Wednesday, October 29, 2008

10/28/08 - Zion's National Park/Last Day

I started out the day with a small detour over to Zion's National Park. This is one beautiful place with lots of interesting rock formations. Here are a few I liked best. I think the last one is especially nice.
I then took Route 89 most of the way back to Salt Lake City. I stopped near Nephi to take a picture of the Wasatch mountains side on. You can just see where they make a bit of an S-curve up near Provo. Though I didn't take any of them today, these mountains also have some great passes.
So I'm home now. I have somewhat mixed feelings on this. While it is great to relax after my two month, 7,000 mile road trip. I really enjoyed the traveling and will miss it. For anyone who thinks that this would be fun, I highly recommend it. Don't know about a car, but for me, the open road on a motorcycle, though sometimes difficult, has really helped me renew my spirit and love for this great continent I live on. I traveled through 21 of the 50 states and one province in Canada. Maybe next time I'll get the rest, though Alaska and Hawaii might be a bit difficult.
Again, More photos on Photobucket.
So long, and thanks for reading.

10/27/08 - Grand Canyon!

Have I ever told you all how much I enjoy riding the mountain passes? More on that later, but first...

Sweet Mama, that's a big hole in the ground!
I pulled into the parking lot at the visitor's center and then took the bus to the other end of the park, planning to walk the rim back. I took several photos along the way, including this California Condor that happened by.
At one point, I wanted to get a pic of myself standing by the edge, so I asked this nice gentleman to take one of me. He kept saying, "Back up. Back up." and before I realized, I was standing five feet off the canyon edge. I then made the rookie mistake of looking down. Luckily, I was able to windmill my legs really fast and propel myself to the edge just in time to catch hold.

I did get a couple of me at the very edge. Here, I found a nice ledge of rock sticking out.

Then later, I decided to get one with my legs dangling over the edge. I had such a severe case of vertigo, though, that I could barely snap this one. Yes, the big bad biker is afraid of heights. Funny, I was fine standing right on the edge looking down, but sitting with a body part out in the air freaked me out.
I didn't quite finish the rim walk, since it was getting on and I needed to get to Utah, so I took the bus back to the bike and took off for Kanab. About three quarters of the way there, the sun started to set and I got some great photos of the nearby cliffs. As the sun set, I had a choice to make. I was right at the point where Route 89 splits. 89 would take me up onto the mesa and then straight over to Kanab. 89-Alternate goes over a mountain. If you've been reading my blog at all, you know which one I chose. 89A crosses the Colorado River pretty quick, then it's the long, windy road to Jacobs Lake at the top, where you can also go over to see the north rim of the canyon. It was full dark by the time I started climbing up to about 8,000 feet. At that height, full dark means very cold, too; and so worth it! I tried to get a picture of the stars, as they are meant to be seen, without city lights to fade them out, but my camera wasn't willing to focus on the night sky(and I haven't figured out how to adjust the manual settings for it yet).

Lots more in Photobucket this time.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

10/26/08 - Short Trip, Long Day

Today was supposed to be a short trip up to the Grand Canyon. It's only a 250 mile trip. Unfortunately, there was a major Hazmat accident going north out of Phoenix. They had closed I-17 going both directions. The traffic for several miles was traveling at a snails pace. In fact, my engine overheated at one point and I had to get off and let it rest. I took these pics then. It is amazing how many people are actually on our highways at any given time. It felt like the entire city of Phoenix was trying to get out.
After it had cooled down, I did something I really detest other people doing, but I had no AC, and if I didn't get to some water and shelter soon, they were going to have a heat stroke victim to deal with in addition to the accident, so I rode the shoulder to the next exit. I'd been on the highway for two hours and was really sweltering. After the exit, it took me only about 30 more minutes to go around the accident and get back on I-17 again. Here's another pic I took nearing Flagstaff. I really love this area. Just some gorgeous country. About 6,000 feet up.
Anyway, I made it to the Grand canyon at about 5:30pm. I'll do a little touring tomorrow, then its on to Kenab, Utah. Only two more days on this little adventure of mine.

As always, more on Photobucket.

10/24/06 - Into Phoenix

I had a decision to make today. Do I continue into Phoenix on I-10 or head up Route 70 from lordsburg. Yeah right. Like that's even a hard choice. State routes are always better if you don't have a long trip for the day.

Anyway, heres a pic of me just a bit after entering Arizona. Yes, this is officially desert(has been a while, but these were the first Saguaro I'd come across). Also, a pic of my bike. Arizona makes it look small.

I ended up in Phoenix, where I will be spending a day visiting friends and relatives in the area.

More on Photobucket.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

10/23/08 - Cold Mountain

Holy carp, that was fun! *

I was absolutely right about that stretch of Route 82. It took me 90 miles from leaving Artesia to get from 4,000 feet up to about 9,000 feet. The trip down the other side was only 15 miles.
And the twists and turns...Oh, the lovely twists and turns. I'm so glad I didn't chicken out due to the cold. It was quite chilly when I arrived at the top in a small town of Cloudcroft...where I was promptly pulled over by the local sheriff for going 10mph over. But seriously, no one, I mean no one at all, could have kept it down to 45 on those mountain turns with a motorcycle. He was really cool and we had a nice chat about my trip as well as what I thought of the area. He ended up just giving me a warning.
But what a beautiful town, and the view from the top was fantastic! I don't know how well you can see them, but those are other mountains in the far background, with the white sands valley in between.
Here's another shot from 9 miles down the mountain.

This portion of the trip was, hands down, the best stretch of road I have encountered.

After that it was all normal road and getting back to I-10 in Las Cruces. I stopped for the evening in Lordsburg, my pop's hometown. The way he described it, I was thinking it would be a small village with a few stores and a local motel, but it actually rates 3 exits off the highway. Shoot, Cheyenne, way back in Wyoming, a largish town by all accounts, only rated 6. Lordsburg is a fairly small town, but I was really expecting a bit smaller than this.

On the plus, if you ever do stop here, you need to check out Kranberry's. They served me up a delicious bacon, swiss, and pineapple burger.

More on Photobucket.
*Yes, I did just invoke the deity of fish

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

10/22/08 - Carlsbad

Okay, in the future, remind me to do the proper research on national parks first. I only had to ride 150 miles today to get to Carlsbad, New Mexico. The plan was to then head up to the park and see Carlsbad Caverns. Unfortunately, I didn't look into it till today. In order to go see the best parts of the cave, you need to sign up for a guided tour. Reservations are full till Friday for guided tours. I then considered taking the short trip up to Roswell to see the alien stuff, but frankly, I'm really only interested if I can see actual aliens, a comodity that is likely to be scarce there. Instead, I decided to take a nap, since I haven't managed a full night's sleep in a few days. Rested and recharged, I can now head over to Lordsbug, New Mexico tomorrow. This is the town where my dad was raised. I'm really looking forward to this ride, given the following image I took from Google:

Route 82 is going to be a blast!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

10/21/08 - Texas part II

Today was really fun! Remember way back, when I was telling you all about the roads in Nebraska? Well, ignore that. Stay away from Nebraska's roads unless they are between you and Texas' roads. I-10 is still long and mostly straight, but unlike Nebraska, it goes through some long rolling hills and the scenery is 100 times better. Plus, they upped the speed limit to 80mph(130kph for the rest of the world). I do believe that stretch through Central Texas, is the best bit of highway I have been on yet. The non-highway portions have been better and I think the best is yet to come(foreshadowing the road out of Carlsbad toward Phoenix). Anyway, it dropped my miles per gallon down from 35 to 25, but was so worth it.

This is the only photo I took today, as I was approaching my destination at Fort Stockton.
Weather fronts are interesting. I'm just glad the rain was way south of me. It looked to be dumping quite hard.

10/20/08 - Texas!

What a long day! I had to go about 100 more miles than I had planned, due to staying in New Orleans last night. All good though, and I did have a full day as you will see.

So, I started by crossing the Mississippi in Baton Rouge. I gotta admit, I was expecting it to be wider. I mean, its not really any wider than where I crossed in Iowa. And the Columbia is wider, though not as long. Still, it is an impressive river. I then headed west for Texas. I think I may have crossed the longest bridge anywhere. I-10 goes right through the Louisiana swamps and was elevated at about tree height for approximately 15 miles.

Upon reaching Texas, I realized that I-10 would take me within 20 miles of the coast(I know Houston's on the coast, but I'm not about to drive through downtown Houston to get there). Anyway, I decided to take the hours detour to see the Gulf of Mexico and have a pic at all the large bodies of water that border the USA. What I failed to realize, though it became quite obvious almost as soon as I left the highway, is that I was about to hit the coast very close to the same place Ike did. I could see damage everywhere I looked. Out of respect for the people there, I only took a picture of the coastal road for damage.I love my country, and have grown to love it even more as I've been on this trip. This was quite painful to see. I am not ashamed to admit that as I got on my bike and headed past the FEMA outpost, there were several tears in my eyes.

Still, I did take the pics, so here you go, the Gulf of Mexico.
And me, in front of it. There was no level place to put the camera, understandably, so I did the best I could. A few more pics on Photobucket.

10/19/08 - New Orleans

Thatsalotabirds!
My trip was a bit shortened today, because my brother convinced me that I'd be a fool to pass up New Orleans(I was going to stay in Baton Rouge). This means that I'll have a long trip tomorrow. Anyway, since I got in early, I thought I'd wander around a bit. I went down to the riverfront where I saw this ship, the Steamer Natchez.Turns out, they have a tour. So I got on and took a trip downriver and back. Took 3 hours and I was served an excellent meal and listened to a great jazz band, the Dukes of Dixieland.It was full dark by the time we got back to port, so I got this excellent shot of New Orleans skyline at night, from the river.
Upon exiting the ship, I still had a couple hours till bedtime, so I wandered into the French Quarter to see what the hullabaloo was. It is actually quite nice and I loved the architecture.
Then I arrived at Bourbon Street.
Now, I'm sure it may be different during Mardi Gras, but in October, it is fairly empty of citizens. What I saw was a street with a bar through every other entrance. Every one of them had a live band playing, so, at any given time, I was listening to three or four different songs. These bars all had a person out front, trying to coax "revelers" inside to join the few other patrons who were there. It was really quite sad. I guess they make their fortunes in the spring. Either way, I'll take Vegas over New Orleans for partying. The rest of the city was quite nice, though. I'm glad I was talked into going.
More on photobucket

Saturday, October 18, 2008

10/17/08 - Tennessee

No pics today. I never took out the camera, though I should have last night. I spent the day here in Johnson City, TN, visiting some the friends that I met last June, when I was here for an online convention. We spent the day modifying some Nerf guns, then had a wild time playing The Good, The Bad, and The Munchkin, which is a game that makes pun of the western genre.(not a typo)

Next stop, Tuscaloosa, Alabama; half way between here and Baton Rouge, where I plan to cross the Mississippi again.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

10/15/08 - Its Official

Well folks, this is officially a cross country road trip. That is the Atlantic Ocean you see behind me there...
And look, I'm standin' in it.

10/14/08 - For Patriots

So I figure, since this trip is cross country, I should probably take the time to visit my nation's capital. We spent about six hours walking around the monument area and Smithsonian in DC. We started by going by the White House.I was quite dissappointed not to be invited in for tea.

Next up was the Vietnam Memorial. It was cool, but as far as I know, no one close to me died there, so I didn't have a name to look up. We then moved on to the Lincoln Memorial. I think this one touched me the most, as his presidency was the catalyst for freedoms for all, not just white males, like myself. Granted, it wasn't a quick change, but there is a reason Martin Luther king Jr. chose that spot to make his speech. I also got me by the reflecting pool from there. From there, we headed over to the Korean War Memorial. I didn't even know we had one for that war, and it was probably the coolest of the war memorials. It's a bit hard to see because of the reflection, but they have etchings of soldiers on the wall here.
The World War I Memorial was pretty, though not as grand as the World War II. It also is only a memorial to the soldiers from DC who died in that war, rather than to all, as with the other memorials.
From those, we passed by the Washington Monument, which is quite a bit bigger than it looks from most photos and movies I've seen.
After several hours of walking the area, we were quite glad to come to this final monument. :)
Next came the Museums. I really wanted to see the American History Museum, but it has apparently been closed for some time. We did go to the Air and Space Museum as well as the National Gallery of Art. I took a few photos in the art museum, as well as one of Jefferson's Memorial and a statue of John Paul Jones. These can be seen in the Photobucket along with a great photo of the US Capitol Building.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

10/11/08 - More than a month

Good golly, I've been on this trip for more than a month now! Still having quite the good time, though. I'm now in Maryland, visiting some more friends here. We all got dressed up and went to a renaissance fair today. No pics of me. I had a horrible shaving accident and am loathe to post more till I can grow the beard back. :) I loved seeing all the varied costumes and watching the jousts and such. I also was made aware of a new comedy duo, Puke and Snot. I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Didn't get a pic of them, though. Best not to draw their attention, unless one wants a carrot shower.

I am definitely going to have to attend more of these. I wonder how on earth I missed them in the past.

A few more photos on Photobucket.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

10/08/08 - Day...Ummm...that one

I left Ontario today to head south toward Maryland. The idea was to get to central Pennsylvania today in order to have a very short journey tomorrow. Problem is, I awoke to a blanket cloud cover and rain. It rained the entire time I was riding, which was not long(only 150 miles). I was going to stop and get a picture of Niagara in the rain for you all, because its just gorgeous, but by the time I got there, I was quite soaked. You'll have to live with one I took a week or so ago, when it was sunny.
Anyway, the rain trip was actually quite fun, till it managed to soak through all the leathers. Then it started getting cold. I had on a rain coat(improvised with a plastic garbage bag), so my torso never got wet, and the helmet kept my head dry, but I did get a late start and it got dark well before my destination. Since I was getting cold, I decided to stop in Batavia, NY, which is just outside of Rochester. Hopefully tomorrow will be less drizzly and I'll be able to make it the remaining distance to Maryland.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

09/21/08 - Day 19

We went to the Toronto Zoo today. this is where the thing with the bee happened(as mentioned previously). The zoo here is quite different than the one in Salt Lake City. In SLC, the exibits are quite close together. You go from one to the other quite quickly. This zoo has a 1.5 kilometer walk to get to one of the exibits. We didn't do that, so we missed the Canadian stuff; Bears and the like. Still, it was quite fun. I'm posting a few of my favorites here, but there are many more on the Photobucket acct.


This beautiful hawk has used in the bird show. I had trouble deciding which to use here. I have some close-ups taken after the show, but this action shot shows the bird's talents quite well, I think.
Next we have the Komodo Dragon. This guy was quite large, though it's hard to tell in the shot due to there being nothing in his enclosure by which to compare his size.
We found this little guy getting himself a snack outside the Snow Leopard enclosure. the leopards were awesome to see. I would so love one as a pet. :) Why is it that I want to have all the big, dangerous animals?
Next we have the Lionfish. I honestly am surprised at how well this photo came out, since he's behind a plate of glass.
And, of course, the Lions. What zoo trip is complete without these majestic creatures. The male was off behind some rocks, so we missed him in all but the roaring. He was doing that quite loudly at the time we were passing by.
The zoo also has a natural habitat for small amphibians. We didn't see any turtles, but the frog here was quite willing to pose for a glamour shot. Any of you ladies in need of a prince?