Goodbye and Thanks

I would like to thank everyone who encouraged and supported my adventure. It is a magnificent country, and I am fortunate that I had the opportunity to see it this way.

May the winds be always fair,

Voytek

Some final feelings and observations.

First let me offer some final numbers from my trip. I covered 7,328 miles, 11,793 km, in the six weeks I was gone. This includes traveling around town in the various places I stopped. I was long distance traveling for 19 days, or an average of about 380 miles, 611 km, per day. My longest day was 522 miles, 840 km. The bike got 48 mpg, 22.4 kpl, over the total time. The most I paid for gas was $5.99 pg, 1.28 Euros pl, in Needles, CA. The least I paid was for the last fueling here in Fredericksburg, $3.05 pg, .65 Euros pl. The real hero here is the bike. I couldn't imagine a better ride.

Just returned home.

The trip made me once more appreciate the grandeur, the variety, the beauty of the country. The land refocused my values and let me understand that all the stupid, vapid grandstanding by various public figures who believe that they are somehow important is meaningless. All the silly, selfish ideas we have about ourselves and what makes us happy are trivial. The land will be here long after the land has forgotten humans even existed.  The land outlasted the great Native American cultures; it will outlast ours; and it will outlast those who come after us. We are but a fractional moment in the fabric of global time.

"It was the wilderness, the big woods, bigger and older than any recorded document:-of white white man fatuous enough to believe he had bought any fragment of it, of Indian ruthless enough to pretend that any fragment of it had been his to convey; bigger than Major de Spain and the scrap he pretended to, knowing better; older than old Thomas Sutpen of whom Major de Spain had had it and who knew better; older even than old Ikkemotubbe, the Chickasaw chief, of whom old Thomas Sutpen had had it and who knew better in his turn." (William Faulkner)

The land belongs only to the Great Spirit, always free. I am here for a moment shorter than any moment and I must make the most of this brief spark called my life, "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." If I don't grasp every chance I have at happiness, I am a fool. I refuse to be Prufrock; I will make those damned mermaids sing to me. Well enough of that.
 
Pauline this trip was for you. If you were still here, oh, what a party you would have thrown. The whole neighborhood, any family you could have rounded up would have been here. I would have told tall tales, true and untrue, and the Champagne would have flowed like water. So here is to you.

TO LIFE!

 You don't owe me that motorbike any more.

HOME

Arrived home at 11:30 after an easy ride, a few sprinkles, but actually a nice cool day. Hwy 20 from Charlottesville to Fredericksburg was magic. It was always Pauline's favorite drive in Virginia. As I pulled into my driveway an overwhelming feeling overtook me that Pauline was going to run out and hug me, and tell me how proud she was of what I had achieved. Instead there was only the greeting of a silent house and the reality that I said goodbye forever so long ago. And I know that she would have expected me to go on with life with energy and joy.

I will write more tomorrow.

I'm in Virginia!

505 miles in 8 hours. That's riding. My bike and I are one entity. We glided through the hills of West Virginia leaving all the big cruising bikes in our wake.  I am in a nice Holiday Express in Covington, Virginia. The weather is closing in but it let me get this far with only a sprinkle in eastern Kentucky. Tomorrow it will be thunderstorm dodging all the way home. But I have all day with only 175 miles left. Break out the champagne. I have some waiting for me at home.

Covington. Photo by Chamber of Commerce.

Fast Ride

I rode hard; I rode fast; I rode a long way, 462 miles in seven and a half hours. That is better than 60 mph including gas stops and lunch. I got to Evansville, Indiana. I was a bit aggressive, angry, but controlled, and that made me push hard. The impressive part is that the bike still got 49 mpg. Tim Wolfe in Lawrence knows his stuff. That leaves 677 miles to get home. If I can get a good distance in tomorrow, I should be home Monday. Tomorrow's weather is questionable. So, we shall see.

I will leave tomorrow

The bike is in the shop as I write this. 

Tim Wolfe at Motorcare is absolutely superb.

I plan to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Actually I have strong concerns about this last home leg of the journey. For the foreseeable future the weather between Kansas and the East Coast is supposed to be stormy. Tomorrow is to be okay as far as Indiana. That is a long haul, but if I can get that far, I leave two or three shorter days to do thunderstorm dodging. I am going the most direct route possible. I am genuinely uneasy. Wish me good fortune.

Lawrence to Fredericksburg 

Back in Kansas

Straightforward ride today through the southern Nebraska and northern Kansas countryside. Some of it was quite pretty, green and fertile. I did get to stop at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. It was all nicely done.

Eisenhower Childhood Home

I have always had mixed ideas about Ike. He was not a brilliant man, but he had the ability to get brilliant men to work together for a common goal. Everyone liked Ike, and as a result he got things accomplished that few people could have.

Perhaps the Best Known Campaign Button Ever

His achievements, civil rights policies, the Interstate Highway System, and getting a bunch of prima donna generals to work cooperatively were quite remarkable. He had the ability to project humility while getting others to do just what needed to be done. His farewell address ranks right up there with the best in American history.

I found this old car, which apparently was one of Eisenhower's mother's favorites, really fun. It was a completely electric car. She used it regularly, in the 1930's!

My bike has reached 16,000 miles so I will have it serviced while here in Lawrence. I will take advantage of Motorcare while I can. Then I will wait for a good window to head home. I will blog as soon as plans firm up. 

Nebraska

Not much to say today. I rode hard all day and have made it to Kearney, Nebraska. The first part of the ride was cool and in pleasant country, along the eastern edge of the Black Hills. After that the the land flattened, and the temperature rose, not into triple digits as predicted, but still hot. The last part of the trip along I80 was bo-o-o-ring. I am now in a nice cool Days Inn room. Perfectly okay at $60. I expect to be in Lawrence tomorrow. I will try to visit the Eisenhower Library on the way. With the long ride today, that should be practical.

Crazy Horse

When Crazy Horse died there was no photographic image of him. He had never signed any of the treaties, all of which were broken, and he had never agreed to live at a reservation. Ziolkowski worked with the survivors of the Battle of Little Big Horn like a police artist to recreate a likeness of Crazy Horse. Today he stands unbowed above the Black Hills, "My lands are where my dead are buried."

When finished it will be the greatest memorial in the world, bigger than the biggest pyramid, taller than the Washington Monument, all four heads of Mt. Rushmore would fit in just the face of Crazy Horse. No public money has ever been used to acquire land, to get equipment, or for any purpose. When Ziolkowski started the project in 1948, he did it on a little more than $100 dollars. Today the budget is in the millions. It is for the family and for everyone associated with the effort a true calling. Only one person working on the crews has worked for less than 25 years, and everyone works for minimal pay.

The completion of the face has brought in thousands of visitors, and the support of Native American Tribes has popularised the effort.

It is estimated that the horse's head, the arm, and pointing finger will be done in another decade. The outline can be seen drawn in the rock.

When it is all finished it will be completely three dimensional and will look like Ziolkowski's model in the museum/visitor center. The museum is now one of the largest and finest collection of Native American artifacts and art in the world.

After my morning visit to the memorial, I took a helicopter flight over the site and over the town of Custer. Here are some images. It was hard to get good pictures because of the haze in the air from fires in the area. It is really dry out there.

I spent the whole morning in the Black Hills. At noon I came back to the motel and watched the European soccer final. I am delighted with the outcome. It has been a pleasure to watch the greatest national team in the history of soccer. Viva Espana!

Tommorrow I continue on the trip to Lawrence. Here is my projected route.

Black Hills to Lawrence