Today is a nice blue sky sunny day. We got out and road for 4 hours on several great roads. One was the famous Tail of the Dragon. 11 miles and 318 curves. Had lunch at a well known bakery and made it back to the lodge. The 2 Australians are here now as is a lot of old acquaintances.
We made it to the lodge Tuesday with just a few sprinkles. Several early birds were already here including Andy, who you’ll hear more about next week on our trip across America with the Australians.
Today, Wednesday and tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and then rain this weekend so we’ll definitely do our local riding now.
Tom and I arrived at the motel in Jackson, TN after 650 miles and were met by Steve. We had a relatively dry ride today with light rain the last 10 miles. After the normal greetings we called Uber and went to a Grill and Brew for supper. Back at the motel more talking about tomorrow’s route with variations based on rain or not. Tomorrow is a short 400 miles so a later start in the morning is in line.
Tom and I rode over 850 miles today in 13 1/2 hours. It was 27 degrees going through Flagstaff then it warmed up to 50 for most of the day. We wore our heated liners and gloves all day. It did get up into the low 70s the last 2 hours. There was a major train wreck near the Arizona/ New Mexico border that made for a 50 mile detour.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s report as rain is predicted. 😒
On April 30th, 2024 I'll be at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge attending the annual TTD (Tame the Dragon) BMW event again. This year we are hosting a couple of guys from Australia. They purchased K1600 bikes last winter in Virginia and will collect them and join us for this event.
Afterwards I and Andy Morley will guide them across America via KY, AR, MO, KS, CO, UT and Arizona arriving at my house in Arizona on May 17th. John Parry will meet them here and over the following week guide them around Central California. They will store their bikes in LA ready for the next trip back here.
Follow along using the Spotwalla map I will have going starting on May 5th through May 17th.
https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/21d7-106583c5-e759/view
Turn out the lights the party is over.
We all arrived home safe and sound, except Steve he came to my house for a day or so and then will ride back to KC.
Well we got hit with extreme temperatures today. In the morning it was in the 60s with a low of 61.7F then in the late afternoon we saw 115.7F so a 54F swing.
The first 3 hours we were on roads that were in the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Great roads and fantastic scenery with snow capped mountains on our right and several lakes on our left.
In the afternoon we turned off of highway 395 onto highway 168 that took us over the Bristlecone National Forest and down into the Nevada desert. Then highways 95 & 160 into Pahrump for the night.
We’re headed for the barn in the morning.
The weather cooperated again today with temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Our route took us through Lassen Volcanic National Park. There was enough elevation to still have snow in a lot of places.
With no Dairy Queens to be had we found an independent ice cream stand for our afternoon fix.
John Parry joined us last night and rode with us today and again tomorrow.
Then it was a congested ride part way around Lake Tahoe and on into Carson City, NV for the night.
Cool to almost cold start this morning. Found a Dennys for breakfast. Rode through the Redwoods Forest in California. Lots of BIG trees. 101 took us along the shoreline too. Made a few stops for photos along the way and a pit stop or 2 (see the picture of Jerry playing Californian). It got up to 100 before we stopped for the night in Redding, CA. Highway 299 getting here was enjoyable.
It was a long day, over 400 miles and we didn’t get settled into the motel in Brookings, OR until 8:00.
The weather was good, mostly clear skies and temperatures in the 60s and low 70s. The ride was along the Pacific coast on 101 which ends up being a little inland in the trees and along the coastline over looking the ocean.
We made a stop at the Tillamook cheese and ice cream factory where we treated ourselves to some cheese and ice cream. Then a few stops along the coast for photos.
