The last 8,000 miles ... or not

Biker Bill and I had been planning a Michigan trip.  He always goes up deer hunting, and he’d asked if I wanted to come up for a visit this year.  Sure, why not?  We planned to do a lake cruise and an ATV tour they do for seniors, a fall color run with lunch.  AND, it’s free!!!  Wow.  Free???  We’re in.  Of course, we’d spend money on airline tickets, gas, food, hotels … it’s quite laughable, really!!!  But, it’s free!!!

Anyway, I’d been bemoaning the fact that I was short on my motorcycle mileage goal for the year, so he said why don’t you ride up to Michigan?  Hmmmm.  No brainer.  Of course I could do that.  In the meantime, I also realized I was only 8,000 miles from putting in for my 550,000-mile rocker with HOG National.  I knew I wouldn’t get that many, but I’d certainly get my yearly goal with this ride.  And I’d be very close to the other goal, and most likely get that in the spring of 2016.

I arrived in Phoenix the morning of September 17, Thursday.  The prior day I’d had a bit of minor out-patient surgery, but they said I could travel … wearing support hose and doing the usual hydrating, stretching and walking while onboard the aircraft.  I was also told I could ride a motorcycle.  In retrospect, maybe I should have told her how many miles I’d being doing and hours a day I would be spending in the saddle. 

It was a long day, that Thursday.  The plane had been packed, but I had snacks of my own – Kind bars, mixed nuts, apples, cheese.  The guy in the aisle seat slept the entire way so I had to get by him to get up and move around.  I spent most of the time awake, with sleep finally overtaking me due to exhaustion.  It wasn’t a fun trip … and my support hose?  I’d bought some fancy-dancy colorful ones, but the doctor said they weren’t the strength or something she wanted.  So they gave me a pair at the hospital.  Ha!  They were supposedly thigh-high.  They went completely over my feet and up to my crotch, and there was still some hose left.  They might have been thigh-high on the Jolly Green Giant but on me, they covered everything and could have gone up to my waist.  I’d say sizing was a bit off. 

Verlie picked me up at the airport and as she’d had some major surgery, I helped her out as well as got myself ready to depart on Friday.  We had a great visit, too, although this time it was a short one.  One of the best parts is that it included naps for both of us.  This is my third visit this year.  How do we find anything to talk about?  I guess good friends are like that.

Friday, September 18, I departed about 9:30 a.m., headed to Michigan to meet Biker Bill.  My goal was to reach Durango, Colorado, about 490 miles away.  I’d made a hotel reservation so I was pretty much locked in.  Leaving Phoenix, it was warm, T-shirt riding weather, but I was wearing those Jolly Green Giant support hose.  As I progressed on my journey, it began to get cooler.  That meant putting on gear.  And then more gear.  Colorado was beautiful, but as I reached Cortez it was starting to get late, and now I realized I’d be in a mountain pass in the dark.  I really didn’t like that, but I had a hotel reservation waiting for me.  The key would be in the room. 



It was dark; it was cold.  I’d put on my jacket and my helmet for warmth, and I was sure appreciating those support hose now as they kept my legs warm.  I was too bull headed to drag out my chaps and put them on.

There wasn’t much traffic, and when a car passed I tried to stay up with it.  When the brake lights flashed, I paid attention.  Sure enough, there were a couple of deer right next to the road.  The pucker factor kicks into play then.  But when you’re out in the middle of nowhere, you gotta do what you gotta do.  I arrived in Durango about 8:30 p.m. and immediately called Biker Bill to let him know where I was.  He wasn’t real happy about me riding in the dark as he knows this area like the back of his hand and knew where I was riding.  But I was safe and all in for the night.  And it was my kind of motel … I was parked right outside my door.

When's the last time I had a towel flower on my bed?  It made my evening.

Originally I’d planned to leave Anchorage a few days earlier making for shorter riding days.  However, that didn’t happen and now I needed to be doing 450-500-mile days.  Usually those aren’t bad, but I now like to run shorter days and see things along the way.  Maybe on the way back.  In addition, I also don’t like to run Interstates, so it’s possible my mileage calculations will be off and there will be more miles rather than less.  Oh well.  It’s all about the mileage, baby.

When I got up on Saturday, September 19, it was 37 degrees.  I didn’t plan to leave right away.  I’d be riding through more mountain ranges heading east.  I still wasn’t feeling 100 percent.  But I finally got on the road.  I saw some antelope which was cool since I’d not seen much game. 

Del Norte, Colorado.  Finally, I've seen a big bull elk.  It's the only one I'll see.  I've been searching to see one in the wild for years. 

I stayed in my jacket, helmet and gloves until it was 80 degrees.  It was nice riding and I made my next goal of Garden City, Kansas, 460 miles from Durango. 

I had to stop to take a photo of pumpkins.  They sure do brighten up the landscape.

What's a blog without a photo of an old courthouse?

Tonight I decided I needed a real meal since I’d just snacked the previous day.   A burger, salad and fruit.  It was one of the best burgers I’d ever eaten with cheese, bacon and Cajun onion strings.  And it was at a hotel.  Imagine that.

On Sunday, Sept. 20, I was hoping I’d meet up with a friend and do a surprise visit to a Women on Wheels meeting in Kansas.  When I computed the miles, there was no way, so I plowed on north and east.  I need to be in Wisconsin on Tuesday, September 22, so I have to keep to my schedule and get through Kansas, a piece of Nebraska, a corner of Missouri and on to Clarinda, Iowa.

This stuff is quite colorful, but I didn't know what it was.

Hobbs told me it's cattle feed.  It's still pretty.

Loading up I could smell distant feed lots.  It is not a nice smell.  I’d seen some the previous day on my way into town, but not near the hotel.  The good thing is that inside the hotel you couldn’t smell them.  They must have a great air handling system.

I’ve seen a lot of hawks.  One was on a kill and wasn’t interested in me as I rode by.  As I came up a hill, in the middle of the road there was some dead animal and perched on top was what I guess was a turkey vulture.  He did not want to move and as I came up to him, he just glared at me.  He finally flew off, but it was definitely under protest.  Yep, it was another good day of riding.