Raymond's Version Of Events

My recent trip was 40 days long. The following is a summary.

Friday June 13th: Rode to Wetumpka. Rain most of the way.
Ate at a Mexican Restaurant with Mike and Debbie.

Saturday June 14th: Rode in the rain most of the day to Cumberland Falls inKentucky. Ed was already there. We set-up my tent and ate in the Cumberland falls resort. Nice winding road up to and down from the camp ground.

Sunday June 15th: Rode through the Daniel Boone national forest and Kentucky Scenic byway. We had a slight mishap on a wooden bridge. Arrived at my sister’s house in Elizabethtown Kentucky in time for dinner.

Monday June 16th: From my sister’s house rode the Kentucky Parkway to the Land between the Water. From there we rode to Metropolis Illinois the home of Superman!
We then rode to GaryPaul’s in Arkansas.

Tuesday June 17th Gary lead us through the Ozarks. One road in particular was close to a roller coaster..cool!

Wed June 18th The next morning rode to Oklahoma city and viewed the Memorial. A most sobering place. From there we rode to Elk Oklahoma and the National Route 66 museum.

Thursday June 19th Rode from Elk, Ok. To Amarillo Tx. Met Drifter and Flowpo. Ed changed his oil and Flowpo fabricated a bolt system for one of my bags. Somehow one had disappeared. We took Drifter and Flowpo to Fatboy’s Baz-B-Q and then took off for NM. The High Plains between Clovis and Roswell are pretty cool! We stayed at a KOA in Carlsbad.

Friday June 20th Awoke to a glorious sunrise. The KOA in Carlsbad was superb. We rode to the caverns. The scenery was amazing. We toured the Carlsbad cavern center then rode to Roswell. We ate at the Crash Down Café. Neat place. We toured the UFO museum. While we were at the museum my denim jacket was abducted. We then rode to Vegas Nm. The temps were pretty cool.

Saturday June 21st We had breakfast a a local Restaurant –super good. Rode up into the Carson national forest. Rode over on of the highest roads in NM. Just over 10,000 feet. Rode down to Chama a small city at about 7,800 ft. We saw the Rio Grande gorge and houses built into the ground. Stopped for the night in Farmington NM.

Sunday June 22nd Rode from Farmington to the Four Corners. From there to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon was AMAZING! Stayed the night in Ash Fork. The lady at the old little hotel said, “Since there are two of ya’ll here is another towel.”

Monday June 23rd Left Ash Fork and rode Rt. 66. Ate at the Copper Cart. A most cool place! Continued on Route 66 stopped at the Hackberry General store. Another most cool place! The up, up, twisty, twisty, to Oatman Arizona. What a ride up that road. Not for the faint of heart! Then to Las Vegas Nevada.

Tuesday June 24th Stayed the day in Vegas. Changed the oil in the bike. Too many people and traffic in Vegas!!!

Wednesday June 25th Left Vegas and rode to Baker Ca. (beautiful weather) Turned left and started through the Mojave! The weather was cool, at first. Then we started down from elevation and the temp went up. Nothing an old Florida boy couldn’t handle mind you. Stopped at Amboy (pop 14) in the middle of the desert. We had a nice conversation with the only resident we saw. From there rode to 29 Palms and then to a campground just north of San Diego. We met Steveinsandiego. With Steve’s help Ed arranged for a new rear tire.

Thursday June 26th We left San Diego and rode the Pacific Coast Hwy. Had a nice ride until encountering LA traffic. Finally made it to the road to Mt. Wilson. Great Road! Great Vista overlooking all of the LA basin!!! Spent the night in Palmdale.

Friday June 27th Left Palmdale Ca. Attempting to go around LA (to return to the Pacific Coast Hwy) we somehow ended up deep in the Mojave! Stopped at Mike’s Roadhouse in Mojave Ca. and were given directions. Rode through a beautiful semi-arid area with virtually no signs of humans other than the road we were on. We came out in Iscadera Ca. and found the PCH. Cold along the ocean. WE rode an amazing 100 miles along the Ca coast! Stayed the night in Santa Cruz.

Saturday June 28 Rode from Santa Cruz along the coast to San Fran. Rode a cable car and rode the bikes across the Golden gate bridge. We then headed for Legget ca. and the Avenue of the Giants (Redwoods) We drove through a Redwood and camped in a Ca state park surrounded by the magnificent giants!!!

Sunday June 29th Left the campground and rode the 30 miles remaining of the Avenue of the Giants. Truly wonderous and amazing. From there we rode north on the PCH the extreme northern Ca coast and the Oregon coast is beautiful but the temps dropped and the wind blew. We stopped in Florence Oregon.

Monday June 30th Left in a heavy mist and cool temps. Rode east (inland) looking for warmer temps. After many attempts we found the Spruce Goose. Man what a big airplane! From there we rode to Seattle and Gary Ford’s house.

Tuesday July 1st. Woke up late and cleaned our bikes then rode into Seattle. Gary took us around the city. Gary arranged for some other Intruder riders to meet us at a Steak Restaurant: a good time!

Wednesday July 2nd Left Gary’s house and rode east. Eastern Washington is mighty different from Western Washington. Rode through mountains and arid plains and field of wheat as far as you could see. Rode the Lewis and Clark hwy. Saw a trail used by Lewis and Clark all those many years ago. Rode the Spiral Hwy!!!!! and stayed the night in Lewiston Utah!

Thursday July 3rd Left Lewiston and rode through Utah toward Yellowstone. At this point Idaho is amazingly beautiful. We rode for 150 miles alongside the Clearwater river with mountainous terrain on the other side. The last hundred miles leading to Yellowstone is amazing!

Friday July 4th Left a cold KOA and went to see Old Faithful. Rode around Yellowstone and saw Elk, Moose, Bison, Coyote, Eagle, and deer. And then, and then the most spectacular thing I have ever seen The Beartooth Hwy!!!!!!!!!! Snow everywhere but the roads. We wound around the peaks of the Rockies looking to the left and to the right vistas of unbelievable proportions!!! Came down off of the Beartooth and stayed in Red Lodge Montana.

Saturday July 5th Rode from Red Lodge to Little Big Horn. Stood on the “hill” where Custer made his last stand. I stood there and could almost see the events unfold. From there we rode to Pat and Perry’s 15 square miles of farm outside Circle Montana. Ed took a ride in Perry’s airplane which is hangered 50 yards from his house.

Sunday July 6th Left Pat and Perry’s place and rode to N.D. and then to SD and then Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. Spent the night in Sundance, Wyoming.

Monday July 7th Left Sundance and rode to Sturgis and Deadwood. From there we went to Mount Rushmore. From Rushmore we rode the Blackhills. While riding the Blackhills we found ourselves surrounded by a herd of buffalo that were migrating to another area of the park. A bit unnerving to be sitting on a motorcycle with a 1200 pound wild animal standing there looking you in the eye. This the herd that was used for the movie Dances with Wolves.

Tuesday July 8th Left Rapid City and rode toward Sioux Falls. We rode through the Badlands – pretty cool! Stopped in Mitchell SD.

Wednesday July 9th We rode into Algona Iowa to Mike and Diane’s house. Algona is a neat little town. I enjoyed my three days there.

On Saturday July 12th I picked up Barbara at the Des Moines airport. The next day we rode to Prairie Du Chein. We met the other bikers about 35 in all and spent four days tooling around Wisconsin. One of my favorite places was the movie Field of Dreams was filmed. We watched people playing ball and walked into the corn and out of it. Greg asked, as he exited the corn, “Is this heaven?” Was a cool time!

On Friday the 18th of July, Barbara and I said our goodbyes and headed south. We took two days to get to my sister’s house in Elizabethtown Ky. We stayed a day then continued our meandering home. We spent on night in Cumberland falls state park and another in Pine Mountain state park (both in Kentucky). From there we rode through the Smokey mountains in the rain, again! We stopped at my daughter’s house just north of Atlanta and visited with her and her fiancé. We then went around Atlanta and down home. We arrived home late in the evening of July 23rd. A total trip time of 40 days and 11,437 miles……When can I go again!

This is Raymond's Story of his Odessey with Emu.
Both are members of the
Intruder Alert Cafe

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