SW US cross country Tour

[rcmatt007]

[northwood]

Teaser photo! Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area. We were burning Joshua Trees cooking horrible wieners and drinking the champagne of beers warm. It was a gorgeous night viewing the stars. One of many. The weird light across the photo is me walking through the shot with my headlamp on to get the back ground light.

[Fred Camper]

Do I need to talk to your boss and get you some time off work???

[northwood]

So here we go, I guess I will start at this. Total Mileage 5,065. $487 in gas for me, $390 for the Triumph. In and out of AZ more than 6 times. 3 minor breakdowns a couple other ones.

Three times the differential Cir clips came apart on my GL1000, clutch cable in Los Alamos, and his battery terminals were loose, fixed in the morning.

We met up in Livermore, CA and our only goal was to get past Bodie, the deserted town. We did make it. Only after seeing an 18 wheeler in a river. Really interesting. And we almost ran out of gas. Because the town we thought had gas, did not. We ended up getting stopped by CHP, because a commercial was being filmed and asked him where gas was. 40 miles out of our way we found our campsite in the Hartley camping area on the backside of the Sierra's. The long trip has started and we were both glad to be out of the bay area.

Getting ready, Fiance, for some reason did this shot and I look HUGE!


















The next morning at our campsite, we were awaken to a great chill, there was frost on everything. Also, Coyote were Screaming in the distance. It was a hard morning to get going. We also drank a liter of Kraken the first night celebrating the trip.





The smoke from the fire we started to warm up to.



By this point in time we were wishing for the cold again. Going through Death Valley and Scotty's castle.



Some shots of inside Scotty's Castle









Our first of O so many Joshua tree's. I did not realize they were EVERYWHERE in the southwest.



Leaving Death Valley and scrambling to Las Vegas. Boring Section. Still better than being at work.





We stayed in a hotel that night. Mainly because there was nowhere to sleep for free. Or easily. Didn't do anything exciting there. Just wanted to get away from people.



The next day we got up and ate in a famous restaurant in Boulder City, NV. The Coffee Cup. It was delicous, we were turned on to it by a faithful motorcyclist and his wife on a new Triumph. We pulled up to one place and they slowed down and rubbed their tummy and pointed down the road. So we followed!

Then on to Hoover Dam. For the Big Dam Tour.





He doesn't let loose much.


We followed many long boring WINDY roads along lake Meade to get out. Nothing that memorable.

[northwood]

I will have an intermission and give quotes from the trip.

"Magnificent Nothing" Me - Because Death Valley was not very exciting.
"Helmet hell" Me - Because Death Valley was super hot.
"Disney land of hiking" Hart - Zion was way too sanitized.
"Glory hole" - Term for supervisor on the hoover dam
"Easy dough" - Term for the hoover dam while being built
"Straight from natures nipple" Me - Drinking a quart of Chocolate Milk
"Look at this buffalo femur" Some lady at Bodie. Not a buffalo around for thousands of miles. It was a cow femur. A little slap happy, we were.
"Looks like a giants baby seat" Me - Cutouts around the north rim of the grand canyon
"Like rubbin wax on sandpaper" Me - Putting Chap stix on super sunburnt blistered lips



"We are camping at club med tonight." Hart - When staying at a civilized campesite with running water. Black Canyon Campground Santa Fe, NM.
"Heres nature, dont go in it." Hart - When talking about US national parks
"Adventure bromance" Not sure... It's just what we were doing. Or a website name for guys to meet up on.
"Its all out kind of night, im even gonna throw out my pants." Me - When talking about my pants I tore the crotch out of and finally getting a shower after 5 days and working on the goldwing 4 times.



Hopefully some of these translate via text.......

[northwood]

We found camp in Beaver Dam Wash Conservation area. More Joshua trees. And we ended up eating super cheap hot dogs with expired buns and drinking the Champagne of beers warm. Joshua trees were burnt, so we had "holy" wieners. They do not burn well, and they were already dead. We did not harm any living trees. It was a windy night. Gorgeous though. This is where the night picture of the wing above came from.







The next day we got up and went on our way to Zion National Park to Hike Angels Landing. Not fun in Moto boots. I received lots of blisters from those angels.





For some reason as I was taking my boots off to change into shorts, I found a black widow on my boot!



First Break.









At some point along here, I started quoting Neature Walk some lady thought it was funny and wanted to use them. I had to tell her about the show.



This was our next campsite for the night. On the side of a very steep and loose hill. The highway was above us. It was quite, and another cold morning.





Making Coffee in the Morning.



Which I broke the 40,000 mile mark on a 40 year old bike the next day.



And made it to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.



This spot was super warm. It was so weird with it being cold out but as soon as you stopped moving, the sun would cook you.







We had some pretty wild Experience in the Navajo Nation area of NM. We camped out in some Native Americans front yard. No wood, no fire, no booze. We had cows walk through in the middle of the night. It was pretty odd. This was at sunrise, I was still asleep.



Otherwise, we made it to Monument Valley, great views, boring Roads, NO BOOZE!

[northwood]

The road after Monument Valley to 4 corners and CO, super depressing and boring also. Was glad to get out of there.









We made it a little bit North of Durango CO that night and stayed in a free campsite in a valley. It was gorgeous, this was leaving the next morning.







Someone was happy to have booze again.



On Highway 550 in Silverton, we had an amazing breakfast after freezing our butts off.



Not a fan of Harley's, but I was here. Sorry guys.



Then we made it up highway 550, the million dollar highway. I think that is Mount Rose behind us. Absolutely gorgeous, so much so that we forgot how cold we were!



Then we promptly ran off to Black Canyon of the Gunnison, as mentioned by a NGW'er on this thread.





And we went down to the bottom. Pretty amazing stuff.



I don't have any DSLR photos of Boulder, CO. But we made it there that night. FREEZING ourselves going through all the passes. Some at night. They made a fire in the house for us and it was about 90°F, but we enjoyed it while the roomates cooked.

Then we went down towards Denver to visit my friend, he had an abandoned track nearbye with the gate open and we had a ball. Hart got some amazing skills after that. He picked up his game.



I just ground the heck out of my center stand and pegs.





Hart got to ride in the Vette with an animal driving. I think he may have gotten his first full g out of a car.



We rode bicycles in boulder from brewery to brewery having fun "tasting" beers.





We also went to a battle of the bands. We did not realize we were going to one. It was pretty awesome. Screamer bands. Say it with me "TOO MUCH ROCK FOR ONE HAND!"



We watched one of his friends with a crosstour race. Then promptly went to Dairy Queen and had Ice Cream. We made him wear his medal all night. I wish I had more photos of that. It was pretty entertaining on the town having him explain why he was wearing a medal.





While in Denver we got to change oil on the bikes, etc. Do maintenance. My engine plugs were leaking oil for some reason. I found them loose, I had to mark them to make sure they didn't come loose again. And make this special tool to tighten the bottom one.







We did a lot of other stuff. But time to move on.

[northwood]

We spent 4 days in Boulder and Denver screwing off taking a break and hanging with friends. Then headed south to Pikes Peak. By far the coldest I have ever ridden in. And I grew up in ND. Jebus, I left the bike running, went inside and warmed up. Didn't even feel like turning it off. Poor little feller. The speedometer did not like it either, it whined at me the colder it got.





This is RIGHT before the first breakdown....... of a couple.



Round 1 at the bottom of Pikes Peak.


We got out of Pikes Peak and promptly sped off down the road, only to be caught by the local Sheriff in Westcliffe, CO. We were freezing and in a rush and passed the off duty Sheriff on a double yellow, he was going 20 under the speed limit, in his personal car. So he followed us as he called his deputies in to pull us over. He told us what ticket to give us then went home to his beer. We were not speeding, and yes we did do an illegal move, but, his actions were uncalled for and cowardly.



We were in a rush above because we wanted to get through the last pass before dark. This screwed us, but we got the best campsite yet I think because of this. We snuck into a closed campground and camped out. Had the camp hosts fresh cut wood and a gorgeous running stream behind us. Also had a hunter walk by us in the morning.





The next morning


Still cold, even in NM. When does it get warm?



The only rain we saw for all 17 days of the trip was shortly into New Mexico. And it was just a sprinkle.



Side Note: At this point in time, we thought gas would be in the town, at the station shown above. It was not. We were both on reserve and the next town was ~30+ miles away. So we took it slow, really slow, he normally got better MPG than I, so I drafted him. In the end, he ran out before me and got stuck on the side of the road and hitch hiked into town. Where I made it, by shutting off the engine on the down hills and turning back on for the uphills. I ran out of gas at the top of the hill right before the gas station. I rinsed out my OJ bottle with gasoline and filled it to take back. Just as I got done he rolled up in a cavalier with a quinoa farmer. I handed it off and they went back to get his bike. Entertaining day! The most I have ever filled into the GL.



Campsite outside of Santa Fe, AKA "Club Med." We stayed here then went downtown and it was pretty Yuppy. Had a good steak dinner and a few beers in a dive bar. The next day went on to Roswell. We only found one Alien at a tire dealership.



We actually went through Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was HUGE. Checked out the free museum. Where that morning I felt a pop in my clutch cable and I investigated. 3 strands left holding the cable. I had a spare so I swapped it out. In front of the town museum, got all kinds of looks, no one asked if we needed help or what we were doing.





We got through some VERY boring parts of NM and camped out in the middle of nowwhere next to a park. We thought we were in the park. But ended up in a ranchers field. We were behind a hill with a bunch of wind mills. It was again, gorgeous and quiet.



We did stop in Roswell



Shortly after Roswell, my driveline fell apart again. Round 2! Hart ran back to Roswell 80 mile round trip and got the right size cir-clips.



So we stayed in a Hotel in Alamogordo AZ. I had worked on the bike 4 times between showers and was tired, cold with a ripped crotch in my jeans. I was ready for a bed and a shower. I love camping outside but I was whooped.

The next day we got up and promptly stopped at white sands. Gorgeous and weird, but gorgeous.







I was here back when I was 8 or so. My parents are from this area. So I had to get my pic under the typical.



At this point we were in a rush, behind schedule and taking a lot of interstate. We ditched a certain part of our route to hit all of 191 in AZ. And highway 180 coming out of NM was brutally rough. I was so glad to be in AZ.

[CYBORG]

Some great stuff. Keep it coming

[northwood]

Sorry had to help wifey cook dinner and clean house.

Highway 191 in AZ was probably my favorite on this whole trip. Some stunning views, and a ton of hunters (opener for mule deer and elk cow I think). Shortly after this photo was breakdown #3 for the driveshaft. We ended up just setting up camp there next to a hunter and cooking pork chops on a rock next to the fire.





Right before I set up camp and just fixed the driveshaft. ROUND 3! Driveshaft fix again.



Earlier before I broke down, we picked up pork chops and other fix'en's to cook on the fire. Turned out ok. Could have been better. This was also our last night camping.





The next day coming down 191, we past TONS of hunters (Saturday morning) and also some boy scouts cooking something that smelled amazing. We then ran across this HUGE mining operation. Had to go into town to figure out it was copper. Never seen a mine that big and I grew up with half a dozen coal mines around my town. It completely filled the horizon.



We had to take A LOT of interstate to make it in time to get to the Titan Missile Museum. Which was totally worth it.





I left my helmet on the pavement, hoping to keep it in the shade behind the bike. No luck, it got hot AND covered in ants. This is me dancing with the helmet trying to get the ants out.



After this we went to a friends of mine in Phoenix. It was hot in this area. Jeeze. She had cold beer waiting for us and we chatted most of the night, got up early and took off.



Studying Maps to get out of Phoenix.



The next morning they made us an amazing breakfast.



Made it straight to California, quick like.



Our last night we stayed at his Uncles place in Laguna Beach. This was the view when we woke up.





This is a plaque that I had made, the day before we left we had a car show at work. We stuck both bikes in with this sign on mine pointing to his. Some co-workers said a lot of people were talking about it.

[northwood]

This post is a place marker. I am going to add photos in to this thread from my phone and Go-Pro and Hart as needed and change the some of the story. When I am finished, I will post finished below. Stay tuned.


FINISHED!!!!!! Thanks for Looking. I spent a lot of time organizing these dang photos. Now get out and ride!

[Casper]

Great pictures and story, thanks for allowing us to virtually ride along.

[ericheath]

Awesome report so far. I've never done a longer trip. On my list.

[Gowing]

Thanks, enjoyed pics very much, scraping your goldwing at night, great shot,
The town of Bowie was special. Great trip north wood.

[rcmatt007]

I understand you now have to pay to go around the four corners..... seems like I got to do it for free back in 1979