Johnsons head West for annual motorcycle trip

Even in the planning stages, my wife Tobey and I knew this year's trip was going to be exciting and action-packed. John and Diane Shipley from Steele were going with us again this year, and it was their first trip out West. The plan was to show them as many of our favorite places as possible in the time available. We were going to be able to experience these places again through their eyes.

We met up with the Shipleys on June 24 and started our long journey. The first stop on our itinerary was a visit in St. Joseph, Mo., with my sister Linda Nold. The next point was the Pony Express Home Station No. 1 in Marysville, Kan. From there, we went to Hanover to a Relay Station where the Pony Express rider would exchange horses and continue the trek toward Sacramento, Calif. Both stations are very well preserved.

Our next point of interest was the Pioneer Village in Minden, Neb. This museum is dedicated to any and all things used in early America. These ranged from automobiles to cooking utensils, to airplanes, to farm tractors, etc. There are 26 buildings and many outdoor exhibits to be seen and enjoyed. The Shipleys agreed that it was well worth the effort to see.

Our next stop was a museum in Murdo, S.D. Again, the artifacts are directed toward but not limited to early America. Even Elvis' motorcycle is in this facility.

On the way to the Badlands, we began seeing signs on the road for Wall Drug Store. Wall Drug became famous during the 1930s by advertising free ice water to travelers. Cars of that era had no air conditioning and ice water was a welcomed item. What began as one little store now encompasses three city blocks. It is a definite "must see" in western South Dakota and has become a deluxe "tourist trap."

The Badlands National Park is 244,000 acres of wasteland. The colors rival the Painted Desert and is such a contrast to the lush vegetation of our Mississippi Delta country. It is indeed a sight to behold. Because John is such a fan of Western novels, the Badlands were one of his favorite spots. Down the road a few miles, we approached the Black Hills. They are very important in history to the Indians because of the discovery of gold there and the encroachment of the white man into Indian lands.

Mount Rushmore was our next stop and is, of course, the most famous place in the Black Hills with the faces of four U.S. presidents carved into the solid rock. Some interesting facts about the sculptures include: The cost was about $1 million. The year it was finished was 1941. The erosion rate is about 1 inch per 10,000 years. The faces are expected to be around for a long time. Another sculpture that is destined to be almost as famous is the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is located just south of Mount Rushmore. It is still under construction and will be for many years to come. Crazy Horse is being sculpted by private funding and will be the largest mountain carving in the world when completed. It will be a few feet taller than the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. The visitor's center is large and very elaborate with much historical information.

The Homestake Gold Mine was next on our agenda. It is located in Lead, S.D., and was the best known landmark in South Dakota before the carvings at Mount Rushmore were completed. In Lead, we chose to take a trolley tour of the mine. Gold was discovered there in 1876. The name Homestake referred to the fact that the mine could make a man rich enough to return home and live comfortably for the rest of his life. The mine was in operation until 1998. The open pit is 1,200 feet deep and a half-mile wide. The shaft is 8,000 feet deep with more than 200 miles of tunnels. Typically, 1/7 ounce of gold was extracted from each ton of ore. It sure was an eye-opening experience for the four of us.

After Lead, we headed for Deadwood; not for the gambling, but to visit the resting place of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Martha Jane Burke (AKA, Calamity Jane) was born in Princeton, Mo. This was not far from my childhood home. To get to their cemetery plots required a walk up a very steep incline. One had to really want to see them.

No motorcyclist can go to South Dakota and not go to Sturgis. The trick for many is not to go in early August. This is the time for the largest motorcycle rally in the world. It is reported that there are as many as 750,000 motorcycles during rally week. All this occurs in a town of only 6,000 people, so needless to say, it is very crowded. We quietly rode through town a couple of times, visited the motorcycle museum, had a cold drink at McDonald's and headed for Wyoming.

Devil's Tower National Monument is a most unique geological structure. It is the core of an extinct volcano. The sedimentary rock eroded away from the igneous (fire-formed) rock, leaving a tower 867 feet above the base. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Devil's Tower as the first National Monument.

Thermopolis, Wyo., is billed as the world's largest hot springs. The city park abounds with hot mineral springs. As the water escapes from the rocks, it evaporates, leaving different shapes of minerals as rock. Some springs will produce domes, others leaving tall columns. Still others will produce "water falls" of solid rock. Thermopolis is designated by the Rand McNally roadmap as being a "best of the road" attraction.

Not long after entering Montana, we passed the site of the Smith Coal Mine disaster. In 1943, a violent explosion killed all 74 miners that were underground at the time of the explosion. The above-ground facility still stands as a monument to those lost workers. This disaster caused the initiation of several new safety rules for modern day miners. These men did not die in vain.

The most exciting way to enter Yellowstone National Park is from Red Lodge, Mont., on Highway 212 entering the park from the northeast. This highway scales the Beartooth Mountain Range from Red Lodge to Cooke City. The road zigzags to 10,940 feet, and at every turn reveals another breath-taking vista. It is an incredible ride and one that Tobey and I take as often as possible. We really believe that Yellowstone is the most spectacular of the national parks. Waterfalls, geysers, bubbling mud pots, mineral deposits and bountiful wildlife are present at every turn. Old Faithful put on a special show for us by spouting steam and water 175 feet in the air. One of the rangers told us that this was the highest of the season thus far. It sure was fun to experience this with John and Diane. They thoroughly enjoyed this park.

July 3 was Diane's birthday. Her birthday cake appeared at breakfast that day in the form of a strawberry waffle, with whipped cream and a candle. It was a delightful celebration for such an auspicious occasion. We wish Diane many more and hope we can share them with her.

Heading north, we entered Glacier National Park. There was still a considerable amount of snow and several visible glaciers. Of course, Tobey had to get off the bike to play in the snow. The temperature was warm and the sun glistened off the glaciers. Our first encounter with bighorn sheep was within the park and they were slick with the shedding of their winter coats. We crossed the Continental Divide at Logan's Pass (elevation 6646 feet). It was here that we heard the grim prediction that because of global warming, that all the glaciers would be melted by the year of 2030. This is such a sad outlook for this incredibly beautiful park.

Our journey continued through Bonner's Ferry, Idaho and into Canada at British Columbia. John and Diane had a cooler on the back of their bike. The border guards confiscated their apples as you cannot take fruit into or out of the country. The apples weren't very good anyway, so John told them he had them in the cooler.

Kootenay is a Canadian National Park and is quite large, including much of the Kootenay Mountains. Turning slightly eastward, we entered the Province of Alberta, where Banff National Park and Lake Louise are located. Both Tobey and I feel that this is one of the most reverent spots on Earth. John and Diane totally agreed. The beauty defies description and standing on the banks of Lake Louise makes one so aware of God's awesome powers. Coming back toward the U.S., we stopped in Revelstoke, British Columbia. John tries to get as many pictures nationwide of Masonic Lodges and Revelstoke's lodge is worthy of any city.

Coming back stateside into Washington State brought us face-to-face with apple orchards as far as the eye could see. The tons of apples produced near the town of Wenatchee must be astronomical.

Mount Ranier is our next national park. There was plenty of snow on the mountain and many, many species of wildflowers at the base of the mountain. One variety that caught my eye is known as "Indian Basket Grass." It has a large white cluster of flowers on top of the stem. It is a member of the Lily family and is usually found in mountainous areas with high altitudes and weather befitting snow.

The volcano within Mount St. Helens erupted May 18, 1980. For those of us with more than a few years of age behind us, it does not seem like 33 years ago. When she blew, volcanic ash travelled all over the country. Even cars in Blytheville sported a hefty coat of the ash. This was our fourth trip to this national monument and each time, we see things we did not see on previous trips. They have changed much around the crater since the last time Tobey and I were there. Where there was a ranger station is now a parking lot and much of the area that we had previously explored now was closed off to the public.

There are many points of interest in Oregon. Mount Hood is the first to be seen. Its snowy peak can be seen for miles. Next is Newberry Caldera, a gigantic cinder cone. There is a road built that goes round and round the cone until it reaches the top. The area around the cone is almost totally covered with lava as far as the eye can see. This too has been designated a national monument.

Crater Lake National Park is another of those "too beautiful for words" places. Crater Lake was once a very large volcano. The volcano died and the mountain collapsed within itself leaving a lake over a mile wide where the volcano stood. The lake is one of the deepest fresh water lakes in the world. As the volcano collapsed, the tip formed an island in the crystal blue water. Just another piece of God's handiwork. After a visit with longtime friend Arlene Miller in White City, we headed for the Pacific Ocean.

We drove through Redwood National Park and got our first glimpse of the ocean at Crescent City. Temperature at the ocean was 54 degrees and the fog was so thick that it was difficult to see the water. We headed to the Chandelier Tree. This is the famous "drive through" tree. It is 315 feet tall and 21 feet in diameter. The hole in the base is large enough for an auto to drive through. We then travelled south along the Pacific Coast (the fog had finally lifted and we could see the beautiful blue water) to Fort Bragg. This is significant because when we turned onto Highway 20 East, it meant we were on our way home. Lassen Volcanic National Park, located northeast of Fort Bragg was our next destination. In order to keep from back-tracking several miles, I chose to take an unnumbered road from Garberville through Zenia to Highway 36 near Mad River. This road was more than any of us bargained for. It was narrow and steep with no direction signs. At one point, it became only one lane and we were lost. Finally, we met a car that gave us directions, and we proceeded to our destination. John always laughs when people ask him where he was going or where he had been and he simply replied, "wherever that red motorcycle in front of me goes." I bet this time he really wondered where we were going.

The next morning I missed the last gas station in Chico. John and I discussed going back but he reminded me that he travelled with an extra gallon of gas, so we decided to chance it. We ran out of gas 6 miles from our destination of Chester, Calif., and John's gas can saved the day.

After seeing the Mount Lassen area, we sought out Subway Cave. This is a tube approximately 15 feet tall and 25 feet wide. It was formed from molten lava that flowed from a volcano. As it flowed, the outer surface cooled forming a tube. When the volcano stopped flowing, the warm lava flowed out of the outer wall, leaving a long, empty tube. Another of the unique geological structures of this trip.

We entered Nevada on Highway 50. This highway is billed as the "loneliest road in America." It pretty well lives up to that name. About 350 miles later, we entered Utah. This is one of Tobey's favorite areas because southern Utah boasts five national parks in a row. Zion was the first from the southwest. The rock formations are amazing and the wildlife abounds in the form of bighorn sheep, mountain goats, antelope and lesser species. Bryce Canyon was one of Diane's favorite spots on the trip. It is located not far from Zion but the geologic structures were totally different. Red is the predominant color of the rock and the formations are mainly tall columns by the thousands. These spires or columns are called hoodoos. Mule deer seemed very much at home in this park. Travelling east on the Million Dollar Highway, we rode through the Grand Staircase National Monument toward Capitol Reef National Park. I suffer from acrophobia (fear of heights) and this park tested me to the max. In two or three places, the road and the top of the mountain that it was built upon, were exactly the same width. There were no guard rails, not even a blade of grass grew outside the edge of the pavement. Tobey kept telling me not to look down, she would describe the scenery to me. She did not have to worry, as I kept all my concentration of the yellow line in the center of the road. Capitol Reef was the next park and probably the least impressive. The rock structures were different from the other parks but did not seem to have the brilliant colors of the others. Canyonlands was the next park and is a miniature of the Grand Canyon. The views from the rims are breath-taking. Tobey and John could stand on the edge taking pictures, but Diane and I stayed back with our stomachs doing flip flops. Arches National Park was the last of the parks in southern Utah. It has some of the same structures as Zion, some of Bryce's, and some beautiful natural arches of its own, as well as petrified sand dunes.

Our last stop in Utah is the Indian ruins at Hovenweep National Monument. It is the site of a fairly large Pueblo Indian settlement that was abandoned about 750 years ago. The stone buildings were placed upon ledges of rock not under ledges like Mesa Verde.

When I planned our itinerary, one of the things I wanted us to accomplish was to have John and Diane travel in as many states as possible. Last year, we hit all of the eastern states, and I wanted them to ride in all the western states. We accomplished this with the exception of North Dakota, and that will have to happen on another trip. We did not have plans to go too far south going west so we went to a place called Four Corners Monument. It is the only place in the USA where four states touch each other at their corners. John rode his motorcycle round and round this area and was able to claim he had ridden in Arizona and New Mexico as well as Utah and Colorado. Four Corners is controlled by the Navajo Department of Parks and Recreation. There are permanent Kiosk structures where the Navajo Indians sell their jewelry and souvenirs. Picture-taking of the large medallions representing each state is a most popular activity. One of the Indian vendors sported a T-shirt that said, "All my heroes killed cowboys." Emblazoned on the shirt were pictures of Sitting Bull, Geronimo and Manuelito. This shirt would not have been so humorous a hundred years ago.

Mesa Verde National Park, located in Colorado is probably the best preserved ancient Indian village. These were cliff dwellers and hundreds of their building sites can be seen from the highway. This area was deserted between 1250 and 1300 AD.

The narrow gauge railroad trip from Durango to Silverton is fairly expensive ($85 per person), so we chose to drive up the mountain on the bikes. The ride from Durango to Silverton and Silverton to Ouray is absolutely incredible. There were areas on the mountain that had me hugging the yellow line again, but the scenery was too much for words. Shopping in Silverton drew Diane and Tobey like a magnet. We arrived before the train full of tourists, so the town's facilities were at their feet. Leaving Silverton, we rode over Red Mountain Pass. The elevation at the summit was 11,018 feet. Gold ore wagons first crossed these mountains in 1878.

We rode through the town of Montrose on our way up the mountain to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Ten miles out of Montrose, John and Diane's motorcycle broke a universal joint. Luckily, even in the mountains, Tobey's cell phone had service. It took almost three hours for a tow-truck to load John's bike and take it to the Honda Shop in Montrose. Waiting for the truck was probably the worst part of the story because the Honda dealer was very helpful. They quickly diagnosed the problem and promised a speedy repair. Luckily, the trike was under full warranty and the trike conversion kit company promised to send a truck to pick up their bike, take it to their shop and replace the defective parts at no cost. Their insurance paid for a rental car. The four of us went through the National Park and then hugged and kissed goodbye as the Shipleys headed home.

Tobey and I crossed the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass. The elevation was 11,312. The weather was cloudy and pleasantly cool. We wanted to stop at Royal Gorge as our last sightseeing tour. They had a forest fire in June that burned more than 3,000 acres. The park was closed to the bridge over the gorge. A forest ranger said we could get a look at the gorge if we wanted to travel the gravel road. It was not well-maintained and we decided not to go. It appeared that the visitor's center and most of the tourist attractions in the area were closed. The eastern third of Colorado is suffering from a 20-year drought.

Kansas is Kansas. The highest temperatures of the trip were registered in Kansas at 102 degrees. We traveled about 100 miles with wind gusts from 40-50 mph. These were cross-winds and there was an ever present threat of rain. Not much improved our opinion of this state. We decided to seek refuge in Dodge City, and although it is a very historical area, the smell of the stockyards did little to lift our spirits. Greensburg, Kan., was devastated by a super-cell tornado a few years back. Leonardo DiCaprio took an interest and helped the town come back "Strong and Green." This is the site of the largest hand-dug water well in the country. This is the third time we have been there since the tornado, and they are indeed rebuilding as fast as time will allow.

We caught the corner of Oklahoma and a familiar trip across Arkansas and we are home again after an eventful and most enjoyable trip with wonderful friends. We had been on the road 32 days, visited 17 states, 16 national parks, two Canadian provinces, two Canadian national parks and many national monuments. We traveled 8,202 miles and took 756 pictures. We never had to put on our rain suits and did not even have a close traffic mishap. All in all, it was a very successful trip.