2011 "Out West" Trip Summary, Stats, Highlights, Notes

Actual Completed Route

Actual Trip Elevation Profile

• 15 days "on the road"
  
• 5,863 total miles of riding, 391 miles average per day
• 626 miles - most on one day, 130 miles - least on one day
• Maximum air temperature was 113 (117 on my bike thermometer!) degrees in Medicine Lodge, KS and lowest air temperature was 39 degrees at North Rim Grand Canyon
• NO problems with motorcycle - ran perfectly, as expected!!
• One engine oil change at Landers Toad Suck HD shop in Conway, Arkansas
• New Dunlop Elite 3 tires did great. Nice ride! Have 7/32" tread remaining (started at 11/32"), so mileage is looking great too!
• Gas mileage: Got over 50 mpg when I was running through the parks and 55 mph roads. Got 45 mpg running on the open 2 lane highways at 65 mph. Got in upper 30's on the wide open interstates at 75-80 mph with a headwind.
•  Wore the "Columbia fishing shirt" the entire trip. Loved it. Even in the heat of Kansas, it felt good to have the long sleeve shirt covering my arms. Plan to wear this kind of long sleeve shirt on all my future long trips
• Don't plan to stay in Dodge City, Kansas again during "Dodge City Days" unless I have a room reservation!
• I recommend for lodging the Parkview Inn in Canon City, Colorado and the Best Western Mark Motor Hotel in Weatherford, Oklahoma. The two best places I stayed overnight.
• Great breakfast places were Bufmack's Cafe in Canon City, CO - Barry's Den in Texas Creek, CO - Abe's Grill in Corinth, Mississippi
• Wore the back brace (http://www.backaline.com/shop/black-leather-back-support/) the entire trip. On my Alaska trip last year I had sciatic leg pain. No problem this year!! I plan to always wear this on my trips in the future.
• The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is much better (especially for motorcycle riding) than the South Rim.
• Some great motorcycle roads in Southern Missouri (Route 160 and Route 14)
• Future motorcycle trips I plan to take: Natchez Trace Parkway, Route 66 from Chicago to LA and USA 4 Corners Tour (http://www.usa4corners.org/)
  

Day 15 (Sunday, August 14) - Leland, NC to Powhatan, VA - 295 miles

Made it back home safely on the final leg of the trip. Weather was threatening rain most of the way but only got a few sprinkles and didn't have to put on the rainsuit! Completed the trip of 5,863 total miles with an average of 391 miles per day. I plan to do a final blog entry as a summary of the trip, highlights with notable places I visited.

Day 14 (Friday, August 12) - Murphy, NC to Leland, NC - 443 miles

Left Murphy, NC under sunny skies and headed down US 64. After a few miles it turned into a very twisty, nice motorcycle road (lots of 15 mph curves!). I did stop at Bridal Veil Falls and parked my motorcycle behind the falls for a picture! Uneventful for most of the rest of the day, just traveling US 74 and pounding out the miles heading to Wilmington, NC. Around Lumberton, NC the skies turned very dark. I turned the NWS radio on and the forecast was heavy rain, hail & lightning for most of SE North Carolina. I donned the rainsuit under an overpass and headed on. I ended up in rain about as heavy as I experienced in Newfoundland Canada a few years ago. It rained so hard that everyone (the crazy ones still on the road and didn't stay under an overpass!) dropped down to about 35 mph with flashers on! It slacked up after a few miles, but rained off and on for the last 50 miles. I will head on to Richmond, VA on Sunday and will do a final entry on the trip for that day and summarize the highlights of the trip!

Day 13 (Thursday, August 11) - Marion, AR to Murphy, NC - 465 miles

Well another great day of motorcycle riding (I think I said it again today, "it don't get any better than this"!!). It was very overcast this morning but looked like all the rain was heading south of my route, so no rain suit when I left and never needed it all day! Traffic was a little heavy and hairy going through Memphis but I made it without every coming to a complete stop to US 72 into Mississippi (this is the route the guy from Alabama that I met in Amarillo, TX a couple of days ago). US 72 was a great ride with very little traffic and open country riding. The first "real town" I came to was Corinth, Mississippi. I passed by a place and the words "Abe's Grill" caught my eye along with a bunch of other stuff!!

Abe and his son

I went on down the road and said to myself, "I have to turn around and visit that place" and that is what I did. WOW, am I ever glad I turned around. That was a treat and a highlight of this trip to meet Abe and see his place. This place is the classic of "Diners, Dives & Drive ins". I don't think Guy Fieri from the Food Network has been there, but he should as I don't think I have seen one any better on his show. Abe was so friendly. I had to order coffee and a sausage biscuit and he said you gotta have more than that, so he gave me a sample of his homemade brown gravy and molasses to go with it (BTW, my total bill was $3.00!!!). Even though he was serving other customers he treated me just like a regular, wanted to know where I was from and where I have been. He showed me stuff in his restaurant and even a picture of Corona College that was burned in the civil war where his restaurant now stands. He and his wife have owned and operated Abe's grill since 1974 (37 years). He reminded me a lot of Emeril Lagasse! BTW, the sausage biscuit, gravy and molasses were great! He even told me to slow up as I was heading out of town and look at the Tombigbee Waterway canal as a lot of his family land was taken years ago to build the canal system. Anyway, just a real American icon and a neat person to meet. As I was leaving he shook hands with me and said "If I don't see you again here, I will see you on the other side". (The other local customers that were eating there all spoke to me as I was leaving and told me to be safe and bye!! Just a real nice southern USA town!!)

I headed on east on US72 into Alabama to the Nachez Trace Parkway and rode it up into Tennessee. This is a great motorcycle road. It is 50 mph and NO commercial traffic, like the Blue Ridge Parkway (really there was not much traffic period. I probably met no more than 5 vehicles in the 40 miles I travelled!). I definitely want to go back and ride the entire length of the Nachez Trace from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi in the future. Took US 64 across southern Tennessee to Chattanooga. US 64 was a great ride. Chattanooga was very crowded. I don't think I have ever seen such aggressive driving in any other city including Northern Virginia and DC as I saw in Chattanooga!! (Don't plan to ever go back there!!).


Ended up in the quaint little mountain town of Murphy, North Carolina for tonight. A really neat town. Had a great dinner at a local restaurant next door to the hotel called Brother's Restaurant, great food and service! I have been outside my room talking to other folks staying here tonight all evening. Some of them were local to North Carolina and other places. I even had a guy from Florida give me his card and offer for me to stop by and spend the night with he and his wife if I am back down in Florida again (told him about my Key West trip in June). It is something how you just seem to meet only great nice people when you are out on a motorcycle. Another guy that grew up in this area gave me a route to take tomorrow as a great ride. That is the route I am planning to take.

Day 12 (Wednesday, August 10) - Weatherford, OK to Marion, AR- 528 miles

Had a great breakfast at the restaurant across from the motel this morning. It was clear and the sun was coming up when I went in for breakfast. When I came out, it was a different story, a large black cloud front was moving across the sky that was very ominous looking!! The wind was really starting to blow too. I had to make a decision as to get packed up quick and head out or stay at the motel and wait it out. The front seemed to be moving away from where I would be heading so I quickly packed up and headed out. The winds were a struggle for several miles but it never rained on me. The road was wet, so I was just behind the rain. About 30 miles from Oklahoma City the sun came out and the skies cleared up for awhile!

The economy in Oklahoma City seems to be doing very well. A 50 story skyscraper was under construction and looked to be about 75% complete. You don't see something like that under construction in too many US cities today!

Around Clarksville, Arkansas I realized I was at 4,800 miles on my present engine oil. I stopped to refuel and called the Harley dealership in Little Rock about getting a "quick" oil change. They were very nice and said "of course, bring it by and we will do it right away", but he told me they had a new store in Conway, AR that may be more convenient to I40 and to me. He gave me their phone number and they told me I was only about an hour away and bring it on by. That dealership was very nice. They took my bike right in for the oil change. I was there about an hour, but it passed so fast talking to folks at the dealership. One of the more interesting things about the dealership was the name, "Landers Toad Suck Harley Davidson". Of course I had to buy a dealer tee shirt with a green toad on it. Very unique and actually a great marketing ploy too, as I am sure they sell a lot of tee shirts!! They gave me a brochure on how the dealership got its name and the meaning of "Toad Suck" in Arkansas. It truly is an "Arkansas thing"!! One of the employees at the parts counter even looked up the radar for me and gave me an Arkansas state highway map and marked a route for me to bypass Little Rock and see some of the Arkansas countryside. I followed it and it was a great route. Much better and a relief from riding I-40.

I arrived in Marion, AR, just cross the river from Memphis and got the last first floor room at the local Best Western. Just down the street is Tops Bar-B-Q (Memphis's Best Since 1952). That sold me and I had a delicious 1/2 rack of Memphis style ribs and a huge sweet iced tea!!

In the hotel lobby was a newspaper that this is "Elvis Week" in Memphis!! I am sure they collect all they can on the Elvis legacy. The guy I met in Amarillo from Alabama told me that I should take US 72 out of Memphis all the way to Chatttanooga for a great scenic motorcycle route. I plan to do that tomorrow and I should make it to my daughter's place in Wilmington, NC by the end of the day on Friday.

Day 11 (Tuesday, August 9) - Gallup, NM to Weatherford, OK - 626 miles

Even though I rode 626 miles, all on I-40 today, it was still a great ride (hey, I was on my motorcycle and in the wind all day and I wasn't WORKING!!) (Sorry about that to all those who are still working, answering to all the whims of a boss and are not retired yet!! If you are retired, then you know what I mean!!).

OK, now on with the day. Started off this morning in Gallup, NM at 50 degrees and ended up across Texas at 105 degrees.

Even here in Weatherford, Oklahoma, this evening at 7:46 pm it was still 98 degrees!! A hot day on the slab for sure, but still not as hot as coming across Kansas last week!! It is all relative!! Really, it was a nice ride. Topped out over 7,000 feet when I crossed the continental divide west of Albuquerque, NM. Stopped for gas and water about every 100 miles for a couple of reasons (I was drinking a lot of water and it is a ways between gas stations here out west!). Met a lot of folks at each stop. This was my first time in Texas and to be honest, I was not impressed. I am sure it was the area I went through, but I was happy to get though it. It was very hot, winds worse than I have ever encountered in South Dakota or Kansas, the biggest cattle feed lots I have ever seen (didn't think they could get more cattle in a lot than Kansas, but Texas sure does it!!) and DRY as a bone and everything was brown!! That is what I saw and experienced of Texas!! (Hope I don't offend any Texans reading this, but hey, that was my perception of reality today!!).

Everywhere I stopped today, it seemed that I was either on or saw something about US Route 66.

Gas station somewhere in New Mexico

US Route 66 basically does follow I40 all the way across New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. As a matter of fact, I am staying in a motel tonight on US Route 66 again just like last night.

Life is Good!!

 I think I have the plans in the making for my next big motorcycle trip and that is to ride Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. The motel here tonight even gave me a book on the Oklahoma Route 66 Association Trip Guide. Even though I had no Route 66 plans on this trip, I coincidentally have encountered it over and over again. I think that tells me something!!

Did stop at Tripp's Harley Davidson shop in Amarillo, TX. That was the bright spot about Texas for me today. The folks in there were very friendly and would talk to you. One of the salesman wanted to know where I was from and about my trip. I could tell he was sincere. Met another rider going from Alabama to San Diego solo on a Road King. We exchanged a few tips since we were going in opposite directions. Met another guy there that was having service done on his bike. I asked him if he was a local and he said yes, I just live down the road about 60 miles. Funny, 60 miles away is "local" in Texas!!

I first stopped in Elk City, OK to find a room for the night but the entire town was booked up. I asked one motel clerk what was going on in the town and she said "Oh, this is an OIL town and all the workers have every motel booked up". She then told me to go to the next town that isn't an "OIL town" and I should have no trouble getting a room and she was right!

Went to local restaurant next door to the motel to eat tonight. I had a Route 66 sandwich and it was delicious (especially with a Fat Tire beer that I had left over from Gallup, NM last night!!).

As I noted, the street in front of the motel is Route 66. It is as picturesque as you can get of Route 66. Even the neon signs. I walked down to the ice cream place and looked at it. It was crowded, but I resisted getting any ice cream, as I knew i would regret it later. I did check at a local store to get more Fat Tire beer for tomorrow night, but it is not sold in Oklahoma, like it is not sold in Virginia.

So I bought a four pack of some local Oklahoma beer called Native Amber. Hey, maybe it is good and I will start something like the liking I have for Fat Tire! The story on Fat Tire started on a motorcycle trip I made with friends Dave and Keith. We were in Lone Pine, California. Keith and I went into a "real" saloon (at least it had the swinging half front doors) and they had a beer named Fat Tire on draft. We tried it and liked it and had it all the was to the Mississippi river on that trip. It is now sold in North Carolina but not in Virginia. I always "stock up" on Fat Tire when I go to North Carolina to visit my daughter that lives there!

Day 10 (Monday, August 8) - North Rim Grand Canyon to Gallup, NM - 401 miles

WOW, does it get COLD at the North Rim in the summer time. It hit 39 degrees on my bike thermometer riding up to Cape Royal. I didn't mind the cold as it didn't last long and the ride was so nice. As the park ranger noted, I never met a single car going up. I was the only vehicle in the huge parking lot at Cape Royal and was standing by myself on Angel's Window.

This is probably the most intimidating of all the trails and viewpoints at the Grand Canyon (that says a lot as they all are to a great deal!). The walk out on the Angel's Window peninsula is very narrow and drops straight down. It was really neat to be there all alone! I was there about an hour and headed back. I passed 4-5 cars coming up then. I got back to the lodge. Made another pot of coffee and packed things up. Checked the oil and tire pressure on the motorcycle too. Didn't want any unforeseen problems coming out of the North Rim!! The ride back to Jacob's Lake was just as nice as the ride in. All the forest, curves and vast meadows. Did see a dead bison that had been hit by a car either during the night or early morning. The car had already been removed. Lots of park rangers there and the big dead bull bison laying on the side of the road. I hope no people got hurt but I am sure at least the car didn't fair too well with that large of a bison. Ran into road work (painting lines!) on the road back down off the mountain. Met a couple from Flagstaff on a Harley. They had ridden up to the North Rim for the day and were heading back. They knew the road and I asked if I could follow. That really helped with the curves and I made better time coming off the mountain (and it was more fun!!)

We parted ways at the Lee's Landing turnoff as I wanted to visit there and actually touch the Colorado River water, which I did!! Rest of the trip was uneventfull coming down route 264 to Gallup, NM. Staying at a motel on old US Rt 66. I didn't even know that Rt 66 went through Gallup. Interesting as I was on Rt 66 in Missouri and Kansas for a while last week. Tomorrow I will be heading into Texas and began my turn south to hit Lousiana the next day.

Day 9 (Sunday, August 7) - Cortez, CO to North Rim Grand Canyon - 379 miles

Another great day of motorcycle riding. I had to say it again "It don't get no better than this"!! Hey, I am saying that every day now on this trip!! It was 50 degrees in Cortez, CO this morning. I forgot that Cortez is at 6,000 feet so it really does cool done at night. I told the lady at the motel when I checked in that I would be leaving early so she gave me a coffee pot for my room with two extra coffee packs (she normally only has coffee in the lobby at 7 am). I perked and was drinking my coffee as I was packing up to leave at 6am when my "neighbor" from California came out of his room and told me he was going to walk up the street to see if he could find some coffee!! I told him to give me a few minutes and I would see what I could do. I perked the other pack of coffee and took it over to him and his wife. They were planning to make it to Flagstaff by the end of the day. They had been on the road for 15 days and were getting anxious to get home. The weather was beautiful with no clouds in site and just a little chilly. I put everything I had on (short sleeve tee shirt, long sleeve fishing shirt, jacket liner and jacket!!).

I decided I would head to Bluff, Utah and stop at the Twin Rocks Cafe for breakfast. I had eaten there on a trip in 2009 and it was great. I had the "Shepherd's" breakfast sandwich that in on Navajo fry bread. It was delicious and a lot to eat!! Met a group of a bout 25 European motorcycle riders at the Shell station in Mexican Hat. They had all flown over to the US and rented Harleys. They were very interesting in my luggage and wanted to know where I got it. I tried to tell them but none of them could understand enough of my English with my Virginia accent!! We ended up exhanging out first names and parted ways! 

Headed on down through Monument Valley and just had to take another picture of "where Forrest Gump stopped running"! I turned to the right at Page and visited the Glen Canyon Dam. I had never been there. Had visited Hoover Dam back in 2006 on a cross country trip. It was pretty impressive. Met a couple from Italy there and again at another site later. This was there first time in the US. Also met a couple from California at the Dam. They wanted a picture of me and my motorcycle for their "scrapbook". I thought that was funny! Stopped by the Navajo Bridge across Marble Canyon. It was hot there, around 105 degrees. I knew I was going to have to climb to higher elevations to get to the North Rim but I was really impressed with the climb, motorcycle riding roads and scenery. It was like coming out of the desert and getting on a high altitude Blue Ridge Parkway. Very impressive climbing from around 3,000 feet to almost 9,000 feet (yep, about 1 mile UP). The ride from Jacob's Lake to the North Rim was a really nice peaceful motorcycle ride. Through forest and meadows and in the 70's!! The lodge was very nice and has a lot of history. I spent a lot of time walking the trails and taking pictures of the canyon.

I signed up for an evening chuckwagon supper with entertainment. It was a great meal and I definitely ate too much. The Texas beef brisket was outstanding! The entertainers were from Tennessee doing cowboy songs!! Again, lots of Europeans in attendance at the Chuckwagon dinner. Did meet a group from Utah as I was in line. The poor young guy whispered to me that he has to sell his motorcycle before his wife's parents would let him marry her!! I talked to a park ranger about a driving road in the park and what he though of it on a motorcycle in the morning. He told me it is a great motorcycle road and that I would probably be the only on it in the morning. I have noticed that is true in the parks. People are not out at all early in the morning. From noon into the early evening things always get very crowded. So that is what I decided to do. The sun was to come up around 5:30 am on Monday morning. That was another thing interesting. I did not realize until I got to the North Rim that Arizona stays on Mountain Standard Time year round (except on the Indian reservations). That is very confusing. So, in the summer their time is the same as Pacific time and in the winter it is Mountain time (again except on the Indian reservations!!) Crazy, if you ask me.

Day 8 (Saturday, August 6) - Grand Junction, CO to Cortez, CO - 262 miles

Well, today was on of those "it don't get any better than this" kind of motorcycle riding days. Beautiful skies, great temperatures, great roads and beautiful scenery!! Started off around 58 degrees this morning. Had a great breakfast at the motel in Grand Junction and headed for Colorado National Monument (I wonder what the difference is between a National Monument and a National Park. I gotta look that up as I cannot tell the difference!!).

Colorado National Monument was a great ride on the 23 mile Rim Rock Drive. Nice curves, tunnels, trails & overlooks were abundant. Not many people there today which was surprising for a weekend. More bicycles than cars. I never saw another motorcycle in the park!! That was a real surprise. I guess maybe the "park" is not that well known, but, in any case, it was a pleasant surprise for me and I highly recommend it!



I headed on south to pick up the western half of the San Juan Skyway from Ridgeway to Cortez. This was a really nice ride!! I had done the eastern half in 2009 from Durango to Ouray.

Visited the town of Telluride. The Rocky Mountains are a beautiful "backdrop" to the town. Also crossed Lizard Head Pass at 10,222 feet. One of the more interesting named passes in Colorado!!

Made it to Cortez, CO for the night. Neat little motel I found on tripadvisor, Tomahawk Lodge. The man and women have owned and run the motel for many years. They have two 8 year old great danes!! Here is one of the that greeted me in the lobby! His name is Harley!!

Had dinner at a nice local restaurant in Cortez (recommended by the motel owner), Pepperheads (and they only serve draft beer!!).

Got several motorcycles here at the motel tonight. From California and New Mexico. The two from New Mexico are carrying three poodle dogs with them on a carrier on their tour pack!

I plan to be at the North rim of the Grand Canyon tomorrow evening. I just checked on line and a single room came open at the North Rim Grand Canyon lodge for tomorrow night only and I got it! Only bad thing is no wireless internet access at the lodge so this will be my only posting until Monday evening.

Day 7 (Friday, August 5) - Canon City, CO to Grand Junction, CO - 305 miles

Dave had told me about a great little breakfast place in Texas Creek, CO. He couldn't remember the name of it, but that was alright as it was the only place in the entire town!! I left Canon City in time to get there right after they opened at 7 am. It was another great local place for breakfast. Lots of regulars and great food. Probably the biggest cup I have ever had for my coffee!!

Left there and headed on west on US 50. It was 57 degrees on top of Monarch Pass! I realized that I had now experienced a 60 degree temperature swing from when I was in Kansas just a few days ago!

Took Rt 92 north from Gunnison. That was a fun road with great scenery of the canyons and lots of curves. Headed on up to the Grand Mesa (Rt 65) and on into Grand Junction. This was another great ride as you go from around 5,000 feet in elevation to over 10,000 feet on top of the mesa and then back down to around 4,000 feet over about 40 miles.




Heading "south" tomorrow toward the Grand Canyon. Not sure where I will end up tomorrow night.

Day 6 (Thursday, August 4) - Canon City, CO to Canon City, CO - 130 miles

Started off the day with a great breakfast at Bufmack's in downtown Canon City. This was a real local place. I think I was the youngest customer in the place. My waitress, Pam, told me they had mostly regulars and when one of her regulars didn't show up in the morning they would call and make sure they were alright!!

My cousin-in-law, Dave from Colorado Springs met me at the motel in Canon City for a day of riding in the area. We rode the Skyline Drive in Canon City first, as Dave had never ridden that. We then heading to Royal Gorge.  Looking at the brochures noticed that it cost $25 just to walk out on the bridge. That seemed a little much and neither of us cared about walking on the bridge. Dave knew a place were we could view the gorge and bridge so that is where we headed.

The view into the gorge was very impressive. It was over 1,000 feet deep! What was amazing was the construction of the train track in the gorge bottom. That was a $25 view that we didn't have to pay for!!!! Next we headed for Cripple Creek. A new road was recently completed off of Rt 9. It was a great motorcycle road and a real joy to ride.

Cripple Creek was a really nice town. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and visiting the casinos. Interesting that all the casinos in Cripple Creek give free drinks as long as you play on of the game (even a 25 cent slot!!). We visited several of them!!

Most of our time was in the casino named after me!! After we both lost $2 and had our drinks we decided we had better head on. The dark clouds were moving in fast and rain/thunderstorms was forecast for the afternoon. Dave headed back to Colorado Springs and I headed back to Canon City. I had decided to stay at the same motel a second night since we planned to ride in the area all day. I ended up having rain for about 15 minutes, but I rode through it and the sun came back out for the rest of my return trip.

Did a lot of walking in Canon City in the evening. Canon City is a neat town with nice parks and lots of walking trails along the Arkansas River that runs through the town.

Day 5 (Wednesday, August 3) - Dodge City, Kansas to Canon City, Colorado - 336 miles

What a difference a day makes in the weather!! It was raining when I got up this morning in Dodge City and the temps were around 70 degrees. I ended up just eating breakfast at the hotel (raisin bran, OJ, lots of coffee and one pastry!!), so that was probably better for me anyway.

I rode around and visited the sites (including the local Harley shop!) in Dodge City and then began the long trek west on US 50 all the way to Canon City, Colorado. Not much to see, just a 65 mph two lane road with lots of cattle feed lots along the way!!! It did start raining on me again in Garden City, Kansas and I had to stop and put on the rainsuit. It actually felt pretty good as the temps were staying in the mid 70's. I realized that was about 40 degrees cooler than the day before!!

I made it to Colorado and had to take the customary picture of the state sign. I have always thought that Colorado could have done a better job of designing a state entrance sign than this one. The word "Colorful" just doesn't do much for me!

Also, this was an interesting old abandoned building at the state line. I had to wonder what it's history was.

Somewhere in western Kansas or eastern Colorado, I got hit by a BIG insect on the windshield. It stuck there all the was to Canon City!!







After checking into a hotel in Canon City, I rode the Skyline Drive in Canon City. That was a really neat ride and was very exciting. One of the more challenging 3 miles of road I have ever traveled on my motorcycle. From the pictures you can see why as it was very narrow, no guard rails and beautiful scenery. One "bad" thing about a motorcycle is that your motorcycle will go in the direction you are looking, so it was hard to keep my eyes on the road and not look at the beautiful scenery!

Got back to the hotel just before another rain and saw a beautiful rainbow!

This was clothes washing night so I had a sub and a Fat Tire beer(s) for dinner. It was really good!!