Wandering Retirees

Day 6 – June 6th

An historical note: today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the amphibious landing on the beaches at Normandy that opened the second front against the Third Reich. Thousands of Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen died that day. We need to remember them with gratitude.

Of less vital news: Connie and I rode 330 miles today from Hays, KS to Colorado Springs. After a foraging expedition to the King Soopers (yes, that’s the name of the market) we are ensconced in a cute loft apartment for 3 nights. A couple of fun facts: we have climbed a little more than 4,000 feet in elevation to 6,000 feet; we’re on Mountain Time so are 2 hours behind the east coast, and we’re only a few miles from Pikes Peak, one of our prime goals this trip.

The ride was predictably long and straight. Long stretches of I-70 look as though they were laid with a straight-edge across increasingly semi-arid rolling hills and arroyos. Sadly, some tracts had piles of tires, old cars and even trash tossed into depressions in the land. Otherwise there are miles and miles of farming and ranching area with not so many farmers visible. Cows, mule deer and a lone prarie dog kept us company for much of our journey. Not great conversationalists are cows, though when we pulled to the side of Colorado Rt. 24 to get a pic of a neat plant, a small klatch came to the fence to see what’s up. It feels like we disappointed them somehow when we pulled back onto the road, though I have no idea what qualifies as bovine entertainment. (Mark, can you help?)

This morning while prepping the bike, I met a Kansan named Chad who kindly spared a few minutes. He is fairly tall, rangy, and powerfully built with dark hair, a full beard, and an open, honest face. His manners are impeccable and he kindly spent a many minutes talking about his work. He and his two co-workers are on the road most days to build, service, disassemble and transport the cranes that erect and repair the huge wind turbines that are now so prevalent in the Plains states. He explained (if I heard rightly) that cranes are transported in pieces to each work site and then are built a section at a time with some of the workers high above the ground to make critical connections. The wind turbines are 260 feet tall so the crane needs to be correspondingly high. After the work is finished, the cranes are disassembled and carted to the next site. It makes me think of circus roustabouts or roadies, but with less glamor and more risk. Chad was happy to show pictures of their work and I was impressed. He and his coworkers know that there aren’t many who could do what they do. Though their days can be 14 or more hours long, they are justifiably, quietly proud of their work. Amazing the ways folks make their living.

As to the mundane matters of our trip, we are recuperating from the rush west and doing housekeeping chores like laundry, etc. We’ll spend a bit of tomorrow resting up and washing, then take a tour of some nearby attractions. We are so glad to be here, and look forward to the next stage of our trip.

More tomorrow. Have a good night.

—

A Kansas style summer storm. Had us thinking of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. Thankfully, the storm stayed just to the south of us and we could just enjoy gaping at it. “Run, Toto, run!”

Happy to make it to Colorado.

We would have been happier if the landscape changed a bit faster. Still on Interstate 70, still flat prairie lands. The prairie is really pretty for the first day or so.

Interesting vegetation.

And interesting humans say the cows. They came running to the fence when we pulled over.

Our first glimpse of the Rockies from 45 miles away (look closely straight down the road).

And then from 20 miles away.

And from Colorado Springs, where we are staying. Bliss.

We were seriously confused. Some Zen Mexican chow?

Another traveling day along exciting I-70. We covered 280 miles to Hays, KS, deep in the Great Plains. As we moved west across the Kansas River toward Topeka, the rolling hills gradually flattened so that the horizon appeared uniformly distant all around, and the sky looked like a huge dome reaching to forever, if that makes sense. The road seldom swerves from its knife-cut into the west. It’s a little intimidating, feeling small. We noticed that even as far as Topeka and even Salina, there were fields still underwater. Many were elevated and dry with new crops showing across thousands of acres. I guess you can tell we were impressed with the immensely of this land.

Kansas doesn’t have a lot of attractions, as we measure such things. There are no Six Flags or mammoth natural wonders. But there is a lot to enjoy if you don’t mind taking time. Dodge City has its infamous Boot Hill where Billy Clinton and the McLaury brothers are buried after being gunned down at the OK Corral. There’s the money museum in KC, the Evil Knievel museum in Topeka, and the Dwight D Eisenhower homestead and presidential library in Abilene. And there are a lot more fun looking attractions if you’re inclined. Unfortunately, we didn’t feel we could stop as we are in a hurry to get to Colorado. Next time maybe. Oh, did you know that former PA Senator Arlen Specter was a Kansas native? Another fun fact.

We’re prepping ourselves for a very long last let to Colorado Springs tomorrow. So we’re turning in shortly.

One last note: we will be entering Mountain Daylight Time on the morrow. That will put us 2 hours behind everyone back east, which may make our posts later than we’d like. Just a heads up.

Have a good night.

The chariot arrives!

Green Kansas

Another Gas Stop

Today we rode from western Illinois to Shawnee, Kansas, just west on Kansas City. We didn’t have a chance to talk with many people today, but moved on through 280 miles of construction and other fun stuff on I-70.

We crossed a number of rivers, including the Mississippi (the Big Muddy) and the Missouri. Both were very swollen from all the rain this year. Folks were comparing this year’s rainfall to 1993 when many farmers suffered big losses because they couldn’t replant in time for the summer crop (usually soy). In fact, we rode by any number of fields that were still underwater. It’s sad that many of these folks are struggling, and they should be remembered often..

We also enjoyed seeing the unique community place names and identifiers along the way. We passed a huge memorial dedicated to Missouri firefighters; it appeared to be adjacent to an extensive training facility west of St. Louis. My hunch is that every state has a similar memorial site, but we are (I am) ignorant of their whereabouts. The University of Missouri, Columbia, was along our route. It’s a good sized, pretty campus. Then there were some of the signs… oh, my… Approaching Blackwater, MO, we were invited to visit Bucksnort Trading Post, Co., LLC, purveyors of fine gifts, flowers and good home cooking. Located in Arrow Root, MO, they are positioned on the Santa Fe Trail, famous of the Westward Expansion, and receives particular mention on the Missouri State Visitors Site. Had we not been hurrying through, we’d have liked to stop in. Seriously, it looks worth the time and effort. It’s just the name, you know?

On a personal note, our bodies are reluctantly getting acclimated to long periods on the bike. Past experience tells us the screaming parts will calm down (or grow numb) soon. Just in time to enjoy the our favorite kind of riding in the mountains. Until then … some general anesthetic (liquid) is in order.

Prost!

We entered Missouri at St Louis and had a great view of the mighty Mississippi.

Random shots

Lots of huge grain silos dotted the landscape.

A stop for gas. Fill ‘er up.

We entered Kansas at the end of our day.

Hi friends. We had a really nice day’s riding today. We covered over 330 miles and are relaxing in Pontoon Beach, IL. Yes, you read that right. It just off I-270 about 5 miles from the Mississippi River. Or about 10 miles upstream from St Louis, MO, home of the Arch, the Gateway to the West Museum, and home to the Anheuser Busch beer company (think Budweiser and Michelob).

We started the day a little later than expected because (suspenseful music) we stopped to talk to a really nice couple. Doug and Heather are from Wichita, KS who were in town helping their daughter get settled in her new apartment. The daughter (sorry, we didn’t catch her name) just got a job in quality control for Hills Dog Food in Richmond, IN and needed some help prepping her rental, the ground floor of a 130 year old house. Oh, my, but Doug and Heather had some stories to tell about this project. Without going into details, they traveled 800 miles to really work over the course of a long weekend to make a safe place for their daughter. And they didn’t seem terribly unhappy, though home and jobs were beckoning. Amazing how parenting doesn’t necessarily stop when offspring reach 18, or graduation from college or at any particular time; we’re happy and willing to pitch in because it’s part of who we are as parents. We get to be needed and appreciated one more time. And it’s fun watching our kids’ adventures unfold. Maybe even get to say, “told you so!” If we’re lucky. BTW – did you know that dog food must meet the standards of human consumption? Another fun fact picked up along the way.

We so enjoyed Heather and Doug’s company. They are kind and openly warm people who make you feel like an instant friend. It didn’t hurt any that Doug rides a Harley and knows his way around a bike. And while he has spent his working life in the trucking industry, Heather is a teacher to more vulnerable students whom she adores. They offered their home if we were to get in trouble near Wichita. We are so glad we met.

Predictably, there’s not a lot of thrilling landscapes to talk about along I-70. We’ve seen some fun ads and a few head scratching official placards, like this one: “Drug Activity Impaired Driving, dial #677”. We spent about 200 miles trying to parse this one. It sounds like we should report a car driven by someone who is not in complete control. Sound reasonable. But how does one assess that drugs are involved? Or are they necessary? Could texting while behind the wheel be sufficient to call the hotline? Can we? (Please?!). Or if you’re impaired, should you call? “Man, I’m wasted …” There just seems a lack of clarity to what should be a wonderful Public Service Announcement. Just saying.

Around lunchtime, we stopped in Martinsville, IL, a little agricultural town of about 1,200 souls, 2 miles south of I-70. We parked and immediately met Norma, a town ambassador who also is coordinating the food vendors for the Clark County Fair coming up soon. (She took a couple of calls while we were talking.) she directed us to a little café where for about $6 we could get homemade ham and bean soup, and fresh sirloin quesadillas. We were hungry and the sale was ridiculously easy. We also provided a bit of conversation for the regular patrons, dressed as we were in our riding gear.

After the long day, we were really grateful to have a swim, a shower, a libation and some supper. Now, the only question is whether we can stay awake long enough to watch a period or two of the Stanley Cup finals. Have a good night! —

Cozy Candle Outlet billboards populated the edges of Interstate 70. There was even one with a half naked cowboy holding a hearth candle. Oo la la. So inviting!

We stopped in Martinsburg, IN for some lunch. It was a such a quintessential midwestern town.

Farm fields for miles and miles and miles

We were impressed by front page news of philanthropists sponsoring international studies.

How we track our progress. Spot. The device also lets us contact 911 if we have no cell service.

About midday we entered Illinois.

We were up and at ‘em early this morning, before dawn even and eager to get on our way. Yep. Sure did. The weather decided it wasn’t going to cooperate. Some early wicked storms forced us to lounge and eat complimentary breakfast food and drink lots of nearly okay coffee. Awful fate. We got to say hello to some nice folks who were curious and friendly. And we met a couple of young kids who dragged their parents to see our scary fascinating motorcycle they might want to ride some day. It was a fun way to start the day.

We wound up riding 331 miles to Richmond, Indiana. Traffic moved well so we decided to push past Springfield, Ohio. And we’re a bit bushed. It’ll be an early night ahead of another 300+ mile day tomorrow Where we plan to push to Pontoon Beach, IL, a rather small town close to the Mississippi River. That should set us up for some shorter days as we ride into Colorado Springs. That’s the plan. Looks good. Logical. Let you know how it works out.

We met a family at a rest area yesterday who I failed to mention. The father saw our riding gear and approached us to ask about our ride and where we’re headed. Well that got us started, don’t you know. He goes by Max and he has ridden for years. He has climbed Pikes Peak on his cycle and had lots of advice to share. We asked about his family and found out they were on a cross country trip, too. They were on their way home to Kansas after seeing the gulf coast, Florida beaches, Georgia and the southern Appalachia region, the mid-Atlantics and NYC. While he might have wished his minivan were his Harley, he said that they had a wonderful time seeing parts of the country they’d never had occasion to visit. Interestingly, they were all pleasantly surprised by how many people in they met who were kind and helpful and just nice. Imagine – East Coasters who are nice. We shared that we have had the same experience in our travels west and south. Maybe if more people got out and met their neighbors ….

Well that’s it for tonight. Rest well, friends.

Did we mention we get to ride Interstate 70 for four days?

Today we left Pennsylvania and traveled through West Virginia, Ohio and into Indiana.

Cute water tower at CAT equipment industrial plant.

And lastly, just because this tickled our funny bone …

We’re off! It was a sputtering start. We intended to be on the road by 8 AM. Right. 8:00 blew by as we did all those last minute things we forgot had to be done. Best laid plans and all that.

On the road a little before 9 and happy to settle in for the 280 mile ride. Somewhere north of Reading we stopped for the first rest. Coffee, rest for the glutes, some water and a snack and on our way again. The speed limit is 70 all the way out and we kept fairly close to that. Some folks blew by us going much faster. Surprise, they were from Jersey!

We stopped 3 times today before arriving in Donegal, PA, a small town of fewer than 200 souls but filled with motels, restaurants and shops to serve folks traveling through. The town is reputed to be named after the Irish town and county Donegal.

And we are so happy to stop here. Predictably, our buttocks are feeling the discomfort of prolonged residence on the cycle seat. Experience tells us it will take nearly a week to move beyond this. (We figure that cowboys needed to acclimate to the saddle on long cattle drives as well. This is a comforting analogy we’d be very very happy to maintain, thank you.)

As befits opening day folderol, we checked into our luxury accommodations at a Day’s Inn and decided a nice walk would be a “good thing”. So we set out on foot to what Google identified as a grocery store a mile down the road to buy our evening repast: a salad, some chips and seltzer for drinks. Following Google’s directions we walked about an hour (way more than a mile!) along a busy road past the Family Dollar and Dollar General and an antiques store to the Donegal Market which, it turns out, specialized in azaleas and firewood. No salad. No seltzer. No chips. Yikes. We stopped at the Dollar General (we admit it) and bought some block cheese (Pepper Jack), Triscuits and ginger ale. (Also a comb, sun block and sundry other things we forgot despite meticulous planning!) Home we walked with our goodies and set to with an appetite. We tried not to notice that we passed a couple of enticing pubs on the way. Go figure. However, having eaten and relaxed, all is good.

We should mention that the scenery is beautiful in western PA. We’re in the foothills of the Appalachian chain south of Pittsburgh, and it’s breath taking. We have a couple of pictures to prove it.

Tomorrow, we will try to start very early due to weather. Our goal is to reach west of Dayton, OH for the night ahead of inclement weather. We’ll let you know how we make out.

Have a great night.

It’s Day 1 and we are ready!

Cool tunnels

And occasional sweeping turn in the Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Chain

The long walk …

It’s what’s for dinner!

Our trip countdown has been in progress for almost a year, and we’ll set off tomorrow morning on an adventure lasting 60 days and will cover 12-13,000 miles to the west coast, with ups and downs and fun twisties in the Rockies, both American and Canadian. We are so excited we can hardly wait one more day. Though we have to because we’re tired and need a nap first. Go ahead, laugh. Ha!

After many moons our preparations are finished! The house is ready for the sitters who will reside in our absence, the neighbors kindly allowed themselves to be conscripted to help out, the bike has been serviced and prepped, the rider has done his practice hours in slow and tight quarters, needed equipment has been laid in, reservations have been made for lodging and ferries and parks, willing friends and family contacted for visits on the fly (and the occasional home cooked meal!), scenic roads and attractions have been researched for each area along the way, so forth. Of course, Connie has organized and completed that work using many spreadsheets. She’s justifiably proud of her work; I’m exhausted just watching.

Something we don’t talk about much is the state of our nerves. I mean, travelogues aren’t supposed to talk about nerves and apprehensions. Forget that we’ve already done this once. “What if’s” kind of pop up out of nowhere to make us wonder sometimes why we set out to do something like this. I mean, it’s risky riding a motorcycle and we’re grand parents, for pity sake! We might forget something essential, like deodorant or fleece or extra skivvies. (That last is serious, you know.)

Point taken. Yet, we also have a love of travel, particularly this beautiful North American land. And the people we meet on the road have been overwhelmingly fascinating, kind and welcoming. We’ve made friends on the road that we stay in contact with. Seriously, this is the kind of adventure we love very much. If something unfortunate were to happen, it makes little difference if we’re on the Olympic Peninsula or at the local grocery store. We will just do our best to manage the risks and see what’s around the next bend. So, nervous? Sometimes. Intimidated for a big project so far from home? Some. But the rewards are substantial. Skivvies and deodorant are sold everywhere we’ll roam. And won’t our grandkids be amazed what their old folks can do.

Tomorrow, we’re off to Colorado (with few overnights on Interstate 70 before we get there).

Hank and I are happy to announce we are planning another cross-country trip this summer.  We hope to leave June 1, 2019.

On the last trip we got a taste for the diverse landscapes of the USA.  This time, we are delving into the Northwest.  The Rockie Mountains are entrancing and so fun to ride.  We’ll spend the bulk of our trip traversing the Rockies from Colorado to British Columbia.  We’ll dip our toes into the Pacific Ocean on the Olympic Peninsula in Olympia National Park and spend some time on Vancouver Island exploring and soaking in the culture.

We learned so much from our last major trip our planning this time is going so easily.  And of course, it’s one of Connie’s greatest pleasures.  Please feel free to share ideas for places to see or things to do.

One of our greatest pleasures on our last trip was sharing the journey with family and friends.  You inspired us to take the time to process our experiences along the way so that we could share them with you.   We hope you’ll join us on this journey too.

The Plan:

One is not supposed to start a piece of writing with an apology. Fine. I’m doing it anyway, Gentle Reader. As I sit pecking at my screen, July has passed into August thus showing how much we didn’t want our adventure to end. (Channeling Pharoah, if it’s not written it’s not done.) Silly, isn’t it? So this is how we finished our wonderful trip. Leaving the big, luxurious and impersonal Marriott hotel in Kingston, ON, we rode northeast along the St. Lawrence River and crossed back into the States at the Thousand Islands entry heading south. (Connie and I both have Global Entry passes from US Customs. It made re-entry quick and easy. We recommend looking into it.). The weather was beautiful and the ride to Cortland, NY and the Patterson clan was a pleasure. Rural NY State is beautiful; we used some of I-81 and lots of back roads – our favorite kind of ride. Sue and her mom, Helen, were so gracious in their welcome. We feasted like royalty and soaked in the pool with little James and Kiely, two of Sue’s grandchildren. Their parents, Annie (niece) and Tom stopped by several times to catch up. Helen was kind and sharp as always, and so much fun to visit with. Nephew Gregg, who lives on the shores of Lake Como, also made an appearance. He continued his annual razzing about the NY Giants and predicts great things for his Redskins. He has such an imagination! His latest project is acquiring a plow to clear his ¼ mile driveway in winter. This is no small thing: last winter Cortland got about a foot of snow for every inch we got in NJ. Nephew Kevin, Tina and their son, Andrew were away camping when we arrived so, sadly, we missed them. We also missed Jim, Sue’s love for 50 years, and my brother, who passed in 2014. There’s both sweet and sorrow in every family.

On Thursday Sue treated us to a musical put on by the Cortland Repertory Theater, “Footloose”, which came out originally as a film in 1984. It was a fantastic production in an intimate setting with the audience on three sides, front row about three feet from the stage. Really good music, singing, acting and set design. We loved it all. Not all good Theater is on Broadway; not all good theater has to cost a mortgage payment. Just saying.

We had a wonderful time being able to relax, eat Sue’s amazing cooking, and connect with family. Sue is such good company. But it was finally time to head home on Friday. We’d been 82 days on the road and were worn out. In a good way, mind you, but ready for home. So down I-81 to the PA Turnpike Northeast Extension. Of course there was road work – lots of it. The NE Extension is like a two lane cattle chute full of traffic. Close a lane and everything clogs up leaving patience as your only tool. We had lots of opportunity to reflect back on the wide open roads out west. The desolation if US 50 in Nevada became a rose-hued memory. So forth. We knew we were back on home turf.

Then Philly – our main routes into NJ were filled with stalled traffic. The heat was firmly in the 90’s and Google was showing us a route through Philly. We took a shot and followed the GPS. Silly persons. We were led through a convoluted route leading to the Betsy Ross Bridge over the Delaware. We had no idea there were so many side streets and alleys, and the traffic was heavy. The saving grace was our familiarity with the real (unspoken) rules of the road close to home. Still, it took us 9 hours to cover 190 miles. But we finally crept into the driveway and poured ourselves off the bike. Home is a sweet place.

We covered 12,700 miles on our journey covering 82 days. We stayed in motels, hotels, Airbnb’s, and with loving generous family along the way. The bike held up wonderfully, needing two oil changes, a new set of tires and about 290 gallons of premium fuel that cost between $2.30 (Anywhere, NV) and $5.75 a gallon (Mendocino, CA). After the first 10 days, we rode in relative comfort, partly due to equipment and prep, and partly because we lost feeling in our butts. (Feeling has been restored, you’ll be glad to know!) Relative frugality on the road and Connie’s exceptional planning kept us solvent throughout the trip and leaves us owing nothing.

We were so fortunate to have seen so many national and state parks and monuments that our much maligned governments and public servants have preserved for our use and enjoyment. It’s telling when you consider the huge number of folks from overseas who invest their time, money and energy to come see our spectacularly American natural treasures. Makes me wonder if we take our rich heritage for granted. And the people. We met hundreds of folks along our journey. Some we have mentioned in our posts, but many we just couldn’t for want of time and space. In the insular and divisive time we live, its too easy to dismiss those who make their life in far flung corners of our country as alien or of no account. We have many sub-cultures, including indigenous peoples. To a person all struck us as folks who want what we all want: to make a living, care for their families and pursue whatever gives life meaning and makes it sweet. Naturally, some are arrogant and rude, but so many are folks who could be friends if we’d let go of the labels. We are a rich country. And the greatest wealth is found in our people. We’d do well to think on that. So that’s all we have for now. Thank you to everyone who looked in our journey – you made us acutely aware of how precious and exciting our adventure was. You encouraged us and added to the gladness in each day. I thank my partner and copilot, Connie, for her fabulous skill as a planner, navigator and boon companion. She is the love of my life, and makes every adventure sweet and rewarding.

Cortland, NY

Connie here:  We have been so lazy!  Sorry we haven’t posted.  We’ve had a lovely time visiting with Hank’s family.  Lots of chatting, swimming, eating! and sleeping and eating!.  Sorry we’ve been such piglets, Sue.  More on our visit when Hank writes.  

We’ll be coming home a day earlier than planned.  We decided that we’re road weary and need to be done our trip.  So today, Friday, we journey home.  And it feels good.