Day 22 – 6/12 – On the road at 7 AM for the long ride to the house, 599 miles from Raton, NM to Glen Rose, our longest ride in one day ever. Temperatures at the start were in the low 60ies but decreased steadily as we headed east with a strong cold wind from the south. At one point as we past over some high plains the temperature got down into the forties and the clouds almost touched the ground, awesome. As we got into Texas the sky's cleared and the temps gradually went up into the 90ies. Hot, hot, hot, we probably drank a gallon of Gatorade each! Dalhart, Amarillo, Childress, Wichita Falls, Jacksboro flew by and each town was a little bit hotter. We got to the house about 8:30PM, fourteen hours – we're ready for a Saddle Sore 1000 (See IronButt.com).
Twentytwo days without rain or any problems with the bikes, we really were blessed. The Honda GL 1800 Goldwing is a great machine. My bike shows 4752 mile for our trip while Carol's is showing 4604, 148 miles difference, not sure why that is. I do know that my speedometer indicates about 8% higher speed then what is shown on the GPS. I believe the GPS to be accurate and that's what I used to judge my speed.
It was fun practicing being retired, I think I like it! May take it up full time soon. We saw some great natural wonders, shared our experience with some great friends and family and I had the best riding companion any one could ask for, it definitely was a great adventure. We are starting to plan our next adventure, maybe to the east coast, can hardly wait!

PS – What 22 days on the road will do - The first night at home I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, while there I thought to myself, “ Look at that, they have the same bath mat here as we do at home”.... maybe 22 days IS too long.

Steve failed to mention the wind as we left Raton, it was so strong that my cigarette case just flew right out of my bag and he had to stop and take his glasses off because they were trying to leave his face.
When we got to Texas, I had to start wondering why we live here, it was sooooo hot!! I did have a great time and now I am beginning to think that I really could do an Iron Butt. We'll see. It is good to be back home – except for the cooking, and laundry and all that domestic stuff that I'll have to start doing again, UGH! Carol

Day 21 – 6/11 – We had planned to stay in Cuchara, CO today but could get a room because of a golf tournament so we hung out on the deck of the Dog Bar and Grill and checked out the shops. Neat little place with wooden sidewalks and gravel streets.




We decided to ride down to New Mexico so that we'll have less miles to ride on the way home tomorrow. We didn't get too far from Cuchara when we got pelted with some big slushy hail. It didn't last long but I caught a few big ones in the face. We got as far a Raton, NM and called it a day. We should be home late tomorrow night, get to sleep in our own bed for a change, wooohooo!

Talk about hail,, it felt like someone was rapping my fingers with a ruler, thank God it only lasted about 5 min., seemed like forever though! Steve was lucky he escaped with all of his teeth intact!!
Tomorrow we'll be home. I was just getting used to life on the road. Back to the same old grind :(. Carol

Day 20 – 6/10 – OK, our math is pretty poor! We are actually on day 20 of our adventure. Discovered our first bike problem last night. The trike is leaking fluid passed the right front fork seal. Not serious, we can wait until we get home to fix it. Also noticed that the new Bridgestone tires I put on my bike before we started this adventure do not like road snakes. (tar used to seal cracks in the road) Bike seems to slide from side to side over the snakes. I'll be going back to Mitzler 880's on the next set of tires. We spent today going thru the Pueblo cave houses at Mesa Verde National Park.





I have been here before but didn't remember having to drive the 30 miles in the park to get to the ruins. 30 miles of bad, teeth jarring, bike breaking, pot holed road. You can see for a hundred miles from the top of the mesa, no one was going to sneak up on these guys! Easy 60 mile ride over to Pagosa Springs, CO. We had the best king crab we have had in a long time at JJ's Riverwalk restaurant, right here in Colorado, who would have thunk it! We also had some excellent fajitus in Durango for lunch, life on the road is good!











At least I don't have leaky brakes! Carol

Day 16 – 6/7 – Green River, UT to Durango, CO, more great Utah scenery in the morning which quickly flatened out in west Colorado and got really hot from Grand Juction down to just a few miles north of Ouray, old timey mining town with one paved main street. The rest of the town had gravel street. We checked out the White Eagle Saloon for a cool one after all the morning heat.
Had a nice conversation with a deputy sheriff just south of Delta. Seems riding 55 in a 45 zone is not acceptable, even for foreigners from Texas. He was very nice, no ticket. He was also nice enough to tell me where all the state hwy patrol were on the road ahead and where to watch out for elk and deer. We did see some beaver but no elk or deer.
The road from Ouray to Silverton though the San Juan Mountains is called the Million Dollar Hwy, maybe that's what it cost to build. The thing is, it's only twenty miles long. The elevation is over ten thousand feet and there are mountains towering over us. The road is curved into the side of the mountain a few hundred feet above a river. In most places where the black top ends is a straight drop to the river. There is no room for guard rails, scariest road ever!

It was so hot coming into Colorado that I swear I saw a lizard crossing the road in tennis shoes! When we stopped in Durango I found out that I have a brake fluid leak. Good to\ know after I had been cruising that scary mountain pass. Steve asked me if I had been using my brakes much, well, Duh, yeah, I used them a LOT! We still have to go thru Wolf Creek pass, which I hear is even scarier! Since I'm afraid of heights, I'm really looking forward to that one!! Carol

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Day 11 – I've found that the farther North you go in Ca. the friendlier the people are. Rode the Pacific Coast Hwy, and it's a beautiful drive, lots of twisting turning roads overlooking the ocean. Saw some sea loins and great scenery.

In fact, by the end of it my arms were beginning to feel like rubber. Stayed in Monterey, got up the next morning and went to the aquarium there. It was a pretty cool place. From there, we're leaving for San Ramon, which is just outside of San Francisco, to see Kathy, Steve's niece. Carol

Day 12 thru 13 – 6/2,3,4 – San Ramon, CA – Steve and I had so much fun visiting with family at Kathy's place. Enjoyed seeing Jane, Dominick, Antoinette, Mallory, Cassidy and of course Kathy. She is a wonderful host and a great tour guide only 2 or 3 u-turns! She took us to Alice's Restaurant (yep, the same one that Arlo Guthrie sings about) the roads were great. Kathy was riding with Steve on his bike – he only scared her a couple of times. The next day Kathy took us on a tour of San Francisco. Pretty cool place, at first I wanted to take the bikes, but was glad we didn't, the traffic was sooooo bad!! The hilly streets were pretty bad ass!! Thanks Kathy!!!! Carol

Day 14 – 6/5 – Groveland, CA – Short drive up to Yosemite National Park. The Priest drive portion of Hwy 120 was a pretty good ride, lots of twisties and up hill all the way with huge drop offs and few guard rails. Day 15 - We made a reservation with the Charlotte Hotel in Groveland, CA across from the famous Iron Door saloon so we could just stumble home at night but they put us in a condo out of town. Not such a great stay. The park on the other hand was great! We took a two mile hike to see the sequoia trees and some cool water falls and a lot of snow.
We cruised some nice roads and some spectacular scenery but didn't get to the valley, just ran out of time, the place is huge. You really need to stay in the park for several days to see it all.



Day 15 – 6/6 – Left Groveland for Ely, NV which meant riding thru the park from west side to east side. Yosemite is just so incredible, there was just so much to see, we spent so much time stopping here and there we had another long day, eleven hours.


We did get to see 2 bears a brown bear and a black bear, the black bear we saw really close up, about 50 feet away.
We also found that there are a lot of towns shown on the map of Nevada that really don't exist, we only ran out of gas once! But we're still having too much fun... most of the time! Tried the casino's in Ely without much luck.

Day 16 – 6/7 – Ely, NV to Green River, UT was about 400 miles and some really spectacular scenery. We normally try to avoid the interstates but the ride on I-70 from Salina to Green River is something not to be missed, just one awesome canyon, mesa and mountain pass after another.

Day 9/10 - Pismo Beach, CA – 6/1 – We rode by all the beautiful people in Hollywood, Beaverly Hills, /Bel-Aire, Malibu but didn't see anyone we knew. Did see a lot of BMW's, Mercedes, and a few Bentleys. We checked into the Best Western in Pismo Beach, a really great place. The motel sits on the cliffs right on the ocean, great views and rolling surf all night long. I made a run for some cokes after checking in and got stopped by the hwy patrol. Seems I forgot my helmet. He asked if I had had anything to drink today and like a dumb ass I said yes I had a drink earlier. He gave me the whole sobriaty routine. No problem and no ticket for the helmet but he made me park the bike and walk about a mile back to the motel to get the helmet. I guess this is a big party town, seems like there is a cop behind every tree!

The drive from LA was nice, not many friendly bikers in that neck of the woods. We passed at least 300 bikers and only got 8 waves from them – yep I started to count, just to see how many friendly people I could find. People around there seem a bit snobby! Carol

Day 9/10 - Hollywood, CA – 5/29 & 30 - We didn't get to see any celebrities but we got to stay in Charlie Chaplin's house with it's current tenant Tiffany. It's a very cute place just off Laurel Canyon Drive in Hollywood. One twisted road, it would be a great ride if it wasn't for all the traffic. We ate some great food and got silly in the restaurant.



We got to tag along with Tiff at her job and met some really nice people. Too nice, seems like everyone was buying us drinks and of course to be polite we had to drink them. We slept a lot the next day.






We are at my daughter Tiffany's house, posted a couple of pics of her. She's awesome, beautiful and a great hostess!! Tiff's bar was great. Loved the people so much that we stayed 10 hours there. How could we not, had to drink all of those free drinks that her customers bought us. Gotta leave Tiff's today to continue our trip. :( Carol

We stopped to steal some oranges alone the way. Thanks to Cort and Bebe we had a great time.

Here we are at the Hotel California,
we had fun but were able to leave despite what the Eagles said.


Day 8- Hollywood, CA – 5/28 Cort borrowed Carol's trike and we took a short ride and then Carol and I were on our way before the orange police could catch up with us. We'll be in the Hollywood area for the next couple of days scouting out celebrities and soaking up the California sun.

Day 6 – San Bernardino, CA – 5/26 Ride from Vegas on I-15 was not too exciting. More high desert with a few mountain passes. Sunny and cool but the winds were back.

Day 7- San Bernardino, CA – 5/27 We had a great day touring the San Bernadino mountains with our host Bebe. We had lunch up at Big Bear Lake which is over 7000 ft up, very cool place, lake is nice too.

We tried to to make our way to Lake Arrowhead but the cloud dropped down on the mountain and we could not see to drive so we headed back down. We had a great dinner with Bebe and Cort in an old timey county saloon, The FanTan in Mentone.

Day 5 – Vegas – 5/25 The bikes stayed parked today. Spent the day checking out the casinos down town. The light show on Fremont Street was a disappointment. It was a tribute to Freddie Prince. The music was good but there was not much for the imagery. I watched a county music show with Willie Nelson which was great. Then Garth Brooks came on. That's when I realized it they were impersonators. Willie was great , Garth , also not so much. I did make a new friend. Her name is Lola and we...well that's another story.

No, we didn't do very good as far as the gambling goes but it was fun. The place has sure grown since the last time I was here, I thought the economy was bad but you wouldn't know it to look around this place.

Day 4 - Vegas – Well some days you're the windshield and some days you're the bug! Yesterday we were the bug but today we had a great ride from Flagstaff to Vegas. On the cool side in the morning (50) with bright sun and it warmed up nicely in the afternoon, 70's in Vegas. We took a detour thru Laughlin, NV because of the construction delays at the Hoover Dam and I'm glad we did. There is a huge difference in elevation between Kingman, AZ and Laughlin. So we had a several miles of highway with a steep 6% grade down and nice big sweeping turns. The mountain rock formations and the view of the valley below was fantastic. We are staying at Caesars Palace. The place is emmence! Getting the bikes unloaded and parked was a hassle, they are just not geared up for motorcycles. Most of the people here were helpful but one guy was really upset that we were blocking his taxi line. We stood on line for 45 minutes to check in. Big hotel with non of the basic amenities that we are used to at today's motels. No fridge or microwave in the room. No ice machine available. Wi-fi is $16 a day. If you want ice you have to call room service. But hey, we do have an iron, ironing board, a couch, nice bath towels, and EIGHT pillows!

Ride was great, scenery was beautiful and we're finally in Vegas – Time to gamble!!! Carol

directions

Steve and Carol –

As you enter the Valley (from the desert) at the bottom of Cajon Pass, are two freeways

I-15 and 215 split.

Bare to the left on 215, then travel about 5 miles to the 210 east

East on the 210 for about 5 miles to

Freeway 330 “mountain resorts’ DO NOT GO UP THE HILL TO THE MOUNTAINS

North to the first off ramp “Highland Avenue”

Then left turn past Walmart Shopping center,

To signal at Piedmont Drive.

Right turn one block to guard entry of Mountain Shadows Mobile Home Park

Our home is Unit #368A

Stay dry and we will see you Wednesday – you can do laundry if you would like.

Bebe & Cort Your email is not accepting e-mails now.

Day 3 – Flagstaff, AZ – As Arlo Guthrie once said, “the highways closed, man, hehe, can you dig it!” I-40 closed for 50 miles because of high winds and sand storms, so we took a hundred mile detour thru the Cocoino National Forest. Very nice riding roads and scenery once we got to the forest where the tall trees blocked out most of the wind. Of course we were up in the mountains and the temperature dropped down around 40. There were lots of caution signs for Elk but didn't see any critters. We did see a little left over snow and got hailed on before we came into Flagstaff. I thought the wind in New Mexico was bad, but Arizona has it beat by a mile. What should have been an three hour ride today turned out to be six! Never did get to the Grand Canyon. Steve


I won't be exfoliating for a while! The sand storm and wind was so bad that we had to drive 35 to 45 mph for about 2 hours. I was so concerned for Steve, he was fighting to keep his bike upright and on the road. I'm so glad that I was on my trike, didn't have problems staying on the road. When I got off of my bike, I was sitting on sand. We had it all, sand storms, wind storms, hail and freezing cold. I saw on the news that the wind was blowing 65 mph. I was miserable!!! So far, the worst day ever!!!!! What's with the sun out here, it's up way before 9 am??? Carol

Day 2 - Springerville, AZ – Wind, wind, wind, that's the story for today. I'm only waring my tires out on one side! Lot's of other bikers on the roads today for a big rally in Ruidoso, too bad we didn't know about that in advance. Slow going from Roswell to Carrizozo on hwy 380, two lane washboard road and slow traffic but some pretty cool scenery thru the mountain passes. We traveled thru the Valley of Fires, one of several high plateaus we crossed – should be called the Valley of Wind. Did I mention the wind, it was brutal! We didn't see any aliens in Roswell but did see the array of huge antennas the government uses to track them near Datil. We made a stop at the Pie-O-Neer restaurant in Pie Town, NV which is right at the continental divide (7800 ft), the apple pie was really good and the cool air was good too. Another long day, about eleven hour on the road. Tomorrow we'll head to Flagstaff and then check out the Grand Canyon.

Did I say no more 9 hour days??? I think I was tricked, 11 and ½ hours on the road. I guess Steve is training me for the Iron Butt. Ain't gonna happen. Don't care for New Mexico, at least the way we came. Not that pretty with one day of brutal heat the next day brutal wind. It was all I could do to stay on my bike!! Shoulders were killing me at the end of the day, thank God for muscle relaxers! Just hope I have enough for the remainder of the trip. By the way, my ear doesn't seem to be broken. I did have more trouble with my radio, antennae kept coming loose so today Steve will be getting out the duct tape, I got tired of holding it in place with my finger while trying to stay on the road. Ahhhh, Arizona, looking at some cooler weather here. Monday we'll be in Vegas for 2 whole days, CAN'T WAIT. Everyone say this Mantra, Carol will win big bucks in Vegas!!!
With all of the complaining I'm doing, I'm really having a good time. Carol

See you in SoCal

Would you like to have one of your nights with us in San Diego and than back to Highland for a Friday departure? San Diego is lovely also.
Do you have a cell phone number I can have? Thanks, and enjoy the trip. 909-215-8242 cell
Bebe

Day 1 – actually it's day 2 (we were too tired to write any thing last night). Within the first 8 miles the speaker cover blew off of my bike. Never even looked for it. Then later on my Sirius radio kept falling off of it's holder, luckily I was able to catch it each time, but that kept me from thinking about my left ear that was folded over under my helmet (can ears break?) After the last time my radio fell off, the wires came off of the radio.. Now I had more time to think about my ear. Only 20 miles to Big Spring.
It took 9 hours to get to Carlsbad. The heat in New Mexico is brutal, 104 degrees. Needless to say, when we got to the hotel, I got in bed and didn't get up until 5 am this morning. No more 9 hour days for me. 8 is enough. Obviously, I won't be going on any Iron Butt rides, already had the monkey butt. We did get 5 pillows on our bed, I was in heaven! Carol

Carlsbad, NM – Arrived for the five o'clock rush hour, more traffic then we have seen all day. Actually, there is not too many people to see across west Texas and southern New Mexico. Mostly sand and oilfields in Texas. In New Mexico it turned greener, flat, bushy with scatted mesquite trees and hot. After Lamasa TX it got hotter and and the wind which we have been dealing with all day got much worse. The last fifty mile seemed to take FOREVER and the heat really drained us. 104 degrees on our arrival. Remember the camera battery at 3:30 this morning! All charged up ans ready to go, now we just need to remember to take some pictures. Days Inn in Carlsbad is very nice, great room, indoor pool and jacuzzi, free breakfast, highly recommended. Later, Steve

Our latest adventure will commence at 0800 hours May 21, 2010. Our route will take us from Glen Rose thru west Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah and Colorado. About 4K miles and three and a half weeks, give or take a few days. I’ll be riding my trusty two wheeled titanium Honda GL 1800 Goldwing motorcycle while Carol will pilot her awesome illusion blue big wheel, AKA Honda GL 1800 Goldwing California Sidecar three wheeler (trike).
We are both very excited about our trip and can’t wait to get started. Carol has packed at least five times so far, I’ll probably pack at 0700, May 21. Three tee shirts and two pair of jeans should do it. We will try to take a few pictures of interesting things along the way and post them here with up dates of our day to day progress. The weather will be sunny and 75 degrees every day and the cops will let us drive as fast as we like. There will be no construction zones and all toll roads will be free for motorcycles. Every motel will have four big fluffy pillows. There will be an IHOP in every stop over town for breakfast and every supper stop will have an unlimited happy hour and two for one dinners. We will win in Vegas and yaada, yaada, yaada.