Petrol 4.09 per US gallon Wyoming
6.24.08 Columbia to Rock Port, Missouri
Leaving Columbia under the threat of rain was a no brainer. No further then 5 miles up the road north then I am making a quick change to the wet gear. And it stays like this for the next 200 miles, rain, lighting and a bit of hail. Finally pulled into Rock Port, Missouri for the night. Seeing that it was still over cast I upgraded myself to the luxury of a cabin. And did I say it rained all night looooong. Its amazing just how nice life can be when everything is dry for the next morning ride.
6.25.08 Rock Port,MO to Thedford, Nebraska National Park
The clouds were heavy this AM and you could almost taste the water in the air but forward I go. Left Rock Port and crossed into Iowa where the ground was saturated with water on both sides. It is estimated that over 2 million acres of farm land alone in Iowa is under water. Look forward to a healthy bump in food prices in the very near future. Crossed over the Missouri River into sunny Nebraska and again initially the farm lands are under water but this cleared up as I moved further west. Looking at the map of Nebraska, Route 2 seemed to be the way to go as it goes right through the Sand Hills(whatever that means) and there is a National Park. Arrive at the NP and my thoughts were to, and I hate to say this, sleep on the picnic table. This was settled with the tent going up in minutes as the mosquito's and deer flies made their presents known. It was a quite night except for the coal trains passing through and I just know that those low life engineers were hitting the air horn a bit heavy knowing that campers were just 200 meters away.
6.26.08 - 6.27.08 Thedford,NE to Hot Springs, South Dakota
I have a feeling that it must be my 6 day socks that bring the bugs in, but I am just guessing on this one.... Packed up and back on Rt 2, which is really quite nice but not a lot of scenery, small towns and as rural as it can get. Got to Route 250 and headed north for the South Dakota border. Crossed the border and immediately was in Indian tribal land. The first tribal town just over the border reminded me of the aboriginal towns that I had passed through in Australia. Run down and in terrible shape. The tribal lands did have one thing going for it, the largest Casino out in the middle of no where and was it packed with cars and buses. And another sure sign of success was the two huge beer trucks heading into the township that I had just passed through. Any way it was route 18/385 north and just a beautiful drive into Hot Springs, SD. It was a camp site for the next 2 nights as the Blackhills/Badlands and Mount Rushmore National Parks were in a days ride.
It was a full day running the roads through the various national parks. I have never waved at so many bikers in my life. And to think that Sturgis is only a couple of hours away(the annual show as much skin as possible bike -a-thon held once a year in Sturgis SD). Buffalo within touching distance but some how they would completely ignore you. The weather was picture perfect for the day regardless of the rain early AM.
6.28.2008 Hot Springs South Dakota to Casper, Wyoming
With a clear night and morning, everything dry, and my 6 pancakes for breakfast, it was time to move on. Out the door to Custer, then Route 16 into Wyoming then heading southwest to Casper across prairie lands as far as the eyes can see. Besides the strong winds out of the northwest at 15 knots trying to push you off the road, the ride was some what humbug but still enjoyable.......to a very small degree. Into Casper it was for the night. Due to the holiday(July 4th) coming up have made tent reservations in Jackson and West Yellowstone for the next week....and can you image that the prices have moved up accordingly!!!!!!
Norm Garon
The Grey Nomad
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
6.23.2008 Columbia, Missouri
Has anyone checked the price of petrol lately....it is $3.79 per US gallon(3.7litres) in Missouri as of this morning. The only place any cheaper is China where the government subsidizes the cost of petrol.
What does one do when you volunteer for 10 days at sea with a laboratory that is a front for moonshine whiskey for the state of Missouri. Wellllll, as any god fearing male at an undisclosed age bracket can tell you, drink and be merry.
Getting back to this volunteer job which when I checked in, the project had dropped to 5 days at sea. Good enough as I can handle this. You leave Missouri and travel 9 hours via truck to South Haven, Michigan. This is my first trip to this part of the USA ever but as I had a room to myself and cable TV, can life get any better.
Next morning it was loading out the ship with gear. Underway shortly there after, on site within an hour and the port engine(for you land lubbers, its the left engine looking at the pointy end of the boat)breaks down. Needless to say we did finish with the sampling for the day. Back into port and diesel mechanic was scheduled for the next morning.
Mechanic is there bright and early next morning and it will be 2-3 days before the repair part will be available.It seems that the part is manufactured in Nepal and has to come across the desert by camel. Off load all of the gear and its another 9 hours travel back to the USGS laboratory in Missouri.
If anyone out there thinks that trucks don't move the bulk of the freight in the US, don't ever travel the roads from Chicago south.
While in Columbia, MO I stayed at a couples farm in the outback. The husband is consider a "Gentleman's Farmer", short for someone that has just tooooo much time on his hands. The wife works at the laboratory on a part time schedule as one of the many cleaning ladies. Her other occupation is working nights at Walmart as the Welcome Lady at the door.
I am back on the road tomorrow heading north-west to the Badlands National Park in South Dakota
Norm Garon
The Grey Nomad
What does one do when you volunteer for 10 days at sea with a laboratory that is a front for moonshine whiskey for the state of Missouri. Wellllll, as any god fearing male at an undisclosed age bracket can tell you, drink and be merry.
Getting back to this volunteer job which when I checked in, the project had dropped to 5 days at sea. Good enough as I can handle this. You leave Missouri and travel 9 hours via truck to South Haven, Michigan. This is my first trip to this part of the USA ever but as I had a room to myself and cable TV, can life get any better.
Next morning it was loading out the ship with gear. Underway shortly there after, on site within an hour and the port engine(for you land lubbers, its the left engine looking at the pointy end of the boat)breaks down. Needless to say we did finish with the sampling for the day. Back into port and diesel mechanic was scheduled for the next morning.
Mechanic is there bright and early next morning and it will be 2-3 days before the repair part will be available.It seems that the part is manufactured in Nepal and has to come across the desert by camel. Off load all of the gear and its another 9 hours travel back to the USGS laboratory in Missouri.
If anyone out there thinks that trucks don't move the bulk of the freight in the US, don't ever travel the roads from Chicago south.
While in Columbia, MO I stayed at a couples farm in the outback. The husband is consider a "Gentleman's Farmer", short for someone that has just tooooo much time on his hands. The wife works at the laboratory on a part time schedule as one of the many cleaning ladies. Her other occupation is working nights at Walmart as the Welcome Lady at the door.
I am back on the road tomorrow heading north-west to the Badlands National Park in South Dakota
Norm Garon
The Grey Nomad
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
6.10.08 Gooseneck,Utah to Columbia, Missouri
Factoid: I must apologize to all of my Australian friends. The road kill that I always bitched about is nothing compared to the feedlots that I have en-counted traveling through the mid-west. Not only do they smell but they are huge and you wonder where does all of the waste go........ No wonder McDonald's hamburgers are so cheap!!
Gooseneck, Utah to Alamosa, Colorado 6.3.08
After having survive the winds of Gooseneck, did I mention that I met a young couple from Germany and the price of petrol is $8.00 plus for a gallon. Down to Mexican Hat for petrol then cross over to Colorado to 4 corners. This is where the 4 states meet(Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona) and there is a plaque for which you pay $3.00 to see, yeah right!
Leaving 4 corners and heading east on Route 160, both sides of the road are littered with empty glass and plastic bottles. Just a dump.
Up until you reach Durango on Rt 160 everything is humbug, but after Durango and through to Del Norte it is just a very beautiful ride. After that it is back to the humbug status to Alamosa.
Alamosa, CO
Spent part of the day at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. To climb the dunes you have to cross this very cold, snow fed stream. Once you get to the other side where the dunes are you can climb to your hearts content and then roll all the way down. Also you have the US Fish & Wildlife Sanctuary which you can do an auto tour.
Alamosa,CO to Gunnison,CO 6.5.08
It was a wet morning and knowing that I would be crossing into the Rocky Mountains I had 6 layers of clothing on just to be on the safe side. Crossed the Continental Divide(this is some imaginary line that someone drew though North America from North to South after he had a proper pint or two indicating the length of your knee socks) and Slumgullion Pass (11.4K) and to add a bit of excitement it was snowing and the snow plows where out in force. Finally into Gunnison for the night.
Gunnison,CO to Rocky Mountains National Park, CO 6.6.08
Having not checked with the locals( as usual), headed north through Almont where again I was told that the pass was closed with snow until Mid or late June. So back down the road again. So finding another way through Monarch Pass(11.3K) and Fremont Pass(11.3K)the most scenic of all passes, we end up at Lake Granby, part of the National Park.
Rocky Mountain NP to Goodland, Kansas 6.7.08
Hoping that the Trail Ridge Pass, part of the NP, would be open but unfortunately it had snowed the day before and the pass was blocked. So it was back down the hill to Granby then north to Walden before heading east over Willow Creek Pass(9.6K) and Cameron Pass(10.3K) to Fort Collins. The La Poudre river follows the road to Fort Collins and of course it was Saturday and every river rafting company was out there on a 2 lane highway along with push bikes which just adds to the pleasures of the traffic.
I don't think there was any road through the Rockies that was not a pleasure to ride on. Of course once out of the Rockies you hit the flat land and its humbug again with straight roads. It was a 9 hour day on the bike and you just feel like someone beat you with an ugly stick.
Goodland, KS to Independence KS 6.8.08
It was a very, very, very long day and another 10 hour ride. But with my case of Depends on one side and the 5 gallon jug of red wine on the other .....
Pulled into Elk City Lake State Park. As the day had been pleasant, the skies were clear and nothing on the horizon to indicate problems. It was another night sleeping on the picnic table( I thought). Well around 2130hrs I was awaken but this loud noise(wind) and lighting next and then, and I mean then, it rained buckets. Everything was instantly wet and having not setup the tent I was in deep ....... I was wet, the gear was wet, I packed everything away wet and finally found within the state park a covered area but open on all four sides. I had every piece of clothing on but being that the clothes were wet, within a very short time I was suffering from hypothermia. How I made it through the night is anyone's guess. Come to find out this storm covered the mid west from Texas to North Dakota and caused massive flooding and deaths.
Independence, MO to Springfield, MO 6.9.08
Well after spending a very refreshing night even with my winter gloves and balaclava on and then finding said wallet in muddy water. It was time to put on a new face and see how the rest of the world was handling itself. Got underway heading east with rain and over cast skies greeting me as I traveled. Pulled into Joplin, MO and stopped at McDonald's and being the sponge that I was, it was a continuous puddle from the door to the counter and return. Had my cuppa and 3 pancakes before I got back on the road to Springfield,MO. Rented a cabin for the night and by the time I had all of the wet gear hanging from rafters the cabin smelled like.............!
Springfield, MO to Columbia, MO 6.10.08
I estimated that just about 75% of my gear had dried out by morning. As Springfield was besett with heavy fog I didn't get underway until 1100hrs.
Taking mostly secondary roads through the Capital of Missouri, Jefferson City, I continued north to Columbia in about 3 hrs time. I'll be in Columbia,MO until the end of the month doing volunteer work for the United States Geological Services (USGS) up on the Great Lakes.
Anticipate I will be back on the road going northwest (Alaska) come the first of July.
Norm Garon
The Grey Nomad
Gooseneck, Utah to Alamosa, Colorado 6.3.08
After having survive the winds of Gooseneck, did I mention that I met a young couple from Germany and the price of petrol is $8.00 plus for a gallon. Down to Mexican Hat for petrol then cross over to Colorado to 4 corners. This is where the 4 states meet(Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona) and there is a plaque for which you pay $3.00 to see, yeah right!
Leaving 4 corners and heading east on Route 160, both sides of the road are littered with empty glass and plastic bottles. Just a dump.
Up until you reach Durango on Rt 160 everything is humbug, but after Durango and through to Del Norte it is just a very beautiful ride. After that it is back to the humbug status to Alamosa.
Alamosa, CO
Spent part of the day at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. To climb the dunes you have to cross this very cold, snow fed stream. Once you get to the other side where the dunes are you can climb to your hearts content and then roll all the way down. Also you have the US Fish & Wildlife Sanctuary which you can do an auto tour.
Alamosa,CO to Gunnison,CO 6.5.08
It was a wet morning and knowing that I would be crossing into the Rocky Mountains I had 6 layers of clothing on just to be on the safe side. Crossed the Continental Divide(this is some imaginary line that someone drew though North America from North to South after he had a proper pint or two indicating the length of your knee socks) and Slumgullion Pass (11.4K) and to add a bit of excitement it was snowing and the snow plows where out in force. Finally into Gunnison for the night.
Gunnison,CO to Rocky Mountains National Park, CO 6.6.08
Having not checked with the locals( as usual), headed north through Almont where again I was told that the pass was closed with snow until Mid or late June. So back down the road again. So finding another way through Monarch Pass(11.3K) and Fremont Pass(11.3K)the most scenic of all passes, we end up at Lake Granby, part of the National Park.
Rocky Mountain NP to Goodland, Kansas 6.7.08
Hoping that the Trail Ridge Pass, part of the NP, would be open but unfortunately it had snowed the day before and the pass was blocked. So it was back down the hill to Granby then north to Walden before heading east over Willow Creek Pass(9.6K) and Cameron Pass(10.3K) to Fort Collins. The La Poudre river follows the road to Fort Collins and of course it was Saturday and every river rafting company was out there on a 2 lane highway along with push bikes which just adds to the pleasures of the traffic.
I don't think there was any road through the Rockies that was not a pleasure to ride on. Of course once out of the Rockies you hit the flat land and its humbug again with straight roads. It was a 9 hour day on the bike and you just feel like someone beat you with an ugly stick.
Goodland, KS to Independence KS 6.8.08
It was a very, very, very long day and another 10 hour ride. But with my case of Depends on one side and the 5 gallon jug of red wine on the other .....
Pulled into Elk City Lake State Park. As the day had been pleasant, the skies were clear and nothing on the horizon to indicate problems. It was another night sleeping on the picnic table( I thought). Well around 2130hrs I was awaken but this loud noise(wind) and lighting next and then, and I mean then, it rained buckets. Everything was instantly wet and having not setup the tent I was in deep ....... I was wet, the gear was wet, I packed everything away wet and finally found within the state park a covered area but open on all four sides. I had every piece of clothing on but being that the clothes were wet, within a very short time I was suffering from hypothermia. How I made it through the night is anyone's guess. Come to find out this storm covered the mid west from Texas to North Dakota and caused massive flooding and deaths.
Independence, MO to Springfield, MO 6.9.08
Well after spending a very refreshing night even with my winter gloves and balaclava on and then finding said wallet in muddy water. It was time to put on a new face and see how the rest of the world was handling itself. Got underway heading east with rain and over cast skies greeting me as I traveled. Pulled into Joplin, MO and stopped at McDonald's and being the sponge that I was, it was a continuous puddle from the door to the counter and return. Had my cuppa and 3 pancakes before I got back on the road to Springfield,MO. Rented a cabin for the night and by the time I had all of the wet gear hanging from rafters the cabin smelled like.............!
Springfield, MO to Columbia, MO 6.10.08
I estimated that just about 75% of my gear had dried out by morning. As Springfield was besett with heavy fog I didn't get underway until 1100hrs.
Taking mostly secondary roads through the Capital of Missouri, Jefferson City, I continued north to Columbia in about 3 hrs time. I'll be in Columbia,MO until the end of the month doing volunteer work for the United States Geological Services (USGS) up on the Great Lakes.
Anticipate I will be back on the road going northwest (Alaska) come the first of July.
Norm Garon
The Grey Nomad
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
6.3.2008 Ely, Nev to Gooseneck, Utah
Ely, Nev this morning was nothing but pure sunshine and everything was dry. After my morning cuppa, it was time to pack up and head east for the Utah border. Again we are traveling across the Great Basin which has mountain ranges on both sides of you and the basin in front of you. Roads don't change and the scenery like wise. But you do get the feeling just how big the US is when you have been confined to the Hawaiian Islands for the last 25 years. Especially when a really big day in Honolulu is going 20 miles in one direction.
Let me regress just a minute here. Going to the loo with all of the proper gear on is a 20 minute struggle. For example, we fist remove the helmet, next the day-glow safety jacket, next the water proof jacket ( are you still with me??) then the motorcycle jacket, followed by the inner jacket..... we have now removed all of the upper garments and by this time the bladder is in emergency hold...and for the final act 4 more layers of trousers, etc, etc before, yes and someone jumps the line and takes your stall! It is getting to the point where Depends is now becoming a bi-word for this Grey Nomad.
Getting back to Utah, picking up Route 50 into Hinckley we then head north to Nephi, south on Rt 132 then east up to Fairview. From here it is an incredible ride over the Mantila Sal National Forest to Scofield. It has to be one of the nicest rides to date. We then head south to Helper, a boom town 80-100 years ago. A lot of stores boarded up but we find the artsy crowd have moved in and things are looking up. Helper will be my base for the next few days due to waiting on parts from BMW Salt Lake City. For a side trip I went back over the national forest but this time continued south along Rt 31 which brought you back to Huntington. Again a ride not to be missed.
Helper to Moab(still in Utah)
Pretty much following the road south to Moab. Moab is as touristy as it can get.You have hiking, biking,4WD and raft rides on the Colorado River. In the same area we have the Arches Natl Park and Canyonlands Natl Park. Arches was on the program for the afternoon. Nice to visit if you don't mind fighting traffic. The park was saturated with tourist but I did find a gravel road that provided some entertainment.
The next day it was to Canyonlands Natl Park. This I enjoyed as there are gravel roads to the max. Some of them over 100 miles in length and a great place to get lost. Again a great place to go to get away from the crowd of crowds. And to say that some of the roads are a bit rough, I bottomed out the bike at least 6 times and I was competing with mountain bikers at the same time. Before I forget, Route 128 which is just north of Moab follows the Colorado River for 30 miles east. It has camping sites all along the route and believe me if I had known this I would have stayed there vice at the caravan site.
Moab to Gooseneck State Park (Utah)
North out of Moab to I70, west to Rt 24 south, next catching Rt 276 to Lake Powell. Ferry across the lake and Rt 276 to Rt 261 south. Route 261 just takes your breath away from the scenic beauty all along the road. What is even spectacular is the view that you have just as you start taking the gravel switch road back down. The view covers the whole mesa and I imagine that you are looking out 30 miles to the horizon. Gooseneck State Park was the finally stop. Again a place not to be missed at all. The San Juan River had done what no artist could of done with the surrounding land. Image a river cutting a series of bends over millions of years which you are looking at from 1000 feet above.
Spending the night at the state park was a bit different. With sleeping mat and sleeping bag on a picnic table for the night was going to be a piece of cake. Wrong on all accounts, the wind had dropped off to nothing by 1900hrs(7 PM) but Mother Nature had a surprise waiting for me. At around 2100hrs, the winds picked up and proceeded to blow until the early morning hours with gusts up to 20 knots. I just managed to hang onto my bedding but for other campers along the rim, their tents where just getting nailed. Looking around at 0530hrs, none of the campers from the night before were still around. Believe me once there was enough light to get my gear back on the bike and the wind was down I was out of there.
Utah has it all for those that just love the out doors. And what is even better is the lack of people.
As this is my first trip across the US since the early 60's, the experience is just unbelievable regardless of those 6-7 hour days on the bike.
Let me regress just a minute here. Going to the loo with all of the proper gear on is a 20 minute struggle. For example, we fist remove the helmet, next the day-glow safety jacket, next the water proof jacket ( are you still with me??) then the motorcycle jacket, followed by the inner jacket..... we have now removed all of the upper garments and by this time the bladder is in emergency hold...and for the final act 4 more layers of trousers, etc, etc before, yes and someone jumps the line and takes your stall! It is getting to the point where Depends is now becoming a bi-word for this Grey Nomad.
Getting back to Utah, picking up Route 50 into Hinckley we then head north to Nephi, south on Rt 132 then east up to Fairview. From here it is an incredible ride over the Mantila Sal National Forest to Scofield. It has to be one of the nicest rides to date. We then head south to Helper, a boom town 80-100 years ago. A lot of stores boarded up but we find the artsy crowd have moved in and things are looking up. Helper will be my base for the next few days due to waiting on parts from BMW Salt Lake City. For a side trip I went back over the national forest but this time continued south along Rt 31 which brought you back to Huntington. Again a ride not to be missed.
Helper to Moab(still in Utah)
Pretty much following the road south to Moab. Moab is as touristy as it can get.You have hiking, biking,4WD and raft rides on the Colorado River. In the same area we have the Arches Natl Park and Canyonlands Natl Park. Arches was on the program for the afternoon. Nice to visit if you don't mind fighting traffic. The park was saturated with tourist but I did find a gravel road that provided some entertainment.
The next day it was to Canyonlands Natl Park. This I enjoyed as there are gravel roads to the max. Some of them over 100 miles in length and a great place to get lost. Again a great place to go to get away from the crowd of crowds. And to say that some of the roads are a bit rough, I bottomed out the bike at least 6 times and I was competing with mountain bikers at the same time. Before I forget, Route 128 which is just north of Moab follows the Colorado River for 30 miles east. It has camping sites all along the route and believe me if I had known this I would have stayed there vice at the caravan site.
Moab to Gooseneck State Park (Utah)
North out of Moab to I70, west to Rt 24 south, next catching Rt 276 to Lake Powell. Ferry across the lake and Rt 276 to Rt 261 south. Route 261 just takes your breath away from the scenic beauty all along the road. What is even spectacular is the view that you have just as you start taking the gravel switch road back down. The view covers the whole mesa and I imagine that you are looking out 30 miles to the horizon. Gooseneck State Park was the finally stop. Again a place not to be missed at all. The San Juan River had done what no artist could of done with the surrounding land. Image a river cutting a series of bends over millions of years which you are looking at from 1000 feet above.
Spending the night at the state park was a bit different. With sleeping mat and sleeping bag on a picnic table for the night was going to be a piece of cake. Wrong on all accounts, the wind had dropped off to nothing by 1900hrs(7 PM) but Mother Nature had a surprise waiting for me. At around 2100hrs, the winds picked up and proceeded to blow until the early morning hours with gusts up to 20 knots. I just managed to hang onto my bedding but for other campers along the rim, their tents where just getting nailed. Looking around at 0530hrs, none of the campers from the night before were still around. Believe me once there was enough light to get my gear back on the bike and the wind was down I was out of there.
Utah has it all for those that just love the out doors. And what is even better is the lack of people.
As this is my first trip across the US since the early 60's, the experience is just unbelievable regardless of those 6-7 hour days on the bike.
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