By the time I got to Las Vegas, it was 98 degrees.  There was some traffic in Las Vegas due to road construction but it cleared up after a couple of miles.  I continued east on I15 into Utah through the hot desert.  As I neared Utah, the scenery became more interesting with large colorful mesas all around.  I always enjoy riding through Utah.

I ended up in Cedar City UT for the night and plan to ride some of the back roads in UT tomorrow.

Miles Today: 446
Total Miles: 4,648
States: CA, NV, AZ, UT

Sedona is a beautiful town surrounded by the mountains.  By the looks of the houses, it appears to be an expensive place to live.  There are some nice small shops along the main street through the center of town that again, give me the impression that it takes quite a bit of money to live here.

From Sodona, I continued down 89a towards Prescott AZ.  Again, there were some great roads with sharp turns up the side of mountains and through the mountains.  The temperature in the 70′s making for a comfortable ride.

After Prescott, I turned southwest along Rt 60 towards I10.  The landscape turned into desert and the temperature went up into the mid-high 90′s.  I took I10 towards Los Angeles.  I stopped in Indio CA to fillup the gas tank one last time before arriving at Kaydee and Steve’s house.  Around Palm Springs, the wind started picking up.  I’m guessing that there was probably a good 30mph headwind as I was going up the mountains toward Riverside.  Between the heavy winds and the uphill grade over the mountains, the bike was using a lot of gas.  After only 45 miles, the gas gauge was at 1/2 tank remaining.  Fortunately, the wind subsided and I started going down hill and I made it to Kaydee’s house without having to stop again.

Miles Today: 557
Total Miles: 3,921
States: NM, AZ, CA

White Sands National Monument

The sand is as white as any you will find.  It’s actually quite a sight to see this bright white sand and large sand dunes out here in the middle of New Mexico.  Within the dunes, there are a number of plants/bushes that somehow find a way to survive here.  It’s really quite amazing that anything can grow here.

Riding a touring bike on roads carved out of sand was a unique experience.  There were areas that were nice and smooth and other places where the sand had become like a washboard.  Of course, the sand is a bit slippery and you need to be careful.

After riding through the park, about 5 miles or so, I headed back out onto the highway.  By this time the temperature was up to about 90 making the ride warm but not altogether uncomfortable.

As I headed north on Rt 180, I began seeing some mountains in the distance.  After spending the past few days on long, straight highways, it was great to ride on roads with curves and some changes in elevation.

This road has nice long sweeping curves that make for great riding.  The landscape is still rather desert-like with somewhat sparse vegetation and lots of exposed rock formations.

Before leaving this morning, I was watching the news and the big story was the forest fires that had been burning in Arizona for about a week.  Cities in New Mexico had air quality warnings due to the smoke being produced from the fires.

Those are not clouds on the horizon, it's a large forest fire producing huge amounts of smoke.

As I got farther north, I started seeing huge clouds of smoke in the distance.  It’s hard for someone from the northeast to appreciate the size of these fires.  The Arizona fire has consumed 400,000 acres of forest and was 0% under control so it was still going strong.

As I got closer and closer to the smoke, it became more apparent just how big this fire was.  Eventually, I started driving into the smoke at which time, it went across the entire horizon leaving absolutely no sign of blue sky.

About a half hour into the smoke, I came upon a sign announcing that Rt 180 was closed near Reserve, NM causing me to stop and find an alternate route.  I ended up heading toward Gallup, NM.  I rode for almost 3 hours without seeing a single car going in the same direction that I was going and maybe 20-30 cars going in the opposite direction.

I rode through some pretty thick smoke for over 50 miles before seeing clear sky again.  Below are a couple of pictures that show what it was like.

Eventually the smoke cleared and I could once again see bright sunny skies.  I ended up stopping for the night in Gallup NM.

Miles Today: 462
Total Miles: 3,364
States: NM

When I got to Albany, TX I headed a little north to Rt 380 and continued across the rest of Texas.  At some point, I began seeing large fields that were being plowed.  I kept seeing what looked like cotton balls mixed in with the freshly turned soil.  Eventually I stopped alongside the road and walked over to the field and found that it was indeed cotton.

I continued into New Mexico on Rt 380 stopping in Roswell NM.  I bought a couple of shirts at the Roswell Harley Davidson dealer and then went and got something to eat.   Roswell is a good sized town that not surprisingly, has a number of UFO related shops and attractions.

From Roswell, I headed southwest n Rt 70 towards Las Cruces.  About 20 miles from Roswell, I rode into some mountains. I was nice to get away from the long, straight, desolate roads and into some more scenic areas.  The scenery combined with temperatures in the mid 80′s made the last hour of the day quite enjoyable.

I stopped for the night in a town called Ruidoso at around 7:00 mountain time.   The forecast for tomorrow looks good with temperatures in the mid 80′s.  There are some large wildfires in Arizona so tomorrow’s ride may get smokey.

Miles Today: 561
Total Miles: 2,902
States: TX, NM

I left around 7:30 this morning to try to beat the heat.  Within about 5 minutes, I had crossed the Mississippi River and into Louisiana.  The difference in the landscape was immediately apparent with hills n the east side of the river and flat farmland on the west side of the river.   I rode north n Rt 82 and then turned west n Rt 2 all the way across Louisiana.

It was quite comfortable riding until around 10:00 when it started getting hot.   By noon, it was in the mid 90′s again and getting hotter.   It was a nice leisurely 55mph ride through farmland and small towns.   Towards the western part of the state, I saw a number of small pumpjacks pumping oil out of people’s front yards.

As I crossed into Texas, the first thing you notice is that the speed limit is 70mph on the secondary roads instead of 55mph.  You have to be careful and pay attention because the road is a basic two lane road with crossroads, driveways, and all of the other normal road hazards and 70 mph seems pretty fast for these conditions.

About 2:00 I decided to get on to I30 to see if I could get past the hot weather.  According to the weatherman, it was a bit cooler northwest of Dallas so I decided to get on to the interstate and try to put the oppressive heat behind me.   I stopped at a gas station to fill up and get some water and there was a guy on a new CVO Road Glide Ultra that had a flat tire.  He was on his way to visit a friend in Dallas when he ran over a chunk of road debris.  He was calling his friend to come from Dallas and pick him and his bike up because his roadside assistance would only tow it t the nearest dealer.

Looking down the road, it looked like there was some nice cloud cover not too far down the road.  As I got back on to I30, I was looking forward to the clouds providing some relief to the hot sun.   Unfortunately, about 2 miles down the road, the lightning started and then the rain started coming down in bucketloads.  Luckily, there was a rest area 1 mile ahead so I pulled in, dodged the pear-sized pinecones flying out of the trees, and ran for shelter.    Click here to see where I was when the storm hit.

A couple of other guys on bikes had also just pulled in and after a few minutes, the hail started coming down.  We had moved our bikes under some picnic shelters (a tin roof over a picnic table).   The wind was blowing and the rain was coming down horizontally.  It cooled down quite a bit too and I actually started to get a bit of a chill because I was completely soaked from head to toe.   The rain lasted about an hour and then finally let up enough to get back on the road.

About 20 miles from the rest area, it was back to 100+ degrees again.  My shirt and pants dried pretty quickly but my boots were still full of water.   As I rode through Dallas and Fort Worth, the thermometer said it was 106 degrees.  I stopped for the night about 10 miles west of Fort Worth and got a room.

This brings us back to the hair dryer in the boots.   I didn’t bring an extra pair of shoes so I needed to get my boots dried out and the hairdryer seemed like the best way to dry them out.

Well, that’s it for today.  From hot, to cold, to hot again.  Maybe tomorrow will bring some tolerable weather.

Miles Today: 534
Total Miles: 2,341
States: MS, LA, TX

I left around 8:00 and headed South toward Lawley, AL which is near the Talladega Nat’l Forest.    From there, I took Rt 183 to Rt 80 to Demopolis.   It was quite comfortable riding until 10:00 when all f the sudden, the temperature started rising fast.  By 11:00 it was 94 degrees and still getting warmer.     At noon, it was 97 degrees and still getting hotter.   The heat, combined with the humidity made riding very uncomfortable.  I stopped about once an hour just to find something cold to drink and cool off in and air conditioned place.  

From Demopolis I took Rt 43 South to Rt 84 West and continued on this road all the way across Mississippi.  I could 0nly ride for about an hour before I had to stop to cool off.  I’ve come to like McDonalds frozen strawberry lemonade.

There are lots of churches in Alabama and Mississippi.  Sometimes there were 5 or 6 churches within sight of each other with the majority of them being Baptist churches.   There are many places where you see 3 Baptist churches located directly next to each other.

At one of my water stops, I met a nice gentleman from Birmingham who said that this was unusually hot weather for this time of the year and more like August weather.  He had just passed through a town where the thermometer at the bank said it was 104 degrees.

Just before reaching Natchez, I turned North on 61 to Vicksburg where I stopped for the night.

Miles Today: 503
Total Miles: 1,807
States: AL, MS

Coal seems to be abundant in this area with many small businesses that sell mining equipment alongside the road.   I saw a couple of 18 wheelers moving various components of the large mining dump trucks.  These dump trucks are big.  they take up almost two full lanes on the road.

The other interesting thing was the number of yard sales.  Every mile or two there was a sign announcing a yard sale.  Many of these appeared to be long-term yard sales.

I got to Hazard, KY at around 1:00, stopped for gas, and took a look at the map to see where to go next.  I decided to head back out on to the highway and ride towards Alabama.  When I got to London, KY I took I75 South through Knoxville and Chattanooga.   It was starting to get pretty hot by this time and the sun was out in full force with only an occasional cloud t0 provide a bit of shade.

From Chattanooga, I took I59 into Alabama and stopped for the night in Birmingham.  When I stopped at 7:00 Central time, it was still a bit above 90 degrees outside.  The weatherman says it’s going to be 98 tomorrow.

Miles Today: 610
Total Miles: 1,304
States: WV, KY,TN,AL

It was a bit cool this morning – only about 57 degrees when I left.  I took the Thruway to Newburg and then went West on I84 towards Scranton, PA.    By about 1:30 it had warmed up to about 75 making it a great day for a ride.  From Scranton, I took  I81 South to I70West and then I68 West through Maryland to Morgantown WV.   I turned South on I79 towards Charleston, West Virginia and ended up stopping for the night in Elkview, WV at around 8:30.  Elkview is about 20 miles North of Charleston, WV.

I didn’t hit any traffic or road construction so I was able to go 694 miles today.  It wasn’t the most exciting ride because it was all interstate highways but I did get farther than i thought I would.

Miles Today: 694
Total Miles: 694
States: NY, PA, MD, WV

About 1:00 I decided that I’d start heading home.  The GPS said I was about 1,800 miles from home and I figured that if I could get a couple of hundred miles out of the way today, I’d be able to make it home by Sunday evening. 

I stopped about 6:00 because I could see storm clouds, lightning, and a rainbow to the east and rather than ride into the rain, I decided to stop for the night instead.  I’m about 1,450 miles from home now in Salina Kansas. 

Miles Today: 642
Total Miles: 7,338
States: CO, KS

The scenery along I70 is typical of many places in Utah.  Large mesas, interesting rock formations, and numerous canyons make Utah an incredible place to visit.  Every time I ride through Utah, I’m always impressed by the vastness of the landscape. 

As I arrived in Grand Junction, it was obvious that it had just finished raining.  There was a lot of water or the streets and the dark clouds where just outside of the city.  Another luck break as far as rain goes because it looks like there had been a good amount of rain just before I got there. 

From Grand Junction, I turned south on 50 towards Montrose and then on to 550 to Ouray.  Ouray is the beginning of the “Million Dollar Highway” that runs through the mountains and then ends in Silverton.  The scenery on this road is right up there with the best of Glacier Nat’l Park. Yosemite, or virtually any place else I’ve been.  It has the usual hairpin turns, sheer drop-offs, and of course no guardrails.  From just outside of Ouray, I stopped and took this picture of the town from about 500 feet above the town.  As you can see, it’s a relatively small town that sits at the bottom of a valley formed by steep mountains on both sides. 

This area has many small abandoned mines.  According to some of the markers at the viewpoints, there was much silver, copper, and gold in these hills that was mined in the 1800’s.  One of the mines contained a vertical vein of silver that went straight down over 1,200 feet.  There were quite a few of these old mines throughout the mountain sides.  You can see various colors of dirt piled up beneath each of the mines where they had dumped the dirt they dug out of the mines.  It didn’t look like any of the mines were still active but I’m no expert when it cones to mining so it’s possible that someone is still digging in these hills somewhere.

There’s really no way for me to adequately describe what this road is like so I’ll just post a few pictures here and you can see for yourself how beautiful this road was.

When I got to Silverton, I checked my map to see where I wanted to go to next.  I saw a road on the map but it was shown as kind of a dashed line indicating that there was long term construction on that road.  I went inside and asked one of the locals about the road and he said I didn’t want to go on that road because it was a County road and was for 4×4’s with high clearance only.  I took his advice and decided to continue down 550 to Durango. 

When I got to Durango, I headed east on 160 towards Pagosa Springs.  I knew this road seemed familiar and as it turns out, I was on this same road last year except I was going toward Durango instead of away from it.   I didn’t mind because it’s a nice nice ride through the mountains whether it’s the first time or the hundredth time.

I stopped for the night in South Fork Colorado and after checking in and bringing my stuff to the room, I went down the road 500 feet to a small bar/restaurant.    As i left the parking lot, I felt some raindrops but it was about a 10 second ride so I didn’t worry about it too much.  After eating, it was still raining so I had another 10 second ride back to the motel.  Another lucky break as far as rain is concerned. 

Now for a couple of quick notes about the bike.  The display on the radio is now completely blank.  Good thing I have the sequence memorized to change between CD, AUX, adjusting bass and treble, etc.  Another thing that happened to the stereo was that the left speaker in the fairing blew out.  I actually got some replacement speakers when I was still in California so all is good as far as that’s concerned.  The tires are holding up pretty well so far.  They have about 7,500 miles on them and the rear is a bit squared off but still has a good amount of tread left.  The tires seem to work well – they don’t follow groves in the road, they ride nice and smooth, and they seem to be very good in corners.  I’ve scraped the highway pegs quite a few times and even scraped the right floorboard earlier today.     

Tomorrow will probably be my last day riding around out here.  I’ll probably start heading back home Saturday morning. 

Miles Today: 510
Total Miles: 6,694
States: UT, CO