We're on the way .....

We left home on May 21, 4 days behind schedule due to the need to complete a few projects as well as the weather (rain, rain, and more rain).

We made it to Matamoras, PA, the first day. The next day took us well into Ohio-where the gas cap to Linda's trike flew off; "pinged" her on the knee; and was never seen again. That necessitated a stop at the Harley dealership in Dubois, Ohio. The third day we arrived in Normal, IL, to see family and pick up a part for Linda's trike (a lock).

We then went west on I-70 through IL, and into MO. From MO (and keeping an eye on the weather) we headed into KS where we saw a lot of flooded fields and streams, but none bad enough to close the highways. The plains of central KS were quite windy and beautiful especially after all the rain. They have a gentle roll to them reminiscent of the Canadian plains, but softer. KS took us into CO. Riding through Denver the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend was relatively easy. As we rolled west, we began to climb the foothills towards Golden, CO. We were briefly presented with a full profile view of the Colorado Rockies. Even at a distance they were breathtaking. We rode through several passes and spent the night in Dillon, CO. (where we had the world's worst Sangria). Dillon is in the heart of ski country (Vale, Breckenridge, etc.). At one point the road reached over 10,000 feet. The next morning we were greeted by 32 degree weather and frost on the bikes. We donned all our heated clothes and started on the last miles down through the mountains. We eventually rode through Glenwood Canyon with the Colorado River flowing beside the road and down out of the mountains into Parachute, CO., where the temperature was in the 90's.

We found ourselves in the west CO desert that continued into into UT. The heat got the better of us and we stopped for the day in Green River, UT. We left in the next early morning and rode 100 miles into the Fishlake National Forest. The highway rose to almost 8,000 feet causing us to wonder where yesterday's heat was when we needed it. We found it when we reached I-15 and headed south. We stopped for cold water and gas at a small gas station near Beaver, UT, where we met a group of black motorcycle riders from Las Vegas.
Their club was named "Buffalo Soldiers." They and and their "women" were quite taken with Linda's trike. It would have been fun to ride with them, but they had to get back to Vegas. By the time we got to St. George, UT, the temps were up in the high 90's and we were cooking again. We arrived in Mesquite, NV, 50 miles down the road from St. George, about 3:30 PM. We had dinner and walked through one of the casinos and then headed for bed.

I'm not sure why I-70 is not designated a scenic drive in UT, CO, and KS. From rolling plains, to huge mesas, to desert, you can see the beauty of western America along that highway. We'd like to ride it again. So far, we've met and talked with some very interesting people on our stops along the way. Tomorrow we're riding to Bryce Canyon and Zion. The temperature is supposed to hit 3 digits tomorrow, so we'll have dinner and hang out at the lodge in Zion in an effort to avoid riding back to Mesquite in the heat of the afternoon.

We did 2,800 miles door to door in eight days. A couple of days we did close to 500 miles and others less than 250. All days were pretty good.