Summary Time!!!

 I've been back for a while now, doing all the things to get ready for winter. Thinking about parts of the trip just come to mind when I'm involved in tasks to don't require a lot of concentration or focus. 

It seems like I have been wanting to list some of the things and numbers from the journey.

It started June 24th in Wells, and ended July 30th back in Wells - 5 weeks of riding. Since I logged about 10,500 miles (that's right, over TEN thousand!), that is an average of 300 miles a day-not a huge amount, but there were some days in there with limited riding, a day getting bike services done, etc. - so that is a little impressive in my mind. 

All of it was done alone. Didn't ever ride with anyone, although I did meet people during stops and at campsites. Had one oil change needed in Boise, Idaho and they were great. Squeezed me in with no appointment, did a complete check over of the bike for free, and checked in on me in their lounge periodically. From turning up at the door til I left was about 3 hours of the morning.

If you read the whole blog, you noticed I talked a LOT about my free admissions.... but I wanted to list some of the places that covered, in no particular order:

    Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore                    Badlands National Park (NP)

    Devils Tower National Monument (NM)            Little Bighorn Battlefield NM

    Yellowstone NP                                                   Grand Teton NP

    Craters of the Moon NP                                      Pipestone NM

    Crate Lake NP                                                     Arches NP

    Hoevenweep NM                                                John Day Fossil Beds NM

    Mesa Verde NP 

Some national Forests I went thru were Ottawa, Hiawatha, and Black Hills. There were a lot of others that the roads took me through, but they were smaller. I was also able to see the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan, and the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and Nevada. That one was one hundred miles of road through it! 

Not everything I saw was at the federal level. Some were state, and some were even privately owned. All are worth mentioning. 

    Custer State Park, SD                                         Bear Butte State Park (4,426 ft elev)

    Black Elk Peak (7,241 ft elev)                           Mammoth Site-Hot Springs, SD 

    Givens Hot Springs, ID                                      Sea Lion Caves, Florence, OR

    Great Salt Lake Desert                                       Great Salt Lake

    Four Corners (UT, AZ, NM, CO)                       Million Dollar Highway

    Pine Ridge, SD                                                   Needles

    Crazy Horse Memorial                                       Continental Divide

I did hike to the top of both Bear Butte and Black Elk Peak. Each was challenging in its own way.

I know I started this out as a coast to coast ride, then got clarity that it was a coast to coast to coast ride. Since then I've come to realize I short changed myself. Yes, I did East Coast, the West Coast , the East again. But I also did the North Coast, the Great Lakes. If it hadn't been so hot, I could have considered Going to the Gulf Coast, and not only make it a four coast trip, but also a four directions trip! 

Maybe another trip one day?

Who knows. I just feel blessed that this trip occurred, and forever grateful to Sierra for her grace in taking care of everything while I was gone. I hope all of you are able to find ways to do the things you might only have dreamed of!!!

And with that, I'll sign off on the trip........for now.  

                                                       

 

Sweat Lodge and Ceremony, for Men Only, Availability

  I wanted to share with everyone interested in this blog some info about an upcoming event specifically for men only.

On September 4th, from 9 to 5 here in Woodbury, there will be a sweat lodge and Wachuma ceremony 

This day combines several ceremonial events, a Sweat Lodge along with a Wachuma Ceremony. Wachuma (Grandfather) is the Master Plant for Awareness, self-knowledge, and self-healing. (It is also known as San Pedro.)

 Men can be in a safe space with a circle of other men, and can dive deep. Being in a circle of with only men is a way to share male perspectives and thoughts freely, and to feel that we belong. Often men do not have a circle in order to do this sharing. 

Wachuma can  teach us to see life and the universe as they really are and not as we imagine, while bringing clarity and inner peace, and can help us to focus our energy where it is productive, instead of wasting it in things we cannot change.

It connects us with the Source of Divine Wisdom, with the Source of All Creation, reminding us we are part of the WHOLE.  It heals us and opens our consciousness to reach self-knowledge, through which we can self-heal and finally we can reach self-fulfillment and inner balance.

 The Wachuma ceremony will occur first, and sets us up for the day. Then we will prepare the lodge and start the fire, while setting our intention for this sweat, as well as going over the process and protocol of a lodge. There will be a pipe ceremony before we enter the lodge as well. Inside the lodge will be males only, as Jerry is a sweat Lodge leader, and will conduct the lodge. Afterwards we can share a potluck and review the day, and share the insights we gained. 

 

Please contact Jerry (jerrynu26@yahoo.com) or Sierra to register for this. and you will get the information on what to bring.  

 

Duration:  8 hours

No. Participants: 2 to 4 people

Reciprocity:  US$800.00 per person

No. Participants: 5 to 9 people

Reciprocity:  US$600.00 per person

No. Participants: 10 to 15 people

Reciprocity:  US$400.00 per person

​

For those who wish to continue the journey with the Grandfather, Micro dosing with the Grandfather will also explained and offered.

  

Coast to coast! And back to Coast!!!

 Since I was making my trip a coast to coast by starting it off with a trip to Wells Beach. Maine, it just seemed right that I needed to go a little further. I had to take a break to get a new front tire, and some maintenance for the bike and me. That down, I travelled to Maine yesterday to add one more coast to the trip!

https://vimeo.com/735508937 

So, here are some statistics for the trip. The total time from start to final finish was 36 days. Yeah, that included a couple days at home, but it was unavoidable.

Total miles? Well, it is at 10,190 right now, but I still have to get home. But even at that, an counting the days at home, that works out to an average of 285 miles a day. I spent five nights at the same campground in Belle Fourche, touring the area, but not a ton of miles. A couple nights set up in an Oregon State Park, not many miles but amazing things to see. 

Starting from the Atlantic, states travelled thru were Maine, New Hampshire,  Vermont, New York, then the province of Ontario, into Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon to the Pacific. Coming back, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York again, Vermont,  New Hampshire and Maine, all also again. So 23 states, one province, and 4 states twice. Not bad at all!

So that takes care of that kind of stuff. I’d say I used about 225 gallons of gas. Regular ranged from $5.50 to a low of $3.80 on the way back. Of course, I didn’t use regular, but premium. With the higher prices though, there was less price difference between regular and premium, which helped.

Stay tuned though!!!! The blog isn’t ending!   

There are a lot of things I was able to reflect on, and I plan on sharing this with whoever is interested. 

It’s been a hell of an experience, and being able to share my final leg with Sierra, who supported me so much on y journey. And shouldered the whole load at home while I was gone, was so special to me. I don’t think I can thank her enough.

Til the next time…..

Final 450-NOT SO FAST!

 After some wings at the Anchor Bar, got a good nites sleep, even though I was pretty pumped about today. Packed the bike, had a quick cup of coffee, and hit the road! Maps said 443 miles to go…

The day was beautiful, 55 degrees with a cloudy sky.

 Perfect for riding, needed Leather jacket AND liner, and gloves. Thought about chaps, but went without them. Bike runs even better when it’s cooler, and just a importantly, tires wear less when cooler! Basically it was a long run down I-90 that was interrupted by a lot of road repair and construction. Still there was beauty along the way.

This is the Montezuma Wildlife refuge. It’s on both sides of the interstate for several miles.

Luckily the service areas still have gas. All those beautifully crafted in an Adirondack style have been, or are being, torn down. The replacements appear to be some king of new modern industrial combo. Ridiculous idea. Only a couple that haven’t been taken down are still open with restrooms, and some food courts.  What kind of progress should we call destroying perfectly functional buildings, and reusing none of the materials, building something out of all new materials?  Sigh…..

Eventually I get to Amsterdam, and start the back way to Saratoga Springs. That is a pretty ride, with only a couple construction sites. I go by the old mill I always admire,

Thru Saratoga, up 87, past a car fire tie up, and head to Vermont!!! Final leg now, gas in Rutland and off! 

After a 460 mile day, I am home!!!! It was so good to be with Sierra again, feeling whole! And all the other girlies as well-Cedar, Lily, Luna and Willow!

So just relaxing right now. The trip was 9,847 miles so far!! I say so far because tomorrow I’ll go to the dealership and replace that front tire that l was too 5000 miles ago might get me 2,000 more. It sure fooled them.

And what’s with the ‘NOT SO FAST’ part of the title? Well with a new front tire, I will finish the trip with a run to the coast in Maine, with Sierra!!!     

“Coast to Coast to Coast”

No, this won’t be the last blog  I’ll post about our trip to Maine, and after some time to reflect, I’ll write about some of the things I learned on the road. Stay tuned…..

Winding it up, or is it winding down?

 Today didn’t start great, I overslept! But in the end, I did miss the rush hour traffic in Indianapolis, especially since I-70 was close midway thru the city. Tom the detour, and it worked out fine. In fact, I went thru 3 cities (Indianapolis, Dayton, and Columbus with out a single wrong turn! 

The weather was great too, cloudy skies, mid seventies.

 Even saw some almost endless corn fields in Indiana, almost as flax as Kansas.

.in my morning,well til 1 pm, I managed to get 300 miles in by 2. Saw this truck load of trucks too.

They are Rivians, a new brand of wholly electric trucks. Not terrible looking.

So my afternoon was an additional 250 something miles. Not quite as good as the morning drive because there were some extensive stretches of  construction and/ or detours.till it all went pretty well until…….

Interesting g though…. For almost all of this trip, there hasn’t been any really negative interactions with cars or trucks. It’s been pretty darn good.  Until…. I get within 30 miles of Cleveland. Some of you may remember Sierra land I having some issues with drivers in that area last year. Well they were all back!

Got thru that area, and onto I-90, and sailing…. Ended up at a La Quinta that was priced very reasonable. It 500 feet from the turn back onto the interstate, and 400 feet from an Ancor Bar and wings! And timing was everything, here’s the sky when I pulled in:

And it got darker. But no rain yet. It should be clearer and cooler in the morning. So after my 560 or so miles today, that leaves about 440 for tomorrow. My tire looks like it will amaze it all the way home! 

Don’t worry, the blog on’t end. I’ll be posting some lessons I’ve learned, some things I saw, and things to consider.

Here is to each and every one of you that reads this! Thank you is just not enough,

!

Stopped by rain- and tornado warning!

 Another early morning. Started out again with some high clouds, and they lasted a little longer, 50 miles or so…

Then that sun…

Same strategy as yesterday, more breaks,every 

Other make sure I cool down, and keep and going!crossed all of Missouri by going thru St Louis.

Illinois up next, and went straight thru that too!, now I am in Illinois, and because I watched the weather this morning, I knew there might be some problems going on. 

 These Do not show how dark those clouds really, and there is a possible tornado warning. I had alread Y been sprinkled on, and once rained on.because y tire grooves are getting down, I don’t want to push it in a rainstorm, so I find a motel in Terre Haute to stay over in.

Indiana will only be 150 miles, so put that out the way in a hurry.

Anyway, checked the tire again. I am thinking it will make it all the way home! 

If you can see all of Abe’s head, it’s about time. But, even if it’s hard to tell in the pic, So e of Abe’s hair is hidden…..It’s not that I don’t want to spend the money to replace it, I’ll have to do it when I get home anyway. But it would add another full day to my return home, and I’d really rather not do that!!!

When wind chill means nothing.

 Today I got  Up early, determined to make a serious dent in Kansas, if not get to Kansas City. 

When I started, the sky was being helpful, and the wind turbines were already spinning!

The temps were warm,  it good. I could wear my leather jackEt half zipped up, and my gloves, and feel comfortable. That lasted about 30 miles. The sky cleared, and with tHe arrival of the sun, the heat rose rapidly. 

Jacket unzipped, gloves off, I motor on. For a while….. went by a feed lot, not good to see, or to smell either. 

We all need to understand where, and how, our food comes to us.

 I had made a deal with myself, in order to manage this run to the border. Every hour and a Have, or 100 miles, a rest stop to get off, walk around, DRaiNK water, and cool down.  So at the first stop, the jacket is packed away. I know what the sun is like, so the t-shirt is also put away, replaced with a long sleeved, lighter weight, denim shirt to keep the sun off my arms. Sometimes it was a rest area, with bathrooms in this state, sometimes a gas station. Seventy miles after starting, I cross into Kansas, then thru towns you never heard of, and some you might have. Colby, WaKeeney, Hays, Salina, oTopeka, Lawrence, and finally Kansas City,Kansas! Later in the ride, somewhere around Topeka, when it became apparent I could reach there, I decided that I’d go until the traffic got heavy. Stop for the night, then get up early, and go thru the city. The traffic never got real bad, so on I went, ,thru both Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. 

When I got into Independence, I had to take a break at a McDonalds. Deciding I just can’t go further, I check, and a Quality Inn is 150 yards away, with a room. A room with high quality air conditioning, now set at 63!

When I checked the odometer, I managed 554 miles, most of it through 100 degree heat, and sun. The bike did great, considering I was pushing it at 75 miles per hour the whole way. Not down to the wear bars on the front yet,so I ride tomorrow too! To, and they St Louis, and on to Indianapolis!!

That’s all I got today for you, no stops of interest.