Amber Waves of Grain

I think the composer must have been looking at this scene when he wrote that catchy tune ... Be the first to post the name of the tune, without googling it :-) The winter wheat will soon be harvested.

Looking Out My Back Door

Well actually this is a view from the front porch, the best place in the world to watch a thunderstorm roll to the south. Last afternoon it was intense, ya know that sound, like a phenomenally loud tearing screech punctuated by a resounding guttural blast.

Reflection Of A Sunset

Looking in the reverse direction of a sunset often results in very subtle shades of the more intense colors ... Enjoy :-)

Dinosaur Pics For Francis

Riding The Storm Out

When I left Kearney Nebraska, at 10am local,  it was cold (50 F) and there was a light rain with big heavy drops falling. 80 miles later as I turned south towards Kansas, after stopping at the Bucks and getting a tall, triple espresso, shots over ice. It started to rain ... hard, then very hard, then impossible hard. The road looked like a river and the speeds slowed to 60 MPH. Lighting was striking everywhere. It was soooo freaken cool. In Cali the rain is light and you seldom need to turn your wipers on past intermittent. The front has moving east and sliding south. I passed through the front 20 miles north of the Kansas boarder and by the time I reached the farm it was 80 and sunny. This is a shot of the front, notice the rain going to ground on the horizon (click to enlarge)

On the Border

The Nebraska, Kansas boarder is miles of rolling hills punctuated with tree lines clinging to drainage gradients and of course farms and pastures. Trees and wildlife cling to the margins which are every where. There are tons of wildlife, hidden subtly but obvious to the discerning eye. More about this tomorrow.

We were out moving 1500 lbs of hay bails, food for the cows during the sparse times next winter when the front finally fell upon us. The temperature dropped 20 degrees in 15 minutes and the wind picked up into a mini-gale. It rained heavy, large drops with a fierce wind from the east. It was odd ... ground wind from the south east while the storm (clouds) moved from the north west all accompanied by intense cloud to cloud and cloud to ground lighting. I guess I saw the jet steams colliding. That's what defines tornado alley

Bring on The Night

By sundown the weather slid south and east of us, with the winds calming to a gentle breeze resulting in a spectacular sunset near 9pm. Lori and I were sitting on the front porch hanging out and enjoying the peace with the coyotes, cows and owls singing off in the distance.

May 30 progress

I traveled only about 180 miles today, the trip out from San Jose to Kansas was 1913 miles (not counting LA which, if counted, makes it nearly 2900 miles. Thanks for taking the ride with me, it was a blast. I was thinking that once on the farm the post would slow to a crawl, and maybe that will happen but right now I have a few more stories to tell :-)

Joe

Rocky Mountain Way

The road from Steamboat Springs rose 2500 feet at the 20 mile mark and there were still 100 miles to go to Rocky Mountain National Park. This is some beautiful country with stunning mesas, deep green valleys, ponds, streams and lakes. Once in the park the rise was fairly steady until I started to hit the switch backs ... but this was a pale shadow compared to what was to come.

The Divide

Stood alone on a mountain top,
Starin' out at the great divide
I could go east, I could go west,
It was all up to me to decide
Just then I saw a young hawk flyin'
And my soul began to rise
And pretty soon
My heart was singin'

Roll, roll me away,
I'm gonna roll me away tonight
Gotta keep rollin, gotta keep ridin',
Keep searchin' till I find what's right 

And as the sunset faded
I spoke to the faintest first starlight
And I said next time , next time
We'll get it right

- Bob Seger, Roll Me Away  

The Highest I've Ever Been

Then the tree line was in sight, and the climb got steeper. fifteen foot poles marked the roadside for the plows. I didn't think the road went up that high, it looked nearly impossible ... I was wrong.

When the trees ended it got really steep with sheer drop offs and no guard rails. For 8 miles the road hugged the top of the mountains at between 11,000 feet and 12,000 feet  If you look closely at the picture below (click to enlarge) you can see a line near the top of the mountain, that is the road. I was on the down hill side of the road. I would have taken more pics from there but I had a death grip on the steering wheel. Did I ever tell you about my fear of heights :-)  I did battle with them that day.

High Plains Drifter

An hour later, after traveling through some amazingly cool river gorges the road spilled out into the great plains and back onto interstate freeway at Loveland Colorado ... it was hard to believe that in a mere 3 hours I went up and over the Rockies and was now screaming down the high plains. 

May 29 Progress

I did about 540 mile today. I'm now in Kearny Nebraska about 3 hours from my sisters farm. I should get there by lunch time tomorrow.

Highway 40, the road less traveled

Today I departed the interstate shorty after leaving Salt Lake and headed east on highway 40, a two lane road to Dinosaur National Monument. The park itself is big with Dino's occupying a small part. An ancient river bed, now tilted at a 70 degree angle, trapped many dinosaurs. The excavation is housed in a display building where a 30 foot wall has been partially unearthed, revealing layers of many fossils. 

The is also some very cool geology with perhaps 20 layers of differing sediments exposed. The bands of colors are the different layers. The red ocher mesa was cool and much more vivid then the picture shows.

 

This deep, ancient river gorge was spectacular and looking down into it brought on a bit of vertigo :-)

After Dinosaur National Monument, I continued to head east on 40 through Colorado's high plateau (6000 feet). For most of the hours long ride there were no cars in front of or behind me. Vast and isolated. I saw some Prong Horn Antelope, heading away from the road. I stopped to take a picture and one of them stopped and turned around to check out me. Who was watching who?

May 28 Progress

The first day I made 800 miles, today I made only 380 miles. I'm now at Steamboat Springs Colorado at nearly 7000 feet. Tomorrow I head into the Rockies for a climb to over 12000 feet (above the tree line) though Rocky Mountain National Park and eventually into Fort Collins. Once again thanks to Dave for helping plot the course on the phone this evening.

Here is the progress map, today drive is in orange.

Queen of the Brine

I pushed off at 8am under a chilly slate grey San Jose sky, I sailed out of the bay area, through the Carquinez Straits by 9am. I waved hello to the Donner party as I summited the Sierras at 11am and was soon plummeting down the back side of the hill heading for the salt.

I have a trip computer in my truck, it computes lots of interesting things, like how many miles till you run out of gas. Maybe you have one too? Ever wonder if it was correct? Yeah, so have I.  The computer said I have 15 miles to empty, and the next gas was 20 ... So WTF I chanced it.  10 miles ... 5 miles ... 3 ... 2 ... 0  - you are out of gas, OH crap!. I cruised another 5 miles and stopped at Lovelock Nevada.

This place was a trip. There was a whole bunch on bikers talking loudly, joking and cussing. Hey they were my age and I thought I'm not the only one taking a midlife crisis tour :-) That's where I ran into the biker dog. 

Most of the afternoon I skirted thunder storms while clipping along at 85 through the vastness but mercifully avoided the rain ... until 20 miles east of Elko where it rained and snowed briefly.

At Wendover I saw the salt and Aerosmith Draw the Line was playing ...

"No dice honey
You're the salt, you're the queen of the brine
Checkmate honey"

I stopped at the Bonneville salt flats were most of the land speed records are set. The salt looked like (and felt like) compacted frozen slush... crusty and wet but hard to the touch. Of course it was not snow but my eyes refused to believe that.

I pulled into Salt Lake city at dusk, just in time to snap this pic of the sun setting across the Great Salt Lake.

Today I rode about 800 miles, the whole LA trip was 970, but it's easy to put on miles with the speed limit at 75 and the cruse control set to 82 you cover about a mile every 45 seconds.  Joel suggested that I post a map of the trip so folks can see where I am.  Good idea Joel.

Target Kansas

Tomorrow, Sunday, I head out on the western loop of the tour. My ultimate destination on the outbound trip is Kansas. It's rural with a capital RURAL :-)  All the roads out there are 1 mile apart (they form a grid) and most are dirt roads.

Some factoids:

• 1 mile to the nearest other farm house, my 9mm barely reaches it :-)
• 8 miles to the nearest town, it has no traffic lights and no stop signs
• 70 miles to the nearest Starbucks ... Yikes!

Return from LA.

All good things come to an end. It was great to hang with Joe and his son David for a couple of days where I learned that you can soak gummie bears in vodka ... mmmm.  I stopped in Pismo beach on the way home. Pismo is one of my fav places :-)  North of the state beach the coast rises into some pretty stunning cliffs. Checkout the cave the ocean beat into the cliff side!

Looking south from the cliffs you can see the dunes beyond the beach silhouetted by the mountains behind. The dunes are huge and go for miles.If you ever get the chance visit this place and rent a quad, you'll have a blast.

I took off from Pismo north on the 101 and headed west at Arroyo Seco following the river to where it joins the Carmel Valley river. Joel and I rode that many years ago and drank beer while chilling in the river under the hot sun. Now I was doing the reverse trip. Man it was a long drive on a wild, winding, isolated road eventually hitting Carmel and Monterey just about sunset where I snapped this photo.

On a Mission deep into Orange County

We had to get to Lake Forest, for there awaiting me was the prize of all things deli.  Taylor Pork Roll. This concoction of tasty spicy pork is a favorite of NJ residents, and El Toro Meats is the only place you can get it on the West Coast.

After we left Lake Forest, we headed north on the 405, one of the most clogged freeways in the country. My friends in LA will attest to that. Soon all 7 northbound lanes we were at a crawl and we decided to blast over to the coast and get north through Malibu on the PCH. I saw this incredibly large bolder perched on a mountain top.

Heading South

The trip south to Northern LA is about 300+ miles down the Salinas Valley, the 101 then bends towards the coast, colliding with the Pacific Ocean at Pismo Beach.  

at the south end of Pismo starts the Oceano Coastal dunes where you can drive on the beach and off road in the dunes beyond the beach

I couldn't resist eating at this place :-)

I wound my way along the coast via PCH into Santa Barbara and eventually Ventura's Channel Island National Park. The surf was amazing, 10 foot crystal blue/green waves with swirling white foam.

I arrived at my friend Joe's house just in time to take off for a cooking class.

The Tour Poster

The Route

The Sound Track

Key to the Highway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK9E6-Eu3-Y