Day 13: Grand Junction did not have service available this morning (closed sunday and monday) So they said head into Utah as it was the next closest. My goal was to get into Kanab Utah but ended up having to commute into St. George. It was a very hot and dry day. Lots of wind and open road. I stopped several times to apply sunscreen and drink water/Gatorade.

I was lucky to meet a man named Larry as well. I met him at a gas station in Green River and drove with him to Salina Utah. We chatted after stopping as well, he gave some really great pointers for driving around trailered trucks and watching out for things on hot days. It was a pleasure to ride with him and nice to have someone to share the road with.

I landed in St. George tonight and hope to get service in the morning. Planning out my next stop this evening then will head back out again!

Total today: 5 3/4 hrs. 389 miles
Total: 3907mi

Day 12: Had a little bout of altitude sickness. Feeling nauseated and tired and had an upset stomach most of the day so I only put in 3 hours to get to Grand Junction, Colorado. I didn't take much for photos but took the day to really rest up for my long drive tomorrow through the Utah desert.












Total: 3hrs/152 miles
Total:  3518mi

Day 11: Left Denver for Mount Evans. It is the highest paved route in North America. It was a very narrow road up and took you up to an elevation of 14, 240 feet! When I got up to the top the first thing I did was proceed to the wash room were mountain goats occupied the building. It was nice talking to some people at the summit and then proceeded back down. It was 7 degrees Celsius at the peak and went back down to 30 degree weather. From there I headed on the I-70 west towards Aspen, taking routes 91 24 and then to 82. I was about 10 miles outside of Aspen when I put in my hotel address.....it was not in Aspen but in Crested Butte on the OTHER side of Mt. Baldy. After another 3.5 hours of driving having not one not two not three but FOUR deer cross out in front of the road I arrived quite cold at the Crested Butte Mountain resort and spa. I found a great price for it but it was way out of the way. Still was very nice and poshy.

I went into town on a free bus and stopped into Kochevar's for a beer. Eventually taking a 5 dollar bus back up the mountain to the resort, for the most part. It was a really long day but glad I made it to the right place. In the future I'll better plan my driving time as it was 9 hours and 387 miles in total.

Total: 3366 miles

Day 9/10: I left Rapid City South Dakota and headed for Denver. On my way I found (by accident) Mount Rushmore, it was a great 12 mile (at 12 mi/hr) drive in on a small windy road with lots of forest and great sites before rolling up to the memorial. If time had permitted I would have camped here for the night but I wanted to get to Denver.

I encountered more thunderstorms throughout South Dakota after visiting Mount Rushmore and then hit Cheyenne SD before getting into Colorado late and staying with Joe. He and his family were generous enough to let me stay and relax do laundry and have a day off of the bike.

Friday was a great off day. Joe and I went to Buffalo Bill's grave and oversaw the town of Golden, which is where the Coors Light plant is. We did the abbreviated tour and then set off to another pub before heading back to home base for a taco bar. After playing bean bag toss and teaming up our US/Canada team beat a US/Russian team. It was a good night!

Thank you to Joe, Jackie and Zachary (I hope to meet you guys soon) for your hospitality and for allowing me to stay at your home. You always have a spot to

Today: 6.5 hrs 399 mi
Total: 2979mi

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Day 8: I had been driving enough over the past few days to have worked up a decent buffer of time, to take a few days off. I just had the bike serviced in Lincoln and started to look at my options, ending up choosing South Dakota and the Badlands park area. It was a long drive up, but well worth it. I got to drive through the park and just as I was finishing it I saw storm clouds coming and decided to head to Rapid City for the night.

The drive north through Nebraska was great, saw a lot of small towns and followed the rail system through the state, which had several trains pass me as I was parallel to them on the road. 83 north was a very rough road to take, probably wouldn't recommend it to those on a long tour as I could feel it in my back for a few hours after getting off of it.

Then the storm. It was probably the single most scariest 2 hours of my life with high winds rain and no where to find shelter, I stayed on the interstate about 50mi/hour and ended up finally getting in soaking wet and hitting the bed and sleeping. It was not a pleasant ride and my nerves were a bit shot after the drive. Overall still really happy I made it up here and was able to visit and explore a new state with my extra time!

83 north
I90 west

6:35 riding
416 miles

Total: 2580 mi

Off to Denver for Day 9!

Day 7:

Left Topeka Kansas this morning and headed to Lincoln Nebraska. I took route 75 north instead of taking the interstates which I much enjoyed, realizing the gas stations are much farther apart (not every 10 miles) so I will keep that in mind as I move further out west and off the main interstates.

Once in Lincoln I visited the University of Nebraska but didnt stay long as I had an appointment to get an oil change again (2000 miles completed so far in total) and spoke to a guy who was getting service done as well. He mentioned taking route 34 instead of interstate 80 to get to Kearney which I did do for part of the way, it was full of great skies and cows, mostly.

I am reworking some of my routes to avoid rain (I drove in about 40 mins of it today only) but would like to avoid some of the crazy weather and thundershowers and high winds going on in Indiana and Denver.

Distance today: 296 mi/4:43 travelled
Total: 2164 mi

Day 6: Left St. Louis to head to St. Charles Pawn Shop where I thanked Jeff, who had helped me find some good places to eat and hang out in the city the night before. I then headed off towards Kansas City and stopped to see the Chiefs and Royals stadiums. They were right off I-70 so it was quite easy to get to.

From KC I headed into Kansas and into Topeka, a smaller city of about 125,000 people and a bit of a quiet town from where I was staying. Was able to stay in really nice hotel for a cheap price as well. Hoping to head north today towards Nebraska as the bike will soon need servicing again (every 1000 miles). Also hoping to get around some of the nasty thunderstorms and severe weather warnings in Colorado and parts of Ohio today.

Today: 308 miles/4.5hrs on bike
Total: 1868 miles

Day 5: Left the hotel in Peoria early in the morning with the option of heading to either Chicago or St. Louis. Given the weather trends it seemed a better idea to head south west and visit Missouri. I am glad I did, after about 2.5 hours of driving I arrived in the city and headed down for the Cardinals/Phillies game (Cards won) and then left to see Baseball Village, a venue outside the stadium with outdoor bbq and a massive indoor bar with 40 foot television. The USA/Portugal game was on, stayed, had some beers and watched that and proceeded to walk down towards the Gateway Arch. Realizing the amount of driving over the past few days I called it a day early to catch up on rest. A great sports city with friendly people.

Today: 168 miles/ 2.5 hrs
Total: 1560 miles /

Day 4: Sadly left Cincinnati and was going to head for Indianapolis. First was a service job at the Cincinnati Harley Dealership. The weather was turning out to be great and wanted to travel a little further so I quickly dipped down into Kentucky and saw some of the barrels for making their bourbon and got on the road afterwards (no time to pack the famous drink)

After Kentucky I retraced my tracks towards Indianapolis. I realized Peoria wasn't too far away and in gaining another day but cutting out Indiana it might be worth it down the road. I realize now that I am glad I made the trip because I will be losing a day tomorrow having to reroute due to, ironically enough, the weather in Illinois.

I have never seen clouds so dark blue and black roll in so fast with a storm, lighting touching down on both sides of the interstate and I pulled off and had to prop the bike up myself to prevent it from tipping over until I drove it under an Arby's right next to the building to shield it from the wind. After about an hour the lightning and heavy rain stopped and proceeded the last hour to Peoria. The hotel is an older once in its heyday 80's themed one with an indoor pool eating area and rooms looking inward towards the pool and lounge, very strange but it's nice to have the variety.

I'm done rambling, but I have rerouted my trip and will unfortunately have to skip Iowa as the rain is just too much. I am heading south, to St. Louis tomorrow and then trying to make my way back up through to Omaha in the coming days.

Today: 322 miles/5 hours driving
Total: 1392 miles

Day 3:  Started off from Altoona PA on route 66PA to the I-70 interstate onto the I-71 right into Cincinnati, it was a VERY wet ride and not one of my best driving performances.

Cincinnati I would definitely visit again, great city, friendly people and lots to see and take in!

388 miles
6 hours driving (plus waiting under bridges for the rain to calm down)

 Day 2 was a lot wetter but still had fantastic views of Pennsylvania. The rain did hold off for the evening and I was able to meet some great people from GYRP and head to Oak Spring Winery for some great wine and warm conversation. All in all a great day and was able to get a better hotel through connecting with some of the GYRP group, really glad I met you guys and you allowed me to come in off the road!
Today:
375 miles
6 hours on the road

Had a great ride from Boston to Laconia and then onto Wolfeborro last night. Thanks Matt for coming along the ride a great way to start off. Off to Albany New York today!

Heading to Boston in just over a week to start the cross country fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Canada!

Remember you can find me on:
Twitter: @cfmotorcycle
Facebook: CFMOTORCYCLE Jims Cross Country Motorcycle Fundraising Tour