Mile: -22
For
every new beginning, there is an old beginning's end......at least that's what
I hear. I'm amazed at how rapidly a
year has gone by and how rapidly the trip has approached. I'm again embarking on the 2nd annual
Gardner motorcycle trip. Last year's
trip (to a wedding in Minnesota and to Sturgis) was an absolute blast. Not only was it a trip of known origin and
destination, but it was also a trip of soul searching and breaking in my
motorcycle. Well, I've searched my
soul, not much new there, I've broken in the bike (6,000+ miles and several
scratches), I know my origin, but the destination is as yet unknown. In a matter of 19 hours the folks and I will
be departing the Everett homestead on a trek to places, sights, and sounds
unknown. We're heading South, that much
is for sure, we'll be traversing the North rim of the Grand Canyon, that's a
general plan, but other than that, hot temps, twisty roads, no
Winnebago's. Simple task right? We have 10 days to figure it out. 10 glorious days of nothing but riding bikes
and chasing women (hey, it was Mom's idea) !!
But
alas, I have 19 hours to wait. That's 4
more hours at the day job, 6 hours at the night job, 2 meals, 5 hours of sleep,
and 4 hours to prep the bike. Oh yeah,
that's right, I still haven't prepared for the trip. I still need to pack: 2 pairs of socks, the jeans I'm wearing, 3
shirts, no underwear (it's just more laundry for someone), a book and a
toothbrush. I think I can fit it all
nicely on the bike. Of course, I also
need the laptop and the digital camera.
After all, bikers of today aren't quite what they used to be. I will be traveling with my trusty Harley
Davidson Bandana (every boy has a dream).
So
I'm happy I'm working tonight and I'm not happy I'm working tonight. It's a good thing: cash in my pocket, flirt with pretty ladies, keep me sober (no
hangover to start my trip). It's a bad
thing: up 'til 3 am, on my feet all
night after a hellish week at the day job, flirt with pretty ladies (no wait,
that was a good thing right?).
But just to start the trip off on a happy note, and to supply myself and
everyone around me with good omens (no Beau, not the kind of omens that I'll be
seeing Elvis), I'm going to leave off with an excerpt from last year's
trip. For those of you who were privy
to the trials, tribulations, and titillations of last year's motorcycle
extravaganza, you will recall this excerpt simply as "Day 13, The Bee"
Mile:
-22
It's
8:45 am. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the day has
begun. But not for me. I'm not a pretty sight. My alarm clock
will be going off in 1 minute. I've been tossing and turning for 20
minutes now dreading this awful, awful moment. For not only is the alarm
a signal that I need to get out of bed at such a ridiculous hour, it also
indicates that I got less than 3 hours of sleep. I turned the alarm on at
5:46 this morning as I was crawling into bed. Late night up
packing? Hardly. Fell asleep on the couch and am just now moving to
bed? Not so much. Up all night at an after-hours party? Right
on!! Now, some may say that this is not the most wise of decisions on the
eve of a 10 day motorcycle trip, but I oppose such a notion. As of 2:38
am, I was officially on vacation and an all night party is just what I
needed. Am I tired? Yes. Am I hating life? Yes. Do
I regret partying all night? Never. Would I make the same choice
again? Absolutely. To all of you on this list with whom I partied
last night (and you know who you are), it was a blast and we will have to do it
again very soon. Just remember, what happens at the bar stays at the bar.
But
I'm on the road in due time.
Mile:
0
At
the Everett Homestead for some last minute preparations. Trim the beard
(#3 guard), cut the hair (#2 guard), scrub the grommet (120 grit), and we're
off to the rodeo! And how do we start the trip? Why, with a
kartwheel of course. This year's trip has a definite theme:
"Kartwheels Across America". Yes, that's right, yours truly
will be doing kartwheels everywhere the mood strikes. Digital camera in
hand (thanks DJ), mom at the controls, we capture the first. In the driveway shortly before takeoff. (Thanks
for the site and technical advice Preacher)
For
as long as I can remember, every vacation involving motorcycles has started in
the rain. Don't know why, just happens that way. Today, mild
deviation from the accepted norm. Sunny skies, nice fluffy clouds, day
looks great. Tired as can be but the adrenaline is pumping and I'm ready
to ride. It's South on I-5, steady as she goes:
Mile:
84
Finally,
civilization is gone. We're down to a 2 lane road, no other cars, no
noise of the city, just us and a forest. We're into Rainier National
Park. Man is this great, everything the trip was meant to be. Gone
is my perpetual need to speed on the bike (we don't have a destination, just a
path). The speed limits are slow, but the road is nice and twisty.
Pure bliss.
Mile:
92
Dam!!
Dam!! No really, I mean it, Dam!! Look, off to your right, it's a
Dam!! There's some river here, don't know which one, and someone dammed
it, don't know who, and then named it, don't know what. But it's cool
none the less.
Mile:
107
Road
sign: "OBSERVE But do not approach or feed the wildlife".
The first thing that comes to mind is that they're referring to me. I
know I have a wild life, and the Rangers here must talk to the Rangers at Ocean
City. I think everyone knows about the tank commander goggles. Be
wise, heed the signs, observe, but do not approach or feed.
Mile:
134
Any
wild ass, crazy ideas I once had about doing the RAMROD race (Ride Around Mount
Rainier in One Day) have been fully vanquished. There's no way in
hell. Now, I love a good hill climb as much as the next guy, but we're 7
miles up a consistent climb. Come to find out later, this particular hill
goes on for a steady 13 miles. How do I celebrate my RAMROD
revelation? Why, with a kartwheel in front of Mt.
Rainier of course.
Mile:
185
Mint.
Large fields of mint. It's a crop you know. And apparently someone
in Washington grows it. By the acres. It's quite pungent. Not
necessarily good, but not necessarily bad.
Mile:
192
Fruit
stands! Everywhere! Fruit Stands!
Mile:
193
Orchards!
Everywhere! Orchards! That would then explain the abundance of
fruit stands. I made the correlation myself. My momma didn't raise
no dummy!
Mile:
224
Man
I need a beer. Not quite sure why, but I REALLY need a beer. Oh
yeah, now I remember, it's because I'm driving through hundreds of acres of
hops fields. Man what a sight. I can't believe how these vines
grow. It's like they're weeds. What an impressive sight. The
hops literally blanket the countryside. And man does it smell good.
Not
much else the rest of the day. No incidents. Nothing outrageously
exciting. No Elvis spottings. Staying in the fabulous city of Walla
Walla tonight (which, as all of you know, is host to an execution at 12:01am
Wednesday morning). Hopefully we'll be able to swing by the penitentiary
tomorrow for a quick glimpse and a picture
of.......wait......wait.....guess?......that's right, a Kartwheel!!
Miles
Today: 362
Total
Miles: 362
Mile: 0
Not so good on a great night of rest. That
mattress was not the best in the world. But it doesn't matter. It's
a beautiful day outside. Quite lovely. Fine day for a motorcycle
ride. Which is terribly convenient because we don't really have a choice
at this point.
Mile: 51
I am such an idiot. Completely stupid.
I've been following signs towards Clarkston and Lewiston for some 80 odd miles
now. And I've also been following the Lewis and Clark trail. Now,
this whole time, I've had a Monkey's song stuck in my head: "Take
the last train to Clarksville and I'll meet you at the station".....now, I
know I'm headed towards Clarkston, not Clarksville, but that's what's going
through my head. But it just now finally dawned on me that I'm driving
towards "Lewis"ton and "Clark"ston. I am such an
idiot.
Mile: 64
Yipes!! It's a T-Rex!!
Yipes!! It's a Shark!!
Yipes!! It's an Alligator!!
Yipes!! It's me doing a Kartwheel!!
Mile: 97
I know I'm in Idaho. It's painfully
obvious. Yet I missed the "Welcome to Idaho" sign. This
is really discouraging. This was a theme last year, missing state lines,
but I thought I could rectify that this year. Apparently not. But
I'm not alone, Mom missed it too.
Mile: 152
World's Largest St. Bernard. That's right, we're
driving by it at 67 MPH. Don't really care though. It could be a
funny picture. Me. A dog. A kartwheel. But it's not
really worth it.
Mile: 188
Something in Idaho stinks. Not quite sure
what it is. But it stinks. I notice it while we're sitting down to
lunch. I think it might be the 'rents. I tell them to go shower in
the river, this is the best they could do.
Mile: 210
Mountain Time. I see the sign!! I'm so
happy!! Although, I did just lose an entire hour of my life. Just a
second ago it was 1:14, now it's 2:14. I've been robbed!! I check
my wallet, it's still there. I check my belongings, they're still
there. I check my watch, someone stole an hour! I don't know what to
do.......
Mile: 240
Having nothing better to think about, I wonder what
I would do if I had to make a choice between travelling North to a really cold
place, or South to a really hot place. And I'm talking extremes. If
someone asked me "North Pole or Equator", which would I choose?
So I started weighing my options. I'm kind of hot, so I don't want to go
somewhere any hotter. But I don't like the cold. I like the water,
so the Equator would be cool. But I also like the snow, so the North Pole
would be cool. So then, maybe one's closer than the other? By
looking at the azimuth of the Sun, I try to calculate roughly where I am.
Of course, I don't have a sextant, and I'm travelling 71 MPH, so it's kind of
tough to calculate it out right now. Maybe I'll ponder this choice again
in a few miles.
Mile: 244
Oh my gosh!! I'm at the 45th
parallel. This whole North Pole/Equator thing is bunk! I can't
make the decision based on distance. Can't you see
the sign? I'm halfway between the two!! Only one thing to
do now.......a Kartwheel!!
Mile: 274
Moo. Moo. Moo moo moo moo moo.
Moo. Of course, thanks to Pete, we all know this isn't possible.
Yes, cows are possible. But not "moo". Pete has proven to
us that cows can't moo. They can't pronounce vowels. Cows are all
about the consonants. They really go mmmmmMMMMMMmm. So, without
further ado: mmMMMm. mmmMMMMm. mmmmmMMMMMMmm.
Mile: 354
Gas stop. Dad puts 6.03 gallons in his 6.00
gallon tank. Maybe he's filling the float bowls as well? Close
call......
Mile: 368
"Real Good". A sign by the
roadside. "Real Good". That's it. "Real
Good". Brenda, I think it's an omen.
Mile: 403
Close to our final destination for the night.
Heading towards Mountain Home. I am curious though. I look to the
left and 40 miles off in the distance I see mountains. I look to the
right and 80 miles off in the distance I see mountains. I look behind me
and 30 miles off in the distance I see mountains. I look ahead and I see
no mountains. Very odd. I'm headed to Mountain Home, but there are
no mountains. This is why I do not live in Idaho. It confuses me.
Miles Today: 427
Total Miles: 789
Mile: 0
Not a bad night's sleep. Feeling pretty good
this morning. We couldn't get the AC in the room working very well, but
it was okay. Sweated all night, but nothing new there either.
Headed off to Salt Lake City. Off to see some Mormon chicks. Maybe
I'll have a Mary sighting today. If I can hook up with the right people
at the Salt Palace, dinner's on RadioFrame.
Mile: 50
Train. Off to the right. Man I love
trains. I can't explain my fascination but it runs so deep. There
it is, hundreds of tons of steel, hurtling down the track at 52 MPH. What
an impressive sight. Can you imagine the horsepower it takes to get that
much mass in motion? Simply a beautiful sight. Speaking of trains,
think about that track. Someone laid that sucker dozens of years ago and
designed it to handle nothing like what's cruising on it now. The track
is just as impressive as the train. And the width of the track.
Pretty interesting huh? If I recall correctly, it's 4' 8" (although
it could be 6"). I may come back to this later.....
Mile: 159
"OCCASIONAL BLINDING DUST STORMS NEXT 25
MILES" I can't say as though this is a sign I particularly relish
seeing. But they're right. It's windy here. How windy you
ask? Well, let me calculate it out for you. Assume the bike and I
have a combined mass of 750 lbs. My calibrated eyeball tells me I'm
leaning at 4.7 degrees to the starboard. Given this angle, I am applying
a force of 61.5 lbs sideways. Since I know I'm not turning (and I'm
obviously not falling over) that would mean that the wind is supplying an equal
force in the opposite direction. If I recall my Bernoulli's equation
correctly, this velocity head is equivalent to a 26
MPH wind. And I think I recall this correctly because I just looked up
the equation on the internet. Yes, even though I have my PE license, all
it says is that I know where to look up equations, not that I know them off the
top of my head. But the equation is what I recalled. I tried to
calculate this while under way, but I was a little off. My major
error was that I assumed that the sin of 4.7 degrees (0.0820 radians) was 0.082
(recalling that the sin of a small angle is the angle). Well, in fact,
the sin of 4.7 degrees is 0.0819. So you can see where my math went wrong
on this one. At 750 lbs, this error caused my sideways force to be off by
0.075 lbs. See where shortcuts get me in life?
Mile: 171
We enter the smallest city we've travelled through
yet. Malta, ID. Population: 171. Oooooh. Mile
171, population 171, spooky.......
Mile: 200?
In Utah? I don't know. The state border
is (was?) around here somewhere. I missed it. No big surprise.
Mile: 211
Rolled 1000 miles for the trip so far. Damn
this is fun. This is so exactly what I needed in life right now.
The world is beautiful.
Mile: 218
Oooooooh. More spooky......We're crossing
over I-84 on our way to Snowville. On the freeway below us, directly
under us as we cross the bridge, is a truck. A gray Dodge pickup.
Full size. With a cap. Towing a dual axle camper. Why is this
spooky? 30 some odd miles ago I was driving adjacent to this guy.
We're on Highway 30. A nice twisty road that meanders to and
fro. Occasionally, it comes near (or crosses) I-84. The
last time I saw I-84, it was about 50 feet off to my left.
But like I said, that was 30 or so miles ago. This pickup and I are
headed in the same direction. On different roads. We've travelled
different distances. Yet here we are. The same place. The
same time. Too spooky.
Mile: 246
Ouch! Dammit! Ouch! Something hit
me. In the face. In the little open spot between the top of my
sunglasses and the top of the opening in my helmet. We're talking a
height of less than 0.5 inches. A total area of less than 6 square
inches. I'm hit! I don't know what it was. But it was
painful. I put my finger up to the spot to see if I can feel anything
(remember I have my summer riding gloves on). It comes away all
wet. I wipe it off, feel up there again, it's all wet. Lots of
fluid here. The only thing I can think is that it was a rock and I'm
cut. I can't tell the color of the liquid, so I can't be sure, but it
looks dark (yes, my gloves are black). I know I'm stopping in about 7
miles for a scenic view. I'll wait until then to figure out what it was
that hit me.
Mile: 248
Screw this. I can't wait. The pain is
too excrutiating. My eye is watering like crazy. The pain is so
pinpoint and intense I can't concentrate on riding. I pull over to the
side of the road, the 'rents next to me. Yard off the helmet, off with
the glasses, peel off the bandana, ditch the gloves. Not sure I want to
look at it. Ask Mom what she sees. Her respone? "It's
still there !!" What's there? That's right boys and
girls. Here, on Highway 30, in a state of over 82,000 square miles, with a population of over 2
million people, some little piss ant bee finds me. This does not bode well.
I wipe him off my face (after many unsuccessful attempts). I find the
stinger. For now he's gone. Six square inches!!!!! How did he
find me? Or better yet, how did I find him? Well, it's a mistake he
won't repeat. It cost him his life. Pop some oral Benadryl.
Apply some topical Benadryl. Time to move on.
Mile: 253
Rockets !! Whodda thunk. Out here in the middle
of nowhere, we find rockets. It seems as though this is where they build
'em. Well, only one thing to do. But this is more than just a neat sight,
it's also an education for each and every one of you. The big rocket you
see in the background of the first picture is an RSRM . This is what they use on the space
shuttle. And here's where your education begins. Ever wonder how
they move this huge rocket from Utah to Florida? No? You're not
alone. Not that you care, but they traverse it by rail. That's right.
They load it on a railcar and haul it down to Kennedy Space center. Those
fabulous design engineers responsible for this wonderful piece of science knew
this mode of transportation as a limitation. Rail is the only way to
get this sucker from here to there. Knowing that a railroad is 4' 8"
wide, and knowing that tunnels aren't much wider than the track, the engineers
knew that they could only make the rocket so big in diameter. But whay
are rails so close together? Well, that's the way the first ones were
built. But again, why so narrow? The people who built the original
railroads laid the track in existing ruts in the ground. But where did
the existing ruts come from? From carriages of course. Horse drawn
carriages. Some hundred or so years ago, the gauge of a track was determined
by the preexisting ruts in the road. But who decided how wide carriage
wheels were? The horses did. When you place two horses side by side
and draw a carriage behind them, the natural width of the carraige is somewhere
around 4.5 feet. Why not narrower? The horses asses were too
big. So, 2 horses asses determined the width of the carriage, which made
the ruts in the road, which is where the track got laid, which then became a
standard, which traversed through tunnels, which determined the size of a
railcar, which determined the maximum width of the RSRM for the space
shuttle. Go figure. A horses ass determined the major factor in the
most technological piece of machinery this world has produced. Never
underestimate the horse.
Mile: 333
Temple
Square. Lots of cuties. Who can't love a city where there's
hundreds of cute 19 and 20 year old girls running around? And their on a
mission. No. Wait. They're missionaires. I was
close. DJ, I tried to fulfill my camera requirements. 14 times.
Total, utter, complete failure. I tried to invite some of these cute
girls out for a drink later. I can never be Mormon. What's this no
alcohol policy? Thank God (literally) I'm Catholic. If I didn't
drink, I'd be required by the church to feel guilty about it. I'd have to
do pennance for not drinking.
Have you seen the Mormon
Temple?
Have you seen the Mormon
Tabernacle?
And in typical Jason fashion, while at Temple Square,
I dropped some kids off at the pool.
Mile: 371
This bee sting is really getting to me. Most
of the day it was just a throbbing ache. Well, it has progressed.
It's swelling. Despite my repeated topical and
oral applications of Benadryl, it's growing. I can't fully open my
eye. And it's got a leak. My eye is running quite profusely as we
cruise at 117 feet per second.
Mile: 414
Riding at night is pretty cool. The miles
seem go by soooo much faster. Without a point of reference, you can't
tell how far you've gone. It's usually farther than you thought. 10
miles seems to take only 5 minutes. And there's so much sky to see.
Out in the middle of nowhere you can see everything the sky has to offer.
All its brilliance is clear. There's no smog in the way. No
pollution. No lights from the city to detract from the brightness.
Spectacular.
And then there's a shooting star. Off to my 2
o'clock. Wow. It's a long one. I count off a little over 4 seconds.
Think about it. That's a long time. One Mississippi. Two
Mississippi. Three Mississippi. Four Mississippi. That's a
long shooting star. I have confirmation. Mom saw it as well.
What a spectacular way to end the night.
Miles Today: 425
Total Miles: 1214
Mile: 0
Okay. Not so much on the Beehive State (that
would be Utah). The good news? The pain from the bee sting has
diminished significantly. The bad news? See
for yourself. There will be no
bandana wearing today. I can barely fit my head into the helmet as
is. The most unfortunate part of this? My left eye is my good
eye. But it's not functioning too well this morning. Things are a
little blurry. So everything on my right that I try to look at is really
fuzzy. I'm swollen so much that my left eye has no peripheral vision to
the right. Scott, I can almost (but not quite) sympathize with you.
Time to start OD'ing on the Benadryl.
Oh yeah, and no local dial-in numbers to send Day 3
to everyone. Those jerks at MSN.
Mile: 123
4 rain drops. I counted them. That's
how many hit me. No more, no less. So it's not raining. We
all know the rule. Seven drops on one brick and you can call it
rain. Anything less doesn't count. Thankfully this doesn't
count. I'd hate to have to ride in the rain.
Mile: 164
Man what a spectacular day. Everything seems
right. The helmet's a little snug, but that's easily forgotten.
We've been riding for several hours and it's been perfect. Great roads,
no other vehicles, light cloud cover (so it's not so hot), twisties. This
is exactly why we're here. We have destinations today, but it's all about
the road getting there right now. Life is grand.
And we get to see lots of lightening and
thunderstorms. We're headed East on Highway 12 towards Bryce National
Park. In front of us: dark clouds and lightening. To our
left: dark clouds and lightening. To our right: dark clouds
and lightening. Behind us: dark clouds and lightening. Above
us: the clearest blue sky we'll see all day. What an absolutely
gorgeous sight. I'd like it to last all day.
Mile: 176
Here we are. Bryce
National Park. Ever heard of Bryce Mountain? Neither have
I. Know why? Because Bryce is a canyon. Don't believe
me? Here, see for yourself. Told ya
so. I simply can't convey how immense and awe inspiring this canyon
is. We can walk right up to the edge of a 1500' drop. And we
do. But we don't jump.
Mile: 177
Having lunch with some new found friends.
Mile: 178
We've climbed some pretty good elevation over the last 20 miles. We're up
around 8500' now. So high in fact, that all those dark clouds we saw
earlier? We're in them. It's raining. What
to do?
Mile: 179
Quoth the Raven never more
And since I'm at it, might as well do some
kartwheels. Here's my highest one yet. Well, I spoke a little too soon.
Here's my highest one yet.
Mile: 214
Some serious wind now. We're heading back
East on Highway 12. There's only one road in and out of Bryce. So
now we're backtracking. But the wind is ferocious. Steady at 8.4
degrees lean angle. Gusts up to 11.7 degrees lean angle.
Corresponds to 35 MPH and 41 MPH respectively. Pretty good wind
huh?
Mile: 221
What would a trip to Bryce be without a stop in Red
canyon? We'll you wouldn't get to see either of these if we didn't
stop: Hoodoo,
Tunnel
As you can tell by now, I got a little picture
happy today. But there wasn't really much else going on. It was
just a spectacular day. No complaints at all. The swelling, the
rain, the wind.....whatever!! I'm having a great time and I wouldn't
change it for the world.
But alas, we must depart these canyons in search of
others.
Mile: 280
Found 'em!! More canyons that is. Zion National Park. We're only 60 miles from
Bryce, but the rock is totally different. That and our perspective.
At Bryce, we did nothing but look down. At Zion, we do nothing but look up. Yup. That's right. We're at
the very bottom of the canyon. This particular rock is about 1800 feet
high. This park is absolutely breathtaking. And the coolest thing
about it? A 1 mile long tunnel right through one of the rocks on our
descent to the bottom. Over 5300 feet long. Someone blasted a hole
through solid rock for more than 5300 feet. Holy cow. A round of
applause for these guys.
Mile: 305
Dark now. Quite black out. Low cloud
cover everywhere. Cruising down a twisty two lane road with no
illumination save our headlights. Well, no illumination kind of.
There's a lightening storm going on about 3 miles to the South. What a
sight. Lights up the entire sky. Reflects off the clouds.
It's so close you can hear the clap before the rumble. Wow !!!
Today's Miles: 319
Total Miles: 1533
Mile: 0
Oh what a
beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day. For those of you who are all
too familiar with my IBS and RLS, they're kicking in full swing right
now. I am definitely NOT sleeping the sleep of the just. And how
loopy was I last night? I went back and looked at the log for day 4 and I
must have been smokin' crack !! It seems as though I had a handful of
words and just randomly speckled them on the page. I
didn't finish some of the thoughts I started, I didn't start some of the
thoughts I finished, and then there were random thoughts that didn't start or
finish.
For instance: I totally forget to mention the
HooDoos. I linked one picture, but didn't really go into any depth about
it. The only reason I wanted to mention it explicitly is because
its perhaps the coolest geological feature of the trip. Here, see for yourself. But what the heck is
it? A hoodoo in general, and this one specifically. If you want to
know what hoodoos are in general, go look it up somewhere. Any guesses as
to what the heck this one is? The park rangers say "it looks like a
hunter". We don't get it. Doesn't look like a hunter to
us. Looks kind of something out of the Kama Sutra. Not that I'd
know anything about the Kama Sutra !! (Remember, what happens on your
boss' desk stays on your boss' desk)
What a shame we rolled into Hurricane, Utah in the
dark last night. Looking at the area now, it would have been one hell of
a ride. In the pitch blackness you can't tell what's hills, trees,
plains, or mountains. Well, we descended into a canyon that rests at
about 6762 feet (I'm lying, I made that number up, but we're fairly low).
Mile: 1
Day: Wednesday
Time: 8:40 am MST (no daylight savings time
here folks)
Dry Bulb Temperature: 74 F
Wet Bulb Temperature: 43 F
Barometric Pressure: 751 mm Hg
Visibility: 187 miles
Ceiling: Unlimited
Winds: WNW 7 knots
Elevation: 4500 feet (and climbing)
Can anyone tell me the relative humidity based on
the above information? Anyone? Let me help, use the two
temperatures.......Anyone?
Okay, another hint, use a psychrometric
chart: http://www.techtrol.com/gif/Psydew.JPG
Anyone? That's RIGHT !! It's a dry 22%
today
Mile: 3
We're climbing. Up about 800' above the
town. Man is this road nice. Switchbacks that allow you a complete
view of Hurricane. Talk about "make-out point"....there must be
20 good spots up here. This could be a great day.
And Benadryl is my friend. The swelling has
gone down by a good 85% and there's no more pain!!
Mile: 24
Goodbye Beehive State (and
you pesky bees)
Hello Sunny AZ
Mile: 79
Cruising through the Kaibob National Forest.
Nothing but Jim Croce and (seemingly) endless miles of 45 MPH sweeping
turns. We climb up to 8,000 feet, over a mountain, and descend back down
to 5,000 feet. This is perfect!!
Mile: 188
I just noticed something. The windshield on
my fairing is still clean. Usually by the time we hit 200 miles you can't
see through all the dead bugs (bees, butterflies, moths, flies, etc...), yet
it's amazingly clear. Aha!! Arizona must not have flying
insects. Why? BECAUSE IT'S TOO DAMNED HOT!!! Yeah, it's a
little warm out today. Easily 100F in the shade (and there's no shade
around, we're driving through Arizona desert). Complaints? None
here. Sure it's warm. But it's not cold. It's not wet.
No bees trying to kill me. No wild animals running across the
street. No complaints to be found. The perfect day! We stop
at several scenic view points, but there's no use in taking a picture. If
I could take a 253 degree panoramic, I'd still be failing to capture the beauty
of the land. It's absolutely majestic out here. Unparalleled.
It even beats the nekkid boobies in Sturgis last year. It's that good.
Mile: 227
We have arrived at today's destination . I still can't capture with words the serene
setting that surrounds us. It's stupefying. Yes it's a word, I
looked it up.
Miles: 231-256
El Canyon Grande (or as Mom like's to call
it: The Grand Canyon)
What more can I say? Oh yeah, I thought of it
now, stats for the big canyon:
Location: we're on the South Rim (think South
Rim)
Length: 277 miles (think Portland to the
Canadian border)
Width: 10 miles (think 10 miles or so)
Depth: 1,000 - 2,500' (think Sear's
Tower in Chicago)
Water: Lots (think A River Runs Through It)
Yeah, LOTS of water. The river depth (this
would be the Colorado river) averages 75 feet. It's 300+ feet in some
places. That's some water. And you can walk right up to the
edge. You can walk over the edge. You can jump if you'd like.
Or you can hike down. To go down one Rim and up the other is about 24
miles. Neat-O !!
Mile: 284
How many of you can name Santa's 8 reindeer other
than Rudolph? I've spent 14 miles on this so far. I'm not going to
tell you why I started thinking about this or how it came up, so please don't
ask. But here's what came to mind:
Blitzen
Comet
Cupid
Dancer
Dasher
Donner
Prancer
Vixen
(Yes, I really do think in alphabetical
order) It's Vixen that leaves me troubled. Sure, it rhymes with
Blitzen, and it fits that catchy tune that you're now singing in your head
(which will be there the rest of the day thanks to me; ha ha ha), but
there's something about a reindeer named Vixen that just doesn't seem like it
should be part of a children's song. I mean sure, Santa was a Commie back
in the '50s, but Vixen? Sounds more like a $5/night hooker to me.
Not that I'd know anything about $5/night hookers!! (Remember, what
happens at the Best Western stays at the Best Western)
Oh well, it's not like reindeer names are
incredibly important at this point. It's kept me occupied for
awhile. And it's not like some mugger is going to come up to me and say
"If you can name Santa's 8 reindeer I won't steal your money".
So it's not even valuable information. But it seems like something I
should know. I'm all about useless trivia. Whatever.
The roads are still grand. Whisping along at
103 feet per second (a hair over 70 MPH). Taking corners like they were meant
to be taken. Toes touching the ground we're leaned over so far.
Passing cars left and right (okay, we're only passing on the left).
Glorious day.
A perfect day to preceed tomorrow: Getting
our kicks on Route 66 as we head towards Las Vegas !!!!!
Today's Miles: 316
Total Miles: 1849
Mile: 0
Some drama last night. It seems as thought
there was a break-in a the old Super 8. Someone cut the screen on our
motel room window. They must have seen the light or heard us in the room
because they moved on. But only to the next room over. They cut the
screen, then tore the whole frame off the window. Busted the outer pane
of glass. Busted the inner pane of glass. Unlatched the lock,
slid open the window, snagged some dude's wallet, and off to the rodeo!!
Being the helpful folk that we are, Mom and I are junior detectives to the
rescue!! We think some crime scene
photographs are a must. I'm sure the local police will be calling us
in to aid in the investigation.
Mile: 43
Route 66. Gettin' our kicks.
Mile: 69
Nothing to watch but the bald eagles. And
there's plenty of them. Just circling on the thermals above our
heads. Swaying in the breeze. Lots of 'em. I count 27 total
on today's ride. Man, they're everywhere. The only unbelievable
part? We don't get crapped on. Are these bald eagles of blind
eagles? I've never known a bird to have bad aim when it came to excreting
on us humanoids. I guess I should feel lucky, nobody pooped on me today.
Mile: 125
Kingman, Nevada. Anyone recognize the
name? No? It's where Timothy McVeigh lived (post service) while he
planned a little outing the nation likes to refer to as the "Oklahoma City
Bombing". I didn't see a billboard when I entered the city
announcing it was the adopted home of little Timmy, which kind of surprised me,
but I guess they have prouder things to tout.
Mile: 140
I have lost all functionality of Portabel Electronic
Devices. Yes indeed. Here in the hot desert, CD players and such
don't function to well in the heat. Now, we all know that these devices
are certified to function properly in conditions up to 40C (104F) with a
humidity as low as 10%. So we're a little warmer than that at the
moment. But the player is in the direct sun, so the shade temperature is
probably only about 98F this time of day. This is now day 4 of 6 that the
temperature rose to the point where PEDs failed due to excessive temperatures.
But a look to the bright side, they're not failing because it's below 0 !!
Mile: 151
No music is actually working out all right.
As we roll through mile 2000 for the trip all is right with the world.
This is actually the most peaceful stretch of road we've been on. We're
headed North on 93 towards Vegas. We have a decent tail wind which almost
totally diminishes the noise of the wind rushing by your helmet. Wind
noise is the loudest thing you hear on a motorcycle. The sound of the
engine and of the tires pales in comparison. When you take away the noise
of the wind, all you hear is relative silence. So we're cruising at 65
MPH down a nice, flat, straight stretch of road, no other vehicles in
sight, no wind noise, no music, with bald eagles floating overhead. Damn
what a nice day.
Mile: 169
So I'm changing from the right lane to the left
lane to overcome slower traffic. There's somebody pulling a trailer in
front of me that's not going as fast as I am and I'm going to go around
him. But there's a semi on my left. As it just so happens, the semi
is going fast enough and he's in the right position that I can maintain my 65
MPH, not touch the throttle, and swerve in behind him in just enough time to
not hit the trailer in front of me. And a funny thing happens. As I
swing in behind the semi I slip right into his draft. I'm in a dead spot
behind him where the air coming off his trailer has not closed in and I no
longer have a 65MPH head wind. In fact, I have virtually no head wind.
Being that I haven't touched the throttle, I start to speed up.
Significantly. I shoot all the way up to 77 MPH before I have to dump the
throttle lock so I don't hit the semi. Quite a boost in speed for not
having given the bike any more gas. So being the dork that I am, I must
know how much gas I'm wasting on overcoming head wind. Be prepared, this
could get lengthy and boring:
I'm sure everyone knows that most gasoline powered
engines are between 30 and 40% efficient. This means that of the energy
the gasoline is giving off during combustion, you're only using 30% of it to do
useful work. The rest is wasted away somewhere. Where does it
go? I'm so glad you asked. We all know that the maximum Carnot
efficiency of a cycle (which is what a gasoline engine is, a Carnot cycle) is
dependant upon the upper and lower temperatures of the cycle. The lower
temperature is that of the incoming fluids (the air and the gas) which in this
case will be assumed to be 100F. The upper temperature is that of the
outgoing fluids (the byproducts of combustion: carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, water vaper, various nitrogen gases, and all kinds of other minute
impurities) which we will assume to be 350F. From this, the absolute
maximum efficiency possible out of any Carnot engine (much less just my little
motorcycle) can not be greater than 71.43%. But if an actual engine is
only roughly 35% efficient, where does all the extra work go? Again, I'm
glad you asked. The first place is a fabulous little thing we refer to as
friction. As I try to move forward, the road tries to impede through
grabbing my tires. There's some. Heat is given off by the
engine. There's some more. And then there's the pesky head
wind. The faster I go, the more the head wind tries to stop me. As
we learned on Day 3, the wind has a velocity head associated with it.
Moving wind carries energy. As I move into the wind, the wind tries to
stop me even if it's standing still. It's all about relative velocities at
this point. As the wind comes to a stop against me, that velocity head is
converted to a force termed the stagnation pressure. This stagnation
pressure, applied over a given area (referred to as frontal area, or the actual
square footage of projected area perpendicular to the wind) results in a
force. This force retards forward motion. As I saw today, when I
removed the wind (and it's stagnation pressure) from my path, I increased me
relative velocity by over 18%. Assuming 77 MPH was my terminal velocity and
that I didn't dump the throttle lock, that means that the wind alone (even
though the wind wasn't moving, I was) accounted for 15.6% of my loss of
efficiency. Damn that wind. Can you imagine the gas mileage you
would get if there was no atmosphere? Forget about the fact that there'd
be no air to breathe and that you wouldn't have combustion, you'd be getting
great mileage!!
Mile: 199
Dam!! I've been thinking about Carnot
efficiencies for 30 miles now. Dam!! The only reason I stopped
thinking about it is to say Dam!! No, I mean it, look off to the right,
it's a Dam!! Some dork named Hoover
(yeah, he was the 31st president, whatever......Hoover's still a dorky name)
conned somebody into naming a chunk of cement after him. WooHoo!!
I'm sure it's an impressive dam. I'm sure people boast of its size.
I'm sure people are awestruck by its appearance. But having seen the
Grand Coulee Dam, this just isn't up to snuff. Oh yeah, and I'm leaving
Arizona.
Mile: 200
DJ!! Look!! I caught some flashers on
film!! Did you see 'em? They're on top of the police car!!
The pretty blue and red flashers!!
Mile: 201
Entering Nevada. Oh my gosh, is this what the 'rents have been looking at for 2000+ miles?
Mile: 202
Entering PDT zone. Hey wait! This isn't right. I just left
MST and entered PDT. They're the same time!! I got screwed.
When I went from PDT to MDT somewhere in Idaho/Utah, I lost an hour of my
life. An hour that I could have used. An hour that I thought I'd
get back. But here I am going from MST to PDT and I don't get that hour
back. Arizona robbed my of my hour. I know I didn't repeat
it. You'd think I'd remember repeating an hour of my life. Somewhere,
not quite sure where, I travelled from MDT to MST. But nodoby notified
me. Nobody said, "Hey Jason, here's the hour of you life back that
we stole from you earlier". I got jipped.
Any why are all these event occuring so far
apart? The Dam, leaving Arizona, entering Nevada, and the time zone thing
should all be coincident. They should occur at the same place. Not
spread out over multiple miles. Somebody needs to figure out who owns the
2 miles between Arizona and Nevada. There's some prime real estate
there. Rumor has it somebody built a little Dam
on that real estate.
Mile: 232
Hello. My name is Jason. I'm a
drunk. And this week, not a very good one. It's been 112 hours and 18
minutes since my last drink. I'm ashamed. My liver hates me.
My kidneys are in denial. I don't know how I continue to function.
But here in the desert, in 100+ degree weather (it hit a high of 104F today)
having sweated my ass off all day, no libation sounds quite so refreshind as a
cold beer. Thank goodness I'm in the city of sinners and can get a beer
anytime day or night. The sound she makes when you pop the cap (no cheap
twist off beer here folks). The sweet refreshing sound as she
fills a frosty mug. The delightful scent of the hops as you bring
the glass to your lips. The cool touch of the foam against the tip of
your nose. The rush you feel as the sweet nectar of the Gods pours past
your lips, over your gums, along your tongue, on it's pleasant journey to
points below. No need to stop the flow to swallow, the throat is cocked
and locked in the full on open position. Nothing to restrict the fluid of
the Heavens from rushing towards your tummy. Oh what a refreshing moment.
But don't stop now. Don't stay in the belly. Continue. Onward
young libation, for your journey has just begun. Skip the intermediate
steps, find the liver. Please oh please find the liver. Waste not
your time, for time is a precious thing and there's drinking to be done.
Ahhhhhh. There we are. The liver has had a taste that is has longed
for for so long now. Satiated? No. Tided over for a
moment? Perhaps. Hungry for more? Oh my yes.
WOAH!!! Am I dehydrated. When was the
last time you could feel the effects of half a beer? Before you can even
get to the bottom? I know I'm empty on fluids now......only one cure for
that: Must drink more!!
Today's Miles: 232
Total Miles: 2081
Mile:
0
Leaving
Las Vegas.
Mile:
462
Arriving
Reno. Yup. That was it for the day. I caught all the
highlights. Don't believe me? Just look.
Pretty much the whole way. This is actually a fairly scenic moment
compared to some. But that's all that happened.
I mean, sure it got too hot for Portable Electronic Devices. And sure my
nipples got hard at mile 314 when I thought we'd ride through some cooling
rain. But I didn't think you'd care about the first one and I'm sure you
didn't want to know about the second one.
Today's
Miles: 462
Total Miles: 2543
Mile:
0
Not too much happening in Reno last night. No drama to speak
of. 3 days left of the vacation and it's time to start thinking about
heading home. We have had some conceptive plans, but it's time to
actually firm them up and decide what we want to do. We pick destinations
for tonight and tomorrow night, and plan the trip all the way home. Of
course, this is always weather dependant, but we think we're going to Klamath
Falls tonight and The Dalles tomorrow night. Should be some nice roads
between here and there.
Mile:
40?
I'm
goin' back to Cali, Cali, Cali. I'm goin' back to Cali, hmm, I don't
think so. I wouldn't know California if it came up and bit me on the
bum. Apparently I'm in it now, but I missed the sign (typical, I
know). Not too terribly disappointing. Come to find out later, I
was actually looking at a trio of motorcycles passing us when I
missed the sign.
Mile:
101
Oh
yeah. Toes dragging on the ground. Long sweeping right
handers. Long sweeping left handers. Doing 67 in a 55 around 40 MPH
recommended turns. We're climbing about 1700 feet on this short stretch
of road. It's just a teaser though. An enticer really. A
preview of what's to come. We're going to be going over Mt. Lassen.
There we will encounter a 4500+ foot climb and a decent to match. The
road's so curvy it can't be displayed properly on the state map. But
that's later. For now it's all about the climb we're on. No one in
front of us, no one behind us, no oncoming traffic. Beautiful forests
either side. Couldn't be better (okay, we could be doing 75 instead of 67....)
Mile:
111
The
lovely little town of Westwood. Home of Paul Bunyon and his ox Babe don't
ya know. Quite the little place. Unfortunately, I blink as we pass
through town and miss 80% percent of it. I don't think we even had to
slow down the place is so small. And I thought Paul cut down all the
trees? That cant' be. There's nothing but dense forest here.
Oh well. Where are those twisty roads I dream of?
Mile:
153
Here
they are. Entering Lassen Volcanic National Park. No time to stop
for a kartwheel now, there's twisties ahead. And boy are they beautiful.
Mile:
164
Knuckle
whitening, knee dragging fun. 15 MPH turns and we're doing the max posted
35. This is awesome. This is what the entire trip needed to
be. So glad Dad decided to detour us through the park. This is
phenomenal. And even more? Jim Croce is again crooning in my
ear. You must listen to appreciate. I can't believe how many miles of this there
are. Up, down, up, down, left, right, oooooooh my!!
Mile:
184
After
31 miles of windy, twisty roads, it's time to bid adieu to the park.
Being in a total state of bliss, nothing would be better to mark the occasion
than a kartwheel
Mile:
285
The
last 100 miles has been a blur. The euphoric state from the windy park
road is still fresh in the mind. Every turn, every lean, every toe drag
is still a vivid memory. I'm still in awe that there could be 31
continuous miles of perfect road. But here we are now in some little city
in Cali. Perhaps we'll stop and enjoy some Weed
at Mt. Shasta
Mile:
339
Goodbye
Cali
Hello
Oregon
And
yes, I did spot this state border all by myself (a first of the trip I believe
!!)
And
now, onto lovely Klamath Falls.....
Today's
Miles: 368
Total
Miles: 2911
Mile:
0
Finally,
a full night's sleep. I actually got upwards of a little over 9 hours
last night. I even feel asleep before the 'rents! But it's off to
greener and colder pastures today. On the way North. Heading back
home.
Mile:
3
Man, I hate getting gas in Oregon. There's some damned state law or
something that says you can't pump your own gas. Some silly little 15
year gas jockey has to come out and man the pump for you. I'll be damned
if I'm letting some zit faced punk scratch my tank and spill gas everywhere
just so he can have a job. As it just so happens, this gas station
doesn't make him do that. He just has to punch in a code to activate the
pump ("3333" enter, if anyone is curious) and I'm free to do what I
need.
Mile:
7
Bugs.
Everywhere. Bugs. In Pearrygin, I refer to them as shade
bugs. They're tiny little critters. Smaller than skeeters (that
would be Washington skeeters, not Minnesota skeeters). And they're
everywhere. I hit my first swarm of them going around a shady corner.
Barely saw them coming. Thankfully I ducked in time (I would have
gotten a mouthful if I wasn't careful). I thought there must be
thousands of them. And there were. Then I rounded the corner and my
jaw dropped agape. More than thousands. More than tens of
thousands. Quite into the hundreds of thousands. You could see them
swarming. Now remember, these guys are really small. And I'm doing
60 MPH. So to actually be able to see a swarm, there has to be thousands
bunched together. And they all moved as a group. Kind of like fish
in a school, they all turn and move at the same time. And I can see
dozens of swarms. Mostly on the side of the road, above bushes. But
there are plenty in the road. We actually drive through 10 miles of these
things. We're skirting the edge of Upper Lake Klamath and apparently
that's where these guys like to hang out. There had to be literally
millions of these bugs flying around. Absolutely amazing the shear volume
we encounter. That guy at the hotel this morning is making a lot more
sense. When we were getting on the bikes this morning, he made some
comment to the effect of "So, did you guys hit any of our Klamath bugs
yet?". We didn't know what the hell he was talking about. We
chuckled, rolled our eyes, and replied "Yeah, a couple". We
thought maybe he was referring to all the little yellow moths last night (that
looked like miniature butterflies) that we saw rolling into town. Now we
understand what he meant. We hit thousands of them. Literally. There are so many of them they start
coating the windscreen and headlights. Just look. Look closely at
the bottom of the headlight. That dark strip is hundreds of dead
bugs. To get a coating like this usually takes about 1200 to 1600 miles of
driving, Many hours of which must be at dusk or dawn, to get a coating
like this. We do it in just under 10 miles. But we come out of it
okay. I didn't ingest a single bug. None in the mouth. None
up the nose. None in the ears. I am thankful.
Mile:
43
Entering Crater Lake National Park and looking at Mt. Mazama. No time for
a kartwheel, there are dozens of miles of canyon roads waiting to be carved by
yours truly.
We
do stop along the way to take some pictures. Quite an amazing lake
really. Some 1900+ feet deep. Bluest water I've seen in years.
Mile:
89
Hit
3,000 miles for the trip. Nothing spectacular happening, but thought I'd
share.
Mile:
91
Ba
Bye Crater Lake. Smell ya later. Some 48
miles of good roads. Not great like Lassen, but good. Hey, how can
I complain about 40+ miles of twisty curvy roads?
Mile:
221
These
damned gas stations. Thankfully this is the last one we'll be stopping at
in this state. This station is a little more strict. The young punk
runs over when I pull up, has to know what grade, has to know what payment
type. But that's not enough. He needs to physically run my card
through the pump. That's right. I can't "Insert and quickly
remove" the card myself. Someone's tax dollars need him to do it for
me. He then has to pick up the nozzle, select the grade, and only then is
he allowed to hand the nozzle to me. Thanfully he doesn't actually try to
pump it for me. But my goodness, is this really necessary? Are
there so many unskilled workers in this state that I'm not allowed to pump my
own gas? So much for our neighbors to the South.
Mile:
246
I
roll 10k miles on the bike. Not 10k on the odometer. I've now put
10k of my own miles on the bike. Bought it at 7,400, I now read
17,400. I don't think any of you care, but this is a story about me, so
you're going to read about what I care about. (And I'll tell you what
your opinions are later if you'd like......)
Mile:
312
Roll
into lovely The Dalles, Oregon. Quite the cutie at the hotel.
Elizabeth. My oh my. That's about all the town of The Dalles has
going for it.
Today's
Miles: 312
Total
Miles: 3223
Mile: 0
Well, here we are starting off on our last
day. I'm not certain that I'm ready to go home yet. In fact, I know
I'm not. For I don't have all that many happy things waiting for
me. Work. Bills. Rain. Work. Not necessarily in
that order. But alas, the time has come for this year's journey to
end. It has indeed been a memorable one. Long gone are the
sorrowful thoughts of a missed Sturgis. Long gone are the thoughts of Amanda
at the County Club at last year's wedding. Long gone are the thoughts of
endless miles of corn......
Mile: 4
It's official. We're back in Washington. Interesting side note, Washington/Oregon
is the only state that we actually saw a state line!! There was a clear
demarkation point that officially stated where one state begins and another
ends (much like this journey). Unfortunately, it was in the middle of a
narrow two-lane bridge and was not exactly conducive to picture taking.
So the Welcome sign will have to suffice.
Mile: 116
Oh yeah, we're definitely in Washington. Gone
are the endless miles of hot, sticky weather. Gone are the 14 hour sunlit
summer days. It's time to don the jacket once again. I'm the last
of the 3 of us to give in to the chill. And thank goodness I did.
It got cold. It's still 71F, but that's not fun in the shade at 63 MPH.
Mile: 162
Oh my goodness. It's chilly. We're darn
near at the top of Chinook Pass. We're taking the Northerly route around
Mt. Rainier this time. Little did we know how chilly it would be. I
give in and turn on the heated hand grips, the second time of the trip.
As we climb over the pass, it's a little foggy out. We never did see Mt.
Rainier. It was blanketed in sheets of fog so thick, they.....ok, they
were just thick. There's really nothing for us to look at at this
point. The road is clear (albeit wet) but there's so much fog above our
heads and on our sides that all we can see is the road. And it's a really
wet fog. Almost like it's misting out. And damn is it chilly!!
Mile: 184
Damn. No denying it now. We are so on
our way home. We pull over to put raingear on. Every car coming at
us the past 2 miles still has their windshield wipers on. No denying it,
it's raining. But at least it's a little warmer with the raingear.
I'm not sure that's a consolation, but it's something. At least the rain
only lasts 9 miles. By lunchtime it's but a distant memory.
Mile: 247
Man, this sucks. Nothing like reality
slapping you in the face then by traffic on I-405. Oh well, we knew the 2
lane twisty roads through canyons without another vehicle in sight would
end. But reality sometimes isn't as nice as it should be, even when you
thought you were prepared for it.
Today's Miles: 265
Total Miles: 3488
And so this brings us to recap time. Here's
some stats on the adventure that was the Gardner Motorcycle Trip of 2001:
Total Miles: 3488
Total Miles in rain: 27
Total Miles using heated grips: 33
Number of US states: 7
Number of adjacent countries: 0 (I tried so
hard to get this trip to run through Tiajuana, but there just wasn't time)
Number of Kartwheel pictures posted: 24
Number of Kartwheel pictures taken: 25
Number of Kartwheels performed: 27
(this is a true testament to both the camera, thanks DJ, and truly to the
photographer, thanks Mom)
Number of unsolicited break-ins: 1
Number of unsolved cases: 1
Number of alcoholic beverages consumed: 3 (2
by me, 1 by Dad)
Number of meals at McDonald's: 0
Number of stops at McDonald's: 1 (just for
some drinks and a McFlurry)
Number of meals at Taco Bell: 0 (despite
my best efforts at persuasion)
Dollars lost at the craps tables: 0
Dollars won at the craps tables: 0
Number of times I need to go back to Vegas this
year: 3
Number of months I need to live in Vegas to fulfill
my life: 0
Number of motorcycle baths needed: 4 (they
each need at least 2)
Number of new tires needed: 4
Number of days needed to explore Utah
properly: 7
Number of days spent in Utah: 2
Number of National Parks/Monuments visited: 8
Number of random pieces of roadkill we
passed: Like I can count that high
Number of roadkill worthy of a
Kartwheel: 0
Number of Park Rangers we saw: 22
Number of those who were cute, young females:
9 (Thank you California. Thank you Arizona.)
Number of flashers caught on film: 1
Number of flashers caught on film according to
DJ: 0 (sorry man, I tried, but those Mormons and their principles....)
Number of days it got too hot for Portable
Electronic Devices: 7
Number of days we were glad it was that hot:
5
Number of additional CD's of music I needed:
4
Number of CD's I had with me that malfunctioned and
were unusable: 4
Number of bugs who tragically lost their lives
as they hit my motorcycle: 1000's
Number of bees who should have found another place
to fly that horific day in Utah: 1
Number of bees who will perish as a result of that
one lone bee stinging me: Every one I see
Number of birds who died at the expense of my
reckless driving: 0 (a first, I didn't hit any birds!!)
Number of miles of driving when I was glad I lived
in Washington and not Nevada: 466
Yee haw !!
