Epilogue

There is no better way to see the country and feel the environment than on a motorcycle. We experienced almost every kind of weather there was from hot, humid and windy conditions in Kansas to foggy, rainy and cold going over a mountain pass in Wyoming. Those being the extremes, we also enjoyed the perfect weather every day in California. After reviewing our trip here are our opinions as well as some statistics.

Most enjoyable ride: Pacific Coast Hwy (or CA1) from Morrow Bay to San Francisco.

Least enjoyable ride: I-40 across Kansas due to wind, heat and humidity.

Most Challenging ride: US550 from Ouray, CO to Silverton, CO, aka the Million Dollar Hwy due to vertigo caused when riding next to the edge of the road with no guard rail and significant drops to the canyon floor.

Close second challenging ride: Powder River Pass, WY due to cold, fog and rain.

Other great rides: CO94 from US40 to Colorado Springs; US50 from Canon City, CO to Montrose, CO; US550 from Silverton, CO to Durango, CO; UT162 and UT163 from CO boarder to AZ boarder; AZ67 from US89 to North Rim of Grand Canyon, AZ; NE167 thru Valley of Fire State Park, NE; Death Valley National Park; CA178 from US395 to Bakersfield; Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA; CA4 from CA49 to CA89 across the Sierra Nevada Mountains; CA89 from CA4 past Lake Tahoe, CA; Yellowstone National Park; US14 from Yellowstone National Park to Cody, WY.

The above rides are what made the trip worthwhile. It's a good thing too as we also rode some of the worst for a motorcycle such as:

• UT9 thru Zion National Park which was under reconstruction. On a motorcycle this is treacherous on a mountain pass.
• NE167 from the Valley of Fire State Park, NE to US95 at the Hoover Dam. There were miles of gravel road that were not identified until we were there.
• I-80 thru Chicago.

Statistics:

• Total Miles: 6360
• Miles to the West Coast: 3115
  
• Max miles in a day: 602
• Least miles in a day: 68
• Number of riding days: 16
• Average miles/day: 398
• Max temp while riding: 111 in Nevada
• Min temp while riding: 36 going over a mountain pass in WY
• Max elevation: 14,082 on US550, Windom Peak, CO
  
• Min elevation: -282 in Death Valley
• Number of states traveled (other than Michigan): 15
• Most congested areas: Lake Tahoe, Yellowstone National Park and Chicago

As you can see, we collected a lot of statistics as this was an important trip to me. As a matter of fact it was on my bucket list. So now, I can check this off as complete. Except now, I have another added because of this trip. Time to start planning.

trip leg for 7/8

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Thursday's events, 7/8

Our last day on the trip was a long one! Headed east on I-80 from Des Moine, IA into Illinois and past Chicago. Going thru Chicago on I-80 on a Thursday afternoon (3:30 Chicago time) was one of the worst portions of our trip. Once into Indiana, took I-94 north into Michigan until we had enough of interstate riding and took US12 east. Steve and I decided to split in Sturgis so we could both get home the quickest route from there. I arrived home @ 9:30 pm.

Wednesday's events, 7/7

Left Chamberlain, SD about 10:30 heading east on I-90. Would probably got an earlier start except one of us slept in a little longer than normal. Must have been the cookies and pop consumed the night before. Anyway, there were storm clouds all along our path this day. Stopped a couple of times to check the radar and forecast and actually altered our route to try to avoid storms by going south on I-29. No such luck, we got caught in a storm just north of Sioux City, IA causing us to wait at a rest stop for about an hour before continuing on I-80 to our final destination for the day at Des Moines, IA. Stayed at another great Best Western Motel. We will hopefully finish our trip tomorrow as we have about 550 miles left to go and plan to get an early start if we can both get up in time to get going to beat the Chicago rush hour traffic on I-80.

Sunday, July 4th, events

Today was a ride day to get as close to Yellowstone National Park as possible. Left Fenley, NE about 9:30 and headed east to US93, then north to I-15, then east on I-84. Encountered a significant cross wind all along US93. Ended the day in Idaho Falls, ID. Significant day because it was our first 600 mile day on bikes; quite the accomplishment.

trip leg for 7/7

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trip leg for 7/6

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