Big Trip 2005

Photos at my Yahoo photo page.

I left home Thursday morning at 5:30am. The weather was beautiful (rain hadn't started in the MidAtlantic yet) and temp was at 61F.

I did slab almost the whole way. The scenery along the PA turnpike was beautiful, the turnpike is surrounded by farms in central PA and tree-covered hills in the west. The leaves were changing and the blue skies and fluffy clouds always make for happy riding.

The idea was to get to my hotel in Chicago before dark, so it was a gas-and-go trip. I'd stop and stretch my legs every hour to hour-and-a-half, gas up about every 3 hours. I made the mistake of eating too much for lunch and got very sleepy. I found one can sleep for 30 minutes in the grass at an Ohio rest area even with the interstate traffic and semis idling nearby.

Temperature went from 55-60F in Western Ohio to about 90F in central. Blech. Indiana was as exciting as always and the EZPass was great for paying the PA, OH, IN, and even IL tolls. I did need some change for IL - they suck.

The Philly to Chicago leg (785 miles) took 14 hours and the last 2 hours was for the final 30 miles through Chicago traffic. I really hate the traffic around there.

Kudos to the BMW jacket Jeff "Blues Squirrel" Conlin sold me. Even at 46F, it stopped the wind when I rode around looking for a liquor store. And it's fashionably Euro, too.

Friday morning I met with our vendor for a couple of hours and then back to the hotel to repack. I got on the road at 11:30am heading for Des Moines. Ride, get fuel, ride more. Somewhere in Illinois I decided to take a little road from one interstate to another in order to miss some intermittent construction. Whee! 115mph on country 2-lane is always fun. Turns out it's hard on gas mileage, though.

If I control myself, the VFR should have about a 220 mile range. About 40mpg and 5.5 gallon tank. I generally stop when the little LCD gets to the last bar, which gives me about a gallon of fuel left.

Around the Quad Cities, I got daring. At 193 miles on the tripmeter, I cursed my daring nature, coasted up exit 301 near Bettendorf, over a little rise and down to the stop sign. A car had passed me during my 2mph coasting and stopped to offer assistance.

The driver held up a small notebook as I approached. "I am deaf. Do you need help?" I explained I was out of gas and he wrote that it was about a 5 minute drive to the gas station. It was daylight and I was wearing my big, Cordura moto suit, so I wasn't too worried. The guy took me to a BP station and dropped me off to get fuel and find my way back.

I asked the nice, Iowan woman working the counter if she had a gas can I could borrow and I explained my situation. "No, but someone left one last week if you look around by the shed." No luck, so I bought a 1 gallon can and went out to fill it. When I went in to pay, she had already found a local to give me a ride back to my car. I've found that people are very helpful when you have a good story and being on a long motorcycle trip is a good story. Everyone wants to join the adventure even peripherally.

Back to the bike, I put the gallon in the tank and rode to the same BP station to fill up. The woman had left at her shift change, but I tried to pass the help along by putting my now-empty gas can by their shed for the next person to use.

I arrived at Steve & Kathy's house in time to clean up and go out for some really good Italian dinner with them, son Conor, and Scot. Then, back to the house for a drink and an early evening. A bunch of partiers - in bed by 11pm on a Friday night.

Saturday I visited my sister, Kelli, and her family. Jordan is one of the cutest nieces and Joshua is one of the cutest nephews you will ever meet. They are so fun and so funny. Brother-in-law Chad makes *very* good homebrewed beer. Better than 90% of what you can buy at the store. We all went for German dinner (tasty and somewhat authentic) and became silly playing with the cameras and generally having a good time.

Sunday was the short leg (150 miles) to Waterloo (NE) to the parents' house. I arrive to no parents and a locked house. Hello? I even warned you this time! I tried to call, but no T-Mobile connection out there. Yikes! This is the boonies.

Mom showed up within 5 minutes as I was about to ride into town to use a payphone. The next few days passed with visiting Omaha for some shopping and a massage, playing with the nieces, and helping my brother, Dan, on his new farm. It was fun doing some building and wiring again. It's been a few years, but my dad and I still work well together. And the joking between us and my brother was even better than old times.

I decided to spend more time in Des Moines, so left Waterloo a day early (Thursday). I had plenty of time and so rode on Highway 30 - the back road - to Ames with the thought of seeing the fields during harvest, perhaps visiting friends, and eating at Hickory Park (yum).

Again I rejoiced in the capabilities of motorcycles. With two grain trucks and four cars ahead of me, it was still simple to pass as I could go from 50mph to 90mph in just a few seconds. The weather was beautiful and the various sights and smells took me back quite a few years.

I made it to Ames in time for a late lunch - Saucy Southerner and a coffee-ice-cream malt. Even better than I remembered and it was enough food for two people, all for $7.50. I decided not to visit the lab or look up friends - just felt too melancholy - so I headed south to Des Moines, hoping to catch Kelli and family for dinner and then party with friends. Turns out it was parent-teacher conferences (Kelli is a teacher), so I hung out and relaxed at Gray's Lake near downtown Des Moines. I called Maura back home to tease her about the good weather, read a little and just soaked up the sun.

Back to Steve's to help move river rock and raid his refrigerator. Scot showed up in time for rum & Cokes, pizza was ordered (mmmm, Big Tomato Pizza!) and I broke out one of three bottles of red wine. Surprisingly, and undeservedly, I felt fine Friday morning even though Steve and I split all three bottles between the two of us.

I loaded the bike and headed toward Kelli's to drop off a Jordan birthday present from Grandma and to say goodbye. A quick breakfast at HyVee and an hour spent chatting and I was on the road heading east by 10 am.

The original idea for the return was to take 2 or 3 days, depending on mood and weather. After being away for so long, I wanted to be home and the weather was beautiful, so it turned into a hard push for home. Slab, slab, slab, gas and go. Knocked out Iowa (stupid State Trooper doing the speed limit in the left lane for 15 miles was annoying - finally took a rest stop for five minutes and let him and the pack of fearful drivers get away), I-74 to Peoria, picked up I-70 somewhere, through Indianapolis, to Columbus (Ann had graciously offered a place to stay, but I was feeling good and kept going).

Around Columbus I stopped for a small snack, a bathroom break and to suit up for the chill. Checked my chain (which I knew before I left Philadelphia was due for replacement) and decided I better take it easier on the on ramps until I got home. Hit the road and rode. Through Ohio and into Wheeling, WV. Time for a snack, some water and more fuel. It was just midnight and I was still feeling pretty good.

I got into Pennsylvania and it was interesting that I felt more, um, content?, once I was in the state. PA feels like home to me and just being in the borders made me feel better. I was still on I-70, almost to the turnpike and I decided I should probably stop. I could be home by 5am, but I was having trouble keeping my eyes open which is scary in the car and SCARY on a motorcycle.

Got the $60 Days Inn room where the nice counter woman told me to park on the sidewalk in front of the lobby windows. Of course, now I'm wound up and can't sleep until 2am. Five hours of sleep later, I grab a bagel from the breakfast bar, suit up, and head on to the turnpike. 200 miles of sunny, uneventful slab later and I pull into the driveway.

Final tally was:
~2760 miles
~73 gallons of gas
average 37 mpg
66mph rolling average
60mph overall average
43 hours of sitting on the bike
40 hours in motion

Seeing friends and family was 2/3 of the reason for the trip and I do love them all dearly. I think I'll visit them auf motorad only every few years, though. Next year I'm flying :)