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Deane and Norm's Motorcycle Trip to Alaska | |
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Norm's Trip Summary -- Boise to Ohio |
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This is Norm's summary of his continuing trip get back to his home in Vandalia, Ohio, plus a wrap-up of the overall trip from his perspective. Our
visit to Boise, ID was filled with many really neat experiences.
The city is situated in a beautiful valley with many really great
views. It was interesting to
note how the early pioneers made use of the different levels of the hills,
which they called benches, to build their homes and very productive
irrigated farms. I
also had the pleasure of meeting members of Deane's family and enjoying
wonderful western hospitality. As
we toured the area Deane shared locations and stories about growing up
there. We also changed the
oil and cleaned and checked our Gold Wings. Deane and I took separate
routes from Boise home. August 10 My
trip today from Boise to Laramie, WY was a new route to me.
I went 680 miles, all on the interstate.
It was quite different traveling alone again after chasing another
red Gold Wing for 9,000 miles. The views of the irrigated lands turned
into rolling hills and more scenic mountains as I crossed into southern
Idaho. The route down into the broad valley that Salt Lake City is
in and the lake itself is very scenic.
After a quick trip across the corner of Utah the rugged mountains
of Wyoming with their changing colors welcomed me. Just west of Laramie on a mountain ridge I observed a very
large array of electric generating windmills.
What an awesome sight with the reflecting setting sun highlighting
their huge blades. Another great day to ride. August 11 Today
I left the mountains and traveled the interstate 500 miles from Laramie,
WY to York, NE. Some moderate to high cross winds and a lot of single lane
construction added to the excitement today.
It was also quite warm again after riding in the mountains.
There was a lot of other motorcycle traffic.
Some riders that I visited with were departing the rally in
Sturgis, SD. The rugged range
land of Wyoming turned into flat very productive cultivated farmland.
Some of it is irrigated and some are dry land farms.
It is interesting to cross the vast ranges of pastureland and then
see the countryside change to Midwestern grain farms. August 12 through August 17 The
remainder of my trip to Vandalia, OH of 1050 miles was over a mixture of
interstate and state highway systems. Many very productive wheat, corn and
soybean fields were along my route from York, NE to Boone, IA.
Iowa also has some very pretty areas of timberland.
The flat fields of Iowa change quickly into rolling farmland as you
cross the mighty Mississippi River valley at Dubuque, IA.
Southern
Wisconsin, where I grew up, is also very beautiful this time of year with
the corn, oats, beans and alfalfa hay fields and of course all of the
dairy cows and red barns. The
wildlife report for Wisconsin is dairy cows! While there I visited a new
1800 cow dairy farm. Southern
Wisconsin is a beautiful place to ride with nice gentle curving roads.
This area is naturally hilly from the remains of the terminal
moraine from the ice age. I
rode through more beautiful productive grain farms on the remainder of my
route through Illinois and Indiana to Ohio. On
this portion of my trip I spent time visiting friends and relatives. The
last day of my trip I woke up to hard rain and got my bike washed again in
the first 50 miles departing the Chicago O'Hare area.
The rest of the trip was beautiful as I rode on a combination of
state roads and the interstate. I
really can summarize the trip very quickly in one word,
"Wonderful!" However,
I think it is interesting to reflect on it for a moment. Deane
and I shared the trip of a lifetime with many wonderful varied and
challenging experiences. It
was great to have a very good friend and an accomplished Gold Wing rider
to share the trip with. In
addition to the great scenery and riding we made numerous new friends and
renewed old friendships. We
visited with other travelers making the trip with bicycles, cars and
recreational vehicles. We met
so many other current and former motorcyclists.
Many of them are Gold Wing Road Rider Association (GWRRA) and Honda
Riders Club of America (HRCA) members. We relied on contacts made through
the GWRRA Gold Book for valuable road information and also stopped to
visit some GWRRA members. As
we mentioned before one GWRRA member met our ferry arrival in Prince
Rupert, BC and took us home at 3:00AM in the rain! What a great
organization. The Honda Shops
in Anchorage and Fairbanks were really friendly. Experience!
We both gained a lot of experience driving in changing road conditions,
bridges, and construction. Having
the right equipment, from motorcycle to riding gear, was so important to
the success of this trip. There
are many great motorcycles on the road and the Gold Wing rates the highest
in my opinion. Both of our machines made the trip without any problems or
damage. Some
statistics: 13,000
miles, 55 days, 18 states, 3 Canadian Provinces, 78 fill-ups, average 37.5
mpg. Highest lower 48 gas price $1.979 starting at Vandalia, OH, lowest on
last leg home at Lebanon, IN $1.159.
Highest Alaska gas, at Valdez $1.909, lowest Anchorage $1.529.
Highest Canadian gas Dawson City, YT at the equivalent of $2.38 US gal,
lowest $1.62 US equivalent at Pincher Creek, Alberta. Another
trip? We are ready to go
again but haven't figured that dream out yet! Norm |
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