And Just Like That, It's October!??

Wow. Summer is over. And it took me all summer to finish my postings about my Father's Day weekend ride home from Charlotte, so I guess that means I have to try to sum up the remainder of the summer in one fell swoop? I'll see if I can remember anything of particular interest and we'll go from there... er... here. Whatever.

the Trip Home -- Leg 3: Loveland to Salt Lake City

I had a couple hours riding in the complete dark of night which was colder than I'd expected, but I wanted to get back as early as I could, because it was Father's day and I'd already given up my entire weekend with Ian. I can't remember anything too extraordinary about those hours, other than the openness all around me and the lack of traffic on the roads. I stopped for breakfast at McDonald's in Evanston, WY. More to warm up than anything else, and those boneheads at McD's didn't have hot chocolate. Seems if you want a hot drink in Evanston, it's coffee. I didn't want to make another stop, so I skipped the hot chocolate, pulled my still chilly gloves back on and headed back out. Next stop Salt Lake City.

I don't remember how fast I had been riding to Evanston, but I do remember at some prior to that I wanted to check my rear tire before departing Evanston. The guy I'd bought my bike from said he thought there were about 2000 miles left on the rear tire. I guess I was a little distracted by the cold in Evanston so I skipped the inspection. It's probably good that I did, too, or I'm not sure I would have left Evanston before I had a new one. I came down Parley's canyon at 80 MPH to arrive home at about 9am. This is the state of my tire at that point:

Thank goodness most of my riding that particular day took place before the roads had time to heat up and have a more devastating affect on what was left of the rubber of my rear tire.

So I made it home. Ian was sitting at the window watching for me and ran out as soon as I pulled in. I barely had time to get my helmet off before I scooped him up and had the best hug of my life. Happy Father's Day to me. I had a new bike and my little buddy in the same place at last.

The Trip Home -- Leg 2: St. Louis to Loveland

Once again, I woke later than I had planned, but a second hot shower inside of 8 hours and a free continental breakfast later, I loaded up the motorcycle and hit the road. The long, straight, flat road all the way across Missouri and Kansas. You, the reader of this blog (I'm assuming there's at least one of you and I'm not sure how extensive your own motorcycling experience is), may or may not know that the fun part of riding a motorcycle is in the turning. So why on earth there is a motorcycle museum in Kansas I will never know. Or a Harley Davidson store for that matter. Here's a picture of Kansas. If not for the windmills, It could be anywhere in Kansas. It's all I saw for about 700 miles.

The sky proved far more interesting than the flat, flat landscape with the long, long straight road.

The thing that struck me most about Kansas is that the people there still had southern accents. I've never considered Kansas part of the south, but right up until I hit Colorado, the people I encountered had a distinctly southern drawl. Perhaps the people in eastern Colorado also have a southern drawl? I don't know because I found the terrain too similar to Kansas to be inspired to stop anywhere before Denver. Note to travelers: when the Colorado tourism board says, "Let's Talk Colorado," they mean west of Denver. The mountainous, rocky, interesting part(s).

Seriously folks, from St. Louis, MO to Limon, CO it is one long straight road. That's 763 miles of straight, boring motorcycle riding. And I only saw 2 cops the entire time -- both on the other side of the freeway. I'm not going to admit in writing publicly just how fast I crossed most of Kansas... let's just say I'm pleased with the new bike and what she can do for hours on end. And here's a tip of my hat to Kansas' finest. Thanks for taking the weekend off.

I-70 turns northwest at Limon to Denver. From Dever I headed north to Loveland, where I hoped I could just show up at my Uncle Jerry's to crash for a couple hours. On I-25 traffic came to a complete standstill and, seeing cars jumping over the grass-covered median to the frontage road that ran parallel to the freeway, I followed suit. I wound my way north, trying to keep the freeway in sight so I could see what in hades was the matter. There was a wreck that was bad enough to warrant air-lifting the injured. I pulled into Loveland and called but got no answer at my aunt & uncle's. When I finally got them on their cell phone they were surprised to find out I was in Loveland. They were stuck back in traffic on I-25 but told me I was of course welcome to stay, to head to their house and let myself in, they'd be there as soon as was possible. I think they got there about a full 2-hours later than me. They hadn't jumped off the freeway as I had. We chatted for an hour or so after which I showered and crashed in one of my cousins' old bedrooms.

I woke right when I'd planned (4am) and tried to exit as quietly as possible. Thanks Jerry and Jeanette for your gracious hospitality. I enjoyed my brief visit and very much appreciate not having to sleep in a hotel bed.