From MN to CA and return, started on 8/30/10

[BassCliff]

DanTheMan stopped by for a visit

Hi,

Mr. DanTheMan stopped by my office this morning. We had a nice visit over a cup of joe in the campus coffee shop. Here's a few pics.



Dan's thinking, "That "G" looks funny with "L" pipes on it. Oh, wait. My "L" has "G" pipes. I guess it's OK."



There's a motorcycle under here somewhere.



Mr. DanTheMan and (long time no post) GSR member Mr. ianfrancisco talk about (what else?), our motorcycles.



Life on the road with a motorcycle looks kind of like this:



One last parting shot.



Mr. DanTheMan left to visit Mr. salty_monk. I've got video of Dan pulling out of the parking lot. I'll post it up later after I've done some editing.

Ride safe Dan. I'm pleased to know you and really glad you stopped by. Keep in touch. I'll be watching the Saints game tonight if you want to stop on your way back eastward.

EDIT: Video has been uploaded. Dan, it seems like your running lights are out again. Check your fuses.

All the best to you and yours,

Cliff

[DanTheMan]

New update (BassCliff beat me to some of it)...

Well, I left Yucca Valley at 7am and headed down the mountain into the roaring winds. In the spot where the highway to Yucca joins I-10 the winds were really howling, nearly enough to blow me across the lanes. I didn't take any pictures of the windfarm, but I do have some pictures of the interesting rock formations and Joshua trees in the National Park that beg to be posted, so here they are:


After I battled the winds I sailed on into the MSAC campus area and met up with BassCliff. Here's a picture of us in his office:


I then rode from there to my olde stomping grounds in Redondo Beach to visit with SaltyMonk (Dan), and Nessisim, both very good visits. My tach cable decided to go Awol on me, and lucky me, Nessisim had a replacement that I could use.
From there, it was back to Upland to spend the night at BassCliff's house where I'm recounting the adventures of the day. I even got to see the ocean and smell the salt air again for the first time in a long time. All in all it was a very good day.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Mr. DanTheMan and I got to ride up to the freeway together this morning. He headed East while I headed West into work. The garage was a little crowded overnight.



This is the first time there has ever been two GS850s in my garage.



One of these bikes is ready for a long trip.



Ride safely Dan. Sorry you missed the game (Saints-14, Vikings-9) but glad you got to stay over and get some rest.

All the best to you and yours,

Cliff

[salty_monk]

Dan's Tach cable quit right outside my place... unfortunately I'd just thrown an older spare out the day before!

Nessism came to the rescue but not without butchering his own bike (the one that hasn't run yet!) A brand new cable far quicker than Suzuki could deliver!
As usual Ed goes over & above to help a fellow GSR out!

Ride safe Dan

[DanTheMan]

Thanks guys for all the help, Cliff, the bed was great, I felt human again after the shower, and I ate enough to tide me over until just now. I'm sitting in the McDonald's in Lone Pine right now, I should be somewhere near the Nev/Utah state line when I quit for the nite. Once again, instead of riding a quick, super slab straight line to my daughter's house in Ogden, I found some interesting meandering routes. The last time I was in Lone Pine was in '68 I think, my family was going camping in Sequoia and our vehicle broke down in Lone Pine. That sucked up one day of the camping trip.......No breakdowns here for me, just lunch. Maybe I'll find a motel with reliable wi-fi tonight and post up some more picts.

[DanTheMan]

Ok, to start with, here are some pictures on HWY 395 with Mt Whitney and the rest of the eastern Sierra Nevada range in the background. I neglected to take as many pictures as I should have on this leg of the trip, the story why will follow......

Looking north, lava fields to the right, cone shaped hill is all lava covered with red dirt.
cute little critter I found in the rest area just south of Big Pine.

The guy cleaning the rest area had to tell me about his '85 850G he had when he was younger and stupider. He crashed it hard two blocks from home (Orange County) and had to be airlifted out. His whole left side is scar tissue from that. High speed, drugs and alcohol were all contributing factors.

Unfortunately, I was trying to make some time on this leg and didn't take pictures as I should've. From 395 I turned northeast on National route 6 which stretches from just north of Bishop, CA to some town in Massachusetts. They had a sign proclaiming that as well, and I didn't take that picture either. My intent was to take 6 to Ely, NV and probably overnight there. I left Tonopah (8 pm), headed north and discovered the town I thought would be in the middle and have fuel was no more, as there was a sign warning of no fuel for 163 miles, the entire length to Ely. It was now very dark, the area around Tonopah is reknowned for it's lack of light pollution. It's the only area in the US like it, the stars are so bright it seems like you're almost among them. Elevation ranges from 6,000 ft to a high on the summits that the road traverses to about 8,000 ft. I rode back the 14 miles to Tonopah to sit beneath a street light and plan my strategy. This is where I screwed up. I should've (could've, would've if I'd been smart) just got a motel room there and called it a night. But noooooo, I figured I could get one up the road, as 376 going north to Hwy 50 (the Loneliest Road in America....) looked promising.
The Loneliest Road in America

State: Nevada
Length: 287.0 mi / 461.9 km
Time to Allow: Plan for 5 to 6 hours to tour this byway.

My GPS showed three operating motels 12 miles west of 376, which seemed reasonable at the time, and operating gas stations. I topped off my tank in a real little town called Hadley, it was dark and cold, I put on part of my cold weather gear, and thought I'd be fine. I was sharing the road with drunks from two taverns on the route, I thought one of them had come back to hassle me, but there must have been another bar to visit on the road. I got to the intersection of 376 and 50, turned left, and discovered a twisty windy summit road that would've been fun unloaded and in the daytime (I'd imagine RenoBruce has played here, it's in his backyard). I rode up it with a truck behind me and one in front, so it took awhile to cover the 12 miles. I got into town dead tired, and all the no vacancy signs were lit up. Now, I really didn't want to travel the 60+ miles to check out the town of Eureka either so I talked to a lady in a gas station there and she said I could bed down in the storage lot next door. It was very uncomfortable, and I think the rocky ground did in my air mattress.............
More to come tomorrow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Ghostgs1]

Hi Dan, Been following your trip, what an adventure! Are you still planning on going through Rocky Mountain Park on the return? May be able to catch up with you around Loveland or thereabouts. Ray

[DanTheMan]

Hi Dan, Been following your trip, what an adventure! Are you still planning on going through Rocky Mountain Park on the return? May be able to catch up with you around Loveland or thereabouts. Ray

Hi Ray, I am planning on Rocky Mountain Park tomorrow. I'll be staying in Vernal UT tonight, head thru the park tomorrow. I'll pm you for your cell# and send you mine. More updates on the trip to follow tonight from my motel room, I'm at my daughter's house right now, going to lunch then getting on the road shortly thereafter.

[DanTheMan]

More of the story.....

I left Austin at about 4:30 am, gassed up the bike, added oil and headed out on Hwy 50 towards Eureka, it was still dark and cold and as I rode I went though a lot of cold spots that were as low as 29 deg. F. Since I had packed up my gear in the dark, I wasn't able to find my warm socks or heated vest or even my sweatshirt. I was freezing by the time I reached Eureka, looking for a cafe at about 6 am. I found one with the doors open, and someone had just got done eating. Now, this cafe is in an old bar/casino/cafe/combo, Eureka is officially listed as a ghost town. The owner, the cook and one other employee that was just leaving were there, and the waitress that was supposed to be there hadn't shown up. They closed and locked the cafe doors behind me so no other customers could come in, I had a great breakfast, about a pot of coffee and got warmed up again, went across the street, filled up the bike, finished topping off the oil and left.
Kinda' long, but I'm painting a word picture since I didn't use my camera much that day. I left Eureka, did get a couple of pictures along Hwy 50, so here they are:


After about 107 miles of the loneliest hwy, I got to Ely, NV, an old depressed former mining town with a whole lot of truck traffic.. I gassed up and headed north on 93, where I naturally ran into "stimulus funding construction". the entire length of 93 to 93A was being resurfaced, so it was pilot car time again. Here are the only pictures I took when I took a rest break in an old rest area along 93. The Lincoln Hwy and old Pony express route crossed the hwy here. Here are the pictures:



These plaques and things all tell the story of of the Pony express and Lincoln Hwy. After I got done taking these pictures, I took off, caught up with the traffic and went on through the last part of the road re-construction, onto 93A......more on that in the next post..

[DanTheMan]

Hwy 93A to Wendover, NV and on to Ogden, UT...

Now, as I came to the end of the road construction and Hwy 93, I was able to cruise up 93A. I topped the summit, and over the summit, I saw a national landmark where a lot of different people have set speed records. I found a place to pull off, and snapped a picture, but it was from a ways down the slope before there was a safe place to pull off the road.

The white on the horizon is the Bonneville salt flats. The next picture is the view through my windscreen to the last mountain range before hooking to the northeast and towards Salt Lake City the Great Salt Lake (no pictures) and time to spoil my grandkids some more. Boy, they sure were happy to see me again, a week after the last time.

[DanTheMan]

I left my daughter's house around 3:30 pm and headed south on the super slab so I could head out of Utah on US 40 going east toward Colorado. As I went over the Wasatch range, I saw some bright fall colors, thought I'd see some more, but it all faded into pine trees. A little later on, a viewpoint looking over a nice little valley with a farmstead in it presented itself. Another traveler even took my picture......Here are the picts.


After I left this area, I went through some more small towns and started the descent into Vernal, UT. The sun was going down, and the painted desert was in full color. Unfortunately, I had no safe place to pull over and snap a few pictures, trust me, it was really neat looking though. I've been given orders by my wife to get many more pictures tomorrow, or I'm in big trouble. It'll be a slow trip through the land of dinosaurs and over the Trail Ridge road in Rocky Mtn National Park tomorrow snapping pictures.
I guess if you're from somewhere in the area of the eastern or western slope and want to join up, I'll be glad to see you. Ray, you've got my cell phone #, but there will be areas of no service. I'll check it every time I stop and fuel up and answer if I can connect.

[cowboyup3371]

Dan, like others I have been following your trip as well. How far south in CO are you planning on riding?

[DanTheMan]

From Utah to Colorado.....

I left my motel room in Utah and headed for Colorado and took a few scenery pictures on the way. The first one is entering Vernal, Utah, its brother or sister is at the exit from town. It's not Barney either....
Found a BLM kiosk with some interesting info on the way out... a view up the road to the east... and to the west (this is on US Route 40)

Getting into the real fun roads had its boring times too, look at this straight road in Colorado (still US route 40)
However, after several hours on the road (and there were some good twisty bits once the road got to those mountains in the distance) I finally made it to the west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The quaking aspen have already turned at the western entrance....

[DanTheMan]

more...

Here are a few shots in the park you might enjoy...... A 108 year old cabin an early settler built and abandoned because of the rough winters, he gave up his homestead.

some views on the way up follow.
There were a lot of these signs in both directions, the washed out speed limit sign says 15.
A view from the road construction stop below.
altitude 11,354 feet. At the treeline here.

This was at the top where the road construction ended and a brand new problem popped up for me. I turned into a parking lot to take the next couple of pictures and made a startling discovery. I hadn't been watching my volt meter and my charging system had fried, the stator was dead, I had no juice there. I rolled downhill, got started and it was rather interesting for the rest of the park and into Estes Park as well. More pictures coming up....

[DanTheMan]

An elk and more...

Here's what I stopped to take pictures of as did many other people.
some tundra
Lava cliffs


Stay tuned and I'll tell you how this problem was resolved..