Whoops, got busy when I got home getting back into the swing of things and catching up with everybody. I left off here in Bannack State Park in Montana, where I discovered it’d be too cold to camp in Yellowstone, womp. Instead I adjusted my plans to rest for a day in Billings, and then head down to Estes Park, Colorado to meet Brad.

I took 34 into Estes Park which was this gorgeous canyon. It was pretty narrow though so my pictures didn’t really do it justice.

Well with an extra day to relax in the Bay Area while waiting on parts we successfully replaced my oil pan. We had a nice test ride up into the mountains above Palo Alto.

From the Bay Area I headed up the West Coast, and was able to make a quick scenic tour through Avenue of the Giants, a huge redwood forest that was really cool to drive though.

From the Grand Canyon I headed south, through Flagstaff and into Sedona. I knew that Sedona had some cool rock formations, but what I wasn’t expecting was to plunge into a small canyon through a series of hairpin turns over the course of a few miles. Sedona is a little tourist town nestled inside a small canyon, so the highway in from the north you ride between these beautiful red canyon walls. Sadly my pictures don’t really do it justice, I was more concerned with how technical the road had become.

After getting stormed out in Texas in the last blog post I headed into New Mexico. First stop was to go through Roswell, and since I’m not much of a UFO buff I thought it’d be cooler to check out the Contemporary Art Museum there. Apparently they have an artist-in-residence program where they bring artists to live there for a year and just make stuff. Of course the first piece as I walked in was very apt:

So my friend Liz is a jerk, because she asked earlier this week wanting to hear more about my mishaps on my blog, and then I got caught in two storms this week traveling through Texas…

Before I get to the storms though, this campsite in Sandy Creek near Jasper, TX is pretty much my favorite camp site I’ve stayed at so far. The temperature was cool enough I wasn’t in a rush to get my tent set up to change out of my gear. Not only that, I was right on the lake! I got to watch a few storms roll by while I already had the camp set up, which was pretty slick.

Didn’t take a whole lot of pictures going through North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. Mostly hung out with the friends and family I was visiting. I’m now the only one of my siblings to visit all the others! (catch up guys jeez)

Saw some really nice beaches going through the Florida panhandle and riding along the coast in Alabama and Louisiana.

From Jacksonville to New Orleans was my first stretch on the trip with 2 nights in a row of camping. It’s been super hot and humid down here though, so taking a break in New Orleans and getting a chance to do some laundry was very welcome (my host was super gracious!). With all the humidity I just had soggy clothes for two days straight.

Had a blast in Connecticut with friends and family! Got in some day drinking and board games, some cliff walking, and lots of delicious sea food.

From Connecticut I rode out to the Delaware River Water Gap in Pennsylvania to camp for the night.

Next stop was Washington, DC to meet up with Brad. We saw Finding Dory, did a tour at the Library of Congress, saw an improv show, and walked around the mall after. Was pretty nice getting some time in with him.

Well I finished my first week of the trip. Turns out doing 200 to 300 miles in a day is a lot of miles. Some of that was just getting through areas I already know pretty well, so I probably won’t be burning through so many miles for most of the trip.

The cooling tower in Michigan City is a neat photo spot, right?

First stop was Holland, MI, to do the Fourth with my family. The beaches in Michigan are awesome. I took a photo of the bike in front of Big Red just outside the State Park.

I’ve been preparing for this big motorcycle trip for a few months now. First was getting the bike ready. I picked up some used Givi luggage that wasn’t the prettiest but it’s durable and definitely gives me a ton of capacity.

I was able to take it for a test run this April, on a camping trip with friends up to Wisconsin.