Matt Quinn

2024 Cross Country Trip: Day 6

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

We started the day with a goal to make it to Zion and make some stops along the way. We knew it was going to be a little longer than the last couple days so we left a little earlier. We stopped at Arches National Park but they required a registration for entry, so we did not go in. We headed up north on 191 towards Green River, UT.

After getting to Green River, we stopped to fill up our tanks. There are some interstate signs indicating there’s no fuel for 100 plus miles and we wanted to be sure we had plenty. There was another motorcyclist that we met while getting gas. He had a Triumph Bonneville with 190,000 miles. He was traveling from Rhode Island to a California.

We left the gas station and since I had “avoid highways” selected on Google maps it took us down County Road which was a sandy dirt road. Well that turned into 9 Mile Wash Road, and for good reason. We weren’t going to make it through the wash with the steep grade and ruts caused by rain without difficulty so we just turned around and went back to the interstate until we got to state route 24.

We followed this south and passed Goblin State Park. We were debating going because I was told it’s amazing but we were concerned about gas since fuel stations are few and far between. The attractions there are 29 miles from the entrance, which is about 60 miles round trip. So we took a little break. While waiting there we saw what appeared to be an ambulance, but it was a “Jambulance” haha. Someone must have converted an ambulance into a mobile jamming van.

We were making our way to Scenic Byway 12. We found out about this route the night before and after searching it, we decided it was a must. Along the way, and following route 24, you get to go through Capital Reef National Park. This was surprisingly gorgeous. I’ve never heard of it until we started the trip. The views in Capital Reef were amazing! A bunch of the red rocks seemed to come out of nowhere.

Shortly after riding through Capital Reef we got into Torrey, UT. We stopped for gas and lunch. Scenic Byway 12 begins here on the east side. This is a 123 mile state highway also known as “A Journey Through Time Scenic Byway”. I think this was the best scenery I’ve ever seen in all my travels this far. From Torrey, it goes up and over Boulder Mountain, then over “The Hogback”, which is a narrow ridge with no guardrails or shoulders and steep drop-offs on each side. It then crosses various parts of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument.

Along Route 12, we stopped at a scenic overlook and met a few older folks doing a 10-day motorcycle trip from California. We ended up seeing them a few times along the route since we stopped at “The Hogback” and for fuel. After the first time we met them, we saw cows on the shoulder of the road several times and we joked about the crazy cows. Out west, there are a lot of open range ranches, so their cattle roam free. There are no fences.

Before Scenic Byway ends, you pass by the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park. We figured we may as well check it out after talking with the one guy. We took the main road in the park to the end and turned around. We stopped at some pull offs to take some pictures. There are so many cool rock formations. These rocks are almost orange. It was really cool to see.

From Bryce Canyon we headed to state route 89. Before getting there, we went through two tunnels which was neat. Once we got to Route 89, we went south towards the east entrance to Zion National Park. We got to Orderville, UT and filler up again and decided to head further south to Kaban, UT to stay for the night at a Hampton Inn. We finished the day with some BBQ brisket at Iron Horse.

We finished the day with about 410 miles.

Google photo album: Day 6

2024 Cross Country Trip: Day 5

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Today we didn’t really do any riding. The weather was very crappy so we just hung out and got a late start. We discussed what we wanted to do and decided to just spend the day in Moab and extend our stay another night.

With the crappy weather, we found a NAPA in Moab and walked there to buy new bulbs for my bike. My headlights burned out on the trip. The first low beam died on the second or third day and my other low beam died last night when it was dark. After stopping at NAPA, we stopped in some shops to see about getting shirts and stickers to add to the bikes. I actually had a t-shirt made up. After shopping for a little bit we got back to the hotel and the weather cleared up.

We were looking around and Eddie found this road that parallels the Colorado River towards Potash that had some features we wanted to check out. There were petroglyphs on the rock walls which were different and unique.

From there we continued down the road to see Corona Arch. It was a 1.5 mile round trip hike that takes you to two arches; Pinto Arch and Corona Arch. Corona Arch is massive! It’s 105 feet tall and 140 feet wide.

After finishing we needed to hydrate. It was warm and we didn’t have enough water. So, we went back into town to get some Gatorlytes then head out for some food. We skipped lunch to take advantage of the break in weather and went to Jax’s which was really good! While we were there, more thunderstorms came rolling through so we watched and tried to capture some lightening strikes.

Google photo album: Day 5

2024 Cross Country Trip: Day 4

Monday, August 12, 2024

We started off by leaving Westminster, Colorado after spending the night at our friend’s house. We took route 6 to bypass some of I-70 after spending a lot of time on the highway.

We got onto I-70 in Idaho Springs and got right back off to get gas and some breakfast. We also wanted electrolytes because of the elevation. We were originally planning on taking I-70 all the way to Independence Pass, but decided to hop off in Georgetown to take Guanella Pass, route 381. It was a nice surprise considering I just selected “avoid highways” on Google maps. There were some really beautiful views of the mountains so we stopped a few times. And the temperature reached 50° as we climbed the mountains.

We continued until we reached Route 285 and took that southwest. until we got to Buena Vista, then headed north until we got to Route 82, which goes up and over Independence Pass. This pass is the second highest paved pass in Colorado. Shortly after getting onto Route 82, I was looking around and noticed a moose in a pond chomping down on plants. I told Eddie over the Cardo system, but he thought I was messing with him. But I wasn’t! 😂 So, we turned around got some photos. I still have never seen a bull moose. Hopefully one day!

After taking some photos, we were in our way to the summit. At the top there is a sign so we stopped for a couple photos and headed back down. The west side of the pass is Aspen. We arrived in Aspen and fueled up and then decided to stop for food.

We left Aspen and headed straight to Moab. We continued on Colorado State Route 82 until we reached I-70. There were some areas of the road on 82 that were very dirty from recent flash flooding. But, unlike most places, there was red dirt and decent sized rocks all over the road.

Once we reached the interstate in Glenwood Springs, we had about 200 miles until reaching Moab. As we got closer to Utah, the scenery started to change. The rocks begin change color and the rock formations slowly change. I think it’s so awesome!

We crossed into Utah and saw the Utah sign so we stopped to take a picture. Then, before proceeding, I thought I would look for gas stations knowing Eddie was going to be due to fill soon. Well, there were no gas stations remotely close heading west, so we pulled off at a rest area and basically filled his tank from both gas containers. We didn’t want him to run out of gas like our last trip in 2022, especially since it was very desolate. Gas stations were 61 miles apart! After filling up, we slowed the speed down a good bit because it yields better fuel economy. The speed limit on I-70 in Utah is 80mph, but we were doing 65-70 to make sure we would make it to the gas station. I really wanted to get off and keep heading to this scenic byway on state route 128 from Cisco to Moab, but we may not have made it to Moab, so we continued to the gas station.

As we were headed to the gas station, we could see a storm off in the distance. We could see the rain and lightning. We arrived at the gas station and checked the radar. It was coming right for us. So, rather than dealing with it, I suggested to backtrack 18 miles and hit the scenic byway to avoid the storm cell. It worked out perfect and we stopped and to get some photos and videos of the storm. Eddie caught a really awesome shot of a lightning strike!

We continued south onto route 128 and the beginning is very plain-like, but I did it before on my first trip and knew about the red rocks and formations you get to see before getting into Moab. This road parallels the Colorado River and there such amazing views of buttes, mesas, and spires. This is why I was stoked to ride the same road again.

We finished the day with 400 miles.

Google photo album: Day 4 photos and videos

2024 Cross Country Trip: Days 2 & 3

Saturday, August 10, 2024 & Sunday, August 11, 2024

On the second day of the trip we left Elkhart, Indiana and continued west down I-80. We crossed into Illinois and cruised for a little bit then rode through a swarm of bugs. It honestly looked like a little black cloud, but by the time we saw them it was too late. They splattered everywhere! I even tried tucking my head down, and it helped a little, but not very much. We just kept riding and after completing about 100 miles, we stopped for fuel and decided to lube the chains since we did 800 miles in total. It was definitely time!

We kept riding until we reached Grand Island, Nebraska. It’s basically central Nebraska along I-70. My goal was to make Denver by mid afternoon on our third day so Eddie could see his cousin and we could visit our friend from home. So, I was getting a little bored and started to get truckers to honk. I giving them the signal and all of them did it. One guy didn’t have an air horn so he just used the steering wheel one. We finished the second day with about 715 miles.

On the third day we left the hotel knowing there would be a chance of thunderstorms. When we left it was very overcast and the radar showed possibility of storms, so we suited up before leaving. Shortly after leaving we hit some rain and then it turned into mist. It was like this for 300 miles, until we reached Big Springs, Nebraska. This is the very close to the northeast corner of Colorado. We were checking the weather and decided to take the rain gear off, and good thing we did. Colorado was 7 miles away and it immediately got hot and sunny. The weather prior to this was about 58 degrees, and shortly after arriving in Colorado it was in the mid 70’s.

There was nothing really interesting to see along the highway until we reached Colorado, but we did see a bunch of wind turbines and we also saw a handful of wind turbine blades being transported. It’s impressive how large they fan blades are when you’re up close to them. And we also saw corn, LOTS AND LOTS of corn! haha Basically corn and soy is what we could see.

When we finally split off I-80 onto I-76, there was a break from corn and soy. We could see a bunch of rolling hills for open range cattle. The scenery changed from very green with corn and soy, to a lot of golden brown. Eastern Colorado is desert-like, but technically, it’s the high plains.

We continued towards downtown Denver and visited Eddie’s cousin. We hung out there for a bit then went to see our friend Eric in Westminster, CO. We ended up hanging out there, going out to dinner, and spending the night

We finished the third day with about 400 miles which was a nice little break from two 700 mile days. The buns needed some rest!

Google photo album: Days 2 & 3

2024 Cross Country Trip: Day 1

Friday, August 9, 2024

We began the day by meeting in Middletown, NY to start the trip. We’re heading toward Moab, Utah! And just like all the other trips, we hopped onto I-84W. It was raining when we left, and seemed to never stop raining. We rode until we hit I-80W and got to Bloomsburg, PA when Eddie’s fuel light came on. So, we got off and when I got off the bike to fill up, my pants and shirt were quite wet. I didn’t realize it, because I’ve always used a one piece rain suit on my prior trips, but I had my rain pants too low on my waist to when we got off, my jeans and my shirt were wet! So, after filling up, I hiked them ALL the way up so water wouldn’t accumulate.

From Bloomsburg, we continued down I-80 in the rain until Eddie needed fuel again. His bike is several years older than mine, so he is the limiting factor. It seems that he needs to refuel every 120 miles at highway speeds. It stopped raining briefly when we reached a town called Clearfield, PA which is where we stopped for gas. However, when we pulled in to fill up, the woman came out to tell us they were out of power and so was the rest of the town due to the storms. We checked Google maps and saw a Sheetz further up the road so we headed there. Fortunately they were open and had power. After filling up we grabbed some food and chit-chatted with a couple that came from New Hampshire and were on their way to Nashville. They were both on BMW sport touring bikes.

While we were finishing eating, it started to sprinkle again, so we geared up and continued. About half hour later, it finally seemed to stop raining. It was such a relief. We rode about 300 miles in the rain. Luckily, the weather seemed to change a little from the forecast the night before so when we stopped again for gas, we took the rain gear off. It was so refreshing! It was sunny and about 77 degrees.

We continued until we needed fuel again and after stopping, Eddie realized that a rubber spacer in the chain guide that I just replaced was sticking out. The little rubber “pins” must have came loose. So, since I brought the whole garage with me, I slapped a zip-tie through it to hold it in place. We also looked for a spot to have dinner and we headed there next.

We finally got to the restaurant, JJ Winns Restaurant & Lounge in Montpelier, Ohio. We each got bacon and cheddar stuffed burgers with homemade fries. It was really good!

While there, we were discussing where to go and how far we wanted to go for the day. So, we looked around South Bend but most of the hotels were sold out, so we found a Hampton Inn in Elkhart, Indiana. So we headed into the sunset until we arrived at the hotel. It was a decent first day considering the weather.

We finished the day with about 685 miles.

Photo Album: Day 1 Photos

Cross Country Trip 3: Recap

Here is the complete trip recap. We left Saturday, August 20th, and arrived back in New York Saturday, September 3rd. We rode about 6,300 miles in about 111 hours. We went through 18 states not including New York. We hit rain, hail, high wind gusts, temperatures from the low 40’s to the mid 90’s, and elevations up to 12,000 feet. We entered many national forests, some national parks, and some national monuments. Luckily we had no real bike issues and ran out of gas only once. Overall it was another great trip. Here’s a relatively close preview of our route.

States:
* Pennsylvania
* Ohio
* Indiana
* Illinois
* Wisconsin
* Minnesota
* South Dakota
* Iowa
* Wyoming
* Montana
* Idaho
* Colorado
* Kansas
* Missouri
* Kentucky
* West Virginia
* Maryland
* New Jersey

To help support my blog and my future trips, please visit my Venmo

Cross Country Trip 3: Last 4 Days

We woke up and had breakfast with Eddie’s cousin. Then we began our trip back home. We left Denver and tried to make it as far east as we could. We wanted to make it home by Saturday, September 3. I thought we should take I-70E rather than take I-80E so that Eddie can say he’s been in another three states. And, we also took I-80W to get the trip started, so why not go a little different route? We stayed on I-70 for about 630 miles before we ended the day in Independence, MO. We rode all the way through Kansas. Independence is just outside of Kansas City, which is in Missouri. It seems a lot of people don’t know this or forget it haha. Just before we made it to Independence, Eddie’s visor screw came undone and fell out. After going through some tolls, we pulled off to remedy it with some electrical tape. When we finally reached Independence, we stopped at Gates Bar-B-Q for dinner.

On the second day, we left the hotel and headed back down I-70E for about two hours where I found an ACE Hardware in Columbia, MO. I’ve noticed ACE Hardware has a lot better selection for screws and bolts. So, we looked around and found a thumb screw that was the right thread and length. We used coupled it with a washer and VOILA! No more electrical tape. We hit the road and continued down the highway towards St. Louis. I thought that since we had to go through St. Louis, we should at least stop for lunch and see the Gateway Arch. It’s one of those monuments that’s really neat to see once. There’s an elevator that takes people to the top and there are some good views. After our stop in St. Louis, we crossed the Mississippi into Illinois on I-64 and continued east. We rode another couple hours until we crossed into Indiana and reached Evansville, where we stayed the night. We finished the day with about 400 miles. This was a little better than the first day heading home since there are some hills and mild turns.

Here are some Gateway Arch facts:
* It’s 630 feet tall
* It was constructed for 2.5 years from 1963 to 1965 costing $13 million equivalent to about $100 million today.
* Construction began after about 20 years of planning
* In 1927 it became a national park
* Its creation was to honor westward expansion of the United States
* The visitor center is underground between the two legs and it’s about 70,000 square feet
* There’s an elevator that takes people to the top

On the third day, we left Evansville, IN and we were hoping to make it to Morgantown, where West Virginia University is located. Eddie spent a semester there and thought it would be cool to check out the city after almost 14 years. We followed I-64 east and crossed into Kentucky. We went through Louisville. While riding through Louisville, we passed the KFC YUM Center and also the Louisville slugger Field. We rode for a while longer until we got hungry. We found a BBQ place off the the highway in Ashland, KY called Smokin’ J’s BBQ and Brewhouse. We both ordered their special burnt tip sandwich which was delicious. We got back on the road and rode another 4 hours or so until we arrived in Morgantown. By the end of the third day, I was getting anxious to get off the bike. My bum was finally tired of sitting. We finished the day with 515 miles.

On the fourth day, before leaving Morgantown, we rode passed some of the facilities Eddie used to attend and where he stayed. There has been a lot of improvements and new campus housing since he’s been there. After riding through the campus, we hopped onto I-68E where we crossed into Maryland. After a while, we merged onto I-81N where we crossed into Pennsylvania. Google Maps notified me that there was a 30+ minute slowdown near Hershey, PA. I looked for a place before this and came across Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg, PA. It was a nice facility and the food was superb. From there, we motored down I-81E until we crossed into New Jersey up I-287N until we reached Mahwah, NJ and through Tuxedo Park before arriving in Monroe. We finished this last day with about 420 miles. It was a relief to be back and off the bikes! It was another awesome trip and I cannot wait to do it again!

Overall, the four days heading home were long, hot, windy, and flat at first. The wind and the wind gusts make for a less than enjoyable ride. You’re constantly battling the wind, especially when each pannier and additional item act as a sail. For those that aren’t aware, eastern Colorado is quite flat and it blends right into Kansas, so once we left Denver, there wasn’t too much to see from the highway, except lots and lots of corn, milo, and wind turbines. Milo is similar to corn, but it takes less water and is typically used for feed grain. I learned this on my first cross country trip. At one stop somewhere is Kansas I was feeling a little dehydrated and found Gatorlyte in the Gatorade section. It worked amazing! I highly suggest this if you’re hot and dehydrated. The flats and stopped and hills and decent scenery started in eastern Kansas into Missouri and through Kentucky. As we got closer to West Virginia, it got even better as we were coming through the Appalachian Mountains. I didn’t take too many pictures on the way home because we were cruising along and things come and go fast! But I did manage to get a picture this turbine blade! Look at it compared to the truck!

More photos from Denver to Kansas City: Day 12 Photos

More photos from Kansas City to Evansville: Day 13 Photos

More photos from Evansville to Morgantown: Day 14 Photos

More photos from Morgantown to Home: Day 15 Photos

Cross Country Trip 3: Day 11

We only did about 195 miles on the day. We left the hotel and headed down route 125 south. Shortly after leaving, Google Maps had us making a left to stay on route 125, but it was a private facility. They had a sign saying it was private property and there was no access to public lands or public roads and Google Maps has not been updated. So we continued, but Google then had us making a right which would have added an extra hour. Luckily, I was curious and kept on the road which was still in fact route 125. Most people forget that outside of major towns and cities there is little service, so I was not able let the app update. As you can see below, the top gray line was the suggested route where we would have gone through private property. The preferred blue line added an extra hour. I decided to stay on the main road and it was the fastest. I just realized these could have been suggested route if the roads were closed.

Staying on 125 led us through Arapaho National Forest which is really nice, but there was roadwork going on due to flooding and mud slides washing out parts of the road. We finally made it to Granby, CO which is the west side of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped to fuel up before going into the park and there was a food truck, so we got chorizo breakfast burritos which were surprisingly very good. Then we rode passed Granby Lake and into the park. When we got to the park entrance, we were told we needed to get vehicle registration permits to enter the park, similar to Glacier National Park. Since it was a Tuesday, there were a lot of available permits to be able to enter the park.

We just rode through and stopped at the top at Alpine Visitor Center which is near Fall River pass and got coffees. Fall River Pass stands at 11,796 feet above sea level. After leaving the visitor center, we could see some Elk in the mountains. We continued on and headed into Estes Park. We stopped for some food and checked out a couple gift shops. We didn’t stay and check out the park much because we wanted to make some stops and see some folks. We left Estes Park and headed through Lyons towards Westminster to see a friend of ours, then my friend’s in Lafayette, then Eddie’s cousin in Denver where we stayed. I find it funny that the first cross country trip I did, I stayed my friend’s house, but he was in NY with his wife visiting family. This time he was home and he cooked us some homemade elk brats which were phenomenal!

More photos: Day 11 Photos

Cross Country Trip 3: Day 10

We got up, packed our tents, and went to get breakfast. As we were leaving, we saw a hot air balloon coming down and we stopped to get pictures quick. We had breakfast at The Provision Kitchen in town which was really good. From there we headed up to Grand Targhee Resort to take a look around. The ride up was nice and there were some fun turns which always makes the ride more enjoyable.

From the resort, we headed to Jackson, WY (Jackson Hole) but just rode through town. It was very busy and touristy so we continued into Grand Teton National Park. We stopped at the visitor center to see if they had any stickers for our panniers. Then, we took the scenic route through the park and along Jenny Lake. We were hoping to see a bull moose, but we never saw one. We also just rode through the park without stopping to hike. I’m sure if we were to hike, we could have, but who knows? The view of the Tetons is amazing anyway, but that would have been the icing on the cake!

Once we got through the park, we took route 26 to route 287 southeast through Bridger-Teton National Forest and then through Shoshone National Forest. The scenery is so awesome! These two national forests have so many mountains, hills, rivers, and streams. It’s just beautiful! We continued until we reached Dubois, WY and there was a nice sort of western-like town with some restaurants, so we stopped there for lunch at Cowboy Cafe.

We continued until Riverton, WY. From there, there was a whole lot more of nothing down route 135 and route 287 until we got to Rawlins, WY. We basically rode through central Wyoming and its very desolate out there; just thousands and thousands of acres of farm fields. I think it was close to 120 miles of almost nothing. After we went through Riverton, we turned on to route 135 and they were doing roadwork so we stopped and got off the bikes while we waited. They told us it would be about a 15 minute wait.

After waiting we cruised on. There was some great scenery along the way, but very little civilization. It really makes you think how vast this country is. We passed Split Rock too. As we rode by I got some photos with the GoPro. I thought it was a famous historical spot and after looking online, I was right. Split Rock was a prominent landmark on the Oregon Trail due to its notch. Emigrants could see if for two days or more as they approached on the trail.

We finally arrived in Rawlins, WY. From there we were trying to find a place to end up for the night. We thought Walden, CO would be a good point since we were planning on making it to Granby, CO before making our way into Rocky Mountain National Park. On the way, the sun started to set. The temperature started to drop so we pulled over and added some layers. At this point, it was dark and when we got back on the road for the last hour, it was a bit tense. There were a lot of hares and antelope on the shoulder of the road and I did not want to hit either of them at 8:30pm in the middle of nowhere. After taking our time, we crossed into Colorado and made it to North Park Inn & Suites. When we checked in, we were given a room. Well, we got to the room, and when we opened the door, there were construction workers laying down. They were quite surprised! haha Their system never updated properly. Luckily there was a master suite we were able to stay in. We finished the day with about 460 miles.

More photos: Day 10 Photos

Cross Country Trip 3: Day 9

We were about to leave the hotel in Missoula and I got a phone call from my cousin. While I was on the phone, Eddie started his bike to warm it up and noticed a coolant leak. Luckily we noticed it before riding. We looked into the issue and it was only a loose hose clamp. So, Eddie tightened the hose clamp and it was all good. He monitored it for most of the day just to be sure, but it never leaked again. We rode down 93 south. We were heading to Alta, WY where I have a relative that has a house there. Along the way, we went through Darby, MT when we saw what appeared to be a police car. We realized afterwards that is was a security car. I missed it, but Eddie saw a banner that read “Yellowstone Dutton Ranch” and after looking online, it was indeed where they filmed the show, Yellowstone.

We continued down 93 through Bitteroot National Forest and into Idaho near Lost Trail Ski area. This was an unexpected road going through the mountains. There were some nice, smooth, sweeping turns along the North Fork Salmon River then the Salmon River until we reached Salmon, ID.

From Salmon, we turned on to route 28 to head southeast on our way to Alta. There was basically nothing for about 150 miles. It was like being in the Death Valley all over again. There were mountain ranges on both sides and just desert-like farm lands in the valley all around. We stopped in Leadore for gas. Everything in this little town was closed, but thank goodness the gas pump worked. Across the street was a little restaurant, but that was closed. So, I had a snack bar to help hold me over.

From there we continued on until we reached civilization in Rexburg, ID. We filled up again, got some beef jerky, and some water. It was about an hour until we would arrive in Alta. We rode down route 33 and passed a lot of farm fields. It appeared they grow a bunch of wheat and corn there on the rolling hills. It was a real nice change of scenery after the previous 150 miles we did.

We finally got to Alta after riding about 435 miles and it’s basically a town at the base of the western side of the Grand Tetons. We got to my relatives place and set up tents for the night. He wasn’t around, but he suggested going to Royal Wolf in Driggs, ID and they had some great food. We were quite hungry after going all day with some snacks. When we got back to the house, we could see so many stars. I can see a lot of stars at my house, and I am grateful for that, but I have never seen so many stars in my life! It was incredible! We could see the Milky Way

More photos: Day 9 Photos