It has been nearly two years since the last blog entry and motorcycle trip. The time has come to do it again. This time around there will be some exciting and interesting twists. I will ride the same bike and pack mostly the same gear. Sure the route will be different, I wouldn't want to plough the same furrow all over again. But more importantly I will not be traveling solo this time. My son Marty and I will be traveling together. I loved the freedom of flying alone, but I really look forward to building a fantastic memory with my son.
Our trip is 5400 miles, much longer than the first trip. My nominal route last time was 3500 miles, but another 700 or so were added by side excursions. This trip will add 1200 miles to that total. Over 14 days, we will ride 12 days averaging 6-1/2 hours in the saddle. Two "down days" are planned at the Grand Canyon and in Yosemite. We will return to Minnesota on the Sunday before Memorial Day ... this gives us the holiday to either recover or to use as a flex day.
The outbound leg of our travels take us through Denver, Santa Fe (Bandelier National Monument), Flagstaff and the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Santa Barbara. We intentionally chose a southward route for comfort and safety.
Turning north from LA, we will run up the coast then head over the Sierras and the Imperial Valley on our longest planned day of riding. I have never been to Yosemite nor seen the Big Sur. We will spen
The original 'raison d'etre' for this trip was astronomical. Our primary target was to witness the annular solar eclipse that will occur just before sunset on Sunday May 20. We plan to watch from the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe. But if it is cloudy, we will go wherever the sky is clear in the path of totality.
But along the way another event eclipsed the eclipse: my first grandchild was born in Klamath Falls, OR last week. So now the trip has another big purpose. I will meet Collette Renee Henderson. After leaving Lake Tahoe, we will head north past Mount Shasta to Klamath Falls.
The eastward leg is not completely determined. We could either head northeast through Boise or cruise across the desolation of northern Nevada and Utah to Salt Lake City. My hunch is that weather will convince us to stay south and dry. I do hope to go through Jackson Hole WY and the Grand Tetons, then through Yellowstone again. If timing or weather are bad, then we would cut through Wyoming on our way to the Black Hills, the Badlands, and home.
You can follow our travels here. Our position will be reported minute by minute on a tracker and I hope to update this blog pretty much daily as I did last time.
Wish us luck!
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