Randy, Mike & Sue Morrissey & I were leaving on an 11 day 3600 mile bike trip to the west coast and back. We had highlighted a few things we wanted to see and do on the way but mostly we were just winging it. We made no reservations & had no concrete destinations per day, we knew the route for the entire trip but we were just four free souls in search of an adventure.
We met at Kwik Shop in Goddard at 5:30 am Friday morning. Fueled up the route was out Highway 400 to Highway 54 and our hopes was to make it to Tucumcari, NM. About 425 miles. The morning started off cool and with the Yellow Trike leading the way we were off.
We stopped for gas in Greensburg, Ks and ate breakfast at a Truck Stop type restaurant in Meade, Ks. Next stop for gas was in Liberal, KS which I was immediately informed I had driven passed the Harley Store and we had to go back. We were also on a quest for as many Harley Davidson Poker Chips as we could get on the trip.
After traveling approx 150 miles on Highway 54 through Oklahoma & Texas our destination was in reach, but as the temperature exceed 100 plus degress that last 50 miles were
Excruciating. We did make Tecumcari, NM but decided from then on out, when it got Hot we were stopping whether we made our mileage or not.
Quality Inn Tecumcari New Mexico
Double Rainbows from the Rain that went East of us.
The girls at the pool. We traveled approximately 425 miles today.
Day 2 Saturday June 30, 2012
Left early, after eating at Denny's (this detail will become important as the trip progresses) and rode I-40 West until we hit an Historic Route 66 that went North up towards Santa Fe.
It was a beautiful cool ride, after we hit Highway 25 West we were traveling 65-70, when my helmet that Mike & Randy had fixed under my bungee for me took flight and as they were following me that got to dodge it as it went bouncing across the highway. Needless to say it probably is no longer any good but it got me through Nevada & California where a helmet is required.
We ended up in Albequerque, NM and of course at the Harley Store.
Once we got back on I-40 we hit construction and took forever to get out of Albequerque. Once out we still had a ton of construction and the traffic was moving slow, we finally got off at Route 66 Casino to cool off and gas up.
After getting tired of the I-40 traffic and construction, not to mention the heat we stopped in Grants, New Mexico for the night.
Red Lion Hotel, Grants NM. We traveled approximately 350 miles today.
Day 3 Sunday July 1, 2012
Once again we got up early to hit the road but decided we needed to restock the water & gatorade before leaving town, since the heat was definitely a factor at some point every day. We arrived at Wal-mart about 6:20 to find it didn't open until 7:00 and since there was a Dennys right down the street we decided to eat breakfast and then return to Walmart.
This would soon become known as the worst Denny's ever!! Couldn't get our orders right made Mike potatoes 3 times & they still weren't eatable. (there are only 6 people in the place and we are 4 of them) no orange juice & then the credit card machine didn't work when we went to pay. Wow, glad we were just passing through. Had way better luck at Wal-mart. restocked our supplies and Sue and I bought cups with Lids to carry in our cupholders so we could keep ice water on our bikes and we were on our way.
Started back on I-40 luckily we had passed all the Construction our first stop was the Continential Divide which had a cool gift shop, Randy kept saying he wanted a Pancho and Six Shooters so Sue was sure this was the place and she was right but the Pancho was $100 and Randy wouldn't let us buy it for him, they also had toy six shooters, we so wanted to see Randy ride his Harley in a Red Pancho with toy six shooters strapped to his side but we didn't get to. Needless to say he never asked for a Pancho after this.
Stayed on 1_40 and eventually left beautiful New Mexico but I got a few more shots before we did.
We rode 1-40 into Arizona and it was just as beautiful as our journey in New Mexico our next stop was the Grand Canyon Harley Davidson which was West of Flagstaff, Arizona. It was one of the most expensive Harley stores we stopped at so we just bought our Poker chips but they did have a restaurant & bar called the Route 66 Road House, we decided to take a break.
After leaving the Road House we started back east to hit Highway 89 North which had some good parts to the road but most of it was desert and it was hot, we finally hit 64 West to the Grand Canyon then the scenery got really beautiful. On the way to the Canyon.
Through the rising temperature we finally arrived at The Grand Canyon. It was breathtaking, definitely something you have to experience first hand.
It was a beautiful photo op:
Bikes at the Grand Canyon
At the last stop to look at the Canyon, Randy got into the Cooler on the back of my bike and forgot to tether it back down, so when I pulled out of the parking area onto the highway it took flight, of course once again I knew nothing happened until I went around the second curve & they weren't coming, finally Sue rode up to tell me what happened. Other than a few cars dodging it on the highway, no harm it is a softsided cooler, pretty well made. Mike was thinking about grounding us from having things on the back of Teresa's trike, but if other people would leave the stuff on Teresa's trike alone it wouldn't fall off!!
Leaving the Canyon on Highway 64 South an Elk and her fawn walked out in the middle of the road in front of us, she took her sweet time getting across but not long enough to get a picture.
It was early evening and time to call it a day.Randy told us that according to the internet you were suppose to go south of the Grand Canyon to Williams lots of hotels. So that was where we headed , what they failed to mention was it was a HUGE tourist town, an Historic Route 66 town with tons of shops, restaurants & hotels, but on Sunday night of Fourth of July weekend it was packed. Stopped at a Comfort Inn at the edge of town and they were booked and said most the hotels were but there was a Howard Johnson's off the beaten path that still had rooms, so she called and had them hold us two. Got there to find out they wanted $100 a night and it was the worst room we had the entire trip, but guess we were lucky we got a room at all.
We cleaned up and decided to take a cab back down town to a Mexican restaurant so we could all have a drink and not worry about driving. The cab driver thought we were quite the fair and was only happy to come back and get us. We had a nice meal a pitcher of Margaritas and a return cab ride back to much needed sleep.
We traveled approximately 450 miles today.
Day 4 - Monday July 2, 2012
Went back into Williams & ate at a local dinner for breakfast and planned out the next leg of our trip.
We headed West on I-40 to Seligman, AZ where we took off again on Historic 66, Seligman was an iconic town with many Historic Route 66 businesses. This was a great road and great ride,
As we approached Hackberry there was a stretch of grassland where there prairie dogs that kept scampering across the road, of course the big ass trike was leading and dodging prairie dogs with three tires was not an easy feat, of course the three bikes behind me backed off enough to make sure I had chased them all off the road for them. They were just standing along the side of the road on their back legs watching us and then would dart out in front of you. Finally three of them came out at once and I couldn't navigate them all and SPLAT!!, I ran over one. Randy says that is one of the highlights of the trip watching me run over the poor helpless Prairie dog, no mention of the many that I missed.
We finally made it to Hackberry where we found out there was no gas, stopped at a gift shop and they sent us on down the road where we found a Route 66 stop for gas & cold drinks.
We then took Historic Route 66 into Kingman, AZ where of course we had to stop at the Harley shop.
After Kingman, AZ we were headed to Vegas Baby, It was a little over 100 miles on I-15, and it was getting hotter by the moment.
Arrived in Vegas shortly afternoon and was more than ready to get off the bikes, pulled up in the Valet parking at the Four Queens, they looked at us kind of funny, but after checking into the Comp rooms that Mike & Sue arranged for us for the next two nights we unpacked the bikes and had the Valet take our bags to the rooms while we parked the bikes.
After a much needed nap we headed out on to Fremont Street to enjoy the rest of the day. There was always something to see and tons of people to watch.
Of course we had to stop in at the satellite Harley Store on Fremont Street.
We rode approximately 240 miles today.
Day 5 July 3, 2012
Stayed in Vegas today, got up and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant where the boys quickly learned they weren't in a Kansas Diner anymore.
After breakfast we rode to Hoover Dam early before it got hot. It was another amazing view that you need to experience first hand to understand how massive it really is.
Randy trying to talk us into going over the wall after all the money people had thrown.
Another Perfect Photo Op:
Our bikes waiting patiently...
Then we stopped at Henderson, Nevada Harley Store (no photo) and then we went to the "Real" Las Vegas Harley Davidson, big store with lots of deals.
It was lunch time and Randy said he was tired of foo-foo food and wanted a plain old cheeseburger. So Sue ask some Asian Hotel employee and he sent us across the way to another hotel restaurant. On the way a heavy set black girl stopped to try to convince us to do the time share thing. In the process we told her about the search of the Cheeseburger and she said there was only one place for that the Heart Attack Cafe, so she gave us directions to find it at the end of Fremont Street and we were on our way. It was a theme restaurant at it's best.
Cash only, in case you didn't live until the check or credit card cleared.
Once we were gowned and checked in.
Food options were burgers & fries, drinks Coke, Water, Beer or Frozen Alcholic drinks.
The rule was if you didn't finish your food you were spanked, but we decided Randy just needed spanked and the waitress agreed, so she brought in the girl in charge of spankings. I think Randy enjoyed it.
It was definitely our favorite restaurant of the trip, dinner & a show!!
Then we had another evening on Fremont Street.....
We only rode approximately 75 miles today.
Day 6 - July 4, 2012
Got up early to get out of Vegas before it got hot. Since the Pawn Stars Pawn shop says it's open 24 hours we decided to drop by on the way out of town, only to find that you can go in from 9am-9pm the rest of the time it is a walk up window. The dude was on the phone and seemed to ignore us. But we took some pictures
Then while everyone else was still asleep we road down the strip on our bikes. Just because that was what I came to Vegas to do, but didn't want to do it at 108 degrees and set in traffic for an hour, no one else may have seen me do it, but I did it!!
We hit I-15 headed West, we stopped after a couple of hours and got some breakfast we eventually left I-15 and Nevada,
We continued on I-15 southwest to Highway 18 which took us due west through the desert. We picked up Highway 101 north of LA, when we finally got to the water the temperature had dropped to 60 degrees and over cast. Needless to say I took to long finding somewhere to pull off and we were all about frozen before we got to stop and but coats on. By then our bodies had had about enough we were hungry, we had been hot most of the day and now we were freezing. Pulled off in Buellton, CA to discuss our options and decided to stay the night.
Found a Quality Inn, unpacked the bikes, went to dinner at Andersen's known for it's Split Pea Soup so of course I had to have some, besides I was cold!! Returned to the hotel to a dinner of laundry and phone conversations with Mark Greer convincing me we had to stay on Highway 1 clear to Monterrey Bay instead of the short trip I had planned. Which at the time seemed like it was a great idea!!
None of us were awake to see if any fireworks were shot off.
We rode appoximately 400 miles today.
Day 7 - July 5, 2012
Sometime during the ride yesterday Sue and hit something and it had taken a chunk out of her back tire and Mike wasn't comfortable with here continuing the journey on the tire. Santa Maria about 30 miles north of us had a Harley store so we decided to head there eat breakfast and wait for the Harley store to open.
When we got to I-hop In Santa Maria, Mike met a guy in the parking lot asking about my trike and Mike mentioned that we were needing a new tire, he suggested not going to Harley he knew of a small shop that would give us a better deal. He said he would go home change, get his bike and be back for us by the time we were done eating. We had located the shop he had told us about and had plans to find it on our own, but sure enough as we are loading up on the bikes here he comes. He calls the shop and the guy says he can do it, so we were on our way.
While Sue's bike was on the rack, Mike decided he couldn't take the short in my back light any more so him and Randy decided to rewire my lights while we were waiting.
Sue's bike was finished and I think my light situation had gone from bad to worse, so the guy felt sorry for Mike and let him put it on the lift to finish (he probably just wanted us out of there), he was a very nice guy and didn't charge us for using the lift.
had some friendly people.
So we headed out. The first 100 miles was easy riding and beautiful most of it along the coast and a comfortable temperature with gear on. We stopped at a rest stop to take some ocean front photos.
Great Photo Op:
What we didn't expect was as soon as we pulled up we were surrounded by ground squirrels begging for food. I had some really dry beef jerky so I started feeding them that which they were perfectly happy with. Then Randy got out cashews and was eating them and he started feeding them cashews and they then wanted nothing else to do with the dry jerky.
So the last 80 miles of Highway 1 to Monterrey went through Ventura Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest, it was all 25-30 MPH curves through the mountains with the ocean on one side and the mountain range on the other. AND there was no getting off of it, once you started through it you were committed (Mark might of forgotten to mention that.) It was very beautiful but turning a trike 80 miles on constant curves is a ton of work.
Once we finally reached Monterrey we found the highway North of it that we needed to take east, it was late we were tired and hungry (no lunch) but I was trying to keep us from going out of our way. We finally hit Highway 156 to take us east and found a place to stop to eat. Only to find out the way we were heading there were no motels close and we would have to go back West or South. So we decided to go 9 miles south to Salidas CA to spend the night.
Day 8 - July 6, 2012
Got up early knowing we had to make up miles today we were down a couple hundred from yesterday but if we ride longer we should be able to get clear through California and back into Nevada today. So off we went. Stopped at a Denny's truckstop before we left the main highway afraid we wouldn't find any place else for a while. Then we fueled up and stocked up on liquids, when I came back to my bike, Sue had so graciously fixed my helmet.
So we headed East towards Yosemite National Forest, on the edge we stopped in Mariposa, CA to fuel up.
On the edge of the forest
Lots of falling Rock Signs, Randy & Sue said I shouldn't accelerate I may cause an avalanche, that wasn't right!!
Finally in Yosemite National Forest our first stop.
The tunnel we were getting ready to ride through - too cool!!
Not to long after we went through the tunnel we hit the highway that would take us east out of the forest and eventually out of California. Not too long after we turned Randy came running up behind Mike & I to say Sue was having problems.
We pulled over and Sue said she had lost power, Mike took the seat off and started checking connections, cables, you know all the stuff mechanical minded people do. Me I took it as a great photo opportunity.
Since Mike wasn't sure what was going on we decided we needed to head to the nearest Harley dealer. So we replanned the route to go back through the forest & hit the Highway 41 that headed south and would take us into Fresno, CA about 90 miles. After setting long enough Sue's bike started again & we headed back through the forest.
So they put Sue between Randy & Mike & I led the way. Fortunately the first leg of the highway was down hill so even when Betsy died again, Sue was able to coast until we had to stop at the bottom of the hill & then she was down again. Randy got the idea that they could take my charged battery and give it to Sue, they would put the dead battery in the trike and push start the trike, so we had to unpack both bikes, the first time switching the batteries took awhile, one of the connectors on my battery ended up down below in the bike and had to be fished out. Finally a truck stopped to offer help and they had a wire hanger we were able to cut and use to get the connector. The 4 times we were broken down on the road they would be then only people that would offer assistance. The batteries were finally switched, Randy was the only one that could pop the clutch & start the trike so we had to push him on it to get it started, keep it running while it was packed up then get Sue's packed. Leading once again I was told don't stop unless you run out of gas or Sue losses power and we were off again hoping to get her at least out of the forest before the battery went dead.
By the time we got out of the forest there were probably 50 cars lined up behind us but I knew better than to stop. We made it over 40 miles and into a town before Betsy died again. There was a bike shop there so Mike went to talk to them and Randy & I went to get me gas. Sue stayed with Betsy on the side of the road for about 15 minutes and still no one stopped. The bike shop recommended we keep on route to Fresno to the Harley store. So once again we unpacked the girls, switched the batteries, push started the trike, loaded them back and away we went. This time we made it clear to Fresno and even got to a hotel before we lost power.
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The Harley store of course was closed by the time we arrived. So we checked in, unpacked and took off for some food and liquid refreshment which we all needed after the day we had.
Traveled approximately 300 miles today.
Day 9 - 07/07/2012 Saturday
Got up left our stuff at the hotel, Betsy started after setting all night & we went to the Harley store to wait for it to open.
They said they could get Betsy done today, so we left went to breakfast. Sue was also having phone issues so we went to the mall, found an Apple store, she got a new phone then they sent her to the Sprint store to get it activated. Went back to the hotel to check out, they said they would store our luggage for us until we got the bike back. Harley called & said they should have the bike done by 3 or so. Sue's new phone still wasn't working so the hotel clerk told us of a closer Sprint store, so after locating it her phone started working about the time she walked in the store. So not to waste the trip they decided to get Mike a new phone since his hadn't worked the entire trip. Randy & I found a nice cool bar to hang out in while they got the phone. Once they both had working phones we headed back to Harley.
Set there for awhile & Betsy was finally done. Went back to the hotel and loaded up. We knew that we had to go out of our way to get out of California, decided going south the way we came in was our best bet and also decided that since Mike's Aunt Marva was about 100 miles that direction that we would ride there Saturday night, stay there and leave early Sunday morning. Hit the highway about 5:00ish, Mike & Sue were leading and I was following with Randy bringing up the end.
Once we got on Highway 41 headed south again and I got my speed up I thought something was wrong but the road was really rough and had a lot of ruts in it so I wasn't sure it wasn't the road, when we hit the ramp to Highway 99 it was smooth and my bike was still shaking so I slowed way down and waved Randy up and told him somethings wrong. He told me to pull off. Of course that was about the time Mike & Sue merged into traffic and was gone. We stopped and as soon as I got off my bike and looked at my front tire, there was no question.
We called Harley dealers, not had closed or was about to. No one would tow it. Mike called his Aunt Marva to see if his cousin Mitch would come get us, but he was on the lake not due back for hours & hadn't taken his cell phone on the boat. We sat there for awhile discussing the options. We could have it towed but had no where to tow it, wasn't leaving it in front of a closed Harley store & really didn't want to tow it to a hotel and then tow it again tomorrow somewhere to get it fixed.
We could see a Days Inn sign down the street just on the other side of the Interstate we just got off. So Randy & Mike went to see if they had rooms & Sue stayed with me. They got two rooms and then came back & told me I had to ride Tess there. I told them I could do it very slow, but could they ride that slow?? I was told to worry about me. So we all turned on our flashers, Mike led, I followed & Randy & Sue followed me & we creeped across the road & down the street. I Sheriff came up asked Mike what we were doing he told him and he said Ok looks like you have everything under control and took off. So we finally made it to the motel.
Unpacked the bikes, went and found something to eat. We were in an old industrial part of town so there wasn't much close. Sue and I rode on the back of the boys and we finally found a restaurant.
Later Mitch, Mikes cousin called and said he would be there with a trailer in the morning to haul Tess to Terra Bella. If Mike and Randy could get the bearings they could fix her at his house. So at least we had a plan before we turned in for the night.
Randy & I rode approximately 50 miles today. Have no idea how many Mike & Sue rode looking for us.
Day 10 July 8, 2012 Sunday
We got up bright and early and got ready, Mitch didn't get as early of a start as he had hoped. So we decided to go eat breakfast. Guess what was right across the street "Denny's". It turned out to be the second worst Denny's of the trip, the good thing it was the last Denny's of the trip. I am pretty sure that we would have starved before we would have at Denny's again.
Mitch finally got there and we loaded the trike up. Mike & Randy headed to the Fresno Harley store to by parts, while I road in the truck with Mitch and Mike's Aunt Marva & Sue followed us on her bike.
We got to Terra Bella in late morning with nothing to do but wait for Randy & Mike to show up with the parts. The guys finally got there and made a temporary work area.
Sue with a cold drink & hot phone conversation!!
Hanging out on the patio with Mitch and Aunt Marva. We truly appreciated the hospitality!!
Now with all the bikes back running. We made it an early evening with plans to rise and leave early the next morning. Once again try to ride as far as we could.
I only rode a mile today down the street & back after my bearings were fixed. The rest rode approximately 90 miles.
Day 11 - July 09, 2012 Monday
Today was the day we were suppose to be home an we are at least 3 days out.
Got up at 4:00am in the dark was on our bikes headed south still by 5:00 am. As long as it was dark & cool we made good time. Finally hit I-15 and headed north east back to Vegas. We arrived in Vegas at about noon and the tempature was 108 degrees, hitting the town traffic in the heat was like driving through and oven and by the time we got through Vegas I was fried. Told Mike I was getting off and the first chance I got we got off and hit the bathroom to try to cool down my body temperature. Had to decide to try to limp me on or take a long break. The only issue was in a couple hours we would be out of Nevada but Arizona was also 100 plus degrees there was no driving out of it. So we decided to get one room rest through the afternoon and when it cooled off we would hit the road again. So we got a room took in as little as possible, showered and rested.
Sue & Randy took the resting seriously.
Problem was once we checked temperatures nothing was dropping under 100 degrees until after 10 pm. So once again we called it a day, and once again we had hopes for tomorrow.
Approximate miles today 345.
Day 12 - 07/10/2012 Tuesday
It was all of ours first time in Utah. I definitely know why it ends in aaaahhhh!!! It was a beautiful ride the entire way. We finally hit I-70 and headed due east.
In Grand Junction, Colorado we left I-70 and hit 50 to ride the south route through Colorado.
We rode through Curencanti Recreational Area
During our ride through the Mountains we hit the edge of a storm, big drops, no gear, they hurt and I was cold Mike (cold & wet!!!)
Day 13, July 11, 2012 Wednesday
Today we could not get up and leave in the dark we had one more mountain range to cross & no intention of going through it in the dark. Besides we all needed an extra hours sleep. Today we would be home, finally!! Needless to say not many photos were taken.
Left Salida, Colorado at 6am. Stopped for Breakfast in La Junta, Colorado. We were a little too much excitement for the seniors eating at Village Inn. They couldn't figure out what kind of animal I had killed that was covering my bike. It was time to move on.
We rode approximately 550 miles today.
After 13 days and approximately 4250 miles total it was one of the best trips of our lives. Would we do it all again? Hell Yes!!! Thanks to Mike, Sue & Randy for putting up with me for 13 days, but we all truly had a great time!!
