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Migration – Day 7
10 Hours – 221 Miles – Grand Junction, CO to Blanding, UT
Dan and Fiona both made it to Grand Junction yesterday, and with four days remaining until we have to be in Los Angeles, we set out to see the sights of Utah.
What a day!! Twisty, curvy, sweet, NON-HIGHWAY roads, excellent scenery, perfect weather, what more can I say? A picture is worth a thousand words anyway.
Our day ended in Blanding, UT. ‘Blanding‘ is the perfect name for this town. There is almost nothing here that is interesting. When we asked at the front desk of the motel where a good place to eat was, the woman replied, “We have two restaurants here in Blanding, and they’re both about the same.”
How right she was. They were both pretty awful. Ah well, we should have stayed in the funky town of Moab… chock full of excellent restaurants, bars and things to do… but we didn’t. Live and learn I guess.
Migration – Day 5 and 6
Woke up to more of the same crappy weather. The forecast for Denver – rain turning to snow later in the evening. Elevations over 6000 feet were expected to have snow starting at noon. Grand Junction is 280 miles from Brush, through elevations over 10,000 feet.
We decided to head to Denver and see how the riding was. In a word, it sucked. Pulling off in Brighton, we made the hardest decision of the trip thus far. There was no way we’d be able to ride through the Rocky Mountains as wet and cold as we were.
So, we rented a U-Haul.
We spent the next hundred miles convincing ourselves that we’d made the right decision. I am a big fan of living to ride another day.
As we started the climb into the Rockies, the rain turned to snow. Temperatures hovered around 36 degrees with strong cross winds blowing vehicles all over.
Who’s great idea was this anyway? Ride across the US in October? BRILLIANT!
After about 150 miles, the road was actually dry. We saw a few peeks of sun, which was REALLY annoying. We even saw a guy on a Goldwing heading east. ARRGHH!
If only… but that doesn’t matter. After four 500+ mile days we were tired, and the cold, wet riding would have just been too much.
On the way down to Grand Junction, the weather turned even worse. Driving rain and sleet pelted our fantastic U-Haul for the final 80 mile haul into Grand Junction. Disappointed, defeated but alive, we checked into a Doubletree and proceeded to re-energize with some invigorating adult beverages.
We’re staying in Grand Junction today, attending to laundry and other details. My friend Dan is riding out from Los Angeles to meet us in Grand Junction, and my girlfriend Fiona is flying out later today to finish the ride on the back of the Hayabusa.
Our original plan was to ride back through Utah, but like nearly every other plan we’ve made, that’s subject to change.
Back on the road tomorrow.
Migration – Day 4
10 Hours – 457 Miles – Omaha, NE to Brush, CO
The wind blew in a cold front, and the temperatures dropped from 62 to 50 degrees in a matter of miles.
My Ninja warrior mask helped keep my tiny brain warm.
Colorful Colorado was mostly gray, with a streak of orange running through it.
70 degrees is the average for this time of year. Right now it is 39 degrees.
The forecast for Denver tomorrow night: Snow.
Though it is supposed to rain and be cold all day tomorrow, we’re going to attempt to cross the Rocky Mountains. If that isn’t possible… well, it has to be possible. We were looking forward to riding some nice mountain roads, which is part of the reason we hammered so hard to get from Rhode Island to Denver in four days.
So much for that great plan. Going south or back north won’t help, since this awful weather is all over the region. Crossing the Rocky Mountains is the only option, and if we don’t go today, there will be snow accumulation to deal with.
Great.
Migration – Day 3
12 hours – 531 Miles – La Porte, IN (not La Grange!!) to Omaha, NE
The sign says ‘Welcome to Iowa’. Really it does.We crossed the Mississippi and the Missouri river, and passed more cornfields and cowshit that I care to think about. Iowa vaulted straight to the top of my ‘Least Favorite States’ list. The state pastime is driving, poorly. People in their SUV’s would come FLYING up on a car, then SLAM on their brakes, causing others to slam on their brakes. I called it Accordion Driving, and it was about as much fun as listening to accordion music. And there was wind. LOTS of wind. And corn, did I mention the corn? Huge corn mowers lumbered through corn fields, sucking up dead stalks and shooting ground up bits out the back end. It was cool to see, for about an hour. The next six hours… not so much. If they ever figure out how to make oil from corn (and I know they are trying) Iowa will be the new Saudi Arabia.The Doubletree in Omaha had a room available for $89, a bargain considering the Super 8 in La Porte was $79. The Upstream Brewpub served up one of Omaha’s finest fillets and of course, some cool blondes (ale, that is) as we watched the night crowd filter into the busy downtown scene.Today’s goal – Denver. A short 438 miles away. The weather forecasts are improving, barely… It looks like we’ll hit rain today, and cold rain tomorrow in the Rocky mountains.Migration – Day 2
12 Hours – 518 Miles – Lewiston, NY to La Grange, INForty-two degrees this morning, with a frost advisory thrown in for good measure. After a quick breakfast of re-heated egg and biscuit, Abi and I made a quick stop here:
Lunch was a Red Bull and some peanut M&M’s. Dinner was Applebee’s. Oh what a culinary tour de force! We tried to stay in South Bend, but thanks to a Notre Dame home game, every hotel for forty miles was sold out. We settled for a Super 8 in La Grange, Indiana, which was every bit as great as it sounds.
Spent at least an hour looking at The Weather Channel website, trying to figure a route that won’t involve riding through cold rain in the mountains. So far, that seems unlikely. Looked at different routes until sportbike rigor mortis set in.
Tomorrow’s goal: Omaha, Nebraska – 520 miles away.
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