Ride from the West Coast to the East Coast this past Spring!

  • July 20, 2010 12:12 PM PDT
    Started out in McCleary Washington (Washington State that is) and was headed to the East Coast stopping in Ft. Collins Colorado to meet up with a friend of mine who was headed from Phoenix to Lebonon Pennsylvania. It started out great until I got to Look Out Pass in Northern Idaho! 35 degrees in a near blinding snowfall! Rode to Missoula Montana and stopped for a bit to warm up and made my way to Bozeman Montana where I had had enough of being cold and stayed the night at a cheap hotel, not bad, bed was clean and slept like a rock... next day I get up waiting for it to be at least 35 degrees. Got on the road and made for Billings Montana... warmed up some... 39 degrees I think, remnants of snow here and there and yes, I was freezing my ass off!

    Ended up stopping in Casper Wyoming that day because as I pulled off the Casper exit I slid half way down the exit before I righted myself, called my buddy I was meeting in Ft. Collins and told him that I was calling it a day... 225 miles from my link up with him I settled into a mom and pop hotel/motel place called the Showboat or Riverboat inn... can't remember, but a very nice place and quiet. Again, I slept great got up waited for it to be over 35 degrees. Back on the road and right through Cheyenne... snow was blowing across the road and their of course we're what was left of some pretty major snow drifts from earlier in the year. It was sunny and 36 degrees and as soon as I got out of Wyoming I hit colorado it was in the mid 60's!!! WOOHOO!!! Spring Time weather at last!!!

    Met up with my buddy Jim who was at the Ft. Collins Visitor Center and of course his first complaint was how cold it was... well, this coming from a guy who just came up from Phoenix so I just laughed and said "Hey this is the first time I've been over 40 degrees since I left home!

    It was a beautiful ride through some of the back roads of north eastern Colorado, then we linked up with I-70 and pretty much made our way through to PA on the way we stopped at my cousin's house in Columbia Missouri (thanks cuz we were tired of paying for hotels) had a fun visit and great weather until we made it to Lebanon.

    Needless to stay we made it through 12 states without incident and some good weather after I got out of the Northwestern part of the U.S., I even got to visit some fine places like Gettysburg PA, that place was amazing and awe inspiring! Went past the Hershey Chocolate factory... that's a lot of damn chocolate and I'd live anywhere that smelled like that place... stopped by and visited the York Harley Davidson Factory among other places, made some new friends and just had one of the best spring time rides ever.

    The way back was a lot of fun got to stop and see my niece graduate from highschool, connected with some old friends and then made my way home. I try to reconnect every year and by far the motorcycle is the best and most inexpensive way to travel across the country!
    • 0 posts
    July 20, 2010 1:41 PM PDT
    Glad you had a safe trip. Sounds like a blast!
  • July 20, 2010 3:36 PM PDT
    Glad to hear you had a wonderful trip, even with the cold temperatures and snow. Probably going to make for some good stories to tell!
  • July 20, 2010 10:24 PM PDT
    sounds like a fun trip thanks for sharing
    • Moderator
    • 19007 posts
    July 21, 2010 12:58 AM PDT
    A great ride that you will never forget. Thanks for sharing
    • 568 posts
    July 21, 2010 2:20 AM PDT
    sounds like a great road trip, ye're a brave man riding in the snow!
    any pics?!
    • 2072 posts
    July 21, 2010 2:31 AM PDT
    Awesome.... Nothing like a cross country road trip. Sounds like ya had a good time !!
  • July 21, 2010 5:27 AM PDT
    ezzyrider wrote...
    sounds like a great road trip, ye're a brave man riding in the snow!
    any pics?!

    unfortunately I am not a shutterbug and then trying to do that and being bundled up like I was I woulda had a helluva time trying to keep a camera handy... not to mention that my fingers were numb for most of the first 800 miles LOL

    but I do have some pics of Gettysburg and the York Plant stop:-)
  • July 21, 2010 9:47 AM PDT
    Montana snows and cold temps! Now ya know how we feel...we live here!Look Out Pass is close for us, we live south of Missoula so you were right in my neck of the woods!Glad you had a safe journey and hope the weather will not keep ya away form Montana.
    • 844 posts
    July 21, 2010 5:10 PM PDT
    Wow, sounds like a great trip...soon as my kids grow up and move out I am going to do a trip like taht.
  • July 22, 2010 12:49 PM PDT
    Nothing keeps me out of Montana, it's my route to Sturgis every summer:-)
  • September 16, 2010 12:34 AM PDT
    Sounds like a blast. I need to find some buddies that would be willing to take a cross country hike!
  • December 22, 2010 1:15 PM PST
    sounds like a helluva ride- i too had cooler temps- (40s) through lookout pass and then rain pretty much all the way to idaho falls- beautiful country though- glad ya had a great trip!!
    • 2 posts
    December 26, 2010 8:50 AM PST
    We had a nice ride through Montana this June. Highway cop on US 2 must have really been bored. he gave me a ticket for 68 in a 60. Too bad Road to the Sun was still snowed in.
  • February 14, 2011 11:10 PM PST
    Wow! Sounds great. Maybe one day we'll make the run out west.
  • March 6, 2011 4:11 PM PST