Seattle, Washington's skyline from across Elliot Bay.

This is a mainly pictorial review of the long-awaited "Ride 'cross 'Merkuh" as it's happened so far. Departure day was coolish, about 8c and rising to nearly 20, but the ride up and over the Cascade mountains was bright and clear. The RT delivered an averaqe 48 (US) mpg and easily rolled over any obstacle (slow cars, mountain passes) thrown before it. The day ended in a clean little flophouse motel in eastern Washington in the rolling wheat hills near Lewiston, an easy 400 miles of mountain pass, open range, wine country, farmland and along the Columbia River's edge.


'Stonehenge in Cement'


Near Maryhill, Washington looking West along the Mighty Columbia River. Sam Hill, an eccentric railroad magnate, built a 'replica' lifesize Stonehenge high above the river banks after seeing the original in the Salisbury Plain during WWI. He also attempted to woo the Queen of Romania to come and live with him but except for her furniture, she never arrived. The mansion is now a dusty but interesting museum.


The ever-present wind lends itself well to the ever-present wind turbine farms that dot the landscape across Eastern Oregon and Washington. The RT ate these roads and has used nary a drop of 15W50 synthetic oil in 800 miles so far.

The second day saw Idaho's Lolo Pass over the Bitterroot Mtns into Missoula, Montana in heavy smoke from the lingering forest fires of this dry-as-a-bone Summer. Day three, the Sawtooth Range, thenYellowstone Park in Wyoming, and further on, Mount Rushmore and the Devil's Tower in South Dakota.
Pics to follow.

marvelous !!!

Well you will know when you are approaching Mt Rushmore from the West

Love it Rick!

Thanks for the update TWB, safe progress.

88

Great post, thanks. YES - I've ridden Hwy 12, Lolo Pass, from Idaho into Montana. Excellent BMW country there.

I remember seeing a road sign: "Caution - winding and twisty roads, next 60 miles."

Full throttle! Scrape the pegs! Bliss.

Safe travels TWB. How is your riding partner holding up?

The road sign that used to say 'Winding road next 77 miles' has been replaced by one further back that says 'Winding road next 99 miles'. I reckon that except for slowing for some tight 35 mph curves I was able to maintain between 60 and 70+ mph the entire length of the road, and never under 3000 rpm. The speed limit is a reasonable 50 mph. I saw one cop going the other way and he was busy with the offender what got caught...what a road. I last rode it in 2007. It seemed better this time round. I had to pass only three cars and a truck, but the haze from wildfires in the region spoilt some of the view. The firies were out in full force and in some cases one could see the timber from once-tall trees still smoldering. Also, I spotted a school of about 10 salmon heading upstream to spawn. The Nez Perce 'Indians' (Pierced Nose) were out with their nets and anglers were casting from the rocky shallows of the Clearwater and the Lochsa Rivers. You can see right to the bottom. Spectacular.

The Crow Agency near Little Big Horn Battle site, Montana.


The Crow Indian Nation trading post (a quaint tourist trap).


The Devil's Tower near Hulett, Wyoming.


The Devil's Tower legend goes that several sisters were playing near a rocky mound when suddenly a hungry bear attacked them. They jumped atop the rocky mound and prayed to the heavens that they would be safe from the bear's sharp claws and with that their prayers were answered and the mound grew taller and higher, taking them up to safety as the bear clawed at the rocks in vain in his attempt to get to them. Either that or it's an extinct volcano basalt core about a million years old. I like the first version.


Rocky Racoon's siblings.


I can haz cheezeburger pleez.

A 1 million year old Basalt core Jeez you'll have the Creationists after you

Looking good there TWB - I always wanted to visit Wyoming - some of the mountain roads must be enjoyable. How are the temperatures holding up?

88

Excellent photos of your road trip so far! You wouldn't want to be going anywhere in a hurry with that 50mph speed limit though, but I suppose it lends itself to taking in the stunning sights and scenery en route.

Excellent as usual TWB enjoy

devils tower ....site of some "close encounters of the third kind " scenes ?



great pics dazza ...thanks

Great story as always TWB, still think you could make a buck out of this.

Nice looking ride you have there too.

Ride safe mate.

tintock wrote: You wouldn't want to be going anywhere in a hurry with that 50mph speed limit though, but I suppose it lends itself to taking in the stunning sights and scenery en route.

The 50 mph limit was only at Lolo Pass. The rest of the Western states are more liberal. The usual 'Interstate' limit is 75 mph with cars going 85+, and local roads can be 60 or 65 mph. Today I passed several state highway patrol cars going 80 mph and didn't even get a second look.

The temps have been mostly cool and often quite windy. The heated grips come in very handy (pardon the pun). Last night dropped to minus three (c) in Sioux Falls, Iowa. When the sun comes out is is brilliant, and one can see for miles. There's heaps of historical markers to stop and have a squiz at and some amazing scenic vistas, even when it is what you'd call flat. I like the idea of Montana being known as Big Sky Country but when you've ridden Outback Australia - not to take too much away from the Yanks - it's a bit of overkill...still beaut and incredibly varied, nonetheless. Our mountains are long-ago weathered down to mere hills compared to the Rockies. God, they're breathtaking.

Some pix...

You have to see this place just the once in your riding life...Mt Rushmore, South Dakota. Not far from Sturgis. You know about Sturgis, yeah?


Gutzon Borglum carved these. Who?


The Badlands truly are amazing. South Dakota.


Las Malpais (the bad lands).


A warning well-heeded.


Yeah, we got flat and straight too. South Dakota. I couldn't resist the small bit of evidence to my origins on the back.

Today, after nearly 2000 miles on the same oil, I finally broke down (not literally) and bought a quart of Mobil One 15W50 synthetic and added 1/3rd of it to the motor. On average I am getting above 45 mpg (US gallon) and traveling at 70+ mph over the open road. This bikes works. My arse isn't even sore on the leather Corbin, the electrically adjusted 'screen makes the roar in my helmet quieter, the rain stays away from me and the slipstream-like fairing keeps me out of the airstream. Now if I could just get those stinking cattle trucks coming the other way to stop buffeting me from side to side as they pass...

Two Wheels Better wrote:


I can haz cheezeburger pleez.

And after a good meal the coon came to relax in my pool.


Nice trip Gith. Keep the pictures coming.

CF

"And after a good meal the coon came to relax in my pool."
CF

Perhaps that's the poor 'coon frozen into the bird bath up in New Brunswick!

yay ...great to "fly" the aussie flag dazza

it may be a german designed and built bike , in the americas, but the wisdom of an aussie to combine and appreciate the mix ...is excellent

hope you guys are having fun ...looks a fantasic trip ....(awesome !)

The trip has gone very well, near-constant wind in the open plains notwithstanding. But we made it eventually to more placid, wooded regions with many tidy farmhouses with barn after barn and silos galore, neat rows of drying corn and browned-off sunflowers and Autumn foliage that blazed orange and red from the Oaks and Maples, gloriously.

The motel lifestyle is an interesting one, but they vary so much; some are clean and inviting and some look better in pictures. I managed to book a room each night (cheaper too) online instead of just rolling into a town and rolling the dice. I'll have more pix soon, just need to get somewhere to upload 'em. Rain forecast today round these parts so it's tuck in and hunker down with family.

Cheers and thanks for the good wishes.

The bike and her 'crew' are holding up well against the swelling tide.

Ohhh those motel rooms.... just don't bring a black light inside... good to see the journey is eventfully uneventful so far!

In Idaho I was overtaken by a vanload of Mennonites traveling at twenty-plus over the speed limit. At the rest stop on Lolo Pass one of them struck up a conversation with me about the bike and the Aussie flag on the back. He had a peculiar 'Dutch' accent. They are an order with a religious perspective going back to the early 1500's Europe, and older in fact than the Amish. In Ohio they have the neatest farms and are all throughout the centre of the state. In Pennsylvania the Mennonites eat at Macca's. I know because a guy wearing traditional garb and a straw hat brought his three teenage boys (with very plain bowl haircuts) in and ordered himself and them some grub. They aren't as adherent to biblical strictness as the Amish. I wonder if mum was at home awaiting her husband and sons and couldn't understand why they weren't so hungry at the dinner table that evening.

I like America, it is a land full of contrast and contradiction. You can get anything you want (except beetroot on your hamburger) and while watching the tele it is perfectly acceptable for your ten year old son to view a shotgun blast to the chest but woe be to those impressionable youth who catch a slip of a bare nipple during the Super Bowl...it might stunt them for life.

I like America. Been here on and off and on again for the past thirty years, and am still trying to work it out. I can't think of a better way to ponder its mysteries than from the seat of a fine motorbike traveling its vast and varied landscapes.

There is a little town in Pennsylvania called 'Intercourse'. True story. And they sell trinkets that say, "I 'heart' Intercourse". Maybe a bumper sticker for the RT?

Guest in the house is gone and Two Wheels Better is back.
It's not only avatar change season, it's also name switch season.

Do you always change your name when you travel to another country?
The K100 homeland security department has to launch an investigation.
In fact, this is good as now, we just have to look at your name to know where you are

CF

club_c wrote:There is a little town in Pennsylvania called 'Intercourse'. True story. And they sell trinkets that say, "I 'heart' Intercourse". Maybe a bumper sticker for the RT?

Here's a little slice of intercourse...just up the road from Bird In Hand....the 'Heart' bumper sticker idea is not my style.


Covered bridge, Lampeter, Pennsylvania.


At the end of this wall behind me, doomed Flight 93 of September 11th 2001, came to rest in a 7000 litre fuel fireball at 563 mph with 33 innocent (and 4 perpetrators) lives onboard. The National Memorial near Shanksville, PA gave us goosebumps, seeing the faces and reading their names on the wall is quite moving.



Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, site of a decisive Civil War battle.

Keep them comming Daz I am enjoying your trip. Good to see your enjoying it as well. By the way this is going to end up as the only 2 line post title ever with all 48 names.

Crazy Frog wrote:Guest in the house is gone and Two Wheels Better is back.
It's not only avatar change season, it's also name switch season.

Do you always change your name when you travel to another country?
The K100 homeland security department has to launch an investigation.
In fact, this is good as now, we just have to look at your name to know where you are

CF

Not me, I'm innocent! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Neither the CIA nor the FBI have a file on me, I think. I've only been arrested twice in my life. Once for protesting a doomed nuke plant with a mob of hairy hordes like myself when I was younger and more idealistic (they didn't open the plant in the end), and once for hitch hiking on a Richmond, Virginia toll road when I was hitch hiking solo across the USA at age 19.

Rick G wrote:Keep them comming Daz I am enjoying your trip. Good to see your enjoying it as well. By the way this is going to end up as the only 2 line post title ever with all 48 names.

Glad you're enjoying it, Rick. I am as well. It has been a great roadtrip so far and there's still six weeks and many more miles to go....but I think I'm going to miss about 12 of the states...I will eventually just have to use the two-letter state abbreviations originated by the US post office.

What a country! Cheers.

IF you're coming by the Sacramento CA area, let me know. I live right off Hwy 70, "Feather River Canyon" - one of the more spectacular motorcycle roads in California. I can put you up for the night, buy you a beer, etc.

Keep the pics coming. Great stuff.

Thanks, BadjerJim. The time frame for that would be about the end of the third week of November. I'll send you a PM then. Cheers.

I am parked up in a familiar little burg near the New Hampshire border with Massachusetts. The 'Fall' foliage is still brilliant, the nights cold by Aussie standards, and the days bright by any standard. Today the sky is so blue against the orangey-reds and yellow colours of the dying leaves. There's a spring-fed, crystal-clear lake, which round here is known as a pond, out the front of this house in the woods that my younger brother finished building after our father passed away nine years ago. Ducks and geese alight and call regularly from the dark waters over masses of lily pads and the beaver dam. White birch and majestic maple, solid oak and sturdy ash trees fill the scene outside the floor-to-ceiling double glazed windows. The old apple orchard up the road is almost sleeping, its crop picked clean by the deft hands of the imported Jamaican pickers who have come here for over two generations now. The locally milled timber and stone walls of this eco-friendly house, and the woodstove and heated sub-flooring keep the cold at bay. The thick doona keeps me warm at night after hearty meals, sips of whiskey and good conversation with family and old, old friends. The old covered bridge has been rebuilt in the five-plus years since I was last here, the town's two-centuries old buildings and architecture familiar and strange all at once. I left here for good 34 years ago to go walkabout on my own as an idealistic young man, and so a lot of it is no longer fresh in my mind.

Alas, though the pleasure of lingering is a fine idea, the roads on the atlas beckon me to move South again soon and seek the warmth and sunshine and enjoy freedom of continuing to move. In several more days I will point the front tyre in some other direction and roll.

I have poor mobile reception and almost no photo upload ability here, but I will post some photos when I can. Thanks for the interest.

I bet that it's very nice to see your family and the place where you grew up.
Even if you like your new life, you cannot erase the past. When the past was full of joy, you certainly don't want to forget it. (I experience this every 2 years when visiting my folks in France)
As it's late in the fall, and I get new assignments at work (No more vacation until XMas), I won't have the pleasure to meet you in New England. This is too bad.
Please pass your best regards to your brother and thank him again for his proposition to store my new bike in his garage.

Cheers and ride safe.

CF

good to read that you made it to "the family" dazza

sounds just blissfull countryside ,,,wish i could see it through your eyes ...

happy trails ol mate ...hope the passenger is enjoying as well . im sure this is the case ..

Crazy Frog wrote:I bet that it's very nice to see your family and the place where you grew up.
Even if you like your new life, you cannot erase the past. When the past was full of joy, you certainly don't want to forget it. (I experience this every 2 years when visiting my folks in France)
As it's late in the fall, and I get new assignments at work (No more vacation until XMas), I won't have the pleasure to meet you in New England. This is too bad.
Please pass your best regards to your brother and thank him again for his proposition to store my new bike in his garage.
Cheers and ride safe.
CF

Thanks, CF. It's good to see people I've not seen in yonks. I spent a short time here in these parts, not really growing up here. I got here the mid 1970s and left in '78. I have passed on your thanks. It is a pity we couldn't have met up somewhere but I suspect I will be back at some stage in the future.

The weather has been beaut the entire time with daytime temps reaching high teens to low twenties, sunny and only a bit of a breeze; perfect Fall weather. Tomorrow the rain's supposed to set in...

Here's the house we're all staying in.


On this pond.


I did manage to reach a moto milestone...

If you're pointing due south right away, you'll not be coming near us in Central New York, but if you have a warm weather detour option, feel free to swing by the Casa and avail yourself of garage, beer, accommodations and nice mixed-terrain riding.

You are living every rider's dream trip here in 'Mericuh. I'm just going to have to be happy for you instead of jealous for me.

Safe riding. Be well!

Bob

Having arrived in Massachusetts on the 15th of October after an easy eleven day crossing we have stopped in Pepperell a while longer than planned. Family and friends have arrived at various times and the show goes on. We've been sight seeing and exploring the many back roads and interesting places old New England has to offer, and the weather hasn't been too bad, only dropping to near-freezing a few times and often up into the 20s. It rained hard only one day and fortunately for us we were in a Toyota Yaris hire car and stayed safe and dry in a motel for the night in Western Massachusetts whilst visiting my daughter.

The 'Fall' foliage is spectacular and the air often crisp and dry. I'd missed the feeling and the quainteness of New England. The architecture is consistently old fashioned in the areas we've travelled in. Here's a few examples.


Old Shirley centre, Shirley Massachusetts


Massively oversized pumpkins against a 1700s house in Old Deerfield Massachusetts


'Mini Me' church in Templeton Massachusetts


At Parker's Maple Barn in Mason New Hampshire for lunch with an old school friend. There were only two bikes when we rocked up but the waitress said they take the parking space seriously as many 'bikers' show up at the weekend for lunch.


An old Shaker building in Harvard Massachusetts, still lived in. The Shakers were a New England religious group which flourished from the late 1700s until the middle of WWI. Their idea was that hard work kept the hands and the mind occupied while the heart turned toward God. Their buildings were sturdy and plain and many still stand. Here's the famous quote by Shaker matron Mother Ann Lee.




Old barn and foliage round Skinner State Park in Hadley Massachusetts


A view of Heald's Pond from the comfort of two old recliners...when it's cold and dark a small fire burning keeps the chill at bay and a great views of the stars overhead and the clear, spring-fed pond out through the trees. A 42" Northern Pike was hooked here last week. Also, many excellent craft beers have been consumed by my two younger brothers and I.


The RT gets its own garage outdoors amongst the maples and oaks on the Healds Pond property. She fires without hesitation each morning and I ride away for backroad tours of the stunning scenery over smooth ribbons of black New England tarmac. I recommend that anyone take a ride through these parts if ever they've the chance...

Saturday, it's off through Connecticut, New York city and New Jersey's pine barrens towards the Cape May-Lewes ferry in southern Delaware to the Chesapeake Bay area, then Washington, DC. Warmer climes, here we come!

Nice update TWB. Keep the wheels rollin' ol' buddy....there's lots more us armchair travellers want to see on this trip

88

TWB,
Great photography!
What kind of camera are you using?
Been pining for a digital SLR here recently.
If it might fit your plans, there is a nice/mild climb to the top of Mt. Haystack in Norfolk, Ct. Old castle looking structure is there.
In any event, be safe.

JimK wrote:TWB,
Great photography!
What kind of camera are you using?
Been pining for a digital SLR here recently.
If it might fit your plans, there is a nice/mild climb to the top of Mt. Haystack in Norfolk, Ct. Old castle looking structure is there.
In any event, be safe.

Believe it or not I'm using an Android phone camera often and also a Pentax digital of modest capability. It's in the framing and editing, I reckon.

Beautiful pictures, TWB.........thanks for sharing.

keep posting and good traveling mate.

Looks fantastic TWB thanks for sharing

Thanks you blokes. A good time is being had and it's great to be able to share a bit of it with you lot, motorbike like-minded and all.

We really have been lucky with the weather and if it continues we might be sneaking out before the rain starts up again here in the North East. Saturday should be an easy 380 mile day with a fair bit of it on 'Interstate' highways. I hope to make Cape May at the bottom of New Jersey, stay over night there and take the ferry to Lewes, Delaware next morning, passing through Annapolis, Maryland, rolling into D.C. to have a squiz at the big gubmint monuments on Sunday arvo.

It's been a while since I've seen New York city too. The last time I drove past was when the Twin Towers were on fire the first time...I reckon that was
early-mid '90s.

Cheers.

Devouring your tour pics and narrative intently . . .
. . . continuing good luck to you--safe and beautiful travels!

+ 1

TWB be careful in the Mid-Atlantic states....there's a hurricane to the east and cold front to the west. May get wet, cold and windy.

Great pics. Thanks for the update. Looking forward to meeting you here in California, late November. I should have new tires on my K100RT by then, and the rest of the stuff sorted out.

So far I've been one of the silent majority who are enjoying your trip TWB, please keep up the posts and fabulous pics and rest assured I'll be avidly following your progress.

Thanks,

Paul.

Really enjoying the ride TWB, thank you.
Cheers,

Thanks for the weather heads up, and we are keeping a clear eye on Hurricane Sandy. She is looming large and imminent, but so is a long, stringy wet weather pattern stretching from East Texas to the Province of Ontario. Imagine when these two feisty girls get together somewhere over the North East of the US....with family and friends about we do have the ability to hunker down and ride it out. The trick is to...simply...not leave...just yet.

"Rip the scab off another of those cold little vicious ones, would ya? You're a darl. What can I get for you?" (the first bit is Australian for "I'll have another beer, please.")

After what the National Weather Service chief has labeled a "Frankenstorm" has picked up and is heading thisaway, we have decided to hunker down and wait it out for several days. The problem there lies in that the high winds and rain leading to flooding, could knock out the power gird in the North east as it has done in recent years past. If we go inland-West we run the risk of snow in the mountains of PA, OH and WV. If we head North there's ice bearing down on us from Canada (they DO love their hockey up there) and if we brave it and head South we'll be behind the adjustable windscreen riding straight into the teeth of it if it heads towards the Mid-Atlantic states as forecast. Best to see what happens and make a choice in a few days' time.

"Hold on to yer hat, Ethel, this'un could be a wild'un."

Snookered aye? find a barn and hunker down with friends R's K's F's they're all good company and they wont pinch the last of the jack either. Oh yeah if'n that is where jack lives then say g'day for me.

The bike will be in a barn out of the weather, the fridge and cupboards are full, the generator is ready, New York city's low-lying areas are being evacuated this arvo...but otherwise you'd not know there's a major storm brewing just a few hundred miles South out over the Atlantic. Here it's a grey, mostly cloudy Sunday morning with a swirling breeze dropping what's left of the yellowy orange foliage that remained clinging to the now-bare trees.

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201218_radar.html
drag down and watch the storm's progress up the East coast...

I'd have left sooner if I'd a direction to go in. To the North it's Winter already, to the West there's that little old front moving cold and snow this way, to the South, the inevitable. Once it's over in two, three days time, and it's time to hit the road, there's the issue of closed motels, debris on the roads, downed power lines, you know; storm damage. So I wait. It's kinda sorta fun.