Made it into Salt Lake last night about 6 and found Diane and Burt's house WAY up in the hills about 6:45. Great place with views of the whole South Salt Lake Valley and the surrounding snow dusted peaks. Spectacular place is Salt Lake C!

I don't usually stop and buy T-Shirts at every HD dealership, like some people I know, but I looked up and found the Laramie Wyoming dealership and bought one, 'cause I earned it! The 200 miles from Cheyenne WY through Laramie and into Rawlings WY are sheer hell on a motorcycle this time of year. I'd say I had constant 35 mph cross winds the whole way, with frequent gusts up to 45. Additionally, while there is an occasional car on the highway, I 80 has essentially become a trucker's run. And those trucks create wholly different and spectacular wind currents and eddies! (I was wondering why I didn't see any other bikes the whole day!) But, obviously I made it. Winds since then have been occasionally problematic, but nothing unusual. But more or less consistent winds have helped make this a tiring 1500 miles (so far) from Kansas City to Reno Nevada, where I now sit.

I spent last night with Diane and Burt Mitchell and family—talk about a family that has come together in crisis! Burt had a life threatening major stroke just about a year ago this week, and has only been home from the hospital a few months. He needs full time care, which the insurance is not picking up, and between the full time employed wife (Diane) and sons Chris and Jason, and with occasional help from Burt's sister, they are managing somehow to have someone there all the time. Burt is fully aware of just about everything, and when not tired, can participate in a normal conversation—although he comes up blank frequently on names or words and needs assistance. But he tires easily. He is in a wheelchair when not in bed and eats etc with the family. He is also still on serious medications to prevent a recurrence of the seizures he had initially after the brain surgery that was required to stem the blood flow into the brain, and the medication also has a debilitating effect. He wanted me to pass on to all the Road King Riders his appreciation for the support, cards etc that he has received from his friends. He is making slow progress towards some level of independence, but it is still going to be a long haul for him and family.

They got me out of there early this a.m. And I promptly got lost trying to get out of SLC...I basically didn't believe what my gps was telling me to do. But I finally gave in, and eventually got out. To me, the suburbs of Salt Lake are kinda spooky. If you ever saw Edward Scissorhands, and remember the suburban landscape in that flick, you'll know what I'm talking about.

The trip across the great salt flats of Utah and into Nevada is absolutely stunning in its own way. I was lucking to have some weather action—no rain, just formidable clouds-- which helps give the landscape some definition. It is desolate, but in a very beautiful way. Today there were numbers of “mirror pools” along the highway in which you could see the full and sharp reflection of the surrounding mountains. It was cool, and rain seemed imminent on several occasions, but never materialized.

It is comforting to know that good old fashioned entertainment can still be had on a family budget. Just a few miles outside of venerable SLC, lap dancing apparently can be enjoyed for a mere $10 or –save that ten bucks and travel 100 miles westward-- and that same $10 will get you a ticket to “Extreme Midget Wrestling” at the Wendover Nugget Hotel and Casino! Welcome to Nevada!

Tomorrow is a reasonably short run home of just a couple hundred miles, and it will feel good to finally get there! This has been a wonderful trip in so many respects—seeing so many old friends and such fantastic scenery. Also the variation in landscape has been astounding. I've seen everything before, in bits and pieces, but to string together the monuments of Utah, the pueblos and mesas of New Mexico and Arizona, the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle plains, the bayous and cane fields of Louisiana and its crown jewel of New Orleans with its own special and spectacular food and music, and then to add to the string the colors of the Ozark hill country, the Tall Grass plains of Kansas, the Rocky Mountains and the high plateaus of Colorado and Wyoming! It has been quite an experience!

I wish I had taken more photos, and I will be editing this blog to add some when I get things organized; But to tell the truth, much of the scenery I rode through is of such a majestic sweep that no photograph can capture it. And this doesn't even address what other motorcyclists know, and most car drivers don't understand, and that is the “being out there” aspect. When you are privileged to ride through this great country on the outside of your transport, you feel it, smell it, inhale it in an entirely different way. When the wind blows, you feel the dry dust or cold wet against your skin. The sun burns you and is in your eyes in ways impossible to experience from the inside of a car. You can smell the harvest in Kansas and smell the copper smelter outside of Salt Lake. Because people are somehow instinctively attracted to what you are doing, you get to talk to strangers a lot more; At just about every stop, people will come up to you and talk about your trip and share their memories of trips they may have taken. My hat is off to the many touring bicyclers I passed, and I suppose that is what I am talking about in its purest form: but dependence on your own motive power means you are time limited, and could not possibly string together the 6,000 miles I was able to package on this trip. So each form of transport has its advantages; but nothing can compare to the experience of wandering around this great country on the back of a motorcycle.

It was funny that both of the other long distance tourers I had a chance to really converse with on this trip made the same comment about the value of spontaneity that motorcycle travel provides. I was probably the most structured of the three in my travels; all either of them had was a beginning and end date and an eventual destination—and I'm not even sure of that with respect to the one of them. Both thought they were going to take off the next day for “X” location, but they also were still looking at plan B. When I was coming across Wyoming yesterday, I had several opportunities to hang a right and head on up to the Tetons and Yellowstone. And the weather forecast was still favorable. I was sorely tempted—but in the end I was also tiring out physically from riding so much and I was starting to miss home just a bit. I've been on the road now for over three weeks, and it's probably time to head home. Because I have had access to email, I sort of voluntarily structured an end to this trip by scheduling a music session with our group LUNA for the day after tomorrow. I did get to “pick and grin” a bit in Kansas City, but I miss my music!

Besides, if I did everything this trip, what would I do on the next one?

I'll let you know as soon as I know.