CrashTestDanny
Registered
Well, when I heard the news that Mom was having surgery this coming Friday, there was no question about it - I was on my way to see her. Her cancer is nowhere close to life-threatening. It's classified as stage 2 non-agressive and is an almond sized lump. But that's not why I'm making the trip. to be brief, I'm making the trip because I realied that in the 24 years since I left home to go to College, I've made the trip to see Mom way too few times.
I live in Wentzville, MO, and Mom lives in Ft. Collins, CO. 875 miles is the shortest route, but I planned two options from KC, MO to allow for a SS1k, but decided very early against it. I finally left the house at about 5:30am - about half an hour later than I had planned. As soon as the sun came out, the temp climbed rapidly to the century mark. Before I had gone 100 miles I realized that I would be needing to stop much more frequently than the 3 hour intervals I had planned. I found myself stopping to refill my camelback and cool down my gas tank every 1.5 hours or so, which really added to the trip.
I also knew that with that much heat, too much food could be a killer, too. So during the trip I stuck to beef jerky and two granola bars. Gatorade at every other stop and water at every stop kept me hydrated. I finished the drive in about 15 hours total - a little slow because of all the hydration stops - and was absolutely whipped when I arrived. However, I was not badly dehydrated, thanks to all the hydration stops.
I spent a couple hours with Mom and my sister and her son watching the Denver/SF game and catching up and recuperating and then headed out to Poudre Canyon. The cabin is not luxurious by any stretch - little better than a tent to be honest, but it's right on the Poudre River, which makes the location fantastic IMHO. There's a rapids right there and that makes for a nice relaxing night's sleep for me.
I didn't take any pics of Kansas or of the drive into Colorado, but I'm working on some video of the roads around here - already made one of the road from Ft. Collins to Poudre Canyon, where I'm staying, and I'll try to get some pics of the ST in the mountains for you, too.
Today I plan to ride through Estes park - right after lunch. I'll try to get a few stills to post up. The videos probably won't get posted before my return.
I did take a couple pics of the ST in the garage loaded for the trip in case y'all are interested.
I live in Wentzville, MO, and Mom lives in Ft. Collins, CO. 875 miles is the shortest route, but I planned two options from KC, MO to allow for a SS1k, but decided very early against it. I finally left the house at about 5:30am - about half an hour later than I had planned. As soon as the sun came out, the temp climbed rapidly to the century mark. Before I had gone 100 miles I realized that I would be needing to stop much more frequently than the 3 hour intervals I had planned. I found myself stopping to refill my camelback and cool down my gas tank every 1.5 hours or so, which really added to the trip.
I also knew that with that much heat, too much food could be a killer, too. So during the trip I stuck to beef jerky and two granola bars. Gatorade at every other stop and water at every stop kept me hydrated. I finished the drive in about 15 hours total - a little slow because of all the hydration stops - and was absolutely whipped when I arrived. However, I was not badly dehydrated, thanks to all the hydration stops.
I spent a couple hours with Mom and my sister and her son watching the Denver/SF game and catching up and recuperating and then headed out to Poudre Canyon. The cabin is not luxurious by any stretch - little better than a tent to be honest, but it's right on the Poudre River, which makes the location fantastic IMHO. There's a rapids right there and that makes for a nice relaxing night's sleep for me.
I didn't take any pics of Kansas or of the drive into Colorado, but I'm working on some video of the roads around here - already made one of the road from Ft. Collins to Poudre Canyon, where I'm staying, and I'll try to get some pics of the ST in the mountains for you, too.
Today I plan to ride through Estes park - right after lunch. I'll try to get a few stills to post up. The videos probably won't get posted before my return.
I did take a couple pics of the ST in the garage loaded for the trip in case y'all are interested.
