Tuesday 11 May 2004

Up early again and south on Highway 89 back to Arizona again temporarily, then up again to 389/59. Rolling shrubby desert and pretty rock cliffs off to the sides. Not much out there! Saw 3 wild horses, including a foal. Highway 39 to Hurricane, then to St. George, Utah, on 15, then Santa Clara to see the Hug/Gubler house (my Mormon great great grandparents immigrated here in 1860 from Switzerland and lived in this house). The museum there was closed, but we enjoyed the lovely garden.

On the road again towards Ivins - got a bit lost - for the first time, my little compass really helped out, as we were going in the wrong direction. Nice road though, so no harm done. We went through the green valley town of Gunlock to 18N to 56 west to Panaca (where's the town?) then north on 93 for many miles to Highway 50. We had lunch in Pinoche, a cute former silver mining town, and had a tasty meal at the Silver Café. It's now getting cold as well as windy. Miles with no one else in sight. Green/desert valley with snow-sprinkled mountains on either side. It's easy to roll on the throttle in these wide open spaces on this empty 2-lane highway. We stopped along the highway to stretch alongside a ranch, complete with pond and bunkhouses. Our presence prompted a grizzled and practically toothless hired hand to emerge from the bunkhouses and we had a nice chat about his old car, his life working from job to job, and the incredible size of the ranch (as I recall, over a million acres).

Back en route, it's so cold. Now it's raining. A couple of high passes. Oh dear, my fuel light is blinking. What's this? SNOW!!! But hooray, just as our hands are freezing off and the light is fading, we roll into Ely. First order, gasoline. Next, a place to stay. Our first try is surreal - a Ramada Inn (so it should be fine, right?) that seems to be built around a casino. The rooms all open out into the gaming area and the pool/Jacuzzi is right next to the slot machines. If the price had been $40 a night, we might have tried it just for the sheer weirdness of the experience, but at $82, we walked out into the cold twilight. Further up the road, we found the Bristlecone motel. $48 - huge room with 2 queen beds, some walls pink, some light fake wood paneling, another wall dark fake wood paneling… carpeting of another shade of pink…sink and counter top in the main room sheathed with some sort of coppery substance. But heck, we've got plenty of room, a friendly landlady, a big table, take-out Chinese next door and our bikes parked right outside. And now it's starting to seriously snow, huge wet flakes. The TV tells us it's supposed to get down to 25 degrees tonight. 326 miles today.

Wednesday 12 May 2004

Our bikes are still frozen when we awaken, but they thaw quickly and seem none the worse for wear. Now we're going wet on Highway 50, the infamous "loneliest highway." It's cold - I'm totally bundled up with winter gloves and balaclava and 4 layers under the 'Stitch. Valleys/passes/valley/passes, etc. Stop for coffee/cocoa in Eureka (are we home yet?)

Gil: Motorcycle Gear Talk...the "Stitch" Becky is referring to is short for "Aerostitch" probably the finest motorcyle outergear made. It's made of ballistic nylon and is fully armored in the shoulders, elbows, knees, etc. It stays somewhat cool in the heat (via a unique venting system) and is fairly water resistant. It was a wonderfully generous gift from her brother Daniel last Christmas. I had to buy my own stuff so I use a less expensive outfit that is equally safe but not quite as comfortable. I wear a Joe Rocket Ballistic jacket and pants and in the hot country subsitute "Dragin' Jeans (denim jeans lined with Kevlar) for the pants (the JR pants are HOT). We both wear DOT/SNELL approved full-faced helmets and motorcycle gloves and boots. We are strong believers in wearing as much safety gear as is possible.

We meet some road friends again (a couple from Truckee on a Harley; we'd met them first in Panaca, then Ely. Won $3 at the slots. Off again, valleys/passes/valleys then lunch at the International Café in the (inevitable) small former mining town of Austin, Nevada. More valleys and passes. I got my bike up to its apparent limit (110 mph) during a prolonged straight bit. We cruised quite a while at 90 mph. Traffic very rare.

Alkalai plains. Sand Hill State Recreation site - big white sand dunes with ORV's zipping up and down. Gil nearly ran over another snake. We saw a live badger scuttling across the highway, which was quite exciting.

To Fallon, then northward to Interstate 80. What an ugly area Fallon is. Dreary little strip malls, endless road construction, stop/go/stop/go, old abandoned buildings. Why do people live here? Then we're on the real I-80. Ack! Many trucks, fast paced, on our way to Reno. I hate this part, although there was a lovely creek along the freeway to the south (well, it used to be lovely….there are quite a few industrial sites along the creek - how could they?!)

Reno is a mess of freeway construction, but we somehow manage to stay together and end up on 395 northbound. We ended up going all the way to Susanville, seeing a second Coyote along the way. 414 miles today - our biggest day of the trip. We stay at the tiny Apple Inn, a quaint mom and pop sort of place, for $38. They even give us our choice of "treats" from a large basket, including popcorn and cookies.

Thursday 13 May 2004

We breakfast at the Black Bear Diner in Susanville, then head west out of town, then north on Highway 44, which is a nice road with hills and lakes - more curvy than twisty. We saw several Canada goose families along the way, including teenage goslings.

Stopped at a very nice viewpoint and saw Mt Lassen to the south and Shasta to the north. Our bikes felt deprived, so we brought them right out to the viewpoint.

Around the town of Shingletown, a turkey vulture suddenly took off in front of Gil, nearly hitting him. We stopped at always friendly Shingletown Cafe and shared a piece of delicious apple pie. Highway 44 to Redding, then 299 west. At the old mining town of Shasta we stopped to take in the restored General Merchantile Store.

A group of elementary school children were getting the tour and thinking no one would notice Gil joined them.

Back on the bikes for the final leg...we motored over Hwy 299

...grabbed some lunch-type things in Weaverville from Tops Market then ate it along the way at a lovely spot on the Trinity River.

Our last stop on the trip was our traditional photo-op at the Vista Point on Berry Summit (see the un-official Sport-Touring.Net 2004 calender under "July") just before making the final decent down to our home here on the coast...

We arrived home at 4:00 with no incidents. What a trip! WE ACTUALLY DID IT!

.............

Total distance covered: Just over 3,000 miles
Total time: 13 days
Overall Rating: The Trip of a Lifetime!

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