An unfortunate end to our trip... Part 1: The Accident

As of June 29th, we had been on the road for 27 days and ridden over 7,000 miles.

We had ridden through 20 states and seen deserts (way too much desert!), snow capped mountains, temperate rain forest, breathtaking geologic structures, impossibly huge Sequoias, the Pacific Ocean, and what we considered an epic storm. 

Desert 15 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada

 

 Redwoods along the coast in northern C

alifornia

Coming out of Sequoia National Forest, we saw a controlled burn, and too many forests that had been devastated by uncontrolled forest fires.

We rode through miles of orchards in California, surrounded by brown land that wants to be desert - discussions about water conservation have taken on a whole new meaning to us.
We were both thrilled when we rode through a mountain pass and wound up in an area that was cool and green!

That night we had planned to stay in Eagle Butte SD. We arrived around 7pm, got something to eat and filled up the bikes.  Neither of us felt comfortable there. I have worked with the homeless and addicts in one capacity or another for the last 20 years - I am not easy to intimidate..... but I felt we would be taking a risk staying there.

We don't like being on the road at dusk, but we decided riding 80 minutes to the next closest hotel in an actual city would be best, and we would at least be off the road before dark.  We rode with an open communicator link, so there would be no delay if either of us needed to warn the other.

I wanted to stop to take a picture, so I had slowed down and was looking for a place to the right to pull off, and Sam was watching for deer. I didn't see a spot to pull over, so I looked up to do a deer scan...and saw a deer on the double yellow line coming at me head first.

Sam said he saw it come to the road, look at me and headed right for me. It happened so fast he couldn't even warn me.

I think I remember saying a Very Bad word, and I'm sure I lost a split second of braking as my mind tried to wrap itself around a deer running down the middle of the road at me.
It's amazing how many thoughts went through my head so quickly - I remember thinking there was NO way I was going to avoid hitting it, that I needed to shed as much speed as possible before impact (Yay MSF training!), and evaluating my escape options.

Sam said that I swerved right, and the deer changed it's trajectory as I changed mine.
I don't remember swerving, hitting the deer or tumbling down the road. The police report said I came to rest 144 feet from the point of impact.  

Next thing I knew, I was lying on my stomach, Sam gently put his hand on my back and told me an ambulance was on the way. I knew I was pretty badly injured, and I remember wondering why it didn't hurt more.

 It hurt to breathe, so I was taking very shallow breaths. I felt a rattle when I took a breath. I wondered if it was blood in my lungs, and if I should let someone know.  I remember thinking Sam was having a Really Shitty Day, and I didn't want to give him anything else to worry about. There is nothing that could be done for me right then, and I knew the EMTs would recognize it when they checked me over.

I don't know if I was falling asleep or going in and out of consciousness, but it seemed like it only took a few seconds for the ambulance to get there.

I remember being rolled onto my back (which hurt like hell).

I remember the EMTs taping my helmet to the back board, and thinking how silly that must look.

I remember the Sheriff telling Sam he didn't want me to go to the reservation hospital, and a discussion about it. 

The accident happened on the edge of the Cheyenne River Reservation, so a non-reservation ambulance was not allowed to pick me up. The reservation ambulance would not transport me the mile to the reservation line to meet the non-reservation ambulance, so off to the reservation hospital I went.

More to follow...

Day 24 Chilliwack, BC, CA

5961 miles on the road this trip and here we are still on the West coast in Chilliwack, British Columbia, CA.  A combination of miles, highway speeds of 75-80 MPH, and some extreme heat of air temps above 100 have tore into our rear tires. Wonder what temps the roads where. We could probably safely get another 1000 miles on them but we have a place here with all the tools and a man with the expertise to be able to use them.

 We ordered and had our tires shipped to Eric and Mike.  Fellow bike (KLR) riders just South of the Canadian border.  We loaded the tires on to our bikes and crossed the border.

Norm was awesome! Having never physically met us just conversing through emails, blogs, and Facebook, he rolled our bikes into his garage and changed our tires.

I think Liz would like to be adopted by Norm.

Norm & Rupert

Norm, Rupert, April, Brad

We really enjoyed meeting and hanging with Norm and his family. Thanks to him and his wife April for their great hospitality.  I hope we have the opportunity to repay them someday.

California Redwoods and the West Coast

 More giants!  I've always wanted to see these things.  Pictures just don't do justice to the size of these trees.  You just expect to see a dinosaur walking out of the forest (they've only been around since the last ice age).

This is a living
Redwood tree.

Along the Oregon and Washington coast is was common to see tsunami warring signs.  Many along the road reminded you, "you are not safe" and to seek higher ground.  Good info but kinda made me nervous!

 In general it seems most drivers in Oregon and Washington are very courteous, especially to motorcycles. However, we encountered a humorous situation in this area which someone should have planned for in the land of extreme politically correct. 

Most coastal roads are two lane roads occasionally widening to four lane highways for several miles at a time.  Sometimes only one side widens for about a half mile or less.  This gives slower traffic an area to drive while faster traffic can safely pass. These areas are posted with a sign "slower vehicles keep right".  While riding behind a group of cars doing about five to ten miles under the posted speed, we passed through several areas with slower lanes as posted so.  I noticed and commented to Liz via our headsets, "I don't think anyone wants to be labeled the slower vehicle"!  Liz came up with a more PC alternative, "speed challenged". 

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park is a beautiful national park.  We rode in from the South entrance on very nice tight twisties. Just inches from sure death most of the way up the mountain gives you a sense of adrenaline overload. 

 This young buck was just outside our tent the first morning.

Sam is in the red circle...

 Last year one of these fell on an unoccupied parked jeep. See attached video.

Caught a whiff and then spotted smoke from the controlled burn just within the forest boundaries.

This is really a magnificent park with some of the most awesome trees and certainly the oldest in the world. As a whole, the park is well organized and maintained.  However, sanitation facilities are not very good - bathrooms are in disrepair, showers are not all able to be used, and even the laundry room had two machines out of order.  They are making thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, a day on the park with fees and souvenirs.  It may be a case of money being collected by the Federal Govt. and not being redistributed back into the park system.  Kinda wondered if maybe it could be handled better at a state level.

I could return many times and still look up and stare at these giants for hours!

Family in Phoenix

I really enjoyed spending time with my Aunt & Uncle and Cousins in Phoenix. Hope it isn't another 30 years until we can all get together again.  I don't think I can make another trip to the desert.  I don't know how they do it. It's just so hot!

I love hearing Uncle Joe's stories of our family.  The best one from this trip was hearing him talk about my great-grandfather and how he was the mediator for the community encouraging debate and discussions rather arguments and fighting.  He said it was common to see the mayor of Rome and police chief at the house discussing issues. We need to get him to write this stuff down. 

AZ Petrified Forest

Picture a lush forest with pools of water lined with vegetation. 225 million yeas ago this is what Arizona looked like.  Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified log still lies where it fell over 200 million years ago.

Petrified log rests upon a petrified sand dune

Very hot. We explored the miles of park helmet-less & protective gear-less. Hey, if your not living on the edge you're taking up too much space!

Ancient graffiti (petroglyphs) from the hood. I'd love to know what these say.

Route 66

Route 66 cuts through Arizona.  This is a remnant of a car left off Route 66 just outside the petrified forest.

Sahuaro in the heart of Phoenix.  Hard to imagine all the produce, cattle, and crops harvested in the desert.  We had a hard time walking in the sweltering 105 degree Phoenix heat.  Can't imagine doing any kind of work in it.

Sahuaro Ranch