My Final Thoughts

This was truly a trip of a lifetime, and for me to try and sum it up in a paragraph or two would be impossible.  The pictures and narrative I posted on this blog are only a small part of the whole story and whole experience of this trip. This is a BIG and BEAUTIFUL country we live in, and I'm sorry I haven't seen more of it until now. I hope in the years to come to see more of this country and meet more of the people in it.  As well as all the things we saw on this trip, it was the people we met from all over this country and all over the world that will leave a lasting impression on me.  Everyone we met was unbelievably nice, friendly and helpful. They loved talking to us and hearing the story of our trip.  Wherever we were, the first question everyone asks is "where are you from."  When we say NJ, the next question is, "did you ride here."  When they hear the story that we rode the LONG way there, everyone is amazed and wants to hear more about our trip.

I discovered that this country is quite the lifetime trip for people from all over the world also. The visitors to the national parks, especially Yosemite and Yellowstone seemed to be more than half people from foreign countries, most notably China and Germany.  Then there were the people doing their bucket list trip from Finland and Denmark on the Old Lincoln Highway tour. You can check them out at www.LH2013.com.

I want to thank my riding partners Jerry James and Joe.  James, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident  about 6 years ago and is still riding, and who's life and riding experiences all over this country and the world I heard about the past 31 days were amazing and inspiring. It was an honor riding with him.  Jerry and I were the only two with communications and we would often talk on the CB during the long rides. Whether it was about traffic, changing lanes, hazards, approaching turns, or checking if our GPS's agreed on a direction of route. (They often didn't agree, and we thought of them as an old married couple that couldn't agree on anything. LOL)  Or we would just chat about the radio stations, songs or scenery.  It seemed to pass the time on those long stretches of road and I was grateful for the conversation with him that passed the time.  And Joe, the man with the iron butt, what more can I say?  His determination to ride to the Pacific Ocean and back seemed to be his only goal of the trip.  Well Joe, you made it!

Thanks to my wife and family for putting up with my absence for the past four and a half weeks while I lived this dream.

I also want to thank those that followed the Blog and commented. Although I know there were difficulties for some trying to leave comments on the blog. That was out of my control. I am looking forward to finding out who followed that I didn't know about, and telling the stories about this trip that are not written here.  I suppose the enormity of this trip will sink as the weeks go by.  It seemed like I was away forever, and it's good to be home.  The trip was very physically demanding and near the end, it seemed like my bike was 500 pounds heavier than when I started.  I've already been asked if I would do this trip again.  That answer is a resounding YES.

Here are some other thoughts about this trip.

Best part of the trip..... Mount Rushmore.  Seeing it gave me goose bumps

Worst part of the trip..... Can't really say there was a bad part at all, but the extreme heat early on was not fun.

Place I'd move to in a heartbeat..... Montana.  Wish I could have fished while I was there.

Biggest disappointment..... Sturgis.  Interesting sights and great for people watching, but just not me.

Best road for riding..... Rt. 89 and 395 from South Lake Tahoe to Mono Lake CA.   Rt. 212, the Beartooth Hwy in WY a close 2nd.  Both had ass puckering moments.

Worst road.... I-70 and I-76  through Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. More construction and work zones than I could possibly keep count of.

Most Interesting Road.... US Hwy 50, which in the longest and "Loneliest Highway" in America.  It runs 3073 miles from Ocean City MD to Sacramento CA.  We rode 2594 miles of it from Clarksburg WV to Lake Tahoe CA.  It is true Americana and I wish I could have made more stops along the way.

The trip by the numbers:

8370...... Miles traveled  (Jerry James and Joe had about 167 more miles because of my downtime for the flat, the bike being towed and being at Matt's)

31...... Days of riding

21...... States we rode thru besides NJ  (Indiana, Illinois and Ohio twice)

528...... Most miles in one day

61...... Stops for gas

193.8..... Gallons of gas used

$5.19..... Highest price paid per gallon  (Bridgeport, California)

44.2...... Miles per gallon my bike got

10,947..... Highest elevation we rode (Rt. 212, Beartooth Highway, Wyoming)

3...... # of days over 100 degrees

108...... Highest temperature (Great Basin National Park, Nevada)

3..... # of cell phones I went thru on this trip (1 lost and 1 broken)  Lost a lot of pictures too.

90..... # miles my bike was towed

ANYONE UP FOR A LITTLE RIDE? 

Day 31... Home again

8370 miles and finally home. 

Come visit the blog in a few days for my final thoughts and some tidbits of information about the trip.

Day 30

Today was another long riding day, so we should get home by tomorrow.  521 miles today makes it back to back 500 mile days, and boy is my butt sore.  We finished Illinois, rode through Indiana and almost all the way through Ohio today. Once again, there wasn't much opportunity for picture taking since all we wanted to do was burn up the miles.  There also wasn't anything eventful to report today, except that I-70has to be the road with the most construction in the country.  I can't tell you how many construction zones we ride through today. 

Barring bad weather or breakdown we should be back in Toms River sometime late tomorrow. 

A few days after I'm back home, I will post my final thoughts on this trip of a lifetime.

At this time I want to thank everyone who has followed the blog and has commented on it.  I truly enjoyed and looked forward to comments that were posted every day.  Unfortunately, I was not able to reply directly to the comments posted as anonymous. That's just the way the blog worked.  Or, I just never figured out how. LOL  

Day 29

Today was a get on the road and put miles behind us day. That being said, we did 528 miles today and boy am I whipped.  Thank goodness the weather was good, except for an hour of fog this morning which was so thick at times we slowed to 40 mph. Cars world disappear when they got 100 feet in front of me. We traveled through the whole state of Iowa. Iowa was just as I had imagined it.  Mile after mile after mile of cornfields.  With the occasional clump of huge windmills. Those things were impressive when you see them close up.  We didn't stop except for gas  so there aren't very many pictures for you folks in blogland. 

We ended our long day in Peoria Illinois.

Gas station, convenience store and casino, what more could you ask for? 

Women are causing James to consider his options. To Meth, or not to Meth, that is the question.

Day 28... Heading home

Today we left the Foothills Inn, where we stayed last six nights, and started our trek back to New Jersey.  After about an hour on a road we stopped at the infamous Wall Drug on I-90.  What A tourist trap.   After a cup of coffee we continued on.  We got off I 90 and on to route 240 and drove through Badlands National Park Scenic Bypass.  This was just another in a long list of amazing rides on this trip.   The scenery was terrific, and it reminded me of a mini Grand Canyon as you will see from the pictures below.  

After the Badlands, we got back on I 90 and just burned up miles until the end of the day.  We ended our day in Beresford SD after 403 miles.  Then we topped today off with a great burger at Burtz. 

Today was probably our last day of sightseeing.  From here on in its just burning up the miles to get home.  

Day 27

This morning we all went to the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame.  But Jerry and I were the only ones to go inside. The woman letting us in said there was only 1 rule. We could take all the pictures we wanted, but looky no touchy.  Sort of like that girls panties I posted on Monday.  There were a lot of very old and vintage bikes on display.  More tan I have ever seen before.  I was hoping to see the Captain America Bike from the movie Easy Rider, but it was not there.  I was told there were 4 originals. One was stolen many years ago, and the other was destroyed during the making of the movie. I don't know if that all true, but that's what someone said. 

 

We met up with our friends Joe and Maureen from NJ Motor Cruisers, and had lunch with them at Knuckles Saloon.  After lunch we took a leisurely ride through Spearfish Canyon.  That was a nice slow ride through a very scenic area.  We were back to the hotel early and taking the shuttle to a place called The Firehouse Brewing Company. Then we will pack our things and prepare for the ride home tomorrow.

 

Day 26.. Mount Rushmore

Early this morning, James went back to the Full Throttle Saloon to wait and sign up for his free tattoo.  We heard from him, and he said he was third in line.  Then later he called and told us the Easy Rider Saloon was also doing free tattoos.  We knew we wouldn't be seeing him for a while, so the three of us went onto Mount Rushmore.  The monument is only 27 miles from out hotel.  The first sighting of Rushmore as we rode up to the memorial and visitors center was amazing. I hate to keep repeating myself, but this is just another experience that I cannot describe to you in words. You MUST come see it for yourself.  It was an awesome thing to behold and to be so close to.  Then as we went thought the visitors center looking at the pictures of the men that worked on this and made it possible.   It really gave me goose bumps. 

After Rushmore we went to Crazy Horse and then to Custer City.  On the way back from Custer, we experienced a lightning bolt so close, that it raised the hair on my head like static, and Jerry felt it in his hand.  So we pulled over right away in this old "antique" place. At least that is what the sign said.  It was more like a Sanford and Son establishment.  LOL.  I almost bought a buffalo skull for $79.  But then I thought, where would I put it?  So the skull is still there for my next trip out here. 

We have no idea what we're doing tomorrow yet.

All of us would like to thank Cindy picture here with me. Cindy is the front desk manager here at the Foothills Inn, both in the morning and sometimes in the evenings.  She has been  very friendly and a great help to us whenever we have any questions about the area.  So thank you Cindy.
 

Day 25

Today we went back into Sturgis early this morning so Jerry could get his new tattoo.  James was going to Full Throttle to get his free FTS tattoo, but by the time he got there it was too late to sign up for today.  He might be going back tomorrow morning even earlier.  As we rode out of town I videoed along the famous Main St. where all the bikes are parked. I cant wait to see  how it comes out and looks on a big screen. 

After leaving Sturgis, we went into Deadwood, and got to see the original sight of Saloon No. 10, where Wild Bill Hickok was shot.  They even had on display the chair he was sitting in when he was shot.  But to me, it looked a little too ornate for a bar chair in that time period.   We also got to see the original place where Jack McCall was caught for killing Wild Bill, and we also visited Wild Bill's and Calamity Jane's gravesite.  They do reenactments of the famous incident, but none were taking place when we were there.  It was very interesting the history of this town! 

Hopefully Mt. Rushmore tomorrow, but we'll plan that at dinner.