More Weather and a Change of Direction

Just a quick post, busy day tomorrow. Now I don't know if anyone has been watching the weather lately but the middle of the country is getting pounded by thunderstorms and there have been a few tornadoes. I started yesterday with some decent weather, but soon hit the worst of it. Got caught in a lightning storm with BB size hail, also heard a tornado almost formed. I'm not sure if it's just Wyoming or if someone is out to get me, but I have had almost every type of weather you can imagine on this trip. Snow storm, hail, pouring rain, heat, even a few sunny days. I think all I need is an asteroid and maybe a volcano and I'll have got them all.

So in lieu of the weather yesterday I didn't get as far as I was hoping to. I did end up going 700 something miles, but at the end of it was a motel with a hot tub. The water felt great and all I could think about was getting home, but because I didn't cover enough miles I was still looking at two nights in a motel before I got home. Fortunately Google Maps provided me with a pick me up.

I was looking for the route home when Google offered me an alternate route which added 200 miles to the trip, but had me going through St. Louis, Missouri and Louisville, Kentucky. So thats what I'm doing. It will take me on a completely different route and I wont be overlapping at all with my way out west. I'll be adding a few more states to my trip rather than just going home. I'll be spending two nights in motel and one night with my grandparents in Connecticut before I finally come home on Thursday.

Today I made it to St. Louis before I found the tail end of the storm and had to call it another early night, but fortunately I'm only 70 miles off schedule. Tomorrow I'm heading to the Louisville Slugger bat factory for a tour :) and then heading up towards Pennsylvania. The day after I get to go back to the Goose and get my favorite sandwich of all time back in Bethlehem.

I may not be posting again until I get home, but in the meantime here are a few pics of the salt flats and the great salt lake that I took a few days ago.

I Found My Smile in California

So today was a long day... 815 miles and I'm in Evanston, WY from San Francisco. I'm not quite sure how I made it that far in one day, or rather how my ass has made it this far, but I managed to keep a smile on my face the whole time. My trip has been incredible so far, but it never really sank in. Maybe it was too much, but now I get it. I've had an amazing ride and even though I'm heading home I'm still managing to have fun.

So here's a little taste of whats put me in such a great frame of mind.

Golden Gate Bridge

Rt 1 North of the city

Stinson Beach

The road to Muir Woods, amazing ride

I really wish the scarlet monkeyflowers had been in bloom

This dude was way too serious about taking pictures, his wife was ready with extra lenses

These rocks totally looked like a frog from where I was standing

Random couple talking, I told them I was taking pictures for a class

The goggles might be a little creepy

Back on Rt 1. I decided to get some sandwiches and lemonade and walk out to this really cool point from off the road. Most amazing view of the ocean. You can also see a bit of the road that I took, incredibly twisty and awesome. best bike ride I've ever had.

Crappy picture of the place I ate dinner.

And there we go. That smile has been stuck on my face ever since. Soon I'll post some pictures of the Salt Flats I went through today! For now though I need some sleep, another long day ahead of me.