Day 23 - Chadron, NE to Grand Island, NE

After a good hotel breakfast, we packed up the trailer and left at 8am. Our route continued on US 20 East and we saw sunflower fields in the morning sun.

At Nenzel, population 20, we took a detour and rode through the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest. 

Tbe road wasn't great so Rob took it slow. Doesn't matter as we were the only ones there. It's a 116,000 acre forest in the sandhills representing the unique prairie ecosystem. 

We saw these big insects on the road. Rob said you could probably walk it if you had a leash! Later he looked it up and thinks it is the plains lubber grasshopper. He guessed it's body was about the size of his thumb!  He slowed down so we could take a picture. The body kind of looks like a frog but it's got six legs, and they either sit on the road and don't move or walk quickly across.

We also saw a large hawk, a wild turkey that hightailed it across the road in front of us, and two white swans today. We soon arrived at the Merritt Reservoir that looked like a sudden oasis in the middle of the prairie. It is a state recreation area and fed by the Snake River and a creek. The levels of the reservoir looked very low, a common theme we've seen during our trip. 

Our route then followed Nebraska 97 into Valentine, NE. As Rob fueled up the bike Michele noticed that our planned Subway lunch spot was boarded up and the road was under construction rendering the Subway inaccessible anyways. We tried to find the Runza down the road that was on the GPS, but it was either just being constructed or was out of business. We turned around and ate at the McDonalds. Michele says she has avoided McD's for at least 10 years. We couldn't be too choosy in this small farming town, so it sufficed. 

Now in the central time zone, we followed US 83 South through the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. It is a breeding ground for migrating birds and other wildlife and ecologically important with marshes, lakes and wetlands. 

Soon we got on Nebraska Highway 2 East. This is the Sandhills Journey National Scenic Byway. The sandhills are the largest area of stabilized grass covered sand dunes in the Western Hemisphere, covering 20,000 square miles.

We also saw 5 or 6 trains today, one of which had over 200 cars.

There was quite a bit of irrigation happening in the fields.

A cluster of windmills.

We passed through many small towns.

We took highway 2 into Grand Island, NE to our Holiday Inn for the night, arriving around 4:30pm despite leaving an hour later than planned. The hotel gave Michele an entire box of thin mints and a bag of caramel popcorn at check in. Awesome!

Today we rode about 350 miles. We dropped another 1,500 feet in elevation. Grand Island sits at about 1,800 feet. The high temp was 91 degrees and we started in the 60s. Michele said she struggled a bit today, the consistency of the landscape was a bit monotonous and it was hotter than forecasted. But, she liked it much better than flat Kansas. Rob said he liked today. The rolling grass covered sand dunes and expansive views were relaxing. 

Grand Island is a busy metropolis compared to the solitude of today's route through the sandhills. We ordered Olive Garden to go, Rob cleaned up and covered the bike, and we relaxed in our room for the night. Tomorrow we continue east through the rest of Nebraska and cross over into Iowa.

 

Day 22 - Golden, CO to Chadron, NE

Our route today would take us from the foothills of the Front Range to deep in the Nebraska prairie. We wanted to experience the hosts' 8am breakfast so we delayed our planned 7am departure time. We would get to our hotel in Nebraska at late afternoon, but it was worth it. Just two other guests were at the house so we ate in the dining room with them and the owners: the man from Singapore and a man who was in town for an astrology conference. He said he didn't sell as many of his books as he wanted to. We heard a few funny stories about his clients. We think he said his profession is an EEG technician and he's from Atlanta. He was really nice and chatted with Rob about motorcycles. Our hosts, Judy and Dennis, were just the sweetest people. They were married on Valentine's Day in 2010 and look to be in their 70s, but we don't know how they met. They had black and white antique photos of themselves and their families, one was of Dennis' grandfather. Judy is from the Golden area but lived in Florida at some point. Dennis lived in Montana for a time. Our breakfast was a "Judy style" eggs benedict casserole that Judy said she was trying out on us as a new recipe for guests. It was really good and much easier to make than the usual recipe. We also had chicken sausage, fruit, a baked apple cup, and muffins. We were stuffed! 

We said our goodbyes and hit the road at 9:15am, getting in a few last sights of downtown Golden. 

Our route was I70 East out of Golden to I25 North towards Fort Collins. Since we were heading North, we had a view of the distant Front Range for awhile. 

In the past we headed east immediately and sadly had to see the mountains in our mirrors. We continued on I25 into Wyoming where we picked up I80 East. We were in Wyoming for a little over an hour. 

Michele begged Rob to take this route instead to extend our vacation.

Just a few hours outside of Denver the scenery changed dramatically with the road mostly to ourselves.

This train had about 200 cars, with three engines in front and one in the middle. Michele lost count at about 140 cars since the tracks went behind a hill.

We crossed into Nebraska at 11:30am and the scenery picked up.

In Kimball, Nebraska we stopped for fuel and picked up Nebraska 71 North. We took that into Gering and connected with Nebraska 92 West. Michele wanted to make a stop at the Brown Sheep Co. to check out their yarn. It was just off Country Road 16 just a few miles outside Scotts Bluff. Their sheep used to make the wool are not onsite, but the dyeing and spinning mill is. 

They had a few cute roosters and chickens pecking about.

Once done there, we rode into Gering and had lunch at the Subway. Rob was still full from breakfast and didn't eat. We found a shady spot by the post office and library. A man came by and he had a friend who liked Honda motorcycles, and both he and the friend were in the Vietnam War. 

After a quick lunch, we rode back to the Scotts Bluff National Monument. They have a visitor center and a scenic drive. 

Unfortunately we learned no trailers allowed on the drive. Rob told the ranger that we just took it up to Mount Evans so this would be easy. Nope! We went inside and watched the movie of the history of the area, and looked at some of the exhibits, artwork and photos. The formations were ancestral high plains that wind, water and volcanos deposited materials that compacted and eroded 31 million years ago. 

The area was a prairie pathway for 10,000 years for Indians and then white settlers pioneering west. The Pony Express briefly came through this area. 

We'd like to come back sometime to walk about the trails and drive up the scenic road. 

At 3:15 we were done at the monument and continued up Nebraska 71 North to Nebraska 2 West. We've been on Nebraska 2 before, but not this far west, and find it a scenic alternative to the interstate. The open space is somewhat overwhelming. As far as we can see in every direction is grazing land.

We rode past sunflower fields, their heads facing east.

There were more cool formations as we got closer to the end of the day.

At Crawford, we picked up US 20 East into Chadron. We arrived at the Holiday Inn Chadron at 5pm. Rob wanted to enjoy a cocktail tonight, but there weren't a lot of restaurant choices. We walked across the parking lot to Runza, a fast food place that was rated well and was clean inside. 

Our room had this beautiful sunset view of the farmland.

We rode 360 miles today and descended nearly 2000 feet. We are now 4,000 total miles into our trip. We were expecting hotter conditions today but it stayed really nice right up to a few minutes before our arrival tonight, and even then it was only 88 for a high. We were mostly cool and comfortable the whole day ranging from 70 this morning to 83 most of the day. Tomorrow we ride through Nebraska to Grand Island.

Day 21 - Mount Evans Scenic Ride Day

Our hosts cooked a hearty breakfast for their guests this morning: egg casserole with tater tots on top, sausage with apple mixed in, fruit and scones. They had 9 guests including us, so Michele grabbed a plate and we sat outside at their table in the front yard. Rob was stuffed from the night before so he only had juice. The owner set the most beautiful table in the dining room, we felt bad not joining, but there were too many strangers to risk going mask-less.

In the front yard we saw a hummingbird visit the feeder just feet from us and couldn't care less about us. We think it was a female broad tailed hummingbird, very common in all of Colorado. After breakfast we had over an hour until we had to leave for our ride. We sat on the owners' front porch and waited for the hummer to return so Rob could catch a photo. She didn't come back though. One of the guests came out on the porch and told us he visits here every year for a month. He went to school at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, just blocks from us. It is a public engineering and scientific university. He works in oil and gas, and has lived in Asia for over 30 years. He said coming back is always a reverse culture shock, mostly in how loud Americans speak!

About 9:30am we got suited up for our day and prepped our picnic in the cooler. Temps were around 68 degrees and fairly windy. We rode I70 West to Colorado 74 East to Colorado 103. It took us to the Echo Lake State Park. We had plenty of time until 2pm to enter the scenic byway. It was a popular spot so it took us awhile to find a place where we could park. There is a trail partially adjacent to the lake and the view was picture perfect!

The trail went through the trees up towards the Echo Lodge near where we parked the bike. Since it was a quiet stroll, Michele thought it would be fun to play a brain challenge, naming items we see in alphabetical order. Her little nieces Annabelle and Amelia would have been so helpful had they been with us! We got all letters except K, X and Z. You may wonder what did we see for letter U? A little girl rode past us on her new bicycle with a unicorn helmet! She was proud of it and politely said thank you when Michele complimented her on it.

Back at the restaurant area, we scoped out where we could park to have our picnic. There were two parking lots but not many spots. We got back on the bike and lucked out finding a spot because a man ran over and told us we could parallel park in front. The spot had fading paint so we didn't see it. He's local and parks there when he rides his motorcycle to the park. We then found a nice picnic table and had our lunch. While Michele held it, Rob got the picnic items from the trailer. Two bikers that had just parked behind the Wing had just come down from the summit of Mt. Evans. They said it was very windy and that made it very cold. Once out of the wind, the temperature was quite pleasant. They also said the road was in bad shape. Lots of pot holes, very large frost heaves and extremely sharp hair-pin switch-backs. He told Rob that our trailer would bottom out over the frost heaves and be difficult to navigate the switch-backs! Rob was skeptical about that.

We had a good lunch and the sun warmed us despite the wind. We still had an hour to use up before we could enter the gate. The sky was starting to get cloudy and gray in the distant mountains and we worried it would rain on us. Rob said we would not attempt to go up if there was heavy rain. At 1:15pm we walked back to the bike and hung out there. Several different groups of friendly people over the next 45 minutes came over to ask us about the bike and trailer. First were two men who couldn't believe we rode from Virginia. They asked how many miles and hours a day we ride, and how quickly we got to Colorado. One said he loves Colorado so much that when his wife wanted to move to California, he stayed behind and she's now his ex.

The next group to come over were three men who are from the area just out on their motorcycles for the day. One went to Georgetown University "a long time ago." They asked about the trailer and how much it weighs. Their friend asked Rob the year of the bike. When Rob told him it was a 2009, he guessed that it had about 50,000 to 70,000 miles on it. Rob told him the bike has a bit more than that at 174,000 miles! 

The next was a man who travels to Richmond for work. His adult kids live in Colorado. He has a Can-Am (a three wheeled motorcycle) and was curious about the trailer as he was considering one for their bike. They do quite a bit of traveling as well.

It was 2pm by then and the skies looked okay for us to go up. We put on more layers knowing it could be 40-50 degrees up top with wind. Echo Lake is already at 10,500 feet so we had nearly 4,000 feet more to go. There was a bit of a wait at the gate. After about 10 minutes we were through the gate and on our way.

We later learned that these trees, the Bristlecone, grow twisted to be stronger against the extreme winds at this altitude. They can live thousands of years and because of that are the oldest single living organisms on earth. Amazing.

We steadily and slowly made our way up. 

This is the view of Echo Lake from high above, we were somewhere around 11,000-12,000 feet at this point.

The roads started to deteriorate in the section of Summit Lake, at 13,000 feet, likely because of the water running under the road in this area.

The roads were pretty narrow and the drop offs were steep! No guard rails here!

There were a lot of switchbacks on the way up, Rob thinks about 15 or so, and they were nearly all hairpin turns. They were very tight turns, more than we've ever experienced, and on the edge of the steep mountain. It was a bit stressful that people in cars could not stay on their side of the road, because they were afraid of heights or sightseeing, or just didn't care. Rob had to be extra vigilant and honked at people to move over quite a bit. Michele was anxious because of this and didn't get any pictures of the hairpin turns!

We made it to the top, 14,000 feet and found a parking spot. Luckily, the winds were very calm. Temps were in the low 40's but with the sun shining down, it was very comfortable. Given the windy conditions down at 10,500 feet we felt pretty lucky to have such favorable conditions at the summit.

Rob looks like he's standing on the edge of the world. See how he's higher than the mountain peaks behind him.

This is the highest we've ridden and is likely the highest we ever will in the U.S. given this is the highest road in America. Our GPS elevation proves it!

We snapped photos and decided to not linger too much since the skies were looking nasty. We could see the rain in the distance and all around us and didn't want to be riding down in it. The moody skies made for dramatic photos on the descent. 

Rob went the speed limit which was 20mph for most of the descent, and no, he did not bottom out the trailer on the bad frost heaves. This was the worst of them. Someone painted a smiley face on it, haha. You can see how the road ripples.

Cool rain shower shots and the alpine lake. 

A backwards view as we are descending. The tail end of the trailer is at the bottom of the shot.

On our way down, there was a small pull off area. Look at what we saw!! See the little baby? Michele was staring and cooing at it so much that it got up and walked over to its mama.

Can you spot the four mountain goats in this picture? They blend effortlessly with the rocks. What a gift to see them today. 

They migrate further down the mountain in winter. By the way, the average temperature at 14,000 feet is 45 degrees in the summer and it can snow any day in summer. It was wicked windy in this spot, we did not get off the bike.

Moving on, we continued descending and Rob said we were surrounded by rain. We were in a tiny hole without rain. The arrow in the middle of the green (the rainy areas) is us.

Back at the gate at Echo Lake, we stopped to quickly put on our rain jackets just in case. It was nearly 4pm by then--we couldn't believe the ride up and back took two hours! We continued on CO103 towards Idaho Springs, then took I70 East to US6 East. US6 was really scenic in a steep rocky canyon by a river.

We got back to our hotel around 5:15pm fairly exhausted. Getting up Mt. Evans was a lot of fun and we're glad we did it. It was a challenging road, the other drivers were more of the issue than the road conditions. The rain never materialized and we're so lucky given how many rain storms were around us all afternoon. 

We learned that traveling 1,000 feet up in altitude on a mountain is equivalent to about 600 miles north in latitude. Golden Colorado sits at about 5,600 and Mt. Evan's summit is at 14,140. We traveled up and back down about 8,540 feet. So today we rode the equivalent of 5,124 miles north and then 5,124 miles south in latitude. No wonder we felt tired after today's ride! 

As a side note, Rob put in his earplugs at the Summit of Mt. Evans and didn't remove them until we had descended over 8,000 feet. He claims that he could hear the air pressure rush into his ears when he took his ear plugs out down in Golden, CO. 

Dinner tonight was another online order from Woody's Pizza and we walked over to pick it up. We also ate the side salad from yesterday that we couldn't finish. 

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Colorado for this trip where we've been so happy for two weeks. On to northwestern Nebraska!

This is a pretty painting in downtown Golden and a cool sculpture by the university campus.