The HDGazette

WY/SD/UP 08/31

2011-09-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

AWESOME!

And after a nice ride through some of the northern Ohio farmlands we hit I76 and skipped all the way home on I76, I70 and US15. The roads in eastern Ohio really need some repairs - lots of BIG potholes and lots of tarred cracks. Oh well, it is what it is!

Home sweet home - after 4,653.7 miles and an incredible ride over 13 days.

After that amazing trip what will we do next? I vote that we go to Yellowstone, either next year or the year after. That would be some more awesome!

THE ROUTE'ish

And that is the end of that.

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/30

2011-08-31T03:22:00.000-07:00

Not too much to tell about the ride from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Findlay, OH. The weather was fine, the early morning ride through the countryside of the UP was terrific and then we came to the Mackinac Bridge.

Mighty Mac, the Mackinac Bridge between Michigan's
Upper and Lower Peninsula.

Those of you that know me know I am not a fan of heights. This bridge is 200 feet above the water and it is 5 miles long. Not that all 5 miles is at 200 feet! No, the bridge spends 1/3 the distance climbing to that height, 1/3 the distance at that height and the other 1/3 the distance coming back down to ground level.

The bridge is under construction and the for most of the ride it was constrained to a single lane. Not so bad except trucks are limited to 20MPH and when you are on a motorcycle 20MPH is ridiculous. Amplify that with the realization that center span is a metal grate and a fear (not debilitating, but close enough) of heights and you get the moment of the day.

Oh well, its just another road like the millions of others I have been on, right? BTW, I hate heights!

On the other side of the bridge it was time to ride and as we approached Flint, MI, it became apparent that we were getting back to the population portion of the country. Lots more people, lots more cars, and lots more trucks. That is what we saw along the way! We arrived in Findlay, OH, at 6:00PM and took our supper at Max and Erma's. Paul's first visit to that establishment and the first time I have been to one since last year while riding through St. Louis.

Tomorrow we make the nearly 500 mile trip back to Virginia.

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/29

2011-08-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we will have touched
on three of the five great lakes
on this trip.

It was a chilly start as we headed out of Wausau, WI (A), and made our way up to the Upper Peninsula intending to make the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (B). Our route was terrific. We rode mostly state routes and US Highways, always a treat and the preferred road selection (at least for me) rather than the interstates.

We traveled nearly 60 miles (out of 420 miles for the day) with a bay of Lake Michigan to our right and it brought slightly cooler temperatures at times. A lady that works at the Harley Davidson dealership happened upon us at a refueling stop in Marionette, WI, and suggested we take our lunch at Mickey-Lu's BBQ, a '50's burger and malt joint. We stopped but unfortunately they are closed on Monday's. With a shrug and a picture of the place at which we did not eat we made our departure and several minutes later we arrived in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Folks, the ride was just incredible. We were traveling on country roads for hours at a time, at speed and didn't have any stops. The trees and fields were in early autumn or late summer splendor. We did notice as we drew closer to Lake Superior that some of the softer wood trees were beginning to change. Regardless, the ride was made in 75-80 degrees, clear blue sky occasionally adorned with the whitest of clouds and asphalt corridors cut in between majestic columns of the tallest and proudest trees. I bet the ride is even more pleasing in autumn as the leaves are all in color.

We arrived at the Painted Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior at around 3PM. It is a sight to behold. Below are a few pictures that capture one or two of the vistas from the Miner's Castle area.

Here are two panoramas taken from the same area in the park.

As we left the park we posed for a final Sturgis 2011 Trip picture with our bikes. Paul and I pose with our Harley's; his the 2011 Limited and mine the 2009 Ultra Classic SE, at the park entrance sign.

P. Breaux (l) and D. Matthews (r), August 29, 2011

And off we rode, into town, into the Newberry Comfort Inn (C), over to the Pizza Hut (for some very good laughs and food), and off to sleep.

Tomorrow we head to Findlay, OH, the first day of the ride back home to Leesburg, VA.

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/28

2011-08-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

The morning ritual started as all the others on this trip: coffee, breakfast and packing up for a return to the road. Our plan was to leave Sioux Falls, SD, at 8:30AM. That was the plan.

The storm in Sioux Falls looked just like this.
So we rode hard and fast!

After I ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast I went to check the weather on the public computer. While logging in I heard the TV in the dining room announce the emergency broadcast alarm. So, I went in to the room to see and hear what was up. Thunderstorms were just northwest of Sioux Falls - big thunderstorms; rain, 60MPH winds, hail and more wind. It was decision time, wait it out or make tracks ahead of it? More info was required and with that info came the realization that the size of the storm was interestingly large, very large. The weather reporters said the storm cells would be fierce and the alert was posted until two in the afternoon.

So, it was time to outrun the beast! I got back to the room, called Paul and let him know we needed to make tracks for Wisconsin right now. I packed my stuff and moved the bikes around to the back of the hotel for easier packing. We loaded our gear up, headed to the gas station, filled up and then jumped on I90 east and opened up the throttle. We traveled at 75MPH for 120 miles and then stopped for a short break and refueling. In the 20 minutes that we were there the storm caught up to us and we hastily departed after the rain began to sprinkle down on us while the dark clouds gobbled up the sky. Off we roared, this time out of the storm for good as we turned north into Minneapolis and then east again towards Wisconsin.

Wisconsin was painted with a clear blue sky, white puffy clouds and amazing farmlands.

Beautifully maintained farms lined our
route along WI29 East.

Our goal for the day was to reach Wausau, WI, and stay the night. Having avoided the dastardly weather we rolled into Wausau in one pice and right on schedule, not that we really have one!

What a terrific ride we had on WI29. It is a divided four lane country highway and the speed limit is 65MPH. On our left was farms and on our right was farms. For the most part this is dairy farm country.

But the striking part of the ride across the upper half of Wisconsin is how clean the roads are. There was no litter, no car rubble and no highway shoulder debris.

Couple that with the amazing state of good maintenance that the farms were in and the ride was beautifully boring. Every farm we passed was in good repair, fields were green, cows were grazing in open fields, no signs of muddy wallows in the fields and silos, barns and outbuildings were painted and completely boarded. What a nice ride though America's Dairy-land.

Tomorrow we vist Painted Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula.

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/27

2011-08-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

Dan, at Mount Rushmore

The ride to Michigan's Upper Peninsula began at 8:30 on a clear, cool and windy morning. The temperature was in the high 60's, the skies were clear and the wind was around 10MPH with gust of 25MPH and more. We jumped right on to I90 and headed over to Sioux Falls, the first leg of our 5 day trip to the UP and home.

As we made our way over to The Badlands the wind tossed us around pretty good. It was coming at us from the ESE and the gusts were constant. The speed limit out here is 75 MPH and we kept up that pace for the first 45 minutes as we made it to the park. We traveled from west to east and made the ride at a reasonable rate but we did not stop. This was the first time I made the ride in this direction, Paul's second.

Notice the different layers on the rock
spires in the background.

We chatted over the radio about the various striations of color and the depth of the many viewable levels of structure in the landscape. It is a curious thing to see the spires with their many colors and historical past etched on them. How come the spires are still there while the rest of the land is wide open prairie? And how come some of the spires are below the prairie and some are above the prairie? The answers to these questions will take some in-depth research, another item for the to-do list.

As we exited the park we stopped for some gas and while there I visited with the prairie dogs that lived in the field just north of the Trading Post. These fellas were white, or should I say white'ish? They were not particularly shy as when I approached only one sat up and "yip, yipped", the others hardly took notice. While every other dog continued grazing where they were two other little ones kept coming closer and ripping a mouthful of grass from the ground as they inched closer. At one point the dogs in the distance all started running from different directions towards a single burrow. I could not discern either what caused them to scamper or what alarm was given to cause so many to move at one time towards a single destination. They are fascinating critters.

These fellas all scampered to this burrow and then, without
having entered the burrow, they dispersed again.

As I watched the dogs two kept coming closer.

Prairie Dogs at The Badlands

Back on the highway we eased off the throttle and made the next two hour run at about 63MPH. When we pulled off for gas and lunch the wind had decreased by half and when we struck out on the last two hour leg of the ride we traveled around 73MPH the rest of the way.

The sights were amazing along the way. Some field we had seen along the way last weekend were freshly mown and baled. The sunflowers are mature and starting to droop in the sun. The cattle were roaming about and we noticed several herds consisting of several breeds of cattle. The autumn harvest cannot be far behind our departure form this beautiful land of amber waves of grain. What a country!

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/26

2011-08-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

After three days of riding to specific locations that were of interest to everyone, Friday turned out to be "clean-up" day. Everyone had a few things still outstanding and so they packed their bikes and left for points certain to them. Some went to ride the Spearfish Canyon, some to ride the missed part of Needles Highway.

Mount Rushmore 8/26/2011

Sam and I set out and rode together south to Keystone. There we parted company as Sam headed back to Colorado and I to Mount Rushmore. I fear Sam did not get what he bargained for on that last ride. He was looking to experience the five mile piece of Needles Highway that we missed on Thursday. But, at the Route 16a turn-off at Keystone, with encouragement from me he turned on to the part of 16a (Iron Mountain Road) that we had ridden completely. Well, my bad - sorry Sam.

I rode down Route 244 to Mount Rushmore. I had not been on this trip and wanted to take some pictures with the "real" camera in the morning when the sun is striking the faces of the Presidents. It was a splendid time at Mount Rushmore - early enough that I could make my way around the President's Trail with few others. The weather was perfect - low to mid seventies and clear blue skies - no clouds at all. After nearly two hours shooting pictures from every angle with the T2i, I headed off to meet up with the others for a late lunch.

A replica Sioux village at Mount Rushmore.

Ranger demonstrates sculpting using the granite of Mount Rushmore.

Isn't Mount Rushmore magnificent?

What would a visit to the Black Hills be if one didn't go to Sturgis Harley Davidson. Well, I had been there before but my compadres convinced me to come up to Sturgis for a quick run through the store and then lunch over at Knuckles Saloon. Glad I went is what I say. I picked up a tee for Sam and another for me and a new skull cap for me as well. And of course there is nothing "not fun" about the Knuckle Saloon. We all ordered separately but we divided a Knuckle Sandwich into eight even'ish parts and got to share in the experience. It was a fun time at Knuckle's.

After lunch the diners broke into two groups. One went to the Sturgis HD store the other went back to Rapid City riding along the Vanocker Canyon Road. The ride was a fun ride of sweeps - not twisties, though some of the sweeps were tight. Back to the hotel we went and the others came along shortly thereafter.

Once together, by this time those that are from the NC and VA area were tuned into the weather reports, began planning their return trips home. One will try and fly home tomorrow and the rest of us will depart from South Dakota just as did Calvin, Holly and Sam yesterday. Eldon, Charlotte, Tommy, Lowery and Lisa (driving the chase vehicle) will head to the Carolinas.

And as friends often do we shared a farewell dinner before the final pack of the truck. A collection of munchies from Outback was shared by all, along with libations to help ease the sadness of an all to early farewell. At least it is a farewell until next time - and so the planning begin with a couple of ideas thrown out for the groups consideration!

As for Paul and me, we will ride a few more days and travel up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a quick look at Picture Rocks National Lakeshore. Then we will head home.

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/25

2011-08-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Goodness gracious - it is just 4 months until Christmas - and we got a big set of presents on this day!

Off we went at 8:30 this morning. Headed east to go south - that kind of thing. We rode across 16a from the east tot he west and saw an enormous bison standing on the edge of the roadway, unbothered by any old motorcycle, whilst he chewed tasty morsels of highway shoulder grass. He was huge! And that was but the start to an awesome day.

We visited Crazy Horse Mountain.

Then we rode down a part of the Needles Highway (we'll finish it on Friday).

Then we rode through the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park.

Then we rode Iron Mountain Road and caught several glimpses of Mount Rushmore from differing vantage points.

It was awesome. And here are some pictures so you can see what we saw!

Big Daddy from a herd of about 30 bison

Large model of Crazy Horse Monument head

Jackass in the park

Crazy Horse Monument

Close up of Crazy Horse Monument head

Hey, get your asses in the car and get out of here!

Prong Horn Antelope making up his mind to cross or not to cross, that is the question.

Mount Rushmore from the observation point on Iron Mountain Road.

OMG, what an incredible ride - great friends, great sights, great food and all in this great country.

God Bless America!

WY/SD/UP 08/24

2011-08-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

Mild Hogs (I am on camera)

With the early morning start we made our way out to Devils Tower in Wyoming. All seven bikes made the trip. The morning weather was in the mid/upper 60's and the air was clear, no wind and lots of bright sun lighting the way from our backs.

We took out on I90 west and headed past Sundance and jumped on to US24. The trip was swift and the Tower came into view about 10 miles out. It is on gigantic monument, that is for sure. A few pictures of the visit to the Tower.

While a couple of us walked around the Tower we caught sight of four people climbing the face of the Tower. Below you'll see photos of the some of the climbers.

Mild Hogs at the Devil's Tower Trading Post

In the focused circle in the center is a climber.

Here is a zoom capturing a female climber working the rope that assists her companion below (not in picutre)

After the visit we scooted back to Deadwood using US24 and then US85. Once there we meet up with the other Mild Hogs that went along while the two hikers walked around the Tower. We met at the Midnight Star Saloon for lunch. It was good food tucked into the loads of Kevin Costner movie memorabilia. A nice time indeed.

Once lunch was complete we took to the streets for some sightseeing and shopping. A few of us then mounted our iron steads and headed up (and I do mean up) to Mt. Moriah Cemetery to have a look at the famous grave sites. Wild Bill Hickok was murdered in Deadwood and his remain lie in Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Twenty-six years later Calamity Jane died and it was her last request to be moved back to Deadwood and buried next to her beloved Wild Bill. And so it goes, Bill and Jane are buried side by side in Deadwood, SD.

Wild Bill in back and Calamity Jane in front (Urn)

After a nice ride up the Spearfish Canyon we headed back to Rapid City for libations and the recap of the day's adventure. And what an adventure it was!

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/23

2011-08-24T05:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a day spent in The Badlands with lunch at Wall Drugs! Here are a baker's Dozen of Photos for you to enjoy! It was a wonderful visit to the park, the ride back in high winds was less enjoyable! =(

WY/SD/UP 08/22

2011-08-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

Another wonderful day in paradise!

We started out from Sioux Falls and the temperature was in the upper 60's and the sky was overcast. So, the fleece came out, as the temperature was expected to rise quickly and leather would be more warmth than needed. Of course you might think one would stop and take off the leather - WHAT? No way, we are headed to the Badlands of SD.

Poster of the sunflower fields in SD

We covered the 275 miles to the Badlands without incident and at a nice pace - there were only three short highway maintenance activities along the route. The view of the countryside along I90 is a beautiful as ever. The rolling hills covered with wheat, with "in blossom" Sunflowers, rolls and rolls of mown straw/hay and a few corn fields thrown in for good measure.

Barely perceptible was the rise we were experiencing while riding across South Dakota. When we left Sioux Falls we were at 1450 feet and by the time we arrived in Rapid City we were at 3225 feet. We gained the 1800 feet across some 300 miles. The sun burned off the morning clouds around ten thirty and the beautiful billowy clouded blue skies were the perfect backdrop for those fields of gold, green and yellow. This is a ride that is as good as it gets on a motorcycle!

Badlands at the western edge

At 12:45 P.M. we rolled into the eastern entrance to The Badlands off I90. Waiting for us at the Trading Post was Sam. He rode up from Denver the night before and he was set to ride through the Badlands with us. The gents were both very polite and tolerated my frequent stops to take photos. There were lots of photo opportunities and sooner or later my pictures will make their way out on to one of my photos sites. but on this trip there is not enough down time to work with the photos and make them presentable.

Incidentally, speaking of the sunflower fields we passed coming out I90 from the east, there were several small clumps of wild sunflowers that were bedecking the Badlands. I did not get the chance to take pictures of them but I hope to get back to them yet on this trip. There were also some striking photos of the many layers of colors found in the Badland formations and some time exploring them with camera is on tap too.

After a couple of hours in the Badlands we pulled out on to I90 west and finished the 55 mile ride into Rapid City. The three of us made our way tot he Hampton Inn and met up with the rest of the group. There are three couples out form North Carolina and another from another part of the south.

Dinner was a delight as we enjoyed the Firehouse Microbrewery and restaurant. Dinner for 10 bikers from Virginia, the Carolinas and Colorado. Why, it doesn't get to much better than that!

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/21

2011-08-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

Breakfast at the Comfort Inn in Davenport was early and then we packed up the bikes, turned right out of the drive and then roared onto I80W, heading off to our next stop: Sioux Falls, SD.

This trip would take us off the interstate and onto US20 as we crossed the state of Iowa. To be sure Iowa is an agriculture state. The fields of corn and soy beans were impressive - all four hundred and forty miles of them that we rode through today.

But, interestingly enough that was not the only industry we saw in Iowa. We came across several huge manufacturing facilities too. One was an auto factory - a Mitsubishi assembly plant we think. The others were not well documented that we could see from the highway.

We rode passed another facility, again, oversized, to steal a McDonald's term. It was bannered with the name Acciona. Neither of us knew the company name. Well, a little web research brought the answer. It seems Acciona is an infrastructure company and that it's Iowa plant is the sole facility that this Spanish company has in America. They assemble wind turbines.

There is little glee in Acciona in Iowa. In this news article the say they are laying off nearly all of the workforce. I guess the dark economy hits hard at the green economy.

Okay, the fields were green and greener. The landscape was as flat as the proverbial pancake for most of the day. But as we reached the western border of Iowa and Nebraska/SD the terrain began to roll and there were more cattle and the corn and beans fields were spotted with the rolling hay fields I remember from visits in the past. We pulled into the Chili's restaurant in Sioux Falls around 4:30 and finally connected by phone with our soon to be riding companions. They were getting ready to turn west on I90 in Minnesota and make a beeline over to Sioux Falls too! At last, we are all together.

More later . . . (Badlands tomorrow!)

WY/SD/UP 08/20

2011-08-22T04:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we left Dayton, Ohio and spent the day on the Interstates. Hardly a noteworthy time but when you need to make some distance it is a good way to "git 'er done".

On I70 West into Indianapolis and then we headed Northwest on I74. Well that was the plan. But, as is the case whenever I visit Indianapolis I seem incapable of making the transition from I70 to I65 and then off to I74. Apparently the connection between I65 and I74 is to hard for me to make - again I wound up passing out of Indy to the north on I65. Oh well, plan B was at hand quickly, we needed lunch anyway.

Plan B proved an interesting ride, albeit short lived. We headed a little further north up I 65 and then in Lebanon, IN we headed west on IN20 until we ran into I74. The ride was nice as we traveled through some of the corn fields of Indiana. Once on I74 we traveled northwest until we reached Davenport, IA. There we spent the night.

More later . . .

WY/SD/UP 08/19

2011-08-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday began with a waffle and bacon breakfast followed by heading out west for another visit to a couple of our National Monuments. Our route took us over some twisties and then a couple hour jaunt along a nice stretch of limited access country riding.

The route from Virginia and West Virginia was US50 all the way. The road was in excellent shape and other than two large dump trucks we rode at speed into and out off the switchbacks and twisties. Around 1 pm we poked out of the countryside and found our way onto the limited access portion of US50 in western WV and Ohio.

At the intersection of US50 and US35 we broke off and headed NW on US50 and made our way to Dayton. I70 (off of which our hotel is located) was stopped as there is construction taking this major east west interstate down to a single lane. The bottleneck was about 6 miles long - ugh. Of course it would not have been that bad for us, but when you miss the exit, well, let's just say the angst was mostly for not paying attention in the first place! My bad.

Tomorrow's plan: head out on I70 (I think we'll actually go up to and then over US40) through Indiana and then turn northwest again and head up to Davenport, Iowa. We should make the Badlands of South Dakota Monday around noon.

More later . . .

Pacific Coast Highway collapses in Big Sur

2011-03-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a year since starting out on the Four Corner Trip. While the blog has been quiet since the ride came to a close the rides have continued. I traveled with a small cadre of friends down to Knoxville and met up with another cadre of riders and together we all made a run through the Dragon. It was lots of fun and without adverse incident.

Today I read an article out of California regarding the Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur, CA. I rode the PCH with delight on my Four Corners ride last year and the PCH was, as always, a magical day on the bike. It is beautiful beyond words.

Folks, this news is sad to say the least. Highway 1 (The PCH) is closed in Big Sur. This news article details the closure and the outlook for the future. Seems the road collapsed for forty or so feet pulling down all the guard rail, the pavement and the embankment with it's retaining wall. There is no place to divert traffic and stay on the PCH. What's more the outlook is not good. There is great uncertainty as to what was the root cause of the "slide" but speculation is that the rock bedding there is crumbling.

If the road cannot be built on the cliff-side bedrock, I suspect they will have to move it off of the coast. But, the experts will take their time in figuring out what happened, how to repair or reconstruct the passage, and how we can enjoy as much of the coastal route as is safely possible.

While on my Four Corners ride I snapped this photo from a bluff just south of Big Sur. The air was clean, the temperature was crisp and the sky was scarred with this beautiful contrail. This is but one happy moment I have spent along the Pacific Coast Highway.

Whether on my Harley Davidson Ultra Classic Screaming Eagle or in a car this roadway includes enough wonderful memories that if included in a cocktail table book the beautiful scenes would create an endless tome to fill a photographer's dream.

If you have an interesting tale about the PCH and I would like to hear it.

Drop me a line, send me a tweet or post your story below. I am partial to tales of foggy passes and twilight surprises on the California's most famous road: The Pacific Coast Highway.

More later . . .

June 28 - Back at Home

2010-06-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

Woke up at home this morning. Our Four Corners trip is (almost) complete. Here is a movie (LARGE) for your enjoyment. It captures the major stops along the way and it gives you a glimpse of Roy and I as we passed our four months on the seat of our Harley Davidson Ultra CVO.

TheTrip Finale from Dan Matthews on Vimeo.
After nearly four months and more than 22,000 miles we have circled the nation and hit all four corners of the continental US. What a ride.

Here is a video of the trip from first to last! Enjoy!

June 26 - Flight 93 Memorial and Pentagon 9/11 Memorial

2010-06-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

The weather continues to keep us in the pink - it is another bright, sunny day. The weather report indicates that by the time we make our way from Somerset, PA, to Washington, DC, the temperature will climb into the 90's. Not a word of rain, snow or other inclemency in the weather report. We can live with that!

Today's ride will take us from Somerset out to Shanksville, PA. After several (about nine) years of wrangling the Department of the Interior, Park Service, now has control over the final resting place of 40 brave American souls that fought with terrorists to prevent them from completing their mission. The long journey to secure the site includes silly tales of struggles between Federal agencies, recompense for the owner's of record for the land and a Congress unwilling to appropriate the funding to create the Memorial.

All that is behind us and this Memorial will be built. It will grow in three stages. We are happy to report that Phase One is underway and is expected to be complete by the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The park service has now accumulated enough information to tell the story of Flight 93. For our visit a volunteer described what we now know about the flight. The details have come from those that spoke with the victims that day and from radio and air traffic control logs. It sounds like all the passengers were of a single mind - retake the aircraft or die trying. They were not going to let the terrorists complete their mission. As was once mentioned to me, the passengers of Flight 93 mounted the first battle in the Global War on Terror. How true that is.

Here are a couple of photo's from the visit.

Shanksville 9/11 Memorial Wall

Once we took our leave of this very somber Pennsylvania location we headed to the Pentagon in DC to pay our respects to those unsuspecting victims of terrorists, both inside the plane and inside the Pentagon on 9/11. The Memorial at the Pentagon is another somber place. The positioning of the benches at the angle that the plane flew into the building, the names inscribed on each of the memorial benches, the inscription of travel mates or relatives that also lost their lives, the water in motion at each bench, the alignment of the benches in rows based on the year of each victim's birth, the grove of maple trees and the stark, barren pebble earth tell all we need to know. Here are remembered those that died because they were passengers or because they were at the Pentagon.

A picture of the memorial is below.

Quietly we departed the Pentagon Memorial. In the parking lot we said our farewells.

With sadness we were concluding our ride. With anticipation we look forward to riding again. And most of all, we ride away with a deeper, more profound love of America than can be described in all of the entries in this blog. She is worth seeing, she is worth loving and having visited all three 9/11 memorials in the month of June we know she is worth defending.

Tonight Roy sleeps in Fairfax County and Dan sleeps in Loudoun County. Seems strange to not have to call ahead for a reservation. Seems strange not to being having breakfast with Roy. Maybe I will pack the bike today, for old time's sake!

More later . . .

June 25 - HD York Plant Tour

2010-06-27T03:49:00.000-07:00

This morning we rode over to the Harley Davidson assembly plant in York, PA. The plant is but three miles from our Choice Hotel and the weather promises to be hot (upper 80's) and sunny. Our plan for the day is to tour the HD plant where both of our bikes were built and then to ride straight west on US30 until we get to Somerset, PA.

The visit to the plant was always on our ride list - for the 24+ months of ride planning! So, we were both excited to finally arrive at the CVO, Softail and Touring Bike plant.

Roy and Dan pose outside the York HD Tour Center

The York plant came to the Harley Davidson Company as a result of the acquisition by AMF. AMF moved the operations facility, then located in Wisconsin, to York in the early 80's. The campus, it really is a collection of several buildings all of differing ages, has three major buildings: the touring bike assembly plant; the Softail bike assembly plant; and the CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations) assembly plant.

The focus of our tour was the touring bike facility. In this building the Glides and Road Kings are assembled.

The touring bike plant building was built in the 30's for a safe and lock company. Today it is an aged edifice but it contains modern equipment. This year is the final year for the building. So, our tour guide said, we were experiencing history as the 2010 model year is now closing out, the 2011 models are in the early stages of assembly for the upcoming Dealer Show in July, and then the building will be vacated. Harley sold the building, intending to consolidate this assembly facility into an expanded Softail assembly building for the 2011 build year.

Roy poses with the Vaughn L. Beals Ultra

We learned some other information of which neither of us had knowledge. We both own 2009 Ultra Classic Screaming Eagles. Both of these bikes are CVO bikes. CVO bikes are built by a small team of personnel, 3 or so technicians. The bikes are built from the ground up by this team. All of the other bikes are built on an assembly line and pass from station to station and are assembled by many people. One way is not necessarily better than the other but when you own a CVO you know it has been handled by a small cadre of folks. A romantic thought in a mass production age. You see when HArley Davidson started back in 1903 there were four friends that were building the bikes - just the four of them. That is how the CVO's are built.

Well, that was until the end of the 2009 production year. At that time HD consolidated the CVO build operation into the touring bike assembly line. They no longer assign a team to build a specific CVO. Like I said no one way is better than the other. But the romance of owning a bike built the old-fashioned way lives no longer, our bikes being among the last so produced.

Now, the character of a team built HD bike is gone. After the tour guide told us this new information there must have been an irrational sadness evident on our faces. Our tour guide even said so. Well, it is a bummer. And life goes on.

The tour concluded and we headed out to Somerset, PA, on US30 W. As we made our way along the route we stopped at the Harley Dealers we saw and collected Dip Dots.

A) At Laugerman's HD in York we discovered a 1949 HD 125cc bike. How cool is that?

B) At Battlefield HD in Gettysburg we discovered a Blue Horse with Painted Scene. Hmmmm . . .

C) And, in Somerset we discovered a Hot Rod Hearse. In a hurry to bury the dead?

Okay, your job is to figure out which picture below is best matched with the description above!

So, we are here in Somerset and will have a celebratory dinner at the Pine Grill tonight. Tomorrow we will ride out to Shanksville and visit the 9/11 Flight 93 Memorial that is now under construction. From there we will ride to the Pentagon and visit the 9/11 Memorial there. On this trip and all within the month of June we will have ridden to all three of the 9/11 memorial sites.

A fitting way to end TheTrip.

More later . . .

June 24 - Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

2010-06-26T03:38:00.000-07:00

Interesting weather report greeted us this morning in Endicott, NY. The weather report says thunder showers are in the future for us - over 50% chance. Off we set for Wellsboro, PA, and the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, hopeful that we would be on the dry side of the fifty percent.

In 30 minutes time we crossed from New York into Pennsylvania. As we rode down US220 S to PA6 W we found a little detour and several trucks looking to slow our trip. Well, it wasn't all that bad - the truckers were in more of a hurry than we!

As we rode the sky darkened. With each passing mile the weather was more menacing. After a few heavenly tear drops we pulled to the side of the rode and dressed in rain gear - not a moment too soon. Just as we remounted our iron steads the heavens drained their weary eyes. And it rained really good for about 30 or 40 minutes. We continued on.

When the rain let up and we were stopped at a traffic light it became apparent that the bikes were coated in a steel-gray dirt. Perhaps it is stone dust from the roads - but the bikes are filthy.

Onward we pressed. Up to the third Grand Canyon of our trip - this one outside of Wellsboro, PA. Here is a panorama of the park.

Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

What an interesting tale is the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania is! For instance, at the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth century the place was completely deforested. The trees were hacked off the mountains for their commercial value. The land was left to erode.

Mercifully folks banded together to reclaim the land. Look at the picture above. It is a splendid park and one worth visiting to understand how quickly the forest was reclaimed given concentrated efforts and public support. It is an example of hope in a world of dreary environmental news.

Here is a wiki picture of what the tree cutting during the 1800's did to the gorge. It is a shame. I suspect we should all rejoice that people banded together and reclaimed the forest!

Clear Cut Pine Creek Gorge - Grand Canyon of PA

If you can spare ten minutes or so please read the history of this area. Wiki has the story at this location. I hope you do! It is inspiring.

After our visit we traveled back down into Wellsboro, PA, for some lunch at a diner we passed on the way up the mountain. It looked promising so we stopped for a late lunch.

Wellsboro Diner, Wellsboro, PA

I am happy to report they serve breakfast all day! Umm, very good - two eggs, over medium; english muffin toasted dark; corned beef hash; and home fries covered in chili! What a lunch!

And off we went headed to York, PA, for a scheduled tour of the Harley Davidson plant tomorrow. The weather the rest of the day was pleasant - no further need for the rain gear once we left the park. BTW, we took Route 287 S out of Wellsboro - it is a motorcyclist's dream. I know I will ride that route again - as well as revisit the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

After much consideration our plan is to visit the plant, travel to Shanksville, visit the Flight 93 Memorial, travel to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial and then be home by Sunday.

Can you believe this ride is coming to an end (a pause really, we will ride Tail of the Dragon and the Smokeys in September).

More later . . .

June 23 - Making 400 miles to keep our Friday date with HD in York, PA

2010-06-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

This morning we awoke in Portsmouth, NH, and the weather was to be cloudy in the morning and sunny the rest of the day. The extended look for the route that would bring us all the way to Sayre, PA, is the same, sunny and warm.

Off we roared - an unnecessary interstate day, brought to you by Central Maine Harley Davidson (read June 22(a) post).

We stopped for gas - that's it. It was warm and thank goodness my radio/cb/nav is working because the sights from a motorcycle doing 75MPH on the interstate is cars and semi's of all different shapes and colors.

Here is the surprise of the day. We couldn't find a hotel room in Sayre, PA.

Our usual approach has been to travel to our destination or wherever we decided to quit the day's ride and then call the Choice Hotel number and make a reservation, drive to the hotel and call it a day. It has worked every time. Not today.

Seems that there is a PGA Seniors Tour event in Endicott and Lockheed Martin's Owego facility was holding a large event. Rooms all around the area were sold out. We tried all the Choice Hotels, Holiday Inn, Marriott, etc. Nothing doing. Sold out. On a whim we called the Rodeway Inn in Endicott. Guess what? They had a couple of rooms left. So over we went and there we stayed.

Now, for the final irony. The Rodeway Inn was directly across the street from the Seniors golf event. Right across the street!

Far out. Good night y'all!

More later . . .

June 22(b) - Postal Station and Groceries

2010-06-25T04:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, ROy managed to slip away while I was being held captive at Central Maine Harley Davidson. While I waited and watched over our "stuff", Roy grabbed some of his things and went to a postal location to ship things home.

The building in the picture is a variety store. There you can buy soda, chips, ice, sandwiches, beer and other makings of a small party. Notice from the sign posted next to the front door that you can also rent movies (does anyone do that anymore?) But here is the twist.

Inside this building, the C&K Variety Store at Hermon Corner, ME, there is a Postal Station. The space is known as a CPU (Contract Postal Unit). We learn something new everyday! Here is what USPS says about CPU's.

"A Contract Postal Unit (CPU) is a supplier-owned or supplier-leased site operated by the supplier, under contract to the Postal Service™ to provide postal services to the public at Postal prices."

So there you have it! A Postal CPU inside a liquor store. I guess it saves the Postal Service money by eliminating the expense of owning bricks and mortar.

At least the day wasn't a TOTAL disaster. BTW, after needlessly hanging around Central Maine Harley Davidson all day we did still start out at 5:20 p.m. and logged an astounding 180 miles before we bagged it for the night. We canceled our scenic ride through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and rode I95 S to Portsmouth, NH and tomorrow we will push all the way to the Pennsylvania/New York border along I88 S.

Interstate riding - grrrrrrrrrr. Thanx Central Maine Harley Davidson!

More later . . .

June 22(a) - replacing the brake light switch on Big Red

2010-06-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

Good morning one and all. The weather is perfect for a ride - all sun, warm, breezy air with a high expected in the upper 70's. So, our plan is to go to the local Harley Davidson dealer, get the switch replaced and then hit the road for New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Pennsylvania.

Not so fast . . .

Let me introduce you to the local Harley Davidson dealership - Central Maine Harley Davidson just west of Bangor, Maine. Here is an outside picture of their little business.

Central Maine Harley Davidson - Bangor, Maine

I am sure some of you have no idea how emergency service on a motorcycle is accomplished so here is some background. What I am about to tell you is not "policy" of course but it is an unwritten courtesy that is almost without exception. When you are "traveling" on your bike and you have a safety defect or your bike is not working you move to the head of the line for maintenance. As I said, it is not written but it is generally accepted maintenance practice for HD's.

My brake lights are out - safety issue right? You bet it is. Now we have traveled over 20,000 miles on this trip. We have had service in Alabama, Texas, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Washington, Montana, Missouri and New York. In every single case - even when the stop was for routine maintenance, we were taken in as quickly as possible. In the case of a flat tire, an engine knock, a front end jitter, leaking oil, a slipping throttle grip, starter switch, etc, the dealer took the bike right in and had someone jump on it. Now, that is how it works. We both know from our experiences at our "back home" dealership that our routine maintenance is occasionally disrupted because a traveler needed assistance. We can live with that because that is what we do for one another. Like I said earlier, it is an unwritten courtesy that is as good as gold.

Central Maine Harley Davidson has a different approach. Miss H. Waite does all their "traveler" maintenance. Helen is there for all travelers - not just me or you. If you want emergency maintenance at Central Maine Harley Davidson you have to go to Helen Waite. There I said it!

We got to the dealership at about 9:15 a.m. We knew it was the stop light relay switch - we had already isolated the problem. Two electrical slip-on connectors, and a screw in valve is all that is required to change the switch. When the switch is changed you then "bleed" the air out of the brake line. This requires you to loosen the hydraulic line, pump the front and rear pedals until they spit out the air and produce a steady stream of brake oil. Okay, that is it - takes thirty minutes, assuming you have the switch - and they had the switch.

Got it?

Okay, it's 9:15 a.m. and I approach the service desk and meet Lee. I tell him what the issue is and he sighs and tells me that it will be mid-afternoon before they can even look at it. Ouch, that is not a happy thought. Roy was standing with me and we verbally exchange our options in front of Lee. Lee then suggests that the Augusta Maine dealership is about an hour away if we want to do that. He extends his comments while turning the computer monitor in my direction so I can see that the service schedule (first open slot is two o'clock) for the morning is full up. We don't doubt that Lee - we are sure it is. But, we are relying on the courtesy that is extended to travelers to get them on the road ASAP. Besides, why would a dealer suggest that you ride your bike 60 miles without brake lights? We opt to wait (or is it Waite). What are you gonna do, eh?

So, we are outside waiting for the first available technician. Yes, I know, Lee told me mid-afternoon. But, still, you would think that one technician would get lucky and finish a job early, wouldn't cha?

So, out front we go milling about. Check the photo again and you will see a rider with a skull cap on and white T-shirt and blue jeans between the two bikes on the right. His name is "Dirt" and he is from Arizona. His bike no longer produces electricity the way it is supposed to. I dunno, it sounds like the stator is bad. He, at that time is sitting on the ground cleaning his bike. I see he is wearing a Run to the Wall T-Shirt and is wearing the Vietnam Service medal colors. I inquire, he says, yup and now we have a Vietnam Vet reunion going there in the parking lot.

Dirt says he was there at Central Maine HD at eight when they opened. Lee told him same thing - can't help until noon at the earliest. We are all in amazement now - this sounds like Central Maine Harley Davidson's policy now. So we chat away. Around noon, as Lee mentioned earlier, they come out for his bike. Mine is next or when there is an opening at two, whichever comes first.

Off all four of us (Dirt's brother was with him on a Gold Wing, hmmmmmm . . .) go to the pizza shop for a bite of lunch and some more fellowship. Seems we have all ridden in the same places.

Now, here is why I am livid about Central Maine Harley Davidson and their Service Technician Helen Waite. Seems that Central Maine was expecting a tire shipment that morning. They got it. Not only did they get it in but they called folks that had ordered tires and had no schedule for them to be mounted. While I was standing there in the service desk area one guy came roaring in and said he got the call that the tires were in and he wanted to get his mounted. They took his bike in in front of mine! What? You gotta be jokin' right? That Damn Helen! Enough - we go to lunch so I can calm down'ish.

At 1:45 we head back across the street - Dirt's phone rang and Lee said its done come and get it. Over we go and his bike is not really ready - they are washing it. Well, more precisely it is in line to be washed.

At 2:35, the 35 minute delay is probably because they had to mount tires for someone that cut in line, they took my bike into the back. At last, it's in.

At 3:15 Dirt's bike was still in line to be washed - he said to them - "give me my bike." They did and when he fired it up it was throwing off 10 volts - supposed to be 13.7 volts. It ain't fixed beacuse at only 10 volts the bike is actually still running on the battery and it will be dead when you stop the bike. Dirt is not happy. Not only that - he is now back in line! They don't drop things at Central Maine - they stick you in the stack.

At 3:30 my bike is done. So, we all say good-bye, good luck and Dirt and I exchange welcome-homes again. We also exchange cards so we can email later.

Off we roar, Roy in the lead. We make it a mile down the road and Roy signals for a right turn - we are doing 50 MPH. Roy brakes, leans into the turn and I follow his lead. YIKES!! I have NO REAR BRAKES! I jumped on that front brake while in a turn - not good practice at all - to avoid messing up Roy's bike.

I radio Roy - Going back I have no rear brakes. So, we turn around and head back - gingerly.

I ride in, go find Lee, Lee talks to Dave (the service manager) and they decide to bring my bike back in and bleed the brakes - seems no one test rode the bike! It is now 3:45 and Dirt is laughing his skinny butt off. But, it won't take long, right?

Helen Waite is now putting my bike in line again. At 5:20 we are back on the road - the brakes are fixed, the manager test road it this time. He tells me that they did not see any air come out of the line when they bleed it! No joke - they didn't see any AIR come out. It must have been camouflaged as what - air?

I test rode it and I tell you this - first time around they had not bled the brakes, air was in the line and the second time around they bled the brakes and there was now no air in the line - I have brakes! Period, I don't care what they say.

So, girls and boys here is the lesson. If you are in Bangor, Maine and need help with your Harley Davidson bike, the service technician for travelers at Central Maine Harley Davidson will take care of you - so, for help you can always go to Helen Waite.

More (much more on my twitter and other blogs) later . . .

Oh yeah, I am still angry - every other dealer took us in ASAP. And they did good work. This place is just plain terrible!

June 21 - Schoodic Point and Baxter State Park

2010-06-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

The sky was deep blue and the clouds pillows of white. The temperature was in the mid 80's. Schoodic Point, a section of Acadia National Park north and east of the main park in Bar Harbor, was first on our list. Yesterday the weather turned stormy as we completed our visit to the Bar Harbor park so we pushed Schoodic until today. Here is the map for our first leg of today's journey.

As we rode over to the coastal area we passed this bucolic scene pictured below. It was an omen of how lovely the day would be.

We drove eastward and enjoyed the warm sun, the pleasant aroma of the deep pine forest and the lingering ocean's chill that hid in shadows along the highway. Really, this is Maine at it's best!

It took over an hour to reach Schoodic from Bar Harbor but was worth the drive. Here are some pictures from the park.

Schoodic Point Tide Coast from Dan Matthews on Vimeo.
In Acadia National Park there is a section called Schoodic Section. At the very far reach of the section is Schoodic Point. This video captures the low tide waves coming on to the rocks. Notice the moss, barnacles, and water staining on the rocks. These all indicate how far on shore the waves break and they do send spray high in the air. This is the docile version on a simply perfect Maine day.

We spent more than an hour walking the rocks, taking pictures and exploring this little piece of heaven. You can view the pictures in the Schoodic album.

At 11:30 we packed up our gear and headed further north by going south and west first. We traveled back into Ellsworth and then headed over to I95 N. Here is the map of the trip north.

Baxter State Park was our next destination. Why Baxter you ask? Baxter is a "natural park", meaning there are no facilities, no electricity, no nothing in the park. The roads are dirt and not well maintained. Trucks, campers, motorcycles (except dirt bikes) are not allowed. The park was established by a former Maine Governor Percival Baxter. His intention was to establish a park that would capture the wild, rugged Maine he knew for posterity. Well, it worked.

Another reason to visit Baxter is this. It is the home of the northern trailhead for the Appalachian Trail (AT). The trail is 2,178 miles long and stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin, in Maine. Mount Katahdin is located in Baxter State Park and is the highest point in the state of Maine.

So, here is what we found in Baxter State Park. First we saw no moose. Second we could not ride into the park on our motorcycles. Third, we could not handle the dirt road even if we could get into the park. Here is what we did see. Mount Katahdin, the park entrance gate, and these two hitch hikers.

Imagine that, finding two hitch hikers in the state park. These two guys left Springer Mountain, Georgia, on February 15th, 2010, and had ended their hike over the AT in four months and 6 days. Really, they had just finished the hike that afternoon. They were hitch hiking back into Millinocket, ME, the nearest town, to do laundry, eat, sleep and scoot to the airport in the morning. They explained they had to get back to Georgia on the 22nd.

Both of these men recently graduated from college and this was their treat. Reportedly, they left in a group of about 20 hikers. While on the trail in the Carolinas they encountered a blizzard that dumped over 3 feet of snow on the trail. About 14 of the hikers caved in, gave up and went home. Two or three others had snowshoes and they continued on their way. That left our two friends. They schlogged onward through three foot of snow. It was the same storm that brought DC to a halt for three days!

Think about that trip for a moment. They crossed 2,178 miles in 128 days. That is an average of slightly more than 17 miles a day. Don't forget they are climbing the Appalachian Mountains - several of those heights exceed a mile. They appeared to have no tent, they said they stayed in the woods nearly all the time. They had backpacks - but the bags were not full - they were not even half packed. Wow, what an inspiration.

They were hitch hiking because that is a tradition coming out of the hike. They hitch hike to a predetermined location for the shower, meal and some rest.

Incredible! From the park we headed back down to Bangor for the night. But, we have been in Maine for several days and seen more Moose road signs than moose - well, we have seen no moose at all! So after several conversations with the locals we were informed if we wanted to increase our likelihood of seeing a moose we should ride down Maine Route 11. So we did. Below is the map with the Bangor leg included.

We covered almost all of the Route 11 stretch, moose-less. Then, within two miles of turning to go back to the interstate, BINGO! This young bull loped across the highway right in front of Roy. Wow, these moose are really big, and ugly too! No pictures - hard to do when you are avoiding hitting a moose while traveling at 50 MPH on a motorcycle. But, I do have a referential picture of a moose if you are not familiar with them, see below.

Okay, we pulled into the hotel in Bangor, ate at the Appleby's next door and called it a day after 300 miles and two terrific stops - Schoodic Point and Baxter State Park. Tomorrow we go to the local Harley dealer and get my brake light fixed and then head down to New York.

More later . . .

June 20 - Acadia National Park

2010-06-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

Weather report says mostly sunny, high in the 80's with a 30% chance of T-Storms in the afternoon.

Off we rode for the 5 mile jaunt into the Acadia National Park. The park is right along the New England coastline and has a loop road for visitors to travel around to the different parts of the park. Reserved as a National Park in 1916, Acadia is meant to maintain the rugged Maine coastal area for posterity. For nearly one hundred years that is what the park has done. I add that this park, Acadia, was my introduction to the National Park system, and it remains one of my favorites.

One can get an amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean and some of the seaports on the coast from high up along the Loop Road. The picture below captures one of the views.

Notice the cloud/fog that rolls over the small island in the center left of the picture (you can click on the picture to get a bigger view). That cloud cover would be with us all day and it will be in many pictures. Another thing to note in the picture is the boats moored in the lower left part of the frame. These boats are primarily fishing boats - lobstermen more than likely. Now, the cruise ship was in port all day and it dominates the scenes of the water form this vantage point.

The breeze was more than gentle but lighter than stiff. It carried the coolness of the 50 degree water into the sun-warmed air, ambient temperatures were in the 80's when there was no shade or ocean breeze. The air had the scent of the ocean's salt and it smelled springtime clean.

In the park were several large homes. At least they appear to be homes. Perhaps they are not really in the park. It was difficult to tell. But this was clear, the homes were large and beautiful. The one in the picture below stands on a hill and gives the Lady of the Manor a peek over the tree tops at Nature herself. In the background of the scene you can clearly see the tree lined small island with the cloud/fog curled up off the water and spread like frosting on a cupcake over the top of those trees. Isn't that scene remarkable?

Motoring on, we rode down to Sand Beach. It is the only sandy beach on Acadia. Maine's coast is as rocky as the coffee-table book pictures we have all seen. Finding a sandy beach in Maine, especially this far north, is a difficult task. But, the beach is sandy and protected. The ocean breeze keeps the sun's heat at bay and the urge to don a sweatshirt or jacket is a nagging feeling all the while you are on the beach. The beach is the focus of the picture below.

Acadia's Sand Beach Fog from Dan Matthews on Vimeo.
Sand Beach, the only sandy beach in Acadia National Park, had fog rolling in while we visited the park. Here is a video that captures some of what we saw.
Watch the fog roll off the water and into Sandy Beach.

Next, our ride around the park brought us around the bend at Jordan's Pond. As we passed by Jordan's we saw high above the roadway a very large boulder sitting on the precipice. It's name we learned is Bubble Rock. As we rounded the next corner there was a turnout and trailhead marked for Bubble Rock.

We pulled in and started tromping up the one mile trail to this boulder called Bubble Rock. And why, oh why am I climbing up a steep trail to walk out on to a precipice? I dunno! Here are several pictures from the heights at Bubble Rock.

Bubble Rock as seen from Loop Road.

Roy points to Loop Road down below.

Jordan Lake view from Bubble Rock location.

Bubble Rock (and ready to roll?)

Don't be fooled and think it is small - notice the trees below and above her.

Roy and Bubble Rock - pushing the limits. Now that is a big rock!

The Path from Bubble Rock

After spending an hour climbing up to, wandering around, taking pictures, marveling at, and sauntering down Bubble Rock we got back on our bikes and made our way up Cadillac Mountain. Cadillac Mountain is named after Antoine Cadillac, the same man who named Detroit and for whom the GM flagship luxury car is named. Another interesting note about Cadillac Mountain is that years ago there was a Cog Railway that ran up to the summit. After the hotel up on Cadillac Mountain was destroyed by fire the cog railcars were sold. Their final destination - Mount Washington in New Hampshire. How is that for connected?

We spent a bit of time on Cadillac Mountain. It is reported that it is the first point in the US that one can see sunrise. Scientists agree with that if the reference is to the sunrise during winter and late autumn when the sun is more southern. At the other times of the year first sunrise is seen from one of two other summit points, both still in Maine.

Continuing the lore of Cadillac Mountain we learn that she is the highest point (1,528 feet) within 25 miles of the eastern coast of the United States. She is high enough to allow a view that stretches over 100 miles on a clear day. That means one can see Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest mountain at 5,268 feet. To the east the 100 mile vista can get you a view of Nova Scotia.

As a much younger lad this place was a summertime haunt. From those shore's along Frenchman Bay we would do clambakes on the water's edge at dusk. We would cook clams, lobster, corn-on-the-cob and then delight as we laughed, ate and made merry. As I recall the beer was always cold. The cottage in which we stayed was wide open with a kitchen, dining area, den, and porch, set up as one big great room both inside and out. It stood tall above the water line and underneath the towering deep green pines. Birds and the wind in the trees were all you could hear in the morning and as life came to a stop in the dark star-lit hours of the night. It is truly a blessed land. More pictures of Cadillac mountain are below and some of the photos from Acadia are in the Acadia photo album.

From the sunny disposition of Key West to the weathering heat of Palm Desert to the rain painted emerald green hills of Washington State and now to the awesome sound of lapping waves, aroma of pine and the crisp air of the rugged Maine coast, this country has a trove of treasures hiding in its four corners and deep in her bosom. For us, one look at the American Flag will bring back all the wonders of America, now and forever.

Here are some pictures from Cadillac Mountain.

Panorama from Atop Cadillac Mountain

Looking back inland from Cadillac Mountain

A highway to heaven

A hotrod parked on Cadillac Mountain

Panorama from Cadillac Mountian from Dan Matthews on Vimeo.
Cadillac Mountain, high above Acadia National Park, was one stop on today's (June 20th) adventure on our Four Corners motorcycle ride - TheTrip. This pano captures what we saw to the east, north and west while at the peak.

Acadia continues on to another section known as Schoodic Peninsula. We set out from Cadillac Mountain to make it over there, an hour's trip north and east. The weather wasn't going to cooperate so we pushed that trip to tomorrow's schedule. That will be a story for another day.

More later . . .

June 19 - Travel to Bar Harbor, ME

2010-06-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

Today we leave North Conway, NH, and make our way over into Maine. The weather is to be nice, low eighties, plenty of sunshine, no winds, and no rain. And so it was. The weather was picture perfect for us.

We traveled a little north to Gorham, NH, on NH 16 and then we turned due east on US 2. We took US 2 straight across the width of Maine to I95 N. We rode I95 N for about 15 miles and then east again on I395 to US 1 and then US 3.

We left NH at 8:45 a.m. and arrived in Bar Harbor at 3:30 p.m. There was no stopping except for gasoline and comfort breaks. There was plenty of slow downs as we discovered the many shovel-ready projects happening across the middle of Maine. The idea of how to do road projects in Maine goes like this. Dig up about a half mile of a highway and leave it rutted, scattered with gravel, lanes rerouted, and lowered at both the entry and exit points. This roadway mayhem was followed by overly patched sections of asphalt, heaved by years of wintry frost, and cracked deeply by the same erosive forces that have spent the millennia shaping our National Parks. After you get your bolts shaken, not stirred, for about another two miles its back to a half mile of muddy pot-holes, mis-directed lanes for another half mile. And repeat. And again.

US 2 across Maine, other than 25 or so miles of construction, turned into a nice ride into and out of large towns. We rode through no cities. We did see Moose Crossing signs everywhere. We had been forewarned about all the moose we would encounter, especially at dawn and dusk. But, folks, there are no more moose. If you want to see a moose turn on the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Nope, no moose. Not in New Hampshire, not in Maine.

Okay, Roy's phone is functioning well - so you can set aside your worries. My cruise control, I discovered halfway across Maine, is out. I radioed Roy (yep, the radio/cb/nav continues to function flawlessly) that I had lost the cruise control and Roy asked me to tap my brakes - seems the brake lights are out on my bike. Roy had a similar problem on one of his other bikes. We stopped and disconnected the rear brake light sensor and lo and behold the cruise control works and now the brake lights work as advertised for the front brake. The rear brake lights do not function (the brakes work fine though) so we will have to get that repaired as we head into the home stretch of TheTrip.

Here are a couple of pictures from the Bar Harbor harbor.

The Harbor and Frenchman Bay

Tourists shopping, everywhere!

The Dinghies at Bar Harbor

We dined on lobster, don't you know, in downtown Bar Harbor. Tomorrow we head into Acadia National Park, one of America's oldest parks. As with Yellowstone, Acadia was set aside as park lands by none other than President T. Roosevelt. In another twist of family connections, over one-third of Acadia was donated to the Government by John D. Rockefeller Jr., Laurance Rockefeller's father. Perhaps it was this act of paternal generosity that inspired the young Laurance to become the philanthropist that he did. Perhaps.

So, welcome to corner four. We did Key West, FL, in March, corner one. We did Palm Desert, CA, in April, corner two. We did Yakima, WA, in May, corner three. Bar Harbor, ME, in June is a wondrous sight and it is corner number four, the last.

So we head home now. But, there is still time to meander around the northeast. Roy wants to show me the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. Maybe we can get to Shanksville, PA, and see the work on the 9/11 Memorial that is now under construction. Finally, we both want to ride the Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap. When we return to Washington, DC if we go to the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial then we will have visited all three of the memorials on our Four Corners trip.

First though, we have to get my bike fixed. No worries mate - Tuesday, in Bangor, with Harley Davidson, is the current plan.

More later . . .

June 18 - Mount Washington, New Hampshire

2010-06-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

Sunny and very nice is the weather forecast for today. Our day will consist of riding up to the summit of Mount Washington, sending packages back home and a few little errands, like replacing Roy's phone. So, let's get to it.

Off we went heading north toward Mount Washington. It was an unusual ride for me. I opted to force myself through my fear of heights and ride up the eight mile mountain ridge road, one mile of which is a dirt road, and then ride back down again. Roy is quietly supporting me.

Well, the ride up was full of twists and turns and when the tree-line passed it was wide open viewing. You can see for ever up there. No joke, even as you ride up there is nothing to limit your view except the occasional cloud and another mountain. The terrain on Mount Washington is granite boulders, with some scrub grass growing here and there. Yes, there was some moss on the rocks too.

The view can best be described as limitless. From every aspect you saw more mountains. The number of people crawling around up there was incredible. Some folks were climbing, some were running, some were taking hikes down and some were hiking up.

While the temperature was in the low eighties at ground level, it was no more than 68 with a 30 MPH constant wind at the summit. It got chilly after about 20 minutes.

At the summit there is a set of railroad tracks that accommodates the Cog Railway that brings the curious to the peak. The main use of the mountain is weather observations (by NWS) and environmental scanning. There are antenna and sensors and wind meters everywhere. A restaurant and shop is at one end of the summit but other than that it is just plain beauty in every direction. Not much else to do but be awed. There are photos in the Mt. Washington album for you to look through.

Here is a video of the ride up, a couple of views from the top and the ride back down.

Mount Washington Excursion from Dan Matthews on Vimeo.

On our cross country motorcycle trip we took one day to climb up the auto road to the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. This video captures some of the action, including riding to and from the peak, and the vista from atop the mountain.

Now a personal note to Roy - thanx buddy. You are a saint to ride interference for me and to stop and pick up my sunglasses that flew off the bike - there was no way I was going to stop. But, with your support and stewardship I made it up and then back. We both survived the van that wanted the whole road. And you thought no one could ride a Harley at 10 MPH for a half hour!! Again, thanx dude!

Back down where the "small people" live, as BP likes to call us, we went to the hotel and picked up our stuff and rode over to the Post Office. Home went several packages, gifts and other things that we do not need to carry with us anymore.

We then rode into downtown North Conway and parked on the main drag and strolled around until we found a "joint" at which we wanted to eat. Horse Feathers is a terrific place. We both had meatball subs and fries with a libation of our particular liking. The sub was the best meatball sub of the trip. Perhaps one day we will return for another.

From there we rode to the Harley Dealership - no Dip Dots so we left, dejected and saddened. On the way back to the hotel we found the State Liquor Store - things are starting to look up again. Roy's phone was at the hotel when we arrived so that was the chore of the afternoon. It is up and running and Roy is happy again - reminds me of my radio/nav/cb being out - you just have to get it fixed!

North Conway is still a wonderful place. It is back on my list of places to visit again.

More later . . .

June 17 - New Hampshire

2010-06-19T05:07:00.000-07:00

Well, the skies are very cloudy and the temperature is cool. Our intent today, weather permitting is to go to the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in New Hampshire that we were unable to visit yesterday and then up to Mount Washington and spend the night in North Conway, NH. At least that is the plan.

The morning brought us some excitement. As we were loading our bikes I dislodged my helmet from its perch high atop my rear view mirror. Roy tried to catch the falling helmet but was unsuccessful. In his cat-like reaction to save the helmet he dropped his cell phone and it landed in a spot of water. Water and cell phones don't mix, so we will see how this works out!

We pulled out of the hotel around 9:45 a.m. Last night we added a visit to Radio Shack to our list as we cracked open Roy's fairing to examine his nav system connection. The wires all appear to be fine though the cord that connects the power to the device seems guilty of resetting the device when it is touched, stressed or otherwise jostled. Luckily the Radio Shack is not more than a quarter mile from the hotel and guess what - they have another connector. We bought it and a couple spare batteries for our motorcycle parade light fobs. A couple more minutes to hook up Roy's nav system and we are off to Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site.

The ride to the NHS was a typical New England country road. Still damp in spots form the overnight rain and overly moist morning air. By 10:30 we were at the Saint-Gaudens NHS.

Okay, I suspect you are saying what is the NHS all about. So, in a nutshell, it is the home of the most noted American Sculptor at the turn of the century - the 20th century. His name is Augustus "Gus" Saint-Gaudens. He is an Irish-French American immigrant that has studied many aspects of art since his birth in 1848.

Gus started in his artistic endeavors in the period just after the Civil War and designed many Civil War statues that can be seen around the country. His forte in sculpting is a cross between bas relief and full sculpted statues. If you remember the movie "Glory" with Denzel Washington it captures the spirit of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry - America's first African American combat corps. Their leader was gentleman by the name of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. he, and many of the soldiers (half as I recall) were killed in the Battle of Fort Wagner, SC.

Bas Relief and Statue fo 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment

That battle, the courage of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the heroic leadership of Colonel Shaw led to a Gus Saint-Gaudens statuary that is displayed in the Boston Commons. Gus also did the statue of Admiral David Farragut (of: Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead; fame) that keenly overlooks Madison Square Park in New York, and another timeless classic statue, the Adams Statue that sits in Washington DC's Rock Creek Parkway.

Farragut Memorial

Adams Statue

Now, all those statues are interesting enough. But, Gus was asked by President Theodore Roosevelt to look at the manner in which the US was minting it's coinage. Roosevelt's interest was in making our coins three dimensional as were the ancient Greek coins. Gus, suffering from what he knew was terminal colon cancer, took Roosevelt's challenge. Today we have the Indian Head, Buffalo, Lady Liberty and US Bald Eagle coins. They, while not the exact work of Saint-Gaudens, are all inspired by the $20, $10, and two other gold coins designed by Saint-Gaudens for President Roosevelt.

I expected us to spend 30 minutes at the site. Well, we did spend 30 minutes there, and 30 more and so on until we had seen noon come and go. It was a true learning experience.

Gus, we were told, was the first to eat corn flakes, for medicinal purposes. He came to know that a Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek, MI, had developed a health food that might help Gus change his diet because of his cancer. The product was Corn Flakes and upon receipt of Augustus Saint-Gaudens' inquiry (Gus was already famous in the US) Kellogg had shipped to Gus a barrel of the cereal. Alas, the cereal was not a cure and Gus died at the age of 59 at his beloved Cornish NH, estate, Aspet (named after the French village from where his father came.)

And, from there, sated with information about America's most renown sculptor, we mounted our iron horses and spurred them on to Mount Washington.

Riding our bikes to the top of Mount Washington, the windiest spot in America at 231 MPH, was not to be. As we got into the White Mountain National Forest the skies opened up. The rain came and we pulled into a New Hampshire State Police Barracks for some cover. The torrent lessened to a rain storm and then to drizzle but knowing the road to the summit of Mount Washington, 6,288 feet, was a dirt road made us table that ride until the morning.

So, while at the Barracks, Roy tried using his cell phone to make a room reservation in North Conway, NH. As I said, water and cells don't mix. His phone was dead and mine was low on signal. So, we rode into North Conway, found a Verizon store, ordered a replacement phone, and had dinner at another New England favorite, Ninety-9.

Turn in at the Comfort Inn was around 11 p.m. Tomorrow we head up to the summit and then back to the hotel for the new Droid phone.

More later . . .

June 16 - Vermont

2010-06-18T04:32:00.000-07:00

This morning we depart Newburgh, NY, and we head up to Vermont to visit the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP in Woodstock, VT. The weather is cool and the report is for showers, some this morning and more this afternoon. If we can manage it we will try and stretch the ride out into Cornish, NH and visit the Saint-Gaudens NHS. We'll see.

Owing to the weather report and while the threat of showers was less than later in the morning we got an early start. We went over to I84 E and traveled over to I87 N. Riding north we exited in Lake George again - as Roy said, deja vu all over again. But, the stop in Lake George lasted no more than a gas stop and 5 minutes. Off we went traveling north and east on US 4. We made one quick stop at McDermott HD in Fort Ann, NY, and picked up Dip Dots.

We arrived in Rutland, VT, a little after noon and we were blessed with some rain - not enough to create any issue. In Rutland we stopped for lunch at a New England favorite - Friendly's. A quick bite and we were on our way over to Woodstock, VT, about 35 miles or so. Well, maybe 50 if you mess up the nav instructions.

Staying on US 4 we moseyed over at the speed limit. As we were just outside of Woodstock, maybe 3 miles, we came across our first of several covered bridges. So, we stopped and spent about 30 minutes taking pictures (see them in the Jun 10 album) and admiring the sights around us.

Back on the bikes and into Woodstock we rode. Well, what do you know, another covered bridge in what is an absolutely quaint little New England town. The picture at the left is of the covered bridge in downtown Woodstock.

After we finished clicking pictures of the covered bridge a gentleman in a pick up truck added to our navigation information by telling us to take our next right (River St.) and when that came to a T intersection take a left and the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP would be on both sides of the road with the visitor center (pictured below) to the right.

Just before we hit the T intersection we stopped. You see we reached (well actually Roy did, I was doing radio/cb/nav repairs in California while he continued to ride) 19,999.9 miles (it rolls over at 10,000 miles and this is the second time around). See the picture of the odometer on the right. What a ride!

Okay, back to the NHP. George Marsh was born in 1801 - before the Louisiana Purchase. He was of greatly diminished sight as a youth and his father would drive him through the Vermont wilderness in their buggy and describe in detail what was before the lad. George Marsh's sight recovered over time and he began to see the wonder that existed up to that time, primarily in his mind. He became a lawyer, was elected to Congress and was appointed by President Taylor as an Ambassador to Turkey. Later on President Lincoln named Marsh to the post of Minister to Italy. The beauty of his beloved Woodstock was amplified by the beauty of nature he found in his travels abroad. This wonder caught his imagination and he wrote a book, a famous treatise now, entitled Man and Nature. The book described cause and effect of man's unmanaged use of the environment and they say it is the beginning of what we now know as the eco-environmental movement in America. While he was abroad the family farm in Vermont was sold and came into the hands of Frederick Billings.

Frederick Billings loved the Woodstock farm. He also was a lover of the land. He too became a lawyer. In the mid-1800's he traveled to California and established a very prestigious and lucrative law firm dealing with gold mining. He dissolved that law partnership around the time of the Civil War and traveled the country. He traveled throughout America and fell in love with California's big trees (we visited them); the splendor of the waterfalls, rocks, mountains of Yosemite (we visited them); the wonder of the land throughout the Yellowstone area (we loved it too). He visited all of these areas before the park system was established! He went on to become President of the Northern Pacific Railroad and we visited the Railroad Museum in Sacramento that told us about the Northern Pacific's founding. Billings, though he never lived there, donated money to the Montana Territory for the building of a Congregational Church and the first school in what was a young, developing railroad town, now named for him; Billings, Montana. Perhaps you recall that Billings is where we got Roy's starter switch replaced. His starter switch malfunctioned while we were visiting Little Bighorn NP. What a small world this really is!

At his death Billings passed the Woodstock farm to his wife. She in turn passed it to her daughters and eventually to Frederick Billings' grand-daughter, Mary French. Ms. French met, fell in love with and married a young man by the name of Laurance Rockefeller, son of John D. Rockefeller Jr. Laurance so loved Woodstock that he made it his home, for most of the rest of his life.

Now, think what you might about the Rockefeller's but this we know, they had a lot of money made in oil. Laurence (pictured at left with wife Mary French Rockefeller) was a very generous philanthropist. He was also a significant force in what we call venture capital, as he had a lot of money to invest. In his lifetime he bought parcels of land from people he thought were abusing the land. These parcels were around the burgeoning National Park System. These lands he then donated to America. Some of the lands you might know. Parts of the Appalachian Mountains. He acquired most of the Great Smokey Mountains - we will ride them in a couple of weeks. He added to lands in the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and so many other places it is too much to list. Late in his life he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his work in conservation - the first person awarded the medal for their works in the outdoors.

So, here Roy and I are, sitting in this Park Service movie about this park about which we know nothing. By the end of the movie we are awed. This little park, unknown to most Americans is something of Zanadu for those that are admirers of the National Park System. If only Stephen Mather had once lived here and Theodore Roosevelt had come here to sign the US Park legislation! But, it is something else to sit and hear the story and realize you have visited all these places that these men worked their whole lives to create and husband.

Anyway, what a ride!

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP Visitor Center

Covered Bridge West of Woodstock, VT

We did make it to the other park but it was closing as we got there. We will try again tomorrow.

More later . . .

June 15 - Down Day for Maintenance and Ride Planning

2010-06-16T03:15:00.000-07:00

Maroney's HD is working on Roy's bike today so we are here in Newburgh, NY for another day. We used our down time to get caught up on telephone calls, some reading, riding planning for New England and some of the blog posts that have been lagging.

Also, this is a movie of our visit to Niagara Falls. Enjoy it!

At the end of the business day Roy got the call from Moroney's Harley Davidson. The Orange Crush was all put back together and ready to go. Moroney's sent a driver to pick him up and he went down to Moroney's to retrieve his bike.

The Orange Crush at Moroney's HD, Newburgh, NY

Roy was happy to report that the engine was purring again, sounding like it did the day he bought it. Moroney's performed a rebuild on the compensator assembly. The spring mechanism was worn and therefore ineffective, making the machine sluggish, noisy and sounding like it had a rap, ping and lugging when starting out. Newly refurbished, The Orange Crush once again sings like the Screaming Eagle she is.

On the front end they replaced the wheel bearings which, reportedly, had worn out of tolerance. This excessive wear, according to the good folks at Moroney's, caused a jitter (up and down rather than side to side) in the fork and handlebars. This jitter was a safety concern to both of us. The front end feels tight again, reported Roy. We will see as we ride to Vermont today - sustained highway speed will tell the full story on the wheel bearing treatment. Hopefully all is well!

Wendy, the service manager, and Mike a service technician, were very helpful and understanding during this downtime. Wendy took the time to check with Roy about an hour after he picked up the bike. She wanted to know things were okay. She knows we are headed back out on the road so checking in with Roy was important before we hit the road.

So, if you are in the area and need motorcycle work - check out Moroney's. Roy highly recommends them as does my son, Jim.

This morning we head to Vermont and New Hampshire. Maine is the fourth of our Four Corners Tour. Bar Harbor, ME is on the schedule for Thursday. On Saturday we will head south, toward home. Can you believe it?

More later . . .

June 14 - Orange County Choppers and Maroney HD

2010-06-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

We traveled from Highland Falls, NY to Newburgh, NY this morning. It is the shortest ride we have taken on this trip - a mere 15 miles.

Here is what we did.

We planned to take Roy's bike into Maroney Harley Davidson for some maintenance. His bike has a couple of issues that need to be addressed, one that causes us to want a maintenance technician to look at and repair if necessary. Before we went to the dealership we made a side trip, only 1.5 miles from the dealership and still along our route, to Orange County Choppers.

Orange County Choppers (OCC) was the motorcycle building show that aired on The Learning Channel for several years. As of late the two sons have gone off to pursue their own creative endeavors; Paul Jr. is starting a design company and Mikey is chasing some artistic opportunities. Paul Sr., the founder of OCC, has added to the staff of OCC and the building of Choppers continues. It is always a hoot to visit the facility in Newburgh, NY.

So, the TV series without the two sons, was canceled earlier this year - rumor has it the series returns with a reunion. We'll see!! In this press article the reunion seems a competition without interaction - how they gonna do that?

A most interesting exhibit in the shop is the 9/11 display that honors the firemen that gave their lives saving people from the Twin Towers. Here are a couple of pictures from the visit to OCC.

The OCC 9/11 Firemen Tribute Bike and Wall

Choppers for sale - if you have the spine for it!

One of the symbols found at OCC

Alright, we will let the Teutels of OCC fame sort out their issues.

We left Roy's bike at Maroney's. They will be repairing it tomorrow. There were a couple things that caused the bike to "jitter" at highway speed and "rap" from inside the engine. It appears the good folks at Maroney's have it figured out and by Wednesday we should be on our way to Maine.

More later . . .

June 13 - 9/11 Ground Zero and West Point

2010-06-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

This morning, facing overcast skies, we set out to ride form Highland Falls to NYC and Ground Zero.

We took a scenic ride down the parkway (Sawmill) into the city. Once we crossed into Manhattan (purchased from the Indians for a mere $24 and setting the stage for the western push of Indians by the settlers, more elsewhere in the blog) all three of us (Roy, I and my son Jim) were pulled over for a "safety check" by the NYC Motor Patrol. "License, registration please!" Jim's military ID and our out-of-state licenses seemed to pacify the officers who both said they were conducting safety checks. We have no reason to doubt that as they had just released a few other bikes as they pulled us over. They were disappointed that they missed several other bikers while they wrote down all our paperwork - I suppose they made their numbers that day because the weather was clear and sunny by the time we crossed into Manhattan.

The Tears of a Nation

Down to Ground Zero we rode. It is still a somber place. Below are pictures that I am sure all readers of the blog will remember.

Mural on side of Info Kiosk at Ground Zero

Construction on the NYC Tower is in full swing

Roy poses in front of firehouse directly across the street form the Twin Towers.

Cross that was atop the rubble of WTC

This cross, moved for safe-keeping during construction, will be returned to the memorial plaza at the future NYC Tower site.

There is some good news to report since the last time I visited the site, 18 months ago. The issues between owners, state and city governments seem resolved and construction on the NYC Tower is now in full swing. At two corners the buildings that were nothing more than plywood forms several months ago are now about four or five story high I-beam constructions that continue to crawl skyward. Below is a artist's rendering of the Manhattan skyline after NYC Tower is completed - scheduled to open before the September 11, 2011 anniversary.

Artist rendering of NYC skyline when Tower is complete

It will be great to see the buildings and park completed and revisit the site again in a couple of years. The plans call for a beautiful memorial park among several buildings of the destroyed blocks.

We spent several hours down in the city and saw the financial district, including a ride by the Merrill Lynch Bull on Wall Street. The tour included a pass through the Battery and we got to see the Statute of Liberty, if at a distance because of FDR detours.

On our way back to Highland Falls we continued up the Sawmill and we passed through Pleasantville, NY, home of Reader's Digest. It's headquarters building (at the left) is an icon to those familiar with the periodical and book publisher. It is a wonderful edifice built on a hillside that looks straight down onto the parkway. I always like passing this way.

We returned to Highland Falls and took a tour of West Point, led by Major Riley Matthews, my daughter-in-law. We got to see all the statues of famous West Pointers (either attendees or defender of the original fort). President Washington, President Eisenhower, President Grant and President Taylor are all associated with the University/Fort. In the recent post about Fort Saratoga I mentioned Thaddeus Kosciusko, an Army Engineer, and his statue is at West Point also.

Foggy Scene from Trophy Point on West Point

New Library Building at West Point

General Washington Statue

General Eisenhower Statue

We went into the West Point mess hall. What an incredible building. All the cadets - about 4,000 of them eat at the same time. The dining is family style and the cadets are seated at tables of ten or so. The cadets all sit at the same time and have the same amount of time to eat. At the completion of the meal they all rise and are dismissed in unison. While seated in the mess hall they discuss the issues of the day and continue their education as well as get to share lessons learned concerning their practical experiences.

The hall is huge. Imagine sitting 4,000 cadets at once in a stone room with wooden tables. Hundreds of tables, all that metal silverware clanking, all the dishes clunking around. The walls were made of amazing stonework and there was artwork and murals that instill wonder too.

Once we finished in the mess hall we walked around The Plains (the Quadrangle at most universities) to Trophy Point where we viewed all the captured cannons, or Trophies as it were, on display. The point overlooks a hillside that features viewing stands and a stage above the Hudson River. The USMA is amazing.

In every sweep of the eye one sees a place steeped in the history of America. All the history and the remarkable vistas from this vantage point makes one proud to be an American. At least we are proud to be Americans.

After dinner we rode through the countryside above and still a part of West Point that is used for practical training of cadets in the field. What a full, enlightening and somber day this was. We started at 8:00 a.m. and ended at 10:00 p.m. Tonight we sleep again in Highland Falls, NY.

More later . . .

June 12 - Travel to Highland Falls/Fort Saratoga

2010-06-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

It is June 12th and we leave from Lake George, NY headed for Highland Falls, NY. It is raining and it is likely to rain for most of the day, at least in the Lake George area. The weather forecast says a 50% chance of rain in Highland Falls.

While we were at the Lake George Comfort Inn we, and about a dozen others, pulled our bikes under the portico. We, Roy and I, were trying to pack up our bikes. Half of the remaining bikes parked under the portico were "show bikes" and their owners obviously brought no covers so they were using up space needed by riders that had to pack up. It sounds like sour grapes but c'mon if you ride, ride smart! Okay, there I said it let's move on.

It took an extra 45-60 minutes to get everything stowed away and covered for the rain. We also donned full rain gear for the ride. No pictures please - it looks hideous. Some travelers were taking pictures of themselves all geared up for the rain - I bet in 5 years they will be asking "who is that?" when they look at the pictures. How funny.

We took a scenic tour along the Hudson River and through the towns/cities along the US 9, US 4 and State Route 32, State Route 9W ride to Highland Falls. The plan was to ride, just ride and enjoy the scenery.

Hard to enjoy the ride in the rain but that is what we tried to do. There is a lot of industry along this part of the country. Old industry at that. One of the towns along the route was Schuylerville, NY. It is named after Philip Schuyler, a Major General of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

General Schuyler was in charge of the forces in the immediate area and was the Commanding General when Fort Ticonderoga fell to the British on their campaign to split Continental Forces and cut off the Hudson River supply route that the revolutionaries were successfully using. Another Army General, Horatio Gates, accused Schuyler of dereliction if duty and Schuyler was relieved of command, a considerable affront to the respected gentleman.

Gates was put in charge of the Continental Armies in place of Schuyler. Gates proved no more able a commander than the accusations he levied against Schuyler. In order to face the British and German troops Gates pleaded for support from General Washington. Washington obliged by sending General Benedict Arnold to New York. Arnold was an aggressive attacker and Gates was an aggressive defender. Obviously they would clash over tactics. Nonetheless the struggles between the two and the fortifications designed by Thaddeus Kosciusko caused the southern march of the British troops commanded by General John Burgoyne to ultimately fail. The Battle of Saratoga was a significant change of fortunes for the rag-tag Revolutionary Army of General George Washington. Add to the defeat of the Brits on the march through New York, the French joining the Colonists' cause, the southern movement of British General William Howe's troops from New York to capture Philadelphia and the amassing of British troops under General Cornwallis in Virginia, the die was cast. Cornwallis had no one to reenforce his troops and the British Navy could not make it past the French Navy in the Chesapeake.

As our French allies would say - viola, from revolutionary to patriot, just like that!

And there you have it, in the Reader's Digest version, the Battle of Saratoga and it's impact on the Revolutionary War. By the way, we stumbled upon Fort Saratoga on our way down to Highland Falls. The National Historic Park is located off State Route 32, south of Saratoga, NY and north of Stillwater, NY. Close enough to be a summer drive to vacation. You can visit Fort Saratoga, Ticonderoga and Stanwix and be home for a backyard BBQ in less than a long weekend.

After visiting the park we jumped back on the bikes and continued southward to Highland Falls, where we will spend two days. The sun made an appearance about 45 miles out of Highland Falls. In that sunshine we stopped for gasoline and removed a layer of waterproof clothing and enjoyed the rest of the trip the way a biker wants to be clad - short sleeved and half-hemeted. Ah, that is more like it!

More later . . .

June 11 - Americade and the Ride Around Lake George

2010-06-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

A fun day at Americade. The weather was sunny with a high in the low 70's in the little village of Lake George, NY.

We rode over to the beach area where the vendor pavilion was set up and we joined about 100,000 bikers strolling through all the tents and barkers to look for the "stuff" one needs to ride and the "stuff" that no one needs to ride! We were looking for odds and ends of things and some things that are in need of replacement.

One thing that we came across was an old friend. Remember when Roy and I were in Arizona we attended Bikefest? While there we happened upon the man from whom we both acquired our center stands in Washington last January. Here is the blog post to refresh your memory.

Well, Joe and Christine were at Americade and we happened across their booth. I am sure they think we are some kind of MotoXpress groupies as we show up at their booth any time there is a bike show! Lots of laughs.

But, it was great to see them. He was supposed to be on the west coast but his rep in the east could not make the show so he and Christine came up to New York to fly the flag, as it were, and help Harley Cruiser types (and others of course) with their biking needs. These folks are true blue biker workers. It was great to see them again. It was nice to see that there was someone's bike sitting right next to the booth with a newly installed center stand - good work Joe!

What we found for ourselves was socks, Sons of Anarchy T-Shirts, cup holder (replacement), mettes and brats, and a Teddy Bear for the Princess Cami. We passed on the chaps, the replacement radio speakers, the trailer ramp, etc, etc, etc.

We spent about three hours in there mostly keeping our money to ourselves. When all was done we headed back out to the sea of motorcycles in the parking area and we headed out with no place in mind. I put my nav system on (Roy's third one has finally succumbed to the elements - or perhaps it is offended by our ignoring it's earnestly devised routes. We chatted and then headed out to circumnavigate Lake George.

The ride around Lake George was as delightful as the ride through the Catskills. It was up, down, left, right, right, left, down and up just like passing through Old Forge. When we finally finished circling the lake I turned east and we rode into Vermont.

Once in Vermont we rode up Route 22A north for about 45 miles. There we turned for home, it was now 5:0 and we had to take a ferry across Port Henry off Vermont 17. The ferry is necessary as the States of New York and Vermont blew up the bridge that spanned the lower part of Lake Champlain.

The original bridge was built in 1925 and had long out-lived it's usefulness. So, apply explosives and install a ferry for the next year or so while we construct a shovel ready bridge! So, cool how htis stuff works!

Of course the line to get on the ferry was a one hour wait. It was now 6:30. Oh, our bikes informed us that we had about 60 miles range and the nav said it was 63 miles to the hotel. I suppose we could have stopped for gas - but where is the sport in that?

We got off the ferry, turned south to pick up NY 9N and make the ride to Lake George. Isn't this fun, when we get there we should have zero gas!

Notice I said "make the ride to Lake George" rather than we "roared off to Lake George". The trip was made using the "frugal" method of motorcycle riding. To master that method you need to try and keep the bike turning 2,000 RPM regardless of the gear that you are in. The mileage on the bike is optimized at that speed.

One hour and 15 minutes later we pulled into Lake George - still 2 miles from the gas station, according to Garmin! Phew, except I forgot - this is bike week and it is mandatory that the main drag at bike week, in this case NY 9N South, be used by all bikes to "strut their stuff". Nobody goes anywhere and they do it fast and all night long.

As Roy and I were stuck in this jam we took to shutting off the bikes when the traffic stopped for some moron to do something moronic. Then we started the engines rolled another 50 feet and shut them down again.

We made it to the Valero, just two miles before our hotel. When the refueling was done I added 5.3 gallons to the tank. No worries, I had another ten miles of fuel left!

With a filled fuel reservoir we made our way past our hotel and ate at Montcalm's in Queensbury, NY. Excellent food and we recommend that you stop there next time you are looking for a good American cuisine eatery.

Back at the hotel it was now 11:00 pm and it was lights out - just like this blog entry.

More later . . .

June 10 - Riding Through the Catskills

2010-06-12T05:15:00.000-07:00

The morning was overcast and chilly when we awoke in Syracuse. But, there was no rain though the forecast called for showers and T-Storms.

Out the door we headed. And then "IT" began.

Roy had no keys. Seems that during the soggy arrival to the hotel yesterday that some tasks were not done in the usual way. Retiring for the night the keys to the Orange Crush, the most notable of the mis-accomplished tasks. Oh, not to worry, I have the spare set of keys to Roy's bike. We are not stranded.

But, finding the keys became the chore of the morning. Here is how we (acting like the Wright Brothers, eXperimenting (WBX) one baby-step at a time) found the missing keys.

First, I went back into the hotel's laundry and double-checked that they were not in the clothes dryer I used to dry our clothes last night - nope, they were not in the dryer. Roy tossed the hotel room like a troop of narcs looking for the stash of a long-sought drug lord. Roy, then relocated to curbside, opened one pack after another looking for the keys. All to no avail.

After thirty minutes of searching we moved into the WBX mode. For some background info let me explain this tid-bit of info to you. If you try to move or start the bike without the key in close proximity to the bike the machine chirps. But, we had to turn on the bike to make that happen!

So, I opened each of my packs to locate the spare key to Roy's bike. Another fifteen minutes lapsed. Finding his spare key at the bottom of my big bag (and the last one into which I looked) we got his bike open and as I repacked my bike Roy started moving each of his bags away from his bike and then turning the key to start it. Each time his bike said nothing. It remained silent that is until Roy moved a canvas briefcase away from the bike. One turn of the switch and the bike chirped away alerting us to the fact that the key had to be in that bag. Roy looked into the bag again - no keys. But, we and his motorcycle know the keys are in that bag!

I asked Roy if it were possible that the keys fell trough a liner within the briefcase and therefore remained out of sight. As he said that might have happened and looked into one pocket I noticed a small opening in the outside flap of the bag. I asked if they could have disappeared in there - he said "I didn't know there was a pocket there!" Well, of course there was - because that is where the keys were - neatly placed in the pocket, dry, secure and laughing at us the whole time.

By the way - we once again proved the old adage that you will always find your lost article in the last place you look - that is exactly where we found his keys. After another twenty minutes to pack up Roy's luggage we were in the saddle and heading up to the Catskills for a run through the forest.

We did not really plan the route but rather had a notional route in mind. Seems in New York the route number you see on a map might well be left off the road signs along the way. So, we went too far on the beltway and were headed west to Wyoming again, I suppose.

At this point we took an action that is quite unfamiliar to our gender. We asked for directions. The young man told us the obvious - go east young bikers, go east. Then go north and then go east and then go south. And that is what we did. Not quite using the same turns as the young man suggested but we got to the general area of Route 28 through the Catskills. After a confusing number of short interval stops and checks on the cell phone map, we asked a local couple for how to get to Route 28 through the Catskills.

Oh brother, they bickered about how to get there. Go left, no right. Turn here, don't turn there. It's a mile, no two. But, this we did hear once we tuned out one of the resources. At the end of the street go left and then go right and then go left and then go right. Once you get to the Sunoco station go left - there will be no signs but that will turn into Route 28, I think.

Yikes! Well, we had no better plan so off we rode - making a left when we should have made a right, but quickly realizing from the many looks at the cell phone map that all the turns had to be in close proximity to one another and there was no Sunoco station anywhere in sight after two miles. Okay, turn around and retrace our steps, this time going right (or was it left??) Well less than a mile later we saw the Sunoco and we turned left (or was it right??)

Into the forest we roared - and it was another 10 miles before we saw our first Route 28 sign. Success!! We are in the Catskills on Route 28 - it should be a great ride. Up the hills, down the hills, sweep left, sweep right, up again, down again, left and then right. For about four hours so went our journey through the wonderful Catskills. We took no pictures but rode and enjoyed the sunny weather that had finally pierced through the slate gray, menacing clouds.

Here is a tip for those of you looking to take a vacation in a forested lake area - try Old Forge, NY. It is on my list now.

No pictures, no movies, no external references to look at. Think green, rolling hills, cool mountain lakes, white clouds, blue skies and a slight crispness to the air. Think of that and you will be a Ghost Rider In the Sky, loving the ride as we did.

More later . . .

June 9 - 200 miles of wet and wild

2010-06-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

We rode approximately 200 miles today. It rained, a lot, all day. "Nuf sed".

We got the last scheduled maintenance for our motorcycles on this trip completed in Syracuse. And, there we stayed the night. Traveling the additional 150 miles to Albany was just not going to work. So, we pulled up.

We dried our clothes, ate, watched the movie "Hoosiers" and are now planning to continue on to Lake George - in the rain.

More later . . .

June 8 - Niagara Falls

2010-06-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

Simply spectacular!

The weather, the Falls, the Canadian side, the boat ride into the basin of the falls - all are spectacular.

Here is the photo album. My words will not do any justice to this location. It falls everyday, all day at the rate of 625,000 gallons per second. The speed of the flow and the 175'ish foot drop create quite a roar and lots of mist. There are two set of falls - the American Falls (the right most portion when viewed from Canada is called the Bridalveil Falls) and the Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian falls and nearly twice the size of the American Falls).

Roy and I decided to take one excursion at the falls and we settled on the Maid of the Mist boat ride into the basin at Horseshoe Falls. It was incredible. The boat made it's way past the American Falls and into the basin where she idled while folks got to enjoy the mist and the roar and the scenery of water all about. After several minutes of "hovering" outside the basin we felt the engine engage to drive us into the basin. Brother, the water came - in torrents. We were expecting misty, dewy wetness. We got a deluge of storm strength water. It was so powerful it was awesome.

We stayed the night in Niagara Falls and head out tomorrow for Albany and our last scheduled maintenance for this trip.

More later . . .

June 7 - Cuyahoga Valley NP and President Garfield NHS

2010-06-11T05:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it rained last night. The good news is the bikes were parked under the portico at the hotel and they were dry and ready to ride. So, onto our bikes we strapped our gear and off we rode. First order of business was to return to the First Ladies Library in Canton. Here we would get a picture of the building, we forgot to do that the other day, and retrieve Roy's National Parks Passport, left behind while paying for souvenirs in the gift shop. Once our errand was complete we headed north to the Land of Cleves.

We started out following a state route toward Cleveland but that was not going to work. We are city close now and the traffic lights, shovel-ready projects and the city drivers reduced this to a tiresome, slow ride. So, where is the highway? We found it and opened both the throttles!

We arrived at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a place we saw on the map but knew nothing of it. This stop proved itself an environmental respite in the heart of the Cleveland/Akron urban sprawl.

Here is the park's story as we learned it.

Back in the day, early 1800's, and at the same time as Lewis and Clark were beginning their Expedition, the folks who settled what is now called Ohio needed transportation to receive goods and to create commerce. Born from an idea expressed by George Washington that America's waterways could provide much needed transport to the young states the Ohio settlers undertook to create a series of waterways, canals more specifically, to accommodate trade out on what was then the frontier.

You are familiar with the usual Government gyrations to get something done - the canal system was no exception. First off, the idea of canals for transport between one major body of water and another in America was, as I mentioned, put forward by President Washington. The idea for connecting the Great Lakes, Lake Erie in particular as the originating port, was put forward in Congress circa 1805. Congress, applying it's collective wisdom nixed the canals idea - too expensive and wouldn't work. Now, to be clear this concept was more than an Ohio idea - New York was also seeking federal support for the Erie Canal project.

The Feds said no. The states themselves introduced into their own legislatures proposals to built canals to connect the several waterways that were isolated by mountains. Ohio got started on the Ohio and Erie Canal in 1820. Plain and simple the canal's first leg connected Lake Erie to Akron. After completion of the first leg another canal was constructed, finished in 1830, that connected Akron to the Ohio River, which if forded all the way to the west led to the Mississippi/Missouri confluence and then southward to the temporal United States' largest port, New Orleans.

Now, another point of interest here is that the Ohio legislature was insightful enough to establish a canal on both the eastern and western borders of the state. The Ohio and Erie Canal in the east and the Miami and Erie in the west. Both canals connected Lake Erie to the Ohio River and by default to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, railroads finished off the canal system in the mid-1800's. Now highways and trucks are diminishing the import of the great Iron Horses of the plains.

Our own canal system in Washington, DC, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, was never finished. But, the concept was the same. It was intended to connect the east to what was then the west. Canals are a fascinating lesson in politics, engineering, history and American progress.

One last thought before our barge sets sail again. All this growth along the rivers came at the expense of the native Americans. They were forced from New England to New York. From New York they were squeezed out to Ohio and Kentucky. From there Daniel Boone and others pushed further westward and sent the Indians further to the Great Plains. After the Civil War America's unquenchable thirst for the frontier gobbled up the land that had been the Indian's refugee camp for some one hundred years of the settlers westward expansion. And so it went until all that is left is asphalt, cement, and the romantic lore of a day long gone.

As we concluded our visit to the Cuyahoga Valley NP we collected not just the NP Passport Stamp for that park but also the rarely found Underground Railroad Stamp. It seems the canal was used to "smuggle" impressed Americans from the south to the north. This then is another reason for you to consider visiting the National Parks and gain an understanding of the complicated and richly intertwined mosaic of the American adventure. We fired up our mules and headed back up the "tow path" to visit the Mentor, OH, home of President James Garfield.

Lawnfield, President Garfield Home

President Garfield lived in Mentor at a place called Lawnfield. He acquired the 150+ acre farm in 1876, a mere 12 years before he would become president of the United States. Garfield was a rags to riches story that resonated with the American public. He was born in a log cabin (last US President so born) and had few resources at his disposal. He was lucky enough to have gone to school and college and he followed teaching for most of his life, that is until politics.

Garfield displayed some unsavory characteristics as a younger man, especially towards his family. They, his family, suffered because of Garfield's indiscretions. Be that as it may, he was very involved in Republican politics.

Garfield was a consummate politician and played a behind-the-scenes role in Republican politics until the Republican Convention in 1880. At that convention the party leaders were aligned behind two contenders. US Grant and Blaine. After 36 ballots and no "winner" for the 1880 Republican nomination Garfield's name was submitted as a compromise candidate - and the rest as they say is history. Garfield was nominated, elected and installed as our 20th President. He was assassinated by a disgruntled job-seeker just 100 days into his term. He passed away 80 days later while convalescing on the Jersey Shore. Chester A. Arthur succeeded the assassinated Garfield.

The tour of the Garfield house was very interesting. I note that the family home was more of his widow's (Lucretia Rudolph Garfield) creation. Garfield spent little time there and after his assassination a wealthy family friend sought support for the widow and her family and wound up establishing a fund of some $360,000 (over $7M in today's money) for her and the children.

As the tour wound to a close we mounted our American Iron and headed off to Niagara Falls, our next location. Off we go!

More later . . .

June 6 - First Ladies Library and NFL Hall of Fame

2010-06-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

From Columbus to Canton we rode today. Once there our plan included trips to two venues.

It has been raining a lot in Ohio and as we rode along the highway it was obvious the Coshocton River had seen all the rain that it could handle. Some side streets that crossed the river were closed because they were completely flooded. In one place on State Route 16 we had to "ford" the river - that was interesting! In our conversations after we made our way across the streamlet across the road we both remarked that we thought the water was only an inch deep. Well the exhaust for the bike is about four inches of the ground and we both had a "steam bath" as we came through the 50 or so feet of flooded roadway. Well, we have seen rain and snow and floods and hordes of insects so we have either acquired biblical stature or we are now mythic riders of the Postal Service! Everyone was safe and that all that matters.

After the 2010 Great Fording of the Coshockton Flood, the rain commenced, yet again - time to stop for lunch!

Our first stop was at the First Ladies Library in Canton. Neither of us knew of this National Park Service site so we figured we would check it out. Here is some more of the story. It is a relatively new National Park Service site and it is obvious the venue is still working out how to present itself. It is intending to be a showcase of the United States First Ladies. It has a limited collection of items at the current time and the presentation of the edifice itself gives the exhibit a slanted feel.

The building is the former home of President McKinley, though the home was actually in his wife Ida's family. Moreover, the building was granted to the daughter of the original builder, Ida's great grandfather I believe, and when he died it became his widow's property. She left it to her daughter who in turn left it to Ida and so it has until the last of the women turned it over for the use as the museum.

Okay, our next visit was to the National Football Hall of Fame. What an excellent time we had in there. From the early years of the Professional Football Leagues, anchored by the Canton Bulldogs, hence the location of the museum, to the current National Football League you walk through the history using a spiral staircase. Jim Thorpe is enshrined at the hall of fame and so are many others. Darrell Green, Art Monk, Sonny Jurgenson, George Allen are but a few of the Redskins in the Hall. Roy his time looking at the Pittsburgh Steelers whilst I viewed the Redskins.

The Hall of Fame includes a theatre in which they show a film about the Superbowl. Showing today was a quick 2008/2009 season vignette followed by a highlights reel of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Phoenix Cardinals Superbowl game - one of the most exciting Superbowls ever. In case it has slipped your mind the Steelers easily handled the Cardinals in the first half. The Cardinals came back and took the lead late in the second half. In the final minute of the game Big Ben Roethlisberger threw an amazing touchdown pass caught by Santonio Holmes to win Superbowl XLIII. It was an amazing game.

It was an amazing day for us too! More pictures of the HOF are found here. We are off to Niagara Falls now, but we have two more stops planned for Ohio!

More later . . .

June 5 - USAF Museum and Dayton Aviation NHS.

2010-06-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

No doubt from the start of the day it was going to rain today. and it did. Heavy T-Storms all throughout the midwest and most importantly where we were, southwest Ohio.

But, we were off to see the Air Force Museum. And there is lots to see. The history of manned "heavier than air flight" from its origins in Dayton, Ohio, to the adoption of air power in the military and to the development of commercial aviation in today's world is on display at the museum (the photo album is here). Here is a movie of the noteworthy aircraft and moments in aviation history we saw.

Some notes about the Wright Brothers.

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, owned a very successful bicycle company in Dayton, OH. They manufactured and sold high-end bicycles. They were not engineers, they were businessmen but the history says they were meticulous testers. Each test isolated a single variable and they continuously took baby-steps as they discovered how to make an airfoil that worked. Their first attempts at flying, which was already being done in balloons, were in a glider. At the time others around the globe, in particular in France, were trying to take to the air.

The first dynamic they mastered was the shape of the wing. They then labored to fly in a glider of their own design. When that finally worked - a nearly 40 second flight, they went to work on how to control the aircraft. The experimentation took another two years.

Once they could make the aircraft lift and descend; bank left and right; and pitch and roll; they began the process of adding power. The brothers added the engine and flew it at Kitty Hawk. They then returned to Dayton and worked on increasing the power, routinely taking off using a launching mechanism and finally flying until they ran out of gas.

The world reveled at the new flying machine - except the French who were witnessed to their own countrymen's troubles. So, Orville and Wilbur took their plane to France, assembled it, launched it and fly it. From that point forward they were global celebrities. And the rest as they say, is history.

Wilbur died of typhoid fever at the age of 46 and Orville, age 76, lived until 1948. Orville died of a heart attack.

More later . . .

June 4 - Down Day

2010-06-07T03:50:00.000-07:00

Today was a down day for us, Roy in Cincinnati and Dan in Dayton. Laundry and bike washing was on the "to do list" for today. And of course some personal time to catch up on friendships, emails, family matters and catch our breath.

Tomorrow, we are off to the National Museum of the United States Air Force and the Dayton Aviation National Historic Site.

More later . . .

Jun 3 - US Grant Home and Arch

2010-06-07T03:39:00.000-07:00

Another cloudy and ominous start to the day was what we awoke to this morning. Nevertheless, we are on our way from St. Louis, where we spent last night, to Ohio, Roy to Cincinnati and Dan to Dayton.

At the outset we traveled the 5 or less miles to the Missouri home of Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant was something of an enigma as both soldier and as president.

His father, regarding his son as a very smart lad, steered his son to college - West Point, at that. His father thought getting an education, that which he himself did not have, was in his son's best interest and the best interest of the family. Off Grant went to West Point.

While he attended West Point he made the acquaintance of another cadet, Frederick Dent Jr., a young man that hailed from St. Louis. Grant, an Ohio native, receiving Army orders to go to St. Louis, made a commitment to this new friend to go to St. Louis and bring tidings to his family. Grant followed through on his commitment and became a weekly visitor to the family's farm, White Haven. White Haven was owned by the other cadet's family, the Dents.

White Haven, Grants St. Louis Home

After several months of Grant's once a week visits to the farm, the Dent's daughter, Julia, returned from boarding school. Grant was smitten and began visiting the farm nearly every day.

Grant, in receipt of orders to join the Army in the Mexican-American War, left St. Louis and went to Texas. He continued his relationship with Julia through daily letters. When he returned to St. Louis he and Julia took up where they left off. Later, Grant was ordered to Fort Vancouver (we visited this fort) and stayed there for several years. Before he left he proposed to Julia but asked for her hand after he returned from Washington State, the location of Fort Vancouver.

His time at Fort Vancouver was shrouded in loneliness, melancholy and according to some reports taking refuge in a bottle. Captain (at that time) Grant resigned his commission and returned to Julia, married and began their life as a farm family in St. Louis. Grant's father-in-law, a wealthy merchant, granted to Grant a parcel of land and other property on which Grant built his and Julia's first home, a log cabin abode.

Log Cabin Home Built By Ulysses S Grant

A few years after the building of their own home, Julia and Ulysses moved back to White Haven, as her father, either through death or disinterest, ceded the property to them.

Grant was an abolitionist, Frederick Dent Sr. was a slave holder and separatist. In the 1850's that presented a certain amount of political friction. Mr. Dent sought the separation of Missouri from the Union and Grant was vehemently opposed to the dissolution of the Union. As the War between the States erupted Grant returned to the Army as a Lt. Col. He was involved in many battles, proving himself to be a relentless warrior. Some seemed to think that his tactics were ruthless and dubbed him "the Butcher" because he sought victory to the last man. This trait seemed to bring him to President Lincoln's attention and the US Congress at Lincoln's request named Grant, Lt. General of the Army. Grant then pursued Lee's Army - relentlessly.

Lee, as we all know, surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. Grant allowed Lee the dignity that Grant believed was accorded one's conquered adversary. After the war, Grant again returned to private life in St. Louis. This time, Dent's slaves having been emancipated, Grant switched to raising horses with hired labor. The endeavor was not particularly successful for the Grant's. Grant's return was also marred by the Missouri separatists dogging him as a butcher.

Grant, wanting Lincoln's Reconstruction plans to succeed, was concerned that the nation at Johnson's hand was headed for another split, decided to accept his party's nomination for President. The rest as they say is history. After he retired from the presidency he traveled abroad and then settled in New York, not wanting to return to the Missouri in which he was reviled by many.

There are many unsettled aspects to Ulysses S Grant's life. Among them is whether he was a melancholy man, an imbiber of great degree, an executer of opposing forces, silent in the face of growing Indian troubles, etc. Certainly as he left office, the reunification was standing on sold ground and he was sending the Calvary to protect the settlers and vanquish the Indians. it was Grant that gave the nod to the great Indian Wars with the Sioux of northern plains - including the Battle of Little Bighorn.

The visit and education regarding General and President Grant was noteworthy. He was a pivotal man in our country's history. No one had the answer to what to do about slavery. Lincoln waited no longer for an answer to that dilemma, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Grant was the hammer Lincoln used on the anvil of freedom for all. Grant was the strong hand on the tiller of Reconstruction. and the Union moves on.

And, so did we. We left White Haven and headed into downtown St. Louis. The object of our visit was the Arch - or more correctly the Jefferson Expansion National Historic Site.

The Arch at St. Louis, MO

While we are chatting about the Civil War, Grant, Lincoln, Indian Wars, I would like to point out that the Courthouse in St. Louis, the home of the Dred Scott case, and memorial for the esteemed Joseph Pulitzer, sits looking eastward through the Arch at what was in the 1800's the settled America. Lewis and Clark, dispatched by President Jefferson who proclaimed he thought slavery wrong but did not have an answer to it, left to explore the newly acquired american frontier. This expansion set the stage for the great Indian Wars. Add to the mix the presence of Joseph Pulitzer's counter balance to William Hearst's reporting style and it was humbling to stand on the Courthouse steps in St. Louis, Missouri. A vital GPS location on the continuum of America's lifeline.

St. Louis's Federal Courthouse

More pictures are found in the Grant and Arch photo album. What a day. And now we are off to Ohio.

More later . . .

June 2 - Travel Day

2010-06-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men strikes again.

We set out to make it to Effingham, IL, with waypoints a the Ulysses S. Grant and Jefferson Expansion NP's along the way.

Things went wrong from the start. First, we were waylaid by a powerful thunderstorm that doused our bikes and made it necessary to wipe them down. That took an hour. Next we made our way over to the local Harley Davidson dealership to have a look at Roy's cruise control that was no longer working. Two and a half hours later we got on the road again, cruise control unit now working. It was noon.

Dan, that would be me, didn't want to go through all the highway construction in Kansas City so I led us over some state highways to go east and then south to hook up with I70. Well we traveled about 50 miles but were only 20 miles closer to our destination - and we happened upon a three road intersection. One was the 8 mile stretch of paved roadway we had just covered. Going straight was gravel road that had no end in sight. To the north (left) was a two mile stretch of crushed stone/gravel road-way that had railroad tracks over it before getting to the state route. Off we headed on the path least followed - up the gravel road on the left, over the tracks and then on to the highway.

Add another 30 minutes of unproductive time. We finally stopped for lunch around 2:30 p.m. It was another 130 miles to St. Louis and the monuments. Effingham, IL was not going to happen today. So, we stopped in St. Louis for the night. Tomorrow we plan to cover the 360 miles to Dayton/Cincy, OH, after we stop at St. Louis' two NPS sites.

Oh well . . .

More later . . .

June 1 - Harley Davidson Plant Tour and Harry Truman Home

2010-06-06T04:43:00.000-07:00

Today we stayed in Kansas City. After a windy, rainy start we wiped down the bikes and headed over to the Harley Davidson Assembly Plant here. We went on the tour which was an interesting time.

The plant tour, on which we were asked not to take pictures, lasted about an hour and gave us a great look at the way in which the V-Rod (the only water cooled Harley engine and the only revolution engine) and the Dyna (hard tail line) are assembled.

Most impressive is the use of automation along the assembly line. The line moves almost without stop and produces something like 100,000 bikes a year. With all of the new bike options they rarely repeat a build on the bikes. Each owner chooses what they want at the time of purchase and all of those options, from paint scheme to the limitless amount of chrome accessories make for a unique build.

This plant, one of two bike assembly plants specializes in the V-Rod (the only location that does the whole bike, the other bikes have subsassemblies made elsewhere) and Dyna bikes. The York, PA, plant makes the Softails, CVO's (Screaming Eagles), specialty bikes (police, fire, Shriners, etc). Harley expects to produce 250,000 bikes this year.

After the tour was finished we headed over to the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site. Yikes, it turns out there are about a half dozen sites all around Independence and Kansas City. The complicating factor was that he lived here his entire life, his family owned a large farm but the house was lost to some sort of calamity and they moved into temporary quarters for a while. President Truman lived in a small home in Independence and then after marrying Bess he moved into her family's home. It was this home at which we spent most of our time.

Both the President and Mrs. Truman lived in the house at the times of their deaths. He died in 1972 and she in 1982. He was 88 and she was 97 at the time of their passing. What captured our attention is that the home, preserved as it was at the time of Bess' passing, had many amenities as did our homes as we grew up.

Here are a few pictures of the home, (no pictures from inside the home please!), the grounds and the last car owned by the President and Mrs. Truman. It was by far the friendliest NPS staff we have met and we enjoyed their zeal for the job of teaching us about another small slice of Americana.

President and Mrs. Truman's Home

Roy and Dan, President Truman's Car

Cottage on President Truman's Home Site

This cottage and another one were home to President Truman's brother-in-laws. The President would take refuge there to smoke cigars, play poker and escape the travails of everyday home life and tiresome interactions with his mother-in-law, who lived with the President and Mrs. Truman.

More later . . .

May 31 - The Pony Express

2010-06-05T05:45:00.000-07:00

The weather was a treat this morning. We made our way from Grand Island, NE to Kansas City, MO today. We rode on US and State routes the whole way, it was great. We got to enjoy clean air, perfect weather, few semi-trailers, and we were delighted to discover the remaining part of Nebraska, our long stretch of Kansas and the 70 mile stretch of Missouri were all characterized by hills and turns (at least Missouri was full of turns.) For tall the Harley riders out there our only downside to this route was finding gasoline with an octane rating above 91. We rode into and out of stations quite a few times that carried 89 as their highest octane. We endeavored onward to protect our warranties which require the use of higher grade gasoline than we were discovering.

Technically it was a day of riding as we covered more than 350 miles. But, our ride plan called for a stop at the Pony Express Home Station in Marysville, KS. We hope with it being Memorial Day that the museum would be open. And we were not disappointed by the museum folks.

At the museum, in the heart of Marysville, we parked our bikes on the street. There was no one about and only a single car in the street. We "cased" the building taking pictures through the open portals along what was once a rock horse stables wall. Once on the north side of the building we discovered the front door to the museum itself and that it was open. Perfect.

In we went. We watched a short video and then toured an indoors walking tour that was quite frankly rudimentary. Well, it was interesting nonetheless and we both agreed that it was sad that the Pony Express Home Station Museum was laboring for existence and was showing signs of over-exposure to new ideas. We came to that conclusion because there were odds and ends included in the collection, not directly related to the Pony Express. There was a growing collection of train memorabilia as well.

Plan and simply stated the Pony Express had a series of stops along its route from St. Joe, MO (it's headquarters) to San Fransisco, CA (it's terminus). The whole theory behind the Pony Express was ten day mail delivery between the west coast and the more traditional methods of transportation in the east - east being from St. Joe and NY.

The Express hired youngsters and younger men of slight build to become riders in the Express. The thinking there was riding a horse hard was best accomplished using wiry, smaller fellas. Those riders would grab the specially designed mail pouch and throw it over the saddle, jump atop the stead and satchel, and spur their way toward the next station.

In all there were 184 stations along the route. Every 20 miles (more or less depending on the demands the terrain placed on rider and horse) the rider would gallop into a swing station and change to a fresh mount, switching in less than two minutes according to the schedule. Out onto the route he, the mail, and the fresh equine would speed. This process continued until the rider reached what was called a Home Station. Here at the Home Station (we visited the first west bound Home Station here in Marysville) the rider would dismount hand the mail to a fresh rider who would mount and carry the parcel to its next destination. At the Home Station the rider would sleep, eat and take care of necessaries until the next eastbound parcel arrived. When the new parcel arrived, usually the next day, off galloped the refreshed rider - refreshed or not! And so it would go every day all along the Pony Express Trail.

For nineteen months this ritual was executed daily. The only disruptions were caused by weather - especially during the winter months. Indians never really bothered the riders, the engaged Pony Express rider being like finding a needle in a haystack. But the angry native americans took revenge on the encroaching settlers by ransacking, burning and looting several of the stations along the trail. Truly, the weather was the complicating factor to the ride from east to west and west to east - the Rocky Mountains being the worst of it.

The Pony Express lasted a mere nineteen months. It was never a profitable venture of the original founders. The company that started the mail service; Russell, Waddell, and Majors, was very successful in the freight business and they were located in St. Joe, MO. Russell championed the enterprise even when the other two were not inclined to support it. Well, it nearly bankrupted the company and though the mail came through swiftly and without losing any mail (there is a controversy over whether one bag was lost, we of course have no answers for you on that one!) in the process. The Pony Express ran from mid-1860 until its demise at the end of 1861. The reason cited for its demise was not insolvency but rather the completion of the continental telegraph system.

The telegraph, instantly relaying messages from west to east and east to west, made ten day mail delivery irrelevant. And so closed another glorious chapter in American history, The Pony Express.

And so we completed the trek to Kansas City, MO. In KC we hope to visit the Harley Davidson factory and the home site of Harry S. Truman.

More later . . .

May 30 - Badlands and the Road to Nebraska

2010-06-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

We headed out for Nebraska today. The weather was perfect for the ride and it only got better. From Deadwood we rode east to Rapid City, SD, and then through the Badlands and finally we turned south and rode to Grand Island, Nebraska.

It was a great ride through the Badlands. We stopped at the Badlands National Park and learned some about this area and its history. First off it is an unforgiving place. Very hot, very windy, not particularly fertile, it is sandy and rocky. During the homesteading years many people came and tried to make a go of it in the Badlands. Well, that really didn't work out. It is beautiful and that is about all you can say - you can't feed your family beautiful. When the wind storms hit the Badlands you cannot see more than a few feet. Though the Government increased the homestead parcel by a factor of four from 160 acres to 640 acres, farming in an arid, wind swept environment just wasn't going to work and so people just abandoned their tracts and headed out for prosperity which was to be found elsewhere.

As we entered the Badlands we passed through a very small town, a collection of trailers is a more apt description. The sign as we went into the area said "Justice Population 61". I wonder if that sign was a marker or opinion? Anyway, they must be hardy souls because it is a desolate, dry, sandy pueblo and the nearest stretch of humanity is about 50 miles away.

But, the scenery in this primarily limestone peaked parcel of land was wonderful. Some pictures are below and there are more in this album.

We left the park and made our way over to the town (large one and well populated one) of Grand Island, Nebraska. On the ride from Rapid City, SD to Grand Island, NE we were passed by not one single vehicle. None. Nada. Scary. We rode along SD 44 and we stayed off the Interstate.

We did however cross paths with numerous trains passing along the highway with us. All of these trains were pulling coal cars. Three of them pulled filled cars eastward. Each of those three had as many as 50 cars in tow - no other cars but coal. Another 10 trains of similar length were hauling only empty coal cars westward. I surmise they must be going for more coal.

We also passed a round-up in the works along the highway's edge. Here is a picture of it.

We pulled into the hotel at about 7:30 p.m. and set about planning our trip for tomorrow. We aim to head into Missouri and visit the Pony Express museum in Marysville, MO.

More later . . .

May 29 - Devils Tower

2010-06-03T06:31:00.000-07:00

It was a cloudy morning. But, the weather report says clear and sunny skies followed by a 50% chance of thunderstorms. So, we headed west for Devils Tower.

Okay, first off here is something to think about regarding the Government. I know you are looking at the title of this blog entry and my spelling of Devils Tower. Sure, there appears to be an apostrophe missing. But, and here is the Government's involvement, when the Tower was made a national monument the name was misspelled - in more ways than one. The apostrophe was left out in the proclamation and of course once the Government does something, well, its done, you know? So, it's Devils Tower not Devil's Tower or Devils' Tower.

If that is not enough for the naming irregularities how about this. The Tower was originally called Bear Lodge by the native Americans. There are several native dialects that refer to the structure as some rendition of Bear Lodge. It was (and is) a sacred native American ground. But, an explorer (you can figure out his lineage) named it Devils Tower.

Back to the sacred ground aspects of Devils Tower. There are tied in many trees all around the Tower prayer packages from native Americans that have made the trek to Bear Lodge to ask the spirits for some favor or thank them for some kindness. Additionally, the native Americans took great exception to people climbing up the face of Bear Lodge. In an accord struck with the Park Service people are asked not to scale Bear Lodge in the month of June. For the most part folks observe the request. On the other hand there is no force of law behind the agreement so there are one or two peeps that assert their rights are more important than anyone else's rights. Shame on them.

Back to Devils Tower.

It is huge, huge, huge. I do mean big, big,big. The picture at the left was taken as we drove along US 14 from the south. We stopped at a roadside turnout to take this picture. Folks, the tower was still nine miles away. It is huge. Even from this distance you can clearly see what appears to be scoring on the face of the structure. You will see these "scores" in a few more pictures later.

The Tower stands out in the scenery of northeast Wyoming. There are a few other significant hills on the ridge behind and to the left of the Tower as depicted here. The countryside we rode through is primarily farm country, the cattle ranching kind of farming.

In the photo notice the dark green spots at the base of the Tower. Those are full grown pine trees. Are you getting a feel for how huge this structure is?

Well, we continued on the roadway and got to circle the Tower about halfway around her circumference. She is a beautiful sight to see. The write ups at the visitor center say the Tower is believed to be the remnants of what was once the internal rock stem of a volcano. Myself, I would have thought that the top of the Tower would be open. It is not and the explanation is the floe eventually slowed, cooled and is now part of the top. Hmmmmm. . . Whatever.

Speaking of the top of the Tower, in the early 1940's a hot-shot parachutist decided to demonstrate that he could land wherever he wanted because he was that good. So, without so much as a "Mother may I?" he climbed into an airplane, dropped into the sky and then . . . Well, check out the picture below for the rest of the story!

Native Americans were outraged

Alrighty then, let's have no more of that, eh?

There was a part of the Tower that was not open to rock climbers - it is a protected falcon nesting area and the falcons were nesting. The Rangers did let us know there were several groups already on the face of the Tower. So with much anticipation we headed up the path to walk all the way around the base of the Tower. In the photo at the right the folks heading toward the Tower are still ten minutes away from her. This thing is very, very tall.

As we made our way up the pathway it became apparent that this National Monument was a wonderful place to bring little kids. There are lots of things for them to climb over and run along. Today the sticks that were picked up and used as walking sticks, swords, lances, and whatever else was in the child's mind, was astonishing. But, it was obvious the kids were having fun. Fun, of course, is one of the objectives of the National Park Service. So, at this location at least the objective was being accomplished.

We continued our walk around the Tower noting that the side we were on had no climbers but was fascinating all the same. I realized while we walked and marveled at the Tower that we were tacitly expecting to see climbers. But on the northwest face there was no one that we could see. Continuing to the east side we got bright sunshine and there were some folks loitering and looking through binoculars at the face of the Tower. They were trying to spot climbers. One of the gaggle stated they were two up there. Sure enough, after much craning of necks, focusing of telephoto lenses, scouting the face, we found the two that were climbing together. Well, the one in red was climbing the one in white appeared to be sitting on an outcrop of rocks - they call them pillars.

So, we continued around the east and then north sides of the Tower and there were several groups climbing. Here is some camera/photoshop work to help you see up close the pillars, what a climber looks like to the naked eye and then what they look like in the act of climbing the face of Devils Tower.

. . . and a few more of just the climbers.

These two guys seem to have no gear, wassup wit dat?

Finally, we had the photo op of the trip at Devils Tower. Below is a shot of Roy, Dan, Big Red, the Orange Crush and Devils Tower. Awesome!

We returned to and stayed in Deadwood. We lunched at the Stockyard Saloon where Yancey de Veer was performing old time country songs. His picture is among the many in this photo album. A nice treat at the end of a great day.

More later . . .

May 28c - Mt. Rushmore

2010-06-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

The weather continues to be perfect and we left Wind Cave NP at 4:00 p.m heading north to Mount Rushmore. This particular stop is one that Roy and I had often spoken about for the three years leading up to this ride. Frankly, we were a bit concerned that after our visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial that Mount Rushmore would be anticlimactic.

Well, we should not have worried. Nothing could have been further from the truth. It was awesome.

But, I am getting ahead of myself. The weather was perfect and having not gone on the cave tour we had ample time to make it to Rushmore. We did not know we had ample time as most national parks close the visitor center at around 5:00 p.m. But, this is Memorial Day weekend and it begins the summer season at the parks. The Ranger at Wind Caves called over to Rushmore for me to check on the closing time and informed me that they would be open until 10:00 p.m starting that day and running through Labor Day. What's more, the Ranger informed me that the park was beginning this season's evening lighting ceremony tonight. Awesome, something not on our bucket list but it certainly deserved to be. We decided that we would stay for the lighting - what the heck, its a once in a lifetime trip, eh? Believe it or not, this is the first time we planned to stay out on the highway after dark.

We left Wind Cave and headed up north along State Route 87 through the prairie part of the park. The picture of the pronghorn antelope to the left was taken in the Wind Cave Park on Route 87 North. At the split in the road, Roy took the east route to Rushmore and I took the west route. I got to stop and wash my bike which was coated in mud from running through wet construction areas on the way to Deadwood. Roy on the other hand got some great pictures including one that is an exact replica of a photo the National Park service uses. So, off we both went to join up again at Rushmore.

We both got to Mount Rushmore at around 5:00 p.m. I have to tell you, riding up from the west there was one moment where I came around an S-Curve and there on my right, towering above me and awash in more sunlight than I have seen in weeks was four presidents gazing over the country with wonder and a certain look of parental attention. If I were to say it took my breath away it would be a slight exaggeration. It did make me say out loud "Wow!" Just amazing.

I parked the bike and walked up the several staircases until I reached the entry to the walkway into the memorial. The first several hundred feet are anchored with information centers at the entry. As you move up the inclined passageway you are channeled into a walk along a long corridor bordered by 25 foot tall pillars that were bedecked with our States' flags. The pillars had inscribed on them the state name and the year in which they were admitted to the Union.

When you complete the walk through the corridor of flags you step onto the viewing plaza. Stepping on to the plaza is not an awakening moment, you see the monument the entire time you are walking up the corridor. What makes this moment different is it is the moment at which you have nothing, absolutely nothing, in your field of view, except the monument. And, that view is upwards so you see the monument backed by a sky of blue (well, that is what we saw).

Folks, it is incredible. Here are a few pictures of the monument park.

State Flag Corridor to Viewing Plaza

Mount Rushmore from the Viewing Plaza

Gutzon Borglum, Mount Rushmore Sculptor

After walking around the Presidential Trail, which takes you right to the base of the monument, we took a spot of dinner in the Park's cafeteria. It had good food - but the Grand Canyon still serves the best chili dogs in the national park system. We indulged in a sweet treat of ice cream and then went back up through the viewing plaza and into the Amphitheater from where we would witness the evening lighting program. The program started at 8:15 and the lighting was scheduled for 9:00 p.m.

The program started with music, suitably patriotic, playing over the sound system. During the music a Ranger (in photo at right), smartly attired in the US National Park Service Ranger's dress uniform mixed with the assembling crowd and chatted about this nothing and that nothing. He then took to the stage and did a short presentation on what the park was intended to be and what it has become. Next was a short film discussing the history for each of the four Presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln) that led to their selection for inclusion in the monument.

The film ended and the lights went on. The lighting is mercury-vapor so it does not pop on, but rather comes up slowly. Frankly, the 5 minutes it took to fully illuminate the monument only heightened the event. It was incredible. Here is a photo of the monument at around 9:10 p.m. drenched in light. Another "Wow" was heard.

Mount Rushmore, After Night Lighting Ceremony

As the ceremony came to an end the Ranger asked all the active duty and veterans in the 750 or so audience to come to the stage for the Retiring of The Colors Ceremony. It was an honor and a privilege I will not forget, to be on stage as the colors were retired at the memorial, standing under the fully lit Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore is back on my bucket list. Check out all the pictures in this album and you will see why.

More later . . .

May 28b - Crazy Horse

2010-06-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

From the Deadwood, SD, Comfort Inn we headed south on US 385 to find Jewel Cave. The weather was chilly, around 45 degrees with cloudy skies, but the roads were dry and the forecast was for temperatures warming into the 60's with a sunny sky and a possibility for late thunderstorms. The road was in great shape with left, right sweeps - a motorcyclist's road.

Traveling south on US 385 as we descended a hillside we happened upon the Pactola Reservoir. It is a lake formed by the Rapid Creek and a large dam at the eastern end. The dam was constructed to help manage flooding in the area and now provides water for the Rapid City region of SD. The picture to the right shows the breadth of the lake. It is used for many recreational activities and it is managed by the US Forest Service and owned by the US Bureau of Reclamation.

Further down the road we passed through Hill City, SD. Hill City is a quaint "western town" that appears from all the wooden buildings and spotless downtown meant to entertain the many tourists that trek through the gold mining towns that stretch throughout the Black Hills.

Still further south on US 385 we saw a sign for the Crazy Horse Memorial. We zipped on by the entrance but set that right with some heavy braking and a U-turn. Paying a $10 entrance fee (this is a private memorial not a federal one) we zipped on up to the visitor's center to have a look at the monument. Below is a picture that captures the scale model of what will be the finished granite sculpture in front of the on-going mountain carving of the Crazy Horse Memorial located outside Custer, SD.

Crazy Horse Memorial Model and Mountain Carving Memorial

Now, bear with me - my eyes have been opened wider. Crazy Horse was certainly not crazy. He was a warrior and a crafty one at that. He lived the Lakotan life and wanted to protect that way of life. He was elevated to the tribal post of War Chief and participated in many battles between Indian tribes and the US Calvary. Native Americans, we were told, tell many tales of Crazy Horse.

In our travels across the Great Plains we have been impressed by the history of Indians living without owning anything except that which they needed to survive. They traveled the open-country with the seasons, living off the land and enjoying the beauty of the moment. They taught their young to respect nature, the land, their ways and be respectful for the manifold gifts they were given.

To be sure, differing tribes clashed over land use rights and had different customs that they fought to protect. They traded among themselves and with settlers. But, the on-slaught of settlers, the building of forts, the habit of settlers owning the land and refusing the Indians land use rights were too much for the Indians. At the same time the settlers customs were protected by the US Army. Settlers owned the land, the mineral rights, the water rights and anything else onto which they could affix a value. The Indians were not welcome on what had previously been open range for them.

Two different cultures, one similar distain. Many battles were inevitable. The Lakota found in Crazy Horse a great War Chief. He was involved in the Battle of Rosebud, the Battle of Little Bighorn, the Battle of Slim Buttes and the Battle at Wolf Mountain. All of these pitted the native Americans against the US Calvary.

Certainly the settlers saw him as wicked and evil. His fellow native Americans saw him as a revered leader and warrior. A brave that many fathers' wanted their sons to emulate.

It is not surprising then that some native Americans throughout the Great Plains sought to capture for their history a leader's face carved into the mountain, such as the ones found at Mount Rushmore. And so the monument began - in 1948, by a sculptor that worked on Mt. Rushmore.

There are detractors and supporters for the sculpture. The central point that the detractors make, Indians among them, is that the native americans, especially Crazy Horse, would never desecrate a mountain side in any manner let alone carve one's likeness into the granite. Certainly a point worth mulling while you visit the monument and tell your children the "other side of the story".

More pictures are found here.

More later . . .

May 28a - Jewel and Wind Caves

2010-05-31T05:26:00.000-07:00

The third part of our day was a visit to both the Jewel and the Wind Caves. They are both National Parks and they are both in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

First up was the Jewel Cave. The cave system itself is now over 150 miles long and there is more to be explored. The picture at the left shows the cave as thus far explored. The red and yellow lines show the chambers, alleys, and connecting tunnels in the cave structure.

It is known as Jewel Cave because of the many different mineral deposits found within the cave. These deposits, caused by water seepage and the filtering out and concentration of the minerals, create many artful creations on the cave walls.

The cave is a "breathing" cave. That means, as we were to learn, that the cave maintains a barometric pressure of it's own and as the barometric pressure on the surface changes the air from inside the cave is "exhaled" from some portals and air is "inhaled" at other portals. This breathing is what led to the cave's discovery years ago - in the mid-1800's.

While walking in the woods the original property owners discovered a breeze coming from a hole in the ground. Curiosity got to the cat, as is usual, and the folks began to enlarge the opening and discover the cave. It is a constant 49 degrees and because it "breaths" people can live in the cave. As a matter of fact there are several exploration teams that routinely explore the cave to discover more chambers and passageways. Their current routine is to climb into the cave and take an 8 hour crawl to one specific location within the cave, a rather large chamber we were told, where they set up their base camp. From there they explore for two days, diagramming the caves structure and naming the rooms. On day four they then take the 8 hour trek back to the main cave's chamber and ride the elevator some 300 feet to the surface.

We took the 20 minute introductory cave tour where we entered the main chamber and listened to the Ranger explain the cave system and structure. The short tour allowed is to see some of the mineral deposits, like the one at left, up close. The Rangers also sponsor a one and a half hour tour of the cave too. This tour warns that each participant must be able to crawl through an 18 inch opening during the tour. The longer tour also required that the participants crawl around and walk some 750 or so steps, mostly downward. Ah, maybe next time for that one!

Next up was the Wind Cave. Wind Cave is located some 20 or so miles to the south and east of Jewel Cave. The Wind Cave also has at it's location a remarkable stretch of prairie. The Rangers at Wind Cave National Park offer several different tours of the cave but the most logical for us was a 75 minute exploration. There were a limited number of tickets available for the tour and the interval between tours was two hours. That makes the wait and tour up to three hours and 15 minutes. The time interval was not going to work for us, so we did not get to go into the cave. Roy posited that the cave itself, so close to Jewel Cave which is a staggering 150+ miles long as discovered thus far, is probably part of the same cave structure. I think he might well be correct on that assumption. Who is to say? Perhaps one day when the Jewel Cave explorers pop up in Wind Cave National Park like a den of prairie dogs the Rangers will detain them for damaging their park?

The prairie exhibit at the cave was very interesting to see. Much information is given explaining the nature of the grasses, the flowers, the animals and the ever changing relationship between the prairie, the forest and the animals.

As we all know the bison were hunted to near extinction. Prairie dogs were also in a state of decline around the Great Prairie. The most significant natural change agent on the prairie is fire. Fire burns off forest growth and allows the prairie to reclaim ground previously encroached by trees and larger animals, such as this herd of bighorn sheep found lunching on the forests edge within the Wind Cave park. Another challenge to the prairie is the non-stop movement of man to the edge of the prairie. Learning about this ecosystem was well worth the visit there.

The knowledge imparted through the visit to the Wind Cave is very insightful. But, if one couples that information with the lessons gained as a result of the western expansion of settlers (prompted by the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Exploration) that displaced the Indians, violently I might add, and the changes that settlements had on both the forests and the prairies it becomes readily apparent that the ebb and floe of the human experience has been in integral part of nature. Not always for the better to be sure.

But, if the historians, scientists and teachers are to be believed then the human interaction with our environment is slight compared to the changes wrought by volcanos, fires, meteors and other naturally occurring events of super-impact. Caves are caused in part by water eroding the soft sand and stone deposits left by uplifted rock. The mountains are a result of volcanos and other seismic activities. Millions of years ago the planet, already teaming with life, was covered in large part by ice and as things warmed the glaciers receded and chiseled away the canyons we see today. So much wonder before us and some much still to wonder about!

There is much to be learned at our National Parks and they truly are amazing resources. A set of photos is located in the Caves Album. Take a look and wonder at the possibilities.

More later . . .

May 27 - Sturgis/Deadwood

2010-05-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Our day began in Dickinson, SD. The weather reports indicated a 30% chance of thunderstorms this morning followed by windy conditions in the afternoon. Well, the chance of thunderstorms was near 100% - real near! The onslaught of the storm came as we packed our bikes. The good news is our bikes were parked under the portico at the Dickinson Comfort Inn. The sad news is we are not going to get out of there at 9 a.m.

After watching the clouds and checking the weather on our cell phones we pushed off at around 9:35 a.m. It was still gray, windy and some of the skies to our north and east were black. But, there was no thunder and no lightening. Off we rode into the west on I94 to find US85 south for the ride into South Dakota. Sturgis, the autumnal motorcycle mecca, was just a couple hours and a couple hundred miles away.

Not more than 45 minutes into the ride the sky started to clear, the temperature headed north, and the wind picked up.

By now you are probably wondering about the countryside in this part of North Dakota. It is farm country. As we drove south on US85 the only difference in the landscape was the position in which the cattle stood. As a matter of fact at one point we commented on the fact that the telephone poles had switched sides of the highway from the right to the left. Ten miles later after switching from the right side to the left side the telephone poles and wires ended. To our bemusement it must be the end of civilization.

Really, the terrain over which we were driving was flat and the roadway turned left then right then left again without much need. Off in the distance there were buttes of diminishing significance and as the 225 miles slipped away so did the texture of the land. What was changing was the wind. From 5 - 10 MPH when we left Dickinson to a steady 30 MPH with gusts into the mid 40's. The wonderful eye candy we have experienced was replaced with stimulation to our sense of balance. What a ride.

We stopped for lunch in Belle Fourche, SD. When we went into the Subway the wind was still blowing, the temperature was in the low 60's. When we came out the wind was still blowing, not as gustily, and the temperature was in the 70's with a very strong sun. Off came the leathers, on went the sunscreen and off we rode - Sturgis was but an hour ahead.

On the horizon we could see the Black Hills. Slowly they rose up as we drew closer. We rode up the face of the hills and then as we crested we found Deadwood at our feet. We executed our plan, we checked into the hotel, unpacked our gear and then headed east into Sturgis.

Up the hills to the east we rode, around a couple of twisties and then down into Sturgis. We rode to the Sturgis Harley Davidson and picked up Dip Dots and then we looked at each other and said "check". That is about all that we discovered at Sturgis, "nuf sed".

Back on the bikes we and off we rode, up the hill, around the twisties and down into Deadwood, again. Deadwood is a delightful tourist location (here are some of our pictures, including an auto museum.) At one time Deadwood was the bad little gold mining town depicted in the television series that aired on HBO or some such specialty channel. It is western, through and through, and they have a small tribute downtown to the fact that in it's heyday it was known as the "Badlands of Deadwood". The write up discusses the rough and tumble, cutthroat type of environment that existed at the time. The original hotel/brothel is still standing - the brothel role now history we suppose.

For dinner we went to a place called the Midnight Star. If the name sounds familiar to you it is because the Midnight Star was the hotel/brothel in the movie "Silverado". The character "Jake", played by none other than Kevin Costner, like "The Boxer" of Simon and Garfunkel fame, took some comfort there. As Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story.

The Midnight Star in Deadwood, SD is owned by Jake's portrayer - Kevin Costner. Costner's "Dances with Wolves" was filmed near here bringing him to this wonderful area. The food at the Midnight Star was very good and the ambiance was terrific. On every inch of walls in the four floor hotel/casino/restaurant hangs movie memorabilia. What a blast. At one point the bartender afforded us a copy of Kevin's CV in the movies. He has had quite the career in movies. We wound up playing Kevin Costner trivia until we found ourselves clear-headed enough to ride our bikes to the hotel and get some sleep.

After much discussion of his accomplishments and discussing the merits of this movie and that movie as being his best we decided on one as his best movie. Silverado was among Roy's list of possibilities and Dances with Wolves was among mine. But, his portrayal of Roy McAvoy in Tin Cup has to be the best performance he has ever done. We skipped dessert, I think, and headed back to the hotel/casino for a much needed rest. Before we sleep here is the trailer for Tin Cup - enjoy!

We plan a couple of days riding around this area and seeing many points of interest. More later . . .

May 26 - Into North Dakota We Go

2010-05-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

Great news this morning - it is warm and sunny and it is supposed to stay this way all day! It has been a little while since we have been that fortunate.

We woke up in Miles City, Montana and made ready for our ride into North Dakota. Our ride took us up I94 to Montana 16 north. That route led us up and over the buttes and back into farm country on our way to the Fort Union Trading Post, ND.

Fort Union, just over the state border between Montana and North Dakota is on the Lewis and Clark trail. The fort is located along the Missouri River (which is good because that is what Lewis and Clark were asked to explore by President Jefferson). Over the years the river has meandered further south of the Fort's front door but in the historical photos and sketches at the Fort it is clear that one hundred years ago the river was right outside the Fort's gates.

It is an imposing structure located on the Missouri River to the south and the Great Prairie to the north. Below is a picture of the Fort's entrance and another picture depicts the prairie out the Fort's back gate. Notice in the prairie picture the yellow school bus on the left and the trees on the right. Both of these objects give context to the size of the scene. Frequently I mention how words cannot do justice to the scenery - the prairie picture demonstrates what I mean. It is a five shot panorama and it is what you see when you step out the back gate of Fort Union - just like the trappers saw when they left the fort nearly two hundred years ago.

Speaking of the prairie, we have all heard about prairie dogs but few of us have gotten the chance to visit with and attempt to befriend one. We got that chance. The little critters were everywhere at the Fort. Their burrows present a "hole" landscape just outside the gate. And, they are very quick, darting about best describes how they move. In learning about the "dogs" years ago, I remember them standing on hind feet and looking and listening to the environment around them. Check the video below and you'll see that they exist and behave as we were taught. Very cool stuff.

The Fort, as we came to learn (it was nice to hear the enthusiasm of the school children on a field trip visiting the Fort), was established about 20 years after Lewis and Clark passed through the area. Their writings led a few individuals, chief among them John Jacob Astor, to establish the American Fur Company (AFC) in competition with the Hudson Bay Company, an English fur trading company located throughout the northwest (see our previous posting). The Fort was built to accommodate fur trading in the westward expansion of the United States. In the overall scheme of things the AFC was as fleeting a moment in American history as was the Pony Express. But, it is an interesting history and it makes for a fun time moving from location to location learning more about our country. Learning things that were never mentioned in 12 years of primary education. Anyway, the Fort itself survived for 35+ years in a time when the fur trading forts made it barely through a year or two. The Ranger told us that the importing of silk from the orient displaced fur as the material for hats and scarves and such. The scales of balance swapped fur for silk and domestic for foreign - a process that continues today.

The sun was really warming things up at this point and it was time to move on.

We headed south along US 85 to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TR NP) in North Dakota. My, what a magnificent park in the middle of the prairie. The park, according to the Rangers, has buttes, coulees, petrified trees, painted landscapes, bison, elk, antelope, rivers, and so much more. The relationship to Theodore Roosevelt is this.

As a younger man, a buffalo hunter at the time, Theodore Roosevelt came to the territory to hunt, what else, buffalo (bison, but who am I to correct historians). He fell in love with the area and left the east to establish himself here, in the Dakotas, as they were then known. The time was 1886'ish. Another tidbit of American history is the winter of 1886 was brutal - cold, very cold early, and long. Then in January it warmed, appreciably, and thawed things, but the thaw was short-lived and the weather turned cold again accompanied with a lot of snow. Roosevelt lost nearly all his cattle. The same winter killed nearly 25,000 head of cattle on the Grant-Kohrs Ranch, at the time one of the largest ranches in America (I visited the Grant-Kohrs National Park on my ride from Couer d'Alene to Yellowstone). Well, Roosevelt packed up and went back east and the rest as they say is history. But, the beauty of the area was impressed upon his mind and thus began America's National Monuments and Parks. From adversity comes opportunity.

Here are a few pictures of the landscape that impressed the 26th President of the United States.

The Little Missouri River in TR NP

Red Topped Peaks - TR NP

A couple shots of Roy and I in North Dakota and Montana.

Some of our photos from these stops are found in the AFC and TR NP album.

Tonight we sleep in Dickinson, ND. From there we will make our way down to Sturgis, SD and explore the Black Hills.

More later . . .

May 25 - Little Bighorn National Monument

2010-05-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

Drat - it is going to rain on us as we make our way from Cody, WY, to Little Bighorn National Monument and then up to Miles City, MT. If that is not bad enough the temperature is in the mid-30's this morning. In response, out came our heated gear and on went the heated seats and off we roared to Montana, again.

Rain it did, as soon as we got within 25 miles of Montana, down came the rain. The good news is we were on a state road rather than an interstate. The bad news is the state route speed limit was 70 MPH. Well, we were picking our way along at 60-65 and the SUV's/trucks (everyone out here has one) passed us - quickly.

We stopped for some gas in a little town just over the border and lo and behold Roy's heated clothing was out - a circuit problem. We spent about 30 minutes checking into it and found the problem was most likely related to a pinched wire in the plug-in cord right at the seat. He has another cord that allows him to use the cigarette lighter so we are off and running again. The rain let up as we were looking for the short circuit.

The sun was coming out as we reached Little Bighorn National Park. It is a very somber location and the park rangers really tell the horrible tale with great fanfare. It truly is a sad story all the way around.

It seems that Custer was on a reconnaissance mission to observe the Sioux/Cheyenne Indian encampment along the Bighorn River and to provide that information to Brig. Gen. Alfred Terry. Terry was leading a much larger force and trailing Custer and his men. Well, Custer did have orders to use whatever means necessary to complete his mission. The original intelligence he had said about 800 Indians were in the encampment. Seems the Indian scouts working with Custer updated him that they had never seen so many Indians in one camp before - they gave him that intelligence several times. The update inferred that the original estimate of 800 Indians was understated.

Custer, when he saw dust coming over the bluff between he and the encampment, thought the Indians had discovered his troops and were escaping. So Custer split his forces into four units and sent two to "channel the escaping Indians" into his force, the larger of the three operational units (the fourth was a logistics unit carrying supplies and ammunition). Well, the scouts were correct - the encampment had over 1800 warriors there, for a Sundance (another long story there) and buffalo hunt and thus there were many of the plains tribes in attendance, perhaps three times the original estimate of 800 indians. The dust arising over the bluff was associated with routine movements in the encampment.

The first of the three operational units (Reno) attacked the Indians. The Indians (Sitting Bull, the Lakota Sioux chief, was the Sundance leader and he was not one to back down from a fight) headed straight at the force - pushing them back from the tree line up onto a bluff. Custer was riding hard through the coulee on the other side of the bluff and kicked up his own dust. The warriors then focused their attention on that threat. When Custer met the Indians the U.S. Forces were overwhelmed. It took about an hour to decimate the soldiers. The Indians had repeating rifles (220'ish) and the Cavalry did not. The Indians used the Cavalry's skirmish line horse holding tactic (one out of four soldiers holds the horses) to their advantage - they shot the horse holders and spooked the horses - the soldiers could not escape other than on foot. The warriors went straight into Custer's forces - 250+ soldiers challenged by the 1800 braves. By the time the other two operational units (Reno and Benteen) found Custer (about 2 miles to the west) the massacre was over. The Indians turned their attention back on those two remaining units who had consolidated their positions. Their saving grace was the full Cavalry, under Terry's command, was rapidly approaching. The dust coming from the full Cavalry gave warning to the Sioux and Cheyenne and they made haste for other parts in the Montana Territory, sparing the remaining soldiers in Reno's and Benteen's charge.

Here are some pictures of the battlefield. What is really ghoulish is that the markers where the soldiers fell are separated from one another - save the 100 or so soldiers in Custer's last stand on Last Stand Hill. These men died alone and I am sure terrified. Their demise was horrific and some, it is believed, chose to end their own lives rather than endure the brutality of dying by bludgeoning.

A few pictures from the battlefield.

Markers like these dot what was the battlefield

Even U.S. Calvary Indian scouts were included in the massacre

The Sundance was held on the prairie beyond the tree line

Fallen soldier markers on Last Stand Hill at Little Bighorn

There are 15 pictures of the battlefield visit in the May 10 photo album. They are the last 15 photos in the album.

Some historians believe the Battle of Little Bighorn was avoidable. Some praise Custer for his bravery. The Lakota Sioux chief (Sitting Bull) believed the U.S. Army was trying to destroy the Lakota way of life and the Cheyenne believed the Government had singled out all of the Sioux for annihilation. Anyway you slice it, The Battle of Little Bighorn was a tragedy. Pure and simple, a tragedy.

After the battlefield visit we hot-footed it back to Billings (93 miles west) to Beartooth Harley Davidson Dealership. Roy's starter was engaging while the bike was running - not good. We made it back to Billings around 4:15 and by 5:30 a new starter switch was installed and we hot-footed (or is it hot-wristed??) up to Miles City, MT. We made it there (158 miles) in a little less than two hours. And, we are still on our schedule.

More later . . .

May 24 - Cody, Wyoming

2010-05-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's raining, its pouring, the old boyz are snoring.

The weather just wasn't going to cooperate so today turned into a down day. We caught up on stuff, did laundry and planned the next leg of our journey.

Coming in the next couple of weeks are Little Bighorn, Theodore Roosevelt National Historic Site (ND), Sturgis, Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands. Until next time - stay safe.

More later . . .

May 23 - Yellowstone to Cody, WY

2010-05-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

OMG - it snowed last night - AGAIN! Check this out.

It's snowing at 4:30 a.m. Now what??

Our plan calls for us to leave Yellowstone today. But, snow on the road and still snowing is not good news. At breakfast we decided to see what 9 a.m. would bring. It brought sunshine and rising temperatures. Now if the gates out the east side are open we will be golden. Of course it will be four or five hours of riding before we could exit so there was no reason to ask now - besides we already heard that the gate was currently closed. We'll see.

We packed everything up and loaded the bikes. Then we strapped on our heated clothes and more leather than an American Bison has under his fur. Off we rode, uncertain but hopeful the weather would continued to improve.

We took the route that was published in yesterday's entry. An eerie sight on our ride was the absence of any bison. They were no where to be found when on the previous two occasions we barely got into the park and the bisons were stopping traffic with detached enthusiasm. Onward we drove and I cranked up the heat to my jacket. I think it was still below freezing.

Our route passed by the geyser fields in Yellowstone and we pulled in to visit the Upper Geyser Basin. It was an interesting spot. There was steam everywhere. The stream that ran through this section of the park was amplified by the water pouring up from Mother Earth, high in minerals and warmed by the very core of the planet. The colors were wild - emerald greens, sapphire blue, crystal clear water, iron browns, deep blues, and slate grays. Well, the sights were unbelievable and we were not done yet. Watch the video below okay?

Upper Geyser Basin from Dan Matthews on Vimeo.

From there we headed out of the park. Yes the east gate opened earlier that morning. The temperature was in the low 40's and the roads were clear. On the way out we passed by Lake Yellowstone and stopped several times to take photos. We filled up the tanks and had a bite of lunch at the Yellowstone General Store and then headed back down the mountain pass (Sylvan Pass) from 8,600 feet to 4,500 feet in Cody, WY.

The trip to Cody had some really great views and we took advantage of the short ride (146 miles) to take pictures. We discovered as we rode along the expansive Buffalo Bill Reservoir. Check out the picture below and I think you will agree - it is a sight worth seeing.

Buffalo Bill Reservoir

The reservoir is held back by the Buffalo Bill Dam. It was built from 1905 to 1910 and, at over 300 feet, was the tallest dam up until that time. Well, if you are out that way, stop in and I am sure you too will be awed by the beauty at every turn along the roadways that crisscross this great nation.

Of course to help motivate you we put some of our favorite pictures from today's ride into the "Yellowstone to Cody" photo album. Take a look!

More later . . .

Oh, and by the way, the bison finally appeared just before the geyser section of the park. Phew, I was worried the ghost of Buffalo Bill Cody rode in from the east, fully armed!

May 22 - Yellowstone's Waterfalls, Mineral Spas and Grand Canyon

2010-05-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

Woke up ready and raring to go. First order of business was to check on the weather. The video below says it all!

So, snow, snow and more snow! That is the weather forecast for the day. Originally we planned to hang out in the room if it snowed. But, we came to see Yellowstone not the Comfort Inn. While we pondered our options we watched the plight of two bikers that made their way here from Sunny Florida.

Seems those two (one riding a Harley Davidson Ultra Classic the other a Kawasaki Vulcan) decided to make a run out to Yosemite in California. They tried entering Yosemite from the east on Route 120 out of Nevada. However, that road is closed until the end of May - it is very mountainous and still covered with snow. So, they interpreted that to mean the park was closed. It is not, they just picked the wrong gate!

So, unable to visit Yosemite they came to visit Yellowstone and were now trying to ride out the east entrance to Cody, WY. Guess what, first thing this morning the Park closed the east gate at Yellowstone - check the above movie again if you want to see why they closed the gate. Seems a little snowfall does not worry the Park Service as much as the potential for an avalanche does, especially with new snow on top of melting snow. Our two new friends set off on their motorcycles and within 30 minutes they were back at the hotel. In another 30 minutes they roared off again - we can only surmise they have chosen another route back to Florida.

Meanwhile we pondered our options and decided that we would rent a car and drive into and visit the park using a car rather than our motorcycles. A genuinely good idea - now we could visit the park, get out of the room and try and breath some of this 8,000 foot above sea level air - well what is thinly described as air. Our planned route is at left.

Into the park we drove. First up, the waterfalls at Canyon Village. This part of Yellowstone has a significant canyon faced in yellow stone - hence the name. The canyon is some 1400 feet deep and our pictures, no one's pictures can do the canyon justice, show the river flowing at the canyon's base. It is a gentle reminder of our ride into the Grand Canyon. Make no mistake folks this is an awesome canyon but it is no more than 1/100th (if that!) of the Grand Canyon.

What this canyon has for us is two waterfalls. The first is the Upper Falls. This part of the river falls over 100 feet and then pools and runs down to the second waterfall, curiously named, Lower Falls. The Yellowstone River flows first into the Upper Falls, spills over her then runs a quarter mile or so further south and then rushes over the rocky rim and crashes some 375+ feet below creating the Lower Falls. The Lower Falls has a substantial rock formation on the left side as you view her face-on. That rock formation in the falls is very close to the brink of the breaking water and as the water cascades over the rim it appears to fall in a green streak on that left side. It is quite remarkable.

Lower Falls, Yellowstone NP

Upper Falls, Yosemite NP

Lower Falls Green Streak, Yellowstone NP

In our time at the Upper and Lower Falls we were treated to a ten degree temperature drop and the winds kicked up and blew the new fallen snow all about. For 15 minutes we were existing in a wind tunnel of a meat locker. It was bone chilling cold and it came on real quick. Enough about the Falls.

We left the Canyon Village area and headed Northwest to visit the Mammoth Hot Springs region of the park. The trip was about fifty miles from the origin point to Mammoth. To get there one drives west out of Canyon Village and then turns north to Mammoth Hot Springs. The ride up provided many vistas that have to be viewed in person - it is so big and beautiful a camera cannot impress your soul with the majesty of the Handiwork done here. But, one thing I can share with you is that to the west of the north-bound rode to Mammoth there is a string of five major mountains; Mount Homes (10,336'), Dome Mountain (9,894'), Antler Peak (10,023'), Quadrant Mountain (9,944') and Little Quadrant Mountain (9,885'). They are lined up one after the other each with an intervening valley. As we drove up to Mammoth Hot Springs and then back down that route to Madison Juncture the weather passing between the mountains changed. Each one had its own weather cell for the moments we passed by them. It was an incredible sight to see it snowing around one mountain, sunny around the next, dark clouds hovering over the next, light clouds on the next and then bright sun with big white pillowy clouds at the next.

So, the Mammoth Hot Springs are a massive collection of, guess what - hot springs! Imagine that. We trekked up the boardwalk from the lower end to the higher end - folks it is over eight thousand feet! We stopped to breath a couple of times on the 8/10ths of a mile uphill hike. The spas are both active and inactive. The inactive ones had laid waste to all the vegetation in their path and the active ones gave wonderful colors and not so wonderful redolence to their environs. When you looked from the top back through the to spring beds you see the valley beyond the Mammoth area. Egads, what a view. Check it out below!

An Active Mineral Spa, Yellowstone NP

View of Mammoth from Hot Springs, Yellowstone NP

View to Southeast from Hot Springs, Yellowstone NP

As luck would have it we had enough time for more stop if there was something we wanted to see. When we came down the mountain into Mammoth Hot Springs there were lots of cars parked along the S-curves in precarious positions. There were a bevy of photographers on the hillside and most of them were armed with massive telephoto lenses and tripods and bundled for a long stay outdoors. as we went back up the hill we stopped in the road and asked a gentleman scurrying back to the hillside with another camera and lens in tow what was going on. "Bears are out down there" he exclaimed! And so it was, we stopped and found ourselves joining the other "bear junkies" as we hurdled the guard rail and headed to an open spot on the hill. We found something we thought would elude us - bears. A mother and two very young cubs. Check it out below!

Mama and her two cubs (shot at full zoom).

Cub hitches a ride on Mama

Well, we covered a mere 110 miles today. The temperature never got above 42 degrees, the wind blustered in the falls to 25 MPH and the new fallen snow that bedecked the Lodgepole Pines was a Christmas scene from a Thomas Kincade painting. At times during our eight hours in the park we had to shed our coats - black leather heats up in a hurry in the bright sunlight and when you are trudging up and down mountain sides on foot - trying desperately to find an extra lung!

So, in a phrase, it was a day of wonders. Stop what you are doing and hop a train to get out to this, our first National Park, Yellowstone National Park, here in snowy, beautiful Wyoming. More photos are located here.

Tonight we stay again in West Yellowstone, MT. Tomorrow we head back into the park, make the rest of the trip around to Lake Yellowstone and then head out of Yellowstone for Cody, WY. Here is hoping the weather cooperates. By the way, Mother Nature is not to be trifled with - she does what she wants, when she wants and she doesn't know or care about your plans at all.

More later . . .

May 21 - Into Yellowstone We Went

2010-05-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

What a delight this day turned out to be. Into the park we went - both of us ready to see what she had to offer. We were not disappointed.

First of all, it had rained and it was cold. So we broke out our heated clothes and scarves and neck warmers. All of that seemed to work as the weather started to warm up. Of course this is mountain country so all we have to do is start to enjoy ourselves and the weather will change right? RIGHT!

Into the park we rode from the west. Things were eye-catching at the beginning and we kept our focus on our plan. First up was to get to Old Faithful and watch her show. Second, providing the weather cooperated we would run to the border and see Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton National Park is straight out the south gate of Yellowstone. If there was more time we would return to Yellowstone and head east toward Lake Yellowstone. That trip would cover nearly 300 miles so it was ambitious and we knew it. But, you gotta have a plan right?

Here is a video that details our day in the National Parks:

So, we did not get to go east toward the lake. We will pick it up on another trip into the park. Tomorrow we will return to Yellowstone and travel north and east to see the waterfalls, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and if there is still more time to go all the way north to the mineral spas, the old Army Fort Yellowstone and the town of Mammoth. If we get to do all that we will cover 130 miles - that should be doable! The weather report says snow, wintry mix and more snow. They are calling for 1-3 inches! We'll see.

We plan to leave Yellowstone on Sunday and head over to Cody, WY. We cannot come this far and not visit the town established by William "Buffalo Bill" Cody! After that, we turn north to Montana (Little Big Horn), over east to North Dakota (because neither of us has ever been to NDAK), then south to South Dakota (Badlands, Sturgis and Mount Rushmore). After that we have no other plan that to continue east(ish).

More later . . .

May 20 - It rained, it snowed, we stayed indoors

2010-05-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

And what's more they say it is going to rain and snow tomorrow and each of the next 5 days. Bummer.

We have started drawing up alternative plans. Now we are thinking we will get to Old Faithful, regardless of the weather. We are searching for a way to make her erupt on-demand, though the good folks around here say it's not likely we will find a way to do that. We hope to make it around the lower loop of the park (for those of you not familiar here is a map of the park and I high lighted the lower loop.)

Another option is to get after the ten most popular Yellowstone Park attractions. The map below depicts the park and the 10 most popular attractions.

Finally, we have not yet thrown in the towel on getting into Grand Teton National Park at the south end of Yellowstone, but it is starting to sound doubtful that we will get down there given the 75 mile trek and the 45 MPH speed limit and the many buses that clog the route stopping and letting folks out to wander about.

There is a report that we will get 2 or more inches of SNOW on Friday night. That being the case Saturday will be a snow day here and we will head across the park on the west to east (lower) route and make tracks for Cody, WY on Sunday.

But, everything is in flux so check back soon for more details okay?

Before we sign off for this entry here is a movie of some of our panoramas since we started the voyage. We hope you enjoy (and yes there are a couple of repeated photos and a mis-location or two, but this one is practice for when we get home and build the real McCoy!)

More later . .