Westward Ho! Day 9

The Long Road Home

While getting to Sturgis is a very long, hot ride, getting home is even longer, hotter and vastly more crowded. 

Thousands of bikes, cars, trailers, campers and RVs seem to want to be on the interstate at the same time. Throw in a summer storm and the ride was even longer.

But we made it home in time to greet our faithful canine companion (who is always a little miffed that he didn't get to come along) unpack and wash the road off of us.

It’s always sad when an adventure ends and even sadder knowing this is our last big ride until next year. In the meantime, we’ll be focusing on the other parts of our life: hunting, yoga, house projects, Wild hockey games, and planning next year’s journeys which will take us to the Canadian Provinces and Alaska.

We’ll check in every now and then and post any more excitement that we encounter. Until then – Namaste!

Fun Facts:

Day 1 - 603 miles
Day 2 - 768 miles
Day 3 - 510 miles
Day 4 - 400 miles
Day 5 - 368 miles
Day 6 - 484 miles
Day 7 - 498 miles
Day 8 - 538 miles
Day 9 - 617 miles

Total miles - 4787 miles

Highest Gas Price: $4.49 in California
Lowest Gas Price: $3.37 in South Dakota

Westward Ho! Day 8

Sturgis or Bust (again) Baby!!

It was time to get on the road, so we headed through Colorado where it was a beautiful, still morning. Several hot air balloons dotted the sky and floated effortlessly in the breeze.

We passed groups of bicyclists riding and up and down the mountains as we headed back through Wyoming for one more night in Sturgis and took the opportunity to visit a couple of our favorite Sturgis area spots. First was Devil’s Tower.

We took our original picture here the first year I came to Sturgis with Sean, and have taken one each year since then, with whomever was on the ride that day. There have been as many of 12 people with us and as few as three. This year, it was just the two of us.

  

Stopping at the Stonehouse Bar, between Aladdin and Belle Fourche, WY, is also a tradition. 

Once again, we signed our names on the wall of what’s left of the building, always wondering if this would be the last year we could make our presence known before the entire, dilapidated house fell in.

And then back to Sturgis, where we left the peace and quiet of the road behind us and joined the half a million bikers in town for one more night before we made our way home.

We made it out to the Full Throttle Saloon just after a massive downpour.

The Throttle, known as the World's Largest Biker Bar, is famous for having its very own television show on TRU-TV,

But we'd been going there long before the show started and were already big fans of the whole crew there. We can attest to the fact that they work very, very hard, and aren't just there for the cameras.

We knew the next day would be a long one so we said our goodbyes and headed back to our tent for a good night's sleep.

Day 1 - 603 miles
Day 2 - 768 miles
Day 3 - 510 miles
Day 4 - 400 miles
Day 5 - 368 miles
Day 6 - 484 miles
Day 7 - 498 miles
Day 8 - 538 miles

Westward Ho! Day 7

Saltee!

We were just a few miles from the Bonneville Salt Flats, where motorcyclists and drivers have gathered for years to test their bikes and hopefully shatter land speed records. 

We just wanted to see the flats and get an idea of just how vast and desolate the land formed by an ancient salty sea really was.

 Little did we know that we were arriving on the first morning of Speed Week and drivers were already unpacking their cars, or rocket ships, or whatever they were.

 The one thing my goofball husband wanted to do while we were there is to re-create the iconic picture of Rollie Free setting a new land speed record back in the 1948. 

Rollie Free, going 150 mph

Sean, not going 150 mph

The Salt Flats were incredible and had a unique, desolate beauty about them. But being from Minnesota, I felt like I was on a frozen lake the entire time and had to keep telling myself that I was not going to fall through the salt.

Speaking of salt. It had rained substantially the week before we got to the Flats. The salt stuck to everything and got everywhere – in the bike, saddlebags, shoes, hair, phones, clothes. You name it, there was salt stuck there. 

Luckily, we found a car wash and managed to get most of the salt off the bike and our shoes before it started eating away at the metal.

As we left town, we’d left our destination up in the air. We could either go north to Laramie, WY or south to Steamboat Springs, CO. A strong headwind made our decision for us and we turned south to avoid the storms popping up on the radar.

 We didn't miss the storms altogether, but Mother Nature was kind and they stayed well in front of us.

We arrived in Steamboat Springs in the early evening. We stayed downtown at the Bristol Hotel, which was built in the 1890s. The rooms were tiny, but the atmosphere was charged with charm.

We walked around downtown and finally settled on a great Mexican meal at a local restaurant and called it a day.

Day 1 - 603 miles
Day 2 - 768 miles
Day 3 - 510 miles
Day 4 - 400 miles
Day 5 - 368 miles
Day 6 - 484 miles
Day 7 - 498 miles

Westward Ho! Day 6

Bonanza!

When I was a kid I loved to watch Bonanza (or Ponderosa, depending on if you were watching it in syndication or not). The classic 1960's Western had me dreaming of spending my days riding my horse through the mountains and valleys near Virginia City, Nevada. Truthfully, though, in my mind I was actually the horse, happily munching on Sagebrush and Juniper.

That dream came true today, though my horse was a Harley and we didn't eat much Sage and Juniper, though there was plenty to be found.

We arrived in Virginia City early in the morning. Too early in fact because nothing was open. Still, the short tour was enough to live up to my dream.

I could just see Little Joe Cartwright walking down the street with his brother Hoss (even though I realize now that “Virginia City” in the series was a back lot of some studio, but still…)

Coming down the mountain from Virginia City, we stopped at a gas station to fill up the tank. The owner told us about some of the local attractions, including the PaughCo factory just a block away. 

Along with manufacturing motorcycle accessories, they had a nice collection of vintage Harleys.

Back on the road we headed across Nevada on Highway 50. It was dubbed the "Loneliest Road In America" by Life magazine back in the ‘80s, because of its straight, desolate demeanor.

The magazine was right. 

It was straight

And desolate.

But the road has its own beauty and the straight road was a welcome change after a week in the mountains.

It was fascinating to be able to see beautiful desert for miles and miles, smell the sage being mowed along side the road and watch the wind ship up dust devils miles away.

The highway followed the original Pony Express Trail. Every couple hours we’d drive through a town, most left over from the silver and gold mining days.

Along the road, we met Jim, who was taking a break from the heat and wind by the side of the road.

Jim had just retired and was spending a couple months out on the road, seeing the country on his motorcycle. He’s also an author and we look forward to checking out his travel guides to the Eastern Canadian Provinces (for a future adventure, of course).

At the end of Highway 50 was the Nevada Hotel where we stopped for a late prime rib lunch. It’s famous for attracting celebrities like Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart from back in the day.

We were within a couple hours of our destination of Wendover, UT. It was a relief to get checked in and into our room. Since we didn't want to go out and explore the town, we settled for making a $1.00 investment in the video poker machine which gave us about three hours of entertainment and numerous free beers.

Day 1 - 603 miles
Day 2 - 768 miles
Day 3 - 510 miles
Day 4 - 400 miles
Day 5 - 368 miles
Day 6 - 484 miles

Westward Ho! Day 5

Smokin!

By the middle of the next morning the smoke began to subside as Mt Shasta came into view, appearing to float in the sky. 

As the air cleared, we could start to see more of the beauty around us again.

We made it to California.

and Lassen Volcanic National Park, where we decided to check out the Subway Cave.

The cave was formed by flowing lava and was pitch black inside, but with the help of a couple flashlights (glad we packed those!) we could see the lavatites hanging from the ceiling.

and petrified mini volcanoes on the floor.

We made our way through the mountains, which used to be one massive volcano, that broke apart into five volcanoes. Largest one was active less than 100 years ago and erupted in 1915, devastating everything around it. 

The ride was incredible, but the road construction at 8500 Feet was a bit unnerving.

Sean somehow survived being squished under an ancient boulder at Pilot Pinnacle.

 We found boiling sulphur works (aptly named Fart Gulch) whose smell rivaled even Yellowstone's. 

Boiling mud pots.

And views of the surrounding volcano chain that rivaled much of what we'd seen.

As we came down out of the mountains through the Plumas National Forest and then we crossed over into Nevada.

Reno was waiting for us with a nice hotel, good dinner, cold beverages and a wealth of people to watch.

Day 1 - 603 miles
Day 2 - 768 miles
Day 3 - 510 miles
Day 4 - 400 miles
Day 5 - 368 miles

Westward Ho! Day 4

Chasin' Waterfalls

A couple weeks ago we altered our original plans to take in a few more scenic routes, and to check out some reportedly incredible waterfalls in the area.

Next to mountain streams, waterfalls are probably my favorite thing in nature. So when Sean was willing to put in the extra miles to go Waterfall Hunting, I was thrilled.

It wasn’t hard to find plenty of waterfalls and Sean was kind enough to stop at every one of them.

Horsetail Falls

Latourell Falls

Multnomah Falls

Before we knew it we were at the top of the Cascades looking out over Oregon.

And gazing at the incredible Mt. Hood.

Our next destination was Crater Lake. It was an easy ride to the lake, we parked and excitedly walked toward the great volcanic crater that people told us so much about. And this is what we saw.

Smoke from wildfires to the west had obscured most of the view of the lake and the surrounding countryside.

We were disappointed of course, but knew our minor let-down was nothing compared to the lives and property that were being threatened in the fires.

We made it to Klamath Falls, OR that evening, with the smoke still affecting everything we saw, including the setting sun.

Day 1 - 603 miles
Day 2 - 768 miles
Day 3 - 510 miles
Day 4 - 400 miles