Sunday, August 30, 2009
HOME . . . but not for long
We made it home this morning and will leave out again on Tuesday "for the rest" of this 50-day journey. As much as I love to travel [especially on my motorcycle], each time I come home I am reminded that there is no place on earth that is as wonderful as "home". Of course it is not the bricks, rock and mortar that make this place special . . . it is the people that God surrounds me with while I am here!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
almost home
689 miles . . .I-20 . . . Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi . . . almost home! Will stop the Bikes off at Harley to get the oil changed and have them checked out so that we can . . . leave again!!!!
Friday, August 28, 2009
709 miles!
Jim was up at 5:00 a.m. this morning . . . I was lazy and stayed in bed until 5:30 [although I was awake]. We were on the road at 6:15 a.m. Jim set a record by stopping yesterday at 4:00 p.m. [the earliest we have stopped], so I decided to set a new record for the earliest START time. Arizona, New Mexico into Texas. I-10 to I-20 . . . all intestate riding [we know how much I LOVE riding my motorcycle on the interstate]. Rode 709 miles even with losing two hours, changing time zones! Staying the night Sweetwater Texas "wind turbine capital of texas". LOTS of wind mills all around the city. Mapquest says it is 878 miles to home!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Grand Canyon & Sedona
We left Tuesday morning to go to the Grand Canyon. Jim and I have been to the Grand Canyon before. We went when the kids were younger and this is the second time that we have been on our motorcycles [this is our 5th motorcycle trip]. Each time I see the Grand Canyon I am amazed. It tops the list of scenic views and is truly in a league of it's own. This was Raymond's first time to see it. I think he was impressed too! We only spent a few hours, but decided that we would like to come back again [maybe even next year]. We'd love to spend some time hiking into the canyon, which we have never done.
When we left the Canyon, Jim & I headed for Sedona and Raymond and Scott headed for home through the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest and a large crater that is nearby. As we rode off, it felt really weird to be on the road without Raymond and Scott. Jim and I have never been on a long motorcycle trip by ourselves. This will be a new experience! Raymond wanted to see the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest which Jim & I have seen several times. Scott wanted to see the crater which is nearby. I was interested in riding through Sedona and really needed a day of relaxation since I have not done well keeping up with our fast pace the last few days. I've also had some problems with back pain and made appointments to have some myofascial therapy treatments while here. I had an appointment on Tuesday night and another one Wednesday morning. Afterwards we rode through Sedona for some sight seeing. The "red rocks" of Sedona are awesome. Next to the Grand Canyon, this is the most amazing scenery in the world [at least the parts we have seen!]. I have one more treatment this morning and then we will leave and head home. There are LOTS of miles between here and there.
When we left the Canyon, Jim & I headed for Sedona and Raymond and Scott headed for home through the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest and a large crater that is nearby. As we rode off, it felt really weird to be on the road without Raymond and Scott. Jim and I have never been on a long motorcycle trip by ourselves. This will be a new experience! Raymond wanted to see the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest which Jim & I have seen several times. Scott wanted to see the crater which is nearby. I was interested in riding through Sedona and really needed a day of relaxation since I have not done well keeping up with our fast pace the last few days. I've also had some problems with back pain and made appointments to have some myofascial therapy treatments while here. I had an appointment on Tuesday night and another one Wednesday morning. Afterwards we rode through Sedona for some sight seeing. The "red rocks" of Sedona are awesome. Next to the Grand Canyon, this is the most amazing scenery in the world [at least the parts we have seen!]. I have one more treatment this morning and then we will leave and head home. There are LOTS of miles between here and there.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Redwood Natural Park, Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas & Hoover Dam
We have had some computer problems the last few days and have been traveling some really long days, so I have not been able to post updates on what we've been up to. I have been trying to slow this train down but the guys continue with the goal to fit as much into this trip as they possibly can! Some of our days have been 10 - 12 hours long, stopping at 7:00 p.m. or later at night [one night we stopped at 9:15!!!] and that is before we have had dinner! OK, enough complaining . . . [well not really but I will stop anyway] . . . back to the update . . .
On Thursday we continued down the California coast to see the magnificent redwoods at the Redwood National Park. We went through the first part of the park and saw a big herd of Elk feeding in a field. We spent the night in Eureka, California and had dinner at Hurricane Kates. Dad decided to take a slower path home so he took off Friday morning on his own heading east. The rest of the group continued through the Redwood National Park and stayed the night in Williams, California. Saturday as we traveled down the road, we passed by numerous orchards and were curious about what type of trees they were. I suspected that they were almond trees as they looked like they might be nut trees and I know that California grows a lot of almonds. We stopped and picked a fresh nut off of one of the trees [hoping that we wouldn't get in trouble] and tasted the absolute BEST almond I have ever put in my mouth! [Thinking I need to make friends with a California almond grower!] Later in the day we entered Yosemite National Park. We took time for a special watermelon birthday party for Raymond before driving through the park. We stopped at one of the Sequoya groves and hiked down to see some massive trees [this species includes the tallest trees on Earth]. The hike to the grove was quite easy because it was all downhill. You know what that means about the trip back to the bikes though . . . uphill all the way . . . and boy was it a steep hike back. By the time we completed our trip through the park it was getting dark. We finally found a room [actually a cabin] in June Lake and got checked in around 9:15 p.m.! We left the next morning a little after nine and headed for Las Vegas. As has been quite common on this trip, it was raining as we left and the temperature was a bit cold. It took a couple of hours before the rain stopped. As we passed into Death Valley, the weather started to warm up. We checked into the hotel in Las Vegas around 4:30 p.m. Scott and Raymond have never been to Las Vegas so they went down to "the strip" to check it out. Jim & I went to Sweet Tomatoes, a restaurant that we have visited at other locations around the country that has an 'out of this world' salad bar and some great vegetarian soups. We left this morning in the rain [once again . . . seems to be a trend for us] in the direction of the Grand Canyon but stopped by the Hoover Dam before leaving the area. Although the weather cleared up for a while, we hit rain again a couple of times before we made it to today's destination. We got to the hotel in the Grand Canyon village around 4:30 and went to dinner after we checked in and took our things to the room. We will be going to see the Grand Canyon tomorrow. I have been to the Grand Canyon several times but am always amazed at it's unique beauty.
On Thursday we continued down the California coast to see the magnificent redwoods at the Redwood National Park. We went through the first part of the park and saw a big herd of Elk feeding in a field. We spent the night in Eureka, California and had dinner at Hurricane Kates. Dad decided to take a slower path home so he took off Friday morning on his own heading east. The rest of the group continued through the Redwood National Park and stayed the night in Williams, California. Saturday as we traveled down the road, we passed by numerous orchards and were curious about what type of trees they were. I suspected that they were almond trees as they looked like they might be nut trees and I know that California grows a lot of almonds. We stopped and picked a fresh nut off of one of the trees [hoping that we wouldn't get in trouble] and tasted the absolute BEST almond I have ever put in my mouth! [Thinking I need to make friends with a California almond grower!] Later in the day we entered Yosemite National Park. We took time for a special watermelon birthday party for Raymond before driving through the park. We stopped at one of the Sequoya groves and hiked down to see some massive trees [this species includes the tallest trees on Earth]. The hike to the grove was quite easy because it was all downhill. You know what that means about the trip back to the bikes though . . . uphill all the way . . . and boy was it a steep hike back. By the time we completed our trip through the park it was getting dark. We finally found a room [actually a cabin] in June Lake and got checked in around 9:15 p.m.! We left the next morning a little after nine and headed for Las Vegas. As has been quite common on this trip, it was raining as we left and the temperature was a bit cold. It took a couple of hours before the rain stopped. As we passed into Death Valley, the weather started to warm up. We checked into the hotel in Las Vegas around 4:30 p.m. Scott and Raymond have never been to Las Vegas so they went down to "the strip" to check it out. Jim & I went to Sweet Tomatoes, a restaurant that we have visited at other locations around the country that has an 'out of this world' salad bar and some great vegetarian soups. We left this morning in the rain [once again . . . seems to be a trend for us] in the direction of the Grand Canyon but stopped by the Hoover Dam before leaving the area. Although the weather cleared up for a while, we hit rain again a couple of times before we made it to today's destination. We got to the hotel in the Grand Canyon village around 4:30 and went to dinner after we checked in and took our things to the room. We will be going to see the Grand Canyon tomorrow. I have been to the Grand Canyon several times but am always amazed at it's unique beauty.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Olympic National Park, Lewis & Clark National Park, "Spruce Goose" & the California Coast
Monday we loaded a Ferry to cross the Puget Sound in Washington state. We then rode through parts of the Olympic National Park. Stayed Monday night at Ocean Shores. Got in late and walked to the beach the next morning before leaving. Tuesday we rode into Oregon and stopped by Fort Clatsop in the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. This was the spot where Captains Lewis and Clark spent the winter during the expedition. We spent the night in McMinnville, Oregon. Wednesday morning we headed to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum which is home to Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose", an airplane with an all wood frame structure. At the time when it was built in 1947 it was the largest plane ever built. We didn't realize prior to our visit that the museum was so extensive. After getting there, we wished that we had allotted more time so that we could have stayed longer. When we left McMinnville, we headed down the coastline on Hwy. 101. We saw some beautiful scenery along the coast, but also had several long delays due to roadwork. We stayed the night at Coos Bay/North Bend Oregon and are headed today toward the Redwood Forest but will first stop at the local Harley shop to get the oil changed in Jim's bike [or pick up oil to change it out later if they don't have time to do it at the dealership]. According to Raymond, we have about 100 miles to get to the California state line.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Great Roads . . Beautiful Scenery . . . and NO RAIN . . . what an incredible day
We left Troy this morning around 8:30 and within just a few minutes we crossed over into Idaho and the pacific time zone, so the time changed back an hour. "We were here before we even left" Raymond said when we stopped for gas. We soon made our way into Washington State where we traveled most of the day. It was a bit chilly when we first got started but before long the weather warmed up a little. Throughout the day, there was quite a bit of fluctuation in temperature as we drove through the Cascade Mountains. Each time we climbed up in elevation the temperature decreased [sometimes significantly] but as soon as we dropped back down the temp went back up. Surprising to those of us from the deep south, there is still a lot of ice on top of the Cascade Mountains. The roads today were awesome . . . just enough curves to be A LOT of fun. The scenery and the weather were equally as great, so Jim and I count this as our best riding day yet. The Icefield Parkway, Lake Louise and the Canadian Rockies have so far for this trip been the most scenic. The weather today however, in combination with the fun riding and the beautiful mountains here in Washington all put it over the top for making it our best day. We are all so thankful to have had temperatures today that were warm enough that we could feel our fingers all day long and to also have had no rain for the entire day. We are staying tonight in cabins at an RV park in Rockport, Washington. Tomorrow we continue on our way to see the Redwoods in California but will travel through the Olympic National Park first. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have another day of great weather again tomorrow!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
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