Having crossed back into the US, I had a deadline to reach New Mexico, where I’d agreed to meet a couple of my friends previous to leaving for Newfoundland. I’d had to cut a couple of days off my time on the island in order to make it, and still needed to make time across the US. I had to ride an average of 500 miles a day for the next few days to get there, which meant little to no time for sightseeing or stops along the way.
My nemesis the rain had continued to plague me each day it seemed, and when leaving Syracuse, NY for Columbus, OH, I saw how close I would come to Niagara Falls, a place I’ve never seen. I made plans to splurge a few hours and see the falls. It came to naught as heavy rain plagued me from Syracuse all the way, so there was no point in even trying to visit. Instead I continued on south in my rainproof cocoon of Goretex jacket and rain pants to Columbus, stopping only for gas and coffee until I reached my goal.
I found a hotel located near the Anheuser Busch brewery, the desk clerk telling me to park my moto under the front facade so I didn’t have to leave it in the rain. I was surprised since it was a large chain and generally management isn’t happy with that. Later that evening when I came back out to the bike, I had a very long conversation with the driver of the courtesy van, a man who’d given up his corporate career after finding out he was an adventurer at heart. He was in the process of outfitting a camper van and planned to travel the US, working seasonal jobs. He was well traveled and I enjoyed the chat.
The next 2 days were a blur of incessant highway time on the moto, spending the night in St. Louis, MO and then crossing the state to Kansas City for the next night. I visited “IHOP”, the International House of Prayer, a worship and prayer center that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with continuous worship music. The facility has been doing this continuously for many, many years. It felt good and refreshing to sit in the auditorium and relax in the atmosphere and music.
The next morning my plan was to get to Dodge City and spend the night, which would then put me a day’s ride from Las Vegas, New Mexico, my goal. The day started out sunny and windy, crossing the flat land of Kansas, until an hour from Dodge City when the rains and intense winds hit hard.
In the region, there was a constant supply of cattle trucks coming in the opposite lane, the turbulence hitting me like a hammer from their grating sided trailers. The smell and overspray of manure was not fun, and I was lucky the rain was hard since it helped wash the spray away. Dodge City was inundated with rain, a bit disappointing, since I hoped to look around the fabled town. I rode through the little downtown but the rain was so heavy it was pointless.
I fueled up, then stopped in a KFC to get lunch and make decisions. Since I was still dressed for rain and the mood wasn’t right to stay, I decided to press on for Clayton, New Mexico a few hours ahead. As I crossed into Oklahoma, the rain became more sporadic but the skies were threatening and changing quickly.
After another hour or so, I finally arrived in Clayton, a town I’ve been through many times in my travels but have never stayed in. I decided to stay in the old historic Eklund Hotel in the downtown section, just for a change. The owner was a character and the hotel was loaded with decor, but comfortable. My room had a leaking AC unit, replete with bucket and dripping all night, but after 9 hours and nearly 600 miles on the road, it didn’t bother me a bit.
The next morning found a clear sky and frost on my motorcycle, with my final destination about a 2 hour ride away. I was glad I’d pushed on to Clayton and had a short day ahead after so many long days getting from Canada 2/3 of the way across the US.
Leaving town and passing through the huge vistas with only random windmills and pronghorn antelope, I was struck at the huge changes of scenery I’d experienced in such a relatively short time. The New Mexico landscape was a true contrast to where I’d been.
It wasn’t too long before the town of Las Vegas came under my wheels, and I headed outside the quaint town a few miles to meet my friends at our cabin for the weekend.
The area was beautiful and got to chill a couple of days with my friends on a big deck overlooking mountains and a valley. I also got my fill of spicy hot New Mexican food to contrast all the Atlantic seafood. The final run back to Dallas, was as always a long and depressing day, crossing west Texas and ending up in the metroplex.
As I've probably mentioned, I've had a curiosity about Newfoundland since the 1990s. I have a map of North and South America on my wall with my route from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina, marked with red lines. The northeastern section of North America was noticeably absent of said travel lines, but now there's a bit more balance…
I've always appreciated the beauty of the northeastern US, and getting to explore New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton was icing on a beautiful cake. Due to the distances, I was unable to spend as much time as I would like, but then that's always the case. Getting to see Newfoundland, and the old Viking settlement at the north end were certainly the culmination. I hope that in the future I'm able to travel to that area again and spend more time exploring. I would've liked to have done some of the old railroad trail on the island, and also the Trans-Lab, but with my time constraints and the weather it wasn't really feasible. There weren't really any challenges and the entire trip could've been done on a Goldwing or a Lark Mobility Scooter, but after some of the challenges I went through in Central and South America it was nice to have a relatively drama free trip. If you get a wild hair to travel to Newfoundland, I highly recommend it...
Total time for the trip, including the days at the cabin, was 36 and I was on the bike 32 days of those. Much more butt time than I prefer but I got a lot of scenery and experiences in the process. 20 states in the US and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec. Total mileage for the trip was right at 9,500 miles or 15,289 kilometers, whichever you prefer.
Thanks for following along…
Adios amigos!