Day 12 - June 9, 2010 The Long Road Home

Woke up well rested and ready to go ahead and knock out the rest of Kansas, Oklahoma, and the long drive through Texas. Due to construction we had trouble getting our Oklahoma sign pic.



Some time later my check gauges light came on and my engine temp gauge was maxed out. We got the truck pulled over, popped the hood and did the normal check.



Couldn't find anything wrong so we let it cool off while we had a bite to eat and got on down the road. It never overheated again and we rolled into to Wallis later that night.

ROAD TRIP STATS

TOTAL DAYS: 12
TOTAL MILES: 4200
AVG MPG PULLING A TRAILER: 13.9
CHEAPEST GAS BOUGHT: $2.44 PER GALLON
MOST EXPENSIVE GAS: $3.09 PER GALLON
# OF STATES VISITED: 9
# OF NIGHTS WE WUSSED OUT AND GOT A HOTEL: 2
# OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY WE VISITED: 29
# OF TIMES WE ALMOST RAN OUT OF GAS: 2
# OF CARS ON THE ROAD IN UTAH ON SUNDAY: 5
# OF SCENIC VIEWS WORTH PULLING OVER AT IN UTAH: ALL
# OF SCENIC VIEWS WORTH PULLING OVER AT IN NEBRASKA: THERE'S ONLY 1, DON'T STOP!


LESSONS LEARNED

1. An $800.00 camper bought from Craigslist for $150.00 will leak.
2. With enough tub and tile caulk you can fix a leaky camper
3.In Utah when you see a sign that says "steep rough windy road next 5 miles" turn around.
4.When using your pocket knife as an icepick remove canned cokes from cooler first.
5. Only Texas people give you the "thank you" wave when you pull on the shoulder to let them pass.
6. Nebraska's state motto should be: "Move along, There's nothing to see here!"
7. Kansas state motto should be: "If you think this is bad wait till you get to Nebraska"
8. When camping in a Walmart parking lot do not park by the entrance or exit.
9. Having your phone number on your dogs tag while your 1700 miles away with no reception results in 20 messages when you do get reception should they get out.
10. If you can't whack a deer or antelope in Wyoming you need to hang it up.
11. Hunt Wyoming before I die .
12. Although many states warn you about bears, big horn sheep, elk and moose your chances of being a visitor and actually seeing one are slim.
13. This trip brought my total state visited count to 20. I can't wait to see the other 30. If your able to get out and see the country and your not, your cheating yourself!

Day 11 - June 8, 2010

We woke up & treated ourselves to a nice shower and a couple of joe. We decided to make a quick run to an antique shop before heading to Mt. Rushmore. It was a beautiful day & we knew we'd get some nice pics. It did not disappoint & we're glad we included it on the trip.

We were amazed at the detail & precission the blasters achieved with dynamite. A few tourist wanted pics of Spank & then we headed South towards home. We turned out of Mt. Rushmore going the wrong way & wound up stopping for these pics. If you look carefully, you can see President Washington in the background.

We crossed into Nebraska and ... well enough said about that. I knew it was going to be bad when Rand McNally Road Atlas did not have a red ribbon marked in that State.

We drove through Nebraska and then Kansas & stayed in another Wal-Mart parking lot in Hays.

Day 7 - June 4, 2010

There was a Cabella's about 10 minutes away that we had to check out. Although there were so many guns to choose from, I managed to keep my wallet in my pocket. My old battle buddy in the military had always talked about In-N-Out Burger so we hit it up. It doesn't hold a candle to What-a-burger but it wasn't bad.






In Texas you only see Sinclair memoribilia but in Utah they are active gas stations. We found one that a guy made into a replica of an old gas station to store his old cars & motoryclces in.






On the way home, we decided to look for a couple of Geocaches and drop off a travelbug that we had accidently held on to way too long.



Later that evening we met up with Deb's family to have dinner.



Nice relaxing day around town.

Day 10 - June 7, 2010

We woke up at the flying J, had a quick breakfast and headed down the road. Wyoming like Utah is beautiful.



We happen to stop for this pic & came across a benchmark (no GPS needed).





When we saw the first group of prong-horn antelope I made Deb pull over so I could snap a photo.





We wasted a good hour of me trying to get one. I'm not sure I ever did but i managed to snap one of a prairie dog, ground squirrel, chipmunk or something in that general family (if your recognize what it is please feel free to let me know) I didn't know that for the next 500 miles that the country side was going to be covered in mule deer. We even saw one standing by the road in town and I made Deb turn around. We both thought it was a statue until I opened my door and he took off. If your a hunter in Wyoming and you can't bag a mule deer you need to hang it up.

We stopped at a road side park to stretch our legs and it wound up being Independence rock.



We took a quick walk and snapped some photos and read up on the history of the area. Then it was back on the road.






We crossed into South Dakota and hit up the Crazy Horse monument. It is an awesome sight and the story is amazing. Since it has taken over 50 years to complete just the head I doubt I will see it completed in my life time.




It is so large Mt Rushmore will fit in the back of the head of Crazy Horse. We drove towards Mt Rushmore and decided since the fog rolled in we would hit it in the morning. Deb sprang for a hotel in Keystone, we grabbed dinner, hit some shops, and plan on checking out Mt. Rushmore in the morning before heading south.

Day 9 - June 6, 2010

When we got up Deb started cleaning and doing some laundry and I decided to look at the bike until I could find the leak. It turns out my oil filter had a pin hole in it. I knew that there would be no motorcycle shops open on Sunday and a pretty good chance they would be closed on Monday also. I shot Gavin a call and he told me I could pick up a Mobile One filter at Auto Zone and gave me the number. I grabbed a filter some oil and made quick work of it, thankful it wasn't something worse.

We finished packing, loaded the bikes, locked up, and headed to Panda's sister house for what the Layne family calls "The meat fest", smoked turkey breast, chirizo, brisket, and some kick *ss broccoli salad. The meal was excellent.

Panda's whole family made it, even his Dad was in from overseas. Kerry and Zana's house was beautiful and they were great host. It was nice to see everyone and catch up. We said our goodbyes and got on the road about 8:30PM. We were headed East and had a lightning show and heavy rain to keep us company.



We crossed into Wyoming and pulled over at the Flying J in Evanston to bed down for the night.

Day 8 - June 5, 2010

We got up early to see Deb's Uncle Brent and Aunt Sharon off to Idaho. They were nice enough to let us stay at their place until we were ready to head out. We decided to hit up Park City on the bikes. Once again I manually rerouted the GPS and once again I shouldn't have. For future reference if you are ever in Utah and you see a sign that says "Rough Steep Winding Road Next 5 Miles" they are not pulling your leg.







I've ridden my fair share of roads on the VFR that would have been better suited for the dirt bike. I was actually a little nervous on this one. I tried to enjoy the view and was telling Deb to look here and look there and she told me she couldn't she was watching the road.



At one point I am pretty sure I heard her praying but was having a hard time hearing her due to my heart pounding, the rocks hitting the bike and the crunching of gravel, rocks, sand and unpacked black top under the tires. We stopped for a few photos in the 1 or 2 spots that were safe enough to stop. We saw plenty of snow and some snowmobiles (although we were told by local Utahians that what we were seeing was nothing).
























After we made it through the pass we hit up Park City on foot and then headed back to Deb's Uncle's house.


















I had noticed a few oil drops on the ground coming from my bike a couple of days ago but it wasn't bad. I thought maybe I added a little too much oil. When I parked the bike this time I noticed that my back tire was covered in oil and the leak had gotten worse. I was about a quart low. My riding was over if I couldn't find the leak but that would have to be looked at tomorrow.



I had been craving gelato ice cream every since a coworker had said that they sold it at Spec's Liquor. On our way to the house we had to turn around and stop by a cafe that was advertising it.
















We had plans to meet up with my high school friend Panda whom I haven't seen in over a decade. He needed help moving a BBQ pit from his mother-in-laws to his sisters and I offered up the trailer. We had some burgers at his wife's brother's house and loaded up the pit. Deb and I joked about what the people behind us in traffic were thinking when they saw a pickup with TX plates pulling a 55 gallons smoker on a trailer. We dropped off the trailer at his sisters' house and headed home.