Day 22 - June 22, 2014

 

A view of Highway US 62 near Eureka Springs, Arkansas

 

 

Day twenty two.  All is well.  Overnight in Arkansas.

 

This morning when Doug and I awoke we packed our bikes, just like we have done for the previous twenty one days, and then we went our separate ways.  I had someone in Eureka Springs, Arkansas (Pop. 2000) I wanted to see, and Doug planned to ride just a bit more before returning home. 

 

Our joint travels ended yesterday.

 

Although we have not made it back to our initial starting locations (our homes), today's ride (and this posting) will be considered the end of our big circle ride around the western states for 2014, and feels like (in some ways) the end of our journey. 

 

Doug and I will be riding for a couple more days, but adding more to this blog about that time does not seem necessary or appropriate.

 

All in all it was a GREAT time.  Our camping adventure on this ride only lasted one night, which was the first night of our trip.  That was the only night where the temperature was suitable for camping (for us).  Doug packed the tent, on the back of his bike, all around the country (without complaint), and we both had our sleeping bags, etc. that we did not need or use further.  In the end having the tent and the sleeping gear along did not seem to make much difference in our loading and unloading each day, how the bikes were packed, or our ride for the day.

 

We saw a lot of some very beautiful country.  Some of it either Doug or I (or both) had seen it before.  But seeing the places we visited never gets old, no matter how many times we might repeat the viewing. 

 

We met some interesting people along the way.  We found that a great joy of the trip.

 

Doug is a great companion on any ride, and especially on a ride like this.  I am/was never concerned about riding safety with Doug.  Not only is Doug an excellent rider, he is a very conscientious, thoughtful, and safe rider. In one of my earlier posts I openly teased about Doug getting out ahead of me because he was riding fast.  Doug never rides faster than the conditions justify, and he did not on this trip.  From time to time I think we both rode faster than the other wanted to ride, for whatever reason, and we each learned to adjust our riding to the other while still riding at our own pace.

 

We rode across the desert in temperatures of up to 106 degrees.  In Montana we saw a low of 35 degrees, and promises of snow in some of the passes.  We saw very strong storms that blocked our path for one day, and we rested, washed clothes and stayed another night in our comfortable motel room instead of fighting the heavy rains, wind, and possible hail.

 

We rode through gusting winds of 50 miles per hour and greater for most of one day, and part of two others.

 

It rained, from time to time.  Only once (our first day) did we not stop (my fault) and put our rain gear on before we entered the rain in front of us.  So, even though we rode through rain, and that is never desirable, it is not dangerous, and we did not get wet underneath the rain gear.

 

It was a good ride, every day of it.  Over three weeks of riding in as many days.  I am thankful that I could make the ride, and I am thankful that we both travelled safely and all went well on the trip.

 

Another good day.

Day 21 - June 21, 2014

 

Does anyone but me find that combining a museum for teaches and gunfights as odd?

This is in Dodge City, Kansas, next to "Boot Hill", a local ark re-creating

the Dodge City of another era.

 

 

 

Any stop in Dodge City necessitates at stop at the Long Branch.

 

 

 

So we stopped.  None of the folks we typically associate with The Long Branch

was there, but they served beer.

 

As we got west of Wichita the greenery increased.

 

And Highway US 400 neap Pittsburg, Kansas is a good indicator of

the countryside over which we travelled late in the day.

 

Day twenty one.  All is well.  Overnight Pittsburg, Kansas.

" . . . and for three hours the Arkansas River was filled with the buffalo, crossing so fast that they could not stop to drink, they should be overwhelmed by the crowd thronging behind."  Matt Hill from On The Santa Fe Trail, a collection of Matt Hill's journal entries from his 1839 trip along the Santa Fe Trail.  

Some estimates place the total number of buffalo in North America in 1800 at 70 Million.  One herd just south of Dodge City, Kansas was estimated at 4 million.  By 1890 there were less than 1,000 buffalo left.

As we traveled today and yesterday, across the great grasslands of plains of Colorado and Kansas it was/is easy to see how this extensive land with the prairie grasses that covered it at that time could support the numbers estimated.  For many hundreds of miles, just in these two states alone, there were/are expansive grass lands.

As we traveled further east the amount of cultivation along the route increased, and the brown grasses became less brown, and finally green, and trees began to appear more naturally.  Irrigation is still necessary for much of the crop land.  Sorghum is a major crop, and more abundant as the greening commenced, to feed the thousands upon thousands of cattle being "feed out" at the hundreds of feed lots across southeastern Colorado and Kansas.

Yesterday and today as we traveled in the open air on the bike, getting all of the smells of the area.  The smell of the feedlots was most noticeable. There are thousands of cattle in these numerous lots across southeastern Colorado and much of Kansas. When we opened the door to our motel this morning we were greeted with the smell of pinned cattle and all of their excrement.  The smell of cattle feedlots permeated the air, and is stronger in areas where there are larger or numerous feedlots.  

Dodge City, Kansas, est. 1865, (pop. 27,340) is a city of legend and lore, made so in part by books, movies, and of course TV.  Marshall Matt Dillon, Doc Adams, and Miss Kitty existed only on TV, but Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and other lesser names often attracted national media attention for their exploits, embellished by the writers of dime novels which were popular in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.  In the later 1800's Dodge City was a frontier town, complete with cowboys with six guns, where the saloons were wide open saloons.  It was geographically located to attract a wide range of colorful individuals, and it did.

Wyatt Earp Boulevard is Dodge City's main thoroughfare, running right through the middle of town. Dodge City is a modern small town, with the conveniences expected in a city of its size.  It is still a railroad town that traces its growth to the railroad center of its early days and the Santa Fe trail before that.  

 

We are overnight in Pittsburg, Kansas (Pop. 21,000) is the home of Pittsburg State University (Enrollment 7,100 undergraduates, and 1,200 graduate students).  Pittsburg, Kansas was named after the Pennsylvania city of the same name, but without the "h" on the end.  This is a beautiful town.  The downtown area made me think that the population total was higher.  The PSU campus is very nice, although ghost town like this early summer day on a late Saturday afternoon.

 

Our ride today was not as hot as yesterday, with an average of ten degrees cooler.  Although it was still hot we managed it much better.  The crosswinds were also less today, which allowed for a more comfortable ride.

There was too much to see for the limited time I set aside to be there.

Another good day.

 



 



Day 20 - June 20, 2014

 

This is a photo of what appears to be an endless prairie.  In

  the early 1800's this was an endless grassland.

 

 

 

And speaking of endless, Colorado Highway 71 appeared to be

without end.  The sign before we entered here warned that there were no

services for 75 miles.

 

 

This is a photo of some of the hundreds of wind turbines we

saw along the early part of our route today.

 

 

This is a photo of the Kit Carson Museum.

 

 

I made this photo when we were stopped at a traffic light in

Lamar, Colorado.  The lighted sign which is just above the truck in

the middle, shows the temperature to be 103 degrees.

 

 

Day Twenty.  Overnight Garden City, Kansas (Pop. 27,000).  All is well.

 

Today we followed secondary roads through Colorado and Kansas, ending the day in Garden City, Kansas, which is 50 miles west of Dodge City, Kansas.  Garden City is on Highway 50 and 400, which tracks the Santa Fe Trail.  In the early 1800's The Santa Fe Trail was the connecting route from Franklin, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  In the late 1800's the Union Pacific followed the same route, and when Highway US 50 was built it did the same.

 

Our travels today have been across high prairie grasslands.  This land was once covered by millions of buffalo.

 

The fourth photo in this post is of The Kit Carson museum, located in Kit Carson, Colorado (Pop. 233).  A history of the town of Kit Carson includes the story of a Russian Archduke guided by General George Armstrong Custer killing a buffalo when the town was surrounded by buffalo.

 

Kit Carson, Colorado was founded in 1838, and took the name of the famous Kit Carson (He would live another 30 years from the founding.).  There is no record of Carson ever being in the town that still bears his name.  Since it was a railroad terminus for a brief time it was a wild place, with saloons, six guns, shootings, and even a lynching. Today it is a wide spot, with a few businesses, and not even a stop light.  It seemed interesting, the name was a curiosity, and they had a nice old depot for a museum...so we stopped.  

The elevation from my start of the day was just over 5,000 feet.  Garden City, Kansas' elevation is 2,839, and it continues to drop as we travel east.

 

The land is semi-arid, and there is cultivation of the land, often with the assistance of irrigation. There were/are very few small towns along the route, and only a couple of slow-down areas in the last three hundred miles. The first photo with this post represents most of the landscape, although there were a few areas of very low rolling hills.

 

Early along our route today we saw hundreds of wind turbines.  I do not know the size of the wind turbines in the third included photo, but they are huge.  A quick search showed that the average height for new wind turbines is 275' and the rotor diameter is 308' (Recall that a football field is 300'.)  One source said that a wind turbine that produces 2 MW of electricity cost $3-4 Million (I know ...a large range.) as an installed price.  There were hundreds of these along my route of travel today.  There were a few not turning, but nearly all were...clockwise.

It was hot today with triple digit temperatures for part of the time.  We encountered strong, gusty winds after we left Lamar, Colorado, en route to our destination.  The winds today appeared to be as strong as those we had yesterday, and made for an interesting ride.

 

Another good day.



Day 19 - June 19, 2014

 

This photo was made on I-90, shortly after leaving Sheridan.

 

 

We decided to drop south instead of following I-90.  This photo was

made on I-25, shortly after leaving I-90.

 

 

This is another photo from I-25.  Note in this photos, as in the others on this

post, that there is much green this early in the season.  As the summer

arrives, and continues, much of the green will turn brown.

 

 

 

 

Day nineteen.  Overnight in Brush, Colorado.  All is well.

 

We started the morning in Sheridan, Wyoming.  When we departed Sheridan the temperature was 63 degrees, and the skies were free of the menacing rain clouds we had seen in recent mornings past.

 

For our travel today we decided to drop further south to escape the on-going turbulent weather that has beset the Dakotas and Minnesota, both of which were in our previously intended path.  So, shortly after leaving Sheridan we left I-90 at the I-90 - I-25 junction, and took I-25 which took us almost due south.  We followed I-25 until we stopped at a Fort Collins, Colorado exit, when we re-mapped our travels and took secondary roads to our destination in Brush, Colorado (Pop. 5,500).

 

Brush Colorado is northeast of Denver.

 

As we travelled south on I-25 we were getting strong wind gusts from the west, directly from our right side.  At various locations along I-25 there were lighted signs warning of wind gusts of 40+ miles per hour.  Both Doug and I had ridden for extended periods in high wind before so we knew what to expect.  Four years ago we rode across parts of South Dakota and had a constant wind of 50 miles per hour which caused us to ride the bike leaning into the wind, as if we were going into a deep curve at high speed.  Our lean angle allowed us to maintain directional control, but it did present an interesting ride. 

 

Today's wind was different in that it was not a constant wind.  The wind varied from light to strong gusts.  We have no way of knowing how strong the gusts were, but we agreed that the warning speeds were at least met.

 

The temperature through most of this ride was in the mid 70's, which typically would make for a comfortable ride with lighter clothing, but because the winds were coming from the side these temperatures required a  light jacket or more for comfort.

 

We had planned our route to take the bypass (E475) around Denver, but after stopping at the Colorado Welcome Center in Fort Collins (65 miles from downtown Denver) we re-routed to follow secondary roads to Rush, Colorado, which is northeast of Denver, but more in keeping with our intended route in the morning.

 

Yes, today was a day of riding.  Although we did not stop for sightseeing today we were afforded some gorgeous scenery, especially in Wyoming.  We are on the wrong side (east) of Colorado to get views of the mountains.  The Wyoming countryside has a beautiful green cover on the hills and in the valleys along the interstates.  As the summer starts and wears on the green will turn to brown, but for now the countryside is a beautiful green. 

 

The terrain is some lower now on the east side of the Rockies.  The elevation of Fort Collins and the surrounding area is approximately 5,000 feet.  As we track east tomorrow we will see the elevation get lower, gradually.

 

Another good day.

 

 

Day 18 - June 18, 2014

 

Riding I-90 east in Montana.  Looking to Doug's right front you

can see the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

 

 

This is another view of the ride east on I-90.

 

 

The countryside was one scenic view after the other.  BNSF railroad

tracks paralleled much of I-90 along our route of travel today.

 

 

 

We stopped at Little Bighorn National Park, which is always worth

the time to stop and visit.

 

 

Day eighteen.  All is well.  Overnight in Sheridan, Wyoming.

 

We had enough of the rain and cold, and according to the weather prognosticators the storms that had been very strong along our intended route of travel had either dissipated or passed on through the area.  This was also what we could see on various internet weather maps, so we loaded up the bikes and headed out.  Although we were ready to leave the area for something a little warmer we regretted that the weather was not more favorable which would have allowed us to spend an extra day or two in Montana.

 

When we left Missoula the temperature was 44 degrees, and the skies were overcast.  We have grown accustomed to cool temperatures since leaving San Diego two weeks ago. 

 

Our planned ride for the day kept us on I-90 all day, and because of that we made 475 miles for the day, with an overnight in Sheridan, Wyoming (Pop. 18,000).  This was the most miles we have covered in one day on this trip, however, because it was all interstate it was not very tiring at all.

 

Our ride (mostly southeast) was cool until we passed through Butte, Montana (Pop. 32,000), where it was somewhat warmer.  We crossed the Continental Divide just east of Butte, at Homestake Pass, at 6,393 feet, which was above the forecasted snow elevation for the two nights before.  It cooled as we climbed in this area.

 

When we passed over "The Divide" we saw no indication of snow anywhere near us, and the temperature was in the high 40's.  And, although it was overcast there was no precipitation until we passed Billings, Montana (Pop. 165,000).  Billings was a lunch and gas stop, and although we could see the precipitation ahead of us on our internet radar I assumed that it would not cross our paths until we were through that area.

 

But, I misjudged how fast the weather moves in this part of the country, and with a strong wind blowing the storm, which was a strong wind and rain, it reached I-90 before we arrived at the path of travel for the storm.  Before we entered the rain we stopped under an overpass (There are very few overpasses on the interstates in this part of the country.), which not only provided protection from the rain which was beginning to fall, it also shielded us from the 50 miles per hour winds that carried the storm along.

 

Although the weather maps we were looking at showed the storm to be fairly large it had passed by the time we reached Little Big Horn, which is 65 miles east of Sheridan.  By the time we had completed the tour at Little Big Horn, and listened to the park ranger lecture (40 minutes for the lecture), the storm had long since passed, and we rode to Sheridan under blue skies and temperatures in the high 60's.

 

After getting checked in to our motel we quickly went to a very good local restaurant (Wyoming's Rib & Chop House, 847 North Main) where we had a tasty dinner, in a pleasant setting. 

 

Another good day.

Day 17 - June 17, 2014

 

The sunny skies gave way to cloudy skies, and then rain, with snow

above 6,500 feet.

Day seventeen. All is well.  Overnight in Missoula, Montana.

It rained heavily last night in Missoula, and the rain continued into late today.  The temperature dropped to thirty five degrees last night and it remained in the forty's most of the day.  So we stayed put in Missoula for another day.  We both took this stop as an opportunity to wash clothes and catch up on some other things, like rest.

There is more rain forecast for tonight and again in the morning, and we will be riding over elevations above 5,000 feet.  We expect it to be cool, but we hope to make it to Billings, 345 miles east on I-90 tomorrow.  Our preferred route would have taken us through Helena, but the revised route will be scenic, and will begin to get us to lower elevations quicker, and hence warmer temperatures.

When we planned this trip we had planned on spending a few days in Montana riding some of the countryside, though some of the valleys, etc.  The unseasonably cool and wet weather has necessitated a slight change in plans.  But, there is still much to see along our route.

Another good day.

Day 16 - June 16, 2014

 

This is a photo from a rest area shortly after our departure this morning.

Still in Washington.

 

A photo from I-90, looking toward the snowy mountain tops.

In Montana.

 

This is another photos from the east bound lane of I-90.

In Montana.

 

This is yet another photo in Montana, 40 or so miles west

of Missoula.

 

Day sixteen.  All is well.  Overnight in Missoula, Montana.

 

Our morning started in sunshine with a brisk, gusty wind.  The temperature was 52 degrees. 

 

Today we traveled on I-90 (the longest interstate in the US), and for the most part we made good time. There were a few construction slow downs, but no stopped traffic along the way.  The first thirty miles of our ride were in sunshine, which was unexpected since we had become accustomed to riding with a cloud cover.  We stopped at the first rest area and applied sunscreen. The top photo of this post was made at that rest area.

 

After leaving the rest area we rode until it was time for gas, and lunch, roughly 200 miles from our starting point for the day.  After fueling and lunch we planned our evening stop, which ended up being Missoula, Montana.  There are fewer options for fuel, food, and lodging when riding through the mountains, and Missoula was on the edge of our preferred stopping point.  Having fewer options of places with basic service is  common when travelling throughout the less populated portions of the western states.

 

After leaving the rest stop, after applying sunscreen, another thirty miles along it became apparent that rain was in our path, so we stopped and donned the rain gear.  As expected within twenty miles we began to see rain on our windshields, and a little further along the rain intensity increased.  And, as with any rain producing cold front the temperatures dropped to 46 degrees (Again.  For the first time today, but, again, as again from yesterday.)  We rode though the rain, which was light, for a hundred miles or so, but by the time we stopped for lunch the rain had stopped and it was a few degrees warmer (54).

 

At Coeur D Alene, Idaho I stopped to see someone I had not seen in a long time.  I spent an hour or so there before continuing my ride to Missoula.  Doug did not stop, but continued to ride to Missoula alone when I stopped.

 

Doug and I compared our riding experiences when I got to Missoula.  Apparently we both rode though rain for some distance between Coeur D Alene and Missoula, and at times the rain was heavy.

 

I-90 between Coeur D Alene and Missoula has some of the prettiest scenery of any interstate route in the US, and ranks in my top five for interstate scenery.  At the top of my list is I-70 between Richfield, Utah (the midpoint of interstate travel between Los Angeles and Denver) and Grand Junction, Colorado.  It is truly breathtaking at times.

 

The Coeur D Alene to Missoula I-90 interstate corridor has gorgeous scenery along the way.  Although it offers Interstate speeds of up to 75 miles per hour, the curves are occasionally too tight for comfortable navigation at the speed limit, and recommended speeds are posted.   The road surface is generally good the entire distance.

 

Another good day.