Monday, November 1, 2010

Impressions

Well here are the stats and impressions after getting all the bills in.

We went a total of 8439 miles in 23 days (not all were travel days. We had 5 days of just sight seeing, not on the bikes.) That averages out to 468 miles for each travel day.

Total cost, not including odd purchases (clothes, souvenirs, etc) was $3383.47 for an average of $147.10 a day.

Fuel was $836.21
Rooms were $1674.08
Food was $873.18

We could have saved a lot by camping along the way, but it would have changed the trip dramatically. We tried to stay at inexpensive places, but sometimes we were tired and just wanted to splurge a bit.

The best Motel chain (by far above any other) was Econolodge. They averaged out at $54 per night and were clean and had nice rooms.

Lori's V-star 950 averaged 59 MPG overall (freeway speeds knocks it down a lot)  - 143.1 gallons
My v-star 1300 averaged 49 MPG overall. - 172.2 gallons
Gas prices ranged from $2.34 in North Carolina to $3.47 in Northern California with an average of $2.65

The nicest area overall for just riding and friendly people and scenery etc. was in the south/east U.S.

Nicest place to live that we saw (other than our home Northwest.) was on the west side of Florida up to the panhandle.

The most unexpected thing on the trip was that everyone wanted to talk to us about our trip. What were we doing, where were we going, did we really ride all that way, etc. People were extremely friendly overall.

The places we want to go back and see more of; Kentucky, Louisiana, Georgia.

This was one of the best vacations we have had and are really looking forward to the next one.

We are looking at going to the 1300tourer.com meet and greet in N.Y. next June. Just working on the logistics. We are thinking of going straight to N.Y., then back to Chicago and follow Route 66 all the way to the pier at Santa Monica, and then up the Pacific Coast Hwy to home. It should be another great trip!

Thank you for following along!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Day 21-23 - The final leg home.

Day 21 was spent just wandering around Reno and having fun. We checked out the bikes, gambled a bit, and just sat and people watched a bit until the night time came.

Reno for some reason is a totally different vibe from Las Vegas. It seems people are more pleasant and are happy to see you. The gambling is the same, at least for me ( it just takes all my money), but the food is better and cheaper, and the people seem to be there to make the fun, instead of watching the fun.

Street Vibrations was great! A lot of good bikes, a lot of vendors, The bands sounded good and no matter where you went there was always something going on. The Silver Legacy has a big fireworks display and Harrah's had a beer pong contest that was fun to watch. There is a "Gentlemen's Club" only a couple blocks away that was hopping. There wasn't enough room for all the bikes to park.


The only part I did't get to do that I regret (we had to leave Saturday morning) was to participate in the Cat House Poker Run. I really would have liked to do that.

Anyway, we got up early Saturday and headed north for the final 2 days of travel to get home.The Weather report showed it raining along the northern coast, so we stayed inland. We found a lake right at the California/Oregon border that is a complete opposite of Lake Tahoe. It is called Goose lake.

The lakes are about the same size, but where Lake Tahoe is a deep water lake, this lake is only about 2-3 feet deep for the most part, so you have this gigantic area of mud.
Lake Tahoe
A lake of mud

It was nice to get back to the Northwest and the tree's and canyons instead of flat dry land, but the Speed limits in Oregon went to 55mph. What a killer from day after day of 70-75 mph. It seems we were crawling.

Saturday evening put us in Northern Oregon so we made the decision to head west and chance the rain. As soon as it turned dark we headed up and over the pass around Mt. Hood. At that point Lori was not a happy camper. She does not like driving a bike at night and the road over that pass was not lit well and lots of grooves. Her bike still has the Original Dunlop tires so it gets moved quite a bit by grooves and ruts. While this is not a real big deal in the daylight, at night you cannot see them and the bike gets moved when you are not ready and it is a spooky feeling.

By the time we were off of the pass and into a populated area, she had had enough. We stopped at Sandy, Or. for the night.

Sunday dawned to overcast and rain, so we suited up appropriately and headed North once again. Once we crossed into Wa. the rain let up for a bit, but was back by the time we got to Seattle. As soon as we were in Lynnwood, the sun came out as if to say "Welcome home" We got home at 11:30 AM

The bikes did amazing, they performed flawlessly and never missed a beat.

It was great trip and one that I will back at fondly. We went a total of 8439 miles in 23 days (20 driving days).

People were asking what was the best part of the trip, and while the scenery was awesome and we got to see a lot off the country, the best for me was meeting up with friends and getting to see people that you have only had a passing acquaintance with from comments on a forum.

From seeing a name on a forum to actually meeting the people and having a good time together is a great feeling, and I want to thank Shannon and Kevin, Diane and Robby, Morg and Cris and Cliff and Jackie for making this trip truly a Motorcycle trip of a lifetime.  To Paul, I wish the timing had been better to meet, But we will meet one day, I am certain :-)

I will try and put together stats and impressions within the next couple of days for those that are interested.

Thank you for following along!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Day 20 - Las Vegas to Reno

Right after I added the last page Lori and I went to see Cher at Caesars Palace. She puts on a good show. There is a lot of costume changes, so they do a lot of flashbacks to the early days with Sonny and Cher together.But each time she comes back out she seems to be wearing less. Not a problem in my mind! She is still a very good looking woman! She even wore the costume from the video "if I could turn back time" Every red blooded American male out there knows which one I am referring to.

Anyway, I digress. So back to the trip.

Las Vegas is kind of like owning a large boat. You are very pleased to see it and look around and look forward to having fun, but are just as happy to see it disappear behind you in the rear view mirror.

It is a fun place to be sure, but you get tired of the constant hawkers and beggars everywhere, and everything is always "give me money" I get tired of it real quick. It just does not have real class anymore. It is just shallow trappings to get you to spend more money. The fun that I have is people watching.

So, we left Las Vegas and headed north, and all I can say about that trip is there is about 400 miles of nothing but hills, sagebrush, and dry grass. You could take a picture and 300 miles later it would look the same.

We got into Reno a bit early, so we stopped off at a laundromat to get our clothes clean. That is one thing about a motorcycle trip like this, you can only take a few changes of clothes, so you are stopping to wash a lot.

While we were washing, there must have been over 500 motorcycles go by. This weekend is "Street Vibrations" and it is a big celebration of music and motorcycles. They have the main section of town blocked off for motorcycle only parking and bands playing everywhere. This is the main reason I wanted to stop by here on the way home.



We are going out now to wander around and see the bikes and vendors and have fun. Tomorrow morning we head north and meander towards home.

As a footnote, if anyone likes to gamble and goes to any of the resort towns even once a year, it is well worth it to look into the Total Rewards program that Harrahs entertainment group has. There are like 12 casino's participating (Bally's, Caesars, Flamingo, Harrah's, Harveys, Horseshoe, Rio, Paris.and a couple more.
It does not cost to join, and they give away all kinds of stuff like free nights at the hotels. We got Thursday night free and Friday at 1/2 price. Well worth it.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Day 19 -into Las Vegas

It seems like a lifetime, so much has happened. I had to look and see where I left off.

We left Gallup and continued down I-40 but didn't get too far before our first stop. The petrified forest national park.We have never been through it and we probably will never will if we don't do it now, so...

If you have been to Arches National park, you will be disappointed, but it was ok. They had the painted mountains and some petrified logs to see. It is only a 28 mile drive through, so it didn't take too long anyway.
 We also found out that Route 66 went through the park. There is ans old car and a Cadillac bumper left behind.

We continued west and went through Flagstaff. I have to tell you I was impressed with the area. I did not think it was as high as it is was, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was very much like the Sierra Nevada mountains in northern California, Just not as many rocks. It looked like a great place to live.

It all went downhill from there. Literally.

We stopped for gas about 85 miles west of there after coming down out of the mountains and there was a rider that had tire problems. He already tried fix-a-flat and a plug with no luck. We asked if we could help, but he already had a trailer coming to get him.

We turned off on Hwy 93 towards Vegas and that is the most boring, flat monotonous, dry, hot, miserable excuse for a road there ever was. The speed limit is 65, so it seems we were crawling after 75 for 2 days and then we hit the construction going to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. We were down to 35 mph in 95 degree heat for 20 miles. It was miserable. The dam is just as pretty as it ever was and the lake is one of the best. If you haven't been to it, I recommend you do it soon. The new Hwy is about finished and when it opens they are probably not going to allow you down to the dam. The hwy crosses over the ravine 500 feet up.

By this time we were hot and tired. Good thing it was only 30 more miles to Vegas.

We got into town at 4:30, so we hit rush hour, and Lori does not like traffic. We finally made it to Bally's and the attendant out front told us we could not unload there, we had to go to the self park area and carry all our stuff back to check in. That did not make us happy. Carrying 2 pack, our helmets, computer and Ice chest is a bit much to carry through 2 casino's. (the parking garage serves Paris and Bally's Hotels.

Lori gets to the front dest to check in and tells the girl there about it and she was apologizing and was very sorry. This Hotel is supposed to have Valet parking for motorcycles with a special secure area for them.

Lori and I are members of the Harrah's Total rewards program, so we had already booked the room through the program, so it was free for the 2 nights, Now with this fiasco, the girl at the counter upgraded us to a Suite, also at no charge. So we get 2 nights at Bally's in a suite for no charge. Not bad!

We got unloaded and went for a short walk, did a little gambling, and crashed for the night.

This morning we wandered over to Caesars Palace ( I love that place) and looked around. Then over to Mirage to see the dolphins and the white tigers.

Right now Lori is out gambling and I am resting. Here in a bit we are going out to see Cher live at Caesars Palace.

Tomorrow we head for Reno.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Day 18 - A long one!

Leaving Decatur,  Texas at 6:30 AM and it is shirtsleeve weather!  :-)

The day went well, considering we went over 700 miles and some of that was off the freeway following Route 66.

It is a real shame to see what has become of this road. A Lot of the old buildings are still there, but abandoned and falling apart. There are a couple of sections where local businesses are trying to keep things going, but it does not look like there is enough traffic.

Tucumcari is one such town that is trying, but it seems everyone is all about the destination and don't stop to look around anymore. That is a shame. I think that is one of the reasons I like the bike so much. It isn't about the destination near as much as the trip.

Lori and I have been trying to buy from local businesses as much as we can. We found a little chicken place for lunch and the chicken was great! But then again we stopped at a burger place in Albuquerque and it wasn't so good.

We also found out that the sheepskin seat covers are really not the way to go. They actually retain the heat and create hot spots. We removed them and my ride was much better.

I have been having a ticking noise in the motor and it seem to have been running richer than what is normal. Kritter from the 1300 tourer forum suggested possibly sticking valves, So I tried some Seafoam in the gas today and it helped. A lot! The motor is quieter and running much better.

I also had a first today! We went 150 miles on a tankful of gas, all of the driving was 75 mph and we were fighting a strong headwind. I took 3.4 galloons and Lori's bike used 3.7 gallons. First time ever I used less than her. That 950 has to work pretty hard at higher speeds. My bike just loafs along, like it is no big deal :-)

The weather today was nice. It was high clouds and lite breeze and mid 80's. Can't ask for any better than that. We did run into a little rain about 30  miles past Albuquerque NM, but it was short and we didn't hardly get wet. 15 Miles down the road we were dry again.

We did get a beautiful sunset from the clouds though.

We finally made it into Gallup, NM at about 8PM for the night. That makes for a nice easy 400 miles into Las Vegas tomorrow, I hope to be there by about 1PM and relax for the afternoon. Then we get to look around for a show on Wednesday for our 32nd Anniversary

Then we are off for Reno!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Day17 - New Orleans to Decatur Tx.

Not a lot to report for this day except a lot of traveling. We did make 600 miles today.
We got to run on the Louisiana Scenic Hwy for a while, and I love the South part of Louisiana, but don't much care for the north.
Texas is Texas, what can you say. We have been here before and it is just like we remember. A good place to drive through, quickly, on the way to somewhere else.
Lori has this bug and she wants to be in Vegas for our anniversary on Wednesday, so we are pushing to make it Tuesday evening. She wants to just enjoy the day and take in a show on Wednesday.
I think if we can make Albuquerque, NM tomorrow, we can do it.
wish us luck!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Day 16 - visiting with Cliff and Jackie in New Orleans.

First off, Thank you Cliff and Jackie for the great time.

Lori and I had fun and we saw a lot of the city we would not otherwise have seen.
We started the day off at Jackson square at a little place called Cafe Du Monde for a round of Beignets for breakfast. They are a deep fried dough that is covered with Powered sugar. Let me tell you, don't wear black, and don't exhale through your nose when taking a bite. You learn quickly to sit back and lean forward and just let the sugar drop. It is better than wearing it!
We wandered out to the river walk and wandered towards the cruise ship terminal, just enjoying the sights.

We wandered into the aquarium and saw a lot of animals from the area and then went to see the Imax show about hurricane Katrina and the resulting damage from it.

We stopped at Ralph & Kacoo's for lunch. Lori and I both had shrimp stuffed with crab. Lori had Pasta with it and I had cajun stuffed potato. It was Lori and I's first time eating hush puppies. They have very good food!
With the Imax fresh in our minds Cliff took us on a tour of the city starting with some of the area's hardest hit by the flooding from the failed levies. It is quite an impression to see lot after lot with nothing but a concrete slab. No house remaining. There were also a lot of houses that were totally devastated, but still standing. All marked with x's and circles showing damage and if people died inside, or animals, etc. It is hard to believe the devastation.

Next we went to the area where they were doing renovating. You might have seen some of this on TV. This is the area that Brad Pitt is getting involved in and all the houses are built up off the ground and most have solar panels.

From here we wandered over to the more affluent side of the city and got to see a lot of the mansions and higher end homes and parks. A major change from the other side of town.

We wandered by the superdome and then back into the french quarter. We stopped off at the hotel to show Cliff and Jackie the bikes and said our goodbye's. Let me tell you, they are both very nice people, and a lot of fun!
After a short relaxation period Lori and I went back out to just enjoy people watching (our favorite pastime!) We ate some shrimp while relaxing and then wandered back to the Hotel to get packed up and ready to head out in the morning.
We were going up to Oklahoma city to say hi to Paul, but the timing was wrong. He is leaving on a week trip today. Oh well. Maybe next year. After talking with Cliff, we are going to see if we can make the next meet and greet in NY.
We are wandering NW from here and heading towards Dallas and then on in to Las Vegas.