completed route-profile

 

completed route

 

post trip update and pictures

updated pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/petestrippix

• 40 days
• 10,425 miles
• 45 to 51 mpg
  
• 18 states (illinois, wisconsin, minnesota, south dakota, wyoming, montana, idaho, washington, oregon, california, nevada, utah, arizona, new mexico, colorado, nebraska, kansas, missouri)
• 14 national parks (badlands, bryce canyon, crater lake, glacier, grand canyon, grand teton, great basin, great sand dunes, mount rushmore, muir woods, saguaro, white sands, yellowstone, yosemite)
• 1 new set of tires
• 0 tickets
• a lifetime of memories

day 40

i'm home!

it was a long and cold ride from the west side of kansas city, but it was worth it to get home. i hit rush hour traffic in both kansas city and chicago. i was still able to beat aLex home, though. we hung out at piece to celebrate us all being together again.

in a couple of days i will have ALL of my photos online, along with some final comments.

thanks for your support and for following me on this journey.

day 39

for 38 days i have ridden over 9000 miles alone. today, for the first time, i rode with someone else.

there were two guys, dave and ari, staying at the same campground as me. i talked to them briefly the night before but didn't plan anything for today. in the morning we discovered that we were both going the same way, so we decided to ride together. since i knew the way to the first destination, which i will get to in a minute, i lead. after that they led the rest of the way. when we stopped for lunch i found out that they were both california highway patrol (chp) officers. they are not currently motorcycle cops, but they used to be. after i found that out and was riding behind them for a while, i was amazed at how close they rode together. they would ride side by side, their mirrors only about a foot apart, even in the curves. they said that they were so used to riding that way that they didn't even think about it. it was just natural for them.

now for the destination. no road trip across the united states would be complete without a visit to the worlds largest ball of twine. it is located in cawker city, ks. there were a few shops and inn's in town, all having twine in their name.


cawker city, ks - 09/19/2006


cawker city, ks - 09/19/2006


cawker city, ks - 09/19/2006

the rest of the ride was relatively uneventful. it was not nearly as windy as yesterday and a bit warmer. from what i hear, though, it is a bit colder in chicago. i won't mind the cold as long as i am home.

day 38

after spending the night in boulder, co, i had thought about going to the rocky mountain national park, but the forecast for more wind and low temperatures in boulder (meaning even more wind and colder temperatures in the park), caused me to choose otherwise. i think it ended up being the right decision.

although it started out sunny, it became overcast as soon as i left boulder. temperatures in the upper fifties and no sun meant a pretty cold ride. the sun eventually came out in the afternoon, but it also brought the wind, almost as strong and gusty as on saturday. as i zig zagged across the back roads of colorado, nebraska, and kansas, i would be hit by the wind on one side while heading east and on the other side while heading south. the roads were straight, but the rolling terrain caused gusts of wind to be more strong in certain spots than in others. by the end of the day, i was getting proficient in predicting where the gusts would be, bracing myself for them.

this isn't the most exciting part of my ride around the country, but as carl said this morning, "it is still part of the country". there are no particular sights that i am planning to see or roads that i want to ride on, but i am still enjoying this journey. as much as i want to be home with aLex and honey (and as much as they want me to be home with them), i am glad that i am doing this (but also glad that i am almost home).

day 37

i hung out at dan and yvette's place for a while before heading to boulder. it was a very nice ride until i got to denver. as i was staying off of the interstate, it was mainly major roads through the city. i eventually got fed up with the weekend traffic and stop lights, so i jumped on the interstate, only to get caught up in the bronco's traffic. i eventually made it to boulder where i met up with carl, my brother jon's friend. he should me around boulder, and all the places where he and jon used to hang out. we grabbed some dinner and beers at a local brew pub i and i just hung out for the rest of the night, something i haven't done in a while. i know that may sound selfish given everything alex is going through (work, class, honey, errands, etc.), but i know that will be changing soon.

day 36

it was a cold and windy night in alamosa, co. i woke to temperatures in the low 50's and my tent fluttering in the wind. before i hit the road i checked the weather forcast online. they were predicting high winds all day with gusts up to 50 miles per hour. i knew it would be a tough day riding.

of course with such strong winds, i just happened to be going to one of sandiest places in the area with the tallest sand dunes in north america - great sand dunes national park. as i was approaching the park i was wondering if it would even be open due to the winds. luckily it was. as i got closer i could finally see the dunes. they looked huge compared to the flat san luis valley, but seemed insignificant in front of the 13,000 foot mountain peaks.


great sand dunes np, colorado - 09/16/2006

at first i was concerned that the wind and blowing sand would prevent me from getting any good pictures, but it almost made the whole experience more interesting. similar to the way the snow blows over a cornice, the sand would be blowing over the tops of the dunes. you could see it swirling up, down, and between the dunes, reshaping the landscape before my eyes. as i walked my footsteps would be covered over in just a few minutes.


great sand dunes np, colorado - 09/16/2006


great sand dunes np, colorado - 09/16/2006


great sand dunes np, colorado - 09/16/2006


great sand dunes np, colorado - 09/16/2006

heading north towards colorado springs, the winds seemed to be worse. on one of the highways there were signs saying "gusty winds may exist" and "gusty winds likely". they were both correct. luckily i got off of the highway and on to some back roads through the mountains and forests. that is where i stumbled upon the bishop castle (2, 3, 4, 5). it was quite an amazing thing to see in the middle of nowhere.


bishop mansion, beulah, co - 09/16/2006


bishop mansion, beulah, co - 09/16/2006

through most of this section of colorado, the aspens were already beginning to change color.


highway 165, colorado - 09/16/2006

i didn't initially plan on going to garden of the gods, but dan, with whom i am staying tonight, suggested it. it was quite impressive to see the different formations, especially since it was so close to colorado springs.


garden of the gods, colorado springs, co - 09/16/2006

i then had a quick visit with katie, a good friend of aLex. she had just gotten out of an all day masters class, after working all week while trying to fix up a house. most people would be pretty stressed out, but not katie. it was good to see her after so long.

by the time i left colorado springs for dan and yvette's place in palmer lake, the temperature must have dropped about 15 degrees. luckily it was a short ride. i had no problem finding their beautiful home, almost completely surrounded by mountains. after getting the kids to bed, we had a nice dinner and caught up on each others lives. we all fought over who missed springfield more.

day 35

i knew today was going to be a long day. i had about 400 miles to go and there would be many things that i wanted to see and do that i couldn't. after riding through ruidoso and seeing all of the motorcycles for the local rally, i rode through the towns of carrizozo, corona, and encino. it was pretty cool all day, mostly because i was over 6000 feet. the scenery was not as dramatic as other areas of the country, but it was still very nice.

there were clouds to the west of me most of the afternoon, and as i approached santa fe, they were getting darker. i quickly went through santa fe and then through the winding roads passing through nambe, chimayo, and truchas. as i climbed through the mountains, the rain started coming down heavily.

i had already planned on stopping by eske's in taos to have the green chile beer as recommended by rob (stayed with him in eugene, or). as i sat at the bar talking to the bartender, one of the brewers overheard me say i was from chicago. he is actually moving to chicago in a few weeks and we knew some of the same people. he later gave me a tour of brewing facility and gave me a few samples to take home.

it was a pretty cold ride the rest of the way to alamosa, and i made it just before dark. tomorrow i am going to back track a bit to see the great sand dunes national park, which i passed on my way.

day 34

happy birthday to my brother jon and aunt bonnie. i hope you both had a good day.

it was a short ride from las cruces, nm to ruidoso where is was staying with some extened family (wife's brother's wife's parents). the one thing i did want to see on the way was white sands national park. i was a bit dissappointed when the road through the park was only open about half way due to the heavy rain they had the day before and overnight.


white sands national park, nm - 09/14/2006

so i ended up walking about a mile each way to get to the area where there are no plants and just white and sky.


white sands national park, nm - 09/14/2006

the rain from the day before and overnight was not only evident on the road but on the dunes as well. normally the sand is soft and blowing. with so much rain even the tops of the dunes were wet and hard. i wonder if aLex can tell whose footprints these are?


white sands national park, nm - 09/14/2006

continuing on it was a nice ride to ruidoso. it is at a relatively high elevation, so it cooled off significantly on the way there. after arriving i took a walk around the property. normally this stream is dry, but with all of the rain it was flowing quite quickly.


ruidoso, nm - 09/14/2006

while unpacking the motorcycle, i noticed this small snake in the wheel well of a van. we are pretty sure it is a rattle snake, but it is so young that it didn't have a rattle.


rattlesnake, ruidoso, nm - 09/14/2006

it was very nice to meet and get to know these relatives. they were very helpful and provided a great deal of knowledge and information about new mexico, its history and culture, and places for my to ride through and visit.

day 33

leaving tucson, i thought i would go to some of the same places that aLex and i rode through when we were here a few years ago. i decided to ride through tombstone and bisbee, as i liked those areas and remembered the scenery and towns being very nice. it was a very good day for riding, not too hot and none of the rain i had seen the last few days.

i guess i had a different impression of these towns from the last time i was here. we must have ridden through them originally on a weekend as both towns were almost empty and many of the shops didn't even appear to be open. after some time of continuously comparing everything to when i was here with aLex, i just wanted to be somewhere else so that i didn't ruin any memories of our previous time here.


road to bisbee, az - 09/13/2006


copper mine in bisbee, az - 09/13/2006

after heading east from bisbee, i was riding within a mile of the mexican border. i saw border patrol vehicles every few miles. heading north again, i couldn't believe how green everything was. i knew they had a lot of rain here, but it didn't even feel like i was in arizona. the only things that reminded me where i was were the occasional catus or desert plants almost hidden by all of the green.


arizona highway - 09/13/2006


arizona - 09/13/2006

making my way to las cruces, nm, i had planned on taking some non-interstate highways, but i was low on gas and didn't want to risk being stuck in the middle of nowhere, again. as i was approaching las cruces, i could see some large clouds above the horizon, and i was headed directly for them. at first they seemed too far off for me to ever reach them. but as i got closer and closer to my destination, the clouds got larger and darker. within about 10 miles of las cruces, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees in less than a minute. at first there was just water on the road, but then i noticed what looked like snow. i quickly realized that it was actually hail. there was standing water everywhere along the side of the road. as i rode toward the campground, there were city crews out "plowing" dirt and debris off of the roads. i found out that they had just gotten about two inches of rain in an hour, including hail. there was so much hail that after about an hour, there was still some piled up on the edge of the sidewalks.


hail in las cruces, nm - 09/13/2006

it started raining again a few hours later and it probably will for the rest of the night. i have already seen more mosquitos tonight than i have this whole trip. hopefully this won't cause any road closures along my route tomorrow.

day 32 (updated - 09/13/2006)

i got a very early start today so my hosts could get to work. as i headed east towards globe, i wanted to stop several times for photos, but i was near the front a mile long line of cars. at the front was a truck hauling a giant catepillar bulldozer being escorted by several arizona highway patrol cars. it could only go about 10 mph up some of the mountain roads. if i stopped, i had no idea how long it would take to get through. as i passed through globe, i remembered a lot of the same roads and scenery that alex and i rode through three years ago.

heading south towards tucson, i was just barely ahead some dark clouds moving in quickly. i almost made it before getting wet, but not quite. i then rode through the saguaro national park, taking a break from the heat in a picnic area with some covered tables. before i knew it there was another storm moving in. i will post pictures later.

i continued on to tucson where i met bridget, a "sister-in-law". she took me out for an authentic mexican dinner and some local beers.

updated - 09/13/2006

here are some photos of the ride to tucson and at the saguaro national park.


road to tucson, az - 09/12/2006


road to tucson, az - 09/12/2006


saguaro national park - 09/12/2006


saguaro national park - 09/12/2006


saguaro national park - 09/12/2006


saguaro national park - 09/12/2006


saguaro national park - 09/12/2006


saguaro national park - 09/12/2006

day 31 (updated - 09/13/2006)

it was a surprisingly nice ride to phoenix via sedona, at least until i hit the 110 degree heat on the highways around phoenix. i am staying with my college roomate brett. i only have limited internet access so i will update this later.

updated - 09/12/2006

per brett's recommendation, i headed down to phoenix via sedona. i had never heard of that area before, but i found several references on-line saying it was a nice place to visit. it started out with some very twisty roads down through oak creek canyon and into slide rock state park. at first i thought all of the signs for slide rock were warnings about rock slides, but then i realized that was the name of the park. it turns out that there were signs for both. all of the recent rain in the area had caused many rock slides in the park and along the main road. i got a few pictures (will post later) but not as many as i would have liked as all of the turn offs from the road were closed due to the rock slides. you could see where the rock, gravel, and sand had covered the road just days before, leaving debris well onto the other side of the road. it started raining as i entered the town of sedona, but i was able to find shelter is the dozens of t-shirt and trinket stores before getting soaked.

it was already getting pretty hot and i knew it would only be getting hotter as i approached phoenix. i stopped for some water and pie (jack daniels pecan - very good) at the rock springs cafe before braving the heat. as the signs ticked off the elevation, 5000, 4000, 3000, i could feel the heat building. by the time i got to the freeway around phoenix, the keychain thermometer i keep on my tank bag was reading about 110. normally when it is hot i crack open the visor on my helmet, but he hot dry air combined with all of the added heat and exhaust from the cars only made it worse. at least keeping the visor closed kept in some of the moisture, but at times it felt like my eyeballs were being poached. generally the rest of my body was ok, as long as traffic was moving, which normally it wasn't.

after finally meeting up with brett and lynn, we went to four peaks in tempe near the asu campus. they had very good beer and the sandwiches made with beer bread were delicious. brett and i had a chance to catch up, reminisce about our time at nd, and discuss our current lives.

updated - 09/12/2006

here are some pictures from the days ride.


oak creek canyon, az - 09/11/2006


oak creek canyon, az - 09/11/2006


slide rock state park, az - 09/11/2006


sedona, az - 09/11/2006

day 30

this is the third time that i have had to say good bye to aLex. it seems to get harder every time. at least it is the last time.

i basically took the same route that i took on friday, except this time i stopped for a little longer at the hoover dam. as i saw a history channel show at the hotel on friday while waiting for aLex about the whole history of the dam, i didn't go into the tourist center or anything like that.


lake mead, nv - 09/10/2006


hoover dam - 09/10/2006


hoover dam - 09/10/2006


hoover dam - 09/10/2006

instead of taking the interstate as i did on friday, i took route 66 from kingman to ash fork. it was a nice change. there were lots of route 66 branded hotels, gas stations, stores, etc. i ate at the roadkill cafe in seligman.

day 29

as usual, our body clocks were two hours ahead of local time, so we got up early. we decided to walk around the strip and some of the casinos before it got too hot and crowded. we walked through bellagio, caesar's, and the venetian. we had wanted to go to the guggenheim hermitage museum in the ventian, but it was closed to set up a new exhibit. i had just checked their web site a few days prior, and it didn't say anything about the museum being closed. we ended up hanging out by the pool for a while before i had to pick up my bike from the dealer.

one thing we found very annoying was the scent that was pumped into the air in some of the casinos. in one (i think caesar's) it was so bad we could even taste it. another annoying thing was the offers for free stuff - free hotel stays, fee shows, free meals. it was only free if you bought something else and the people were typically very pushy.

we had tickets for the 10:30 pm show of cirque du soleil's "o" at the bellagio. we didn't want to do too fancy of a dinner, so we went to pink taco at the hard rock. we had drinks there before eating at nobu the night before and it looked really good. the food was very good and the service was better than the night before.

we then made our way through the casinos, past the sunglass wearing poker players and giant tv screens of every sporting event going on at the moment, to "o". we had seen two cirque du soleil shows in chicago, varekai and corteo, and enjoyed them both very much. "o" was just as good.

day 28

all that was on my mind today was getting to vegas and seeing aLex. it was a relatively quick trip and i didn't really plan on seeing much between williams, az and las vegas, nv. it was a pleasure to see the hoover dam. i didn't stop to do the tourist thing, but i got a few pictures. as there are not many routes out of vegas, i will probably have to cross over it again. maybe i will stop then.


hoover dam - 09/08/2006


hoover dam - 09/08/2006

aLex already had everything arranged. we were staying at the paris hotel, which wasn't too hard to find on the strip with the eiffel tower out front. since i had to take my bike to the local dealer, bmw of las vegas, for its 12,000 mile maintenance, i had to check in and unload everything before the valet drivers got mad at me for parking in the entry way. it wouldn't have been bad except that it was already about 95 degrees and there were tons of people to weave through with bags, helmet, etc.

after a brief delay at the airport, aLex finally made it. we already had reservations at nobu in the hard rock hotel. the dinner was great, but the service was just satifactory.

day 27

after the rain yesterday and it looking like rain again today, i decided to skip zion national park and instead see grand canyon national park (i would have wanted to do some of the trails at zion, and i didn't know how they would be in the rain).

after leaving utah with no more wives than when i entered, i headed down the u.s. 89-alt which runs by the entrance to the north rim of the grand canyon. i had already decided to only see the south rim, as i didn't have time for both. i then passed by the vermillion cliffs which were visible from bryce canyon national park the previous day.

while taking the first picture below of the vermillion cliffs, an older gentleman walked up to me and warned me of some gravel on the road in the valley below (where i took the second picture while stopped). i thanked him but was curious why he was warning me, as he was driving a jeep with a trailer. he then told me that he had a bike like mine, clarifying that it was a bmw r100e (e for imported from europe). i asked him how he liked it, and he told me that he had about 480,000 miles on it, which i took as him liking it very much. he said that he had the jeep and trailer so that he could take his dogs (four small ones, don't remember breed). i asked if he considered a sidecar, to which he replied yes, but some of his dogs would run if they could so he didn't try it.



vermillion cliffs, az - 09/07/2006

i got this picture while stopped for the road construction.


vermillion cliffs, az - 09/07/2006

further on down the road i came across cliff dwellers. the first picture looks as if it were from a different planet. the "house" in the second picture is actually built around one of the giant boulders.


cliff dwellers, az - 09/07/2006


cliff dwellers, az - 09/07/2006

below is the colorado river before it enters grand canyon national park. notice the boat in the river near the center of the picture.


colorado river near marble canyon, az - 09/07/2006

all day it had either been threatening to rain or just barely spinkling. finally on the the last stretch to grand canyon np, the skys opened up. it was so bad that i had to pull over. luckily there was an old abandoned roadside stand that was used by the navajos to sell their arts and crafts. luckily the rain didn't finish it off while i was under it.


rain delay - 09/07/2006

i didn't know what to expect when i got to the park. i have seen many impressive things already on my trip, but the grand canyon was impressive based on its sheer size. although the rain and clouds prevented a clear view of the entire canyon, i think they provided a good contrast of the landscape.


grand canyon, az - 09/07/2006


grand canyon, az - 09/07/2006