Day 22: Niagara Falls to HOME!!! 382 miles

Home again...home again...

There's no place like home. Truly the best part of any adventure is rolling down your own driveway and parking in your own garage. I'm so happy to be home despite the laundry and dust (inside) and the weeds (outside).

My journey was an awesome experience. I don't want to call it the trip of a lifetime because I hope it's not. I've got some firm plans and some vague ideas about places I want to travel on my motorcycle.

Some statistics:

Total days - 22

Total miles - 7,635

Best miles per gallon - 71.3 (Natchez Trace)

Worst miles per gallon - 50.9 (70 mph interstate)

Longest day - 641 miles (across SD and MN)

Shortest day - 10 miles (Santa Fe if you don't count the 50 mile bicycle ride!)

Thanks for reading!

Day 21: Milwaukee, WI to Niagara Falls, NY 424 miles

My morning started so long ago, I scarcely remember it. I was awake before 4am, earlier than I needed to be, but that's not unusual for me. I left a little before 5, as I just had a short, 10 minute ride to the ferry terminal. I had a reservation on the 6 am crossing of Lake Michigan, from Milwaukee to Muskegon, MI, and we were supposed to be there 45 minutes early. As I was waiting at a stop light a couple on a BMW R1200RT rode past. Since I never got their names, I'll have to refer to them as "the RT couple". They were also headed for the ferry and I was just in line behind them. Small world story: the security agent who checked me in saw where I was from and said he'd spent many summers in Northampton with relatives. He wanted to go to school in Amherst, but for financial reasons had to stay in Milwaukee.

The RT couple struck up a conversation once they noticed I was also on a BMW. We ignored the Kawasaki guy behind us. They were quite nice and helpful, suggesting places around the Great Lakes I ought to ride someday. One of them was from Wisconsin, the other from Michigan, so they were very familiar with the Lake Express Ferry and the region. They had come over last Thursday and wanted to go home yesterday, but couldn't get a reservation on either crossing (there are 2 per day until July and August when there are 3). The ferry holds 15 to 18 cars and up to 20 motorcycles. There were only the 3 motos this morning. The ferry company is holding a special "motorcycles ride free" promotion which the couple mentioned hadn't been available before this year. A sign of the poor economy, I guess.

I got on the ferry without incident. I've only been on the Nova Scotia ferry and the deck there was pretty slippery. I was a little intimidated this morning, but needn't have been. I managed to secure my motorcycle with the provided tie downs. I was pretty nervous during much of the crossing as it was pretty rough, and I wasn't sure I had done a good enough job stabilizing the machine. Passengers aren't allowed back to the auto deck once the ferry is in motion, so I couldn't go check.

Otherwise, the crossing was uneventful. I was glad I was there early as the ferry actually left the dock around 5:45. Apparently all reservations were accounted for! I got a few views of Milwaukee as we pulled out into the Lake. It was much too windy to spend time on the viewing deck, so spent the crossing reading. I never did see the RT couple again on board. There is a "preferred passenger" area (more expensive tickets), so I'm assuming they were in there.

The ferry arrived in Muskegon right on time. The crossing is about 2.5 hours and with the change back to the Eastern Time Zone it was almost 10am when I was on the road again. The Michigan side is much less developed. There were some pretty sand dunes before we entered the harbor channel. A few people were out walking on the path that edges the lake in this area. It looks like a nice area to explore one day. Once we were allowed back downstairs, I was relieved to see that my motorcycle hadn't budged during the roughness. The RT couple rematerialized and offered to show me the fastest route to I-96, my desired road heading east. It corresponded with the way my GPS was routing me, but I appreciate their thoughtfulness. I enjoyed their escort for a few miles until they turned off for home.

Meanwhile, I was cold and getting colder. The temps were in the low 60's, the sky was quite overcast and it was windy. After about an hour of shivering, I stopped and changed into my heated gear. Even then, it took me quite a while to feel warm again. It's funny how 60's with bright sun feels refreshing and 60's with gray skies is cold! I had a very boring trip across Michigan on I-96 and I-69. It's flat with a lot of farmland, the same as I have been seeing for the past several days.

My only excitement came at the border crossing into Canada at Port Huron and again back into the US at Niagara Falls. Why are border agents so humorless and ask such dumb questions? Both times, after studying my passport which clearly states my address, I was asked where I was from. Then I was asked where I was coming from. I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking in return, "At what point in time?" An hour ago? This morning? Last week?

Day 20: Rochester, MN to Milwaukee, WI 320 miles

I had planned a shorter day for myself and was glad to have a more interesting route to ride. I started out on I-90 east again, but only for about an hour. I got off just before the Minnesota/Wisconsin border at LaCrosse and took US-14 south, crossing the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. I knew I was approaching the river from about 10 miles out as the landscape changed rather abruptly. All of a sudden there were trees, big ones, and quite a few of them. We were also descending pretty rapidly. The Mississippi River is already very wide and placid this far north.

From US-14, I continued along the east bank of the river on WI-35 to the town of Prairie du Chien. What little I know about the prairie comes from "Little House on the Prairie" (both books and TV show) and Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion". WI-35 has numerous historical markers, many of which I took the time to stop and read, as well as two Army Corps of Engineers Lock and Dams. The engineer nerd in me had to stop and watch a large barge go through Lock No. 9 and learn about traffic on the river system. I then turned east on US-14.

While still in Prairie du Chien, I passed by a huge Cabela's retail store. The best hiking boots I ever had came from Cabela's and I was tempted to stop in and try some on. I need some new boots, but decided I really didn't have room to bring them home. Not too much later, I passed through the town of Spring Green, known mostly for Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin. I hadn't realized it was on my route, or I would have made plans to visit. Instead, I had a destination in mind, and that was the very nice garden in Madison, Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

Olbrich is small by Denver standards, but very nicely laid out and attractive. They feature lots of roses and mixed borders. There is also this very unusual Thai pavilion. The interpretive sign said that it is the only Thai pavilion outside of Thailand and was given by the Thai alumni of the University of Wisconsin. (I had a tour of the campus as well as the government center, courtesy of my Zumo). And yes, the pavilion really is gold. It wasn't reflecting sunlight because there wasn't any sun. The darkness of the sky made me rush through my visit a bit and get on the road to

Milwaukee.

I took what I though would be the fastest route, I-94, straight into the heart of Milwaukee. I doubt it was the fastest way because as soon as I got on, traffic ground to a halt due to construction. They had all three eastbound lanes reduced to driving on the shoulder for at least 10 miles at the start of rush hour. Needless to say, it wasn't very fast. I doubt I averaged 5 mph for those 10 miles. But I still got to my hotel at a decent hour. I'll be up very early tomorrow to catch the 6am ferry across Lake Michigan.

Day 19: Hot Springs, SD to Rochester, MN 641 miles

Today wasn't the kind of day that made me fall in love with motorcycling, but it got me where I needed to be to enjoy tomorrow. As I knew would happen, once Paul flew home yesterday, I'm anxious to be home, too. I miss him and our cat, house, and gardens. And so I did long boring miles today, mostly on I-90 in order to be that much closer to home. I did take time first thing this morning to ride through Badlands National Park. It is eerie and beautiful at the same time, definitely awe inspiring.

The Park is chiefly known for three things: as a protected prairie ecosystem, as unique geology containing mammal fossils, as containing a wide range of wildlife. I did see a prairie dog running across the road. It was much smaller than I thought it would be.

To get to Badlands from Hot Springs, I took SD-79 north, then SD-44 southeast to the Park entrance. This zigzag allowed me to escape the worst of the early morning sun in my eyes.

After I exited the Park, I hopped on I-90 heading east for what seemed like endless miles in South Dakota. There was very little traffic. Oddly, hardly any of the license plates were from South Dakota. The majority were from Minnesota with a few from Washington state in the mix. I gave up looking after awhile. There's not much else to look at other than hay fields, hay bales and the occasional cow. At least there were construction zones to break the monotony.

I was interested in passing through Oacoma, SD which is just west of a series of lakes formed by the Missouri River. For those familiar with "our" stretch of I-90 through the Berkshire town of Becket, you'll recognize that there is a sign that indicates that the next highest point on I-90 west occurs in Oacoma, SD. Sadly, there is no mention of Becket as being the highest point when headed east through Oacoma.

I was glad to finally leave South Dakota and ride into Minnesota. There really isn't much difference except it gets gradually flatter the further east one travels and there is more corn grown as opposed to just hay. The speed limit also reduces to 70 from 75. The traffic also increases, but drivers are quite courteous and not once did I find someone hanging out in the left lane. Based on my small sample, Midwesterners are more like Canadians in that respect. They drive in the right lane unless they are passing. It made for a much more pleasant experience for me. The final 50 miles of my day were brutally windy. I hope someone can explain to me why regardless of my direction of travel during this trip, the wind has always been on my left. I think I'm even starting to walk leaned to the left!

Day 18: Silverthorne, CO to Hot Springs, SD 512 miles

Another big day and I'm back on my own. We took our time getting going this morning as Paul wasn't due back at the motorcycle rental shop until around 10 and it would only take us a little over an hour to get there. We took the same route we did on Friday, I-70 out of the mountains to US-6. We got there a little early as Paul needed to change out my radio mount for another GPS mount. My Zumo died 4 days before I left when we rode through a torrential downpour during the Minuteman 1000. I have been using Paul's Zumo for my trip. It worked fine until a little ways out of Santa Fe when the audio quit. Since then it has totally died twice, but we managed to get it to restart by taking the battery out and doing a "hard reset" (but still no audio). Obviously, it can't be depended on to navigate, so I also have a little handheld unit and I have backup in the form of old fashioned paper maps.

Paul got organized and packed and took a cab to a shipping place to send his gear home. He then got himself to the airport to find his flight was delayed 1.5 hours. Fortunately, they held his connection in Chicago, and last I heard he was in the car on the way home from Hartford.

I meanwhile, was riding north and a little east. I had figured out that it was only a little over 300 miles from Denver to Mount Rushmore, so early this morning I found a place to stay near the National Monument and made a reservation. Hotels in the surrounding area are very full on this Saturday night. I drove through northern central Colorado and into Wyoming on I-25. There is a very nice statue of a buffalo set on a hill as you cross the state line. The southeast part of Wyoming starts out quite flat, but eventually the rolling hills start. I turned off on US-85 and continued to head north, then east on US-18. After crossing into South Dakota, the terrain becomes very pretty, with miles and miles of rolling hills which are very green right now. The area is very sparsely populated, but the ranches and homes along the route look quite prosperous. There is a good amount of cattle ranching, but also horses. I turned north on SD-89 which became US-385.

I was passing right by the Crazy Horse Memorial, so couldn't resist stopping by. It consists of the Monument itself, started in 1948 with hardly any progress to date, the Indian Museum of North America and the Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, in the same area as Mount Rushmore.

It's only a short ride further to Mount Rushmore. I had debated whether it would be more crowded Saturday around dinner time or Sunday early morning. I'm glad I chose the late Saturday for my visit. There were still plenty of people around, but the monument has been designed to accommodate hordes of visitors. You can't see the actual statues until you walk down a long, paved, corridor. There is a good visitors center at the start of the corridor and a very good museum and bookshop set below the viewing pavilion. The statues are very impressive in person, especially the eyes. The technique used to carve them makes them appear very life-like. The National Park Service took over the Monument in 1933 when it was still under construction and the neighboring towns have grown to accommodate about 2 million tourists a year. The ones I passed through are filled with "tourist traps", billboards, and neon signs luring visitors. The monument is terrific, the kitsch isn't. I ended up in Hot Springs, far enough from the Park to have less tourist traffic. It has recently become known as the location of the world's largest mammoth research facility.

Day 17: Frisco to Silverthorn via Denver and Rocky Mountain National Park 283 miles

Today started out rather tense, but we still managed to find some fun and humor along the way. We were up and out early. I checked the pressure in my damaged rear tire and it seemed to be holding, so we set off for Denver a little after 7am. The Foothills BMW/Triumph in Lakewood didn't open until nine. The GPS calculated that it would take 1:20 to get there and we figured given Denver traffic, it might take twice that. We got lucky and had very little traffic and made it in just over an hour. We took I-70 which is scenic, but hard to admire with the early morning sun in our eyes.

We were getting ourselves organized outside the service bay when the service advisor came out and asked if I was there for service. I explained my predicament of having a chunk of metal in my rear tire, so he wrote me up and got my moto in by 8:30. Unfortunately the tire wasn't repairable, so $325 and about an hour and a half later, we were ready to go again. I really appreciate the prompt service they gave me on an emergency basis.

We decided we still had time to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park, so we headed back west on US-6 to CO-93 north through Golden and then CO-72 and CO-7 to Estes Park. We had to endure very slow drivers as I was scrubbing in a new tire and didn't want to take any risks. Estes Park is the eastern entry to the National Park and was very congested early on a Friday afternoon. US-34 is the route through the Park and was also very congested, especially on the eastern half. Almost every pullout was full as were all the picnic areas and hiking trailheads. Two stretches of construction forced us to wait in line for 20 minutes or so and then creep along at 10 mph. Both sections were about 8 miles long, the first was scarified pavement, the second was very bumpy, dusty, muddy hardpack.

We crossed the Continental Divide yet again at Milner Pass (10,756). I love how the Park is a condensed version of so much of what one sees exploring western Colorado. It is a great introduction to Colorado, or in our case, a terrific recap. In about 50 miles one can see wildflower strewn meadows, snowcapped mountains, tundra, beaver created wetlands, ponderosa pine forests, aspen forests and lots of wildlife.

From the western exit of the Park at Granby (too late for Ian's Mountain Bakery goodies!), we followed US-40 west to CO-9 south to Silverthorne. We ended up back in the same area we started out in this morning.

Day 16: Durango to Frisco 368 miles

Today was filled with some highs and some lows. We were trying to cover a lot of ground to be able to ride through Rocky Mountain National Park early on Friday.

We left Durango pretty late, around 9am, and it was already starting to get quite warm. No need for electrics this morning. Paul's rented RT gave him some difficulties starting, so he was reluctant to shut it off unless we were stopping for a while. We retraced our same route as yesterday, up by Silverton and Ouray on US-550. This shows the descent down into Ouray.

At Ridgway, instead of turning south, we continued north on US-550 which becomes US-50 at Montrose. We were in a very flat, very hot area. At one point, Paul's moto computer thermometer read 100 degrees. We took CO-82 east for a few miles, then CO-54 north. Our goal was Cedaredge, the town where Paul's paternal grandmother had grown up. It is very much a farming area with lots of orchards growing cherries and apples. It appeared that things only grew with supplemental irrigation though. It was hot and dry. We got lunch in Cedaredge, with the worlds's second slowest waitress. We had the slowest one later at dinner.

We backtracked from Cedaredge and turned east on CO-92. Here's where I experienced the first of any mechanical difficulties. Even though I had plenty of gas, my engine sputtered and stalled a couple of times. Once when I was trying to cross onto a busy highway. Another time when we were being herded through a construction zone and I had a huge truck tailgating me. Both times I managed to coast out of danger and get restarted, but it was distressing. We stopped and filled up at the next opportunity and put in some gas additive. About 20 miles later, the engine seemed to be running more smoothly.

CO-133 took us over McClure Pass (8,755 feet). We took CO-82 east which leads through Aspen. The area sure is pretty, but it was so busy and congested. I hadn't expected it to be quite so popular in the summer. But on we went, up Independence Pass (12.095 feet). There was still plenty of snow around at the top. From there, we descended still heading east through Twin Lakes to the junction of Us-24. We headed north, back through Leadville again, and north on CO-92 over Fremont Pass again.

We took a short hop on I-70 east to the town of Frisco where we got dinner and found a room for the night. It was while ascending Independence Pass that I had my second "mechanical" problem. All along, I have felt very confident with my machine's handling and the performance of the tires. Therefore, it was very disconcerting when I slipped a couple of times, not going particularly fast in a corner. I wasn't on the painted line and I hadn't noticed anything in the road. It made for a slower journey for the rest of the day.

When we got to our hotel for the night, I took a good look at my rear tire and noticed a pretty sizeable piece of metal embedded into the tread, but also protruding out a bit. I know enough not to pry it out. So instead of our intended plans for Friday to ride through Rocky Mountain National Park, we will be heading into Denver to the dealer to see if the tire can be repaired or replaced.