500+ miles in one day...done

I ran through Iowa today as quick as the roads would let me. So far, Iowa has had the worst roads of the trip. About every 200ft the road heaves up at you and tries to knock your butt up through your mouth. Also because they are constantly trying to fix these awful roads, there is baby gravel all over the road being kicked up by all the cars. The bumpy road kept me alert to see a roadside attraction sign that I recognized but didn't know I would be passing. 

You may recognize the above image as one of the American Pickers sites. It is currently a tourist stop in a neat little river town called Le Claire. I have decided that I will be doing a Mississippi River run eventually and this town will be explored further. 

I arrived in Bloomington just before a heavy wind/rain storm rolled through. I was able to park the bike and get some gear inside before the skies opened for a few minutes. 

My roommate's family lives in Bloomington and they treat me like family, just as I consider my roommate Dusti to be. I feel just as home here as I do in Florida and Texas.  

After dinner Dusti's dad, Rich took me for a ride in the Camaro. The feeling I get riding in this car is similar to why I have a V8 S10 Blazer. It is pure fun over function. It gets you from point A to point B in the most aggressive way possible. 

I am veering off the plan again as Dusti was supposed to be here in Bloomington, not living in my home. Also Liz's bike is down at the moment, so I can't ride with her either. Guess I will have to wait for Liz to visit Dusti and I down in Florida so she can ride the Sportster.  

So tomorrow I will be headed for Ohio and gaining another day. I repeat, I will be 2 days ahead of schedule tomorrow.  

Rolling across the plains

Good day tobymoto followers. I went from the Mount Rushmore National Monument to South Sioux City, Nebraska. I also dipped my toes into Minnesota, because I haven't ever been there, and have wanted to since I did my report back in middle school. I will eventually do a Mississippi River ride and will have to start or end it in Minnesota where the river starts. 

If you ever been across I80 in South Dakota, you have likely seen signs for Wall Drug Store.  

Well let me tell you about it. Wall is a souvenir town kind of plopped in south South Dakota. There are a few national/state parks our here, and Wall seems to be an oasis of sorts that people can go get souvenirs from if you didn't get them in the souvenir towns by the parks.  

I left there in a hurry without spending a dime and kept on trucking east. There was not a lot to see besides green rolling plans that are obviously covered in snow most of the year.  

This is the south western corner of Minnesota. Just south of a town called Luverne. Looks like it could have been taken in any green county side.  

While I am in my tent tonight, these are the cabins available it the city park here in South Sioux City. It is a neat park, but bring ear plugs if you are used to sleeping in the woods.  

This is the river that separates Iowa and Kansas. It also edges my campground.  

Tomorrow I head east to see Dusti's family. 

The presidents..,

Right to the pictures as I need to get down the road.  

This pic was taken this morning hence the shadow. 

And a sunset pic from last night as well.  

Not much to add other than a whole lot of countryside up here with a city every now and then.  

Maybe I will have cell reception at the next location.  

Spokane to Mammoth Hot Springs campground

Even though Washington turned its cold wet shoulder on me, I kind of liked the vibe. It was a cool Saturday, but not too cold and the rain must have kept going west because I woke up dry. And I remembered to take a picture of my camp ground this time. 

Waking up to sounds of water was very peaceful. I hit the road and headed east towards the top bit of the potato state and Montana. I would like to shake the hand of the people that designed I90 about 20 miles into Idaho all the way into Montana. The nice sweeping curves up and down the mountains was very relaxing as well. Beautiful sites everywhere as well.  

It seems like every time I would crest a hill I was greeted with glorious sites as far as the eye could see.  

I am lucky I didn't drop my phone taking some of these. Not like it would have mattered anyways. My phone is not AT&T which is the only service provider out here. It reaffirms my potential switch to Google Fi this winter.  

I made it to camp and completely love our national park system. However I don't get why we need tax dollars to support the parks when they have a steady stream of cars waiting to pay $30 each to drive through. And then if you want to pitch a tent, that is another $20. The RV people are paying even more. As a tax payer I would like to see some transparency about income vs expenditures. 

The above was to the North of me.  

The above was to the south. If you zoom into the center you can see the steam from the hot springs. 

A marker on the hill I called my dad from.  

Sunset over the park.  

Go figure, Washington is cold and wet

I woke up to a dreary weather report for Mt Rainier, which is where I was headed. I had to attempt it, because I didn't know when/if I would be back. The road getting there was a winding road through beautiful, tall, green trees. Even the park ranger looked at me sideways as I paid my entry fee for the park. 

This was the first pullout to see a beautiful site over a valley into a forest and a big mountain. I believe there was about 100ft of visibility and this was the best visibility while I was in the park. It only got worse from here. So worse that I did not stop to take pictures again in the park. There was about 3ft of hardpack snow just off the road, a steady drizzle, and temps dipping down in the 40s for sure, if not lower. And did I mention I was in a motorcycle going through a treacherous mountain pass? 

I made it through the pass and decided to thaw a minute under this overhang at a gas station. All of those cabooses behind the bike, are rooms for rent. Go to Elbe, Washington if you want to stay in a caboose.  

I thought I was through the whole park and stumbled upon this at a public restroom. Very cool, and I can't wait to see this shot on a computer screen.  

This is what Washington looks like east of Mt Rainier. As you can see I had some more rain ahead of me.  

I arrived at Fairfield AFB FamCamp around 2:30pm to find out that they do not allow tents on base.... I was directed to a lake 30 minutes out of the way which turned out to be a military only recreation area. I was pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness of this area, compared to the community just outside the gates. If you have a military ID and are in the area of Spokane and need a place to camp, check out Clear Lake Military Resort. Nice lake, reasonable prices. 

Tomorrow I head towards Mammoth in Yellowstone.  

Woahoh, halfway there

Woke up to a puffy eye (allergies) and rain. But I slept good, and actually slept in a bit waiting for the rain to lighten up. It is pretty gross packing wet gear, but it needed to be done.  

After packing up this dampness, I put on my rain gear again and drove north. Sleeping in did 2 things. It allowed me to stretch out in my tent, and catch all of the traffic going into Portland.  I didn't realize how much further I had gotten and was just shy of Tacoma before I knew it  

I pulled into Northwest Harley-Davidson around noon to get my 15,000 mile service. I was able to get a quick turn-around service and catch Harrison before he headed out of town for his work. Unfortunately he had to leave town on short notice so we barely had time to snap a silly picture. 

Later AJ and the kids got home and we had pizza. Harrison's kids are at a very fun age where they want to show you all of the stuff they have and the new things they can do. I saw them about 2 or 3 years ago when I was on a road trip through Alabama. It is good to see the whole family in their natural habitat up here in the Northwest. 

They graciously opened there doors for me and allowed me to do laundry again and sleep on another bed. I will be camping out for the next 4 days, so this last bed for almost a week will be good. 

Today, I not only was able to arrange another friend visit close to the end of my trip, but also find my original tech school roommate on a social media page. This last half of the journey is shaping up to be pretty awesome. But I have to get through some empty Midwest first. I am hoping for good weather and kind roads. 

Use your words Toby

Today I rode from the largest trees I have ever seen to a small tree farming community in Champoeg, Oregon. I don't know if they do this well from growing Christmas trees, or if this is a retirement style of income. These houses are super cute, and all of them are landscaped perfectly.

I didn't take any pictures today because it wasn't necessary. I went from those giant trees in which I captured yesterday, to some coastline and a small harbor village, to tree lined byways, and then ended up on a boring interstate. The best part of this leg was the area I left and this amazing community that I didn't know existed until I rode through it.

On that note, my allergies are killing me. All of this plant life has reeked havoc on my sinuses. I am stuffy, runny, and sneezy all at the same time. My eyes itch and my head feels like it may explode. That does not stop me one bit from loving the camping experience. So far, the place I stayed last night, Humboldt Redwoods State Park was by far my favorite location. I would prefer a walk in location though, as there would have been less people and fires.

I get the awesomeness that is campfires as I do them occasionally at my house, but letting them smolder all night, and waking up to breathing that smell and smoke all night is not cool. Drown your fires people, especially when there is plenty of water available.

I could have kept driving up the coast, but I wanted to drive through Portland, OR and Portland, ME on the same trip. Something about two large cities, in the same nation, on the opposite coasts, with the same name, fascinates me. Also the coast road got much less interesting as the road only occasionally peaked out over the coast and then headed inland for the next 10-20 miles. Also the road conditions kept getting worse the further north I went.

Today I hit the 5000 mile mark. This puts me at about the halfway mark as far as mileage goes. After tomorrow, I have a few long days ahead of me, and then the short jaunts down the east coast. I am already about a day ahead and will likely cut another one or two out depending on how I feel. I will still get the 10,000+ miles but my time on the road will be shorter. There is no reason for cutting days other than it making sense while I am on the road.

Of the places I have visited, I would like to revisit Colorado, The Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, more redwood groves, and this little tree farming town. I have never seen rows upon rows of 2 foot Christmas trees and various other trees and vines being grown in the same area. I am curious to see this place in the winter. It must look vastly different. 

I also want to visit my friends again and give each of them more Toby than they can handle at one time. Lol.  

Ok, I lied. These things are called yurts. they are adorable and I want one. They had about 6 of these at the entrance of this state park. This picture gives you a small glimpse of how adorable this little community is. 

I did around 450 miles today and I felt really good after. I think if the weather, traffic and road conditions were right 500 miles could easily be done in a day. I only have one 500 mile day planned and it is coming up very soon. My fingers are crossed that everything lines up to get me down the road the safest way possible.  

Thanks again for the awesome emails and comments. I really enjoy the feedback and questions. 

That's a big ol tree

San Francisco and Fairfield were great, but I gotta keep moving. West I went to a scheduled stop in Petaluma. Petaluma is the home of TWiT.tv. People often ask me how I got so tech savvy. I owe a lot of that savviness to a man named Leo Laporte. I was watching a friends house in 2000 when I stumbled upon a show called The Screen Savers on ZDtv, which would then shortly change to TechTV. The Screen Savers had just enough info to make you think yet entertaining enough to keep you around. Fast forward 17 years and TechTV is no more and Leo has his own internet based TV channel called TWiT.tv. Leo was out this week on vacation, but I stopped by the studio anyways.  

If you watch one of the main shows on the network this is the set they use.  

It was very cool to see first hand what the behind the scenes view was.  

I even got to hang out with John (jammerb) while he worked his magic on FLOSS Weekly. This show is done over Skype into the studio where John mixes it live and sends it out over the air. Very cool to see the maestro at work.  

I had about a 5.5 hour journey after that to get to a destination in the redwoods, along the PCH as far as I could of course. The difficulty of these roads is right there with the roads I experienced in Colorado except the drop off the edge would have been less than 100 feet mostly, and there were guard rails on 99% of the corners. Colorado doesn't like guard rails.  

I made it to my camping spot and got set up in record time. I am getting better at this and am thinking camping may need to happen more often when I get back home. I don't know if you can't tell how big the trees are here, but in real life, they are the biggest trees I have seen by far. The further north I got, they bigger they got. In the camping area, there are remains of the ancient trees interspersed with the giant trees. The ancient trees are easily 3 to 4 times the size of the larger standing trees.  

Maybe that scale will help.  

I again relaxed in the hammock and looked to the sky to see the very high up canopy. I bet the view from up there is amazing too.  

Lane splitter

So yesterday I mentioned an alternate path for today. I am glad I took it for a few reasons. First thing is that I had to. The 1 is closed down at Big Sur due to one of the largest landslides ever. They do not have an estimated finish date for the project. Secondly I got to drive through farming country. I got to see the artichoke capital of the world. There were signs advertising 10 for $1. And kiwis 10 for $1.  

And then I got to see this work of art. This little biker clothing shop is off the beaten path around Moss Landing. If I had a sail boat on the pacific, it might be docked here. Very awesome little village in Monterey Bay. 

This panorama was taken in Davenport.  

A lot of this coast reminded me of the countryside in Hawaii. Being back on the winding 1 with scenery like this makes the trip worth it. I may have to do the PCH again when Big Sur is back.  

I made it into San Francisco and parked the bike underground. This building is the San Francisco City Hall building. The whole plaza in front is parking at least 3 stories down. 

I ventured into downtown to catch up with this guy. Scott was my first subordinate in the Chaplain Corps world. He was a charm to work with and I hope to see him again in the near future.  

This beautiful woman is Michelle. I have known Michelle the shortest of all the people I am visiting, but in the short time I have known her, she has impressed me greatly. She is a great asset to the Air Force if they utilize her skills properly, and a great friend for those that care to make that connection.  

To get to Michelle's location, I ride through traffic over the Golden Gate Bridge, and split traffic for the next few miles. If I lived here I would definitely own a smaller bike.  

I want to end the night by saying I am so happy with life and what I am doing on the road. To hear that I am inspiring others to want to do something along the lines of crazy as this makes me feel even more special. Thank you for that. If I make it to the end of my journey alive, this won't be the last trip I take. Share this story to your friends and I hope I can inspire more people to do something they love.  

Flexibility is also key on a road trip

No matter how well you plan, sometimes things don't work out, and you have to realize that is ok. My favorite part of my trip so far is seeing smiling faces of my friends spread out across the US. So you can imagine I was bummed out by not seeing Gabe in San Antonio, and the finding out two days ago Ron wouldn't be in LA today when I drove through. This morning Lonny had a family emergency and couldn't meet up. I am sad that I don't get to see some of my friends, but I see a much bigger picture. I love my friends and will continue to make an effort to see them in the future. Friends are worth the effort. 

This is where the Pacific Coast highway roughly starts. It is not a perfect coastal road, but it is neat for sure. If I had unlimited time/money I could spend a month crawling up these coastal towns that are west of the PCH. They remind me of my current home in Fort Walton Beach, but are also vastly different. They don't seem planned out, but rather grown organically from smaller villages into bustling cities. 

There are quite a few places to pull off down the coast, but being on an 800lb bike makes pulling off a bit challenging. I found this cozy spot in Laguna Beach. I honestly like my beaches better, but this is neat. As you can see the weather was not kind to me today either. 

This was Ventura. The water and weather started looking better the further north I got. Also the land looked a lot like Hawaii at this point as well. Well Hawaii with less people.  

I tend to meet awesome people wherever I go and I can't see a dog without petting it. I am not an extrovert or an introvert anymore. I am a happy medium with a smile.  

So I ended up at Vandenburg AFB FamCamp (group photo above). This is a few hours north of my planned stop. Like I mentioned earlier, about being flexible, I changed my plans on the fly and decided to skip the beach towns of LA when my friends couldn't make it. I will be back to visit them, and when I do we can go to those beach towns. Instead I decided to make it a bit further north and stay at another friends place, instead of just getting coffee like I had originally planned. More on that tomorrow, and also more on why I have to get back on the 101 vs staying on the PCH.