coachchuck
Observer
Trip into the night, The Motorcycle is running again
July 12-13, 2012
I woke up in the motel this morning with high hopes that my motorcycle would be fixed today and I could be on my way again. My original plan would have put me home this afternoon, but I built in a couple of extra days in case something like this happened.
Since I had walked to the dealership and picked up my dirty clothes yesterday, I decided to do laundry this morning. It is early and no one is using the machines. I only have one load, and really it is about ½ a load. On this trip, I have found out how little one really needs. Not Wants.
I get a call from another ADV rider that offers me his camper to stay in if I am still there tonight. I thank him and hope to not be here.
After the laundry is done, I check out of the motel room but have them store all my bags. I don’t want to carry them to the dealership. I take off walking for the dealership. At a little before noon I get a call that my bike is fixed and ready to go. I am only 2 blocks away. That is good timing. I get there and it is not ready to go, the owner thought is should be washed before I get it back. I wait for them to finish the job. They cleaned it very nice. It has more power, I think I had been having problems for a couple of days, since it was losing power since the desert in Wyoming. I had thought it was because I was raising in altitude, but I guess it was the lack of electrical.
I head back to motel to pick up my gear. It is all loaded and I head out. I decide to continue to Hwy 50 to go across. I continue south to Pueblo and then get on 50 and head east.
It is 2 pm and the temperature is 100 F. I stop in some little town and get some more water. I continue on the scenery is dry, almost like the desert, but not quite. Most of the abandon building are stucco and very thick walls. There are a lot of old vehicles from the past, it appears that nothing rusts away here. It is very dry. There is a few cows and some horses. The fields are irrigated.
I stop in Holly CO, almost to the Kansas Line. I get gas, then I fill myself up at Porkys Palace. They have an open face cheese burger that is smothered in homemade green chili sauce that is just incredibly good. It is one of those things that tastes go good, but you know it will get you later. I would recommend it to anyone that likes semi hot spicy food. It was absolutely delicious. As I come out of Porkys, I see a bunch of bikes across the street at the gas station. I find out that one of them is in trouble, the fuel injection is not working on it. I can’t help, so I talk a while and move on down the road.
I cross into Kansas and everything is getting greener the farther east I go. I pass by many road side vegetable stands. There are large vegetable fields, of course they are irrigated. As I keep going I see many cattle feed lots. You can smell them long before you see them. At about dark, I pass through a huge windmill farm. It is about 10 miles long and I would guess 5 or 6 miles wide. Of course it is windy, but not real strong. Now that it is dark, I can’t really see what is off the road. The sky is dark, partly cloudy and there is no moon out. This is good, with it being dark, there will not be as much animal movement, hence no deer in the road. I only saw 3 deer and 1 coyote all the way across Kansas.
I stop for gas for the bike and water for me a couple of times. I am getting tired and I am about to Emporia. . I am so close to home I don’t want to stop. It is less than 2 hours to home. I stop and the Flying J for about 25 minutes even though I don’t need gas. I get a couple of Jalapeno hot dog to help me wake up. It was that or find a place to set up the tent. If they didn’t wake me up, I was going to camp here. But they did the trick. I continue on into the darkness. The road is wet north of Burlington and there is lighting off the west just a little ways. I am thinking I might get wet. But it doesn’t rain on me.
I pull into the house at just a smidgen before 3 am. I lost an hour somewhere. I had figured around 1:30 to 2:00 am. It must have been going from Mountain to Central Time Zone. I am happily greeted by my loving wife and 2 rowdy dogs. I will unload the bike later.
From time to time I will miss the road, but It is good to be home again.
July 12-13, 2012
I woke up in the motel this morning with high hopes that my motorcycle would be fixed today and I could be on my way again. My original plan would have put me home this afternoon, but I built in a couple of extra days in case something like this happened.
Since I had walked to the dealership and picked up my dirty clothes yesterday, I decided to do laundry this morning. It is early and no one is using the machines. I only have one load, and really it is about ½ a load. On this trip, I have found out how little one really needs. Not Wants.
I get a call from another ADV rider that offers me his camper to stay in if I am still there tonight. I thank him and hope to not be here.
After the laundry is done, I check out of the motel room but have them store all my bags. I don’t want to carry them to the dealership. I take off walking for the dealership. At a little before noon I get a call that my bike is fixed and ready to go. I am only 2 blocks away. That is good timing. I get there and it is not ready to go, the owner thought is should be washed before I get it back. I wait for them to finish the job. They cleaned it very nice. It has more power, I think I had been having problems for a couple of days, since it was losing power since the desert in Wyoming. I had thought it was because I was raising in altitude, but I guess it was the lack of electrical.
I head back to motel to pick up my gear. It is all loaded and I head out. I decide to continue to Hwy 50 to go across. I continue south to Pueblo and then get on 50 and head east.
It is 2 pm and the temperature is 100 F. I stop in some little town and get some more water. I continue on the scenery is dry, almost like the desert, but not quite. Most of the abandon building are stucco and very thick walls. There are a lot of old vehicles from the past, it appears that nothing rusts away here. It is very dry. There is a few cows and some horses. The fields are irrigated.
I stop in Holly CO, almost to the Kansas Line. I get gas, then I fill myself up at Porkys Palace. They have an open face cheese burger that is smothered in homemade green chili sauce that is just incredibly good. It is one of those things that tastes go good, but you know it will get you later. I would recommend it to anyone that likes semi hot spicy food. It was absolutely delicious. As I come out of Porkys, I see a bunch of bikes across the street at the gas station. I find out that one of them is in trouble, the fuel injection is not working on it. I can’t help, so I talk a while and move on down the road.
I cross into Kansas and everything is getting greener the farther east I go. I pass by many road side vegetable stands. There are large vegetable fields, of course they are irrigated. As I keep going I see many cattle feed lots. You can smell them long before you see them. At about dark, I pass through a huge windmill farm. It is about 10 miles long and I would guess 5 or 6 miles wide. Of course it is windy, but not real strong. Now that it is dark, I can’t really see what is off the road. The sky is dark, partly cloudy and there is no moon out. This is good, with it being dark, there will not be as much animal movement, hence no deer in the road. I only saw 3 deer and 1 coyote all the way across Kansas.
I stop for gas for the bike and water for me a couple of times. I am getting tired and I am about to Emporia. . I am so close to home I don’t want to stop. It is less than 2 hours to home. I stop and the Flying J for about 25 minutes even though I don’t need gas. I get a couple of Jalapeno hot dog to help me wake up. It was that or find a place to set up the tent. If they didn’t wake me up, I was going to camp here. But they did the trick. I continue on into the darkness. The road is wet north of Burlington and there is lighting off the west just a little ways. I am thinking I might get wet. But it doesn’t rain on me.
I pull into the house at just a smidgen before 3 am. I lost an hour somewhere. I had figured around 1:30 to 2:00 am. It must have been going from Mountain to Central Time Zone. I am happily greeted by my loving wife and 2 rowdy dogs. I will unload the bike later.
From time to time I will miss the road, but It is good to be home again.
