I just got into a BSN program out in Colorado so I thought I'd make a little road trip out of it on the bike. There's really no story to tell aside from murdering a rabbit at 85mph, just a ton of awesome pictures. CA to CO
Auburn CA to the desert near Austin NV. Donner Pass I actually pulled over off the tarmac to take this picture, almost makes it look like I'm riding all the way to CO in the dirt which I'm not. I'm such a tool. Scouting for a good place to camp and running out of light. Shortly after taking this picture, the sun goes down, starts getting dark.. I pass a sign that says Warning Antelope.. Not the sign you want to see as the sun is going down. 5 minutes later I hit a jackrabbit going between 80-90, damn near crapped my pants. The bike had no problems with the impact, didn't lose control, just had one hell of a speed bump. What I will say about hitting a jackrabbit is it's probably similar to hitting a water balloon full of blood. I found blood all over the front of my bike, on my pants and some even hit my visor. Poor little bastard.. After that unnerving experience, I'm camping at the next road. Tomorrow: Austin to some place in Utah.
Congratulations & good luck on the BSN. Mrs Samthg has been a ped's ICU RN for 17 years and currently working on a Masters. She keeps preaching to her younger RN's to go for the nurse practitioner. Could that be in the cards for yourself?? Fantastic photos. I'll be enjoying this one.
Awesome! I've had to make the run between CA and CO a few times this summer, but I've done it in the cage...moving a thousand-ish pounds of stuff and a 75 lb dog don't make for good motorcycle travels. It's been ages since I've taken 50 across Nevada...has anything popped up there besides vast expanses of nothing (jackrabbits excepted, of course).
Nice photos!! I did the Hwy 50 ride to California from Colorado a few years ago on the cruiser. Awesome ride!! I am interested in your trip, as I the F800gs is one of the adventure bike on my short list.
Near Austin to somewhere on the E side of Utah.. Woke up bright and early with the sun and hit the road to find breakfast. Instant quaker oatmeal wasn't sounding appetizing. So I think I'll meander to the next town. Packed up and ready to go. Back on the road Digging the sunrise... Next closest town was a little town call Austin. Grabbed some gas and asked the attendant who had good breakfast and hit the spot. Boom Was planning on hitting up Great Basin National Park but the clouds over Great Basin were looking gnarly and I don't have rain gear.. Guess it's on to Utah. FYI, these aren't the clouds, this was to the North. WTF? Wacky mormons.. Stopped off for gas, Oh look, Rabbit blood! After seeing the mess my bike made of the rabbit, I've decided to name her the lankshark. Now I just need some p40 decals. Talked to a couple guys at the gas station, ran into one guy who was on his way back from Quebec on a triumph. Ran into a father and his two boys on Harleys on their way back to CA from CO for their yearly 2 week ride. It's amazing how much the likelihood of running into another adv rider goes up once you get out in the middle of nowhere. The remoteness filters the traffic down to just the locals and the like-minded idiots out on two wheels. It's fun running into people in odd places you have a common thread with. Note the storm getting closer, I wind up losing that race tomorrow btw. Sun's getting low, time to camp. Lucked out and found an OHV area that had fire pits. Huge fan of desert camping btw, creepy quiet and the stargazing in unparalleled Nite Nite. Tomorrow: A really really short post as I spent most the day drenched, hypo-thermic and disgruntled.
Samthg- Not sure if I want to go the NP route or nurse educator yet. Tough call, for now I just need to get a BSN as the associate degree RNs are under the educational squeeze. I love being at the bedside in the ICUs and ER, couldn't imagine leaving the excitement. Soldierguy- Changes on hwy 50??... Not not really, it's still a whole lot of beautiful nothing. The only thing two real changes that I found upsetting were the gas stations don't seem to have anywhere near as much locally made jerky as they used to. And the other thing that pissed me off if I couldn't find any Jolt Cola to save my life. Aside from that, same road I've been riding since the mid 90's.
OK, I feel like an ass as I haven't finished this day trip report yet so here's the last of it. Not much to say other then I woke up in Utah and started trucking to Colorado. And the rest of the trip, I spent the last few hundred miles driving in the pouring rain dodging rooster tails being thrown up by the cars around me. By the time I made it to the tunnel above Vail it was 41 degrees and I was in summer gear. Faced with either getting a room and letting the storm settle or being an idiot and trying to ride through and wind up with hypothermia... I did the only sensible choice, I rode through straight to a buddy of mine's house and jumped in the spa :) Great trip. I'll be posting my next trip report shortly from CO back to CA. -T Up next: Denver -> Wyoming -> Idaho -> Utah (UTBCDR) ->NV ->CA
Btw, if anyone's interested in my trip back from CO to CA by way of the UTBDR.... http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=850524 -T
Thanks for the report!! Love the desolate beauty and wide open appeal of the land out there. I have to get away soon
