We Went West!

8 Days, 14 States, 5311 Miles
Another Rick and Barbara Ride Report


Statistics from the US Department of Transportation report that there are a total of 8,212,267 registered motorcycles in the United States and the average number of miles driven per year is 2,248.  These are 2010 statistics so they are pretty current.  Doing a little quick math, in 8 days we rode what the average motorcyclist rides in 2.36 years.  Interesting!  Doing a little more math, in the last 12 months we have ridden the equivalent of 11.9 years worth of the average motorcyclist.  Guess that means we are not average!

This trip was not only for fun but as many recall was also a bit of a charity ride for the American Diabetes Association.  Young John Morgan Harrison, the 12 year old son of a friend of ours is a Type 1 diabetic and was participating in the Tour De Cure in Birmingham.  While we were out motorcycling, John Morgan and his younger brother rode a 100 kilometer course on BICYCLES!  Kudos to these young fellows and of course to their Dad, John, who also completed that ride.  Although the total is not complete, it looks like $2,266 was raised by these young fellows.

Here’s how it all went down.

We left home fairly early on Tuesday May 8th headed to the start point of our ride in Blytheville, Arkansas.  On the way to Blytheville, we stopped in Memphis to check out Central BBQ - supposedly some of the best BBQ in Memphis.  I disagree and was not very impressed!  Anyway, we settled into Blytheville, had supper from Subway and got rested for the start of our trip.

The plan was to leave Blytheville at 5:00 AM on Wednesday the 9th and be in Salt Lake City, Utah before 5:00 PM on Thursday the 9th.  We were shooting for a Bun Burner 1500 certification from the Iron Butt Association - 1500 miles or more in less than 36 hours.  We got out of town at 5:05 AM  with a starting odometer reading of 134,120.  We droned up I-55 to St Charles, MO for a gas stop at 9:34 and 234 miles later.  Next stop was in Kansas City, KS at 1:19 PM at 486 miles.  Hey, we are almost 1/3 of the way there!

Kansas is not a pretty state as seen from the I-70.  Flat, featureless, with nothing to catch the eye for miles and miles.  7 hours of this boring interstate ride with the afternoon sun trying to burn our retinas out!  We stopped in Limon, Colorado for gas around 8:34 PM and 1011 miles later.  We were averaging around 66.6 miles per hour - not hard considering speed limits across Kansas were 75. Eastern Colorado is not much better looking than Kansas.  The further west we went, the more we strained our eyes looking for the mountains!

Kansas sucks!

The plan was to spend the night on the west side of Denver so around 10:30 we found a place to crash for a few hours.  Hitting the road around 5:45 AM, we gassed up before tackling the Rocky Mountains.  It was a beautiful ride which of course is a huge understatement.  Early morning sun on the mountains which still bore the winter cover of snow.  As we climbed, temperatures of course dropped which isn’t a challenge….we just turn up the thermostat on those heated gloves and jackets.  Through the Eisenhower Tunnel, up, down, around we went.  Through the places you hear about, Frisco, Copper Creek, Vail, etc.  We stopped for gas in Vail and discovered how proud they were of gas - $4.26 per gallon.  It wasn’t going to get any better either!

On the way through the Rockies

Green River, Utah was our turn point off the interstate.  We stopped there for gas and a break.  The West Winds Truck Stop is also a stopping point for the Greyhound Bus.  Quite an interesting group of folks ride buses these days.  We enjoyed people watching for a few minutes trying to figure out the who, what, and why of someone crossing the country by bus.

The high mountain desert of Utah is a beautiful place filled with a constantly changing landscape.  I have always enjoyed the desert and this part of our trip was no exception.  You can see for miles in any direction rather than the tree tunnels we are accustomed to.

Unlimited views!

The miles quickly passed as we hit the never ending construction that surrounds Provo and Salt Lake City.  We got our ending receipt very near our hotel at 2:28 Mountain time.  1660 miles on the odometer in roughly 33.5 hours.  We got the Bun Burner covered and arrived fairly well rested.  The fun and frivolity shall soon begin.

I did some quick running around to parts stores trying to find the right size O ring to fix a fuel connection on our auxiliary fuel cell.  Couldn’t find the right size so back to the hotel to clean up for social hour.

Friday morning was going to be the kickoff for the charity part of our ride.  Dubbed the 7-11 Ride, we were going to ride 700 miles in 11 hours across Utah and Nevada making 3 mandatory checkpoints.  The finish line for the 7-11 ride was also near the host hotel for the Big Money Rally Banquet on Saturday night.

Back to the fun……we wandered into the hotel bar around 4:30ish PM and met our host for the evening, Steve Chalmers.  Steve was also gracious enough to sign as our ending witness for the Bun Burner ride.  We met the other 11 riders that were going to tackle the 7-11 ride, got acquainted, chatted, and generally enjoyed the evening.  There were riders from all over - we had the furthest from the start location won hands down!

A mysterious thing kept occurring though!  Every time my beer glass or Barbara’s would near empty, another would just appear without having to do a thing.  Just so happens, I was enjoying a local micro-brew that was very, very good so the glass seemed to almost empty itself rather frequently.  It seems that our host was picking up the tab and ensuring that we all were having a grand ole time - which we were!  Sometime late in the evening, we realized we had a pretty demanding ride ahead of us the next morning so bid farewell and poured ourselves up to our room.

The ride was due to start at 6:11 AM Reno, Nevada time which was 7:11 local.  Note more of the 7-11 theme?  At exactly, 7:11 Steve gave us the go signal and off we went.  We first had to tackle about 200 miles of interstate crossing to the south of the Great Salt Lake and then across the Bonneville Salt Flats.  We had a horrible quartering headwind that really made riding difficult.  We crossed the Salt Flats at an angle fighting the wind.  Once we crossed into Nevada and into the mountains the wind eased and we were able to return to upright riding.

Bonneville Salt Flats

First mandatory checkpoint was the Dove Tail Ranch near Carlin, Nevada.  We were met there by Brian Roberts and one of the employees of the Dove Tail Ranch - which happened to be one of the many legal brothels of Nevada.  We wondered a bit about her skimpy attire since it was a bit cool that morning and finally it dawned on us just exactly what the Dove Tail Ranch was!  We don’t have those here in Alabama!

The Dove Tail Ranch

We had a very scenic ride for a while through the valley’s and passes and enjoyed the views enroute to our next stop in Eureka, NV.  We rode for a while on US Highway 50 which has been dubbed “The Lonliest Road in America”.  I believe it!  We encountered very few vehicles and the most activity we saw were prairie dogs running for the lives across the highway.

We were cautioned to be very careful of our speed entering Eureka.  My guess is the organizer of the ride had given the local constabulary a warning that we were coming.  We were VERY aware of the 25 mile per hour speed limit.  We quickly grabbed a gas receipt at the only Chevron station in town and were soon back on the road.

More of the loneliest road followed before a turn onto Nevada Hwy 376.  This one wins the award for not only the loneliest, but the straightest road I’ve been on in a while.  15 mile straights were common and traffic was virtually non-existent.  The clock was ticking down so we decided to up the speed a tad…..nothing like setting the cruise control on a triple digit number.

Zipping across Nevada

Checkpoint 3 was most interesting.  Located in Tonopah, NV, the Mizpah Hotel has a very interesting history.  The 5 story Mizpah was the tallest building in Nevada until 1929.  According to legend, Wyatt Earp kept the saloon, Jack Dempsey was a bouncer, and Howard Hughes married Jean Peters at the Mizpah.  It also was featured in Ghost Adventures on The Travel Channel.  Our goal was to meet Aimee Thompson, a middle schooler, who wrote an award winning essay.  We met Aimee, had some pictures taken, got our copy of the very good essay, and were on the way to the finish line.  We did not get a chance to interact with the team of professional paranormal investigators who were investigating the ghosts of the Mizpah.  It is a very cool place and if ever back in the area, I wouldn’t mind spending a night there just for kicks!

The Mizpah

Hawthorne, NV is the next town we encounter.  It is home of the Hawthorne Army Depot and believe it or not,  the Naval Undersea Warfare Center!  There are ammunition storage bunkers for as far as you can see!  This is a major ammunition storage area for both Army and Navy and where the Navy stores undersea mines and torpedos.   It is also adjacent to Walker Lake which is 18 miles long and 7 miles wide.  Conspiracy theorists have a field day with this one discussing everything from submarine testing to underground passageways all the way to the Pacific Ocean from Walker Lake.   We also encountered road construction with a pilot car and were stopped for about 20 minutes watching the clock tick down.

The finish line is in Holbrook, NV at the Tee Pee.  We had to maneuver through several small burgs, all with their own version of Barney Fife!  We pulled in at 4:43 leaving us a grand total of almost 30 minutes to spare.  The ride was finished. 700 miles, 11 hours.  This was a one time event most likely never to be repeated and we were finishers!  Two riders failed to finish…..one was time barred for being late and another with mechanical problems that prevented her from being a finisher.  A silly photograph had to be taken to prove we finished.  I didn’t disappoint.

We finished!

We headed into Minden, NV which is just south of Reno to our hotel for the next two days.  Saturday night was the banquet for the Big Money Rally.  We cleaned up, had a very nice steak in the casino and were soon fast asleep.

Up early Saturday morning, our plan for the day is to visit Yosemite National Park.   Before making into Yosemite, we stopped for gas and paid over $5.00 a gallon.  Gotta love California gas! Tioga Pass into the park had only recently opened and that was our entrance to the park.   A gradual climb to over 9,000 feet puts you into the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  The sides of the road are still covered in deep snow pack, mountain lakes are still frozen, the smell of pine and spruce in the clean air was invigorating.  Small waterfalls dotted the sides of the road as snow melt filled streams to capacity with cold clean water.  The forest was thick with huge pine and spruce trees - much bigger than we grow in Alabama.  Traffic was very light and we enjoyed the ride across the mountains.


Everything changed once we entered the valley enroute to the Visitor Center.  Traffic now choked the roads, tour buses filled with every nationality filled each parking area.  In an attempt to get a good clear picture of Bridal Veil Falls, we hiked back dodging Japanese and European tourists.  Europeans especially do not have the same sense of personal space we do so they had to be dodged as courtesy is not part of their vocabulary.  We made it to the overlook only to be disappointed since you could see nothing except the drenching mist from the falls.  Nice and cool yes…but frustrating because you could see nothing!

Making it to the Visitor Center was not an option due to the traffic so as soon as we could, we got turned around and headed back out of the park.  We did get a great view of El Capitan!

Scenery without equal!

Just one of many

Bridal Veil Falls

El Capitan

Big ole trees

More El Capitan

Big pine cone!

Rather than backtracking, we picked a different route back to the hotel.  California backroads through the mountains are interesting.  A rockslide had closed one road and rather than clear the rockslide opening traffic in both directions, California just put in a signal light.  One way traffic only and we had a fairly lengthy wait for traffic coming the opposite direction to clear.

Now we encounter Ebbetts Pass.  Today, Ebbetts Pass is one of the least traveled passes in the Sierra Nevada. An extensive section of highway over the pass is less than two lanes with no dividing line. It has very steep sections with hairpin corners.  The eastern slope is particularly difficult, as many of the hairpin corners are blind, and steepen suddenly at the apex, making it necessary to shift to first gear in most vehicles and certainly on a motorcycle. It is rarely used by commercial traffic and is not recommended for vehicles towing long trailers.  It is a delightful road for motorcyclists, but I was admittedly worn out by the time we made it through.  Quite a challenging ride.  Barbara made the observation that in the last month we had tackled 3 major mountain ranges from the east to the west coast - The Smokies, Rockies, and Sierra Nevadas.

We made it back to the hotel in time to clean up and attend the banquet.  There were around 50 or so people in attendance, all celebrating their successful finish of the Big Money Rally.  Lots of good fun and a delightful buffet.  For the uninformed, the Big Money Rally was a self-paced scavenger hunt that had started back in January.  The initial bonus listing contained over 900 US Post Offices!  Each post office was worth 2 points and you had to accumulate 112 points to finish.  Subsequent bonus listing contained unique challenges such as Catholic Universities, Shriner’s Hospitals, mountain summits, and other odd and challenging locations to visit.  I had achieved finisher status back in February by visiting 50 or so post offices and a couple of national parks.

Some riders were not content with merely being a finisher, but continued to accumulate points.  Several guys and gals had over 400 points and rode anywhere from 10 to 15 thousand miles during the course of the rally.  It was a great concept and took us to places we otherwise never would have gone.

Fun and frivolity complete, the challenge now was getting home.  The plan was 3 days and about 2400 miles.  We left early with our intended stop for the evening in Las Vegas.  The plan was to go through Death Valley on the way to Vegas but with weather forecasts showing a high temperature of 112 degrees we squashed the Death Valley plan and just made of way to Vegas across the desert.

The glitz and glitter of Las Vegas is something to see.  We checked into Excalibur which is right on the famed Las Vegas strip.  It was packed and we waited in line for almost 20 minutes just to register.  Parking wasn’t exactly motorcycle friendly since I wasn’t going to hand over the keys to Valet Parking but we found a spot fairly near a door and lugged all our stuff to our 15th floor room.  The bellhop folks didn’t loan luggage carts either! The keys wouldn’t work so back down, through the crowd to the desk for a new set of keys to a different room.

We opted for a buffet dinner in the casino and then were going to make a small contribution to the Vegas economy.  The buffet was marginal but we ate our fill then wandered the casino floor.  It didn’t take long for the one armed bandits to take our money and after sharing 1 $6.00 beer (where did the cheap drinks go?) we were going to walk the strip to see the lights.  It was still hot outside and after about 5 minutes Barbara said she wasn’t feeling very good so we headed back to the room.  Something on the buffet didn’t sit well with her (translation - food poisoning) and her night was spent in the bathroom praying to the god of porcelain.

Stratosphere!

Our room is up there somewhere!

Excalibur is a neat place!

Old town Las Vegas

The Gold and Silver Pawn Shop

With almost 1800 miles to go to make it home, we were off at daylight.  Barbara was drained from her night’s experience but is a trooper.  We got coffee and Gatorade at a nearby 7-11 store and cruised the Strip on the way out.  The History Channel’s Gold and Silver Pawn Shop was on the agenda as we hoped to meet the cast of the show Pawn Stars.  They may be open 24 hours a day, but the showroom isn’t open until 9:00 AM.  A missed opportunity!

Enroute to the interstate, we went through Henderson, NV and detoured a bit to see Hoover Dam.  Again, everything was still closed early in the morning but we did get to see the dam and the amazing amount of work it took to build it.

Impressive bridge from below!

Hoover Dam!

We soon were on I-40 and started the interstate run home.  We zipped across Arizona bypassing the Grand Canyon (been there done that).  We encounter sections of old Route 66 crossing Arizona.  It really must have been something to see in it's heyday but now it is just a lot of old rundown curio shops and funny statues.

A big jackrabbit!

Barbara finally ran out of steam in Albuquerque, NM.  We had planned making it further but when your tank is empty you just have to stop!

Leaving before daylight, we continued east through the mountains.  Temperatures dropped into the 20’s so back into heated gloves and jackets.  Eastward ho and Amarillo, TX was soon in our rearview mirrors.  We turned southeast on US Hwy 287 through Witchita Falls and managed to hit the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex around 5:00 PM.  Traffic and construction made this an experience never to repeat!  That’s what happens when your schedule gets a bit messed up.  We struggled through without incident and soon were back on  I-20 headed east.

Dallas Traffic - yuck!

There was no way we were going to make it home on schedule so in Lindale, TX - just north of Tyler - we hit a Cracker Barrel for supper and settled in for the night.  Radar on the GPS showed several pretty severe storms moving through the area and not wanting to ride through them in the dark was a wise choice!

Wednesday morning we were up and on the road headed home.  We pulled into the shop around 2:30 PM.  What a ride!

As the title says, 8 days, 14 states, 5311 miles by GPS.  Barbara took over 800 photos which we are still sorting through but will be posted on our photo web site at http://www.rikkitik.smugmug.com/.    Even with getting sick in Vegas, we agreed that it was a most excellent trip.

Next installment will be the Not Superman Rally the end of July.  This will be a 5 day rally starting in St Louis, MO.  Rumors abound but we might get to see some of Canada during this one!  Stay tuned.

These folks followed us the whole way!