an eternal flame by his grave.

Some pics of Graceland:

So once done, I paid a quick visit to Graceland Harley, then headed out for I40 W, to point the wheels westward. You cross the Mississippi river by a huge steel bridge as you leave Memphis, and you are in Arkansas. I have lost count how many times I have ridden over that river, amazing how long it is. So what can I say about Arkansas. Not a lot I guess. It was hilly at first, then flat, then hilly into the Ozarks. The highway did cross some serious water, and I experienced the worst construction hold up so far, about a 2 mile backup before Little Rock, where both sides merged into 2 lanes. Mind you the road needed some work in places, and when one is riding, one can take advantage of it at times and just cruise to where lanes merge. I hit another couple of downpours before Little Rock, but then it cleared until Oklahoma, and turned into a hot afternoon, the hottest riding since just after leaving home. I zipped past Little Rock (I don’t think Bill C is there these days), and it seemed to have a large number of churches, all with thin spires. There were quite a few of those along the highway, and into Oklahoma. A couple of interesting things about the journey, the big rigs were almost nose to tail from Memphis to Little Rock, where the traffic suddenly thinned right out. Also, I was occasionally passed by black Tahoes or Escalades, all blacked out and steaming past. No special plates, but I wouldn’t know anyway.

So it was into Oklahoma,State #49 just Hawaii to go. After a few miles the temperature suddenly dropped, even the bike noticed it as the oil temperature dropped by about 20 degrees. It had really clouded up and I ran into rain for the last hour or so. I had previously decided not to head for Oklahoma City, but to cut northeast towards Tulsa, where I will head into Kansas and then to Wyoming. I need to work that route out. I decided the bike was now road dirty enough from the rain, and pulled off at Muskogee for the night. No roadside information for lodgings around the area, so I actually used the GPS Points of Interest to find one. Amazing this hi tech.

State #49: