North America: Riding a 21 year old Goldwing: 38 - Update: Back in Carolina with the Goldwing in the Garage

Five months after it all began, the adventure of a lifetime has come to a close. I'm sitting at the dining room table, with my dog at my feet, reflecting on the life-changing amble across forty states. The month from Washington to Missouri will go down as the most action-packed period of my trip. There are so many pictures to go through, but more importantly, my half-dozen little notebooks that contain the details to many stories that can't be adequately told through photographs alone.

If you've subscribed to this blog, my intention is that you'll receive many updates during the next week or so, as I write and post about every event-filled day from The Olympic Peninsula to the Blue Ridge Mountains. That ride included over 10,000 miles during five weeks.

In summary, I did hit the 30,000 mile mark on the trip and managed to visit 40 States.

The last time I had a functioning speedometer was in Mid-July in South Dakota. Since then, I've ridden almost exclusively in places so out-of-the-way that speed-traps haven't been a concern. Once East of the Mississippi, I started seeing cops again and had to focus on being a law-abiding rider. In the pictures below, posted speed limits were irrelevant, as recklessness would result in punishment from Mother Nature. A punishment far more painful than anything from Johnny Lawman.

See below.

Mother Nature was kind to me. Johnny Lawman was not. Not at all. Not even a little bit. OUCH!

From atop Deer Park Mountain in Port Angeles, Oregon:

The road climbed to over 6,000 feet in 16 miles. The ride down was quite intense.

From the Makah Indian Nation; the most Northwest point in the Lower 48.

I'd been in Seward, AK for the Salmon Derby a month earlier. In Valdez while the Silver Salmon were running, and now in Siku, WA during salmon season. Seems I've been following the salmon for the last month.

I took some Salmon when I left Siku and then stopped a few hours later to cook it. Why the hat? It's the best defense against the Oregon rain. Actually, being indoors is a better defense, but one must only consider available options. Thinking about reclining chairs, remote controls, and really comfortable blankets does nothing but make 30,000 mile motorcycle trips end early. How to ride 30,000 miles? Don't stop. Don't stop riding, don't stop concentrating on the ride, and don't stop pursuing the next experience.

How is it possible to have a bad day when I round a corner and see this?

From the Oregon Coast and from a park road in Southern Oregon.

Riding across a Spit in Oregon. Gravel roads before breakfast... what a way to start the day!

The house I lived in in Oregon during the summer of '94. It was worth the three hour detour to see the place that had been so good to me during a summer out West.

The 1952 Studebaker I got to cruise around in during a day-off in Oregon. What a day!

The view from my tent in Idaho... Gravel before breakfast is getting to be the norm.

The Idaho fire of 2007. Over 1,700 firefighters were camped here to fight the blaze. I stopped and talked to a couple of them. Days earlier, while at the Rogue Brewery in Newport Oregon, the bartender had just returned from fighting blazes.

Me riding my cousin's new toy while in MO. I'd never ridden a pocket rocket.

The World Championship at the I-70 Speedway in Missouri turned out to be way more that I could have ever imagined. When I showed up, I had no idea that only hours later, I'd be riding around the 1/2 mile asphalt speedway in this bus.

It was 90+ and super sunny. Thank goodness for the hat. It was a great day for drinking beer and watching racing. Turns out, it was also a great day for meeting great people.

Me & Smokin' Joe.

Back down South in the Land of Cotton.