California Spanish Missions Trip

California Spanish Missions Trip

The Rules

"The twenty-one Spanish missions were established from 1769 to 1823 and extend from the coastal seaport of San Diego to the Sonoma Valley. All the Missions are beautifully restored to capture the era that defined the character and culture of California. Complete the tour of all 21 in any order within a single calendar year and receive a specially designed plaque commemorating your accomplishment."

A descriptive list of the missions can be found at: http://Californias-Missions.org

I had to complete a passport book from SCMA detailing all 21 locations. I added a photo of my motorcycle at each of them as evidence. I then submitted the completed passport book to for review and approval of my photos, they will return it to me at the Annual Awards Banquet next March. At that time, they will present a CA Missions pin and plaque in recognition of the accomplishment.

Trip Map - Overall

 WHY?

One of the objectives I had for 2017 was to complete three of SCMA’s five sanctioned rides to achieve the “Triple Crown” award. I had originally planned to do the this ride immediately followed by the “Four Corners TRUE-X” and “Three Flags Classic” rides. I decided that this was the easiest of the five rides since I could complete the entire trip in 4-5 days for just this portion of the trip.

I found out that I would be attending training in the Los Angeles area in mid-April. I asked my wife Trish if she wanted to go with me and she indicated that she had other activities scheduled for that week so that she wouldn’t be going. I then decided that I would split this trip off from the rest and wrap it around the four days of training.

The original plan was to start at the northern-most Mission in Sonoma and complete the trip in San Diego.

Day One – Friday, April 14th

I left the house around 11:00AM which was about two hours later that I had planned. It took me longer to get packed and get the bike loaded that I had planned. I initially drove south to Barstow, CA before heading west to Barksdale. I then proceeded north to in Fairfield, CA which is 35 miles northeast of San Francisco where I arrived at the hotel around 11:00PM. I covered 580 miles with 3 gas stops with nearly 12 hours of travel. The ride through Tahachapi Pass was interesting since the temperatures dropped into the mid-forties with strong head winds. I had to stop twice to put on winter gear. Even with that it was still cold. Most of the stops were to change my outer clothing because of temperature changes. I had problems late in the day with my hands cramping because of fatigue and the cold.

Day Two – Saturday, April 15th

Mission San Francisco Solano

I left the hotel at 8:30AM and arrived to the first Mission in Sonoma around 9:15AM. I then began the trip south to visit a total of nine missions on this first day. I arrived at the hotel in King City at 8:30PM. I covered 325 miles on another 12 hour day. I used my cell phone for directions between each of the stops. The major problem was that the battery kept dying on me. I had to stop and recharge a couple of times. The highlights were crossing the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges in the morning. Mission number 5 was in the San Jose area in the middle of a college campus. I had to ride through some barricades to get a picture of the motorcycle in front of the Mission.

Golden Gate Bridge

I had an interesting conversation with a California Highway Patrolman about 30 miles north of Monterey. I had pulled off at an exit to put on warmer riding gear since I was close to the coast. He thought that I might be having problems but when I explained what I was doing, I described the trip that I was on. We parted ways as I headed to Mission #8.

Here are the missions that I visited on Day One:

1	Mission San Francisco Solano (9:15AM)
2	Mission San Rafael Arcangel (10:00AM)
3	Misión San Francisco de Asís (11:00AM Golden Gate Bridge)
4	Old Mission San Jose (12:15PM crossed Bay Bridge)
5	Mission Santa Clara de Asís (2:15PM)
6	Mission Santa Cruz (3:30PM)
7	Mission San Juan Bautista (4:45PM)
8	Carmel Mission Basilica (5:45PM)
9	Mission Soledad (6:45PM)

Day 3 – Sunday, April 16th (Easter Sunday)

Mission San Antonio de Padua

I left the hotel and arrived at the first of the 7 missions at 8:00AM. The Mission San Antonio de Padua is in the middle of the US Army Fort Hunter-Liggett. While I was getting my pictures, there were a few families coming in late for the Easter Mass. The interesting fact that I discovered was that these Missions are still active and are not just museums.


Old Mission Santa Barbara

I took a break at Mission #6 in Santa Barbara. The mission is located on a hill with a view of the ocean. There is a park area next to it, so I stretched out under a shade tree and took a quick nap. Since this was Easter Sunday, there were many families that were picnicking, kite flying and Frisbee tossing. I arrived at the hotel in Ventura at 4:30PM and covered 245 miles with one gas stop.

I still had to struggle with power for my cell phone but discovered that the cord was being stretched too tight. One I discovered that, it worked much better.

This is the list of seven missions that I visited today:

1	Mission San Antonio de Padua (9:00AM)
2	Mission San Miguel Arcángel (10:00AM)
3	Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (12:00PM)
4	La Purisima Mission State Park (1:00PM)
5	Old Mission Santa Ines (1:30PM)
6	Old Mission Santa Barbara (2:30PM)
7	San Buenaventura Mission (3:45PM)

Day 4 – Monday, April 17th

Mission San Fernando Rey de España

This was the shortest day and this was by design. I did this because I didn’t want to deal with the Los Angeles traffic and my training didn’t start until Tuesday morning in El Segundo/LAX area. The weather was overcast and comfortable. I left the hotel around 10:00AM and I arrived at my destination hotel around 2:00PM after covering 125 miles.

The two missions that I visited were:

1	Mission San Fernando Rey de España (11:45AM)
2	San Gabriel Mission (12:45PM)

Day 5 to 7 – Training

I really hate riding in the Los Angeles area because of the traffic so I left the bike parked at the hotel. My training was only a block from the hotel and there were plenty of restaurants in a three-block radius. I ate at the hotel several times as well.

Day 8 – Friday, April 21st

Mission San Luis Rey

I completed my training shortly after noon and hit the road heading for the final three missions. This was a hot, sunny day which continued to get hotter as the afternoon wore on. My GPS gave me bad directions to the Mission San Luis Rey and I ended up having to backtrack about 5 miles in heavy traffic and temperatures in the 90’s. I decided to check into my hotel before going to the final mission and waiting for rush hour to pass. I took a shower and a short nap. I visited the final mission around 7:30PM.

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala

On the way back to the hotel, I had dinner at one of my favorite Sushi restaurants before calling it a day. I covered 180 miles in about four hours. The last three missions were:

1	Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano (1:30PM)
2	Mission San Luis Rey (3:30PM)
3	Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala (7:15PM)

Day 9 – Saturday, April 22nd

I spent the night in Rancho Bernardo which is where my employer has its largest R&D facility. Over the past 40 years, I have spent a great deal of time there and have many friends that live in the area. I had breakfast with a group of them before hitting the road around 10:00AM. The trip was uneventful although crossing the Mojave Desert had temperatures in the mid-90’s. I arrived home at roughly 3:15PM.

TRIP RECAP

I transmitted the pictures to Walgreen’s for processing. Around a week after I completed the trip, I pasted the photos into the Passport Book to properly document the trip. The SCMA organization requires this documentation to prove that I completed the trip in accordance with the rules.

The trip covered nine days, 1,795 miles, 48 gallons of premium gas at an average cost of $3.55 per gallon. My gas mileage was 37.7 miles per gallon.

I decided that it was a good thing that I split this trip from the other two rides because of the lessons learned from this trip. I discovered that I need an actual GPS device, since my cell phone proved unreliable. The GPS unit will work where the cell phone will , especially when I am outside the US.

I also tried out some new packing techniques that I determined after my 2014 trip. This has reduced the amount of time that it takes to get checked into and out of the hotel in the evening as well as reduce the amount of gear I have to carry in and out daily.

FOLLOW-UP

My wife and I took a trip in July to Wisconsin, where I was able to test out the GPS unit that I bought for the trip in our rental car. Once I figured out how the power cord worked and everything was better than I expected. I also had to experiment with some of the settings to determine the features that I found most useful. I really like the feature of showing me gas stations and restaurants that are ahead of me. It allows me to dynamically add a stop for gas or food into the trip.

The main thing is that I can completely plan the trip on my laptop and then transfer it to the GPS unit. I have gone through the different segments of the trip looking at it on a turn-by-turn basis and cleaning up minor inconsistencies. It is much more detailed that Google Maps and I can program in points on the trip so that I can have a timeline for the trip. I can use this information to determine the approximate times I hit major traffic areas. I used this to determine the optimal start times in order to avoid rush hours it the major cities that I will be passing through. This was another lesson I learned from the 2014 trip.

WHAT'S NEXT?

My next post will be from the first day of the trip on Tuesday where I travel from Las Vegas to the first corner in San Ysidro, CA. Stay tuned for more details.

Getting Ready for the Trip

Getting Ready for the Trip

Background

It was three years ago, that I made the first attempt to travel to the Four Corners of the United States. This trip covered 40 states, 11,500 miles in a 25-day journey. It was quite an experience that had its challenges. I spent nine months planning for that trip, initially determining the route to reach the four corners and then determining what other objectives I wanted to achieve. The trip’s schedule was centered on attending my 45^th High School Class Reunion. I decided when I finished the trip to start thinking about the next adventure.

I joined the “Southern California Motorcycle Association (SC-MA)” in 2014 since they are one of the Sanctioning Organization for the long-distance riding community. They also offer a series of other rides and have awards for completing multiple events. In the fall of 2016, in earnest, I started looking at this objective as I began the planning process for a series of trips in 2017.

TRUE-X 4-Corners Trip Map

In September 2016, I decided to go for the “Triple Crown” award by completing three events. The first was the “California Missions” trip, the “TRUE-X 4-Corners”, and finally the SC-MA’s premier “3-Flags Classic” event. Although I have been planning the TRUE-X for 18-months I added the other two trips to the plan. The 3-Flags run is an annual event and occurs over the Labor Day weekend each year. Since this trip has fixed dates and starts in Abbottsford, British Columbia on August, 31^st. All the other components of the trip must support making this date.

My initial plan was to do all three trips consecutively with a one or two-day break between each run. In addition, since the 3-Flags trip start is 50-miles from the Blaine, Washington corner. I reordered the 4-Corners so that I ended up there in the end. The San Ysidro corner is the closest to my home, so this always makes this the logical starting point. In April, I needed to attend training in the Los Angeles area so I decided to split the California Missions trip off and schedule it around the training. Since there is no time-limit for this trip, I re-planned this trip to place the training into the middle of the schedule and completed 18 of the 21 missions over the Easter weekend. I completed the remaining 3 missions after the training before returning home. I will cover the details of this trip in my next post.

The BLOG

When I was planning the 2014 trip, I decided to document the journey daily and chose a Google site to accomplish this. Initially this was to keep family, friends and co-workers informed on my progress. I used the blog as well as my Facebook account as the mechanism to let them know how the trip was progressing.

In addition, I had built a spreadsheet that planned the trip day-by-day which included a hotel to stay at and the distance to be covered. It also estimated my fuel consumption and costs. During the trip, I tracked every gas stop so that I could see my actual gas mileage and other information. To simplify the overall process, I developed checklists for the 4 major events that occur every day (starting out in the morning, the end of the day, each gas stop, and finally what I needed to do each evening).

This information has proved to be invaluable in planning this trip. I decided after the trip that I wanted to try the harder version of the 4-Corners trip which is called “TRUE-X”. On the original trip, I started in San Ysidro, California and travelled to Blaine, Washington then Madawaska, Maine and finally Key West, Florida before returning home. This TRUE-X trip requires a stop in the small town of Lebanon, Kansas which is the “Geographic Center of the Continental United States” between each corner for a total of three visits.

The Equipment

I spent time reading the blog from the previous trip and made note of what gear worked and what did not. It also described that on some days the route was complex and needed to use a GPS device. Since I did not have a way to charge my cell phone on the original trip meant that I couldn’t use that. On two days, I ended up getting off course and loosing time.

On the California Missions trip, I used my cell phone to provide the directions. I encountered problems with the power cord and battery life so it was not as dependable as I needed. Since the TRUE-X means travelling on non-Interstate highways when travelling to Lebanon, Kansas a GPS is critical to completing the trip efficiently. In addition, I will be travelling for 6-days in Canada and 3-days in Mexico, the cell phone will not work on those days. I spent a couple of weeks evaluating GPS units and finally settled on a Garmin Zumo 595LM. I chose this unit because it had a large screen but most importantly that is was designed for use on a motorcycle. This unit is weather-proofed and vibration resistant. It also has detailed planning tool for the laptop that allows a great deal of control over the route and schedule. These are features that my cell phone doesn’t offer. My wife and I took a road-trip to Wisconsin and we used the GPS unit. I was able figure out its use prior to the trip. After some initial difficulty, I figured out the problem and used it exclusively on the trip home. I am continuing to learn how to use the features that far exceed the capabilities of a cell phone.

I also purchased a separate feature that allows the GPS unit to monitor the tire pressure which will provide a level of safety needed for the bike’s operation.

Although the GPS unit is the largest expense item it is not the most critical item that will improve this trip. I also discovered safety glasses that offer bi-focal reader lenses from Duluth Trading. I can now see the gauges and the details on the GPS and phone. I have three pairs ranging from clear to dark sunglasses and one that is in between. This will allow for the protection of my eyes in all lighting conditions.

What’s Next?

In my next post, I will describe the “California Missions Trip” where I visited all 21 of the Spanish Missions that are the backbone of California’s history. I will also do one additional post before I leave on August 8^th with the details and schedule of the trip.

I also have scheduled to have the bike serviced by my local Harley-Davidson dealer in preparation for the trip along with having the power connections for the GPS installed.

DAY #04 - An Abrupt End to a LONG Trip!!!

Monday, September 4th, 2017 - Labor Day

The goal for today was to leave very early from Kanab, Utah and arrive at the Mexican Border crossing by 11:00 AM. This was done to cover as many miles as possible before the Arizona heat got too high.

I left the hotel at 2:45 AM (Arizona time). The temperature was in the low 50's, so I was wearing my leather jacket, a cloth neck wrap and summer riding gloves. I crossed into Arizona about five minutes later. For the next half hour or so, I followed a car, so we moved along in the 55-65 mph speed range. We slowed down for many of the curves. With the exception of the road reflectors it was the only indication if there was a curve in the road ahead.

The final 45-miles

We arrived at Jacob Lake which is in the Kanab National Forest on US-89A. This is where the turnoff is to head south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. There is a gas station and campground there as well. The car I had been following turned off, so I was alone on the road. I decided to slow my speed to be 5-10 mph below the limit because I didn't want to out drive my headlights.

About 4 miles past the turnoff as I was rounding a turn, I encountered a deer standing in the middle of the right lane that I was travelling in. Having only a second to react, the deer started running to my right as I swerved to the left to miss it. I ended hitting the deer in its right hindquarter area. I guess that was travelling at around 45 mph and had hit the brakes prior to impact. I was fortunate not to hit the main part of the deer's body or that would have been catastrophic and I would have been thrown over the top of the bike.

Because I only hit a portion of the deer, the bike continued on. The anti-lock brake indicator came on so I know that I had hit the brakes fairly hard. There was a whining sound from the front-end of the bike but it continued onward. I could smell something but I don't have the best sense of smell. I rode further and the whine went away, the smell decreased and the bike was handling better.

About three more miles later I had slowed even more, the front wheel started wobbling which is an indication that the tire had gone flat. Before I could bring the bike to a complete stop, the bike abruptly stopped and the bike rolled over my left leg and threw me to the pavement. I was not trapped by the bike which weighs around 1,000 pounds loaded. However, I knew that I had scraped my knee but nothing was broken. The Kevlar pads in the shoulder and elbow areas had protected my upper body and my helmet kept my head protected.

The time was around 3:45 AM when this all happened. I got up and looked at the bike and made sure that I shut off the engine switch and made sure that there was no gas leaking from the tank. I then tried to turn the ignition off but that turned off the lights on the bike. I tried to turn on the emergency flashers to no avail. I went into the external pocket on my backseat pack and got out my flashlight. I saw headlights in the trees beyond the turn I had just past and two other motorcyclists rounded the corner. I turned the headlights back on and used the flashlight to signal them that there was a problem. The two bikers from Canada were part of the group that I was in helped me get the bike upright and pushed off to the side of the road.

Having the bike parked in a safe location, they then made sure that I was okay and safe. We then looked at my GPS unit and got the coordinates of where we were. Being in the middle of nowhere, there was no cell service. They snapped pictures of the GPS coordinates and continued on with their trip. When they got to the next town, they called the Arizona State Police and gave them my location and notified them that I was not injured. They also notified the organizers of the Three Flags Classic ride and advised them that I had gone down and would not be finishing the trip. Before they left, they told me to put on my cold weather gear since in might be several hours before help could arrive. The temperatures were still in the low 50's (best guess) with a light wind, so it made sense to follow their suggestion.

I pulled out the hooded sweatshirt which is the in the top of the pack and was originally the winter liner for the leather jacket. I put that on along with my winter gloves and pulled the ball cap out of the T-Box that is on the rear of the bike. I also grabbed one of those goofy flashlights that have an elastic strap to wear on your forehead. I used that light to get situated to wait for help to arrive. I was pleased that as part of planning for the trip I was able to get to all of this gear directly and without digging through other things. I sat on the bike which was mostly straight up instead of its normal 15-degree tilt to the left. Because of this, I was able to sit upright. After eating a breakfast bar that was crushed in my pocket, I covered up and hunkered down to wait for help to arrive.

I live in Las Vegas and our backyard faces north towards the city. The lights prevent us from seeing anything but the major stars. Being in the middle of nowhere, the stars were brilliant. I looked at them and truly appreciated God's creation and the miracle that I had survived this event. I was also sad because I knew that the major goal that I had spent 27 days to get to was not going to happen.

As I waited, I would signal other biker groups that I was okay by giving them a thumbs-up indication. I decided to close my eyes and eventually fell asleep. I didn't hear when the State Trooper arrived until he closed his car door and started to ask if I was alright which was around 5:30 AM. He then called for a wrecker and proceeded to create the accident report. While we waited for the tow truck, I told him about the trip I was on as well as the one I had completed.

Fastening the bike to the truck

The truck arrived around 6:30 AM. The Trooper helped the driver and I position the bike to get it loaded onto the flatbed truck and assisted getting it loaded onto the truck's flatbed. It was a struggle for me since we were at about 7,500 feet elevation and I had to take some time to catch my breath. Fortunately, there were no chest pains. Since the sun was up and the temperatures was climbing, I took off the leather jacket since I had broken out into a sweat helping get the bike loaded. The driver took his time and tethered the bike to the flatbed with about 9 straps. After we loaded the bike we took off and headed back to Kanab which was where he is out of. We traveled the 45 miles back and I at a package of crackers that I had saved for later. We came upon one stretch of road where there were cows out on the road. The driver also mentioned that there were buffalo in the area as well. I was glad that I only hit a deer.

We arrived back in Kanab around 8:00 AM and I made arrangements to the owner to have the bike transferred to the nearest Harley-Davidson dealer in St. George, Utah which was 70 miles away. They moved the bike from the flatbed and placed it on a trailer designed for motorcycle transport. While they were moving the bike, I decided to walk across the street to the Three Flags Checkpoint. I grabbed some oranges, water and some snacks. They had been informed that I had gone down by the organizing group's hotline. I let them know that I was okay and that the bike was not totaled as the original riders had thought. I then walked across the street again and waited for the ride to the H-D dealer, in the meantime, the tow company had another vehicle going to the same area. They loaded it onto the flatbed and hitched the trailer to the truck and the other two customers and I headed to St. George.

I arrived at the Zion Harley-Davidson dealer around 11:00 AM. I made arrangements for them to repair the motorcycle. I grabbed my large rear-seat pack (40 pounds), my computer bag and a canvas bag with miscellaneous gear in it. One of the salesman drove me to the Shuttle service that runs from St. George to the Las Vegas airport. The next run happened to be an "Executive" run so I rode in a van with reclining seats. I slept most of the way and called my wife to pick me up at the airport. I got home and took care of a few things before going to bed for a long nap. I got up around 8:00 PM, had something to eat and went back to bed. I have slept a lot the past few days and managed to get some work in 

WHAT I LEARNED:

At breakfast with friends on Friday morning, they asked, if hitting the deer was the worst point of the trip what was the best part of the trip. It took a few seconds to come up with the answer and a few more to regain my composure before I could reply: "It was just after the accident when I realized that God had protected me and I was walking away with some scrapes and bruises." The bike can be repaired and I will come out of this unscathed.

I learned that the "Three Flags Classic" is flexible where the only rules is you have to travel to the checkpoint on a motorcycle vehicle. You don't have to follow the suggested route and you don't have to stay in the checkpoint cities. Knowing that, I would have gone a couple of hours beyond the checkpoint to reduce the overall distance for the next day. Had I done this in Kanab and traveled through the forest are during daylight hours, I could avoided the accident. The planned routes are designed to be scenic and challenging but in the extreme summer heat could be shortened by using a more direct route. I booked my hotel reservations a couple of months in advance in order to lock in lower rates. The next time I will take that into account and not lock the schedule in.

The lessons I learned from three years before were very helpful and made a huge difference nearly every day. I had packed my clothes in layers on my first 4-Corners run and had to haul the big pack into the hotel nightly. This time I took a days worth of clothes and rolled them and placed them vertically in individual plastic bags. I also bought a mesh laundry bag that went into the large pack that rides in the back seat of the bike. As I would remove a rolled bag with tomorrow's clothes I would expand the laundry in the bag to take up the newly freed space. I the morning, I would take the prior days clothes and stuff them into the remaining space in the laundry bag. I only removed the large pack when I did laundry every 6-7 days. At the bottom of the bag, I placed the things that I would only use when I was doing laundry, so that everything that I was wearing could be washed as well. This included my prescription medicines that I would refill the 7-day pillbox that was in my shaving kit. The top layer that were placed over the rolled-up clothes was just a dry pair of jeans and the hooded sweatshirt on the very top.

The GPS unit was a critical piece of equipment throughout the entire trip. There were major stretches where I was traveling on country highways. On a motorcycle, you cannot pull out a map to determine where you need to go. It also helped me locate gas stations 40-50 miles before I needed them. It was designed for use on a motorcycle and worked well when using gloves. It also works where there is no cell service. There are still major portions of the Western US where there is limited or no cell service. Since I was traveling in Canada and Mexico, this was critical. I also appreciated that while I was passing through Quebec where all traffic signs are in French.

THE NUMBERS:

I covered 13,365 miles starting on August 8th and ending deep in the woods on September 4th. I had the bike serviced twice in Omaha and Vancouver. I had both tires replaced as well as a broken part in the transmission. Including the "California Missions" run in April, I consumed 413 gallons of premium gas, making 88 stops, and getting 36.5 MPG. The total fuel costs were $1,287 at an average cost of $3.12 per gallon.

On the 4-Corners run, I averaged 616 miles per day with the longest day covering 826 miles. The run from Kansas to Key West and back I drove 4,394 miles in 6 days for and average of 732 miles per day. I traveled through 19 states and 4 Canadian Provinces.

WHATS NEXT:

I sat down last night and started planning another trip to hit 24 of the 25 National Parks, Monuments, and Historical Sites for a different ride sometime in the future. I am in no rush to get back on the bike for a long-distance ride.

THANKS:

I want to thank everyone who supported be through comments to this blog or to my Facebook posts, For a high school student who hated to write anything, I have enjoyed recalling my adventures in this medium.

Thanks for all of your prayers. GOD BLESS...

DAY #02 - One of the Hottest Days Yet

Map for Days 2 & 3

Saturday, September 2nd, 2017

Today was another 500 mile trip from Hood River, Oregon to Winnemucca, Nevada. I left about 6:00 AM and it was in the low 50's so I wore warm clothes. About noon when I stopped for lunch it was in the mid-90's The remainder of the day was very hot and little shade.

Shortly after sunrise, I had a few brief glances of Mount Hood which was covered in snow. I stopped for lunch and tried to drink as much water as possible to prevent dehydration. I tried to deal with the heat as best as I could. 

I got to Winnemucca's checkpoint. It happened to be at the fairgrounds. The Tri-County Fair was in progress. I was definitely suffering heat stress. I finally gto to the check-in location. They had snacks and Gator Aid on ice, so I downed one and eventually felt better. 

I chatted with some other riders that had done this annual classic over 30 times. I spoke with one woman who had chaired the ride on two occasions in the past. She and her husband started this Annual Classic 43 years ago. She had intended to ride but fell on Friday morning while getting ready to leave and fractured her collar bone. She still was going on the ride, just as a passenger on the back of someone else's back.

After leaving the fairgrounds and checked into the hotel. I worked on the Blog, entered my expenses and went to sleep around 10:00 PM.

Sunday, September 3rd, 2017

This was a 600 mile day where the third checkpoint was in Kanab, Utah. I left the hotel at 5:00 AM and was making good time. I realized to late that there were no gas stations for 40 miles or so. I pulled over at an exit and used one of the spare tanks of gas to return to a station that I had passed about 15 miles back. By the time I got back to where I turned around the sun was up and it was 45-minutes later. It was not a good start for the day. 

I got to Ely, Nevada and it had warmed up so I shed the leather jacket for shirt sleeves and wet towels to keep cool. There is one stretch of 125-miles that reminded me of the scene from "Forrest Gump" where he comes to the end of his run. The road is a straight line and you can see it disappear on the horizon. That is exactly how several of these valley crossings looked.

I stopped for fuel and lunch in Beaver, Utah. I was feeling pretty good. This is the closest point on this four-week adventure to where I live, which is just 5-hours south. I pressed on to Kanab for the third checkpoint. It was hot and muggy so I was pretty tired again. I had some oranges and water before getting the gas tank topped off for the morning.

I got checked into the hotel, got cleaned up and walked a block to a nice restaurant for dinner. I finished up the paperwork and got caught up on this blog. I plan on leaving a 3:00 AM in the morning and intend to reach the Mexican border by 11:00 AM.

DAY #01 - The Start of the Three Flags Classic (TFC)

Thursday, August 31st, 2017

If you are just picking up on this journey, I ran the Four Corners TRUE-X when I left for the first Corner on August 8th. After 11,713 miles and 20 days, I completed the trip. A trip like this comes with some wear and tear physically my body but also the motorcycle, On Tuesday, I slept most of the day but made an appointment to get the bike prepared for the next major ride for Wednesday. Thursday was all about preparing for the upcoming ride.


That means that the laundry must be taken care of, the daily segmented pillbox for all my prescriptions must be refilled, and the bags must be repacked and ready for the trip to start. The laundry room was a busy place so I had to work around other folks loads. This ended up taking about a half-day. While the last load was drying, I went and completed the registration process by signing in.


I am rider number 17 of over 300 that will be riding as individuals and small groups. As a first time participant it was an interesting process. I attended the happy hour reception at five followed by the dinner. The hotel I have been staying at did a great job. Since I hadn't eaten for most of the day, I thought the food was great for a simple buffet. I scarfed down on three deserts.

DAY #01 - Friday, September 1st, 2017

I got everything together so that all I had to do was load the bike. I checked out of the hotel, and dropped off the poker chip with my #17 as proof of my departure in the allotted time period. I heard bikes leaving at 5:00 AM while I was getting ready to go. I left the hotel shortly after 6:00 AM and headed out on the 15-minutes ride to the US Border. By 7:00 AM, I had cleared customs and had travelled a total of 10 miles.

This was to be a 500-mile trip, I started out in my leather jacket because the temperatures were in the low 50's. This was a physically demanding trip since the vast majority was on very twisted two-lane highways through the Cascades. It was a beautiful drive but I couldn't use the cruise control so throughout the afternoon by hands were cramping up.




Much of the afternoon was spend on National Forest Roads. These roads are notoriously rough and my bike bottomed out several times. It was moving out of bright sunlight and dark shadows. As I was starting out, I had to stop and put on the clear safety classes so that I could see in the shade. I had brief glimpses of Mount Reiner and Mount Saint Helens. I finally crossed the Columbia River and hit the Day's Check Point in Hood River, Oregon.




I got checked into the hotel around sunset. Once I got the paperwork for the day completed it was 11:30 PM and I wanted to get as much sleep as possible since I wanted to leave early in the morning

WHATS NEXT:

Saturday will take me through the remainder of Oregon. It will be cool in the morning and extremely hot in the afternoon.

DAY #18, 19 & 20 - I made it to the 4th and Final Corner

The fourth and final corner is Blaine, Washington. This is a seaside community on the Puget Sound and the Canadian Border. I completed the trip in twenty days having covered 11,572 miles. I made 65 stops for fuel, consumed $968.28 and 328.4 gallons of premium gas. This resulted in 36.1 miles per gallon.

Saturday, August 26th, 2017

Today, I started out around 9:00 AM. As I was headed to the highway, I noticed that there were rain clouds in the direction I was headed. I put on the jacket for the rain suit. The storm was heavier that planned so I pulled over under an overpass and put on the pants portion. I cleared the storm about 20 minutes later. I got out of of the suit when I stopped for gas when I got the the first rest area in Wyoming.

There is not much to say about the scenery in Western Nebraska. I hit a ridge of small mountains between Cheyenne and Laramie that was a fun ride. I stopped at one of the rest areas and stretched out and took a short nap. The temperatures were in the 90's so it was a challenge to stay cool.

I stopped for dinner while the sun was setting. The temperatures dropped quickly once I left and I had to stop and put on warmer clothing. So the story for today was: (1) too wet, (2) too hot, and (3) too cold. The weather is always the critical factor.

Having started out in North Platte, Nebraska and I ended the day near Ogden, Utah. I covered 663 miles in about 12 hours.

Sunday, August 27th, 2017

I spent the night in a nice hotel. I noticed as soon as I walked into the hotel lobby this morning that part of the cover I put on the bike last night had blown loose. Fortunately, it didn't tear and blow away which was good. Because of the high winds, I wasn't able to fold it nicely, so I just crammed into the saddlebag before getting the rest of the bike ready to go.

I went back into the lobby to get something to eat before leaving. I chatted with a nice couple from Tennessee who were originally from this area. They stated the the winds pick up every morning because we are at the end of the canyon. So once I got going the winds dropped quickly. I had to make several stops to remove gear as the temperatures were climbing. By mid-afternoon, it was over 100 in most places. I took a long lunch in Boise, Idaho to cool off.

I passed through a portion of Oregon before crossing the Columbia River into Washington State at sunset. I got to the hotel in Yakima around 9:30 PM. I drove past the hotel to see if there was some place to eat. However, there were several Pot Stores, lots of homeless people and seemed kind of creepy. I parked the bike by the front door of the hotel and while I was putting on the cover I was approached by an individual. She left when I lied to her and told her I was a cop (which was a lie). I ended up ordering a pizza and had it delivered to the room. I covered 694 miles today in roughly 12 hours.

Monday, August 28th, 2017

Today was planned as a later start than normal to miss traffic in the Seattle area. This was also the shortest day of about 300 miles. I left around 10:00 AM and passed through the Cascade Mountains with some construction. I made it to the final corner with only one stop for gas and no breaks.

I reached the final corner checkpoint at 1:45 PM. I had lunch at a Thai restaurant with a nice view of the bay. I was able to cool down and get ready for the remainder of the ride. I got the final gas receipt to make the documentation complete.

I crossed the border into Canada and headed to the Harley-Davidson dealer in Langley, British Columbia. Unfortunately, they are not able to service my motorcycle because of the backlog of work already in the shop. I will need to find another dealer in Vancouver or Seattle.

I checked into the hotel around 6:00 PM after fighting some traffic getting out of the Vancouver area to Abbotsford. This is where the next portion of my trip begins on Friday. I planned to have several days of downtime at this point in the trip to get the bike serviced and have an extra day in the event of problems.

I had a very nice dinner at the restaurant that is connected to the hotel. One of the gentlemen at the bar came over to my table and asked if I had the motorcycle from Nevada. It turns out that he is from Carson City and we are both there for the "Three Flags Classic" run that starts from here on Friday morning. He is travelling with his son who will be entering the US Marine Officer Candidate School after this trip.

Tuesday, August 29th, 2017

It has been the first day to relax in 10 days. I slept in this morning and got the computer powered up and stayed been busy until 10:00 AM. I went and had a quiet breakfast and came back to the room and went back to bed. After a few hours and numerous work related emails, I finally got back to writing this blog. I was able to get the bike scheduled for service in Vancouver tomorrow.

WHAT IS NEXT:

On Thursday evening there will be an opening reception for all of the participants on the Annual Three Flags Classic. This is a four-day ride starting in Abbotsford and ending in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. This is the first time in several years that the ride will actually enter Mexico. Friends have told me that they vacation in this resort area yearly and that the area is safe. We will arrive there on Labor Day and there will be an Awards Banquet on Tuesday evening. I will return home on Wednesday.

DAY #15, 16 & 17 - Final Visit to Lebanon

Because of 3 long days, 2084 miles, and very short nights, I am finally catching up on the trip's progress.

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2017

My intentions was to start out around 5:00 AM but got a late start 90 minutes beyond the plan. I got on the Florida Turnpike and after 10 miles and 45 minutes, I decided to turn around and return to the hotel. I ended up leaving around 11:00 AM.

As I walked out of the room it was pouring rain again. I got out to the bike and got the rain suit out and put on. I then had to quickly uncover the bike and stash the cover into the right saddlebag. After 50 miles, I stopped for gas and got out of the rain gear. The remainder of the day it was battling the heat, high humidity, and blazing sun. When I was leaving the Orlando area, I pulled off the road and put on the rain jacket since I was heading into a major thunderstorm, Even though my pant legs got wet, they dried out once the weather cleared.

This was a long day with a late start. I left Homestead (which is south of Miami) and headed to Stockbridge, Georgia.(just south of Atlanta). I got to the hotel at 11:30 PM but found out that I was at the wrong Quality Inn. I had to backtrack about 5 miles to get to the proper one. It was after midnight when I got to the room.

Thursday, August 24th, 2017

I got through Atlanta traffic using the bypass with only a few backups. I cleared the area by 6:30 AM. I had a longer than normal breakfast break so I would hit Chattanooga a little later in order to avoid their rush hour. Today was a day of fighting fatigue. I stopped for a break in Murfreesboro, TN and decided to have lunch. I failed to realize that I had crossed into the Central time zone. The manager saw me and let me in even though they were not going to open for another 45 minutes. I had a big lunch and left the restaurant just as they were opening. It didn't matter that it took longer to eat than normal. I was just glad to be out of the hot weather.

Much of the fatigue was from lack of sleep from the night before. I stopped at a couple of rest areas to stretch out and catch a few winks. I got the hotel in O'Fallon around 6:30 PM. I did two loads of laundry, restocked my pills for the week and caught up on two days of paperwork. I got to sleep around midnight after repacking everything so that I could be ready early in the morning.

Friday, August 25th, 2017

I was able to clear the traffic in St. Louis in record time. I also fought fatigue all day as well. I was able to stop and change to lighter gear in order to stay cooler. This is also a day where I have over 200 miles of two-lane roads to cover. One thing about Kansas is that they have great roads and 65 MPH speed limits, However, gas stations are few and far between. I hit one station in a tiny town of Tallmage. I am 2-3 miles past empty when I pull into gas station. The sign on the door says it is closed. It turns out that you have to put you credit card into separate machine to get the pump to work. I was down to one spare gallon of gas and 30 miles to the next station. I was glad that there was someone nearby to explain how the system worked. I got the gas and headed back onto the road.

I reached Lebanon for the third and final time. I got the required picture of the bike in front of the Post Office. There was a couple in a car that pulled up next to me and asked directions to the Monument for the "Center of the Continental US" and then to Sturgis. I gave them the directions to the park and mentioned that they might be able to get the directions at the gas station. Since I had to stop at the gas station to get the final piece of documentation for this checkpoint, I ran into them there. I have not run into anyone for a long time that didn't have a GPS, or maps to go such a long distance.

This gas station is quite interesting. It seems that there is always a couple of guys sitting in the station just shooting the breeze. I mentioned that I was on the 4-Corners TRUE-X Run. They mentioned that several other riders had been through in the past few days. I would guess that they are finishing up their trips to get to Abbottsford, British Columbia for the "Tree Flags Run" just like I am.

I stopped for dinner in Kearney, Nebraska at the Whiskey Creek Steakhouse. My wife and I have stopped here before and have always had a great meal. This time was no different. I headed back onto the highway for the last 100 miles to North Platte and a soft bed.

What's Next:

This next stretch will be all Interstate highway covering 650 miles. I will be passing through Wyoming and into Utah. I decided to get a later start so that I can catch up on the blog and paperwork to document the trip. So I will start around 11:00 AM and hopefully minimize the fatigue factor.

DAY #14 - Made it to the Third Corner - KEY WEST

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017

Today was the most brutal day yet. I expected some rain, but not when I got it. Things got warm by late morning and by midday it was near 100 degrees with very high humidity. I normally use "cool towels" the you soak in water and the evaporation while you ride keeps you cool. Unfortunately, in very high humid weather, they don't. In fact they make it slightly worse. I got to Florida City, which is the gateway to the Keys around 2 PM and left for to Keys around 2:30 PM. Of course the clouds did not cooperate. Not one break from he sun the entire trip.

After a great deal of traffic on Highway US-1, I finally arrived at the monument pictured below. The place was a mob scene. There was a line off-camera to the left for people waiting to have their picture taken by the monument, In addition to that, I was in a no parking zone so I had to get the pictures quickly. This is the second time that I have been here with this motorcycle. After getting gas and documenting the event for the Ride I looked for a place to take a long break.


I stopped and had dinner before leaving town. I had to drink two glasses of ice water before I even had the energy to order dinner. I drank another full glass after dinner. I waited till closer to sunset to leave hoping that the lack of sun would make the ride more comfortable. In addition, the traffic was much lighter as well. Just before hitting Marathon, which is around 50 miles from Key West, I ran into the heaviest rainstorm ever. Traffic slowed to 15-20 MPH because of the lack of visibility. I was grateful for this since the bike can be unstable in this type of weather. You cannot stop and pull over since you most likely will be hit by an oncoming vehicle. I was immediately soaked and in the dark to the point where my boots started to fill with rainwater. After about 5 minutes the store ended and we were past it. I tuned on the handle grip warmers to keep my hands warm. I thought that I would be totally chilled to the bone because of the wet clothes, but just like the cool rags earlier in the day I didn't get chilled because of the warm temperatures and high humidity. Once I discovered that I would be fine, I continued on without changing gear or putting on the rain suit since it was not uncomfortable. It was a comfort to know that I had dry clothes with me just in case.


I really felt the chill when I got to the hotel and stepped into the air conditioned lobby to check in. They upgraded my room so that I could park the motorcycle outside the door. This is a very nice motel and I hauled it my computer and other gear in. It was just starting to sprinkle. In less than one minute, it had turned into a total downpour. I just covered the bike and by the time I got back into the room, I was totally soaked again. If I thought I was wet before, I was surely mistaken.


I got up at 4 AM this morning and my clothes are still damp. I will be doing laundry a day earlier than planned. Fortunately, I had dry clothes and another pair of jeans in the bike so I got those this morning. I intend to travel to Stonebridge, Georgia today. I will keep you posted.

DAY #13 - The Marathon Run BEGINS!!!

Monday, August 21st, 2017

Today started early as I left the St Louis area hotel at 5:30 AM. I had a small problem interpreting the GPS so I missed the turnoff to cross the Mississippi River. I ended up on surface streets by Busch Stadium before getting back onto I-55 to cross the river.

On Sunday, I passed through a number of towns that were preparing for the Solar Eclipse that happens today. Since I had covered 722.2 miles on Sunday and 881.8 on Monday, I didn't really care about it. In Southern Illinois, I stopped at McDonald's for breakfast but there must have been 40 people in line, so I left right away. This is a big deal for these communities that were in the path. The highway signs that normally warn you about construction, texting/driving, fatalities year-to-date; were all stating that you could not park on the shoulder of the highway or the ramps for the eclipse.

On my first gas stop for the day, my GPS directed me to the nearest gas station ahead which was two miles beyond the indicated miles on my odometer said I had left. It turns out that it turns out to be relatively accurate. The engine coughed as I was pulling into the gas station, but I made it without having to break out the spare gas I was carrying.

Most of the path that I covered was in the direct path of the eclipse. I got into Georgia shortly after 2:00 PM. I was beat, the temperature was over 90 and the humidity was oppressive. I stopped at the Georgia Welcome Center and found a shady spot under a tree and took a nap for 20 minutes or so. When I got up, it was kind of creepy out and people were looking at the sky. As I was getting loaded up to get back on the road, I got chatting with the man and women in the car parked next to me. They were there when I pulled in. The woman offered to let me use her special glasses and I was able to see just a sliver of light. I told them about the trek that I was on. The gentleman indicated that he worked at the Welcome Center as part of the staff. This is the picture of the two of us.

II stopped in Valdesto for dinner and get gas. This gave time for the sun to set before I headed the last 100 miles to my hotel. I arrived at the hotel in Lake City, Florida after covering 882 miles in 15 hours. I must have forgotten to program the GPS to bypass downtown Atlanta. I ended up there at 4:00 PM and it was rush hour. I also had to stop for gas just south of town. As bad a traffic was, I got through town without any complete stops. Once I cleared the outer bypass just beyond the Atlanta Airport it was clear sailing.

I was lucky today to hit a couple of very short bursts of rain. It looks like I will hit some weather beyond Port Saint Lucia to Miami. There is a tropical depression just off the coast which is kicking up some storms. Well, I am ready to pack the bike and head out for Key West and my third corner before heading to my final stop for tonight in Homestead.

DAY #12 - On the Road Again!!!

Sunday, August 20th, 2017

I finally left the hotel in Omaha at 6:30 AM. It had rained and was still lightning so I suited up in the rain gear. It took much longer to get loaded up that I had planned. I encountered  moderate rain for first 40-50 miles and the weather cleared up and it was sunny and cool.

Lebanon Checkpoint #2

I got to Lebanon, Kansas around 10:30 AM and gathered the required documentation. I also took off the rain suit since the temperatures had climbed up into the 80's. It was 200 miles of non-interstate highway which bypassed most of Kansas City. The highway followed the Pony Express route.

I arrived at hotel around 8:30 PM and covered 750 miles today. Had dinner at the Cracker Barrel that fortunately next door to the hotel.

Heading out early in the morning since it will be a longer trip that today.

DAY #11 - Back on the Road Tomorrow

DAY #11 - Another Day of Rest and Re-planning the Trip

It was nice to sleep in today. I think I was still up by 7:00 AM, so it was not too late. As I mentioned in yesterday's posting, I had to have a part in the drive train replaced. The Service Team at Holstein's Harley-Davidson did a great job getting the bike put back together. They also provided shuttle service to and from the hotel. I picked the bike up around 2:00 PM. They replaced the broken part, the front brakes, the rear tire, and changed the oil, etc.

I spent a good portion of the day re-planning the trip to Key West. I restructured it from a 4-day run to save a day and make it a 3-day trip. It will be a true endurance test, since I will be covering 2,250 miles in a 72-hour period. I am planning to cover 720 miles on Sunday, 860 miles on Monday, and 530 miles on Tuesday. I bought a cushion for the seat, so it won't be perfect, but it will be better that the seat on the bike.I am checking on the criteria for an "Iron Butt Award" which is for covering 1,000 miles in a 24-hour period. 

I have made my hotel reservations for the next two nights. I had difficulty finding a room on Sunday night in the St. Louis area. Most of the hotels in Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis are booked because of the Solar Eclipse. It looks like I will be driving through a good portion of the peak eclipse path.

It looks like I might get a break in the weather since Hurricane Harvey has been downgraded to to Tropical Depression and it looks like it will make landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

That gets me back on schedule by the time I get to Key West. Well the day starts early tomorrow, so it it is a quiet dinner, watch some TV and set the alarm for 5:00 AM and be on the road at 6:00 AM.

Tomorrow, I should hit the Lebanon, Kansas checkpoint by 10:00 AM, Kansas City around 2:30 PM and arrive at the hotel in St. Louis around 7:00 PM.

A Day of Rest - Followed by a One Day Delay

First off, I would like to wish my wife a Happy Anniversary. It is hard to believe that 27 years have passed since we got married at the Third Street Pier on the Milwaukee River followed by a dinner cruise and reception. One sign of the passage of time is that our granddaughter was just a baby and too small to attend the wedding. She now has two beautiful children herself. Here is the cutest picture of them that brings tears to my eyes. God has been good to us over these years together.

DAY #9 – Made it to a Day of Rest in Omaha (or at least I thought)

I left Northwest Indiana shortly after 5:00 AM. That meant that I could get through the construction between the hotel and the state line before the rush hour began. Shortly after entering Illinois, I hit light rain. It continued for around 30 minutes  the front of my lower pantleg was damp, so I stopped and put on the rain suit. Of course, once I did that the rain stopped. It was cool enough that I kept the suit on until I broke for lunch. Immediately after lunch, the sun came out and the temperature jumped into the mid-80’s. The remainder of the ride was pleasant in the bright sun with just a long-sleeved shirt.

I checked into the hotel around 2:00 PM and transferred my gear to the room. It is a nice hotel. The room is small but comfortable. It is part of a Convention Center and Water park, so the facility is quite spread out and somewhat complicated to find things. There is a large convention going on so that hotel is quite busy.

I headed to my client’s offices for what I thought was a quick visit. They were just beginning to discuss a major issue that had just been discovered. Since, I was having a quiet day on Friday, I ended volunteering to come into the office on Friday morning. I then proceeded to drive the motorcycle to local Harley-Davidson dealer for the 55K Maintenance. They then drove me back to the hotel where I ended up having dinner at their restaurant.

DAY #10 – Working and Waiting

One of my co-workers picked me up at the hotel and we went into the office. It was nice to do something other than sit on the bike all day. I figured out a solution and generated the scripts that the client needs to run sometime this weekend. My co-worker dropped me off at the Dealer so that I could wait for the bike to be ready. It looks like it will be a three hour wait. They are waiting for a part for the “Primary”. This gear had become worn and was beginning to fail, so they found the part locally and will get it installed while I am waiting. Fortunately, this is covered by the extended warranty so I only need pay the deductible. This could have caused a serious problem while on the road if it had failed.

I am also having both tires replaced since they didn’t look like they would make another 6K miles which is the next time for scheduled maintenance. Since I might hit serious weather in Florida, I didn’t want to be riding on bald tires. So, I am just sitting out at the dealer’s waiting room and catching up on this blog. I will probably doze off a few times as well.

REALLY BAD NEWS:

Well the shop manager came a spoke with me. They got the part and it needs to be coated with some material which takes 24 hours to cure. Therefore, I will not get the bike back until early Saturday Evening. I extended my hotel for one more night.You can see the chips and burn marks on the gear in these pictures.

Not only have I lost a day because of the broken part, but the Weather Channel gave me more bad news. It appears that Hurricane warnings for later next week are foretasted for Florida.