Epilogue-2 The Numbers

This Epilogue segment focuses on the numbers of the trip. This includes mileages, states, gasoline, Honda dealers, mosquito and tick bites, tipovers, lodging, cities, islands and another thing or two.

The total mileage from home, around the lower 48 states, and back home was 12,038 miles. I had estimated 10 to 12,000 miles for the trip. I sure don't know how I ended up with over 12,000 miles because I did the WAOF thing-Without All Of Florida. I didn't ride the Canadian border across Northern NY, VT, NH, and ME because of the breeding habits of moose. I also didn't ride the East and West coasts of FL-I was too homesick. In 41 days, the mileage per day was 292.8. I had planned on 300 miles per day (one 150 mile tank of gas in the morning and another in the afternoon) so this was pretty accurate.

Deviations from the plan: There were four major changes in the route I had planned and they all four occurred for different reasons:

• There are a couple of county roads that follow closer to the U. S./Mexico border across AZ. I got a cup of coffee in Bisbee, AZ and started talking with another biker. He asked where I was headed and, of course, I described ALAA to him. He suggested that I head North toward Tombstone and Tucson and avoid those narrow, desolate county roads closer to the border. Of course, I had to ask why and his answer surprised me. These are very desolate roads where illegal immigrants cross into the US. He suggested avoiding those roads because of desperate illegals, lack of traffic and safety reasons in general. I took his advice!
• I had planned to ride Hiway 2 near the Canadian border across all of ND and MN. There was flooding East of Minot, ND that forced me to follow a more Southerly route.
• I had planned to basically follow the Canadian border from WA to ME but, again, I was warned about Moose in upstate NY, VT, NH and ME. Three or four different motorcyclists warned me that following the U. S./Canada border through New England was downright foolhardy and I took their advice. I still went through all four of those New England states but it was through Southern NY, VT, NH and ME. Who would have thought that I'd modify the planned route because of the romantic interests of moose?
• I wimped out on FL. I'd been to South FL too many times to count, including Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa and the keys all the way down to Key West. I'd been gone about five weeks when I got to San Augustine, FL and I was tired, lonely, hungry and I was ready to get home to my Bride. So instead of following the East and West coasts of Florida to Miami and the keys, I headed HOME!

The trip involved 32 states. This was all the states that border

·         the Gulf of Mexico from Houston/Galveston Island to the Rio Grande Valley in TX,

·         the US-Mexico border from the Rio Grande Valley in TX, through NM and AZ, to CA,

·         the Pacific Ocean from San Diego in Southern CA, through OR, and to WA. This was, by far, the prettiest portion of the ride with the Pacific Ocean, mountains, forests AND rain forests, and rivers. This segment covered San Diego, LA (the second largest city in the U. S.) and San Francisco.

·         the US-Canada border, from WA, through ID, MT, ND, MN, MI, OH, PA, NY, VT, NH to ME. This Pacific to Atlantic segment was, by far, the longest segment of the trip. This Eastbound segment was also radically different scenery from the Rockie Mountains to the Great Plains to the Northern Appalachians to the Atlantic Coast,

·         the Atlantic Ocean from ME, through NH again, MA, RI, CN, NY again, NJ, DE, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, to FL,

·         the Gulf of Mexico again from FL through AL, MS, and LA back to TX.

State Borders: Of course, I crossed into 32 different states but ended up crossing some of the state borders twice. For example, Highway 2 across the Upper Peninsula of MI drops back into WI and then back to MI. NY and NH touch both the Canadian border and the Atlantic so I entered them, exited them, and entered them and exited them again later. So it seems that there were 38 state border crossings.

The Bike and Gasoline: I filled up the bike with gasoline 86 times for a total of 256.6 gallons of gasoline. This works out to be 46.79 miles per gallon and almost exactly 3.0 gallons per fill up. The bike holds a total of 4.3 gallons so I had, on average, some reserve.

The number of Honda motorcycle dealers visited: 5

·         A routine maintenance in El Paso, TX,

·         A new rear tire and oil/filter change in Glasgow, MT,

·         A new front tire and a new helmet in Warren, MI,

·         A new battery in Rochester, NY,

·         An oil/filter change in Somers Point, NJ.

Insects: Mosquito bites: Between 75 and 100. Surprisingly most of these were in MN, WI, and MI! Tick bites: 2

Number of times I tipped the bike over: 3

·         A switchback road in CA was covered with sand. I was going no more than 5 mph so there was no damage to me or the bike,

·         A truck pulled in front of me in MD. I slid a ways until I was almost stopped and then the inertia of the bike pulled it over,

·         I pulled off the road under a tree in a rainstorm near New Orleans into an absolute  quagmire! I couldn't pick the bike up because of the six inch deep mud but three guys stopped and helped. Fortunately, these were very, very slow tipovers so neither of us (the bike or I) were hurt!

Lodging: Where I stayed for the 41 nights:

·         Spent the night 12 times in state or national parks or forests,

·         Spent seven nights in KOA Kampgrounds,

·         Spent three nights with former students who are now friends,

·         Spent 14 nights in various Roach NoTell Motels and Motel6’s,

·         Spent five nights boondocking behind churches, schools, industrial facilities, and in parks.

Mackinac Island from the St. Ignace Ferry

Cities: Well, I could never BEGIN to count the number of cities I went through because it would probably be in the thousands but . . . . . . there are a few notable comments about the cities and towns;

• I rode through 3 of the 4 largest cities in the United States. I started in Houston, which is 4th, went through Los Angeles, which is 2nd, and managed to stay alive riding through four of the five burroughs of New York City, which is, of course, the largest city in the U. S.
• The biggest cities in Texas I rode through were Houston, Corpus Christi, Harlingen, Laredo and El Paso. Corpus Christi is called "The Sparkling City by the Sea" and it's very pretty. Houston, Harlingen, Laredo and El Paso? Well, not so much!
• Humph, the largest city I rode through in New Mexico was Santa Teresa which you've probably never heard of before. It's a small town in the Northern suburbs of El Paso, TX. I followed the U. S./Mexico border pretty closely through Southern NM and there just aren't very many cities, towns or villages of any size along that route.
• The largest city I went through in AZ was Tucson. Tucson is an interesting place mainly because the Univ of AZ is there but it's not what you would call pretty. Like NM, most of Southern AZ is pretty desolate but I also passed through Douglas, Bisbee and Yuma and all of these are right on the U. S.-Mexico border.
• I saw the first really nice cities, and beautiful countryside, of the trip when I got to CA. San Diego is one of the most spectacular cities in the U. S. and the CA coast was a welcome reprieve from the deserts of TX, NM, AZ and Eastern CA. Headed North from San Diego, I first encountered La Jolla which is the absolute definition of a CA beach town. It's quaint, hip, cute as it can be and, of course, very expensive. My first day in CA on this trip also took me through Encinitas, Carlsbad and Oceanside before reaching the somewhat desolated area around Camp Pendleton. Hereis a picture of San Diego:

San Diego Bay-finally water after a week through the desert!

• The second largest city of the trip was, of course, LA. The suburbs of LA began in San Clemente which was where I spent my first night in CA on this trip. Some of the cities South of LA were Laguna Nigel, Newport  Beach, Huntington Beach, Long  Beach, Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach. San Clemente was where I met Ron and Betty Dixon and we rode together for almost a week until we parted ways in Tillamook, OR. We rode under LAX Airport, through Marina Del Rey, Venice and Santa Monica before getting more or less out of the city at Pacific Palisades before heading West toward Malibu.
• The next city past Malibu was Oxnard where the PCH leaves the beach and goes inland through the city. We followed the PCH back to the Pacific at Ventura on the way to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is another one of those super expensive, beautiful CA beach towns. It's not called the "Riviera of America" for nothing. SB really is a gift of a city: beautiful scenery, perfect weather and away from the hustle and bustle of LA!
• Hiway 1, the PCH, turns inland again to go through Lompoc, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo before reaching the coast again at Morro Bay. North from Morro Bay to Carmel is such magnificent scenery that there are few words to describe its beauty. The Santa Lucia coastal range of mountains reach right down to the blue Pacific and the PCH winds around and about and up and down while never losing sight of the Pacific. I've never counted but I would imagine that there are 200 or more turnouts in the 125 miles of this section of the PCH. 99% of these turnouts are on the West side of the road and enable you to look down directly at the Pacific Ocean. This section of the highway is called Big Sur and it was, by far, my favorite and the most beautiful section of highway I rode on during the 12,000+ miles plus of ALAA. If you haven't driven or ridden this section of highway, it's something that everyone should do at least once in their lifetime. Imagining its beauty without seeing it is almost impossible but you can get an idea of its beauty by Google-Imaging "Big Sur." You'll see! I love the scenery in a number of places in the US, including Lake Tahoe, Maui, Crater Lake, the Columbia River Gorge, the Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountains and the Florida Keys but there is just something in Big Sur that takes my breath away! Here is a picture of Big Sur showing the much-photographed Bixby Bridge. You can see why I love the Big Sur section of the PCH sooooo much!

The Big Sur Coast

• Just before coming into Carmel, there is a small sign that says Point Lobos State Reserve. While not a city, just more of a nature park, this is one spectacular piece of real estate. Will Rogers called Point Lobos "the most beautiful meeting of land and sea" and, you know what?, I agree with him!
• Carmel is the next town encountered following the route I took. Carmel is noted for its former mayor being Clint Eastwood and that established the type of town it is. I don"t think Carmel has any chain or big box stores, just small independent, funky merchants. Oh, and Carmel is also VERY expensive. While tourists flock to Carmel, it doesn't make any outward attempts to cater to them unless they are of the very well-heeled variety of tourists. I'm not a golfer but the green fees were $600 for a round of golf at Pebble Beach Golf Links the last time I checked. It's generally accepted as the most beautiful golf course in America. I wasn't able to go to Pebble Beach on this trip because motorcycles aren't allowed on the 17 Mile Drive to reach Pebble Beach. Maybe I should mention that the 17 Mile Drive is a scenic route through Pebble Beach, Carmel and Pacific Grove. Motorcycles aren't allowed on the 17 Mile Drive. This drive costs around $12 and passes the Lone Cypress (again, Google image it!) and the numerous golf courses along the coast. Diana and I have driven the 17 Mile Drive numerous times in the past and stopped at each of the beautiful points along the coast. On one trip there, we we saw 6-8 deer grazing on the golf courses along the coast.
• Monterey, Pebble Beach and Carmel are separated by a very small town called Pacific Grove which is one of my favorite cities on the CA coast. It's on the tip of the Monterey Peninsula and captures the essence of "cute" without the snobbiness of Carmel. Pacific Grove is also called "Butterfly Town, USA" because it has a Monarch Butterfly habitat. Here is the welcome sign at the entrance to Pacific Grove:



• Monterey is the tourist capital and greatest population city of the CA coast between San Francisco and LA. It is mostly known for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row and Laguna Seca Raceway.
• More or less in the middle of Monterey Bay is Watsonville, CA. Watsonville is in a rich agricultural region known for growing many types of berries and nuts. In earlier trips through Watsonville, we've bought strawberries, almonds and cashews. This trip I bought two "red" oranges-yum!
• The North edge of Monterey Bay is bounded by Santa Cruz which has a pretty cool boardwalk and is home to UC-Santa Cruz.
• The only community of any size between Santa Cruz and the San Francisco suburbs is Half Moon Bay. I camped in a state park there that is located right on the coast. The sound of the waves rock you to sleep!
• The suburbs of San Francisco start at Pacifica and include Daly City and Westlake before getting into the city. Ron, Betty and I stopped at the first attraction along the PCH, the Cliff House, and took a look at the seals out on Seal Rocks. We took Geary to Van Ness and then North toward Fisherman's Wharf. Since Ron and Betty had not been to SF before, we decided they needed a quick tour of the city. We found a place to park the bikes near Fisherman's Wharf and spent the first few hours in SF exploring Pier 39 and the views around there. I tried to talk Ron and Betty into one of the tours of Alcatraz but they elected not to go out to the island. Diana and I had been there before with Sara and Ryan. We rode a Cable Car to the top of Lombard Street so they could see "the crookedest street in the world" and then rode on to Chinatown. A few hours in Chinatown and we headed back to the bikes. On our way to the Golden Gate Bridge, we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts and took a ride through the Presidio. After crossing the GG Bridge, we stopped at the first overlook in Marin County for a last look at San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge is a gift of engineering, connecting America's most beautiful city to the ocean and Marin County to the North

The Golden Gate Bridge crossing entrace to San Francisco Bay

• We took the Highway 1 cut-off from the 101 toward Mt. Tam State Park and Highway 1 the coast. Stinson Beach is so small it's barely a town but it was the last town for a long while.
• The next day we went throug Ft. Bragg and reached Garberville. It was raining through this section of the coast and we saw a family on touring bicycles headed North up the PCH. We talked to them at a gas station and found out that they were from Colorado and were NOT enjoying riding up and down the hills in the rain . . . . on bicycles! Highway 1 goes inland for a while to connect with the 101 and Ron, Betty and I had to ride through the Leggett Drive Through Tree and stop for the photo op!
• Eureka, Arcata and Crescent City are all small towns on either side of Redwoods National Park up near the Oregon border. These are cute (beautiful?) little villages because they sit right on the Pacific coast. While not a city, Redwoods National Park wins the award for the most beautiful of the national parks visited on ALAA. The "Avenue of the Giants" is a 31 mile section of old Hiway 101 that winds through the giant Coastal Redwoods that Northern CA is noted for.
• The first town on the coast of Oregon is Brookings where I stayed in a KOA Kamping Kabin. There are a lot of small towns on the OR coast and most of them bring back pleasant memories on the time we've spent in the villages and campgrounds along the coast. A few of these cities are Gold Beach, Coos Bay, Reedsport, Florence, Yachats, Waldport, Depoe Bay and Lincoln City. There are several spots along the OR coast that are especially beautiful. The first is Cape Perpetua just South of Yachats. Below is a picture of Cape Perpetua I pulled off Google Images. You can clearly see Highway 101 as it follows the coast and the mountains in the background reaching right down to the Pacific. Another is Cape Lookout which is a cape that is essentially a peninsula that sticks out into the Pacific about two miles. The trail out to the tip is 800-1000 feet above the water. There is a historical marker about halfway out to the tip of the cape that memoralizes a plane crash that happened during WWII. It seems that that a B-17 was on a routine patrol of the OR coast. The fog was down to about 1,000 feet above sea level so the plane dropped below the fog to about 800-900 feet. Well, in the days BEFORE radar, there was no way for the crew to know that Cape Lookout sticks out two miles into the Pacific and is almost 1,000 feet high. There was one survivor of the crash and parts of the B-17 are still out on the Cape but they are 40-50 feet off the Cape Trail.
• If you've never been to the Pacific coast in Oregon, there are a couple of things you need to understand. First, the OR coast IS beautiful but the water is FAR too cold to swim in! The second is that the temperatures along the OR coast require long pants, jackets and gloves even in the middle of the summer! The winter brings storms off the Pacific but you NEVER go to the OR coast without heavy clothes!
 



Cape Perpetua, OR

• After reaching Tillamook and, of course, visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory, I parted travel with Ron and Betty. They headed inland to go to Seattle and I headed for Portland to visit my alltime favorite student and her husband. Most of that day was in Tualatin and Gresham, OR to take a look at our former home in that Eastern suburb of Portland.
• Leaving Tualatin the next morning took me back to the coast and North toward Washington. Seaside was always a cute little city to visit on the North Oregon coast and it's a city built for tourists. The Hood-to-Coast Relay race and the Portland-to-Coast Relay Walk end on the beach here where Lewis and Clark set up camp for a winter. Cannon Beach is more upscale than Seaside and more beautiful as well.
• Astoria, OR is on the border of Washington where the Columbia River reaches the Pacific. The Megler Bridge from Astoria, OR to WA is about 4.5 miles long and has beautiful views in every direction!
• Highway 101 pretty much follows the coast along the Southern WA coast. The only cities of any size are South Bend and Aberdeen. These towns are noted for the number of oysters removed from the Pacific but aren't especially scenic.
• North of Aberdeen, there is just a lot of beautiful Pacific NW coastal scenery and one small town called Forks. North of there, I cut off Highway 101 as it turns East toward Port Angeles so I could reach the Strait of Juan de Fuca and go to Neah Bay, WA. I thought Neah Bay was the end of the road but I found out that there is a private road owned by the Mekah Indian Tribe that goes out to Cape Flattery. Cape Flattery is the ultimate NW corner of the continental United States. There is a hike through old growth forest to reach the corner but it IS the NW corner of the U. S. The Pacific Ocean is to the left, the island offshore with the Cape Flattery Lighthouse is straight in front of you and the Strait of Juan de Fuca leading to Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle and Tacoma in Puget Sound goes to the right. Before I headed East after 1500-1600 miles of heading almost due North, I saw some really unique scenery at Cape Flattery! Here is a sample of a pictures I took there and, yes, it's beautiful!



Cape Flattery, WA is the NW corner of the continental U. S.

• The road from Cape Flattery to Port Angeles doesn't have any cities or development except for the small town of Neah Bay which I went through on the way to the end of the Cape. After Port Angeles, the one town between there and Port Townsend is called Sequim-pronounced Squim. It's noted for some weird meterological occurrence where there is a hole in the clouds. I know it sounds weird but it's said that Sequim is in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains. It receives only about 15 inches of rain a year which is far, far less than almost any place in the Pacific NW. Cute little town.
• After Sequim, we're back to just beautiful scenic roads leading to Port Townsend. The Ferry from Port Townsend took me to Whidbey Island that has only a couple of really cute cities like Coupeville and Oak Harbor.
• Over Deception Pass and I'm back to the mainland headed East toward Burlington and Sedro-Wooley, WA. The closest road to the Canadian border is U. S. 20 which goes through North Cascades National Park and very, very few towns for it seems like a couple of hundred miles. I was able to buy gasoline in either Okanogan or Omak, I can't remember which. These two little towns, along with Kettle Falls are hardly worth mentioning except for the beautiful scenery surrounding them. The roads along the U.S.-Canada border were wonderful to ride on a bike because they are very curvy and very mountaneous. The ride was constantly around curves and up and down mountains. It was along this section of Hiway 20 where I saw snow drifts on the side of the road about eight feet tall!
• The only town of any size in ID was Sandpoint which sits on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. It's a pretty place but I'm guessing oh-so-cold and snowy in the winter!
• The first town in MT was Kalispell which looked like an interesting mountain town with all the outdoor activities-hiking, skiing, backpacking, exploring, etc-available almost right in the city limits. Kalispell also serves as the unofficial gateway to Glacier National Park. But . . . . . heading East from Glacier and Kalispell leads pretty quickly to the Great Plains and not much of anything for the next, oh, 800 to 1,000 miles! The towns across Northern MT are all small and mainly noted for their production and shipping of wheat! These include Shelby, Havre, Malta, Wolf Point but, like I said, there's not a lot out there except wheat fields!
• ND took me through Williston to Minot where I saw all the flooding. I dropped South from Minot to avoid more floodinig and catch I-94 on the way to Fargo.
• The only two MN cities that deserve any recognition are Brainerd and Duluth . . . . but for different reasons. Brainerd is where I encountered the small helicopter-sized mosquitos and Duluth was actually somewhat pleasant. Duluth was very hilly and has a semi-active maritime shipping facility. The ocean shipping through Duluth is, of course, limited to the times when Lake Superior isn't frozen over!
• No cities come to mind across Northern WI and the Upper Peninsula of MI until I got to St. Ignace. I rode along the Northern shore of Lake Michigan but there aren't any cities there that are notable. The KOA at St. Ignace led me to Mackinac Island which was a joy. South from there to the Lower Peninsula of MI led me to the beginning of the rust belt. Bay City, Flint and Detroit are all cities that seem to be in serious economic decline.
• South of Detroit around Lake Erie took me to Toledo, Sandusky and Cleveland, OH. MORE cities that have had their day!
• There is a short segment of PA that touches Lake Erie and, of course, that's where Erie, PA is located.
• A couple of cities along Lake Erie in NY were scenic: Westfield and Dunkirk. The problem then was that I had to go through Buffalo to reach Niagara Falls, NY. Another city in decline. Following Lake Ontario along the NY coast was pleasant and it took me to Rochester, NY. Rochester relied too much on the economic strength of Kodak, which has come and gone, but at least it isn't a rust-belt city. Just East of Rochester is where I altered my route to avoid the moose in upstate NY. On Hiway 20, I got to see the beautiful finger lakes on the way to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Due East from Cooperstown is Albany and Troy, NY. I camped behind an elementary school in Grafton, NY and crossed into VT.
• VT is a pretty state! The only 2 cities I remember in VT were Benninton and Brattleboro further East on the NH border. Bennington has the look of the classic New England village but Brattleboro didn't do too much for me!
• I headed NE up to Concord, NH for a photo op of the capitol building. From there, it was due North up to Franconia Notch and the White Mountains. I spent that night in Canaan, ME.
• From the KOA in Canaan, I headed directly toward Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island. It's a pretty place in a different kind of way from the other coasts I'd seen. Very rocky but fiord-like inlets. South down the ME coast, and through all the cute little villages, to spend the night in Portland. South the next morning toward Boston took me to Kennebunk, ME, not to be confused with Kennebunkport! In retrospect, I should have left Hiway 1 and driven to Kennebunkport to see the Bush Family Home there but I was on my way home!
• Through Portsmouth, NH and you're almost in the suburbs of Boston already!
• Riding through Boston wasn't what I'd call a lot of fun because of the traffic but it was nice to head South of Boston on Hiways 3 and 6 toward P-Town on Cape Cod. There are several small, tourist-oriented towns along this route and they were all kinda cutesy. Provincetown is kind of a Carmel wannabe. It tries to pull off the Carmel look but it can't quite seem to get it done. Still an interesting place though! The next day took me to Fall River, MA on the way to Newport, RI.
• Newport, RI-now THERE'S a city worth visiting again! The mansions along the coast ARE worth seeing!
• Hiway 1 through CT (Mystic, Old London, New Lyme, etc.) were interesting New England fishing villages transforming into an economy based on tourism. Past New Haven to Bridgeport, Norwalk, Stamford and Greenwich the cuteness factor was gone and the look was more like the Northern suburbs of NYC. Not especially enjoyable!
• AH, New York City! NYC is a wonderful city to AVOID on a motorcycle! The traffic, the signs, the other drivers and the condition of the roads all make me wish I had avoided NYC altogether. Fortunately, the ride through four of the five boroughs of NYC wasn't too long! Across another big bridge to Perth Amboy, NJ and onto the Garden State Parkway on the way to Atlantic City, NJ.
• Heading South from NYC on the GS Parkway took me through several notable historical towns. All of the names elude me right now but the city where the Hindenberg crashed and burned, where Thomas Edison's lab was located, where Charles Lindberg's family lived when their son was kidnapped are along this route. Past Atlantic City are a number of small resort towns on the coast and barrier islands. These took me to Cape May, NJ to catch the ferry to Lewes, DE.