Road Trip

Day 1
Well, I headed off on my annual motorcycle road trip. Registered for a half-marathon in Frisco, so that was the first stop. The plan was to work through lunch, and leave around 3:30 PM. Surprisingly, my boss happened to see my “packed” motorbike at work and offered to let me leave early…which I took him up on. I had been keeping an eye on the weather so I knew I would probably hit some rain down the I-70 Interstate, I just didn’t know when or how much.
It was right before Idaho Springs that the rain drops started falling. I had opted not to dawn my rain gear yet, so all I had on were my leathers. Then bam, the rain came down in buckets. I debated on seeing how far I could make it when a car passed by and drenched me. After thinking some unkind thoughts towards the driver, I exited off the next exit and pulled under a gas station canopy. Soon after, another biker joined me. We talked about the rain and where we were heading. He was going east while I was heading west. I pulled my rain gear on and waited for the rain to stop and then headed east. Thankfully, the sun broke through. I made to Frisco without further drama.
It was the next day that I found out from a fellow runner that it had hailed real badly around 4:30 PM near Evergreen. In other words, all hail broke loose, so bad this guy said, that cars were pulling over. What grace from the Father, to move in my boss’s heart and actions to get me past the hail before it fell. It was so deep that snow plows came out to plow the interstate. Whew, God’s providence is awesome.

Day 2
Saturday I woke up to run the Run the Rockies half-marathon. While I debated if I was going to run in shorts or tights, looking out the motel window assisted in the decision. The sun was shining but it was raining. Good enough forecast (nowcast) for me. It would be tights and a rain jacket. At eight-thirty the race started and I headed down from Copper Mountain, through the rain. I’ve run this race before, unbeknownst to me as to why, since it’s difficult. Miles eight and eleven are uphill…ouch. Anyway, I wasn’t too unhappy with my slow 1:54 finish time, as I needed to save some of my energy for the predicted 7 hour ride before me.
After the race I hurried back to the motel to shower and load up the motorbike. Checkout was 10 AM and I was pushing the 1 hour extension.Now came the fun part, the eight hour ride to Cedar City, UT. I hit the first rain storm heading to Copper. Vail was sunny then another rain cloud wetted me. To make a long story short, I ended up getting tired of counting the rain clouds/storms I bumped into. I even hit about 20 seconds of hail, right outside of Richfield. Eventually I made it to Cedar City and found my motel. After getting into the room, I blasted the heater and draped my wet clothes all over it and the room. It wasn’t the best road trip weather but the Lord got me through it unscathed and I lived to drive another day!

Day 3
I slept late (7:30 AM) then showered and hit the continental breakfast. Some older guy (much older than me) was wiping off his 1967 Ford Fairlane, from the rain that had fallen. After checking the forecast, I packed my rain suit and headed to Las Vegas. Rumor was it was only a little over two hours away but there was no way I could have made it the night before. Good thing was, I didn’t hit any rain. The scenery reminded me why I take these road trips…beautiful.
Later that day I headed towards the Las Vegas strip. You would expect (at least I did) that not many people would be there on a Sunday night. Wrong, plenty of people and traffic, my poor motorbike didn’t like the heat even at 8:45 PM. So I turned her around and headed back to Jim’s house.

Day 4
So much for cold rainy weather, Vegas started off warm and headed to the mid nineties. After meeting Bub downtown, I headed towards the strip again and Frank’s grave. Traffic is ALWAYS backed up on the strip and today was no exception. My Kaw got hot again and I had to exit off the strip early. Some yo stopped in the middle of the turn. I had by “chance” changed lanes right before that. The guy driving behind this confused guy had to slam on his brakes. I once again, thanked the Father for His protection. Then I headed to where Frank’s earthly body is buried. I opted to stop at the 7-11 across from where Chuck and Dee used to live…on Eastern. I had a slurpy and while drinking it paused to remember my in-laws. I missed them and wished I could drive across the street and say hi. Odd thing about the whole stop was the 7-11 sign that advertised Farmville Codes. Go figure. Then I headed to the cemetery. After getting there and visiting Frank’s grave, I wondered why he left this earth early. And then while I was mounting my bike, I wondered if he was watching me from heaven. I’ll have to ask him…someday.
The ride back on I-15 was slow, stop and no thanks to an accident near Flamingo involving a police motorcycle. I almost melted but survived.