bruinFJRguy
Well-known member
As some of you know, I finally did it! I've been planning this epic adventure for a few months, beginning back in April. I had been looking for the right combination of weather and time. Just before I had to return to classes to finish my 3rd year of law school, I asked my mom if she'd mind spending a few days at my place to help out with my 7 year-old while my other half works. I'm lucky to have two (three) such accommodating women in my life!
(Bear with me. I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to embed these google photos. Links are there. I'll try more to figure it out later.)
Day 1 - Tues. Aug 15:
Day 1 was pretty uneventful. I went out for dinner with my wife and daughter and planned to leave early in the morning. I couldn't wait, so I jumped on the freeway and bee-lined for the NV/UT/AZ borders along I-210 and I-15. The goal was to stop either at Primm, Vegas, Mesquite, or as far as possible. Rooms in Primm were cheap, so I stopped for the night at Buffalo Bills. Man, the rooms there keep going further downhill, but bare-bones is the name of the game for this trip.
Day 2 - Weds Aug. 16:
The goal was an early start. I think I was loaded up and on the road at about 9:30. Heh heh. Not too bad. After a hearty McDonald's breakfast I was on my way.
I don't remember where exactly I fueled up last prior to my stop in Primm. I know gas is usually pricey in Primm, and I knew I had enough to get at least to Vegas. It's been nearly 20 years since I've been north of the downtown area, so I wasn't that familiar as to where my last fuel stop would be. The billboards indicated there was a Loves (or something) a few miles on the outside of town. As I approached 40 miles on my reserve with no stop in sight, I doubled back to the Sinclair I saw on the edge of town. I was glad I did. 6 gallons is the most I've ever squeezed into this. I think it takes 6.3 or 6.6 (upon further research). Anyhow, on from here to Utah.
Finally into some green!
At the end of the day I camped along 12 somewhere green. The host told me it was monsoon season and I was the first to be there in a few days. Luckily the rain held out. Being that I was never a Boyscout, I'm not used to building a fire without any paper. Fortunately, I was able to round up some dry grass, a few twigs, and scrounge up some firewood kindly left by a previous camper.
Day 3 - Thurs. Aug. 17:
Holy crap, that was the coldest night sleep I've had in a long time! My sleeping bag is supposed to be good down to 20 degrees. Ha! I think it hit mid 40's, I went to bed fully dressed and in a hoodie, and I spent most of the night shivering! Why did I decide to do this again????
I got on the road for a few minutes and then remembered...
This stretch of road was awesome! Could it get better? Little did I know if I had have drove just a few more miles to Capitol Reef National Park things dried up, and, presumably, warmed up considerably. Ah well. Now I know where to stay for next time.
After stopping at the Hollow Rock store in Hanksville I decided to head up the straight road to the 70 and make my way to crash in Grand Junction for the night. I needed new tires, and set that out for the goal for Friday am.
Day 4 - Fri. Aug. 18:
Like most folks, I've figured out where to get my tires mounted cheaply at home, and I save a little extra by pulling off my own wheels. Here, I had no clue. I found an appropriately named shop called "Motorcycle Accessories" in Grand Junction. I planned to replace the rear Roadsmart II and limp home on the front that was in its last 50% of life. They didn't have a set of the Dunlops, but had a set of Pilot Road 4 GTs. I figured what the heck! This way I get to try the tires and will be able to ride stress free for as much as I possibly want for the remainder of the week. $650 and two hours later I was on my way.
I then headed straight for Denver to have dinner with Dad.
Day 5 - Sat. Aug. 19:
Decided to sleep in a little bit and then went for breakfast with Dad. Because I flew out of LA so quickly I didn't plan much of a route. I used my Rever app on my phone that had all the Butler routes marked ($6 a month for all the maps). I decided to put a little more thought into my route back and spent an hour or two doing some planning. I figured I would work my way to Durango, and then figure it out from there. Sedona, Grand Canyon, back to Utah, then on to CA via Needles or Vegas. I'd figure it out as I went.
I managed to hit just about every twisty that made sense in CO. (Ok, not quite. I could have done more and wish I did, but I did also need to get home. Haha. Only so much doubling back was practicable.
)
Man, there are some awesome roads in CO. It's like Angeles Crest Highway on steroids (actually, it's better!). So many changes in elevation, so much scenery, so many switchbacks! Soooo good!
The last stretch for the day along 133 was AWESOME! Good roads, big sweepers, barely a car in sight! It was approaching dusk, so based on the experience of the forum members I watched out for deer (as I had been doing). Such a good road and such good timing!
Got as far as Delta, Co and decided to stop. The upcoming stretch along the 550 looked promising and I wanted to ride it in daylight.
Day 6 - Sun. Aug. 20:
Started a little earlier than the previous few days and was on my way out of Delta by around 8.
Man! Doing that stretch of 550 in the daylight was the right decision! It took a few miles (20? 30?) after Silverton (I think?) to pick up. Fortunately, there was a stop for construction and traffic was down to 1 lane. I moved to the front and found a bunch of BMW's a Goldwing, and a few other touring bikes. The group appeared to be together and from AZ. I politely hung out behind them and we eventually got going. A few miles in I decided the tail end was moving a little slow, so I made my way to the front and let it rip. Man! A few of those guys could really ride! I rarely push the limits, but I sure did that day! We were fortunate to not get hung up behind traffic too much and usually ran into a collection of cars around the time there was a passing lane. On the whole, this stretch was probably the most exhilarating run of the whole trip!
At the bottom of the twisties I parted ways with my AZ counterparts while their crew assembled, and made my way for Durango.
Stopped in Durango for a quick bite and headed onward. I decided against Sedona because Flagstaff expected thunderstorms. I decided to make my way towards the Grand Canyon, maybe to camp. As the night approached I decided against camping in the Grand Canyon and to head for Vegas.
The clouds were the clearest headed N/W towards Hurricane, so I'd take the 15 home again. Stopped in Vegas for the night. Had a big fat ribeye and a few beers and called it a night. Went to bed fat and happy.
Day 7 - Mon. Aug. 21:
Here's where the trip basically ends. I decide to hang in Vegas for the day; there were some clouds and expected drizzle so I thought I'd wait it out. Won about $200 playing poker in the afternoon, walked all the way up the strip, shopped for a present for the wife, and left for home. Luck was on my side; it's often 102 well into the evening and sometimes more down low around Baker. This day it was in the 80s when I left, dropped into the low 70s at the peak of the valley, and was again about the mid 80s in the Death Valley region. That's about as good as it gets in August, I think!
The smooch is for my woman...not you guys...
Got home about 2:30am, and crawled into my own bed.
Here is the pic of the map (save for the boring stretch on the 15 and 210).
The bike is due for a thorough cleaning and an oil change. Other than that, I'm ready to go again!!!
(Bear with me. I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to embed these google photos. Links are there. I'll try more to figure it out later.)
Day 1 - Tues. Aug 15:
Day 1 was pretty uneventful. I went out for dinner with my wife and daughter and planned to leave early in the morning. I couldn't wait, so I jumped on the freeway and bee-lined for the NV/UT/AZ borders along I-210 and I-15. The goal was to stop either at Primm, Vegas, Mesquite, or as far as possible. Rooms in Primm were cheap, so I stopped for the night at Buffalo Bills. Man, the rooms there keep going further downhill, but bare-bones is the name of the game for this trip.
Day 2 - Weds Aug. 16:
The goal was an early start. I think I was loaded up and on the road at about 9:30. Heh heh. Not too bad. After a hearty McDonald's breakfast I was on my way.
I don't remember where exactly I fueled up last prior to my stop in Primm. I know gas is usually pricey in Primm, and I knew I had enough to get at least to Vegas. It's been nearly 20 years since I've been north of the downtown area, so I wasn't that familiar as to where my last fuel stop would be. The billboards indicated there was a Loves (or something) a few miles on the outside of town. As I approached 40 miles on my reserve with no stop in sight, I doubled back to the Sinclair I saw on the edge of town. I was glad I did. 6 gallons is the most I've ever squeezed into this. I think it takes 6.3 or 6.6 (upon further research). Anyhow, on from here to Utah.
Finally into some green!
At the end of the day I camped along 12 somewhere green. The host told me it was monsoon season and I was the first to be there in a few days. Luckily the rain held out. Being that I was never a Boyscout, I'm not used to building a fire without any paper. Fortunately, I was able to round up some dry grass, a few twigs, and scrounge up some firewood kindly left by a previous camper.
Day 3 - Thurs. Aug. 17:
Holy crap, that was the coldest night sleep I've had in a long time! My sleeping bag is supposed to be good down to 20 degrees. Ha! I think it hit mid 40's, I went to bed fully dressed and in a hoodie, and I spent most of the night shivering! Why did I decide to do this again????
I got on the road for a few minutes and then remembered...
This stretch of road was awesome! Could it get better? Little did I know if I had have drove just a few more miles to Capitol Reef National Park things dried up, and, presumably, warmed up considerably. Ah well. Now I know where to stay for next time.
After stopping at the Hollow Rock store in Hanksville I decided to head up the straight road to the 70 and make my way to crash in Grand Junction for the night. I needed new tires, and set that out for the goal for Friday am.
Day 4 - Fri. Aug. 18:
Like most folks, I've figured out where to get my tires mounted cheaply at home, and I save a little extra by pulling off my own wheels. Here, I had no clue. I found an appropriately named shop called "Motorcycle Accessories" in Grand Junction. I planned to replace the rear Roadsmart II and limp home on the front that was in its last 50% of life. They didn't have a set of the Dunlops, but had a set of Pilot Road 4 GTs. I figured what the heck! This way I get to try the tires and will be able to ride stress free for as much as I possibly want for the remainder of the week. $650 and two hours later I was on my way.
I then headed straight for Denver to have dinner with Dad.
Day 5 - Sat. Aug. 19:
Decided to sleep in a little bit and then went for breakfast with Dad. Because I flew out of LA so quickly I didn't plan much of a route. I used my Rever app on my phone that had all the Butler routes marked ($6 a month for all the maps). I decided to put a little more thought into my route back and spent an hour or two doing some planning. I figured I would work my way to Durango, and then figure it out from there. Sedona, Grand Canyon, back to Utah, then on to CA via Needles or Vegas. I'd figure it out as I went.
I managed to hit just about every twisty that made sense in CO. (Ok, not quite. I could have done more and wish I did, but I did also need to get home. Haha. Only so much doubling back was practicable.
Man, there are some awesome roads in CO. It's like Angeles Crest Highway on steroids (actually, it's better!). So many changes in elevation, so much scenery, so many switchbacks! Soooo good!
The last stretch for the day along 133 was AWESOME! Good roads, big sweepers, barely a car in sight! It was approaching dusk, so based on the experience of the forum members I watched out for deer (as I had been doing). Such a good road and such good timing!
Got as far as Delta, Co and decided to stop. The upcoming stretch along the 550 looked promising and I wanted to ride it in daylight.
Day 6 - Sun. Aug. 20:
Started a little earlier than the previous few days and was on my way out of Delta by around 8.
Man! Doing that stretch of 550 in the daylight was the right decision! It took a few miles (20? 30?) after Silverton (I think?) to pick up. Fortunately, there was a stop for construction and traffic was down to 1 lane. I moved to the front and found a bunch of BMW's a Goldwing, and a few other touring bikes. The group appeared to be together and from AZ. I politely hung out behind them and we eventually got going. A few miles in I decided the tail end was moving a little slow, so I made my way to the front and let it rip. Man! A few of those guys could really ride! I rarely push the limits, but I sure did that day! We were fortunate to not get hung up behind traffic too much and usually ran into a collection of cars around the time there was a passing lane. On the whole, this stretch was probably the most exhilarating run of the whole trip!
At the bottom of the twisties I parted ways with my AZ counterparts while their crew assembled, and made my way for Durango.
Stopped in Durango for a quick bite and headed onward. I decided against Sedona because Flagstaff expected thunderstorms. I decided to make my way towards the Grand Canyon, maybe to camp. As the night approached I decided against camping in the Grand Canyon and to head for Vegas.
The clouds were the clearest headed N/W towards Hurricane, so I'd take the 15 home again. Stopped in Vegas for the night. Had a big fat ribeye and a few beers and called it a night. Went to bed fat and happy.
Day 7 - Mon. Aug. 21:
Here's where the trip basically ends. I decide to hang in Vegas for the day; there were some clouds and expected drizzle so I thought I'd wait it out. Won about $200 playing poker in the afternoon, walked all the way up the strip, shopped for a present for the wife, and left for home. Luck was on my side; it's often 102 well into the evening and sometimes more down low around Baker. This day it was in the 80s when I left, dropped into the low 70s at the peak of the valley, and was again about the mid 80s in the Death Valley region. That's about as good as it gets in August, I think!
The smooch is for my woman...not you guys...
Got home about 2:30am, and crawled into my own bed.
Here is the pic of the map (save for the boring stretch on the 15 and 210).
The bike is due for a thorough cleaning and an oil change. Other than that, I'm ready to go again!!!
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