Home is the Rider, Home From the Road...

With an allusion to the Robert Louis Stevenson poem I begin the final blog of this epic journey which began on July 31st.  Monday was the final riding day before Garry and I arrived home and as such it was bittersweet.  On one hand we were finishing what will undoubtedly be one of the great experience of our lives.  On the other, we would be arriving home after three weeks of riding, camping, staying in motel rooms and eating at fast food restaurants.

Whenever I leave for an extended trip I often wonder how I will feel when I have returned.  I wonder if the experience will change me in some way so that I look at things differently.  When I ride the final kilometre to my home I refelct on that question and review the events of the time away.  This time the thought that was uppermost in my mind was about the vastness of our continent both in terms of space and time. 

We rode every day for twenty-one days and yet we saw just a small portion of this continent.  In several places including the Bighorn Pass and the Flaming Gorge in Wyoming, I witnessed several hundred million years of geology on display in cliffs often hundreds of metres high.  The rocks in the Bighorn Pass are half as old as the earth itself and some of the rock faces themselves spanned up to 150 million years.  In the Flaming Gorge the cliff along the reservoir displayed 300 million years of geological history.

We saw evidence of the vast age of the earth on display almost every day along with the tremendous drive for life to survive.  In places where the soil was dust, grasses and small shrubs manage to eke out their existence.  In steaming hot pools in Yellowstone Park bacteria have evolved to be able to survive in very hot water while others thrive in alkaline pools that would kill most other forms of microscopic life.  A trip like this points out how insignificant we are in terms of our physical size and the time we spend on this planet.  And yet it also points out our tremendous ability to have an impact on our world.

However, on Monday morning we left Burlington, WA under cloudy skies and cool weather.  At least it seemed cool to us, although the the previous two weeks of riding in temperature from the mid nineties to 105 degrees F.  have accustomed us to higher temperatures.  The ride was smooth and we covered the almost eighty kilometres to the border very quickly.

I love Duty Free.  It is one of the few places where a regular person who isn't rich enough to hide their money from taxes can get a break.  As someone who loves a good glass of Scotch, it is very satisfying to be able to buy an expensive bottle for the price of a brand that costs half as much in the liquor store.. 

We picked up a bottle of very good tequila and one of excellent Scotch before crossing the border.  The Customs agent was efficient and we crossed the border in to Canada without any problems, although, by this point the major item in both of our stuff was a growning pile of dirty laundry which even Customs agents wouldn't want to approach.

We made it to the ferry just after 11:30 and had time for a visit to Starbucks.  It is great to be back on the Coast where a person can get a Starbucks within a reasonable distance. In Nevada I checked for the nearest Starbucks and found that it was located in Fallon, NV, 176 miles away!

While we were waiting we met two American riders, Ziggy and Dan who were rididng BMWs, not that we held that against them.  Ziggy is from Colorado and Dan is from Texas.  They have been riding together for many years.  Their last big trip was to the Yukon and Alaska in 2003.  This year they rode to Canada and were on their way to Ucluelet, on our west coast for a few days.  Ziggy was looking forward to having a mess of oysters when he arrived in Ucluelet.  I don't know howw successful he would be but I wished him luck with it.  We met them again later on the ferry. 

 

Dan's & Ziggy's BMWs and our bikes on the BC Ferry.

Dan (l.) and Ziggy getting ready to leave the ferry

It was a beautiful day for a ferry ride and the Island mountains were visible through the haze as we moved closer to Duke Point, near Nanaimo.  At one point we could see four ferries at one time.  Probably not that rare an occurrence but the first time I have noticed it.

The view from the BC Ferry

Another view from the ferry.

The Queen of Alberni headed to Tsawwasssen.

Ferries from Horseshoe Bay & Departure Bay.

At this point it was really feeling like home and Garry and I both wanted to make it to Campbell River as quickly as possible. We did the 168 kilometres from the ferry to CR without stopping except for stop lights. 

Just as we began the ride with a photo, we finshed it the same way.  Gerry's next door neighbour was available so I set up the camera and she snapped the photo of us in Garry's driveway.  I then left and rode the final kilometre of the trip.  Parking in my driveway I checked my odometer.  Final total; in twenty one days of riding I had covered 7513 km.  One of the epic rides of my life and one that was almost perfect.  No serious mechanical problems, no rain, no close calls, and no *@#holes.  As I characterized last year's trip, this was what a friend calls a 'blessed trip'.

The final stop on our 21 day, 7500 km ride, Garry's driveway.

 

As I did last year, but perhaps to a lesser extent after what I saw this summer, I'm still awed by the land that we live in.  To our west are lakes and mountains and to our east is the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the coast mountains with a variety of islands thrown in for good measure.  We have lush green forests with trees that sometimes stand 70 metres tall, salmon runs that fill the Campbell River with tens of thousands of fish, and eagles that can be seen almost any time one cares to look.

 

Right now is the height of the salmon fishing season.  People fish for Tyee (spring salmon weighing 30+ pounds) in small rowboats and with special gear and line that can be no more than 20 pound test.  On the Campbell River people are fishing for pink salmon with fly fishing and spin casting gear, while others snorkel down the river and watch and swin with the pink salmon as they return to complete their life cycle.

 

Tyee (30+ pound spring salmon) in the Tyee Pool.

Fly fishing for pink salmon in the Campbell River.

Spin casting for pink salmon in the Campbell River.

 

Finally, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my wife Darlene for indulging my need to go a-wandering for an extended period of time for the second time in as many years.  She has understood and tolerated my absence from home so I can go riding for weeks at a time seeing places I've always wanted to see.  I suspect that next summer I may remain closer to home but this summer I have had one of the opportunities of a lifetime to see a part of the world that is spectacular by any measurement.  For that I am grateful.

 

 

The Party's Almost Over.

After almost three weeks of temperatures of between 90 to 105 degrees F. we are now back to reality.  The temperature was in the low 60s when we left Wilsonville, OR, this morning.  It was a good day to be wearing chaps and a leather jacket as the clouds were low and it looked like it was going to rain as we approached Portland.  However, rain was not the problem. 

At 100 kph in busy traffic, reading a GPS while  trying to decipher signage that is at best ambiguous, and at worst misleading, it is easy to miss a turn.  I did, heading for The Dalles instead of Seattle.  Following the GPS I turned off the highway onto a city street where I was directed to make a turn that would take us back to I-5 North to Seattle.  One problem - the exit was closed so I had to continue to the next turn as directed by the GPS.  It too was closed.  Finally, we rode through a part of Portland where a street was closed for some kind of festival and eventually made it onto the I-5 crossing the Columbia River into Washington State.

The ride to Seattle was a chore more than anything else.  South of Centralia a very light mist began to fall but it didn't go past that.  It has been our closest brush with rain to this point on the trip.  We also faced traffic jams in Centralia, Tacoma, and Seattle.  And this was on Sunday.  I hate to think what it would be like on a regular work day.  Not only is there heavy traffic, there are even signs restricting traffic speed to 45 mph and then 30 mph on the freeway through central Seattle. 

North of Lake Union traffic sped up and we made it to Sound H-D in Marysville running on fumes. We took a break at the dealership, gassed up and headed north to Burlington where we pulled into a motel and wrapped it up for the day.

Essentially today we just rode for more than four hours in medium to heavy traffic just putting in the miles.  There was not much to see or to stop for.  For the first time in twenty days of riding we saw nothing that even warranted a stop for a photgraph.  Today was essentially a work day under cloudy skies.  I was surprised though when I was waiting for Garry to check in and I was sitting on my bike in my leathers, I did not feel uncomfortable even though the temperature read 77 degrees F.  I appear to have grown accustomed to hot weather and already I'm missing it.

Tomorrow we'll cross the border, catch a ferry and ride the 170 km from Nanaimo to Campbell River.  As great as it will be to be home, it will be somewhat of a change not to be thinking of where we will be going tomorrow.  This has been a great trip and we have seen a lot of country that neither of us had seen before.  I'm not sure what I'll do next year but I'm sure that over the fall and winter I'll figure something out.

Dodging Bullets

It's almost a given that when the first thing that you hear when you wake up in the morning is, "Oh, s*@t!", followed by, "It's raining!", your day is not going to be a good one.  There are exceptions to this rule, however.  First, it take the urgency away from the need to get rolling, and second, it's not going to get any worse so you don't have to waste time wondering what's coming next.

Fortunately, our guardian angels, gods, spirits, or whatever divine creature you care to imagine was with us today.  By 8:30 a.m. the rain had stopped, no doubt disappointing the hundred of firefighters who are struggling with the wildfires in the state, but, perversely,  delighting us.  We loaded the bikes and were ready to roll after talking to the young couple from Vancouver who had spent the night in the room next to ours.  He works for the utility department for the City of Vancouver, and she had just finished her first year studying International Relations at SFU, and they were headed for San Francisco on a ten day vacation.  We talked about alternate routes to SF and left them to decide what option they would choose.

As we headed north out of town we stopped at a Shell station for gas.  We found out that in Oregon there is no self-serve in gas stations.  Attendants are required to use the pump although they all make the exception for motorcycle riders because they are really particular about getting gas on their machines.  They do all the financial stuff with your credit card then hand you the nozzle & let you fill your own tank. It's easier that way for them.

Occasionally people make really bonehead moves for whatever reason.  As I was pulling back on to the highway, I made mine.  I turned north in the southbound lane, totally confusing Garry and totally surprising the guy in the SUV who was coming south right at me.  I realized as soon as I was in the turn what I was doing but there was no escaping it.  I had to complete the turn or hit the divider and when the SUV passed me, I quickly did a U-turn to go in the right direction, then make a possibly highly illegal U-turn on the red light to escape the scene of the stupidity.

The highway north from Klamath Falls runs through some quite rugged country that is very much a semi-desert.  Almost paradoxically, in the middle of this landscape of dried grasses and short light green shrubs there is a large lake that seems like it shouldn't belong here.  Klamath Lake is several miles long and both the highway and railway tracks hug its shore over that distance.  In the distance to right we could see the eat side of the Coast range with some of the mountains in the typical cone shape of volcanoes.

As we rode further north pine trees began to appear and by the time we had reached the area south of Bend, OR, instead of seeing brown grass and short shrubs to the horizon, we were surrounded by large pine trees that had virtually no undergrowth.  It was as if they had sprouted out of the arid semi-desert but nothing else would grow.

Bend, OR, is famous for it's outdoor lifestyle and its microbreweries, the most famous of which is the Deschutes Brewery.

The Deschutes Brewery. Note the kegs used for aging stout, in the window.

The entrance to the brewery.

For me it was a bittersweet experience.  I twas great to be able to go to a brewery that produces a wide variety of fine beers, but because I was riding, I was unable to vilate my absolute rule against drinking and riding so I could only watch as others stood around enjoying a wide variety of beers before doing the brewery tour.

Upon leaving the brewery we rode to Wild Horse H-D where I found that my rear tire had about 1500 km left on it.  I had it replaced and found out that me rear brake pads were just about done so I had them replaced as well in order to save the cost o removing the rear tire again if I had them replaced later.

While we were there I met a couple who had their dog with them. The husband had just bought a Harley trike and his wife loves riding with him and their little dog.  They were looking for a motorcycle helmet and goggles for their dog but so far hadn't found any.  So far the dog rides with the wife with a harness and a very short leash.

The Vietnam veteran with his wife and puppy.

I found out that the man had spent three tours off the coast of Vietnam in two carriers, the USS Bonhomme Richard,  and the Coral Sea as an ordinanceman, if I have that right.  We had a great chat.  When he asked me if I was a veteran I had to explain to him that I was a Canadian and that we haven't been in many wars over the past sixty years.

When my repairs were finished I spoke to the service manager about the microbreweries in Bend.  He admitted that he has become a 'beer snob', and his opinion is that Deschutes has become a tourist trap and that the best brewery in Bend is one called 'Boneyard' that makes an excellent IPA.  I would like to have had more time to talk beer with him but I did recommend Driftwood's Fat Tug IPA, and Hoyne Brewery's Devil's Dream IPA to him the next time he gets to Victoria.

We were on the road again just befre 4:00 p.m., heading to Salem.  Here we began to get into the Oregon that most of us know with mountains, tall evergreen trees, and water.  The road wound through the Coast Mountains but it was an easy ride and in the trees, the temperature was absolutely cool compared to the temperatures we have experienced during the previous week.

The mountains west of Bend, OR.

A volcanic type mountain northwest of Bend, OR.

We climbed into the mountains and the trees began to close in around us.  The highway has some viewpoints but not as many as it could have because there are so many great sights but no place to stop and enjoy them. 

Mount Washington (the third one I know of) in the Cascade Mountains.

The remains of a 2003 forest fire near Mount Washington, OR.

The US Army Corps of Engineers built a large dam near the village of Detroit.  The lake is a favourite recreation spot for much of western Oregon judging from the number of people camping and on the lake.

The lake behind the Detroit Dam

The downstream side of the Detroit Dam.

We crossed the mountains and arrived in Salem where we moved onto I-5 and headed north to Wilsonville, OR.  We were able to get a room at a reasonable rate and then go for dinner at the 'Wanker's Corner' where I had a chance to sample some of the Boneyard IPA called Hop Venom, that the service manager at Wildhorse H-D in Bend had recommended.  However, the beer was little more than a sample with a very small glass.  It was good though.

We are now two days from home.  Tomorrow we plan to ride at least to Burlington and perhaps to Bellingham where we will stay overnight before crossing the border, taking the ferry and riding home on Monday.  So far the weather has continued to favour us and the forecast says that it should continue to do so.  We have been very fortunate on this trip and hope that it will continue to be that way for the next two days. 

All Smoke & No Mirrors

Today is day 18 our our epic ride through the western US.  As enjoyable as the riding is, the relentless 100 degree heat is hard on man and machine although the bikes ran well today.

It was a slow start this morning.  We both slept until just after 8:00 a.m. and when we were ready to go and called the bellman to bring a cart, nothing happened.  Garry called three times before a bellman arrived about 45 minutes after the first call.  Needless to say, there was no tip for him.

It was surprisingly easy to get out of Reno and we covered the ninety miles to Susanville, CA, in a little over an hour and a half.  The day hadn't heated up to the point that we had to pack away our jackets, but by the time we gassed up it was in the high eighties for the jackets were packed away as it turned out, for the rest of today's ride. 

View across the valley from the highway above Susanville, CA

Smoke haze obscures the horizon across the valley.

We have decided to head for Bend tomorrow so our plan was to make it to Klamath Falls, OR today.  We took Route 139 north from Susanville.  The first several miles took us over a 5500 foot pass before we dropped down to Eagle Lake, the second largest natural lake in California.  We rode on to a small town named Adin which had a large old store that looked like it could have come from the 1930s with wooden floors, counters, display cases, and a high ceiling made from boards.  Quite amazing but on the outside there was a sign, "Try our 'Stud Muffin'. Two English muffins with egg, cheese & bacon. $5.99."

The run in to Klamath Falls was quite uneventful because the highway ran straight for miles with the occasional curve.  Initially it ran through a pine forest with trees that looked like they could have been alive when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth but it descended to a large valley where the farms were irrigated to a high degree.  When we rode through fields that were irrigated the temperature became noticeably cooler. 

We rolled into Klamath Falls at about 4:30 and decided against going any farther today.  After getting a room at the Econo Lodge for $52.00, we had dinner at Sizzlers before packing it in for the day.  While we were waiting in the line at Sizzlers we met two guys who had been at Reno H-D yesterday.  One of them lives in Burien, WA, and the other in Burlington, WA, and they ahve been travelling with their wives for the past week or two.  They are just 'putting along' as one f the guys says so they don't plan on being home until Sunday.  Cincidentally, they followed the same route that we did today, as well.

It constantly amazes me when I see the variety of wildlife that have been killed on the highways that we ride on.  The largest number of victims of these collisions are deer, closely followed by coyotes.  It looks like Wiley's cousins aren't as lucky as he is.

Today all of our riding was done in a thick smoky haze all the way from outside of Reno all the way to Klamath Falls.  Visibility was poor and even mountains that were hidden in the haze so I didn't take many photos today.  There is a large number of wild fires in the western states including Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and perhaps Idaho & Montana as well and the smoke from them is covering much of the western US.  As I write there is a large fire in Mount Lassen National Park and there is another about thirty miles from Klamath Falls.

During our ride we have seen a surprisingly large number of burned areas beside the roads and highways.  Most of them are less than three or four acres in size which speaks to the efficiency of the fire fighting crews in this part of the US.

It seems strange to think that in any other situation we would be astounded by how beautiful this area is but compared to the landscapes that we have been riding through for the past week, this part of California and Oregon seems mundane and pedestrian.  We have been spoiled by a week of riding through some of the most spectacular scenery on the continent, if not in the world.

Tomorrow it's on to Bend then northwest to Portland or maybe into the southern part of Washington State.  When we reach I-5 it will be relatively high speed to the Canadian border barring traffic jams through Seattle.  It's looking like the good weather is going to hold and if it does we will have had a perfect trip.

Virginia City & Lake Tahoe

Yesterday I was concerned that I had a leaking fork seal because I was finding spots on the backrest of my bike so Garry & I planned to go to Reno Harley-Davidson early this morning to see if it was a problem.  When Garry went to start his bike he found that he was missing a clutch pivot pin and he had planned to have it washed as well.  We arranged to have both bikes looked at.  Garry's bike didn't have enough oil in it so that had to be taken care of and the mechanic found that the steering head bolt had not been tightened properly in Rock Springs.  We arrived at about 9:10 a.m. but by the time they were finished we left the dealership at about 1:30 p.m.

Reno Harley-Davidson

I, on the other hand, should never have doubted Big Red.  There was no problem with the fork seal.  When I had my bike serviced in New York State last summer the mechanic greased the steering bearings and he put excess grease in and the grease forced its way through the bearings on to the triple crown.  With the temperatures we have been having, the grease was melting and at the high speeds we have been travelling it was being blown off the triple crown and into the air.  Big Red still continues to run flawlessly.

Leaving The H-D dealership we rode to Virginia City on a wonderful road that clung to the side of the mountain and which climbed over 2400 feet in about 9 miles.  Many of the corners were limited to 60 kph.  The ride was challenging but the scenery was worth every moment of the ride.  We crested out at 6800 feet then began the ride down in to Virginia City.  At one point it was the richest place on earth with the discovery of the Comstock Lode.

View from the road to Virginia City

These hills are typical of the hills around Reno, NV.

Looking over Reno.

On the way to Virginia City

Much of the old town remains today along with false front buildings and wooden sidewalks.  The newspaper building which was built in the early 1860s was the place where Samuel Clemens worked as a reporter and where he created the pen name, Mark Twain.  The old buildings include a striking Catholic Church, St. Mary of the Mountains, that was built in 1863 after the fire of the previous year.

St. Mary of the Mountains church, Virginia City, NV

Wooden sidewalks in Virginia City

Street scene, Virginia City, NV

We walked around the town going into several bars, one of which still had the vault which was used to hold millions of dollars of silver, gold, and currency in a secure place during the boom times.  One of the famous saloons in Virginia City is the 'Bucket of Blood'.  We checked it out and it still looks like it must have in the 1870s with the exception of the slot machines that line the walls.  On the sidewalk we met two women walking their pugs, one in a stroller.  I thought the sight was hilarious and asked the lady if I could take a photo of  her & the dogs.

Bucket of Blood Saloon, Virginia City, NV

Bucket of Blood sign.

The lady & her pugs.

We left Virginia City and headed to Carson City.  Again the temperature was in the 90s but the bikes seemed to be running better than we were.  Carson City is the state capital but it is not a very pretty town.  It has many casinos but we didn't find the old town or the capitol building before we headed to Lake Tahoe. 

The road again climbed from about 4500 feet to over 7200 feet before dropping down to the shores of Lake Tahoe.  The Lake is over 70 miles long and its shores are lined with houses.  We rode along part of the Nevada shore but we were unable to go around the lake to the California side. 

At about 5:10, Garry noticed that he was getting a warning that his engine had been overfilled with oil.   We had a 38 mile ride back to the dealership over the Santa Rosa Highway.  This highway is the highest pass in Nevada that is kept open during the winter.  Again, it is a mountain road and has numerous sharp curves and steep grades.  We reached the top at 8900 feet which is the second highest altitude we have reached on this trip after the 9033 feet of the Bighorn Pass in Wyoming  Down the other side was a series of switchbacks which challenged the handling ability of Big Red.  We were pushing our bikes as much as we could and dropped from 8900 feet to about 4500 feet in about 16 miles.

The run in to Reno was quick but we had to stay close to the speed limit.  At 5:55, we took the exit from the main highway  to the street that led to the H-D shop.  After waiting a nerve wracking 2 minutes at a particularly long light, I rolled into the parking lot with Garry close behind at 5:58, two minutes before closing time.  The mechanic talked to Garry to let him know what was going on with his bike so he was satisfied that everything is OK.  I was pretty pleased to have made the 38 miles across a mountain highway in 48 minutes.

The ride back to the hotel was easy and we had lots of time to go out for dinner then do some gambling.  Garry made about $160 over the past two nights playng blackjack while I took the fifteen dollar voucher that Circus Circus gave me and walked away with eighteen dollars. 

Tomorrow we are aiming to make it to Klamath Falls, OR.  It will be a reasonable ride so we shouldn't have to push too hard.  The trip is winding down but we have had a great ride and both of us have had a lot of fun.  To this point we have ridden about 5800 km and expect to be close to 7500 kms when we arrive home.  What an experience!

Hot & Windy - A Great Day for a Ride!

On some days it is easy to get on the road and on others it just takes a little longer.  This morning was one of the latter.  We were up early enough but walked across the road to the 4 Corners restaurant to have breakfast.  Packing was quite simple this morning and we had the bikes loaded and ready to go by 9:30.  During that time I spent some time talking to a retired engineer who thinks the Republicans are really trying to destroy the middle class.  He went back to Ronald Reagan, whom he did not like at all, and his attempts to allow the Savings & Loans to be deregulated with the loss of trillions of dollars for the taxpayers.

We rolled out of Wells before 10:00 a.m. on the way to Elko, NV.  The land here is quite flat near the Interstate with mountains in the distance on both sides of the highway which follows valley bottoms until it runs out of valley and has to go over the top of the ridge that separates it from the next one.  There is a great deal of dead grass along with sagebrush, mesquite, and a short bush that seems to be blooming with small yellow blossoms.  The Nevada Highways Department, or whatever it is called had a guy mowing these plants beside the Interstate yesterday and the plants gave of a pungent spicy smell that was not unpleasant.

Typical scene in Nevada

Another roadside scene

Today was a day of more road kill.  For some strange reason there are quite a few dead coyotes on the road.  We have seen them throughout our trip from time to time but in the past two days we must have seen eight or ten of them along with the usual deer and small animals.

We stopped in Elko for gas at the Chevron station and paid the highest price that we have all trip - $4.19/US gallon.  Cheap by Canadian standards but at least forty cents more than the usual price we have been paying.

Later as we gassed up at Battle Mountain we met a mining engineer and his two adult children from California.  While I had been riding around the Flaming Gorge they had been rafting on the river.  He had some suggestions including taking a ride to Mount Lassen, the semi-dormant volcano in northern California that still has fumaroles and last erupted in 1917.

At a rest stop west of Elko I talked to some firefighters from Alaska.  They had been fighting wildfires in Nevada for the past four days and were now being moved to California in three light green school buses.  Things are tight here when firefighters are being brought in from Alaska.  Several of the guys came by saying, "Nice ride, man." while fist bumping me.  I thought that was pretty cool.  I can't say I envy them riding in school buses that weren't air conditioned and didn't have washrooms.  They had to stop at rest areas and we saw them again just as we were leaving the stop at Winnemucca, NV.  Finally, they were going through Reno just as we were turning off the find a place to stay.

Alaskan firefighters on the way to California.  Who picked the colour for the bus???

The day was hot so we took our jackets off and put them away by 11:00 a.m.  I suspect the temperature was over 100 F. today.  We have taken to bringing litre bottles of Powerade with us to keep hydrated and to replenish the electrolytes we are losing as we sweat.  We finally got smart and instead of paying up to two dollars a bottle, we stopped at trusty old Walmart and bought several bottles for $.88 each.   Garry has been having trouble with sunburn, despite the fact that he applies sunscreen liberally several times a day.  With the time we were in the sun both of us have some sunburn on our upper arms where the wind had been blowing our shirtsleeves up.

View from the Walmart parking lot in Winnemucca, NV

We made good time while on the road, but with the constant stops for drinks our speed is not as quick as it seems.  We stopped at MacDonald's for an iced coffee (the unholy duo, Walmart & MacDonald's in one afternoon!) and then left for Fernley, 55 miles down the road only to discover that neither of us would be able to make it without gassing up so we had to turn around and ride the six miles back to Lovelock to get gas.  It would have been a bad thing to run out of gas here because there were no services for 55 miles.

About sixteen miles north of Fernley we saw a sign that said, 'Strong Crosswinds are Possible'.  Almost immediately, literally within seconds we experienced strong crosswinds.  And these were strong winds  at least thirty to forty miles per hour.  We slowed from 75 mph to 60 mph but it was a white knuckle ride.  At Fernley we pulled in to put on our jackets and decide whether to go on.  We decided to fight the winds & head to Reno.  The crosswinds continued to be a problem until we began to drop down towards Reno.  Once we dropped down below the height of land the winds eased off.

After exiting the Interstate we pulled into a motel parking lot so I could check accommodations on my GPS.  The area we were in looked pretty rough so we were glad to move on down the road to the centre of town.  The Circus Circus looked OK so we stopped there.  Garry went in to see about a room and came out with one for $67 for the two of us!  This is one of the cheapest rooms of the whole trip. 

Views from our 12th storey room at the Circus Circus Hotel in Reno, NV.

The weather looks uncertain so we have decided to stay for two nights.  If everything is OK, we plan on riding to Carson City, and then to Lake Tahoe which is supposed to be well worth the ride.  I seen to have a minor oil leak in my fork but can't really figure out where it's coming from so I'm going to go to the dealer tomorrow to see if they can figure it out.

We did 598 km today and considering the heat, it was a good day. Tomorrow is going to be a sort of day off from heavy duty riding and then we'll resume by starting to head north on the way home.  It has been a great trip but it will be good to see Campbell River again.

Across Utah

Today is Day 15 of our ride.  Except for the issues with Garry's bike there have been no glitches.  The weather has been great, if not a trifle warm, and except for Friday afternoon when we weren't riding anyway, we've had no rain.  And being in a semi desert, the chances of anything but isolated thunder showers are remote.  If you hate riding in rain and don't mind the heat, this is the place to be. 

We had an early start today, well early for us, rolling out of Rock Springs, WY, before 9:00 a.m. and heading through Green River to the Utah border.  Despite all the different rock formations I've seen to this point, the ones I saw at Green River were really impressive.  The Interstate is cut right into the side of the mountain, laying bare millions of years of geological history.  At one point the engineers cut a tunnel through the rock rather than remove the huge amounts that they would have had to do to to have an open road.

The high plains open up west of Green River and, of course, the road kill began anew.  We saw many deer crumpled up on the shoulder of the highway, along with other smaller animals that are just flattened onto the asphalt.  The colours began to change in the exposed deposits as well.  In addition to the regular yellows, browns, greys and reds, some of the exposed formations now have a beautiful, almost sage green, that I have never seen seen in these types of formations.  We were rolling along quickly and you aren't supposed to stop on the Interstate, so sadly, I wasn't able to get any photos.

For the past few days, the usually clear views have been obscured by a haze that blocks out much of the mountains in the distance.  Apparently with the drought, there are some big fires in Nevada and northern California and they are creating a heavy haze that is obscuring the normally stunning views.  It is unfortunate that our trip coincides with these fires.

Continuing past Evanston, WY, we crossed into Utah and began a climb through another mountain pass that took us to more than 7200 feet.  At one of the rest stops the highway is high above the valley floor which is quite narrow and has room only for a small stream, a two-lane highway and the Union Pacific mainline, probably the same line that was originally built in 1869 when the Union Pacific built the eastern half of the first north American transconinental railway line.  We stopped for a water break and I climbed to the top of the hill to get some photos of the gorge and to see a Union Pacific coal train inching its way down the grade.  I love trains so I was delighted to be able to get some photos and video of one coming through an absolutely beautiful landscape.

Another shade of red in a rock formation

Union Pacific coal train inching downgrade

Out of the gorge and into open country.

The highway continued to twist and turn through the pass until we came down to open country where we were able to make good time to Salt Lake City.  The Interstate leading from the high area to the east of Salt Lake City forces its way through the last mountains in a continuous series of sharp curves until it comes out into the valley near Salt Lake City, where Brigham Young located the centre for the new religion, Mormonism, that Joseph Smith had created around 1830.

The mountains just east of Salt Lake City

As it has so often during this trip, my GPS again proved its worth taking us right to the centre of Mormondom.  We were even fortunate enough to find a parking spot on the street less than a block from Temple Square, so it was a short walk to the whole complex of the Temple, Tabernacle, Assembly Building and other buildings which are in a park like setting with fully grown elm, horse chestnut and other trees as well as bronze statues depicting famous events in Mormon history.

Statue of Brigham Young at the entrance to Temple Square

Mormon Temple in Salt lake City

The huge pipe organ in the Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City.

The Mormon Tabernacle

The Assembly Building, Salt Lake City

The Temple is a relatively massive building erected from granite quarried 23 miles away and brought by ox cart to the site over a period of forty years from 1853 until the completion of the Temple in 1893.  It was even started and completed on the same day of the year, April 6th.  We noticed a large crowd of people at the side of the Temple and found out that it was several wedding parties awaiting their turn to be married in the Mormon 'Holy of Holies'.  To my mind, while it is undoubtedly an impressive building, it is not aesthetically pleasing.  The proportions don't seem just right.

Mormon Temple, Salt Lake City, UT.

I also noticed that there were many young couples on site, many of them with three or four children, all under the ages of five or six years.  'Be fruitful and multiply,' isn't just a suggestion in Utah from what I saw today.  It also seemed strange that almost every male I saw on the grounds and in the streets in the adjacent areas had on dark pants, white shirts, and ties, some with dark jackets. The thought that it was a sort of uniform crossed my mind and that they were all well programmed automatons.  The women were dressed as if they were going to a formal occasion.  There were no jeans or T-shirts to be seen, except for ones Garry and I were wearing.  We were also the only two men that I saw who weren't clean shaven, and I probably had the longest hair of any male in the city when I was there.

The temperature was forecast to be 95F. in SLC today and I can believe it reached that easily.  It was a real relief to go to a food fair in a shopping centre and enjoy the air conditioning for half an hour before heading out on the road again.  In under two hours we were on our way to the west and toward the Great Salt Lake.  We weren't more than about fifteen miles west of Salt lake City cruising at 75 mph when we saw a huge cloud of dust.  When we stopped and the dust had cleared we saw an old Nissan-type pickup truck halfway into the ditch.  He seemed to have hit the shoulder and clipped a saftety marker, tearing it out along with several more.  His left front was totally demolished but a woman got out unhurt followed by another guy then the driver.  When we saw that everyone was OK we carried on.

The beach where I swam 36 years ago is closed because the Utah government doesn't was to pay for lifeguards and also because the lake has contracted in this drought so that the beach is a long way from where it used to be.  We stopped for photos but the haze prevented me from getting any images that would show how incredible this place is.

Great Salt Lake, UT

Further west the Interstate runs through some salt flats.  In some areas there is standing water with salt crusted around the edges of the pools and around posts that have been driven into the ground for some unknown purpose.  It was very much like the beginning of a freeze up where the water turns to ice along the edges of the pond first and also around any objects that may be sticking out of the water.  Without the context of 100 F. temperature, a photo of this might make you think that the water was in the process of freezing.

We have learned that it is necessary to drink lots in this heat because it is easy to become dehydrated and mentally sluggish, so after stopping occasionally to take photos we stopped at a very small place, (it was a small store and gas station with two of the three pumps out of order)  to buy drinks.  As we were standing in the shade four vehicles,  three Chrysler cars and a Jeep pulling a trailer pulled in.  I asked one of the guys what the SRT on his shirt meant.  He told me that it was 'Street & Racing Technologies' a branch of Chrysler Motors and that the four of them, two men and two women, were driving around America from car show to car show demoing Chrysler's racing vehicles. 

The SRT team at Delle, UT

The 'better half' of the SRT team.

The SRT team with their Jeep and support trailer.

We had an interesting chat about their jobs and they were all having a great time doing them.  The guy I talked to has been racing for more than thirty years and he has raced Corvettes and Ferraris. One of the women sells the types of cars that are so powerful that drivers have to be trained before then can drive them.  One of the guys said that when these rich guys buy a car like a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, they think they are buying talent, too.

Following them onto the highway, we did a quick 100 km to a rest area right on the Bonneville Salt Flats.  We were able to walk right out onto the lake bed.  When I picked up a piece of salt I was surprised to find that it was moist.  In various parts of the lake, the salt is a hard crust but there is water - very salty water - underneath so the salt is still moist. 

There is a plaque at the edge of the salt flats that explains the importance of them in racing history.  Some very amazing things have occurred here, and while the current world land speed record is now over 800 mph (1300 kph) there is going to be an attempt to take it to 1000 mph (1600 kph) in the near future.  Perhaps this year.

Union Pacific coal train heading west near Delle, UT.

Standing on the Bonneville Salt Flats

Plaque explaining the importance of the Flats to high speed racing

Me at the Bonneville Salt Flats plaque

We met the SRT people again and one of the guys was kind enough to take my photo there.  And I didn't even learn their names.

About seven miles further on Bonneville Salt Flats State Park is a mecca for gearheads from all over the world.  People have tents, trailers and motorhomes set up right beside the highway on the salty lake bed.  Further on, where the road ends and the lake begins we parked our bikes on the Bonneville Salt Flats and I walked on the lake near where the race course is set up.  By 'near' I mean at least a mile away.  In the distance we could see the rows of motor homes & trailers set up to support the racers but by the time we arrived racing was done for the day and most people were leaving.  Some of the vehicles coming off the lake were encrusted in salt.  I think that can't be good for the bodywork.  Garry and I can now say we have been to the 'Gearhead Centre of the Universe'.

Camping on the Bonneville Salt Flats, UT

Racing team trailers and campers on Bonneville Salt Flats, UT

Garry, his bike, and Big Red on the Bonneville Salt Flats, UT

Our original plan was to stay overnight in Wendover, UT/NV, When we arrived at one of the motels we were told a room was ninety dollars plus tax and that the intenet wasn't very good so we decided to gas up and continue on west.  Even though we were in Utah, there was a big casino in the middle of town.  When Garry asked about that the guy told him that the state line was just down the street.  In fact, it was marked right on the street and the casino was built just inches or maybe feet inside Nevada.  The parking lot for the casino is actually in Utah!

Our next stop was Wells, NV, 60 miles further west so we again hit the road and again road construction made the ride a bit unpleasant.  Garry was caught behind a semi that kept wandering onto the shoulder & throwing stuff up at him and towards the end of the seven miles of construction there was barely more than half a lane on which to ride.

Room prices have varied widely on this trip depending upon whether the owners think they can gouge you or not.  Wells, NV, is not the tourism capital of the world so rates were reasonable.  We took a room began to unload our bikes and I met two men from France, a father and son, Philippe and Vincente.  They are from Orleans, just south of Paris and are here because they always wanted to go to 'Speed Week'.  Philippe has an 100 Moto Guzzi but would like to get a Harley.  His son didn't seem so interested.  They started their trip in San Francisco and had visited National Parks like Yosemite and Sequoia before heading to Las Vegas and finally here.  You meet the neatest people on a Harley!

Philippe (l.) and Vincente from Orleans, France, in Wells, NV

After settling in we walked over to the restaurant/bar/casino for dinner and then walked back to the motel.  Me later than Garry because I played ten dollars in the slots and came back with eleven dollars.

Today was a long day but tomorrow will be about the same.  We'll ride about 50 miles to Elko, NV, then the remaining 300 to Reno where we'll stop for the night.  This country is ever amazing and it a such a treat to be able to do this at least once in my life.  Maybe I'll hit the big one tomorrow, huh, Ed?