Road Trip Journals

Dad, Mom, and Perry get their summer cuts before the trip.

Sunflower field near Wounded Knee, SD.

Another view of sunflower field.

Cornfields in SD.

Sunflower field near Wounded Knee, SD.

Another view of the sunflower field.

Cornfield in SD.

Grand Tetons, WY.

Another view of Grand Tetons, WY.

Montains East of Jackson, WY

Crazy Horse Monument, SD.

Original design and ultimate objective of Crazy Horse Monument.

Mt. Rushmore, SD.

Grasslands in Custer State Park, SD.

Bison herd in Custer State Park, SD.

Big Hole Battlefield with teepee poles visable.

Madison Valley, MT.

Emerald Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park.

Steamboat Geyser, Yellowstone, last erupted May 23 2005.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Upper Falls.

Another view of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Old Faithful, Yellowstone.

Grizzled Bear, wet after a fearful night ride through wind, rain, and lightning.
Note the frown.

Tourist cooling of in the Clearwater River, Idaho

Same river, same tourist.

Rainbow over the Sawtooth Range in Idaho

Sawtooth Range from a distance.

Traveler enjoying his birthday with a cigar.

Sunset at the Sawtooth Range.

Crevace through the basalt in southeast Oregon.

Road through the crevace in southeast Oregon.

Minister, William, and the Best Man, awaiting the bride, Mt Adams in the background.

The Wedding Party.

The Kiss.

The Groom, the Best Man, and the Musicians singing at the reception after the wedding.

Monument Valley, AZ

Zion National Park, UT.

Zion, again.

Arch in process of forming, Zion National Park

Waiting our turn to pass through the tunnel out of Zion.

Bryce National Park, UT.

Sunset at Bryce National Park, UT.

Tourist looking into Bryce Natinal PArk.

Hoodoos at Bryce National Park.

More Hoodood at Bryce.

Traveler at his campsite.

Sunset in Valley of the Gods, Utah.

Another sunset view in Valley of the Gods, Utah.

Late afternoon in Valley of the Gods, Utah.

More Valley of the Gods.

Again, Valley of the Gods, Utah.

Still more Valley of the Gods, Utah.

Love that Valley of the Gods, Utah.

1200 foot plateau cliff wall against which the the single lane, gravel road runs from top to bottom
a distance of 3 miles(without a guard rail).

Traveler at bottom of clift gravel road.Note the sign.

Natural Bridges National Monument.

View at Canyonlands National Park.

View from plateau at 6000 feet into Canyonlands.

Road to Colorado river canyon.

Colorado River canyon.

More Colorado River canyon shots.

View of canyon walls from road running along side Colorado river.

More views from within Colorado river canyon.

Another view from within canyon.

Three Gossips formation in Arches National Park.

Traveler viewing Courthouse Towers formation in Arches National Park.

Balanced Rock formation in Arches National Park.

Traveler and Tourist in Arches National Park.

Near Windows formation at Arches.

Another formation near Windows at Arches.

Windows arch at arches National Park.

Traveler near Delicate formation in Arches.

Delicate arch in Arches National Park.

JP's favorite formation.

Devil's Garden formation in Arches.

More of Devil's Garden formation in Arches.

3 Bull Moose seen on trail ride.

Big Meadow, destination of trail ride.

Clair, rangler that led our 4 hour trial ride.

Iron Butts on horses.

Tourist and Oprah.

Members of the Iron Butt Association?

Caramal apples that Amanda would have liked.

Staemboat Springs rodeo cowboy.

Tilted shale in Dinosaur National Monument.

Josie Morris Cabin in Dinosaur National Monument.

Petroglyphs.

More petroglyphs.

Traveler hiking to petroglyphs.

Tourist on road tp Josie Morris Cabin.

Quarry Wall at Dinosaur National Monument.

Sunset in Orem, UT.

Green River flowing through Dinosaur National Monument.

Lake Tahoe.

Desert Lizzard, Great Basin National Park, NV.

Reno, NV.

Typical mountain road west of Reno.

VIrginia City, NV.

Desert view from Main Street, Virginia City, NV.

Traveler in Nevada desert.

Dry lake bed in Nevada desert.

Sand Mountain, Nevada.

Roads go forever in the desert.

Owner of the Cold Springs Bar and Motel, pony express stop in Nevada desert.

View from the front of the Cold Springs Bar.

The Cold Springs Bar in the Nevada Desert.

Dusk in the desert.

Another view at dusk in the desert.

Dusk, again.

Raining in the mountains in the desert.

Fremont Indians archeological site, recovered after excavation.

Utah desert rest stop for water we brought to soak ourselves with.

Sevier Lake, UT, a dry lake bed.

Half Dome, Yosemite.

Half Dome again.

Upper Yosemite Falls

Granite dome in Yosemite.

Upper Yosemite Falls, another view.

Tourist cooling in the river at Yosemite.

River that runs through Yosemite Valley.

Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite.

El Capitain, Yosemite.

Half Dome as first seen when entereing Yosemite from the West.

Route 1 along Pacific coast.

Rider tele-commuting.

Looking down on coast from 200 ft.

Route 1 Pacific coast highway overlook.

Fog.

Traveler at Lady Byrd Johnson Redwood Grove.

Forest path.

Passerby admiring tall Redwoods.

Traveler holding up giat Redwood which is about to fall.

Giant Redwoods.

More giant Redwoods.

Tourist shot at 'the Big Tree'.

Another tourist shot at the Big Tree.

Klamath Beach, CA.

Tourist at low tide on Klamath Beach, CA.

More Klamath Beach pictures.

Rahshida & Amar, dinner companions at Kamp Klamath, CA.

Dinner entertainment at Kamp Klamath.

Campsite at Kamp Klamath, CA.

Crater Lake, Oregon.

PumiceDesert at Crater Lake, OR.

Crater Lake again.

More Crater Lake.

More Crater Lake again.

Trillium Lake near Mt. Hood.

Mt. Hood reflected in Trillium Lake.

Travelers at Trillium Lake with Mt. Hood in background.

More Mt Hood at Trillium Lake.

Approach to Mt. Hood.<
Approach to Mt. Hoot.
<

Mt. St. Helens.

Devastation caused by Mt. St. Helens eruptions.

Chipmunks made friendly by tourists.

Moew devastation caused by Mt. St. Helens eruptions.

Tourist making a chipmunk friendly.

Mt Rainier.

Glacial valley at bottom of Mt. Rainier.

Another view of Mt. Rainier.

Blue wild flowers at Chinook Pass, Wa.

Purple wild flowes at Chinook Pass.

Road over the Chinook Pass, Wa.

Mt. Admans from the East.

Columbia River Gorge.

Will & Jody.

At Elena and Kevin's

Wild flowers.

More wild flowers.

Daisies.

Mt. Adam as seem from Elaina and Kevin's palce.

Again, wild flowers.

Guest cabin where we stayed at Elaina and Kevin's

Sunset from Elaina and Kevin's palce.

Columbia River wind surfers.

La Push beach, Olympic National Park, Washington state.

Driftwood accumulated on the beach at La Push.

Rider in front of 500 year old spruce in Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park.

Rider in front of 270 foot tall spruce.

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park.

Stream in Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park.

Exhausted rider found on drifwood at La Push after over 11,000 miles in 7 weeks.

Large driftwood on beach at La Push'

Camp site at Olympic National Park, Washington State.

Forest behind our tent at Olympic National Park.

Mountain Biker Boys.

Lift that carries bikes and Biker Boys to top of down-hill mountain bike trail.

Mountain Bike Trail.

Frazer River Canyon

On the right in this picture is the road we had just traveled along the canyon rim.

Same road. Not a good place to make a wrong turn.

Salsafy, softball size dandelion cousin.

Looking up from the bottom of a rock slide.

Man-made lake in the canyon.

Another view of the lake.

Grizzle Bear in the tent after a wet ride today.

View down the Cassiar Highway.

Ferry pulling up to dock at Haines, AK.

Other riders waiting with us to load on the ferry at Haines, AK.

View from stren of ferry going to Skagway, AK.

Roy Eastwood, Bill Hooykaas, Ken Riepert, from Toronto riding BMW's around Alaska, Canada,
and the US, that we met along the way - in several different locations, including on the ferry
to Skagway, where this shot was taken.

Another shot from the ferry to Skagway, AK.

Ralph looking toward Haines from the stern of the ferry to Skagway.

Broadway Street, Skagway, AK.

Eagle on boat mast in Haines, Harbor.

Road to Haines, AK from Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada.

Along the road to Haines, AK.

JP at a scenic overlook on the road to Haines, AK

More shots on the road to Haines, AK.

Can't get enough of these shots.

Glacier along Glenallen Highway north of Anchorage.

Glacial valley along Glenallen Highway.

Turnagain Arm west of Anchorage.

Exit Glacier, Kenai Fiord National Park, near Seward, AK.

Holgate Glacier, as tall as a 65 story building at the face.

JP viewing the Holgate Glacier from the ship.

A side arm glacier near Holgate Glacier.

JP dressed for the cold weather on the ship.

Another strangely dressed passenger on the ship.

A view from the stern of the boat.

Sunset at Ressurection Bay, Seward, AK.

Seward harbor.

Fiord in Kenai National Park.

Mary, a bright, cheerful 24 year old Ph.D. candidate with whom we shared the boat trip.

Catch of the day by fellow campers in Seward.

Catch of the day at the Joiner campsite - tomato soup and bacon.

Another hard day at the virtual office in Seward, AK.

Glacier shot in Homer.

A drive down the East End Road in Homer, AK.

The eagle has landed on the spit in Homer, AK.

Checking e-mail on my Treo 650 while having lunch of fish 'n chips on the spit at Homer, AK.
Just can't seem to get any time off from work.

Judy took this shot while we were having lunch on the spit at Homer, AK.

Cook Inket as seen from hill above Homer, Ak.

JP looking at view of Cook Inlet.

Too pretty not to take another shot.

And again can't get tired of this view.

Russian River on Kenai Penisula.

Hordes of fisherman after Salmon.

Portage Glacier on a cold windy day.

Another neraby glacier.

View from our room at the Brown Bear Saloon.

JP in front of our room over the bar at the Brown Bear Saloon in Indian, AK.

Enough said!

Bartender Chris Higgins at the Brown Bear Saloon in Indian Alaska made us welcome with Long Island
Ice Teas, Bombay Saphire Gin & Tonics, and bar food.

Demali is the cloud covered peak in the center of this distant view.

Excited and ready to work sled dogs at the kennel at Denali National Park.

Muddy accepts Judy's attention.

Our campsite near Denali National Park.

Storm brewing in Denali National Park.

Wolf slinking along the road in the rain at Denali, a rare sight.

Dall sheep grazing in Denali.

Mountain view in Denali.

Glaciated valley in Denali.

Grizzly Bear seen in Denali.

Harley riders that befriended us in campsite outside Denali.

Group picture of fellow campers and fellow bikers. Great group of guys and girls.

Sign at entrance to the only BMW dealer in Fairbanks.

George W. is the owner and sole employee of the only BMW dealership in Fairbanks.

There was a line waiting for tire changes, including Jay Bender, riding the UCC and headed
for Prudhoe Bay.
George W. uses only tire irons to change the tires and at 70 years old, does it faster than
anyone I have seen do it with modern tire changing machines that you find in other dealerships.

This gives the flavor of the dealership.

Greenhouse we stayed in for 2 days when we found the hostel full on our return from Prudhoe Bay.

All of the following pictures were taken in the 4 days starting in Fairbanks, making the run to Prudhoe Bay, and returning to Fairbanks.

First view of mountains

Cottonwood campground on Kluane Lake.

JP cold at Kluane Lake.

Perfect sunset at 10:30 at Cottonwood campground.

Glacier runoff riverbed.

JP at glacier runoff riverbed.

JP at Muncho Lake.

Daily scene while driving.

More usual daily scene.

Another Kluane Lake view.

One of our big goals was getting to Chicken, Alaska.
Less than 30 residents in this town.

Chris is our bartender, a student from University of Alaska Fairbanks that was recruited to work in this remote
site with promises of coeds from Dawson.

Stopped for breakfast at Pink Mountain. This is view of direction we were heading next.

Aspens behind our camp site.

Grizzled Bear riding position.

Camp site just North of Ft. St. John.

Dawson Creek is the start of the ALCan Highway and this is the official milepost "0". JP is a bit glad to have made it this far but traveling 4,700 miles to get to mile post zero of a 1500 mile road sure is tough.

Just for the record, a shot of both of us at Dawson Creek.

Stayed in a remote provincial campsite on Thursday night.

A well worn path to the outhouse.

Lake on which the provincial park campsite is located.

A vast landscape in western Canada.

A loud, colorful campsite visitor.

Nice picture of a storm about to cause some real trouble for us.

Another nice picture before the storm hit us.

Made it to a parking lot after the rain caused a short that caused the bike to quit 15 miles from the nearest town.

Looking for the short without luck. See JP's entry for June 1st for all the details of this our first BAD DAY.

The sunset last night from our $5.00 camp site in Karlstad, Minnesota.

Crossing the border into Canada this morning on our 10th day on the road

Canada welcome sign.

JP studies the map trying to decide where to next.

This is what we carry into the room when we check into a motel for a night.
This all came off our 2 bikes and no we do not have a support vehicle following us.
This does not include the contents of the 'kitchen' saddlebag or the contents of the 'repair' saddlebag.

Our great friend Mike Sachs said we would be leaving stuff along the way but Mike, we have not yet.

Confederate Cemetery at Rock Island Arsenel, Davenport.

Camp dog that wandered in for a visit at Salem, MO.

Judy gathers firewood.

Camping in Salem, MO.

Thanks to Tom Fielder in Jonesboro Arkansas for allowing us a 2 hour lunch to do some work while we ate
their great food and enjoyed the great service from Adam.

Started the Ultimate Coast to Coast Monday May 23, 2005.

Up at 6:30. Off by 8:00.

While at the Southern Most Point, met a guy and girl, both wearing bikinis,
in a contest sponsored by a West Palm Beach radio station.

Got the Fireman's signature to certify the start.

Covered 370 miles today. Now in Kissimmee, FL..

Up at 6:30 this A.M. Packed and hit the road at 8:00.
Stopped for breakfast about 9:30 at the Chickee Hut,
an open air Biker Bar where about half the morning's patrons
were having their first(or second) beer of the day.

Short ride, aout 260 miles, to Key West where we are staying at the Sea Shell Hostel,
$70.00 for one night, the least expensive place we could find in Key West.

Headed for Mallory Square for the 8:02 sunset, Duvall Street and a few of the local
establishments.

Ride was a bit warm today, and a great deal slower since we were not on Interstates.

Up at 6:00 this A.M. Packing took till 7:30.

Our daughter, Milissa and her love interest, Bryan, as well as our neighbors,
David and Mary were there to see us off.

We covered about 560 miles today. Slabbed it from Marietta to Lake Okachobee(sp?).
averaged 69.7 miles per hour while moving and 55 overall.
Staying in a KOA campground, said to be the largest in the world.

Amanda & Milissa graduate tonight. Judy is a whirlwind of activity of final packing, graduation party planning, etc.

What are we doing?

Here is the map and we'll give more details of the trip in entries yet to come!