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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Tuesday's events, 7/6

Left Worland, WY about 8:30 heading east on US16 toward I-90 via the Powder Rim Pass. Temp as we left was 54 degrees.. I think this would normally be a great ride..........except on this day. As we entered the pass and started climbing, it got colder and mistier and foggier. By the time we reached to summit, it was 36 degrees, foggy and rainy. Nice! We couldn't wait to start the downward trek to get out of that miserable weather. As soon as we got to Buffalo, WY at the bottom of the other side, we stopped at McDonald's and warmed up with their delicious coffer and mocha.

Continuing on I-90 east we continued to see pockets of light rain until late afternoon. Ended the day in Chamberlain, SD. Very nice little town with a nice Best Western. Patti would love it.

This was the last day for any mountain pass riding as the rest of the trip is interstate all the way home.

Views from the road:

trip leg for 7/5

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Monday's events, 7/5

Left Idaho Falls about 10:30 heading for Yellowstone. Arrived about 12:30. Huge line to get in but we bought the annual pass for the Grand Canyon so we were able to go thru the "express lane" and got thru much faster. The first thing we attempted was to see Old Faithful but there were so many people there we literally couldn't find a parking spot so we left. Traveled south around the park to the continental divide and then continued around to the east side for lunch at the park store. Went north from there to leave the park and ride the Bear Tooth Pass east of the Northeast entrance but as we got closer, we were climbing and it got colder and windy and started to rain. We finally decided it safer to abandon the attempt and go back south and leave the park via the east entrance. Then headed east on US14 to Cody, WY. Great ride thru the canyon. Stopped at a cafe in Cody to check weather and have a coffee to warm up as the whole day was in the fifties.

Left Cody about 8:00 to try to get a few more miles (our biggest mistake) and finally ended up in Worland, WY at a fleabag Super 8 motel for the night. Or should I say starling motel.

Starling nests outside window of fine hotel room in Worland, Wy:

Yellowstone National Park Continental Divide:

Scenery between Yellowstone National Park and Cody, WY:

Sunday, July 4th, events

This was a day to boogie! Left Wadsworth, NE about 9:30 heading as far as we could get by the end of the day or as much as our bodies could handle to get close to Yellowstone National Park. Heading east on I-80, where the weather was sunny and a cool 70 degrees with the wind at our backs and great road conditions was perfect for traveling on motorcycles. After about 300 miles we stopped for lunch, then headed north on US93, a two nice two lane road, into Idaho until we reached I-86. Then headed east to I-15 and finally ended the day in Idaho Falls, ID. Eleven hours and 602 miles on the day was enough for Steve. I wanted to go all the way to the Grand Tetons but I would have had to connect the bikes with a tow rope the rest of the way. Sorry, no photos today as there really wasn't much to capture in the desert. Although Idaho looked more like Michigan with the fields and irrigation.

Loyal readers:

I have a confession to make. For days now, I've been posting in Ron's name, while he has wallowed in the sun like an elephant seal (picture below) ignoring the important documentary aspect of our trip. I did this in hopes that he might be somehow motivated to participate by seeing his name in print.

As the trip is winding down now, i must regretfully cease this selfless venture and focus on recreating.

Cheers,

Your humble documentarian

trip leg for 7/4

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Saturday's events, 7/3

The girls left about 9:45 and left shortly afterward heading east on CA116 to CA12 to CA49 to get to our first scenic ride on CA4. Along the way we traveled thru many Napa Valley vineyards. CA4 crosses the Sierra Nevada mountains. The westerly portion of the road was a very enjoyable ride, sweeping cures and gradual changes in elevation. I got a little nervous seeing the sign that said "Vehicles with trailers not advisable past Alpine lake".

As approached Bear Valley on CA4, I was following Steve to slow down to stop for a photo at a turn out when a brown bear jumped out behind Steve and in front of me to cross the road. This was my first close call of the trip where I almost hit this mammoth animal and would have if I weren't already slowing down. Needless to say, I had to spend some extra time at our stop to recover. Along the way on this mountain pass there were many beautiful lakes. The price paid to view them was a very narrow road with significant elevation changes and very tight turns.

After cross the mountains we headed north along CA89 to Lake Tahoe, another beautiful road. Upon reaching the lake we found so many people congregating all along the California side of the lake that we couldn't wait to get out of there. No signs of a recession there. Ended the day in Wadsworth, NE where Steve had his first exposure to a Casino. Not that we gambled but walked thru it to get to the restaurant. I think he said he might become a professional gambler when he gets back to AA.

North Shore of Lake Tahoe:

Mountains/Alpine lake along CA4:

Another Alpine lake along CA4:

Steve near the Alpine lake along CA4:

Scenic view very, very near site Ron almost hit bear:

Friday's events, 7/2

This was a day of relaxation before the long ride back east. Spent a few hours visiting a couple of wineries. The first was Kendall-Jackson. They had a beautiful garden adjoining the tasting building with a tour of the garden. One interesting thing about the garden was that they shaped apple trees into a trellis, just like grape vines. Marilee and Steve signed up for one of those high end wine deliveries shipped every two months. I will be sure to invite myself about the third week of every odd month for dinner!

Next was the Rodney Strong winery which had fermenting equipment on site which was a cool thing to see. Apparently this is very similar to beer making according to Steve. The rest of the day was spent drinking wine and smoking a cigar after dinner.

trip leg for 7/3

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Monroe Boys

We made it back all of us in great shape. easiest ride to date! only averaged 240 miles per day.

Wednesday, 6/30 and Thursday, 7/1 events

Wednesday: After a good night's rest with the ocean waves hitting the beach nearby, we left Half Moon Bay State Park to meet our significant others in Salsalito, CA which is just on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Today's technology (GPS and cell phones) made this rendezvous happen as if we planned the exact time and place to meet. Perfect! Had lunch in Salsalito and then went north to Petaluma, CA. We used this as our base for the next three days. Had a very nice dinner @ Dexter's in Petaluma that evening.

Thursday: Left early for Muir Woods, a Redwood Forest and National Monument. Great stand of old Redwoods. Weather was sunny and about 60 degrees, very pleasant. Then left for San Francisco to see some of the sites. Parked near the Wharf and had lunch at an Italian restaurant. I had clam chowder in a bread bowl, best I've ever had. Did a little shopping then I went to get the car while the other three went to Ghirardelli's to buy chocolate and get ice cream with chocolate. I drove the hilly streets awhile while they stuffed themselves. Was fun to drive some of the same streets as driven in the movie Bullitt. Also drove around looking for those "Painted Ladies" homes. After that drove back across the bridge to drive along the shoreline looking for a lighthouse in the Point Reyes National Seashore but turned around after about an hour of driving without success. Finished the day with a meal at a Nepal Indian Restaurant.