Well in the public interest I would like to give the depressed a place to go to get their spirits uplifted maybe just a little bit. My wife and I have been very fortunate in both means and time to be able to take several trips on our bikes since 2004. And we have taken a computer disk full of pictures. I thought that in order to banish the winter blues you might enjoy these pictures. Hopefully this will inspire
someone to finish their bike, jump on it and begin exploring this glorious North American Continent.
Disclaimer: Most of our trips were taken on our 1800s so you will probably look for naked wings in vain.
Since we live half a day's ride from the Blue Ridge Parkway I thought I'd start there. Every year we try to hit the peak of the fall colors and our quest takes us from West Virginia to the Smoky
Mountains.
Along the Blue Ridge: Virginia
Terrapin Mountain:
Otter Lake:
Otter Creek:
Mabry Mill:
North Carolina:
Maryland: Little Gunpowder River:
We also have ridden the Parkway in the summer.
We've run to the coast as well, NC Outer Banks,
Ocracoke:
Bodie Island Lighthouse:
In 2004 we took our first long distance bike trip to Montana and the Canadian Rockies.
Glacier National Park, Going to the Sun Highway.
Canada,
Cameron Lake in Waterton Park:
The Crack, Radium Hot Springs:
Lake Louise:
Seven Brothers:
Lake Moraine at the foot of the Seven Brothers:
Canadian Wildlife:
Back in the US we visited the Ho Rain Forest on Mount Olympus:
Climbing Mt Ranier:
In the summer of 2005 we rode to Bar Harbor and back, We visited Gettysburg, Pa, Fort Ticonderoga in New York State, Acadia National Park as well as many towns along the way.
The North Carolina memorial at Gettysburg NHP:
Fort Ticonderoga,
And Bennington, Vermont:
Covered Bridge in Vermont:
Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, the highest point on the US Atlantic Seacoast.
Two weeks before Christmas in 2006 we made a run to Key West via the Everglades.
Along the Tamiami Trail:
Its nice to own your own Island with a major bridge leading to it.
Key West buskers putting on a show while waiting for the sunset.
Scenes about Key West:
In May of 2007 we again headed West, this time a southern route:
Where the grasslands of the high plains meet the mountains, view from Capulin National Monument, New Mexico:
View of the Rio Grande just west of Taos, NM on US 64. This view was in the movie "Wild Hogs".
We stayed at Mesa Verde National Park in Southwest Colorado where we visited the Cliff Palace:
We took a day trip to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison near Montrose, CO
Lizard Pass
Black Canyon:
From Mesa Verde we headed to the Grand Canyon via the Moki Dugway and Mexican Hat
Moki Dugway:
The Moki Dugway descends into the Valley of the Gods
Mexican Hat:
We passed through Monument Valley on our way to the Grand Canyon
Took a picture of the sisters after passing through Monument Valley
And finally the south rim of the Grand Canyon:
Rafters on the Colorado River about to enter the Grand Canyon at Lee's Ferry
Grand Canyon North Rim
Dining room at the North Rime Lodge, the windows overlook the canyon
View from the North Rim
From the North Rim we traveled to Zion National Park
Entrance to the mile long tunnel:
The tunnel runs through this cliff, you can see one of the observation ports in this picture.
From Zion we toured Bryce Canyon National Park as it was early in the season (May) there was a little snow storm that came through the night before
After leaving Bryce we traveled north through Capitol Reef National Park
After leaving Capitol Reef we came across this unique gas station carved into the side of a mountain:
Over the 4th of July 2008 we took a ride to western Pennsylvania, one of the places we visited was the Falling Waters house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright:
In September of 2008 we went on another western trip, this time Yellowstone was the goal. We took the long route through Michigan then across Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota.
Frankenmouth, Michigan:
Glockenspeil:
Tour boat passing under the covered bridge:
Mackinac Bridge:
Waiting for a train in South Dakota:
We spent three days in the Black Hills Region
Badlands:
Custer State Park which is all about the wildlife.
Then Needles Highway:
And this little jewel at the end of the highway,
Sylvan Lake:
And of course Mt. Rushmore:
After Leaving the Black Hills area we cruised by Devil's Tower on our way to Yellowstone
We entered Yellowstone through the East Gate after passing through Cody Wyoming,
View along the road to Yellowstone:
We stayed at the Yellowstone Lake Lodge and got some good shots of the lake
We then took the Ring of Fire Tour
West Thumb Geyser Basin:
After visiting Old Faithful which everyone has seen picture of (they all look the same) we visited the Fountain Paint Pot
From there is was off to the Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Upper Falls:
Lower Falls:
Canyon:
We left the park through the South Entrance and encounter the Lewis Falls and River along the way
The advantage of leaving via the South Entrance is that it leads you to the Grand Tetons
After leaving the majesty of Yellowstone and the Tetons I thought the simplicity of the Wyoming plains in mid-September to be quite striking
In 2009 we rode west but this time hooked up with the Natchez Trace and followed it to Natchez. Then to Pensacola and back home
Stopped for a picture of Bridal Veil Falls on US-64
View of Chatanooga from Lookout Mountain:
We intersected the Natchez Trace near the Merriwether Lewis Memorial
USS Cairo, Civil war ironclad recovered from the Yazoo river where it had been sunk by a mine during the Vicksburg campaign its located on the Vicksburg battlefield national park
Pearl River along the Trace
US Naval Air Museum located in Pensacola, FL
The wife and I hope you have enjoyed the picture show
......where's my keys?
All I can say is WOW!!!!