Happy Memorial Day

My best tomorrow to all those serving in our military keeping us safe, and to all those that have served, and especially to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.

"All gave some. Some gave all"

Last night in Hyder, starting home tomorrow

I had a great time in Hyder walking around and taking pictures. What a view they have here. The locals are very friendly and they love motorcyclists. Gary and Michelle, owners of the SeaAlaska Inn, are really nice people and I enjoyed talking to them. I had a delicious Western Omelette this morning with a truly bottom-less cup of coffee. This evening I visited "The Bus" for a Halibut Burger that was very good. I finished up the evening in the bar at the SeaAlaska where I got "Hyderized" and have the card to prove it.

I will head out in the morning for Prince George and change my oil and then hold up there for the night (depending on time) or ride further east before stopping. I am in no hurry and don't have to rush the return trip home. I have plenty of time so there should be no late-night riding. That will be a relief.

I am still trying to upload the pictures but it was giving me a fit so that may have to wait until I return and do it properly.

I am looking forward to returning home. Seems like I have been on the road forever....

Greetings from Hyder, AK

Well, I made it. Sure was a long trip from central Washington up to here. The road from Prince George up to Hyder was pretty lonely - not much traffic at all. At night it was around 37-39 degrees and right at daybreak it dropped to 35 degrees. The Gerbing electric liners really helped. I had no cell service for the last 4 hours or so outside of Hyder. As I got closer to Hyder my XM Radio stopped receiving. However, what gorgeous scenery coming in here.

To those that made comments about my SPOT tracker not working, I think the problem was on my end. They will only transpond for 24 hours and then must be turned off and then back on to start a new 24-hour period. I forgot to do that.

The bike is running good. Tire wear is also good and the car tire on the rear is wearing very nicely (still looks brand new). I don't know what I am getting for gas mileage as I haven't sat down and figured it out but it seems to be consistant with before so my guess is around 38-40 MPG. Canadian gas prices are much higher then we pay. I think the highest so far has been $1.10 CDN for a liter of gas.


I think that I will stay here until Monday and then head out early. I need to get down to Prince George and do an oil change and probably hold up there for the night. My plan is to ride across Canada until maybe as far as Montreal and then cross the border and head south.

I am going to try to post some pics.

Take care and thanks for your comments and for tracking me.

Sure is lonely....

On this stretch of road from Prince George, BC to Hyder, AK. Oh, and dark too!

Time to roll.... but to where?

I am going to be leaving Ephrata, WA in a short while and head north to Canada. For those who are still reading, tracking and watching - look to see which direction I head. Right now it is 50/50 that it could be east towards home, or north to Alaska. I will decide after crossing the border.

48-10 done

For those following me on my SPOT tracker, you will see that it hasn't moved for hours now. I am Ephrara, Washington in a hotel. I didn't have it in me to continue on to Alaska within the prescribed time for the 48-Plus. I am beat.

This has certainly been an adventure to remember. I will start working a ride report when I get back home. Give me some time and I will post here for you to read. I need to get my thoughts together and present them in an understandable format. My thoughts are very jumbled right now.

I am going to start riding back in the morning after I get an oil change. I am working on a route that takes me back east through Canada. I will enter the US at some point to be decided later. Right now I am thinking about riding as far as Monteal and crossing over in up-state New York.

Thank you to all who have been tracking me. It was nice knowing I had eyes on me as I moved around the country.

States for tomorrow

I forgot to include this with the last post:
Nevada
Utah
Idaho
Oregon
Washington

Somewhere around 1,200 miles on the plus side.

In Vegas

I am in a hotel for the night in Vegas. Busy, busy day tomorrow. I hope to get them all in a 24 hour period and, hopefully, cross the border and get a room in Vancouver. British Columbia. Off to bed. Night al.

Bad link for SpotWalla

Sorry, I fat fingerd it. Here is the correct URL. I like this site more then Spot.

http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=5485

I am in Georgia for the night. I have a hotel room. Hot shower, bed, and a nice sleep needed. I am behind schedule by at leas 200, if not 300 miles. I am hoping that tomorrow and successive days will be incident free and I can move faster and waste less time. It was a long day today. It actually started yesterday at 5pm and i stopped at 8pm tonight with about 2 hours of sleep on the parking lot of a McDonalds. Do I know how to live or what?

update

Sitting in Bojangle's in western VA eating a chicken salad. I haven't eaten much the last two days, mainly trail mix, power bars, and delicious beef jerky (thanks Tim).

This trip so far has been very hard going. Lots of construction, backups, accidents, rain (all day long on the first day), and fog. I have been napping in parking lots where it is safe. I am getting a room tonight.

I forgot to mention that there is another way to track me besides findmespot. Go to spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php/id=5485 - you may like this one better.

Next up:
TN
NC
SC
GA
AL
LA
AR
TX

Monday/Tuesday (17/18)

I delayed my departure from Virginia Beach on Monday because I was up very late the night before reviewing my route and doing other things before leaving. Almost all day Monday was spent in the rain but it wasn't coming down very hard so it just meant going slower and not making as good of time as I wanted. I got into Kittery, Maine and the hotel at midnight so I slept in a bit to get caught up and start fresh. There is no real departure time. With a ride like this I can leave when I want and the clock starts with the first receipt. I would prefer leaving real early in the morning because I don't like riding at night, especially after midnight.

On the way up I noticed that the water temperature sensor was reading hot when the bike was in stop and go traffic. Normally, that would be OK and the radiator fans (I have two, one on each side) would kick on and cool it done pretty fast. However, now the temperature on the bike shows very hot before the fans kick on. I am worried that the sensor is failing and at some point the fans won't come on. Not good... I will call Honda of Norfolk and see what they say.

As it stands, I still plan on doing this so the states today are:
Maine
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Vermont
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Delaware
Maryland
West Virginia
Pennsylvania

Tomorrow:
Ohio
Michigan
Indiana
Kentucky
Virginia
Tennessee
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia

48-Plus Map

This is what the route will look like, subject to minor modifications, to get me into all 48 lower states, British Columbia and Alaska. Click on the image for a full version.

Route planning for the 48-Plus

I am less then a week from departure on my IBA 48-Plus or 7/49 if you will, and I still don't have a solid route. That to me is not bad, it just means that I am considering options and playing out different scenarios. From the beginning, I have planned to ride some or all of Ron Ayres' original route from 1996, in which he set the record for the fast time to visit 49 states (just a bit over 7 days). When Ron did his ride, he departed from his home in Plano, TX and rode to Maine, with a next day start on his epic ride. Ron's ride is documented in this book.

I have toyed with the idea of officially starting from here and going to Kittery, Maine, and then liking up with Ron's route coming back down. In the end, I think I will just do a leisurely ride up to Kittery, Maine on 17 May and depart from Kittery in the early morning of 18 May. More to follow.....

48-Plus is getting close

I am about one week away from departing Kittery, Maine for the Iron Butt Association 48-Plus ride. I will end in Hyder, Alaska for the Hyder Seek 2010 get-together. I was the 36th person to register.

I will post more information as it becomes available including the projected route that I will take and a link to my SPOT tracker.