Short update

I took my bike in for it's 25,000 mile service the other day. I usually do my own service, but I took it in because it was time for some adjustments to be done to the drive belt, steering bearings and things like that. I also needed some warranty work. My CB antenna broke off (I almost never use it) and some of the lights needed attention (I have lots of lights on my bike). There was an intermittent open circuit in the wiring somewhere. My bike is supposed to be done tomorrow.

My front tire is showing some wear and my front brakes will need replacing soon. I already replaced the rear tire and brakes before I left on my trip.

The last couple of days I have been working my my duck boat. I doubt I will have it done by this season, but I am trying. I feel it is more important to do a good job than a fast one.

Saturday I will go hunting pheasants with a friend. My dogs like to do that.

I realize the last things have nothing to do with riding my bike, but it's what I have been up to.

I got a lot of comments from folks about my ride. Thanks to those of you who did so. It's fun to get feedback.

Snake River Canyon to Mt Rainier & Home

I left Idaho at 8:20 and started for Hell's Canyon. The temperature in Kuna was 35 degrees. I put my "Darth Vador" costume on again, and I wore it all day. It will be a 643 mile run today.
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I have never seen Hells' Canyon, but I have always heard about the great fishing they have there. Several guide Services work out of that area. After leaving Tommy's house, I passed this on the way to I-84:

I guess it's really hard to see in this small picture. It is a bunch of telephone poles. It is Lineman's College where guys learn how to climb poles and fix wires and stuff like that.

I took I-84 to US 95, then Idaho 71 toward the canyon. I rode about an hour and a half before I stopped for breakfast. Bucky's Cafe was right at the corner I needed to turn at. Bucky's is not bashful about heaping up your plate. I was pretty sure I would not need any lunch.This place is in Cambridge, ID. It's at the gates of hell('s canyon). I hoped it would be warmer there.

How would you like to live by the gates to hell?

The Snake River runs through Hell's Canyon.

Of course there are a couple dams on the river which crank out electricity. When ever that happens, that creates lakes and of course fish. Here is a (poor) shot of one of the electric generators.

It's really rocky there. Those rocks looked pretty cool in person, but not here in the blog. I should have gotten closer, I guess.

Soon as one crosses the Snake River you are in Oregon. That is the 18th state on my little ride. I took hwy 86.

I bought gas as Halfway, Or then back onto I-84 and continued on. I would go over the Blue Mountains on the way. My thermometer was still below 40. I stopped at Pendleton for more gas and something at the Pendleton Factory Outlet store. Everyone needs a new blanket now and then. Carol would be happy with my purchase.
I took this shot the next day, but this is the blanket I bought (folded in half).

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Just a little ways past Pendleton I came to Hermiston where I turned North onto I-82. That brought me back into into Washington.

Being an even number, 82 actually runs East-West, but it goes up to the tri-cities first. When I got to the tri-cities (Kennewick, Pasco and Richland) I got off and took US 12 to MT Rainier Park. I stopped for gas again in Naches. I headed up over the Cascade Mountains by way of White Pass. I usually go over Chinook Pass, which is higher, but I wanted to be different this time. Besides that, the temp had been in the low 40's all day. I was cold.

White Pass has some great scenery. This is not many miles from where it is flat and treeless. The Cascades really are something. White Pass is 4500 ft high, according to the sign.

By the time I entered Mt Rainier National Park it was soon dusk. This was the 6th National Park I visited on my trip.

I rode up along the park road getting higher and higher into the clouds. The fog made my windshield and the road wet. So much for my nice clean bike (again). As I got higher, it rained on me for just a bit from about Paradise to Longmire. For those of you who do not know this park, I realize that means little. For the rest of us, it's the high part of the park.

I took this photo between The park road and Paradise. This was an awsome thing to see in person. I would have about 20 minutes of light left. When it gets dark in these woods, you can't see your hand in front of your face. Headlights are all you have. There are no street lights up here. I didn't stop to take any more pictures. I just slowed down and kept on working toward the exit. The road twists, turns and winds around. The trees are right next to the road. There are lots of deer and elk here. I just took it easy.

As soon as I got out of the park, the road straightened right out. I have travelled these roads for years and it felt like I was home already. Actually I had about an hour and a half to go.

I was on Hwy 7 heading toward Tacoma. I took the Eatonville cutoff road and rode into town for dinner. It was about 7:45. I was cold and nearly shivering. I drank a few cups of coffee and ordered a burger. After ten minutes, I was warm again. I finished my dinner and tried to call home but my cell phone did not work in Eatonville. The cafe would not let me use their phone and there was no pay phone there. I rode into Spanaway and called in. Carol was glad to hear I would be home tonight.
I took this the next day (in the daylight)

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I pulled into the driveway and stopped to open the gate. My dogs greeted me, like they always do. It was good to be home.

I bought a "Boston" at the Harley store in Idaho. What do you think?

Summery:

I had travelled 6,734.0 miles in 21 days.

Used 174.9 gallons of gas.

Visited 6 National Parks.

Travelled through 16 states (18 is you count Washington and Idaho twice).

Visited too many relatives and friends to count.

Saw lots of beautiful and varied scenery.

Washed my bike four times (it needs it again).

My nephew told me I had done what everyone else wanted to do. I am not sure about all of that, but I felt really privileged to have gone on this ride. I have learned that when I retire and have more time, I will do lots more of it before I get too old to do it.

I hoped you enjoyed reading about my 2009 vacation run.

Oct 8th Kuna Idaho (by Boise)

I spent today lounging around Tom’s house. He had told me about an E-mail he had gotten from the local Harley Dealer (Meridian, ID) regarding “Public Appreciation Night.” We planned to attend. The chances of this event being right at the time when I was travelling through was quite the thing, I thought.

Of course, one cannot go to those types of things with a filthy bike. That would never do. So, I gave Babe another bath. She looked all sparkly again.

Tom has an ’09 Fat Bob. He got the black denim color. It looks nice.

After we got through doing nothing all day, we rested up some, then headed in to the Harley Store. Here is a shot of Tom and his daughter, Emily on the back.

The store here is fairly new. It’s pretty spiffy.

They have a pool table and a big screen if you get tired of shopping. The big screen in on the left. The large picture in the center was taken at Arlington.

... and for the "detective types," they have a putting green. What else do you need?
We parked outside and went in.

There were sandwiches and things to eat and plenty of soda. All of this event stuff makes one thirsty.

We were poking around the store drooling on the new bikes when I ran into Jerry Hicklin. Jerry knows Pete Habib, Tom White, Woody, Jerry Lerum and a lot of other guys where I work. He is a retired Seattle Motor Officer. He escaped his job is '06. Now he works for Harley. He says he keeps track of 7 states while he does his Harley thing. Sounds like a good retirement gig to me. Jerry asked me if I had come over for the event and I told him about my little ride. He seemed interested in peeking at my blog, so I gave the address. I had never met him before but I liked him. He was one of those guys you can easily talk to.

After the event, Tom and I rode back to his house where we had dessert: "Apple Pie."


Apple pie is made from: Apple Juice, Apple Cider, Everclear, Hot-Damn Cinnamon Schnapps, Cinnamon and nutmeg. Tom mixes up a batch now and then. I am not sure of AFT is aware of it or not??

This should be my last night on the road. Tomorrow I plan to ride through Snake River Canyon, Yakima, Mt Rainier National Park and home again. Some of that will depend on the weather in the passes. I just checked with the weather service: so far, so good. I am told the Snake river Canyon is a beautiful place to take pictures. Of course Mt Rainier is always good for a shot or two also. Check back tomorrow.

Great Salt Lake/ Idaho

Wednesday, Oct 7thA

This morning was pretty cool. My bike outside temp gauge read right in the middle between 20 and 40 (it’s not real accurate). I packed up my bike and put on several layers of clothes. I wore my face mask today. Thirty something at 80 miles an hour is hard on your face. The speed limit is 80 here. Handsome devil aint I?

I stayed at the Best Western last night. I didn't get a shot of it yesterday. It was too dark and I was hungry (sorry).

I still had half a tank of fuel, so I rode 100 miles into Provo for gas/breakfast. There was a Flying J truck stop at one of the exits, so I pulled in there.



I could see there was snow in the mountains ahead of me. My maps do not indicate elevation. I was not sure how much higher I would go today. As it turned out I did not get into any snow (thank God). It was a chilly ride all day, however. It did warm up to the low fifties around the early part of the afternoon. I took off my face mask and heavy gloves then. The leathers stayed on all day.
Yesterday I took the highways most of the time I was in Utah. I have a Harley Davidson Road Atlas that had most of my chosen route marked in yellow with a “preferred ride” marker. Yesterday was very scenic, bit it cost me some time. Today my plan was to stay on the interstate and make up for it. I wanted to be in Salt Lake by noon if possible. As it turned out, I was right on schedule.

I had the interstate pretty much all to myself until I got close to Provo. There was construction there and a lot of semi trucks. Still it was nothing like home. It was easy going. I had never been to Salt Lake City before, other than the airport. I did not realize the city (including all the surrounding towns) is about about 50 miles long. I knew the lake was on the west side, but I thought I would be able to see it from the freeway. I turned off a couple of times looking for it without any luck. I thought I had made a goof up somehow so I pulled off to look the map over. I was still way south of it.

I travelled through town for about 30 miles then I pulled off and asked some people how to get to the lake. The first guy I asked had no idea… and he lived there. The next person gave me directions to the airport. After a bit of going this way and that, I finally made it to the lake. Turns out there is a state park there named Antelope Island. From there one can get to the shore line and touch the water if so inclined. From most vantage points one can just “see” the lake. I wanted the real deal.

I paid my $3 and rode into the park. This park is different than any other I have been to in that they raise bison there. They walk around where ever they want. I saw this guy close to the road so I gave him a few seconds of video. I didn’t want to get any closer because there were no fences (like that would stop him). Anyway, I respected his space.




I looked around at the visitor’s center where I learned the only living things in that lake were brine shrimp, microbes and some bugs. Birds come and eat the brine shrimp.
Another shot of the lake. I once read a book about the mountain men. Jim Bridger had come upon this lake sometime around the 1820's. Because if its size the the salt, he thought he had found an arm of the Pacific ocean.


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After the Visitors Center, I went to the boat launch and stuck my boot in the water. A guy had just pulled a boat out so the water was murky right there.
Here is a shot of the boat launch and some slips. No other boats except for the one guy. There are no fish in the lake so not many boaters, I guess. The guy I saw with the boat said he was a researcher of some kind. They go and take water samples every now and then.

After poking around at the park I hit the road and made for Idaho. I had fiddled away most of the day and I still had about 300 miles to go before I got to Tom’s (my nephew) house.

I pulled in just as it was getting dark. This was my welcoming committee.

Robin, Tom, Emily
Here is their house (I took this shot the next day in the day light).

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Tom told me the Harley Store in Boise was having a “Public Safety Appreciation Day” tomorrow night. They had invited anyone with a Peace Officer Special (like I have) or a Firefighter Special to come and enjoy the festivities. Factory Reps were coming and they would have stuff to eat as well. He suggested we go. Look for that stuff in tomorrow’s blog entry. First, I will have to give Babe a bath. She is filthy again.

So far I have 6,073.8 miles on this ride.

Zion and Bryce National Parks.

Oct 6th, 2009

I left Vegas and headed north on I-15. I crossed onto Arizona again

and shortly thereafter, Utah.


Its only a very short distance between those states in this area.

I stopped in for lunch in St George, which is just past Arizona, inside of the Utah border about 6 miles.Turkey Club and iced tea.

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The sink in this place was notable. The sink has no basin. It is slanted backward and the water just runs back that way out of sight. I felt it was "blog worthy." You should have seen the other guy in there when I pulled out the camera....

About 45 minutes down the road after lunch, I came to Zion National Park. $12 later, I was in. There was some awesome scenery in there.

This is different than the Grand Canyon in that you are below it looking up, for the most part. It's very colorful.

About 3/4 of the way through the park, I came to a tunnel. The tunnel is about a mile long, dug out of solid rock.

I stopped on the other side to take this shot. It was hot there so the leathers came off. I strapped them to my luggage rack. Then I noticed my CB antenna was broken (on the right side). The whip was missing. It's on the road somewhere between St George and Zion Park.

About one mile outside of the park the view is like this:

Seems impossible, doesn't it?

I passed a herd of Bison along the way.

They walk as they eat and they all face the same direction, I noticed.

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I got on Hwy 9, then 89 then took 12 to Bryce National Park. I almost passed it up because I wanted to make it to Salt Lake City by dark. I knew I would not have enough time if I stopped again. Then, I realized I was on vacation (dammit).

Another $12 and I was on my way. One question that came to mind was: Why in the hell does the government hire people to interact with the public who cannot speak english well enough so it can be understood? I can see putting a guy like that in the kitchen with a broom or a paint brush or something. Come on!!!

These parks are only about 100 miles apart, but very different.

The mountains look like they have ice cream on them, or maybe I was just hungry.

Once I got in the park, I climbed pretty high. Somewhere between 8000 and 9000 ft. The leathers went back on again. I began to appreciate the invention of the zipper.

My wife would have loved this place. It is (I think) the most scenic of all the parks I have been in so far.
This particular shot was my favorite in the park. It looks like a pipe organ, I thought. It doesn't really come across in this photo.

Here is some more video if you like that stuff. Pardon my finger, which got in the way. One has to remember that I am not looking at the camera while I do this (stupid) stuff.

I left the park and made my way back to Hwy 89 northbound. I made my way to Circleville, where I found this:

I guess the secret is out.

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Continuing on northbound on 89, I made my way to I-70 west then I 15 north until it got dark on me. Fillmore was the first town I came to after dusk so I pulled into the Best Western and found some roast beef at the cafe.

I checked in at home and knocked out this blog for my loyal readers (thank you).

Tomorrow my plan is to take some pictures of the Great Salt Lake, then go on up to Idaho where my nephew lives in Kuna.

It would be fun to go to the Bonneville Salt Flats but it is about two hours out of my way (each direction). I will save that for another time.

I am sorry the pictures were so mundane today.... Ha!