Second Checkpoint Reached after 3-Days

Reached Second Checkpoint - Blaine, WA

The day started in Kelso, WA when I left at 7:30 AM. The reason that I was starting later than normal was that I wanted to hit the Seattle area at the tail-end of the morning rush hour. I still hit moderate traffic from Tacoma into the Sea-Tac area. I was able to use the Express HOV lanes to bypass most of the traffic. It was nice to have a full night’s sleep and have a fresh start on the day.

The morning temperatures were mostly in the 60's and low-70's and cloudy. I entered the traffic around 9:30 AM. I chose to use the I-405 bypass since the traffic in downtown is very unpredictable and therefore more stress. I used to work in the Bellevue area, so it was interesting that all the highway construction that I endured is completed.

I pushed through to Blaine in order to be there early enough so that on my return pass through Seattle area would be before the afternoon rush hour. Normally when I reach a checkpoint, I try to take a break and get something to eat.

Checkpoint #2 - Post Office, Blaine, Washington

I had a chance to speak with the two owners of the Chevron gas station which is part of the checkpoint process. The gas receipt is a required piece of documentation since it provides the date and time that you reach the corner. They were expanding the building and are thinking of putting up a sign that recognizes the Northwest Corner of the US. It was still cool (mid-60's) so I put the leather jacket back on but opened the vents since I knew that it would get warmer 

I began the second segment of the trip to head to the third corner around noon. I was able to clear the Seattle area around 2:30 PM. I was able to avoid all traffic except where the I-405 intersects I-90. There was some backup and I had to cross 4-5 lanes of stopped traffic to exit onto I-90. It was clear sailing after that.

I drove about one-hour east on I-90 before stopping. I was glad to get the heavy jacket off since the temperatures had reached nearly 90 degrees. I was able to keep hydrated for most of the day, but I was exhausted. I have found that I like stopping at Truck Stops because many have food courts so there is a choice of places to eat and a small dining area to get out of the sun. I have a 32-ounce mug that I can refill with ice water to keep hydrated. It is a constant struggle and I try take a drink every 15-20 minutes. Since this is a long-distance ride, I try to ride as far as possible (~200 miles / 3 hours) and stop only when I need gas.

I reached my planned stopping point in Spokane, WA around 7:30 PM and got checked into the hotel. I had a pizza delivered since I didn't feel like going out and I had already covered the bike for the evening.

I noticed late in the afternoon as I was leaving my last gas stop for the day that there was a sound coming from the engine. So, I am waiting for the local Harley-Davidson dealer to open and see if they can fit me in to determine if I have a problem. This should not have a major impact since I had Friday planned for servicing the bike. Hopefully, it is nothing serious, but we will find out shortly.

I am going to close out this report and get ready to head to the dealer and find out my next steps.

Starting my fourth attempt at the FOUR CORNERS

Background:

I started this adventure back in 2011 when I was chatting with a client in the Seattle area and he mentioned that he had just completed a run to the Four Corners of the Continental United States. It took a couple of years to obtain a bigger motorcycle to make the trip possible. After reviewing a number of You Tube videos about what type of gear I should take I started planning the trip using Google Maps and Excel spreadsheets.

In 2013, I sold my 2008 Sportster 1200 Custom to a friend and purchased a 2010 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic. This bike is designed for long-distance riding and weighs in at nearly 1,000 pounds empty. My first attempt at the Four Corners occurred in 2014 which the entire trip was scheduled around my 45th High School class reunion in Hobart, Indiana.

The Four Corners run consists of riding to each of the corners of the US (San Ysidro, California; Blaine, Washington; Madawaska, Maine; and Key West, Florida) in any order and take a picture of the bike at a specific landmark along with a gas receipt showing the date and time. The trip must be completed in 21 days or less inclusive. I have to plan in two maintenance breaks to have the bike serviced by the time I return home.

I took a break for a couple of years because of work and my second attempt was in 2017 and I did the "True X" version where between every corner you had to check-in at Lebanon, Kansas which is the geographic center of the US. Doing this in August was made more difficult because of the oppressive heat. I completed this trip in 20 days and learned a number of lessons dealing with heat exhaustion and dehydration. I ended up in Blaine as my final checkpoint and headed to Abbotsford, British Columbia and took of on the "Three Flags Run" a few days later. This is a four day ride to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. Unfortunately, on Labor Day at 3:30 AM I hit a deer about 40 miles from nowhere. Fortunately, some other bikers shared the same idea that I had for getting an early start across the Arizona desert. They came by about 15 minutes after the accident and helped be get the motorcycle upright and off of the road. They got my GPS coordinates and drove to the next town (60 miles further on) and called the State Police. I walked away with a scraped knee, some bruises, $8,000 damage to the bike and a $700 towing bill. I was able to get home later that afternoon.

My third attempt was in 2018. After completing the Three Flags Run which started in Puerto Peñasco and ended in Calgary. I then headed to Blaine, Washington and started my third attempt.was aborted when Hurricane Florence made landfall in the Carolina's. Since I was going to be heading into the path of the storm's aftermath and areas where refugees were relocating to. I decided to head for home. The bright spot in the trip was having the opportunity to visit our son's new home in Cincinnati and spend time with my granddaughters.Two years and two unsuccessful trips was pretty discouraging.

THIS YEARS PLANS:

I retired from Teradata last October and decided to take on a epic motorcycle trip this year. I started planning in January. I intend to complete the following runs:

• California Spanish Missions Tour - visit the 21 Spanish Missions between San Diego and Sonora.
• California National Parks Tour - visit 24 National Parks, Monuments, Memorials, and Recreation Areas
• California Scenic Highways Tour - travel on 15 scenic highways with 5 rides in each of the Southern, Central and Northern regions.
• Three Flags Classic - a annual event starting this year in San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico and ending at Vernon, British Columbia. This run occurs every Labor Day weekend.
• Four Corners Run - I have this planned for 17 days not including the travel to/from the starting and ending points.

I merged the three California trips into three separate segments trying to accomplish them in the best optimal routes. I completed the first segment with some level of difficulty. A problem with my GPS forced me to abort the trip on the second day to return home and repair the problem. What was planned as a 5-day trip turned into 7 days and an extra 1,000 miles. This segment covered the Central California area from Pasadena to Sonoma where I visited 18 missions, 14 parks and 5 highways.

My second segment was planned to be the front-end of this Four Corners trip intended to cover the southern portion of the trip. The majority of the trip will be in the Mojave Desert. After dealing with the heat on the first segment forced me to rethink doing this in early August. I will cover this sometime in October where it makes better sense. The third segment will be completed during my return from the Three Flags Tour and hit all of the Northern California areas,

First Day - August 3rd

Today was needed to get into position to start the Four Corners Run on Sunday. I left the house at 4:00 AM. I wanted to get together with some friends in Poway, California for breakfast and it let be cross the desert before the sun came up. The highest temperature I encountered was 93 in Baker.

I had a great time visiting with some friends that I have known for nearly 20 years from working at our company facility located in the area. I then headed for the hotel and checked in at 11:30 AM. I got the mandatory checkpoint picture of the San Ysidro Post Office. 

After I got settled into the room and took a short nap, I headed out to the local Harley-Davidson dealer to get a new pair of gloves and a new helmet headset. I dropped my helmet earlier in the day and broke it. I need it to hear the instructions from the GPS so it need to be replaced. I installed it and had an early dinner before calling it a early night.

Second Day - August 4th

On of the major planning decisions is "how to avoid traffic jams at all costs". Since this first day will take me directly through Los Angeles it is necessary to get an early start. I left the hotel at 4:00 AM. I got gas at the station next to the hotel. This is the required documentation for the checkpoint and stipulates the official start time for the trip. 

When I got to Anaheim, the I-5 Interstate was closed so I had to detour around it. This was the only problem I encountered as I left the LA area around 7:00 AM without any traffic. I had breakfast in Arvin to take a break after 4 hours of travel/

I took a short side trip to visit the Cesar Chavez National Monument. On my prior trip, I arrived at the visitor center after it closed so I needed to get a passport stamp to make it official. I arrived about a half-hour early, so I found a nice shady spot and rested.

The weather was nice getting trough LA (mostly 70's) but jumped into the 90's when I got over the mountains. I spent the rest of the day fighting the heat and checked into the hotel just south of Sacramento around 4 PM. I ate dinner around 7 and called it a day after catching up with paperwork. I covered 417 miles in around 12 hours.

Third Day - August 5th

I want to wish my youngest brother a happy 65th birthday.

I left the hotel at 4 AM to try and beat the heat. When I started out the temperature was 63, so I wore my leather jacket. When I got into the Mt. Shasta area it got colder so I stopped and put on a sweater underneath the jacket. I was comfortable for the next 30 minutes when I hit flat land and I encountered warm weather, in the 80's.

I crossed into Oregon around 9 AM and stopped for breakfast in Medford and removed my gear, The morning drive was pleasant and warmed up in the afternoon. I hit heavy traffic in the Portland area where I chose to take the bypass around town. It was a lot of stop and go interrupted by a mad dash to the slow down.

I arrived at the hotel around 5 PM covering 673 miles in 13 hours. Tomorrow, I get to start a little later to avoid rush hour in the Seattle area as I head to my second corner in Blane.

Days #11 and 12 - Making it Home

Day #11 - Sullivan, MO to Amarillo, TX

Knowing that I was headed into hotter weather I wanted to leave around 4:00 AM so that I could make it to the hotel by 1:30 PM. I have been having problems with a cracked screen on my iPhone so it turns out the I don't hear when the alarm goes off. That's my excuse and I am sticking with it.

I ended up leaving at 6:00 instead and continued down I-44 for OKC and beyond. My previous day's drive plan was to drive to Tulsa, but the heat caused me to decide stop earlier in the day. My "cool vest" gear does not work well when the humidity is high like it is in St. Louis. I switched out of the cool weather gear and put the "cool vest" on about 5-hours into the trip which was just before arriving in Tulsa. By then it was in the mid-90's and sunny. I pressed on and when I was only 2 miles away from my hotel in Amarillo, I hit a traffic backup due to a dual lane closure for construction. I pulled off onto the frontage road and checked into the hotel at 4:00. Only a few hours later than planned.

Around sunset, I walked to a nearby restaurant and swore I would not get a late start tomorrow. I went to bed around 9:00 PM and left a 3:15 wake up call with the front desk.

Today, I covered 712 miles.

Day #12 - Amarillo, TX to Winslow, AZ to HOME

I got the wake up call and started loading the bike just before 4:00 AM and hit the road. My GPS planning tool told me that it would be an 8-hour drive so I figured with some breaks I should get to the hotel around 1:00 PM. I failed to do the "MATH" and account for the two time changes (MDT and MST) that were between these two locations.

The temperature was 68 degrees, so I put on the sweatshirt, neck band and light gloves to start out. The first hour or so was a little cool but bearable. However, when I crossed into New Mexico you start climbing into the higher elevations. I pulled off into a closed rest area and took off the sweater and put the leather jacket on and continued on. I was freezing when I arrived in Santa Rosa so when I stopped for breakfast and gas, I put the sweatshirt on underneath the leather jacket and added the heavy gloves. I was pretty comfortable by that time. It was about sunrise when I left.

As I was coming into the Albuquerque area, I started to become drowsy. I tried fighting it off before realizing this is a sign that I am too warm. I took off the gloves and opened up the jacket and was more comfortable to continue.

One of the objectives for a trip like this is to stop as few times as possible and only stop when you have to. I try to stop only when I am 20-30 miles from an empty tank. So you have to make adjustments while riding. I stopped in Grant, NM and shed all of the gear as I gassed up. It was 9-9:30 so I continued on. Earlier in the morning's journey, I realized the two hour time change and that I would be arriving at my planned destination at 10:30 AM. Thinking of alternative targets, I came up with Flagstaff, Williams or Kingman, AZ. 

I stopped for lunch in Holbrook, AZ and looked at my options. I decided to press on since I had not made a reservation at the hotel. I broke out the "cool vest" and decided to press onto Flagstaff. As I pulled into Flagstaff the elevation was 7,000' and was comfortable, so I headed to Williams, still cool. I finally pulled off for gas at Seligman, AZ for gas and soaked the vest for the next segment. By this time we are into the 100's and not a cloud in the sky.

By the time I am to Kingman, I am too close to home not to press on. I stop and soak the vest again and it only works for about an hour. I also refilled my thermal mug with ice water and drove off. I stopped at one of the desert gas stations about a hour further on to re-soak the vest again. The gas station is officially called "Mile Marker 47 Gas" but it's actual name is "Uranus Gas". There is a firing range there where a year or so ago a young girl was firing an automatic machine gun and accidentally killed the business owner who was supervising her.

I pressed on for home and after stopping to fill my gas tank just before getting to the house I called home to have my wife open the garage door because I didn't feel like digging to find my door opener.

I walked into the door just a few minutes after 5:00 pm.

In a period of 15 hours, I crossed the remainder of the Texas Panhandle, the states of New Mexico and Arizona. The total distance covered was 882 miles. Since I a a glutton for punishment, I took a quick shower and then went with Trish to a Financial Seminar and a bite to eat before heading home and to bed for the night.

Days #9 & #10 - Heading Home & Stopping to see Family

Leaving Connecticut

I headed out of the hotel promptly at 6:00 and the temperature was around 60 degrees so I had the leather jacket, neck wrap and heavy gloves. The first 20-30 miles were rough roads which is not very comfortable when you have a bad back to start with. I crossed into New York state around 7:30 and into Pennsylvania around 8:30. It was cool and cloudy most of the day until I hit the Ohio where the sun came out and the temperature jumped into the 90's. I stashed all of the cold weather gear.

All day during the ride I was thinking about the statement I made during the decision process to head for home about the importance of family. I kept thinking about how close I was going to be near our son and decided to call to see if I could stop and see them. I changed the itinerary and headed for their new house in Cincinnati. As I pulled into the neighborhood, they were out talking a walk. I spent a moment talking with them and then drove the rest of the way to their house.

They have been in this house for about a month now and they are in the midst of a live-in remodeling project. They just finished having the kitchen cabinets and appliances installed which look great. The house will be gorgeous when they are finished. I had a nice visit with the family and especially my two granddaughters Abby and Maddie. Abby broke her are a few weeks ago and she is going in to be have the cast replaced on Monday.

Maddie and Abby

I slept in for a change since I failed to set the alarm. I got dressed and came out and ate breakfast with the family. The girls were surprised that I mixed my orange juice with apple juice. The girls tried it and liked it. I may have made a pair of new converts. 

Continuing On

I left at 10:00, and this was the first day in over two weeks where I didn't have any extra gear on. The day continued to get hotter as the day progressed. At the second gas stop, I soaked one of the "cool rags" and put it on but it didn't work because the humidity was so high in the St. Louis area.

I originally planned on heading to Tulsa, OK but stopped about an hour past St. Louis and got a room for the night. I have decided the change the remainder of the trip home by riding 8-10 hours but starting at 4:00 AM each morning get to my destination in early afternoon before the temperatures get too high. So I will not return home until Wednesday morning.

I have to admit - I've been beaten

Day #8 - Heading Home

Because of the problems that the remnants of Hurricane Florence remain in my path to completing the trip. I decided that waiting 1-2 more days would push me beyond the hard and fast completion date where I need to return home.

After a great deal of thought, I have decided to head for home instead and cross Pennsylvania and Ohio before the storm progresses to that area as well. It is dangerous enough riding a motorcycle cross-country. But in inclement weather it can be fatal. I have a wife, children, grandchildren and two great-grandchildren to think about. A simple award is not worth the risk.

Therefore, I am leaving the Hartford, CT area in a few minutes to take the shortest path home which will get me there in 4 days. Today I am heading for Richmond, IN, followed by Tulsa, OK and Albuquerque, NM before the final stretch to home on Tuesday.

I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. Please remember those effected by Hurricane Florence in your prayers.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Reached the Second Corner in Madawaska, Maine

Day #6 - The push to the Second Corner

Today I left Kingston, OT at 6:00 AM instead of the planned 3:00 AM. I decided to hit Montreal after rush hour instead of before. It was an uneventful trip, although, my back and bottom were sore and uncomfortable. When I looked at my gas mileage from previous days was 150-180 miles per tank. Today was 195-225 which means that I was on the bike much longer between stops.

I stopped at the Service Plaza just as you enter Quebec and the change hits you like a ton of bricks. Everything is in French. I have been having problems with my MasterCard in Canada because the pumps read the chip but require a PIN number. Since my cell phone doesn't work outside the US, I cannot call and get one assigned. So I had to go inside and prepay. I lost my Visa somewhere in Montana or Wyoming so I am down to our backup card. Visa does not require the PIN.

I got to the Customs checkpoint in Madawaska and the Agent asked if I was lost since I was so far

away from home. I explained what I was doing and we spoke for a minute or so.

I Hit the checkpoint at 3:00 PM and gathered the required documentation to prove that I was there and completed according to the rules. Each rider that registers receives a towel with the Logo and a Serial Number that is unique to me.

The town of Madawaska has built a park to honor is unique location as one of the Corners of the Continental US. It was built with donations from people from all over the country by buying a concrete brick with an inscription on it. The couple that was instrumental in building it are on vacation this week, so I didn't get to meet them. I spent about 45 minutes sitting in the shade after I took this picture.

I covered 3,437 miles in a total of 127 hours with 55 hours of actual riding. getting from the first corner to the second.

 I drove another 50 miles to get to Caribou, Maine to call it an evening. This was a full-service hotel so Hartford, CT which is where I plan to hunker down an d wait out Hurricane Florence. I plan on arriving after rush hour instead of before.

Day #5 - Heading to the Second Corner

Please keep me in your prayers on my annual motorcycle trek around the US. Wednesday, I will reach the 2nd Corner in Madawaska, Maine and will start heading south towards Key West after that. Right now I have planned to hold up in Connecticut for a few days to see if I can wait out Hurricane Florence. My original plan was to travel inland so I should miss the worst of it but the massive rains that are predicted will most likely be in my path.

Today's Journey

I left Lansing, Michigan at 7:45 which was just slightly ahead of schedule for a change. I had planned to hit the Canadian Border around 9:30 and I cleared it on time in about 20 minutes. My GPS unit is great because I change change the Units-of-Measure from Miles to Kilometers. It also has a display which shows my actual speed separate from the speedometer.

What I have consistently found is that the speed limit in Canada is 100 KPH (62 MPH), but nobody follows it. Most of the day I ran at 115-125 KPH (70-80 MPH) and had no problems keeping up with traffic.

Stolen Picture of Bridge at Port Huron, MI Border Crossing

 The temperature was 50 degrees when I left Lansing, so I had my winter gear on. I kept the same gear on for most of the day. For the first time this trip I was fighting fatigue. This was a major problem during last year's trip and was a constant battle. I discovered that this is usually because I get too warm and I start to fight drowsiness. I forgot that lesson in the early afternoon and found a picnic area at one of the Canadian Rest Plaza (food court, gas, etc.) and stretched out for a nap in the shade.

I thought that this was because I didn't sleep well the night before. My CPAP machine has been waking me up so I will try something different tomorrow night. When I took off the heavy gloves that seemed to help the problem significantly. The temperatures stayed in the 60's all day, so it was an adjustment when I was riding in sunny weather or cloudy weather.

I hit a small patch of light rain about 5 miles from the hotel so I pressed ahead without stopping and arrived shortly after 5:00. I had some pizza delivered to the room and will call it an early evening. 

I had originally planned for a very early start (3:00 AM) to get around Montreal before rush hour. I have decided to leave three hours later to arrive in Montreal after rush hour. I plan on hitting the Second Corner in Madawaska, Maine at around 4:00 PM and get to the hotel around 7:00.